-1Chapter Five
Fiona Phillips was the first one back into the hotel, Molly, Irene, and the boys following close behind. Something wasn't sitting right with her. The instant she'd seen that Jack was not with Clu and his family, she felt that something, anything, could have happened. Bounding up the elevator, she hit the button and held the door for everyone, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Come on, Mom!" Fi muttered as the group waited for Molly, who'd been stopped by the clerk to talk a moment. Fi watched in awe as the man spoke, noticing that she was in fact speaking to Mr. Curier, the man that had claimed to own the hotel when she and Bricriu had spoken with him.
Molly finally made her way to the elevator, Mr. Curier right behind her. "Mr. Stocksturn says that there's been report of what sounds like screaming from the boys' room. We have to see if Jack's okay."
Fi's heart sank. Screams? Jack was alone in there. What could have happened to him? And would they be too late?
The group reached the door to the boys' room barely two minutes later. Mr. Stocks turn (Curier) pulled out a key and pushed the door open while everyone rushed in around him. Molly ran a search of the room, and turned back to Ned and Irene.
"Jack's not in here," Molly stated, looking around once more for good measure. Clu ran around Molly and ducked down, looking under the beds.
"Nope, not in here," Clu agreed. Carey turned and stared at his little brother.
"You've got to be kidding me… Did you just look under the beds… What'd you expect, monsters?"
Clu growled angrily and shoved at his brother. "No! Sometimes, Jack has a habit of falling off the bed and ending up under it… It's just a weird thing he does in his sleep. I noticed it about two years ago. It's rare, but you never know."
Fi shook her head and turned to Irene and Molly. "We've got to find him. Where could he have gone?"
Carey shrugged and left the room, dragging Clu along behind. "Clu and I'll go check out the theatre, see if he wandered over there again. We'll see if everything's getting set up for tonight like it should be too."
Molly nodded absently. "Yeah, do that. Fiona, Ned, Irene and I are going to look around town. You stay here in case he comes back, okay?"
"Mom," Fi began to protest, then sat on one of the beds. "Oh, fine… Make me stay behind and worry alone."
"Fi, please, not right now…" Molly turned and left the room with Ned and Irene, leaving Fi alone with the hotel proprietor.
"Your brother usually run off like this, Fiona?" Mr. Stocksturn/Curier asked innocently.
"No," Fi replied, going to the window and looking out. "Usually he knows to never wander off alone. He knows how worked up Mom gets about it, no matter how old we are, we always are supposed to travel in groups, or at least pairs. It's because we're always traveling. It's better to be with a part of your group. It's easier to notice that two kids are missing than just one in the rush of leaving for the next town."
The proprietor nodded knowingly. "My father was always that way with me when I was a boy. And mind you, I was a boy a great many years ago, so there's always been dangers like this."
Fi nodded. "I never assumed America was ever safe… What with all the wars."
"Yes, those wars sure put a black mark on this country's record."
"Every country needs a war or two to gain their place and status. At least, that's what Jack always said. And he's usually right about that kind of stuff. He explained it to me once. He said that if America hadn't fought back and been through the wars it had, we would still be under British rule, and we wouldn't be as independent. You have to stand up for your rights in order to gain them in the first place. Otherwise, other people will simply take them away."
"Your brother sounds very knowledgeable and practical."
"He's got a good head on his shoulders, as my mom says, Mr…"
"Stocksturn, Fiona. Remember?" Stocksturn smiled across the room as Fi turned and looked at him for the first time since everyone had left.
"I don't mean to sound rude," Fi said, "but don't you have to run the hotel?"
"I'm not the only person working in this hotel. I can afford to let another employee pick up the pace here and there."
Fi nodded and looked back out the window. Silence passed between the two for the longest time before Fi finally turned back to ask another question. When she did turn, Mr. Stocksturn was gone. Fi sighed and sat down on the unmade bed, looking around the room for any sign of struggle or Jack's exit.
The sign came in the form of Jack's camera, on the ground not far from the table, lying on its side. Fi didn't know much about her brother's new love of photography, but she knew that in any instance, Jack would not, could not, let his camera sit on the ground in that state. She stepped over and picked up the camera, looking at it for a moment.
It wasn't Jack's favorite camera, just one of the three he owned. He had a professional camera that he carried around for capturing anything that inspired him, a disposable camera that he'd never taken a single picture with, and the digital Fi was holding. It was for simple shots, and for group photos that he wanted to make sure turned out okay before developing them. Fi turned the camera on, to make sure it still worked. Jack would have a fit if it were broken. Luckily, the camera whirred immediately into action, proving that Jack had just recently put in new batteries (AN: Digital cameras never seem to work so well as that moment right after they've gained new batteries, eh?). She scanned through a couple of the last images and found that Jack had taken a few quick pics of the room.
One of the last two shots was of Jack himself, from slightly below, as though Jack had set the camera down on the table and taken the shot while he sat in the chair not too far away. The part of the image that startled Fiona was the figure in the open doorway. Fi knew Jack would never leave the hotel room door wide open when no one else was around. It was unsafe and it was un-Jack. She zoomed in on the image, slowly pushing the buttons to make the image larger and less fuzzy, and came face to face with an image of the hotel proprietor, Mr. Stocksturn.
End of Chapter Five.
Yes… It's starting to come together… Not really… but it should only be about three more chapters long. I'm trying to keep it as episode length as possible, and in words, that's difficult. R&R, and don't be afraid to tell me what I can do to fix it… I welcome Flames.