Prologue
Joe's P.O.V.
'Got to move' I thought, picking myself up and sprinting back to the elevator. I had found a bomb (inside the safe to room 1351 B) and it was rapidly counting down towards 0. I just prayed I could reach the bomb shelter in time, i.e. the elevator. By some great fortune, I had recently learned that the door to the elevator was protected from gamma radiation, the primary radiation a bomb gave off when it exploded.
Unfortunately, that information served no purpose as the bomb went off faster than I had anticipated. The ensuing blast threw me out the window of the 13th floor towards the hard concrete.
'This is it.' I thought, bracing myself for the quick end. I closed my eyes for a second, then thought better and decided to face death in the eye, like my ex-girlfriend, Iola. Just as I had thought that a glittering light appeared just to my right.
Previously
"Phil! Raisa! Traffic's going to be worse than we anticipated, so let's hurry it up," Chet, a best friend, and former brother of my ex-girlfriend, Iola Morton, hollered from inside the white limo the 10 of us were currently riding in. The 10 of us, soon to be 12, were traveling to JFK for a 4:30 p.m. flight to Austin Texas. Once in Austin, we were picking up 2 cars that our father, Fenton Hardy, had reserved for our large group. Frank's 21st birthday was tomorrow and we would be celebrating in Pflugerville, Texas, about 30 miles away from Austin International Airport, at a new hotel, The Little Bighorn. Not only was The Little Bighorn the site of Custer's Last Stand, but this hotel was also the site of some strange occurrences, of which Fenton had earlier relayed details to us.
Phil Cohen, one of our high school friends with a high IQ and a knack for computer programming, came out first with 2 suitcases and his laptop case. His girlfriend, Raisa Paravatha, an Indian exchange student who worked at an IT company in Manhattan, came out second carrying a single suitcase and a purse.
After the two had stuffed their luggage in the trunk, they climbed in together between Tony Hooper and his identical twin brother, Eduardo.
"Last stop, John Fitzgerald Kennedy Airport," our female driver announced from beyond a dark Plexiglas window that separated the passengers from the driver.
"I've never heard it called anything other than JFK," I heard Karen Hunt whisper to her boyfriend, Biff Hooper. Biff gave a nod.
As the limo was completing its U-turn for getting out of Phil's neighborhood Chet asked, "So can you guys remind me what this mystery at The Little Bighorn is?"
"Well," Frank, my older brother, stated slowly, "There are reports of thumping and thudding coming from above the 12th floor, the last documented floor of the hotel."
"There is evidence of a 13th floor, but it was never found. People just concluded the level got abandoned." I continued.
"Also jewelry and other valuables have been stolen from locked safes during the middle of the night. And lastly, there are claims that the front desk lady, a person by the name of Alice X., is actually a ghost. There is some pretty convincing documented evidence for support, but that is probably not related to the first two claims." Frank finished.
"I'd rather spend my vacation with the Hardy Boys than with the Ghost Busters," Tony's twin brother, Eduardo, voiced causing a nice laugh.
"Same here," my girlfriend, Vanessa Bender, agreed, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek.
Chet thanked us for the review and remained quiet as we drove in relative silence to the airport. Along the way, Vanessa and I spent some time chatting about our itinerary. She wanted to visit Sea World in San Antonio, just like myself, where she hoped to reconnect with a cousin of hers who lived in the area. I myself wanted to have fun and look into the strange occurrences at the hotel.
A while later our limo stopped in front of the United Arrivals. After getting our suitcase's out from the trunk, Frank tipped the limo driver and led us through check-in and security. We breezed through both and the 12 of us all met in front of a Starbucks.
"Alright," Frank exclaimed, checking the time, "We have 45 minutes left until take off. Does anyone want anything before we go? If so, let me know and I can give you your ticket now.
Surprisingly, Frank's girlfriend, Callie Shaw, and Tony's girlfriend, Maria Stefanos, decided to grab a bite. After the two had taken their tickets, the couple got in line.
In the meantime, I took a seat in the waiting area with my girlfriend, Vanessa. For some reason I found myself thinking about Iola. How far would Iola and I be in our relationship if she were alive? Would she even be alive? Would I have gotten to know Vanessa? Would Iola and Vanessa have known each other? Would I have chosen a girlfriend yet?
Finally, my musing was interrupted by Vanessa tapping me on the shoulder. She held both of our tickets in her hand. "It's time to board."
I mumbled a thanks, pocketed the ticket, and pulled myself up. Fifteen to twenty minutes later, we were seated in Row 26, Vanessa in the middle and I in the aisle.
"So, it looked like you were thinking heavily about Iola," Vanessa observed after a short silence.
"How the hell did you know!" I exclaimed in surprise.
"You're the detective," Vanessa teased, "Didn't you learn our body movements can be indicators?" After a second short silence, she added, "You have this look. That's all I'm going to say.
The two of us made idle chitchat until a female voice with a slight Bostonian accent announced from above me, "Excuse me, but I have the window seat."
I nodded and scooted back one row, letting the female pass. After maneuvering around Vanessa, she claimed her seat. I then reclaimed mine.
Wasting no time, Vanessa went ahead and introduced the two of us to the Eastern. After she had introduced herself as Veronica, we all shook each other's hand.
"What brings you to Texas?" Vanessa asked afterward.
"It's complicated," Veronica began, "My friend, Elizabeth, coordinated with my mutual friend, Katherine, for this get together. My friend, Alice, and myself were allowed to tag along. My friends and I are going to free dive Jacob's Well, one of the items on my bucket list.
'Jacob's Well? I've never heard of that place' I mused. Vanessa sensed my quietness and said something along the lines of congratulations.
After thanking Vanessa, Veronica turned the question back on us.
"Well," I began, pausing to study Veronica. She was a tall college-aged female, perhaps 5'10' with Eastern Asian roots. She had light green eyes, long black hair, and a slender athletic body. "My brother's having a birthday party in Texas with me and several of our friends, all of which are on this flight. We're going to relax and look into the strange occurrences happening at The Little Bighorn."
"My friend, Elizabeth, got us a reservation there." Veronica stated out loud, "She didn't mention anything about strange occurrences. Anything we should know about?"
"Really," I responded, surprised by the coincidence that someone else would be visiting The Little Bighorn, "Well there are reports of jewelry and other valuables being stolen from locked safes during the middle of the night. And there have been loud thumps and thuds heard from above the 12th floor, which is advertised to be the last level of the hotel."
Veronica snorted, "Our reservation is on the 12th floor."
"And finally of interest is a claim that the person who works at the front desk, an Alice X., is actually a ghost." I continued, thinking Veronica could be eyes and ears for the 12th floor if she wanted.
Upon hearing the front desk ladies name, Veronica gasped and her face turned pale. I could see from her eyes that she had some sort of connection with this Alice X. and that it was one filled with tragedy. I was correct as Veronica soon revealed she had an identical twin sister named Alice, but that she drowned several years ago. Even though her last name ended in an X, Veronica concluded that it was probably someone different working front desk, to which I agreed.
After a short silence, Veronica announced she was going to try and get some sleep on the off chance that the thuds and thumps would keep her up tonight. She closed her eyes, leaned back, rested her hands on her stomach, and slowed her breathing. She was asleep by the time the plane took off.
Maybe 3 hours later, she woke up.
"You slept well," I observed, "I hope you can sleep well tonight. By the way, I've never heard of Jacob's Well. What and where is it?"
"It's a perineal spring near Wimberley," Veronica detailed. "It's known for its underwater cave labyrinths. Several have drowned there already, but as long as the 4, of us, me and 3 of my girlfriends, keep an eye on each other, we should be fine. We've got plenty of free diving experience among us."
After the two of us wished her good luck, Vanessa then asked Veronica how long she could hold her breath. Veronica deflected the question, but answered the next question; tell us about your sister.
Veronica revealed that both she and Alice were raised in Boston to a construction worker and a dentist. Growing up Alice joined a competitive swim team and spent a lot of time in the water. Pretty soon she was also a competitive breath holder. There was either a really good breath holder already on the swim team, or Alice was just competing with herself, but she broke barriers when she experienced her first splenic contraction at age 11. At age 13, she taught Veronica how to swim after Veronica had been tossed in the deep end and flailed about for about 15 seconds. When she was 15, Veronica and Alice enrolled in a free diving course where Alice formed a relationship with the instructor and committed herself to free diving. She took up yoga, meditation, and anaerobic exercise and improved her time even more. However, when she was 19, she drowned at Loch Ness.
After Veronica had told us Alice had drowned, she slipped into several minutes silence before promising we would talk later. We nodded and watched the flight land. After wishing her goodbye, we made our way to baggage claim and joined our group again.
"By some great coincidence, the person we sat next to is staying at The Little BigHorn," I exclaimed to the group, "She and her friends got reservations at the 12th floor. I don't know if she would be willing to be our eyes and ears, but it's a good break."
"Indeed." Phil commented, "Why didn't you ask her?"
"We should have brought it up, but we didn't." Vanessa admitted, "We'll ask when we see her next. By the way, Tony, do you have any interest in hanging out with some female free divers? Do you want more tips for your spearfishing?"
"I would," Tony agreed, "I don't know any females who can compete with me, so it will be a good change and maybe I'll get some tips so I can reach that 3:30 mark."
I ignored the ongoing conversation and kept an eye out for my suitcase. Maybe 10 minutes later, after all the suitcases had been collected, I was still without my suitcase. I muttered a curse and told my group I was off to see a United representative.
After explaining my plight to the man, Isaac, and giving him any necessary information he would need, I headed back to my group.
"Minor setback," I cried, letting the group know I was back, "They will send it to the hotel if they find it. Let's leave before anything else horrible happens."
Frank smirked and urged his group to car pickup. Since Fenton had already made the reservation, we quickly made our way to the garage. After storing our suitcases among the 2 cars, I climbed into one with Frank, Callie, Vanessa, and the Prito twins.
Traffic was terrible coming out, so our 30-minute drive turned into a nearly 50-minute drive. When we arrived, Eduardo went in to grab the luggage rack while I helped unpack the car.
After helping unpack, Frank suddenly cried, "Think fast Joe." He tossed the keys to me. For some rare reason, my all-around athletic-self dropped the keys. I picked them up, pocketed them, and when I stood up I found myself staring across the street at Iola Morton.
Up until this point, it had been 5 years since Iola died, and I had never seen her or felt her presence. Why was she coming to me now? Was it even her? Of course, it was. Why was I seeing her now?
My musing was interrupted when Frank patted my shoulder exclaiming, "I can't believe you dropped that."
"You and me both," I admitted my eyes momentarily shifting down. When I looked for Iola again, she had disappeared.
'What?' I thought, 'How could she disappear? Was I hallucinating?'
Shaking the image from my mind, I helped everyone load their suitcases on the luggage rack which Eduardo had just brought out. Then we headed in.
The person working at the front desk when we went in wasn't Alice X, the person we would investigate. Instead, her name was Annie C. Walking up to the front desk I whispered to Annie that my suitcase was on its way to The Little Big Horn and to keep it behind the desk when it came.
"I'll do that." Annie promised, "Are you here to sign in?"
Frank excused himself multiple times as he made his way to Annie and took over. While Frank was checking in on our reservation, I searched the lobby, searching for Veronica. I didn't see her, but I saw Iola again. Wait, Iola?
I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Iola was still there. So I was probably not hallucinating.
"You alright man," Chet asked startling me.
"I'm fine. I think," I began, looking back at where I had last seen Iola. Again, she was nowhere to be seen. I mentally sighed, scratched my head in confusion, and waited for Frank to return.
Seconds later, Frank returned, announcing Fenton had reserved our group 3 different rooms on all different floors. It would be up to us to work out who would be staying on each floor.
"Do we want to try the human card shuffler to randomize who gets each floor," Phil suggested, "What floors do you have?"
"639, 503, and 829," Frank replied from memory, "Any specific room requests?"
"Not I." I admitted, "I just want a male willing to lend me some clothes for a day or two."
"You can room with me," Frank offered, "Which 2 of you want to join us?"
Phil and Raisa looked at each other and Raisa announced she and Phil would room with us. After pulling out 4 keys belonging to the same room, we all made our way to the elevator.
"Frank and I will be rooming in 503. Try and remember that," I announced, "Mind if I carry anything, Phil?"
Phil nodded and handed me one of his two suitcases. I took it, wished the others good luck, and joined Frank, Phil, and Raisa in the elevator.
Minutes later, the four of us stood outside our room. Phil took the suitcase that I had and opened the door. After freezing up over the smell of an exploding bomb by the doorway, I entered the room and froze again.
There, in the middle of my room, was what appeared to be my suitcase.
"That's not your suitcase, is it?" Phil asked, eyeing the suitcase that lay in the middle of the room.
"I'll check," I cried, making my way to the suitcase. As I got closer, I noticed a sticky note on the item of interest. Picking the sticky note up, I couldn't help but notice the scent of Iola's perfume.
"To Joe." I read, "Sorry about taking your suitcase, but I couldn't think of another way to near guarantee that you and Frank would room together. Maybe as our relationship continues, you will understand why we never met until now. Maybe you will never. I also arranged your meeting with Veronica. This will be a very important relationship in the future. I recommend you invest in it immediately. Her dead sister, Alice, with whom I am communicating with, is in room 1249.
'Now, in your suitcase, I have put two gifts to help you along with your mystery. The first is a dream catcher. As you progress in this mystery, you will see me more and more. I have something very important to tell you when we meet in your dreams. It involves the extent of The Assassains reach. Trust no one. The second is a notebook. It will be of assistance. Signed Iola. P.S. If you want to talk, find my red-headed messenger."
"Is that some sort of joke?" Frank exclaimed, "Iola died."
"I know," I mumbled, trying to reason the recent events with the fact that I knew Iola was already dead. Either I was hallucinating big time, or I didn't know what happened after death and the recent memories of Iola are evidence that there is something strange about death. Before I thought about it too hard, I needed to contact the front desk and let them know that my suitcase had already arrived.
"Can you get the front desk's phone number for me?" I asked, "I'd like to confirm whether or not Annie could have sent my suitcase up already. Then, we'll look in the suitcase."
Frank nodded and excused himself while he looked for the number. After a short look, he dialed the number, handed me the phone, and excused himself to the room on the right.
After connecting to the front desk and confirming I was talking to Annie, I explained to them that my missing suitcase had been located and asked if she had brought it up. I wasn't surprised when Annie denied any involvement in my reappearing suitcase.
"So someone broke into your room?" Annie questioned, trying to understand, "Do you need me to change your room number?"
"I don't see how anyone could have known I would be in this room." I began. That was true because the only person I could come up with was Iola and she was dead, "I'll set up some shifts and let you know if anything else strange happens. But for now, I won't need a new room."
"Alright," Annie replied, "Let me know if you need to switch. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Maybe," I admitted, "What time does Alice X work tonight?"
"Is this about the rumors that she's a ghost?" Annie asked.
In surprise, I said yes. Annie sighed, having probably heard that several times before, and continued, "She works every night from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. There anything else I can help you with?"
I told her there was nothing else, thanked her for her help, and hung up. Tonight, one of us would watch the front desk lady. But first, I was off to 1249.
So that is the end of the first chapter. I hope it was better than my previous writings. I've been trying to minimize dialogue and hopefully, I was somewhat successful.
I've already written the next chapter and half of chapter 3. Until next time.
Re3#