The Thorned Night

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

~Jerome~

       As much fun as I was having in the bar with all my friends, part of me was missing Nolan a lot and just wanted to head back to the hotel suite. Only a very small part of me, though. Not a big enough part to actually head back to the hotel suite.

       Even though the part missing Nolan was a lot bigger than the part about me wanting to head back to the hotel suite.

       It was just a bunch of mixed feelings that I was going through, but the only one I was able to listen to was the one that was telling me to stay in the bar and continue having fun.

       I just wished Nolan would come here. Even Wilder ended up coming here, having the time of his life.

       Apparently, I didn't even have to wish for Nolan to show up here because all of a sudden, he and Ollie walked into the bar.

       I smiled as Nolan walked over to me. "Hey, finally decided to have some fun?" I asked.

       "Yeah, whatever," Nolan said, handing me a glass of pina colada. "Here, drink this."

       "Ooh, pina colada," I said. "Don't mind if I do."

       Right as I took a sip from the pina colada, something strange washed over me. I no longer felt compelled to just have fun in this bar. At all. In fact, I felt kind of exhausted from partying in here, and I also felt a bit lightheaded.

       "Are you okay?" Nolan asked as I rubbed my forehead.

       "Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Just a bit lightheaded. And exhausted. Why did I think it was a good idea to come here and party?"

       "So... You don't feel the urge to party anymore?" Nolan asked. "Or want to stay in this hotel longer?"

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "Uh, what the heck? Why would I want to stay in this cursed hotel longer when my ghost hunting equipment is missing?"

       Nolan released a sigh of relief before looking at Ollie, who was talking to Grant. Ollie looked over and Nolan gave him a thumbs up. Ollie then went back to trying to get Grant to drink from the glass that he had.

       "Okay, what was with that secret code?" I asked. "Am I missing something here?"

       "Yes, you are missing something," Nolan said. "We can't talk here, though. I might be paranoid but anyone can be listening."

       "What are you going on about?" I asked.

       "I just said, we can't talk here," Nolan said. "We'll talk back at the suite. But first, I have to give this to Wilder." He gestured to the other glass in his hand that I didn't even know he was holding.

       "Why?" I asked.

       Nolan sighed. "Are you going to keep asking questions even though I told you that we can't talk here." He then lowered his voice. "It's dangerous."

       "What?"

       Nolan glared at me for, yet again, questioning what was going on. I just sighed as he grabbed my arm and pulled me over to Wilder, who was standing on top of a table because 'he felt like it'.

       "Wilder, drink this," Nolan said, handing the glass over to Wilder.

       "No thanks," Wilder said. "I'm too busy."

       "Standing on a table?"

       "Yes."

       "Okay, but it's egg nog."