THE HOTEL WAWANAKWA: Part One
On an average day for the average person, it might be a little disconcerting to find oneself in a strange abandoned building, unconscious on the floor. Panic and dread would follow your awakening, with paranoia and a million questions overloading your brain. This wasn't the case for 23 still unaware teens, haphazardly sleeping on the floor and various pieces of furniture in what appeared to be a lobby. This was just the beginning of another dramatic day, under the sadistically cruel wing of host Chris Maclean.
The creak of a door opening, hinges almost rusted through, and the echo of footsteps signaled the first sign of activity in the lobby. Briskly, almost enthusiastically the steps made their way to the mess of bodies, passing by a dusty and worn reception desk. Embellishing the once rich maple colored desk, hung the remains of the establishments title, mostly unreadable except for the word: HOTEL.
Beyond the dirty, shattered windows, the sun was setting just as the first of the teens began to rise from their drug induced nap. The crunching of dead leaves snapped awake one of the young girls, who's hand clenched tightly around her dearest friend's hand. Her dark brown eyes instantly targeted the pair making their way to the center of the lobby. One, a roguishly handsome man in his mid-thirties and second, an imposing dark skinned man, wearing a bloodied apron and a deep scowl.
Sitting up, her recent awakening did not go unnoticed by witty Chris, who playfully put his finger to his lips to hush her. In his other hand he held onto a bullhorn, the sight of which made the sizeable woman urgently shake the thin Samoan girl besides her.
"Katie! Katie! Wake up!"
"Mng," Katie dryly mumbled in her haze, "Sadie? We there yet?"
"Oh, we're here alright," Sadie confirmed, pulling her friend up into a sitting position.
Any other sleepy questions that remained were drowned out by the ear-splitting blare of foghorn being amplified through a bullhorn.
Immediately bodies began to spring up from their resting places, the lobby echoing with startled gasps, curses and outright screams. Those placed haphazardly on sheet covered chairs, clumsily knocked their seats over. Another of the rudely awakened teens tumbled off a couch she was laid across with a loud thud and torrent of curses. Many of the teens looked ready to and willing to fight, others ready to flee the scene. Still, despite the clamor, the sadistic cackling of Chris and Chef Hatchet could still be heard.
"I shoulda known," snarled Leshawna as she was helped to stand by Harold and Bridgette. Her mocha skinned face glowed red with anger, and from when she smacked her head into the floor.
"Good morning kiddies," Chris beamed, brazenly pleased with himself, "Or should I say, good evening?"
The hues of dusk sprinkled the inside of the lobby through cloudy windows, hallowing the grinning man and further disorienting the group. Lindsay's bright blue eyes squinted beyond the familiar host, dusting off what looked like years of dust from her orange skirt. Her questioning stare voiced a dozen important questions, but her lips asked the trivial one instead, "Ummm, this doesn't look like the concert hall."
"That's cuz it's not," he lowly chuckled again.
"Ugh, isn't it obvious, he tricked us… again," scoffed Heather from a far corner of the lobby, "I don't know what's wrong with us to ever trust Chris Maclean. The party, the concert hall, the recognition… it was all a scam… for whatever 'this' is."
"Thanks for being obvious, Heather. But I guess it's a great segway into why you're here." For dramatic effect, he gave the group a moment to collect themselves. Almost meticulously, he watched them gather themselves, Tyler went to Lindsay's side, and they were soon accompanied by short and stout Beth. Geoff held tightly on to his lady love Bridgette, while BFF's Katie and Sadie took each other's hand for comfort as the waited in anticipation. High pitched squeals from Sierra echoed throughout the room as she worried over Cody, who persisted that he was fine on his own.
Wedge heels stomped annoyingly loud towards the center of the group as Courtney shot daggers towards Gwen, Duncan and Trent. Trent was unfortunately just in the wrong place at the wrong time, attempting to help Gwen steady herself at the same time as Duncan. The trio had an awkward moment of apologies before Trent conceded, backing away from the petite Goth girl.
Fiery red-head Izzy seemed to be the least affected by the situation as she tip-toed past Owen, who somehow had remained sound asleep. She seemed to be studying the higher architecture of the building interior, for her own peculiar reasoning. The remaining players, DJ, Alejandro, Justin, and Eva stood their ground, watching Chris impatiently.
"Welcome to the Hotel Wawanakwa, the most haunted and abandoned lodging in all of Ontario. By now, I'm sure you've already realized that the cast reunion was a fake and that I may or may not have drugged you on the bus ride." Expectantly, he laughed at his own plotting, than frowned deeply as Owen snorted loudly.
"Guess you over did it with the big guy, Chef. Anyway! I've invited everyone back for a very special challenge. You see, back in its heyday, this was one of the most luxurious and profitable establishments in the province. But because of some unexplained phenomenon, and building code violations, they shut the doors in the late 80s. Rumor has it; the tortured, horribly… gruesomely murdered souls of past residents still haunt the halls of this hotel, cursing it to failure. That's where the 22 of you… 23, no…"
The gears in Chris' brain visibly began to strain as he silently pointed to count each of the teens in front of him. He looked up towards Chef, mumbling, "We missing one?"
The larger man shrugged indifferently. Chris scratched at his stubble thoughtfully, and Eva surprisingly perked up, loosening her crossed arms. With a swift kick of her navy sneaker, she kicked the still slumbering Owen, effectively rolling him over and revealing Noah's twisted up form underneath.
"God! What took you so long woman?" The muscled brunette barely flinched as she wrenched the scrawny young man up from the ground, flinging him across the floor behind her.
"Where was I? Oh yeah. Today, you kids will be on a little treasure hunt, because hidden somewhere within this hotel, is another case of another million dollars! First one to the case takes it all or you can attempt to team up and split the winnings… if you can. Sound easy? Maybe not, because there's still the unresolved issue of," for effect, Chris dropped his voice a notch, "the murdered souls of this hotel."
Chris mewed pleasantly to himself as the beginnings of fear formed on a few faces. Still there were skeptic remaining like Duncan, Heather and Gwen that simply rolled their eyes at his antics. Chef let out an exasperated breath when he noticed Izzy pop her head out from behind the reception desk and almost appeared: giddy.
Brave resolve only lasted a moment more when the sound of a pipe clattered loudly from down a hall, followed by bewailing moans. The twins screeched aloud while they latched onto one another as approaching footsteps echoed down the hall. Tyler took up a brave fighting stance, behind Lindsay and Beth who had taken to hugging each other for support. From opposite sides of the lobby, Alejandro looked doubtful, and Heather, simply looked annoyed.
From beyond the hallway, a grotesquely pale form crept into the reception area, still moaning and groaning loudly with each dragged out step. Chef frowned even deeper as his dark eyes rolled, while the host face palmed in annoyance. Approaching at snail speed before and below them was a small girl around the age of ten. She donned an outfit more suitable for a 50's musical, and was covered head to toe in white powder and red stain. It was instantly clear that she was acting the part of an undead resident of the hotel. Gwen sudden outburst of laugh summed up the fact that no one was impressed and scared anymore.
"You weren't supposed to come out yet!" Chris hollered towards the young girl, but a quick glare from Chef Hatchet quelled much of the host's anger.
"Oh," she blinked innocently as Chef towered besides her, slinging her carefully over his shoulder. The frustrated host grumbled something about firing some interns under his breath as the little actress and Chef disappeared down the hallway.
"You can't be serious," Gwen snorted, attempting to hide her smile.
"Hey, I'd watch out for that one, she's an ankle biter… really. And since she ruined the suspense I was building, and some of the mystery, I'll give you the cliff notes version. Your job is to find the case of money and win the game, but be warned there will be obstacles in the way. Also, you may eliminate your competition if you choose. You'll do that by 'tagging' the other players with paint guns," from his back pocket, Chris revealed a small derringer sized pistol for an example. "The number of paint guns and other obstacles in this game will be an unknown. There could be 23, one for each of you, or there could only be one. These can only be used on fellow players, cuz' y'know it's not fun otherwise."
Pausing again, Chris allowed a moment to soak in what he'd said, also giving an opportunity for one of the sound men to run up behind him and whisper. His dark brow furrowed as he carefully listened, and other contestants began to whispering to each other as well. Duncan leaned back towards Gwen to quietly announce, "First chance I get, I'm bailing."
"Count me in. There's no way he can keep us here." Gwen agreed, noting that their host was finishing up.
"So, I'm told we're only allowing 22 of you to compete in this challenge."
"I'll go," Duncan volunteered within a heartbeat. Even so, as the delinquent attempted to march out towards the front door, Chris reached up to close line him and thwarts his escape.
"Not so fast. My show. My pick." The two men stared dangerously at each other, before the pierced juvenile returned obediently to his spot by Gwen. Chris returned to scrutinizing the cast of teens, pointing with his finger as he chanted, "Eenie, menie, minie… Justin."
All eyes fell upon the teenage model as his handsome blue eyes widened in confusion, "What? Why me?"
"Because, this show can only have one pretty face," Chris arrogantly proclaimed.
"But Alejandro…" Justin earnestly began when Chris fired the compact derringer still in his grasp. Screams and startled gasps resonated in the room as the pistol exploded color across the protesting man's chest, splattering up his chin. The force of the impact sent Justin off balance, careening back while gripping his "wounded" chest. Chris' resolve remained firm as everyone looked from him to Justin, back to him and one last time at Justin.
"There, you've been officially eliminated," Chris turned his back to the mass, replacing the pistol into his back pocket. All watched expectantly on the spot where Justin fell, Sadie nearly fainted from the suspense. A cough of pain pushed out from his lungs, before he finally pushed himself up, whipping florescent pink paint from his face.
No real words of comfort were shared as Justin stood up, and proceeded somberly towards the front door. With the young model exiting the Hotel the first elimination of the game was complete.