Thanks so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and followed! Finally a new chapter! The next update may take just as long; we'll see.
CHAPTER TEN
Five chapters in one day. It was probably shit, but it was done. Isabel felt very accomplished. She felt that rush of making progress and the excitement of actually getting somewhere with this project she had taken on.
She wasn't ready to stop. To keep going though, she needed more information about the hotel itself, not just James, and she figured that a bit more intimate exploring of the hotel ought to help somewhat. Isabel saved her work once more and then closed her laptop. Leaving behind everything behind, Isabel walked out of the hotel room.
It was always so eerily silent in the halls of the Cortez, something Isabel would probably never get over.
"You aren't safe here, you know."
Isabel whirled around and saw Miss Evers standing in the hall. She raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?" She sounded unsettled by Miss Evers' words. Why shouldn't she be? In her experience, maids were hardly ever wrong when it came to dire situations, and saying she wasn't safe certainly made this circumstance just that.
"Your blood is precious, and the Countess wants it," Miss Evers elaborated. "And she will drain you until not a single drop is left."
Her knowing tone definitely made Isabel worry. Clearly Miss Evers knew exactly what she was talking about.
"How do you know that?"
Miss Evers gave a little laugh. "Do you really think you're the first?" No, there had been plenty of others before Isabel.
It occurred to Isabel that maybe James March wasn't the one to interview, but the maid who knew all.
There was a long pause as Isabel tried making sense of exactly what Miss Evers was telling her. The Countess wanted her blood… "Is she the Ten Commandments Killer?" It made sense right? Elizabeth owned the hotel that once belonged to the original killer, and the original killer still walked these halls.
Miss Evers sighed quietly. Isabel was just not understanding. "Come with me."
She walked past Isabel, who followed her. So… was Elizabeth the Ten Commandments Killer? Isabel hadn't gotten her answer. She didn't ask again though, and just followed Miss Evers until they came to a stop in front of a hotel room.
From the pocket of her apron, Miss Evers removed a key, which she used to unlock the door. It slowly swung open, and Isabel could hear her heart beating wildly in her ears.
The room was dark. With the light from the hall illuminated a crib. The scar on Isabel's arm, which was in the shape of a bite mark, tingled; she was reminded of Thaddeus Montgomery, the Infantata that had attacked and bitten her four years ago at the Murder House.
Miss Evers gestured toward the crib, and Isabel cautiously stepped into the room. She paused a moment, taking a deep breath, and continued forward with tentative steps, approaching the crib. She peered down at the creature resting in the crib. She nearly screamed at what she saw, but her voice got caught in her throat. Eyes filled with fear, Isabel rushed back to Miss Evers.
"What is that thing?!" Isabel demanded once the hotel room door was shut.
"That's the Countess's child," Miss Evers answered with obvious disdain. "It seems only fitting that it came out as such a demon." Miss Evers took a moment to look around, making sure that no one else was around to overhear. She then leaned towards Isabel and dropped her voice down to a whisper. "She tried to have it aborted a century ago."
A century ago?! This demon child thing was a hundred years old? The Countess was over a hundred years old? It was becoming difficult to process all of this shocking information. Only one word was coming to Isabel's mind: vampire.
Oh great.
"Do you know where she went for the abortion?" Isabel asked, despite having a feeling that she already knew.
"I couldn't give you the address off the top of my head. But I'll never forget the name; they called him the doctor to the stars: Charles Montgomery.
""'""""'"""""
Isabel was in her room, packing up her messenger bag. She was going back home for a quick visit; she needed to have a talk with Charles Montgomery.
She saw a vague shape appear out of the corner of her eye and looked up to see Sally suddenly sitting in the chair by the window.
"You're leaving," Sally stated accusingly, not sounding happy at all about it.
Isabel resumed what she had been doing. "Yup," she replied idly.
"You'll come back to me, right?" She had to. She had come back before; she had to come back again!
The phrasing of the question didn't go amiss by Isabel. Sally hadn't asked if she was coming back. Sally had asked if she was coming back to her. That worried Isabel. She never planned to stay at the Hotel Cortez forever; she was going to leave eventually and not come back. But the question was: would Sally let her?
"I'll be back later," Isabel answered, picking up her messenger bag, sliding the strap over her shoulder.
Sally visibly relaxed. "Good." And she said nothing more.
Isabel walked out of the room and out of the hotel. It was time to pay a visit to a familiar face.
"""'"""""""""
The click of the door unlocking was painfully familiar, whacking Isabel with a baseball bat made from nostalgia. She stepped through the doorway.
It had only been a few days since she arrived at the Hotel Cortez, yet it felt like it had been ages since she had last been here.
The place was spotless, as expected. Moira never let dust settle on any surface in the house if she could help it.
Not wasting any time, Isabel went down into the basement, knowing she would find Charles there.
Just as she had expected, he was at his work table, toying away on some dead animal.
"Charles," Isabel said to get his attention.
He turned to glance at her over his shoulder. "Ah, Miss Noble has returned to grace us with her presence again. How wonderful." His sarcasm didn't go unnoticed. "What brings you back here?"
"I have to ask you about a patient of yours."
"I've seen many patients in my lifetime, my dear."
"Not any quite like this one. Her name's Elizabeth. From what I understand, she had only been a few weeks along when she came to you, but it looked like she was in her third trimester."
Oh. That one.
Charles cleared his throat, standing up from his workbench. "Yes, her… It was just as you said: she claimed to only be a few weeks along but looked ready to give birth any second. However, I went forth with the operation. The baby was taken out of her."
"But it lived."
Slowly, Charles nodded. "Yes, it lived. It even attacked and killed my assistant. A damn shame that was; she had been the very best I worked with."
Jesus… Isabel was starting to see just how dire her situation was. The Countess, a possible vampire who had given birth to a killer monster baby, wanted her blood.
Unnerved now, Isabel thanked Charles and left him to his work, going back up the stairs.
She shut the basement door once she was back out into the hall, and immediately someone's arms wrapped around her in a bone crushing hug.
"Jesus H. Christ, you had me worried sick!" Constance exclaimed, continuing to deny Isabel freedom from her hold. "I've been calling and calling you and you never answered; I thought something happened!"
"Whoa, whoa, hold up." Isabel eased herself out of the hug. "I've only been gone like five days; I talked with you the other night."
Constance looked at her like she was absolute insane. "Isabel, sweetheart, you've been gone for six weeks."