"This place is a dump."

"Regina this is your fault."

"How exactly is a flood my fault?"
"Both of you knock it off." Snow White turned around to face her daughter and her stepmother. Emma rolled her eyes and stormed up the stairs passing Snow and Charming. Regina just glared back at Snow.. Shaking her head Snow followed Emma into the front room of a run down hotel on the outskirts of Storybrooke.

"Fantastic." Emma said sarcastically as she looked around. The entranceway was dim and cramped. The only window was a small one above the desk and it was so dirty barely any light came through. The fake chandelier above them was dusty, full of cobwebs and one light bulb was burnt out. There was a stairway to her left that presumably led to the rooms upstairs

"Ew." Ruby said as she entered switching her bag from one shoulder to the other almost hitting Whale as he followed her in. Belle made her way in also looking around and not looking the slightest bit nervous. Mr. Gold stood in the doorway, looking slightly disgusted by the place. Charming stepped out from the group and rang the bell that was in the middle of a solid wooden desk.

A door to the left of the desk slowly creaked open and an old man walked out. He was a hunched old man with pure white hair slicked back. He was wearing robes of blood red with gold trimming. He looked surprised to see anyone in his hotel.

"Hello, there. Are you folks lost?" He spoke with an accent that Charming wasn't familiar with but he was sure it was European.

"No, we need some rooms." Charming answered confidently.

"Rooms?" The old man's eyebrows raised, as if he believed they were pranking him. There was a strange aura surrounding the man that they all felt.

"Yep, uh five, no wait six. Six rooms, if you have them available."

The old man pulled a leather bound book out from the desk and set it on the desk raising a cloud of dust. His long nails scratching the surface of the book as he opened it to a page towards the front. The sound sent chills down Emma's spine. Regina noticed but for once didn't comment.

"If you'll please sign here," he pushed the book and a pen towards Charming, "then I can give your group rooms on the fourth floor." He gave them an unpleasant smile, looking each of them in the eye and then turned his back on the group to walk over to where the keys all hung on a rack. Belle stepped back closer to Gold who slipped his arm protectively around her waist.

"Here you go young sir. Rooms 401, 403, and 405 which will be on your right and 402, 404, and 406 that will be on your left." He held out his hand with six skeleton keys with numbers engraved on them for Charming to take. As he did so the man clasped his other hand over Charming's, pulling the younger man in closer.

"Good luck." The old man smiled that same eerie smile as he walked back into the room where he'd came from and gently shut the door again.

"Well," Charming started shaking his head slightly as if to rid himself of the memory of the old man. "Let's go to the fourth floor then."

The group gathered their bags back up and headed up the stairs. The handrail was splintered in parts but otherwise usable. The frayed carpet was bunched up in some spots and had holes in others so everyone had to be careful where they stepped.

"Why are we all they way up on the fourth floor?" Emma asked after they reached the second floor landing. "It's not like the first three were full."

"Well dearie this floor doesn't even have doors." Gold answered her question and pointed out into the hallway. Emma had been too busy watching her feet and trying not to trip on the ratty carpet that she hadn't noticed what Gold had. There were only 10 rooms but like Gold had pointed out not a single room had an actual door. The frames were there but each room was just a square bit of darkness. A few cans of paint sat out as if they'd started to remodel but never finished. The carpet was badly torn and there was a large water stain on the ceiling.

Emma started for the hallway but Gold pulled her back.

"Now's not the time for exploring. Let's keep moving." Emma didn't like Gold's serious tone. His normal teasing demeanor was all but gone.

The third floor wasn't much better than the second. All of the rooms had at least most of a door. One of them hung wide open and had a large battered hole through it where an eyehole would have been.

Without speaking the group continued their way up to the fourth floor. Belle lingered behind for a bit, transfixed with the open door. Gold nudged her a bit. She jumped and looked at him wide eyed as if he'd slapped her. But then calmed back down and made her way up the stairs. Gold looked at the door and then back at Belle and followed her up the stairs.

"Here we are, the fantastic fourth floor." Charming smiled a little as he tried to lighten the mood. Though he had to admit the fourth floor was in better shape than the others. Only two lights were burnt out. All of the doors were there and besides a large burn in front of the last room the carpet was only slightly worn.

"Okay so who wants what room?" He held out the keys. No one looked all that excited. Whale grabbed 406 which put him on the end room for their group. Ruby looked around for a second and grabbed 404 smiling slightly at Snow. Regina picked up 405 which was across the small hall from Whale. Belle plucked up 402 for her and Gold. Emma reluctantly took 403 which would put her next to Regina but it also meant that Snow wouldn't have to be next to Regina. Putting them that close together was just asking for trouble. With only key left in his hand Charming looked up at his wife as the rest of the group trudged off to their respective rooms.

"This'll be fun." She said as she took the key and went over to their door. A little metal plaque with 401 engraved in it was screwed into the door frame right below a small metal peephole.

"Hey, at least we're closest to the stairs." He gently put his hand on her waist as she unlocked the door.

"And the exit."