Chapter 6 – Ocean House Hotel

September 26, 2004 = Sunday

I awoke the next night on my blanket in the shower stall. I was actually leaned against the corner, hands folded over my chest like a corpse on display. Brian must have a sense of humor. I still had my towel wrapped around me, thank god, and the door was still shut against the light. I got up, and folded the bed cover into a small bundle and put it aside. I then showered, toweled off, brushed out my hair, then brushed my teeth.

I looked in the mirror, praying desperately for my reflection to briefly appear, but it remained blank. Taking my toothbrush, I tried a brief experiment. I held it up in front of the mirror, but as expected it didn't appear. I poked the mirror with it, and though the mirror flexed with the pressure, the toothbrush still didn't appear. Holding it up high then dropped it. The moment it left my fingers it appeared in the mirror.

I don't know why my clan lost their reflections, but I was really beginning to hate whoever did it. How was I supposed to clean up and make myself pretty without being able to see what I was doing? Even basic makeup was impossible without a mirror, and I couldn't have Brian do it. I'd have to teach him how. As much as I hated it, I needed Poe. She'd understand how to apply makeup and do my hair. Also she'd be better able to assist me in making wardrobe choices. Depressed, I went out to get my clothes.

Brian was reading a surfer magazine when I stepped out, but upon noticing me, shut it and laid it aside. "I got your clothes, they're on the desk," Brian said. "I also went by that hospital, and uh, I couldn't find anything about her. Then they started eyeing me funny, so I left."

I sighed, I was hoping he could find her, but I would just have to hope the Camarilla had ways of finding her, or maybe if I could get out soon I could track her down myself. I looked at the bags of clothes, getting a little miffed that he hadn't unpacked them and put them away. I started to unpack, then realized, I didn't even have a dresser.

Feeling Brian eyeing me, I looked at him. He had a smirk on his face, as he felt he was soon going to get to see me naked. Well, I could deal with that. "Turn around." He didn't seem to want to, then grimaced and turned. It was odd, and I'd ask Mercurio if I ever got to see him again.

Soon I was dressed, and taking the flashlight out of its package. It was a long Maglite, that used four "D" batteries and was also good as a club. Handy really. I inserted the batteries, then checked that it worked. It did, and I clicked it off and put it in my bag. I then took out the thirty-eight. It was a small revolver, with shiny metal. I had to admit, I knew more about the flashlight then I did this thing.

"Brian," I said, noticing he was still turned to face the door. "Do you know how to shoot this?"

"The thirty-eight? Yea, its easy. Once its loaded, just point and squeeze the trigger," he said, I think with a note of sarcasm in his voice.

"Ok, so how do you reload it then?"

He stuck his hand out for the gun, and hoping he wasn't going to shoot me with it, I handed it over. He turned it so I could see the left side. "This little button here, that's the release. Hit it, and the drum pops out. Tap the rod on the other end, and it'll eject the shells. Then just insert new bullets, snap it closed, and point and squeeze."

"You make it sound so simple."

"It's the easiest gun I've ever seen. Want complicated? Try the Desert Eagle. Semi-automatic fifty caliber with an internal magazine and enough power to break a wrist. For you though, you could probably empty it in a few seconds with the strength you got," he said, then handed the gun back to me. I thought about it, but decided to see how it went before I started buying guns to carry around.

Putting it back in it's special holster built into the bag, I closed it all up. I was a little thirsty, and weighed whether or not to head for Asylum to find a quick meal. I decided against it, and then went to head out the door. I turned back to face Brian, one last thought on my brain. "I'm heading out for Ocean House Hotel, don't know when I'll be back. If I'm not here in the morning, don't come looking for me. Got it? Stay here, I'll be back tomorrow night," I told him, then added under my breath, "Hopefully."

Brian didn't look happy but just nodded his head. Down on the street, I looked around for a sewer access. I found one, right at the entrance to the alley I lived on, so convenient really. I was about to pull the cover when I caught sight of a girl lighting a cigarette on the far side of the street. The mini skirt and tube top letting me know she was a hooker. I fought a brief war between wanting to get to the Ocean House, and needing a drink, but in the end my need for the red stuff won. I didn't know how long I'd be looking after all.

I walked over to her, and she looked me over, smiling a bit at what she saw. I was really starting to wonder what I looked like.

"Hey, sweetie, you swing both ways?" I asked, not sure how one asked for a date, and especially stupefied how a girl like myself asked for one.

"Hmm," she purred, looking at my chest, "for a hot one like yourself, how about thirty."

"Okay," I said, and she led me into the alley beside a tattoo parlor. Once we rounded a corner, and were outside of traffic, she dropped her tube top to reveal her breasts.

"Ready to make the earth shake?" she asked.

"Sure," I said, handing her the thirty dollars, which she hid down in her heels. I took her in my arms, kissed her briefly on the lips, then licked my way down her jaw. The stench of cigarettes was a definite turn off, but I needed a drink, and damn if that jugular didn't call to me. She never resisted my awkward attempts to hide my real reason for the love of her neck, and I bit hard and deep into her. She gasped as my fangs broke skin, then turned to moaning and writhing in pleasure as I drank her precious blood into me. Knowing she was probably my only meal for the night, I kept drinking until her blood started to thin, then I pulled my fangs out and licked the blood from her neck.

She was still breathing as I lowered her to the street, my vicious bite nothing but a giant hickey mark. She was still moaning in pleasure as I pulled my thirty dollars from her heel. Money was precious right now. Sue me.

Spotting a man-hole cover nearby, I let my supernatural strength flow and pulled the heavy metal lid off like it was plastic. I held the metal disk, then held it like I was about to throw a Frisbee. It was so light with my Potence ability it was freaky. I slipped down the ladder, pausing for a moment to replace the cover and hide my escape. There was no light here, so I began to pull my flashlight when suddenly it was if the light's came on.

"Whoah," I said, steadying myself against the wall. I pulled the flashlight out and clicked it on then noticed the freakiest thing ever. The beam wasn't white, it was black?! It was if someone had hit the invert color scheme on the TV, but I was seeing this with my eyes. Must be a Lasombra thing, didn't the Scourge say I was going to have an affinity for shadow?

Putting the light back in my bag as it was useless anyway, I looked down to the icky mess below me. Not wanting to ruin my shoes, I slipped them and my socks off and put them in my bag. I then rolled up my pants legs and gritting my teeth, stepped into the muck. Oh Therese owed me for this! It was like stepping into mud, all icky and getting between my toes, but I had doubts that it was mud I was stepping into, though I was sure it was brown.

Wading through the muck, I struck out towards the south where I thought the Ocean House was, bypassing several similar corridors along the way. I finally found a map posted on the way, I guess for the inspectors if they got lost down here. It was overlaid with the area above me, and from it I learned I overshot the desired sewage pipe. Getting proper directions, I headed to where I needed to be, soon coming to the locked gate Therese said was waiting for me. Unlocking the gate, I headed to the ladder beyond it, and found the appropriate ladder, and climbed to the top.

I had to use my Potence ability to life the man-hole cover, those things were heavy without it, and climbed out. After climbing out, I looked down at my feet. Yea, no way I was ruining my socks and shoes. I'd have to wait to put them on until after I found a functioning sink.

Standing up and checking out the area, I found I was in some kind of graveled parking lot, with a road right beside it. Damn Therese, bet she made me walk through that muck on purpose. It was a nice place though, very large and very fancy. It was being remodeled, or demolished, not sure which. They did have a crane though, so maybe remodeled. I could definitely see the charm here, and the lull of the nearby ocean was calming.

Definitely worth a remodel.

I walked across the graveled over lot, which was painful in my bare feet. I looked down to see most of the muck gone, which was a relief. I knew this was the parking lot because I could see the lamp-posts laid out in the typical grid. I walked up to the door, doubtful it'd be that easy. I was right. Locked. The fanciness of the lock meant that it was either really tough, or really flimsy. I doubted Therese would like that I destroyed her locks, so I looked back to the small office. Definitely some kind of foreman's office, centrally located, and looked portable.

I walked down the steps to it, glad to find it was unlocked. A small desk stood against, one wall. On the end wall to my left was a plaque with keys, easily finding one marked for the front door. I took it, and went back to the front stoop. I no more than set foot on it than a light exploded in front of me. I jerked back, looking at the offending light. Therese had said the hotel was haunted, and apparently the ghost within didn't like me.

Swell.

I unlocked and opened the door, stepping inside. The weirdest damn feeling came over me, telling me I should run. I did my best to shake it off, but it wouldn't go away. There was enough light that I didn't have a problem seeing, and deciding if I had to find a personal object, I needed to try and find its room while it was here. I headed for the double stairs, but a sharp crack above me dropped the chandelier on my head and dropped me to the floor.

Rolling the antique off me, I regained my feet and looked around. A slightly burnt copy of the newspaper caught my eye. It was a late edition of the LA Sun announcing the grand opening of the Ocean House. The photo showed a much nicer version of the outside, and I wondered how long ago this hotel had been built. The newspaper offered no clue, the date having been burnt off. The ghost took the opportunity while I was distracted to explode the vase at my stomach, ceramic shards ripping into my gut. I looked down at my ruined shirt, and decided I really hated this ghost.

I dropped the newspaper back on the coffee table, then started up the stairs, taking the right hand side. They seemed solid enough, as I started up. Halfway up, though, I fell through. It wasn't as if the wood was weak, more like something ripped it out from under me. My butt broke my fall, and I got back to my feet. The room was dark, but there were a few lights giving me an idea I was in a room in the basement. Some kind of rack was overhead, and I had to take a second glance to find the exit. It wasn't clearly marked. Place must be really old to not have those marked better.

The corridor out led me to an elevator. The doors refused to open, though. I looked at the doors briefly wondering if I could force them apart, when I realized the light hadn't come on. Okay, so the power is out. Needing to find the power box to restore power, I took the hallway back. I think I was directly underneath the stairs, so I headed to the rear of the hotel.

I had a brief flash of a girl with long back hair in a long white dress with a red sash around her waist flash by whimpering in fear. I turned at the corridor, sure I'd see her just feet ahead of me, but she was gone. My ghost was a girl?

I ran down the hall, trying to find her but the room dead-ended in some kind of room. It had desks, but they looked stored rather than used. Beside them was a set of shelves with bottles on it. A flash of purple lit the rack, and then they flew at me. I managed to raise an arm, but they ended up being more nuisance than weapon. I tried the door, but it had shut behind me.

"Idiot ghost," I muttered, needing to hear something, "I can wrap it like a pretzel." I let the strength flow through my arms and twisted the handle. What the hell? I twisted harder, but the lock refused to yield. I then hit the door, figuring I could break it the old fashioned way, but it still held solid. "Okay, maybe not so idiotic."

Walking the wall, I found a section along the far side where light seeped through. Giving it a kick, a hole formed into the next room. Getting on my knees, I crawled through to the other side, finding more desks and some overturned shelves. I tried the far door, but it too, was locked. Beside the door was another newspaper. I read the headline, if nothing else to pass the time. It said that there was a severed child's head found in a dryer, even showing the dryer in the picture accompanying it.

I was about to start wandering the room looking for another weak spot when the door creaked open. I opened it the rest of the way, and found myself back where I started. Great, just freaking great. I went back down the hall, turning left this time. The first door I found was the laundry room. Remembering the headline, I checked the dryers out of morbid curiosity, finding a key with a boiler tag on it.

Thinking it might be important, I took it and left through the far door. Heading deeper into the maintenance area, I found a door with a red light over it. It was also locked, making me really hate this ghost chick. Something nagged in my mind though as wrong, and not just overall creepiness of the place. Why would a woman kill a child, only to be running in fear? Or was it the child I saw running? Was that the ghost then? A frightened youngster running from her killer?

Too many questions. I headed through the door and down the stairs, finding myself with some large equipment whose use I couldn't guess at. All of a sudden, a bone chill of fear crept over my skin. It was worse than all the things Simeon had ever done to me when I was still alive all wrapped in a cold drizzle running down my spine. I turned to the right to check for a control panel and I saw a man walking towards me, axe in his hands.

RUN!

I was beating on the elevator doors, my nails having left scratches in the shiny metal when I regained my senses. I didn't know how I got here, but I headed back down to the machinery room. It was starting to make a little more sense, but I wasn't sure if I had it right yet. The ghost that was haunting everyone wasn't the girl, she was just the victim. It was the guy with the axe. Back in the machinery room, I still felt the dread running down my spine, but it was manageable this time.

I kept looking for an electrical box, not finding one at all until I was at the back of the room. I opened the gate, and flipped all the switches on. The machinery around me roared into life, and a few pipers burst open spewing steam. I picked my way back through the maze, but it seemed that damn ghost kept bursting pipes around me giving me slight burns on my exposed skin. I was glad when I got back to the door, I stopped, watching as my burnt skin lost its red look and returned to its normal pale tone.

Once I was healed, and sufficiently calmed down, I headed back to the elevator. It was waiting for me, and I quickly got in. I was hating this ghost, really hating him. What kind of sicko kills a family?

The elevator took me to the second floor, which was where I wanted to be. I was just about to step out when I saw the picture shake. Ducking quickly around the corner, I decided to search the far side first, as I could see the girl in a white dress hovering near the railing on that side. I headed over, getting pelted by pictures and lamps along the way. I wish the ghost would learn a new trick, this one wasn't working and was just making me more determined.

As I got closer to the two chairs and the end table, the ghost disappeared leaving behind another newspaper. The headline on this one detailed the death of a second child in the hotel, having been 'chopped up like firewood.' Barbaric, and they called me the monster.

I left the newspaper behind and passed another elevator. There were a few doors here. I opened the first one, finding a room with a double bed. I walked in and started checking things out. The only thing to really note was a child's drawing of a family. Something clicked, and I picked it up. The father was drawn as a man on fire, with a mother and little boy and girl drawn normally. After having seen the father's ghost, and reading the two newspapers, it was starting to come together. The father, for whatever reason, had killed his two kids. The girl in the white dress I saw must be the mother, who was still being tormented by her killer husband.

Well, I could fix his goat. I left the room and took the child's drawing with me. I wanted to make sure no ghost remained behind after all, and wasn't sure if the kid's weren't still haunting the place, though I hoped they weren't. I left that room, and went to the next. I no more got inside to start rummaging through the drawers when the light's went dark. I tried to will my invert-o-sight into being, and though I felt the change still couldn't see anything.

Weird. Something must be messing with my sight. The light's slowly came back on, as if someone were messing with a dimmer switch, and since everything came back inverted, I knew it worked, something was just wrong. Maybe it was because the blackout was supernatural, and not just an absence of light like in the sewers. I was going to need to find another Lasombra and ask them that. I looked around the room, losing my own supernatural vision to find 'Get Out' etched into the wall.

I scoffed at the idea, I was in this one for the rest of my life, if need be. Searching around, I found one of the drawers by the bed had a key in it so I took it in case I needed it. I guess I was going to become a klepto, but I'd make sure to leave their keys by the door when I left. Outside I was going to turn left again when I saw the girl in white hovering at the other end of the hotel. Knowing she was trying to help me, now, I went that way.

She was hovering by a door when I got there, but unlike most other times when she'd disappear as I got close enough to see her, she stayed until I was almost on top of her. The red sash I thought she was wearing before was actually a mortal wound to her side, the red being her blood-stained white dress. The deep wound slashed from her right breast, through her rib cage to reveal bone and down into her stomach and was deep enough that as close as I was, could see her upper digestive system. She lifted a hand and pointed at the door without looking up, then faded out of existence. I tried the handle, but it was locked. Remembering the key, I tried it. It worked and I entered a badly burned room.

There was a patch in the floor, and an ethereal woman's voice whispered throughout the room, "Down there." It was eerie, and powerful, and set the hairs on neck standing straight out.

I kicked out the patch, and dropped down into a small bar and restaurant combination. Another newspaper was sitting on the bar. It detailed a murder suicide, which I was already figuring out. It also said the killer was the one believed responsible for setting the fire. I looked out the door, finding I was on the ground floor of the hotel, where I thought I'd be. That still left two floors to sift through, and though I'd not been here an hour, I think, knew this search wouldn't take long with the help I was getting.

The only way out seemed to be to use the dumbwaiter. I hit the button, and it opened up. It would be a tight fit, but it seemed to be the way to go. I climbed in, and as soon as I slid my head past the doors it shut me in. I was about to get scared when it gently lowered me, the doors at the bottom opening for me when I got there. I immediately sprang out, in case the mean ghost tried to harm me.

I found myself in the hotel kitchen, and a slightly burned book on the counter. I picked it up, opened it and found that it was a diary that belonged to a Jennifer. I flipped to the last page, dated June fifth in fifty eight, and was dumbstruck.

'Oh my God, Ed covered in blood... coming to kill me... locked myself in the bathroom... he's gone crazy... he keeps shouting we'll be together forever and he'll never let me go... someone please hel...'

I put the book in my bag, as a personal item of the ghost's, it was perfect for my intentions. I could hear the pots begin to rattle, and then Jennifer's voice whispered in my ear again. "He's coming."

I tried the far door but it wouldn't budge. The pots and pans began to fly around the room, and I knew the killer ghost was causing it. I ducked beside a rack to avoid the debris as they pelted the door. Finally something large hit the door, crumpling it enough to open. I ducked through and found myself in the storage room. At least he wasn't making things fly in here. The sounds of things pelting around the kitchen still rang out, so no going back that way.

There was a ventilation grate in the wall over a small shelf. I ripped it off the wall, then climbed into it, the sounds of the kitchen's disasterous remodel fading behind me. I popped the grate off the other end, and Jennifer whispered in my ear again, telling me to be careful. I was glad she was helping me, and I made a silent vow I'd see her clear of this bastard Ed.

I plopped out into an elevator shaft. I no more than got to my feet when a wrenching sound overhead brought my head to reveal the elevator dropping to fall on me. I jumped for the maintenance access, rolling hard into the far wall as the elevator crashed into the ground beside me with an ear shattering boom.

Ed was really pissing me off. I got to my feet, and looked up. I could see where the elevator doors were open on the top floor. Deciding that was where I needed to go, climbed the ladder. I ran out of ladder on the third floor, thankfully that was where the open door was. Turning to the door, I spotted a ledge that was just wide enough to jump on to. From there, I slid through the doors, finding myself in a hallway. I turned the corner to check for anything obvious and saw Jennifer running around the corner. I took off after her, Ed throwing small objects at me as we went.

Jennifer led me around to the far side of the hotel, to where the hallway had fallen in on itself from fire damage. I searched a few rooms, not finding anything. In room 216, I found a few fallen beams that seemed to lock a door closed. Getting closer, I could see the fire damage was more pronounced here. Odd, but then a thought hit me. The fire was supposed to have been set by Ed, and Ed said he and Jennifer would always be together. As it was a murder suicide, I could only guess that the fire had been set where Jennifer had died, and I wasn't close yet, the damage wasn't extensive enough. If I found a lot less damage elsewhere, maybe, but so far, this was just small potatoes.

I climbed the fallen beams, and found myself in a lightly burned room. Well, I say slightly burned. I could see the starry night in the missing roof. Still, not enough damage for what I would assume was the place where the killer had set the fire as I still had a floor to stand on. Ed must have been getting desperate to scare me off, as he set the walls aflame in some kind of mystical purple fire. I ran to the door, wanting to find the final destination before he tried to kill me with that axe, which I was sure would hurt.

The door give easily enough, and then the entire corridor burst into that ethereal flame. Jennifer flashed briefly at the end, as she disappeared through a door, and I took off at full speed. Ed started to literally bring the house down around me. I made the end of the hall with pieces of glass and wood sticking out of me, and I paused to pull them out. I was now at room 310, and thinking this might have finally been Jennifer's room, opened it up.

The first thing I noticed was the lack of walls. A quick glance to my left and I had the final piece I was looking for. This was the initial burn spot, as all those years watching crimes shows had taught me. The floor where the bed would be was missing with no walls or roof. The fire had burned longest here, spreading later to the rest of the rooms on this floor. I could even see the lighthouse by the ocean, leading a ship to safe harbor.

I stepped fully into the room, hoping I would easily see something that stuck out, when a bright flash nearly blinded me. When I could see again, the room was no longer burned, but was actually bright and sunny.

The sun! I knew it was an illusion made by Jennifer, and I couldn't help but open the curtain on the window. The sun was warm on my skin, and I felt a pang at what was stolen from me. I'd never need a tan again, thanks to Simeon and his cronies, but this little bit was heaven. After a few moments, I let the curtains close and looked the room over.

An exquisite ruby necklace was laid out on the table between two chairs. I went across the room and picked it up and the illusion of the room faded, leaving me on the other side of the burnt remains of Jennifer's room. Sadness washed over me and Jennifer herself appeared, finally looking up into my eyes.

"That necklace can be used to exorcise my husband," she stated calmly, her voice soft and not the ethereal whisper I'd been hearing. "With him gone, I can finally rest in peace."

"I'll make sure you get that chance," I said, and she nodded in understanding, then faded back out of existence. It was sad really, and I vowed to read her diary when I had the time. Maybe I could figure out why Ed had went psycho and killed his family.

Not needing anything else to satisfy Therese, I hopped down through the hole and exited the room. The elevator door was still open, and I leaned in and looked down. The doors below were open to the second floor, and I figured that would be the way out. I got on a knee, and started to lower myself to the next ledge, finally having to resort to using my Potence ability again to hold my weight. I hated to do it, as it was making me hungry, but I needed out of this mad house.

I dropped onto the ledge, and quickly stepped back onto the balcony. I didn't give Ed a chance to attack, because as soon as I was on the balcony, I vaulted over the railing to land with a quick tuck and roll on the ground floor. I sprinted the rest of the way to the door, opened it and left so quickly the door slammed behind me. I kept sprinting the rest of the way to the man-hole cover, taking a knee and started climbing down the ladder. I tried to move the man-hole cover but was forced to again let the strength flow from my Potence ability to get it back in place.

God I was hungry! I activated my shadow sight, and walked out to the sewer. A rat crawling across a pipe caught my attention. I'd seen movies before, like Interview With A Vampire and it said rats could be used as a blood source. I didn't know if that were true or not, but I was hungry enough to find out. I caught the rat by lunging real fast and quickly brought it to my fangs. I no more than got one mouth-full of blood before it died in my hands. The blood was lacking in taste, but it did take some of the hunger off. I could feed when again when I hit the street, anyway.

I headed along the main sewage pipe, finally ducking into a marked access point. I had to use my Potence ability to lift it and get out, but I finally put my dirty feet back on solid pavement. I didn't recognize this part of town, but the convenience store was welcoming. I went over, noticing that it had outside restrooms, like many stores out here. I headed into a ladies stall, using the sink to wash my dirty feet. I toweled them dry, then slipped them back into my socks and shoes out of my bag.

Once I had my shoes on, I took my top off. The shirt was shredded beyond repair, resembling something a heavy metal rocker might wear. I only put it back on as I didn't have anything else to hide my bra with, and my bra stood out as being not-so-sexy lingerie. I needed a cell phone. Seeing as I didn't have anything to change into, and still feeling dirty from my sewer trip, decided that I should head back to my apartment.

I went inside, and asked the clerk how to get back to Asylum, finding I was only a few blocks away. I headed straight for it, then past it to the apartment, not stopping till I was home. I desperately needed a shower.