Welcome back FanFiction. Haven't picked up a lot of views, only about 3 per day, but I am pleased to see 2 followers. Here's chapter 2.
Chapter 2
Joe's P.O.V.
Together, Frank and I unpacked my suitcase looking for the two gifts. We were surprised when we found them both. Just like this alleged Iola described, there were two gifts. One was the notebook. Looking through it, we discovered the notebook had only 3 words; thud equals dot. We both reasoned that the thuds and thumps were part of an elaborate message in Morse Code, thus tying it to the missing valuables. We just had to figure out the message first.
The second gift was the dream catcher. It was circular in the middle with some sort of webbing and had 12 clock-like extensions in the shape of gems. Neither one of us were sure how this object would play into our mystery yet. The issue of seeing Iola more and more in my dreams confused me. Dream catchers were used to give people good dreams and expel the bad ones. Dream progression was totally foreign to me.
"Annie tells me this Alice X. works at the front desk starting 10 pm tonight," I began, "Maybe one of these nights some people can take 2 hours shifts watching the front desk to see if they can find anything unusual about Alice X.
"Sounds like a good idea," Frank agreed, "If you plan on having Veronica be the eyes and ears for the 12th floor, now might not be a bad time to head up. I've got quarter after 9. Hopefully, they're still up."
I thanked Frank, told him I planned to head up there, and told him I'd be in 1249 if he needed me.
After I made my way to the elevator, I was stunned to see a button for the 13th floor. Knowing that the 12th floor was the last documented level on the hotel, I wondered what would happen if I pressed the button for that 13th floor. Something strange, probably.
After bringing out my phone and setting up a video, I pressed the button for the 13th floor. Going up, nothing unusual happened until I reached that 12th floor. The elevator reached the 12th floor and was on its way to the 13th floor when the elevator suddenly stopped.
Thud! Thud! Thump! Thump! Thud! Thump! Thud! Thump! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! The elevator then paused for several seconds before continuing. Thud! Thump! Thump! Thud! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thump! Thump! Thud! Thump! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thump! Thump! Thud! Thump! Thump! Thud! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thud! Thud! Thump! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thump! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thump! Thud! Thump! Thump! Thud! Thump! Thump!
The elevator then settled back down to the 12th floor and opened its door.
"What the f*** was that," I exclaimed, the F word escaping my mouth as my mind went completely blank. "Even if we did translate the thuds into dots, I think we're still stuck. Too many combinations."
Exiting the elevator, I sent the video to Phil, Raisa, and Frank in a group text, asking them if they could start transcribing the thuds into dots.
Slipping my phone into my pocket, I followed the signs down to Room 1249.
Before I could knock on the door, it flew open. The person on the other end had dark green eyes, cropped red hair, a fair build, a mysterious aura to her, and visible hearing aids in both of her ears.
"May I come in?" I asked after getting over my surprise. The redhead stared me down before nodding and gesturing me inside.
Cautiously, I stepped inside and observed the room. Apart from the chandelier that hung in the middle of the hallway, our two rooms were the same. My gaze kept on working its way back to the chandelier and I barely heard Veronica say, "Careful or it will hypnotize you."
"It already has," I muttered, turning to face Veronica, "I don't know if you'd be interested, but we need some eyes and ears for the 12th floor. All you'd have to do is listen for the thuds and thumps and see if there's a pattern or time the thuds and thumps occur. Can you do that?" Veronica nodded.
I also told Veronica her alleged sister worked tonight and asked her if she wanted to watch her tomorrow night. She agreed. I was just about to leave when I remembered Iola wanted me to start a relationship with Veronica. I boldly asked, "Have you had dinner yet? Want to go out somewhere and have a bite?"
"We haven't. I'll have to talk it over with my friends first, but I'd be interested," Veronica answered, "I'll meet you in the lobby by 9:45 to let you know my decision."
We each said goodbye to each other and I headed back to the elevator.
'Hah. There's an up arrow for this 12th floor' I thought, eyeing the up arrow near the elevator, 'That's more support for a 13th floor. Yet we're no closer to finding that 13th floor.'
Pressing the down arrow, I stepped into the elevator and rode back down to the 5th floor. When I entered room 503 my roommates Phil, Raisa, Frank, and Chet were around the table. On the table was Phil's computer and the post-it note from the alleged Iola.
"Chet!" I exclaimed in surprise, "What brings you over?"
Chet gave me a side-five before answering, "The handwriting. Frank sent me over to confirm whether or not the writing on the note may have come from Iola. And I admit it certainly looks like Iola's writing. Have you considered something supernatural is happening?"
"Not right now," I admitted, "But something is going on with the 13th floor."
I then explained how there was an up button on the 12th-floor elevator and a 13th-floor button in the elevator. I then directed towards Phil, "Have you transcribed the thuds into dots yet?"
Phil nodded and showed me the transcribed version. "Dot! Dot! Dash! Dash! Dot! Dash! Dot! Dash! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dot! There was a large space, then it continued. Dot! Dash! Dash! Dot! Dash! Dash! Dash! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dash! Dash! Dot! Dash! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dash! Dash! Dot! Dash! Dash! Dot! Dash! Dash! Dash! Dash! Dot! Dot! Dash! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dash! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dot! Dash! Dot! Dash! Dash! Dot! Dash! Dash!" He explained that he and Raisa were currently writing the program that would review the large number of permutations and sort them by relevance to actual words and or phrases.
I wished the two luck and asked Chet who he was rooming with. He revealed Vanessa, Eduardo, and Callie were staying with him in room 829. After storing that information on my phone, I asked about food.
"Phil and I were going out eat," Raisa admitted, "If you want to come along, you're more than welcome. We've already invited Chet, Vanessa, and the Prito Twins."
"I think I will." I agreed, "By the way, I invited Veronica along. She may want to bring some of her friends. Can you accompany a few more?"
"Certainly. The more the merrier," Phil cried. I then told Phil the details and the three of us agreed to meet everyone downstairs by 9:45.
Around an hour later, after picking up Veronica and her friend, Alice, a slender athletic blonde who admired Veronica free diving ability, we drove to Olive Garden where the 9 of us gathered around two five seated tables that had been pushed together.
"How did you meet your friend, Veronica, Alice?" Chet asked.
"Well my friend, Katherine was already friends with Veronica's friend, Elizabeth," Alice began, "We had never met, but there was an interest in setting up a meeting. I was interested in finding someone who could actually beat me in a breath hold contest and I thought Veronica would give me a challenge. Her sister, Alice, was a very good free diver who could hold her breath for over 7 minutes."
"Holy!" I exclaimed in surprise, "Who would have thought that a 19-year-old could hold her breath for over 7 minutes?"
"Forget that, although that is very impressive," Tony exclaimed, "There any tips you can teach me, Veronica? I want to try and reach 3 and a half minutes."
Veronica nodded and told Tony that he could seek her out next time they met. She then ordered water just as the waiter, a tall muscular African-American standing maybe 6'10" with a shaved head and green eyes walked up.
The man, whose name tag read Abu, didn't miss a beat. He wrote down the drink request and then handed everyone menus. When everyone had ordered, I too had ordered water, the giant departed.
"Anyways, arrangements were made and the 4 of us, Veronica, Katherine, Elizabeth, and I met at the Gulf of Mexico a few years ago." Alice continued, "It was confirmed that Veronica could hold her breath longer than me and, despite the effort I've put in, I've never been able to beat her."
That was apparently all Alice had to say as she went through the Olive Garden menu. I myself browsed through the menu, ordering a loaded baked potato with a side of coleslaw the next time Abu showed up.
After Abu had left, we decided to learn more about each other by playing an icebreaker of sorts where someone asked a question and everyone answered it.
"Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo?" I asked. "If so, where."
Everyone answered the question including Veronica, who admitted, and showed us she already had a dragon tattoo on her right arm. Before her sister hid died, she had got a similar dragon tattoo on her left arm. She shocked everyone, except her friend, Alice, when she revealed that she was 15 when she got a tattoo. Apparently in Boston, a minor could get a tattoo with parental consent.
"My turn," Vanessa cried, "What's the craziest thing you've ever done? Mine was when I was 16. As a lifeguard I was training myself to hold my breath longer, and since I lived on a farm, I practiced holding myself breath in a horse trough."
Vanessa, myself, and a couple others let out a laugh. After having other people relay there craziest moments, Alice stated, "I tried to teleport."
"What?" Phil cried in confusion.
"I tried to teleport." Alice repeated, "In my defense, I saw a magician seemingly teleport from box A to Box B. I have no idea how he did it. So I tried it. However, when my friend, Elizabeth, actually teleported, it left me more confused."
My eyebrows raised in surprise. Teleportation was something you heard about in science fiction, not real life. Raisa and Phil were equally confused.
"That's not possible." Raisa simply stated.
Alice shrugged and explained that she wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it. She also added that she was getting tips from Elizabeth on how to teleport, although I didn't know how serious she was about that. Alice insisted we investigate it ourselves before making drawing a conclusion.
"How about you, Veronica," I asked, trying to get my mind of the improbability of teleportation.
"At the time it was crazy. Now, it's a possibility thanks to the hard work I've put in. So about a week after my sister drowned, I wanted to join her, "Veronica recalled, "I tried to voluntarily drown myself. You know, take a breath and not surface. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful. So I tied myself to the underwater rungs in the deep end of our home pool. I succeeded but was brought back to my body. It wasn't my time."
"When is your time," I asked, immediately regretting it. Fortunately, Veronica assured me it was fine. She again deflected, this time telling me that was for her to know.
Those who remained also answered the question and we moved on with our icebreaker game. We spent more time playing than eating, so we got back to our hotel at almost 12:30. Looking around, I noticed the person at the front desk was missing. A sign that read Be Back Soon was displayed on the desk.
'That's a shame. I kind of wanted to see Alice X, just to ask Veronica if she could confirm that the person working front desk looked like her sister. No matter. We will have time tomorrow night to watch her in shifts.' I thought as I made my way past the main desk to the elevator where the others were.
I said my goodbyes to those not in 503 before heading back into my room with Phil and Raisa. I got ready for bed and slipped in beside a sleeping Frank. I stayed awake for a while, thoughts of Iola keeping me awake. Finally, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I was surprised to find myself back at the parking lot where Iola had died.
"What?" I whispered in confusion, "I…" Feeling the urge to look up, I did and caught the image of Iola heading into the car that she had perished in. Only then did I realize I was having one hell of a vivid dream.
"I see the way you look at me/I see the way you look at her," I heard Iola sing. She then continued humming that unknown melody as she got closer to her death.
"Stop!" I cried in futility. This was a dream. She had no chance of hearing me, but I didn't want to see her die in a fiery explosion again.
To my surprise, she appeared to acknowledge me. She turned towards me and said, "Find my red-headed messenger."
That phrase jolted me out of my dream and I woke up with a start.
"That was weird," I muttered. Throwing myself up, I stumbled out of bed, noticing Frank was absent and headed into the kitchen. Aside from a sticky note on the table, it appeared that no one else was up.
Making my way to the table I grabbed the sticky note and read it. Apparently Callie and Frank had gone out for breakfast for his 21st birthday. Deciding food wouldn't be a bad idea, I grabbed a phone and dialed room service.
After I had ordered breakfast I scribbled a note to Phil and Raisa, letting them know I had ordered room service and to pick it up when it arrived if I was not back yet, grabbed my key card, and walked down five flights of stairs to the front desk.
The person working front desk at this hour was a middle-aged woman in perhaps her mid-forties with braided red hair, light green eyes, and a clear Native American ancestry. She had a name tag that read Uma.
As I was walking up to her, she sensed me and asked, "Can I help you?"
"Perhaps," I admitted, "What do you know about the 13th floor? When I tried to use the elevator last night, it got up to the 12th floor, started to go to the 13th floor, but made a bunch of noise before settling back down to the 12th floor."
"You're not the first person to ask about that," Uma replied with a smile, "I don't know if there is a 13th floor. The blueprints I've been shown anyway show only 12. If there was supposed to be a 13th floor it never got added on because the stairs stop at the 12th floor. Anything else?"
I told her I didn't have any more questions and made my way back to the elevator. Deciding to stop by the 12th floor, to check on Veronica and her friends and to search for a false ceiling, I rode the elevator up to the 8th floor and got off.
Once there I headed towards the stairwell and climbed up to the 12th floor. Like Uma had said, there were no more stairs leading up and no indication that there were any more stairs.
I sighed heavily, slightly frustrated at not being able to find any clues as to the 13th floor yet.
"Let's see what's happening in 1249," I mused, heading towards the door the exit. After opening the exit door, I made my walk to 1249 and knocked.
"It's open!" a female voice that I didn't recognize cried from behind the door. I hesitated a moment before letting myself in.
The only person inside, or up, was a redhead with strong back legs. Her body was turned from me.
"Who are you?" I asked, "You're not Alice or Veronica cause I met them last night. Katherine or Elizabeth?"
"I'm Katherine Knight," the redhead introduced turning around, "You here for Veronica?" I saw the redhead had brown eyes and was exceptionally fit, the outline of a 6 pack under her T-shirt.
"Just stopping by," I admitted, "Who's here?"
"Just me." Katherine relayed, "The three of them are out to breakfast, but Elizabeth mentioned something about someone coming over while they were gone. I guess that's you. Does the name…Iola Morton mean anything to you?"
"My girlfriend, why?" I asked.
In response, Katherine handed me a folded piece of paper and gave it to me, telling me to read it. My eyes widened as I read the message. Elizabeth was the red-headed messenger that I was supposed to find.