My phone's flashlight was super bright, making me struggle to see as I ran into either wall a few times. The vocal commotions from the other rooms were overlapping the ones crying SOS. I trailed along while carefully listening through each door. Most of the results ranged from gnarly to sleepy talk. I also just remembered I screwed with the electricity from expecting to hear some radios or TVs blaring from the hallway. Soon I approached the last door on the right of a dead end. Dead silence was emitted at first, then what sounded like trapped sobs. Could this be the room they were in? The sounds were also at a higher frequency from standing a couple of inches away. Memorizing the window from outside, which was the one I was in front of, I took a blunt guess and knocked on the door a few times.
"Help us!" a voice said from inside.
"We're in here! And be careful!" screamed the second voice.
To my luck the door was unlocked. The room was vacant but very messy. The only source of light was from the streetlight standing about a yard away from the window. The TV was on the floor upside down, the furniture was blanketed with leaves and moisture and miscellaneous items and appliances were in areas they should not be due to means of harm. I couldn't tell if I ever was touching the floor as I did my best not to trip over anything. The closet was on the right, parallel from the window, also painted with leaves and wet remains.
"Mom?" I said, finally standing at the door.
"Butters?" Her voice was trembling terribly with fear and anguish. "Is… Is that you? Is i-it really y-you?"
My heart skipped a beat when she said my name. This is the first time she has ever said it with apprehension. I was used to her being in bliss and with a high spirit. I couldn't bear any second longer as I lunged the door open. There were my mom and aunt, tied up in nooses and dusty from the closet atmosphere with the faintest smell of mace. They looked lethargic, weary and dull as they didn't respond almost in an instant to reveal them in a dim ray of light. Before they could speak any more, I was busy untying their hands, feet and waists.
"Oh, Butters…" Mom quickly bent down and hugged me tightly. I could feel more sobs churning in her chest in each breath. She must still be traumatized from how she grew up, even with things like this that seem to remind her of it. "Are you alright?" She searched all over me as if I were crawling with ants.
"I… I'm alright," I barely made out my words from being joined in the hug by my aunt.
"We were so worried and thought you wouldn't come!" my aunt cried.
I blinked. "Did you really think I wasn't coming? I thought you guys wouldn't wake up."
"Oh my," Mom gasped, "we must have spoiled our restaurant reservation in that case. And I'm so sorry we had you concerned."
"I'm sorry too," my aunt added woefully.
"I should be sorry." The anguish that was wavering inside me was replaced with guilt. "If I didn't stay in as soon as my spa session was over, none of this would have happened." It would make me feel worse if I mentioned Paris, although she helped me out with some of yesterday's plans. "I even waited outside the restaurant and you never came."
Mom and Aunt Nellie looked at each other forlornly. I was their first priority, and I'm at least grateful for them owning up. I still felt more confident if I owned up first. A child unattended is prohibited from going in most public places unless they are at least a teen or have an adult with them. Colorado is one of those states listed in law books of said crime. If it wasn't for Paris' arrival, I could have been vaguely abandoned. My mom and aunt would be subject to child endangerment, and a possibility that I would be put in foster care. God forbade that. I didn't want to go through the same thing again or something similar.
"No, it's my fault," my aunt confessed. "I was given the duration of my session so we could all have an idea of when we'll be done if we all started at the same time, which I'm unaware of. And thank God nothing horrific has happened to you either all this time you were by yourself."
"Your aunt is right," Mom added. "We were worried sick and thought you would never come. You are the most brave and gracious boy ever."
She brought me into another firmer hug. I may have deserved the grateful compliments, but it wasn't feeling worthy at the time. However I still managed to smile just for her. Mom is the only one who has ever considered me brave. Of all of the times I have been by myself in unfamiliar places I had obstacles but have cleared the course in one piece. The worst time was when I had to find my way home from being carried away by a river while secured in the car. It still makes me tremble when I think of it. But what mattered now was that I'm safe and I rescued my dear family.
I returned the embrace tightly and eagerly, clutching around her neck. "I missed you."
Mom sniffed and struggled to hold back tears as they began to fade her voice. "Oh, sweetheart… I missed you more. And thank you for finding us."
"And I thank you for becoming an official part of my life."
I myself was struggling to hold back tears. Her voice spoke exactly how I mostly felt. The same effect came from my aunt's surrounding embrace. Their eyes were red and swollen from crying for who knows how long. I'm so sensitive that I would have done the same thing if we swapped roles.
"Well then, we are all back together," my aunt said, slowly breaking from the hug, "we should get going."
"I agree. But be careful as some people are asleep," Mom picked me up and started making her way out of the dark and unorganized hotel room.
The rain has stopped, but the air was moist and steady. Cars and trucks were heard coming by as they deliberately soothed my mind toward the focus of snoozing. There still was no sight of Miss Trunchbull anywhere after she fled her temporary abode. It was incredibly difficult to believe that I scared the dreaded female giant out of a hotel. I held a smug smile the whole time until I dozed off as soon as I was tucked into bed. In our own room.