Dead End >> c.h au

Chapter Eleven

        Sally felt a tug in her gut and she was launched backwards. The lights flickered and Leo disappeared, but she could still hear him humming an ironically cheery song. Sally started running before she was entirely upright.

                She felt along the walls, searching for a door. She felt her eyes burn with tears as she stumbled throughout the room. She tried to ignore Ashton’s body lying on the floor, but it was hard. And every time she thought of Ashton she thought of Calum. She found herself wishing with every fibre of her being that he hadn’t ended up like Ashton.

                “Try the stairs,” Leo’s sharp voice suggested. It sounded like it was coming from within her own mind. Sally tripped forward onto a staircase that hadn’t been there moments before. She whipped her head around and saw that the entire room had spun around as if it was on a lazy Susan.  Sally didn’t waste much time thinking about it. Instead, she dashed up the stairs.

                She practically propelled herself upwards on all fours, desperate to get out of there. She wasn’t even sure why she was bothering. Leo had warned her of what he was capable. She was a goner no matter how hard she tried.

                “Four minutes, Sally,” Leo’s voice reminded her.

                Sally emerged from the staircase into a hallway that looked identical to every other hallway in the hotel. She charged down it purposefully. When she reached the end, there was nowhere else to go. It was a dead end.

                “Perhaps the slide is more to your liking,” Leo said again. Before Sally could react she was falling. The floor beneath her had collapsed and she found herself sliding downwards again. She closed her eyes and hoped that when she opened them she would wake up in the van on the highway and all of this would have been a dream.

                Then she heard the music. It was the same music that had played when the owner—Leo—had killed his wife. The music sent shivers down her spine and she pressed her hands over her ears tightly, trying to block out the sound.

                “Three minutes,” Leo sang.

                Sally shrieked when she hit the ground. The music was too loud for her to ignore anymore. She leapt to her feet and looked around. She was in the lobby behind the front desk. She almost smiled at the sight of the front doors. She flung herself over the desk and bounded towards the entrance.

                She reached out to touch the handle and yelped. The door was searing hot. Steam was rising off the metal in thick coils, dancing towards the ceiling. Sally watched in disbelief as the handle melted away.

                “Twooo miiiiinutes,” Leo called out, dragging out every syllable.

                Sally stumbled away from the door and turned towards the front window. She looked towards a nearby chair, placed out in a waiting area. She decided she could lift it. She was going to throw it through the window.

                She raced towards the furniture and just before she reached it one of the beams supporting the ceiling collapsed on top of it. Sally leapt back in shock, narrowly avoiding being crushed. Then a domino effect kicked in and chunks of ceiling were cascading to the floor.

“One minute, Sally,” Leo yelled. Sally stumbled backwards and froze when she heard her name.

                “Scooter,” Ashton said.

                Sally gasped and spun around. Ashton was standing behind her, fully healthy. His skin was back to his normal glowing state, his smile like diamonds reflecting light onto everything.