Hey, Everyone!

Okay, so I know you might be mad at me about this whole, "She didn't update on Sunday!" thing, but the Author's Note at the end of this chapter is EXTREMELY important, so please read that when you get to it!

SakuraFlutist: I totally want to stay at that hotel (if there aren't monsters) :D

Oh, Sakura...what would be the fun in that? ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 36

Jason

They regrouped in the lobby the next morning.

Frank and Hazel seemed happy, and Leo still seemed a little neglected, but Jason had time to worry about his feelings later.

Piper had cleaned up last night, but they were both a little tired from lack of sleep.

Jason had spent a large portion of the night planning, and naturally, Piper had helped him.

"So, this is what we're going to do," Jason began.

"After breakfast," Leo cut in.

Jason smiled. "During breakfast."

Leo sighed.

"We go into the breakfast room, we can get breakfast, blend in, but we sit with strangers and we ask about the hotel. Ask if there's a basement to this place, as all sorts of questions. Do anything to figure out where the Doors of Death might be. We're so close, people; we just have to find them!" Jason said encouragingly.

Hazel smiled and Jason stuck his hand out. "Let's do something corny," he said.

Piper put his hand on top of his, and next was Hazel, then Frank, and finally Leo, and they shouted, "GO TEAM!" and threw their hands in the air and ran off to the breakfast room.

"Why did we just do that?" Leo asked him as they met up in the buffet line.

Jason shrugged as he grabbed a plate. "I don't know; I just felt like it."

Leo smiled. "Cool with me."

Jason and Leo branched off and Jason looked around for anyone to sit next to.

As he wandered around the room, he passed Piper, talking and laughing with some woman, Frank talking to some guy, Hazel talking to a friendly-seeming couple.

Jason finally spotted a girl sitting alone, maybe 14, at a small table in the back.

He pulled up a chair and sat next to her. He placed his tray on the table and smiled at her. "Hi."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Do you have parents here with you?" Jason asked.

She looked away.

She was wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans with a rip in one knee. She had her arms crossed and her hair was long, straight, and wispy at the ends.

"How long have you been at this hotel?" Jason tried.

"Couple days," she mumbled, not looking at him.

"What do you like to do here?"

"Look around."

"Like, exploring?"

"I don't like to call it that."

"Why not?"

"Sounds too much like a game."

"It's not?"

She shook her head. "It's too important to be a game. Got a lot of looking to do, you know?"

"Whatcha looking for?"

She stared down at her thumbs as she pressed them together.

Jason was quiet.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said quietly.

"Really?" Jason asked.

"You know…now that I think about it…you seem different," she smiled a little bit under her long hair.

Jason smiled.

"It's not a good thing."

His smile faded. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you don't seem like anyone else in this room, except for maybe the friends you brought in with you."

Jason tried not to show his discomfort. This girl was smart.

And not to sound cliché, but she seemed a little too smart.

"So, why are you guys here?" she asked.

"Looking around."

"Whatcha looking for?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

She smiled. "Are we going to switch back soon? I liked it better when you were asking me questions."

"Alright. What's your name?"

She didn't answer. She still wouldn't look at him.

"Please, maybe I can help you," Jason offered. "Just tell me what you're looking for."

"I know you can," she whispered. "And that's why I'm not telling you."

Jason was confused to the point of speechlessness.

"I guess…I mean…I don't…why…" Jason tried to form a variety of different sentences, but nothing was really working for him.

She laughed a little. "Don't worry about it, I'm not judging you. You're friend's coming."

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder. She leaned down and whispered, "Jason, I thought you said we should all be walking around and asking people for help."

"I am," he replied, and he looked back at the girl sitting in front of him.

She was sitting, looking at her fingers, smiling.

"Jason, what are you talking about?" Piper asked. "There's no one there."

Jason blinked a couple times, then looked from Piper, to the girl, and to Piper again.

"Come on, I met this really nice couple, maybe you could come talk with them, too?" Piper offered, helping up and leading him away from the table.

What bothered Jason most about this girl is that she didn't even have to look up to know Piper was coming.

Oooo, so what do you guys think about Jason's little invisible friend? Is she real, or is he going crazy?

Okay, so here's where the important part comes in...

I need to take a break from this story.

WHOA WHOA WHOA, HOLD YOUR COMPLAINTS FOR A SECOND, PEOPLE! JUST HERE ME OUT!

I'm not going to stop updating FanFiction all together; I'm specifically taking a break from this story, so I can work on my others.

And I'm sorry, Icecreamsamwhich009, but I hope what you said was true and you like my other stories as well!

Thanks for understanding, guys! I don't really know how long my break will be, but I know I will be updating my other stories for a while and taking a break from this one! So, you'll either see a new chapter for The Golden Tiger, Bloody Water, or A Divergent in DisguiseSunday and all the Sundays following that until I get this one starting again!

Thanks for Reading!