The Net: "Nightmare On The Highway" part 6
Suddenly the thought occurred to Jacob to look at the alarm clock to check the time. He found it blinking 12:00 . "Damn," he said under his breath as he sat back against the headboard next to Angela's sleeping form. He stared at the TV for a long time. How long, he didn't know. Angela moaned and rolled over in her sleep taking him out of his trance-like state as she threw an arm around him. Jacob shook his head and looked down at her. She was still sound asleep, and had no idea that she was practically hugging him. Watching her, he found himself putting an arm around her.
It was a typical ultra cheap hotel room. One small TV with no remote, which probably didn't work anyway, sat on the dresser. The dresser itself was covered in peoples initials and anything else they could scratch into the surface. Next to the dresser was an old beat up and badly bent metal folding chair. Only God knew what that had been used for in a place like this. Beside the bed, there was a likewise beat up and scratched night table, with nothing but a lamp and a clock that couldn't tell the time. The bed itself wasn't in great shape either. The sheets and the comforter needed to be cleaned, badly, and the headboard and footboard, both resembled the night stand and the dresser in all the carvings they sported.
Neither he nor Angela had been in the bathroom to see what that was like, and he wasn't sure he even wanted to know.
Jacob decided to keep himself both awake and busy by reading what he could of the carvings. Most of which consisted of initials surrounded by hearts and plus signs. He sighed heavily. Not knowing what time it was, was really starting to get annoying. Never before had this bothered him. He'd gone hours without knowing before, but then, he'd had the info handy incase he ever did need to know. Now, he couldn't have it, and that was getting to him.
Angela woke up with a start just then. He took his arm from around her as she sat up.
"You OK?" Jacob asked.
"Yeah, has anything happened?"
"Nope. Not a thing."
"Do we know the time yet?" she asked as she struggled to wipe the sleep from her eyes.
"I wish."
"Mmmmmmm….well, I guess you should try to get some sleep then. I'll keep watch."
"Yeah, right."
Jacob slid down so that his head was resting on the pillow he'd recently been sitting on when there was a weird noise at the door.
"What was that?" Angela asked.
"I don't know." He sat up again. "It sounded like something scratching the door. Probably just an animal out there, like a squirrel or something."
They both stared at the door for awhile before Jacob slid back down again, intent on getting some shut eye.
"Just an animal like I said. It's gone already."
But then the odd scratching noise started up again, and this time it didn't stop. Jacob bolted upright. He and Angela looked at each other. He watched Angela slowly get off the bed and tip-toe over to the door. She put her eye up to the peep hole to see what could possibly be on the other side scratching at the door.