Makorra Week 2015

June 17-23

Author's Note: Hey, guys! So guess which prompt I'm doing tonight? That's right, "AU"! For those who don't know, that means alternate universe. It's a broad term so I get to do anything I want, basically. This prompt is gonna be about Korra staying at a haunted hotel and running into a certain ghost...hm hm hmmm. Anyways, I'm listening to Halsey's "Is There Somewhere". Have fun reading :)

Day 6: Room 576-Alternate Universe

"Here're your keys, ma'am. Have a nice stay!"

The man at the front desk's voice had been shaky as he handed Korra the key-card to her room. She caught the nervous look in his eyes as he glanced at the card, it's glossy, laminated finish smooth against Korra's calloused fingers. Confused, and a little annoyed, she leered at the man and hopped onto the elevator.

Room 576. That's what the card read. The dark-skinned woman stood in front of the closed door for a moment, studying the beautifully carved wood and golden-ivory molding at the foot of the door, aged to a dull yellow color. Rusted metal figures reading "576" pressed against the door indicated that this was, indeed, her room.

There was something, though. Something about this room that made Korra feel kind of...cold. There was an aura about this room, something dark.

"That room is haunted, you know," a voice called from the end of the hall.

Korra spun around, arms up in defense thanks to her martial arts training. When she saw a young boy, maybe twelve or thirteen, standing there with a mischievous grin on his face, she lowered her arms.

"Who told you that?" The athletic trainer questioned, glaring at him.

The boy shrugged, responding, "Jus' is, lady. I don't need no one to tell me that."

Catching his accent, the kind you only hear in those old Turner Classic films, Korra quirked an eyebrow. "...Where're your parents, kid?" She asked.

"Dead," he replied, smirking, as if he told her his favorite ice cream flavor was strawberry swirl. Totally nonchalant. Unfeeling, almost.

Korra apologized, taking a step forward. "Have you called the police? What's your name? Your address? I could get you help!"

Green eyes glittered in mischief. She was met with a toothy grin. "'Names Kai," he replied, stepping out of her line of sight. "Have a nice stay, lady!"

He disappeared immediately, practically blending in with the walls of the hotel. Puzzled, Korra turned back to her door and swallowed hard. In a decisive motion, she slid the card through the slot in the door handle and watched as it shone a bright green. A tiny smile tugged at her lips as she turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Korra half-expected something to jump out at her when she entered the room, but it proved to be nothing more than a regular old hotel room. One twin sized bed with white sheets, awful drapery, over-active air condition, a TV, and a small desk with a chair. There was nothing "haunted" about it.

She swore under her breath at herself for nearly believing that crazy kid in the hallway. With a tired sigh, she let the duffel bag's strap fall from her shoulder and let out a satisfied groan when the weight fell on the floor. She'd been lugging that thing around all day as she passed from terminal to terminal to plane and then to hotel. She just hoped this personal trainer's convention would be worth it.

After showering and changing into a tank top and sweatpants, Korra realized just how cold it was in the room. She went over to the air conditioning machine and started tinkering with it, but no matter what she pressed, the number remained at "45" degrees. Glaring at the machine, Korra decided to call the front desk. She hated to be "that" person, but she was cold! What was she going to do, stop being human?

"Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am," the man's shaky voice responded. "I forgot to tell you, the air conditioner is broken in that room. Maybe there's a window open."

Before Korra could respond, the phone hung up. The woman grunted in frustration and slammed down the receiver. She went over to the window and found it closed and locked. And even if it had been open, the summery night air of Colorado would not produce such chilling air currents. She looked at the air conditioner again with befuddlement, as it clearly was operational, just stubborn. Korra decided she was just too tired to care about it now and eyed her bed longingly.

Korra opened her eyes suddenly, sensing that something was looking at her. Her heart rate quickened as Kai's warnings flew around in her head, so she wrenched the blankets closer to herself, as though the fabric would protect her from what was watching her.

For a few moments, the martial artist lay in her bed with her heart beating wildly in her chest. Daring to confirm her thoughts, she glanced up into the darkness.

Nothing.

Kicking herself for being so silly, Korra turned on her other side and closed her eyes again. Haunted? Feh! She had socks scarier than this hotel room!

When she fell asleep, the door to the bathroom cracked open just slightly. Hazy red light filtered through, bathing Korra's sleeping form. A figure slipped through, out and towards her.

Glowing amber eyes focused on the woman, surprised to find an actual living person in the room with him. The last alive person here was well taken care of, dried up and dusty bones six feet under somewhere.

But this was a woman. Truth be told, the ghost had not caught sight of a woman that wasn't a middle aged maid and whispering the Lord's Prayer as she hastily cleaned up the room in the last several years.

This woman, this particular woman, decided to stay in this room despite the warnings. It made him upset. There was a reason people avoided his room. It was haunted, for God's sake! Didn't she know what happened in this room? Did she think it was some kind of joke?

He ghosted up to the side of Korra's bed and softly traced a line over her face. She was very pretty, he'd give her that. He'd love to see that pretty face contorted and twisted in utter fear.

With the tiniest of smiles, the ghost pulled back and disappeared, already planning his haunting.

Kai was right, Korra mused. The room was most definitely haunted.

When she woke up two nights ago, everything in her suitcase had been dumped in the bathtub-which was filled to the brim with water and soap bubbles. Her one stick of eyeliner had been smashed and smeared against the mirror, ghostly handprints just barely showing in the black makeup. And now, the room was even colder-an icy 22 degrees Fahrenheit. Korra found herself camping out in the lobby just to check her email. Telling the hotel staff didn't do any good-all they did was smile politely and sweat, nerves eating away at them.

Two nights of enduring this nonsense and Korra realized she didn't have to take it. After all, she still had two more nights here.

She would face the ghost.

On the sticky Wednesday evening, Korra bounded into her room, shouting, "Hey! I know you're here! Come out and face me!"

Nothing. No cold air, no discordant noises, nothing floating around. She was alone.

This angered her further. You couldn't just mess with someone's life and then act like it never happened. "Hey, ghost! I'm talking to you, you jerk! Why don't you tell me why you're doing this!?"

Suddenly, an ice cold shiver ran down the athlete's spine and the air turned freezing. A group of layered voices, all male, began speaking at different octaves and tones-but Korra could tell, they were all angry.

"Because you think this is a game!" They shouted, blowing Korra's hair back. "Because my life was a fleeting joke and my death a headline!"

Her blue eyes wide, Korra could see the voices merging into one, becoming a glowing figure. He was still ghostly, but resembled a human-black hair, pale skin, bright gold eyes, a red scarf around his neck.

She swallowed hard. "Who are you?" She asked.

He glared at her, retorting condescendingly, "Oh, you don't know? I'm the infamous Red Man of 576-murdered tryin' to save my brother's life in this very hotel room, but not before I set three goons on fire in this very room. Went down swingin'. Everyone knows the story."

Korra could tell from his clothes and his accent that this was not recent. "When did all that happen?"

The ghost watched her carefully. "The year was 1931," he responded coolly.

"Whoa," the martial artist said, wringing her hands together. If she had known what'd happened to him she'd never have outright screamed at him like that. "I'm sorry..."

"Mako," the ghost found himself saying.

Korra repeated it, tasting the foreign name for the first time. "I'm Korra. I'm sorry I invaded your privacy," she told him honestly. "And I'm sorry I yelled at you."

For just a second, Mako could see the soft blue aura on the woman and he could tell she was being one hundred percent honest. "I'm sorry I ruined your things. They were pretty neat to look at, before they, you know, got all waterlogged."

The athlete smirked, recalling how she had to pull out all four of her very heavy ankle weights from the bath, cussing viciously the whole time.

"I'm a little surprised you didn't hear about me from the 'papers," Mako said.

Korra shrugged, saying, "I'm not from here, so I don't really know any of the urban legends. And besides, no one reads newspapers anymore."

Mako's thick, sharp eyebrows shot up and he tipped his head to the side, asking, "Really? Then what do they use?"

It took the martial artist a moment to remember this man died eighty four years ago. "They, uh, use phones," she responded, holding up hers.

"Those glowy things? They're so small!" Mako said in awe.

"Well, they make 'em pretty big now. Mine's small because I'm saving up for a really big one on my birthday."

"Huh."

The two stood there very quietly for what felt like ages before Korra cleared her throat and said, "Well, if you want me to leave, I will. I can get another room-"

"Wait, no," Mako interjected a little too quickly. "I mean, stay. It's alright. I've never had a roommate that stuck around for more than a night anyways. Stay, please."

Korra felt herself smiling. "Uh...okay! But no more messing with my stuff!"

The ghost held up one gloved hand to his heart, "Scout's honor."

"1931..." Korra breathed to herself, crossing the floor to her closet.

Mako watched her dig through her things for a while, a wide smile creasing his face for the first time in ages. He wondered how surprised Korra would be if she woke up to a bouquet of flowers instead of his usual haunting.

Author's Note: Ooh, that took forever. One down, one more to go! I may have to go somewhere soon, so I might not get started on the last prompt till late. Until then, forgive me!