THE HOTEL WAWANAKWA: Part TWO
Ten minutes after Justin left the premises and Chris speedily (well vaguely actually) explained the remaining details of the latest Total Drama challenge. The host excused himself down a hall, clicking a remote control over his head before disappearing. It became clear moments later what the remote did when Duncan stormed towards the front entrance to find it locked tight. The pierced teen commented it "unusual" that such a decrepit hotel had such tight security before joining sides with Gwen. Their fingers curled together discretely by their sides, but even so Courtney couldn't miss the gesture, even from 20 feet away.
Left to strategize amongst themselves, groups quickly formed to begin the hunt for the hidden prize money. Tyler, Lindsay, Beth, Katie and Sadie all headed upstairs towards the guest rooms with Tyler as the leader. Leshawna pooled together Harold, DJ and Trent to explore the ballrooms and dining area on the main level. Owen still hadn't woken up from his sedation, blissfully unaware of Izzy's poking and prodding of his rotund form. Aftermath Host's Geoff and Bridgette along with Duncan and Gwen choose to search the many guest rooms above too, passing by Courtney lingering at the staircase. Here eyes glared daggers as the Punk and Goth couple passed, grumbling something about the building falling on top of their treacherous heads.
Meanwhile, watching the exchange like a hawk, debonair Alejandro scrutinized the young C.I.T. with interest. His opportunity to partner with the driven woman was momentarily lost when Sierra and Cody cheerfully approached her. So instead, Alejandro turned to the isolated raven beauty Heather. A dashing smile crossed his lips, "Well, it looks like you and I shall…"
"Team up?" she scoffed, her short ponytail whipping across his nose, "Not likely. If I'm going to play, I'm playing for myself."
The Hispanic teen considered her with a neutral expression as she hurried off towards the green oxidized elevator. Pressing the worn call button repetitively, the elevator doors finally dinged and began to creak open. Heather slid herself into the opening as quickly as she could, wondering if she would regret getting onto the degenerated lift. The only indications that the contraption still functioned was the floor level dial above the doors, and the fact it arrived at all.
As the doors whined shut, Heather mockingly called out to her crafty rival, "Besides, you'll just slow me down!"
At the stairs, Sierra was offering Courtney the opportunity to join up with Cody and herself. At first, the C.I.T. didn't seem to notice the bubbly fan-girl, but after a second attempt she replied coldly, "Join your team? Sorry but, why would I team up with a crazy and a loser?"
"Because everyone else has already left, silly. Well, except for them," Sierra gleefully corrected herself as she glanced over at Owen, Izzy, Noah and Eva, "but like, you can't break up Team E-scope plus Owen."
A bronze hand lightly touched over Sierra's glossy lips to silence her, "Yeah, I think I'm alright on my own."
"Sierra's just trying to be nice," Cody's voice admonished.
"Whatever. Nice doesn't win a million dollars," Courtney chided as she strutted off towards the dusty reception desk. Her brown eyes intently scanned over the yellowed papers, crusty books and scattered envelops littering surface. She dipped down to examine the shelves below filled with binders, receipts, and other documents. Spying a book with the hotel's logo on it, Courtney carefully slide it free, and a cloud of dust with it.
Squinting her eyes shut, she blindly waved the years of dirt particles away, gagging and choking on the filth. When the dust "cleared" Courtney was unpleasantly surprised to see another cast member rifling through the desk now.
"What are you doing?" she swiftly demanded of Noah.
"Probably the same as you. Looking for a hotel directory, map or something."
"I was here first."
"Whatever, it's a free country," Noah dryly shrugged, even when she tried to push him away.
"No it's a country that says, 'I was here first'."
"I don't need to keep it, I just wanted to get an idea of this place."
"Fine," Courtney finally caved as they located the hotel guide.
The pair of teens intently studied the hotel's layout, easily ignoring the startled cries of Owen who'd finally been roused from his nap. Izzy cackled at her unconventional victory, her methods leaving Owen rolling around on the floor in pain, "Not the kiwis!"
Eva also managed to ignore their antics, standing off on her own, her amber eyes blankly staring. It was normal to see her with arms crossed and a deep scowl, but somehow she seemed even more distant from the others. It wasn't until Noah announced his success that she was brought back to the world around her.
"Got it!" he monotonously crowed as he regrouped with the other three, leaving Courtney to wander off on her own mission.
"So, what's going on here? Where are we anyway?" Owen inquired, obviously the last to know.
"Challenge. Million Dollars. Sadistic Host. You'll figure it out as we go," Noah assured him before explaining the buildings layout. Six floors, about 20 rooms on each floor, a basement and other amenities about the hotel. Following the layout, he'd deduced the best plan was to start from the bottom and work up. Also because no other groups went that way, or they didn't even realize their was a basement.
"Oh, basement! I bet that's where they stored the bodies!" Izzy beamed.
"Bodies? What bodies?" Owen started.
"Don't listen to crazy. There are no bodies," Noah motioned for everyone to follow. The theme from "Tales from the Crypt" started to whistle from Izzy's lips as she prodded Owen onward, but Eva remained stationary in the lobby.
"Uhhh, She-Hulk," the bookworm hesitated as he analyzed the gruff woman, "You look kind of… um… pale… maybe even green. You feeling alright there?"
"What? I'm fine! Stop pestering me!" the short tempered woman erupted past the less muscular man. His own expression darkened as she stormed ahead and he rubbed his shoulder from where she'd shoved him aside. He sighed "whatever" before following after.
Past the lobby and a short distance down a side hallway, the quartet lingered at the entrance to the basement. No one seemed to want to be the one to turn the rusty doorknob, especially with Izzy moaning and whispering ghoulishly in the background. Eva growled menacingly at the red head, but that failed to curb her eccentricities. Sighing heavily, as if bracing himself, Noah finally pulled open the door, practically using it to shield himself just in case. The rest of the rabble backed away too, cautiously peering down into the dark abyss.
With another deep breath, the brains of the crew entered the basement, the rest huddled closely behind. As smart as Noah was, he couldn't figure out how he'd become the head of the charge this time, especially when Izzy seemed pleased as punch to explore the creepy basement. Even Eva would have been a better leader into the cold, damp, dark underground, but she was currently crossing her arms so tightly that her nails were digging into her skin. He wouldn't give her away, but he was positive she was scared… of something.
The basement was a teeth chattering ballet of shadows, spider webs and dirt. It reeked of must and damp earth, and the only light was the buzzing hum of weak fluorescents overhead. Thankfully Chris was powering the place, otherwise they'd be hopelessly stumbling around in the dark for the hidden prize. At one side was the entrance to the exercise room, and a boarded up salon. A small bar and game room resided down a hall on the other side, but it was the EMPLOYEES ONLY door that drew Noah's attention.
Owen quickly questioned why they weren't looking in the game room or anywhere else first as the skinny geek pushed on the locked door. His questions ignored, Noah instead called for Eva's attention asking if she could force open the locked door. She grumbled, "probably," before aggressively throwing her weight into the door once than twice before the old lock gave way. Dust clouded the doorway and dozen of insects scurried away from their disturbed lair. A blast of cold surrounded the teens, none like they'd ever felt. The released air rushed by, screaming in their ears like fingers across a chalkboard.
"Y'know, there's probably nothing down here," Owen began, breathing heavily.
"There's nothing dead down here. What are you so afraid of? Mice?" Noah offered.
"You know my great Aunt Mildred was a ghost whisperer," Izzy suddenly interrupted, having no bearing on the conversation at hand, "I'm totally in tuned with the supernatural."
"Can someone shut her up?" Eva implored.
"Just ignore her, there are no ghosts," Noah sighed, slumping his shoulders.
"As soon as we got here, I could hear them. Chris doesn't know the truth… this place it totally haunted…"
"Izzy!" Noah snapped turning around to see the blabbering redhead's face completely warped in shadow. For a moment all of them jump at the sight, realizing a second later that she's just found a flashlight to play with. The light shined harshly under her chin, creating skeletal shadows around her face. Utterly frustrated, Noah snatched the flashlight away from the deranged girl, snarling, "Give me that."
"What?" Izzy innocently questioned.
Flashlight in hand, Noah marched forward into the off limits section. The controls for the electric, water, the laundry and all sorts of other utilities lay mostly in ruin beyond the door. By the looks of some shotty repair work, the hotel had been in ruin long before it closed. A fine layer of mist laced the floor and the smell of burnt plastic filled their noses. The curling mist didn't seem to deter Noah at all as he purposefully shined the beam on the walls, floor and ceiling. He was hoping for any signs of recent disturbance, but all he found was a rat dashing away from his light and graffiti written on the walls by some squatters.
"Get out," Noah snorted as he read one written in blood red paint, "Cute."
"Maybe we should listen to the wall," Owen suggested.
"Fine. Go do whatever," Noah motioned the large blonde to leave, shinning his light up into the pipes above.
"Great! Who's with me?" Owen's relieved smile returned to dread when no one volunteered to return to the main level with him. He looked pleadingly towards Izzy, who was staring up at the wall humming X-Files now, and he didn't dare make eye contact with Eva.
Immediately, Owen reversed his decision, "You know, maybe I'll stay with the rest of you after all."
"There it is," Noah abruptly announced, reaching behind a water tank.
"You found the case!" Eva practically cried relief.
"No, just the fog machine."
Everyone became crestfallen as their leader pointed towards a novelty fog machine cranking out the eerie fog across the cement floor. Eva growled lowly as she followed her foot through the small machine and into the wall ahead.
"This is such a waste of time!" Eva threw her hands up as she stomped away.
"This is just Chris's theatrics. We're in the right place if Chris is setting up cheap props."
"This would be the place to stash it." Izzy agreed tapping her chin.
"Ha ha. That Chris sure is a funny guy," Owen meekly assured himself, "Is it getting colder down here?"
"It must be disturbed. Angry that we're here."
"Izzy! Will you shut up already?" Eva barked.
"Eva, chill. This is normal." Noah insisted, walking towards the body building woman.
Exasperated, Eva threw her head back to growl again. Her outburst didn't erupt as expected, and instead she curiously studied the piles and wood braces above.
"What's that?" she inquired, pointing towards a lump of fabric within the framework.
"What's what?" Noah glanced up as Izzy and Owen joined from behind.
As if on cue the object in question came tumbling down in a mess of dust and debris. The sudden movement startled Team E-Scope plus Owen, but the sudden stop and limp dangling swing of the object horrified them. Immediately they recognized it as a human body covered in deep red stains head to toe. Four screams shattered the silence of the frigidly cold basement as they scrambled away from the twisted corpse.