Apocalypse Now and Then

She hated it. All the damned love songs on the radio. Roxie had officially given up on this love thing. Too many bad times to think about.1

She left someone she loved, or thought she had loved. Her first real boyfriend Jake; the only time he ever called her was when he was drunk and lonely. We all get lonely, that was her last response to him before she slammed down the phone the last time he called. That was over three months ago and she hadn’t heard from him since, though through the grape vine she heard that he’d found a new victim to suck the life out of. She hated this town, it wasn’t that it was too small or too big, the sad part was it was just right for someone like her. Large enough to lose yourself in a crowd but small enough to know everyone worth knowing. Every time it snowed it looked like the front of some postcard from 1894 or something, just too picture perfect for her taste.2

It was unseasonably warm for being early November, she barely needed a jacket but she threw a hoodie into the car because it was supposed to get colder later that night, and since it was only four she had time to be warm.3

Roxie glanced at the radio on the dash and drove slightly faster, she was already late. Just before she left the house she had to make sure her make-up was perfect, make-up was her only girly weakness, she never left home without extra eyeliner, it was her trademark. She had left her black hair down and pinned her bangs out of her eyes, some days she needed to see. Even though her hair was shoulder length it was still too long for her taste, it needed a trim badly but she had been too busy lately to go and get it done. At the next red light her grey eyes scanned for Sammi’s car coming from anywhere, but knowing Sammi she was already there and waiting. 4

Roxie had known Sammi longer than she cared to remember, Sammi had just always been there, since the day Roxie moved to this town twelve years ago. Sammi lived next door, even at the tender age of 8 she was already bleaching her hair, which was fine by Roxie because they decided at that moment that they would become yin and yang, and they were.5

As soon as Roxie had gotten off Route 37 she turned down a long and overgrown road, the sign had been taken down long before their time, so they never actually knew what the road was called, which was fine, because they didn’t want anyone else to know about this place. The place was an abandoned Howard Johnson Hotel, that was closed down after the incident, no one in the younger generation knew what happened, but the it had been left alone and unspoken of for so long that the people in the town just kind of forgot it was there, or at least tried to. The faded green sign was peeling paint but still said, “Welcome to the Riverside Howard Johnson”, the odd thing was there was still furnishings in the rooms, clothes in the closets, at least that’s what they could see through the windows. This was the place where they had started meeting to discuss anything they felt they couldn’t talk about among other members of the human race, up here it was just them and the ghosts of tourists long past.6

“What took you so long?”, demanded Sammi, impatient as always as Roxie pulled into her own spot. The second from the left.7

“Traffic is always hell when there’s a storm coming, you know that”, she replied8

Sammi was indeed the opposite of Roxie. While Roxie had grey-blue eyes, the color was often compared to that of the calm before a storm, Sammi’s eyes were a bright green that were framed in flecks of gold, they shimmered even in the dark. They were both the same height even if Sammi liked to tell people she was taller, but they were both 5 6”, Sammi just wore heels most of the time. Today Sammi was wearing some random prep store T with a pair jeans that cost more than Roxie’s whole outfit, but for once she was wearing tennis shoes and not heels. 9

“Alright, what was so important that I had to rush out here?” She finally asked Sammi10

“I’ll tell you as soon as Clayton gets here.”11

Clayton was the only boy they could trust completely. Everyone was frightened by his appearance so no one had ever really gotten to know him. He was 6 4” and so skinny that Sammi swore he could disappear. He was always clad in tight black jeans, a pair of chuck taylors , and t shirt from an elusive punk band that no one else in town had heard of. The only reason Sammi and Roxie had even become friends with was because one night when they were heading home from choir rehearsal, Roxie’s car got a flat. So there they were, two 16 year old girls outside in the middle of winter trying to change a tire, they had admitted later that it had to have been a sight, especially after Sammi slipped in the mud and ruined her new white skirt. They saw a car slow down and finally stop, they were a little put off at first, but once he offered them help they were fine with it, especially since it was starting to hail. He introduced himself as Clayton, and he lived on the other side of town where he was a junior at Carpelton Academy, he was 17. He had short black hair at the time, and once Sammi pointed the flashlight at his face Roxie saw that he had the brightest blue eyes in the world. After he helped them change the tire, well after he changed the tire for them they went to the local diner for coffee and to try to get to know their hero a little better. With one look from across the table Roxie and Sammi had decided that he was worth their time and even though that was three years ago they were still inseparable after that night.12

Clayton pulled into the third space, right next to Roxie, where she and Sammi were sitting on the hood smoking a cigarette, blaring some song by Every Time I Die. As he stepped out of his 87 Buick he threw his cigarette butt on the ground, they immediately noticed that he had just finished dying his Mohawk bright blue by the fact that half his face looked as if it belonged to the blue man group. 13

“Alright, here I am, now what was this emergency you called about” he asked.14

“Okay, here it is.” Sammi started, “I have decided that we should search the entire hotel for clues”15

“Seriously……that’s what was so damn urgent? That’s the reason I put on a shirt that was still wet, seriously?” Roxie asked16

“That’s it? Really? Why now?” Clayton inquired17

“Well last night I was online and I got kind of bored so I googled our town. There wasn’t anything that exciting right up front, just some stories about the mayor and the basketball teams getting to go to the championships, but when I went back further I found out why they closed the hotel”18

“And that would be……” Clayton and Roxie said together19

“Well one night, back in 1979, they had the entire hotel full and there was just one room left, according to the desk clerk that they interviewed, a man came in and just needed one room for himself and his little boy, so she handed him the keys to the only room available, room 419. She admitted later that he was dressed rather oddly but some people are eccentric. After her shift was over she gave the registration book to the night clerk and went home. They only captured part of what happened on the security cameras, everything was going fine until 1:08 a.m., when a guest told the clerk that there was something leaking from the ceiling, the guest was staying in room 319 which happened to be right under 419. All the floors had two security cameras one at each end of the hallway, well the cameras on the fourth floor only recorded until about 11:30 p.m. after that there was a bright flash of light, someone walking down the hallway, then nothing but static. The clerk went up to room 317, and there was a leak, the strange thing is it was a brownish red. That’s the last thing he recorded, after that all the tapes stopped. Neighbors went on record saying they saw something like flames shooting out from the hotel, but there was no evidence of a fire, there was nothing. The next morning when the manager and the day clerk showed up there was no one around. Clothes were still in the rooms, cars were in the parking lot, music was still playing in the bar, drinks were sitting on the counter half empty, but the strangest thing was that room 419 was empty, and the keys were still at the front desk. They called the police, but they found nothing, no evidence, no notes, just nothing. It looked like they had just disappeared. Families were notified, but without a resolution no one ever went back in, not even the police. The chief went on record as saying until the matters resolved it was to remain closed, they even installed dead bolts to keep people out and that’s how it’s been left for all these years.” Sammi explained20

Clayton and Roxie just stared at her dumbfounded.21

“Are you sure you didn’t find this in an urban legends book or something?” Clayton asked.22

“I’m sure, so today we are going to go inside and see if the story has any bearing. Roxie, did you bring the flashlights and rope?”23

“Sam, you know I keep those in the emergency kit, and I don’t leave home without the kit”24

Roxie opened the back of her car and got out the kit. The kit was full of everything necessary for emergencies, extra cigarettes, lighters, flares, bandages, antiseptic, two flashlights, extra batteries, twine and crackers. She grabbed the flashlights, twine and a knife, just for protection. Clayton may look menacing but he’s a kitten, although they wouldn’t admit that in public. She pulled out the hoodie from the backseat and threw it on. She put her pack of cigarettes in one pocket, extra batteries and lighters in the other. She decided to go ahead and leave her phone in the car, none of them got reception up here anyways.25

As Roxie was getting the kit, Sammi put on her own hoodie and grabbed her pack, she didn’t know how long this would take, and she smoked a lot when she got nervous, so she brought two just in case. Clayton was ready from the get go, he had everything he needed with him so he just locked his car and put the keys in his pocket.26

“Are you sure you want to do this, Sam, because once we go in it’s all or nothing?” Clayton asked, because he refused to give up on any task that was handed to him.27

“Hell yeah! Now lets get a move on while we still have the luxury of daylight”28

They walked around the chain link fence that had been erected to keep out vandals, it had defiantly done it’s job because there wasn’t a speck of graffiti anywhere. 29

“Well, it looks like we’re going to have to climb over” Roxie said after they walked the perimeter and found no holes to squeeze through.30

“Sam, you’ll go first, then me, then Clayton”31

“Why do I always have to go last?”32

“Because you’re the boy!” Sammi and Roxie yelled together, which was the main reason they gave him whenever they wanted him to do something, either that or you’re the tall one.33

“Fine. Ladies first anyways”34

“Hold this, then push it through when I get over” Sammi said handing the first flashlight over to Roxie35

After Sammi made it over she grabbed both flashlights from Roxie so she could climb over, when Roxie had made it semi safely, because well Roxie couldn’t do anything wholly safely, Clayton came over.36

“If I were the front doors, where would I be?” Sammi asked aloud37

“Well I would hope that you would be directly in front of us, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen, is it?” 38

“Shut Up Clayton Markus Brown!” Sammi retorted in a huff39

“OOOOO She middle named you, now you’re in trouble” Roxie replied playfully shoving Clayton to the side.40

After they walked halfway around the building they finally found the doors.41

“I thought you said they installed deadbolts or something” Roxie asked when they noticed the doors were unlocked, and strangely enough in very good condition.42

“Maybe they took them off, or something when they towed the cars and stuff away, I don’t know. Maybe they just didn’t do this one, since it’s a side door”43

Clayton and Roxie accepted this answer, mostly because they couldn’t think of anything better that could’ve happened.44

“Alright are you kids ready? This is the point of no return” Sammi asked45

“Ready as we’ll ever be, captain!” Roxie replied for herself and Clayton as they saluted Sammi.46

Whenever they went on adventures, whoever’s idea it was suddenly became the captain of the mission, because the captain goes down with the ship. It was silly idea that they came up with two summers ago when Roxie decided it would be a good idea to draw a Hitler mustache on the big billboard of the mayor.47

“Okay, lets go!” Sammi said as she opened the door.48

Since the windows were covered with over 27 years of dust and grime they turned on the flashlights immediately. Sammi had one, since she was in front, and Clayton had the other since he was bringing up the rear. The side door led directly into the kitchen, there were still pots and pans on the stove, whatever food they held had disintegrated a long time ago or had been scavenged by animals. They wandered further on into what used to be the dining hall. The great bay windows still had the red velvet sashes pulled back and held together with golden tasseled ropes. Roxie, being the only one not having light, grabbed a napkin from one of the tables and rubbed it against the middle window, letting some more sunlight break through. As soon as she was finished getting as much as possible off, she turned around, and gasped at the regality of the table settings.49

“Hey, come over here and look at this” Roxie said50

“Damn, they must’ve left in a hurry! There’s still wine bottles on the table, they haven’t even been opened!” Clayton exclaimed as he picked up a bottle and examined it.51

“1929, good year for wine, bad year for everything else” He joked setting it back down. “If these are still here when we leave I’m grabbing some.”52

Sammi and Roxie just turned and looked at him, he knew what that look meant, did he really say something that stupid.53

“Don’t judge me, maybe someone will finally come back for their stuff today and they’ll take them before I can.”54

“Clayton Markus Brown, really, really? You think suddenly after what, 27 years, someone’s going to come in out of the blue, not explain anything and just grab their stuff. Highly, highly unlikely” Roxie told him.55

“Well…..I’m still grabbing them”56

“Fine, after we’re done, we’ll grab the wine and find some cheese, just to feed your obsession for being fancy” Sammi said, “But lets get on with it, there are like, four floors and a gillion rooms or something to go through. You never know, we could find something the police missed and suddenly get a reward or something.”57

As they walked out of the dining hall, Roxie could’ve sworn she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, she just played it up to her imagination, and didn’t mention it to the rest of the group.58

The front hall was right outside of the dining room, Sammi ran behind the counter to look for something, anything. A guest manifold, registration book, even a note with a date on it. Finally she found the list that gave the names of everyone who had been staying there that night.59

“Hey look at this”, she said waving them in closer, “Look at the date, November 13th 1979. That’s today, well it’s not 1979, but you know what I mean.”60

“OOOO! Scary, now just wait, the hotel will come back to life like it happens in the movies and we’ll get killed off one by one or something, and they’ll lock it up again, until some other dumb teenagers stumble in to get caught again” Roxie said61

“You watch way too many horror movies, Roxie, you just need to know that” Clayton said62

“But that’s why you love me, because heaven forbid, if zombie’s ever attack I can save your skinny white ass! AHA!”63

“Alright, kids, don’t make me separate you. Now that we have this, we can go from room to room and see if anything looks strange according to who was staying in that room.” Sammi decided, “Upstairs HO!”64

“Where are the stairs anyways?” Clayton asked65

“Well common sense would dictate that they’d be over here…somewhere” Roxie said as she wandered towards the middle of the darkened hallway, “They should be somewher- “66

Clayton and Sammi heard a loud thump that made them scream67

“OW!, I found them. Can I get some light, please?” Roxie asked as she picked herself up off the floor.68

“You are the only person I know that can seriously hurt themselves walking” Clayton told her69

“Well, maybe if someone had been giving me light and not standing there like the damn statue of liberty, this wouldn’t have happened” she said70

“Hey, but at least you found them! GO YOU!” Sammi said in a mock cheery voice.71

“Lets get this over with, I need to finish dying my mohawk before work tomorrow.”72

“Really? Because it looks like you got most of it on your face” Sammi told Clayton73

“It looks kind of like you’re the world’s first gigantic smurf or something” Roxie added, which caused the two girls to laugh for a minute straight.74

“Well if Sammi hadn’t made it sound as if the sky was falling, I might’ve had time to wash it off.”75

“Okay, we can head up. Do you think it’s okay to smoke in here?” Roxie asked76

“The last time anyone was in here, Lennon was still alive, what do you think?” Sammi replied77

“Just making sure I don’t start any fires!” Roxie said throwing her hands up, “Full speed ahead, captain!”78

“Right away Mr. Ismay!. Damn it! Now we’re doomed…..watch out for icebergs off the starboard side!” Sammi replied79

“Sometimes I really hate you, just because I know what movie that came from.” Clayton said with an exaggerated shudder80

“You know you liked it, Kate Winselt was naked, you enjoyed that at least” Roxie argued81

“The first time I saw it, the last 342 times were overkill”82

“Shut up, both of you! God, how are we going to know when the Lusitania is coming if we can’t hear the whistle!” Sammi said, which made all three of them collapse on the horrible shag carpet. They were laughing so hard that no one heard the door they came in slam shut.83

“Okay. Should we start at the top and work our way down, or start down and work our way up?” Roxie asked Sammi84

“Well, down to up is working pretty well right now, so we’ll go with that.” She replied when they got to the first floor.85

As they reached the landing they noticed windows at the each end of the hallway, so Roxie being the only one with out a light, wiped away some more of the dirt and grime with her sleeve. It was only then she noticed a light switch and flicked it out of habit. Nothing happened, and although she didn’t expect anything she was still a little disappointed. Sammi started shining the flashlight around and right away they noticed that the carpet, which must have been a beautiful lavender in it’s time, had turned a shade of grey that was usually left to corpses and the undead, and Roxie had no shame in saying.86

“Guys, the carpet looks like death. Seriously if death had a color, it would be this” she said between drags.87

“Well I always thought death was black”, Clayton said88

“If death is this color then nothing I own will match with it”, Sammi said as she lit a cigarette. “Okay, let’s open all the doors then move from that side, back over here where the main stair are, that way when we’re finished with each floor we can be right next to the stairs.”89

“Did Sammi just say something that was logical, I’d never have believed it if I hadn’t have heard it with my own ears” Clayton said, “Okay let’s do it”90

They started at room 100 and worked all the way down to 128. In most of the rooms they found random suitcases, filled with the most horrible polyester clothing, at least in Sammi’s opinion, and Clayton had somehow added four shirts to his wardrobe. 91

“Didn’t they stop making Lucky Strike or something?” Roxie asked as she held up two unfinished packs of cigarettes92

“Yeah, apparently they cause cancer” Clayton said93

“All cigarettes cause cancer, silly” Sammi said94

“Well, Lucky Strikes were like, cancer but AIDS or something….they were the worst of the worst.” he said trying to save face95

“MMM Cancer-y goodness, I’ll take it anyway I can get it” Roxie said as she put them in her hoodie pockets.96

As they stepped out of room 100, they took a brief look around to make sure that they didn’t miss some vital piece of evidence, at least that’s what Sammi was doing. Roxie was looking to see if there were anymore vintage cigarettes lying about, and Clayton was trying to look stylish in his garb of bright polyester shirts.97

“Okay, first floor is clear, up to the second!” Sammi cried as she bobbed ahead with her flashlight, Roxie followed smelling the cigarettes to try and figure 98

out whether or not they were full of more carcinogens then her Newports, and Clayton brought up the rear with his flashlight and brightly colored shirts.99

They got up to the second floor and did the exact same thing, going through room after room. Finally when they got to room 213 Roxie decided they should take a nice sitting break, mostly because moving all the seventies clothing around was starting to make her eyes feel like they would pop out of her skull at any moment. So Roxie took a nice, comfortable, yet dusty spot on the bed, while Sammi sat Indian style on the floor and Clayton brought in a chair from the hallway. 100

“Okay, I don’t care how long everything in here has been left undisturbed I’m opening a damn window!” Roxie finally said walking over to the curtains. 101

As she pulled them back something fell, she couldn’t see exactly what it was in the dimness of the flashlight bulbs. She pulled up on the window and it came up easily, which was slightly surprising, but since she was so starved for fresh air it didn’t really matter to her at the moment. She tied back the curtains and leaned over the bed to put her entire head out.102

“It’s getting chilly out there, good thing I brought in my hoodie” Roxie said to no one in particular, “It’s getting dark too, what time is it anyways?”103

“6:30, we’ve been at this for two hours, Sammi, and we haven’t found anything that’s in anyway the least bit suspicious” Clayton said after he looked at his watch.104

“You never know this stuff could be anywhere…even here” She said dramatically as she checked behind the bed, “okay or I could be completely wrong, but at least after we do this we’ll know for sure, and then we could lie to people and say that we saw dead people or something.”105

As they sat there in silence pilfering through this strangers belongings, taking in everything that was this ladies last days on earth they heard a shrill noise come from Sammi’s direction, the disruption caused each of them to jump a mile in the air.106

“What the hell was that!?!?” Roxie and Clayton exclaimed at the top of their lungs.107

Sammi at this point was feeling around in her jean pockets, and finally she pulled out her cell phone.108

“Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, wearing a hat and a g-string, yelling obscenities at the pope! That was terrifying,!” Roxie exclaimed109

“I think that was the longest phrase to describe shock in my life, Roxie, you get an A+ for effort, and bonus points for using the pope” Clayton said110

“Wouldn’t you know it. The first time I ever get service out here and the calls not even for me, it’s for Roxie” Sammi said and handed the phone over.111

Roxie walked out the room to see who it was. After she stepped into the hallway, Sammi walked towards the window to look at the clouds and see how far the storm was.112

“So who was it?” Clayton asked as he stepped toward the window and noticed a slight crunch under his left chuck.113

“Three guesses, but you’ll only need one”114

“ Jake.” 115

Clayton had never liked Jake, from the moment he first laid eyes on the normality that was Jake, he knew that he would break her heart. He had been right, but Roxie didn’t care, it still hurt too bad. She had been dating Jake off and on since they were 15. She finally ended it after three years of heart ache, lies, and broken promises. For some reason Jake never got the idea that Roxie was over him. In fact he had actually stood outside of her window and play “Endlessly, She Said” by AFI, because apparently when they were first dating, she had said she would wait for him forever. He liked to prey upon her heartstrings every time he got the chance, which lately, was only when he was drunk, lonely, or both.116

Clayton looked down, mostly away from Sammi’s eyes. When she was about to say something either profound or incredibly hurtful they shone in the same way, like her brain cells were dancing around delicately.117

“You know you could just tell her, you never know if you don’t give it a try” She finally came out with118

“If we can find any evidence that police overlooked, I’ll consider it” he replied shifting his weight from foot to foot.119

“Hey look, you might’ve found something there, Clayton” Sammi said smiling as she reached for it.120

She stood there, studying it, every edge, every minute detail of it, acting as if it were the holy grail.121

“Damn it, Sammi, just open it, the suspense is killing me!” Clayton finally said.122

Sammi opened it and then proceeded to read it aloud, 123

November 10th 1979. 124

Dear Johnny, 125

I know I said I’d write as soon as I had gotten here safely but the truth is I’m not sure how safe I am without you. I feel like I have to look around every corner just to be safe. It’s not that Riverside isn’t a beautiful town, it just has this feeling about it. Like that feeling you told me about when you were over seas, how you just knew something was going to happen, and it wasn’t going to be good. I don’t know, it’s probably just homesickness. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss your goofy face. I hope that as soon as you get this you get your ass on a bus and come to visit. I’m staying at the Howard Johnson until my apartments ready, which should be in the next few days, a week at most.126

Remember in the event that everything should go terribly wrong, I love you no matter what.127

XOXOX Erin128

“What was a love letter doing in the windowsill?” Clayton asked129

“Wha-” Roxie said as she walked in, “Here’s your phone back.”130

“So what did he want?” Clayton in turn asked Roxie, not hiding the distaste in his voice.131

“The usual, a number three Roxie combo, complete with a side order of bruised ego and a large diet I-don’t-give-a-damn” she said132

“So what, you just turned him down, no second thought, nothing?” Sammi asked.133

“Yeah, it’s part of this whole, I’m done being second best, can we just get back to looking for clues?” She asked a little uncomfortably134

“Okay, well while you were in the hallway breaking Jake-y boys heart, we found a love letter…from the window” Sammi told her135

“Really? So what, is the window in love with the lamp or something?” 136

“No, and you say I’m a dumb blonde, it fell out of the window when you opened it”137

“What would a love letter be doing hiding in a windowsill?” Roxie asked138

“That’s exactly what we were discussing when you came in, so now you’re up to speed.” Sammi explained, “Okay, lets just take it with us, grab that overnight bag, Clayton and we’ll use that to collect evidence”139

Sammi pulled out the guest register and looked for the name on this room, 213 was registered to an Erin Dylan. That name sounded vaguely familiar, but Sammi put it out of her mind to sort out later.140

“As you wish Captain!” he said and saluted.141

“Alright 56 rooms down, 56 rooms to go!” Sammi said as the climbed the flight of stairs to the third floor.142

“Did you hear that?” Roxie asked143

“Hear what, I can’t hear anything over Sammi clamping up the stair like some sort of horse.” 144

“Nevermind, it’s probably just the wind, remind me to close that window before we leave, okay?”145

“Fine. As long as you don’t get eaten by the shark zombies, or whatever you’re thinking might pop out for you.”146

“Deal”147

“Will you two hurry up, it’s getting kind of nasty out there, and I don’t want to have to camp out here overnight” Sammi said148

“Well it was your idea in the first place” Roxie said under her breath, hoping that she was the only one that was hearing things.149

The first thing they noticed right on the landing that the curtains were pulled back, unlike the first two floors, well three floors in all honesty. they started at room 300, because they were a little apprehensive of what they might find in room 317. There really wasn’t much of anything left on the third floor, which was puzzling, since the first and second floors had basically full closets and boutiques of 70’s goodies.150

“It’s real empty up here” Roxie finally said, breaking the odd uncomfortable silence.151

“Maybe they cleared everything out after the cops came in, besides wasn’t it just these last two floors that everyone was concerned with?” Clayton said152

“I don’t even know anymore.” Sammi said, “We’ve been up here, for three hours and all we’ve found is the guest register and an old love note.”153

“We are at what, room 313, we’ve got six more rooms to go before anything scary can happen!” Roxie said, “At least that’s how it is in the movies”154

“Well you are the horror buff, Little Miss Gore,” Clayton retorted155

“And don’t you ever forget it!” 156

“Do you just want to skip ahead to the scary part, Sammi, or fast forward through it, like you do at home?” Roxie asked157

“How can you fast forward in real life?” Sammi asked confused158

“By having Clayton and I go in first and check for ghosts, vampires, zombies and other boogey men, that’s how.”159

“If you guys die, I’m pretty much doomed, so I say if we go down in flames, we all go down together.”160

“Wow, a little melodramatic there, Sammi, just a tad over the top in ominous foreboding for my taste” Clayton said161

“It’s true, and you know it, Clayton Markus Brown!” Roxie teased.162

She was right, mostly because if he had to go down with anyone, he’d rather it be with Sammi and especially Roxie, rather than anyone else.163

“Fine! Roxanne Emma Thompson and Samantha Catherine Howe! HA! I middle named you, what now?!?!” Clayton said164

“Well now, we’re going to march our happy little butts over to room 317 to check out that suspicious stain we’ve been hearing so much about”. Roxie answered, “So come on. It’s going to start pouring soon, the weather guy said that the storm front would be moving through around 9 p.m. and as much as I love scary things, being in some mystery spot for the entire night just doesn’t sound all that appealing.”165

They walked down the hallway even though it was only five feet it seemed like five miles, the adrenaline was running, as soon as they got to the door they stopped.166

“Okay, c’mon Clayton, go ahead, open the door.” Sammi said while Roxie stood to the side, lighting up another cigarette, this time one of the vintage Lucky Strikes.167

“Why do I have to go first?”168

“Because you’re the boy, and boys do the scary stuff first…it’s like primal stuff, you should want to protect us!” Sammi said169

“Fine, but come with a new reason at least”170

“Do it or I won’t protect you when the zombies attack” Roxie said171

“You’d better hope zombies attack one day, otherwise I’m gonna be pissed”172

“Oh they will” Sammi reassured, “Roxie has like ESPN or something like that for zombies and ghouls, now c’mon!”173

As Clayton opened the door he stuck his flashlight in first, expecting it to be all dark and gloomy, but there was sunlight coming in. He was shocked to see that the room was pristine. The king size bed was made with crisp white linen, the comforter was turned down as if someone were getting ready to go to sleep. He poked his head in, there was a desk complete with a chair that was pulled back, waiting to be sat in, there were papers on the desk and a pair of glasses on the nightstand. 174

“Alright, it’s all clear, no bogeymen, I promise”175

Sammi and Roxie walked in holding hands, which was something they had always done when they were nervous, well back before the habit of smoking came, they always held on to each other. The girls glanced around, and laughing quietly at themselves they dropped the others hand. 176

“All right Sammi, who was staying in here” Roxie asked177

“Well hold on”, she said as she dug through their paisley overnight back of evidence for the register, “Okay here it is, uhm, David. David Grungstuber”178

“Was he here alone or did he have a wife” Clayton asked holding up a very lacey woman’s nightie179

“Well it says here that he checked in alone, early that afternoon”180

“Clayton you never know maybe that was his, some people are into that” Roxie said which caused him to throw it down as if it were on fire.181

Sammi pointed her flashlight at the ceiling, nothing, from corner to corner nothing but off white, perfect eggshell paint. No sign of any sort of stain, or any shape or size.”182

“Well it’s not here.” Sammi said183

“What? The ominous stain that makes people dissapear? Maybe the cops cleaned it, who knows” Clayton told her184

“Why would the cops clean it if they were just going to close the hotel until someone came back” 185

“Just in case, or maybe there was never a stain…..oooo spooky!”186

“Well it would make sense, but you can never see my logic!”187

“Hey, stop arguing, I may have found something.” Roxie finally said, “I found some more letters, these are faded pretty badly but I bet we can make them out.”188

“Okay put them in the evidence bag, we’ll take them with us” Clayton said189

“Hold on, there’s one here signed XOXOX Erin, wasn’t that the girl from the second floor?” Roxie asked, “And heres a picture of a girl, and she’s wearing the nightie.”190

“Well I’ll hold on to that” Clayton said, taking the photo and looking at the girl, “She’s looks vaguely familiar” he commented as he turned the photo over, “Johnny, XOXOX love Erin. Hey we solved the mystery of the girl in the picture! Go us!”191

“Yes Clayton, we came into the worlds creepiest hotel, where a full house of people suddenly disappeared overnight, just to find a picture of a random girl and to try and figure out who she was, way to go, you cracked the case!” Roxie said192

“Well, shut up! We found something at least.”193

“Roxie, if you had pictures of yourself that you had already written someone’s name on, would you give one of them to a stranger? Especially if it were you half naked?” Sammi asked194

“Hell no!”195

“Well then how did this David guy get this picture? Grab all the papers from the desk, and check the closet for a bigger bag.” Sammi demanded196

Clayton started gathering the papers and notice that each of the letters had dates that were in twenty year increments, starting from 1879, and each of them came with their own pictures. All the women looked similar, which wasn’t frightening in and of itself, just strange. Clayton didn’t really care to notice, he didn’t want Sammi to find anything. He never should have made that silly deal. Sammi just wanted the tension to be over and for Roxie and him to date, or something like that, something you would find in a typical high school romantic comedy, okay the kind that was released straight to video, but still.197

“uhm, guys, come take a look over here…..now!” Roxie said with a note of urgency in her voice, “you need to see this.”198

“What is it?” Sammi’s voice fell off at the last sylable, in what they thought had been a closet there was a second desk and an extra room, a room that wasn’t listed on the register. There was a cot, a small desk and no windows. Clayton and Sammi turned back on the flashlights to get a better look. The entire room was covered in rust colored splotches, there were no bed sheets, no pillows, nothing for comfort. Just a cot, the desk and a thick book that was sitting on the desk. Roxie reached for her knife, and put out her cigarette.199

“What is this room?” Roxie asked Sammi200

“I don’t know, it’s not on the register…I don’t know!” She said, “They never mentioned this online.”201

“Really, well I think we may have found some of that evidence you were hoping for. Your phone has a camera, Roxie hold her flashlight steady so she can take some photos”202

“What are you going to do?” Roxie asked him203

“We need that book, it might mean everything, it might just be a large print version of the holy bible, either way it’s coming with us.”204

Clayton walked slowly over to the table, right next to the book was a copy of the register, but it was marked out at points. He folded it in half and stuck it in the book. Roxie and Sammi were taking their pictures, and although neither wanted to admit, they were terrified. They got every side of the room at least twice.205

“Okay I got it, lets get out of here.” clayton finally said206

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.” Roxie said, “what do you think captain?”207

“I don’t give a damn about the fourth floor, if it has it’s own secret rooms they can stay that way! I say we get downstairs and get the hell out of here and try to figure out what we’ve just found in the safety of the car. All those for?” Sammi asked208

“Aye” said both Roxie and Clayton209

“All those opposed? Alright the ayes have it. We’ll come back when there’s more sunlight and perhaps, more people. There’s safety in numbers you know.”210

“Did you find that on the same website with the story of the hotel?” Roxie asked211

“No. Stone Philips said something about it on Dateline the other night.” 212

As soon as they had shoved all their finds into the paisley evidence bag, they started out the door. They looked around, half expecting to see someone walking about, half praying that they would suddenly be on the first floor.213

“Was the carpet always red in this hallway?” Clayton asked suddenly looking up from his feet. 214

“I don’t know, I didn’t really pay attention.” Roxie said turning around, “Hold on.” Roxie started digging in her pockets for something, finally pulling out her small ball of twine.215

“Okay, Sammi stop”216

“Why?”217

“Because it’s at this point in most horror movies where everyone gets lost from each other, so I’m tying you to me, and me to Clayton, that way in the event that everything should suddenly go terribly wrong we all go down together.”218

That’s when it hit them. Erin was the name of Roxie’s great aunt, the aunt that no one every talked about. She had gone to Hollywood to seek her frame and fortune and had never been heard from again. Clayton and Sammi exchanged a look which was lost on Roxie, since she was double and triple knotting everything she could so they wouldn’t lose each other. The reason the pictures looked vaguely familiar is because all the girls looked similar to Roxie, dark hair, pale skin, and in the last picture of Erin, grey eyes, the color of the calm before a storm.219

“Okay. Now we can go.” Roxie said with a smile.220

“Hey, Rox, do you think your mom would mind if you stayed the night with me tonight?” Sammi asked221

“I doubt she’d have a problem, why are you suddenly scared you’ll have nightmares or that Franken pig might attack?”222

“I’ll explain when we get to the car.”223

Roxie was slightly confused but looked around, feeling safe that she couldn’t get lost, that’s when she noticed the numbers on the doors. 412, 414, 416, 418 and then there they were standing directly in front of room 419.224

“Did we get turned around?” Sammi asked225

“I don’t know do you see the stairs?” Roxie asked Clayton226

“Clayton do you see the stairs?!?!” Sammi and Roxie screamed turning around.227

“There aren’t any stairs.” he answered, his face had turned to white, making the blue look like a huge bruise.228

“I guess we either go in or well I don’t know.” Roxie said after a few moments, they could hear the rain landing on the roof, and they could see it pouring down the windows.229

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Sammi asked, “You’re the one that knows these things, you’re the horror girl, so come on Little Miss Gore, what happens next?” 230

“Usually it’s only one person that this happens to, it’s never happened with more than that, unless the one of the other people is the killer.”231

“Well, we all know we aren’t a killer of any kind, except maybe of good fashion” Sammi said trying to joke, it didn’t go over well.232

“It’s now or never I guess” Sammi said as she reached for the door handle, “Just remember we all go down together.” 233

And together they went in.234

“That’s it?” Blake asked incredulously sitting up on the bed, “So you’re gonna leave me hanging?”235

“It’s an urban legend, it doesn’t really have an end” Amber said236

“Well what do people say happened?” he asked237

“The police were called after Roxie’s mom couldn’t get a hold of any of them. They searched high and low, Roxie’s mom even called Jake, her ex, to see if he had any ideas. He was the one who told them about the hotel. When the cops got there they found two cars. Sammi’s and Clayton’s. Roxie’s was gone. They searched the hotel in and out, upstairs in room 419 they found their evidence bag, three sets of keys and two cell phones. The strange thing was that Roxie’s keys were in that room. They never found the car. After searching the entire room top to bottom, they found a hidden room behind a wall in the closet. The room was stained in blood, they never found out who’s, either that or they never released it. In the middle of the room they found two 7 inch rope lengths, and a picture of Roxie, Clayton and Sammi that had been taken two weeks before. Jake was questioned but was ruled out as a suspect after they talked to his new girlfriend about it, she gave him his alibi. The police did say that they finally had some new evidence in the hotel disappearances, and contrary to what it said in the story it was only about 38 people who had disappeared all together, over four decades. They never said anything about what happened, and I think the town felt better after that. A new fence was installed and they put up about three gates to ward off other kids, although some say in November, when it rains, you can hear them laughing, then you hear them scream.”238

“Wow, all we had in my home town was the crazy man with the hook and an old asylum.”239

“All in all Riverside was a nice place to grow up. It was just the right size for me, big enough to lose yourself in a crowd, but small enough to know everyone worth knowing.”240