I apologise for any confusion but I had to delete the earlier chapter 5 because there seemed to be a problem with it. Also because of its size I also had to break it into two. I again apologise for any inconvenience.

Chapter 5

Part 1

Sam hesitated only for a second before walking past his family. He excused himself, saying he wanted some air. The truth was that he wanted to avoid Jess' gaze.

He had betrayed her; betrayed her trust; his promise to her that same day. And he couldn't stand there and watch her watching him. Or what would come next.

He didn't know where he wanted to go but he knew where he didn't want to be.

It was unfortunate that she and his entire family should walk-in just at that very moment. Well there were worst moments that they could have possibly walk-in on but still…

Sam stepped up to the elevator, never turning back towards his family, and pressed the button to open the doors.

There wasn't much of a wait, as the elevator was already up. But still the few seconds it took for the doors to slide apart felt like years to him. All the time he could feel his families eyes on his back.

As he stepped into the elevator and the doors started to close, Sam felt a sense of relief. The feelings that boiled inside of him didn't go away. But it was good to be finally free from the gazes.

However his relief was short lived.

"Good evening" said that all too familiar voice.

He spun around and found himself face to face with their blue eyed hostess. Maybe it was his state of mind, but he could swear her eyes were little more darker than the light blue eyes he remembered that she had before.

"How…" he started but couldn't find the right words to finish.

"How are you enjoying our accommodations?" she asked with that same cheery tone. "I hope everything is up to your requirements. That they help you forget your troubles and worries."

"Yeah, everything is Dandy" Sam said as he turned away from her.

"Good! Here at Elysium Falls Hotel, we seek to be an oasis from all your worldly troubles; a haven from the storms of life." She said with a smile and Sam found himself staring at her with disbelief:

'Had she just quoted Dean?'

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Urgh no! Thank you. I just need some time to myself that's all" he said recovering.

"Oh that's not possible"

"Excuse me?"

"You can't be on your own. Elysium Falls Hotel is all about immersing yourself with other people. Finding comfort and release from being with others around you. That is why we cater to group entertainment…of all kinds."

"Fine," he said turning towards the elevator panel "I'll just immerse myself with my neighbours" he said as he tried to find the floor buttons.

"I am afraid you misunderstand me. When I meant people, I meant people you came herewith. Your family, your loved ones. Not strangers; one should always be careful who one spends time with."

She was right. As Sam scanned the elevator panel he found no other buttons on it than for their suite and the lobby.

"So I can't talk with anyone else?"

"You can. You can talk with Jess, your mom, your dad, even Lisa and Ben!"

"But no other guests?"

"We try to give all our guests equal opportunity to enjoy their stay here. To get the full benefits of their time spent in the hotel. It would not do to have their minds troubled by problems of other people. Or have their stay tainted by wild stories" she said as she stared at him.

Sam didn't say anything after that. Just pressed the button for the lobby and waited for the elevator to take them there.

All was quiet in the elevator all the way down.

As the doors opened he found himself again in the lobby, brightly lit by the sun that should be on its way out.

The lobby, as it was before, was almost still and quiet. He found very few people around.

As he stepped out of the elevator, he took a quick glance back at their hostess, who was still standing inside the elevator. Her eyes seemed even darker than before.

However, he didn't give it much thought. Instead he walked around the lobby. He tried to talk to a few of the guests but they continued on as if he wasn't even there. In fact, no one he found seem to even notice him or hear him as he tried to make conversation.

He took a seat on one of the group of couches that lined the centre of the lobby. To talk to a small family. But everyone in the family ignored him. Even the bored looking kid who he tried desperately to entertain.

"Hi" suddenly a voice said and he found himself rising from his seat as he turned.

As he turned he almost expected to find himself glancing at the bright blues of their hostess. But instead Sam found himself staring at two hazel brown eyes. That he almost froze at the sight. Not just because he found those eyes beautiful and captivating. But because he was actually surprised to find a stranger coming up to him and talking to him.

She had a wide and pretty smile just like the girl with the golden locks, and just like with blue-eyes, the new girl's hazel's also glowed when she smiled. But in those hazel brown there was sincere joy and life that was not present in the blue. He found himself smiling back with honest gladness.

"I am sorry to intrude into your conversation" she said with that same smile "but I could not help notice you were actually trying to communicate!" she continued and he laughed.

"Yes, I was having quite the riveting conversation with the…" he said and stopped and turned towards the family "with whoever they are" he finished and the girl laughed. It was such a happy laugh and infectious.

"You got to excuse them. They are not used to people being social."

"I am Sam by the way" he said extending his hand towards her. Her hand were soft and her shake was gentle that Sam was afraid he might brake her if he gripped too hard.

"I am Alice"

"Fitting!"

"You mind explaining" she said, squinting her eyes and Sam found himself laughing again.

"Alice in Wonderland!"

"Ah! Well, Mr. White Rabbit, you mind following Alice for a change?"

"Depends on where we're going"

"Where is the fun in that?" she asked as she turned and walked away.

She only looked back once, before making towards a door in-between the arched windows of the lobby. He hadn't notice that door before. He didn't hesitate long before he followed her out.

There was a gravel path that led out from the glass doors. But Alice didn't take it. Instead she kept to the grass; which made sense, since Sam noticed that her feet were bare.

Sam was intrigued by the girl and, as he followed her willingly to wherever it was that she was taking him, he found himself unable to turn away from her.

She was nothing like their hostess. She was tall, not tall because she was super model lean, like the blue eyed girl; she was slender not thin. Alice was actually tall; her hazel browns almost reached his eyes.

Her hair fell down in dark waves on to her slender shoulders, unlike the turbulent golden curls of their hostess. But in the sunlight those beautiful strands shined brown like the barks of the trees around him.

It was her hair that made him realise that they had left the open green lawns of the hotel and stepped into a forest. But if he had expected it to be dark and gloomy he was wrong, instead he found the forest bright and cheery like Alice. The trees, while close together, created a sense of warm embrace rather than being foreboding. He felt like he had walked into a magical land and almost expected to see dancing fairies, unicorns and other things at any moment. It would sure make a welcome change to all that he had seen so far in life.

Nevertheless, everything remained still around them. And if not for the crunching of leaves underneath his feet, it was also quiet.

However, he soon found himself turning back towards Alice, who had managed somehow to take quite the lead. He was surprised at the speed at which she walked. But then, the grace with which her slender legs carried her, it almost seemed as if she floated through the air.

Suddenly she stopped and turned around to face him. She stood smiling as he tried to catch up with her. She had stopped underneath one of the many pockets of light that fell down. The falling sunlight was like fairy dust, dropped from some unseen hand high above the canopy. In that light, she looked more beautiful than before.

Before, he saw her beauty as being just natural; like the girl next door. Unlike the commercial beauty of blue-eyes. It was the vibrance and innocence that she gave out that made her shine. But now, standing in the light, she looked like a fairy herself. Her soft brown skin seemed to radiate. In the short bright pink summer dress she wore, she seemed at home in the forest.

He found himself lost in her beauty, until she spoke, and it was like angels calling. Well, the angels of cartoons and tv shows and lore, not the real ones.

"Mr. White Rabbit, you are going to have to hurry up a little bit more. I do not want you to get lost, and be all afraid and scared." She said and he laughed again.

When he was close again she turned and walked again.

He didn't know where he was being led when he left with her. But now he knew. The sound of thunder he heard in the distance was unmistakable.

He had barely stepped out of the forest when the full brunt of the image hit him.

He found something else that day that was breathtakingly beautiful.