A/N: I just want to thank you readers for all your reviews and helpful advice so far! I've realized there were a few inconsistencies in the plot, so I've read through the entire work and fixed some of these errors, including the eye color thing that Pyro Flare mentioned. I also took some creative license in describing the Inn here, since I figured it makes more sense for the Inn to have about ten or so rooms to rent rather than just two big ones. I personally don't know of any inns with only two rooms, haha. Thank you guys once again!
-CCM
Chapter 23: Into the Storm
As dinner came to end, the girls assisted Ann and her father in clearing the tables of used plates and silverware, taking the dirtied dining items into the kitchen where Doug offered to wash them in the sink himself while his daughter and her friends went on upstairs to Ann's bedroom.
"But Dad," Ann had protested, "you don't have to do this all by yourself. We can help you out, you know. It's no problem, really."
Doug shook his head in response, his mustache twitching as his serious expression gave way to an amused smile. "No, you don't have to help this time, Ann… As of now, you're officially off work duty tonight. Go ahead and take your friends upstairs, and I'll take care of these dirty dishes in the meantime. It's the least I can do."
As Ann led the girls up the set of rickety wooden stairs toward the Inn's guest rooms on the second floor, Claire glanced around at her surroundings curiously. She was the only one out of the group who had never been to the upper floor of the Inn before, and she wanted to take in as much of it as she could.
They stepped onto an upper landing that opened onto a narrow but clean and brightly lit hallway lined with brown oak-paneled doors, and Ann beckoned them onward toward a room the very end of the hall. As the girls made their way through the corridor, taking care not to tread on each other's toes, Claire heard a loud and very unexpected creak from somewhere to her left. The farmer instinctively jumped away from the noise, bumping into Mary and Elli in the process, as a door swung open and something large and dark suddenly came out to greet them from within.
Or make that someone.
"Oh – Kai!" Popuri squealed, the joyful sound of her voice cracking slightly with a hint of fright – it seemed that Claire wasn't the only one who had been startled by the sudden sound in the empty hall. "You scared me!"
"Well, I'm sorry, Poppy; I didn't mean to. I just came out to see what all the commotion is." His eyes trailed slowly over the crowd of girls, and Ann rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, Kai. Just leave us alone for now, 'kay? This is kinda girls only, no offense."
Kai smirked. "Why, of course. No offense taken. See you later girls, Poppy." He backed away, shutting the door with another loud creak, though everyone had been expecting it this time around.
Ann shook her head again and turned to face a simple door at the very end of the row that matched all the others perfectly, but for the makeshift paper nameplate attached to the center that had the name "Ann" written on it in neatly printed red ink.
Ann pulled a tiny brass key from the front pocket of her jeans and unlocked the door – "For security purposes," she explained, "Don't want some random hotel guest walking into my room unannounced." She pushed the heavy wooden door forward with a flourish and strolled inside, holding it open behind her as her friends were ushered into the room.
As they gathered inside, Claire took a moment to ask the tall redhead, "By the way… where does your father sleep?" She tried to play it off nonchalantly, but if the nagging suspicions in the back of Claire's mind had any sort of basis in truth, it might be helpful to know where they could find help nearby during the night.
Oh, come off it, Claire scolded herself. Seriously, why are you always thinking things like that? No wonder you don't sleep well at night; you've become as paranoid as the protagonist in a horror film, for Goddess' sake.
"Oh," Ann replied without any idea of her blonde friend's innermost thoughts, "His bedroom is downstairs, just off the kitchen. Why?"
Claire shrugged, and hoped it looked convincing. "Just curious."
Forcing a smile, she took a quick look around the room. Ann's bedroom was very large and very blue, though the furniture inside was rather simple and unassuming. A twin size bed with navy blue covers was positioned in one corner next to a small vanity and dresser, which were adorned with a number of framed photographs, all depicting the room's inhabitant in various situations – Ann hanging out at Mineral Beach with her friends, Ann cooking beside her father in the Cooking Festival, toddler-aged Ann beaming in the arms of a lovely red haired woman that could only be her mother. At the far end of the room stood a large, somewhat outdated television set next to a wall of tightly packed shelves, beyond a worn blue sofa.
While the girls settled themselves around the room, Claire took a look out the lone window that loomed beyond the shelves next to the television; the sky was already beginning to darken, though not just from the time of day, for threatening clouds had finally begun to roll in from the ocean and were hovering over the town menacingly. Claire could just make out the silvery light of a full moon behind the storm clouds, and in the distance, a spark of lightning flared across the sky, quick as a flash. The farmer girl shivered as she turned away from the window, back toward the others.
Mary had already settled herself down in a small but comfortable-looking armchair in the corner next to a floor lamp, her large bag at the floor by her feet. Claire wondered what could possibly be inside that bag that made it look so overstuffed, like an overripe pumpkin. Probably books, she thought with a small smirk.
Karen and Popuri were both sprawled out on the sofa, so Claire took a seat on the carpeted floor beside Elli, while Ann dug around on the shelves for something. "Just wait, you guys… Do I have a surprise for you!"
"Are we going to give each other manicures?" Popuri asked, sounding oddly hopeful.
Ann stifled a snort. "…No."
"What is it?" Karen asked, somewhat lazily as she inspected her fingernails. "Let me guess – another B level horror film?"
Ann feigned an offended glare. "How did you know?" She turned back around, hiding a laugh. "But really, this one looked good. I'm not kidding this time. Ah – here it is!" She pulled a video case from the top shelf, taking exaggerated care not to reveal the cover.
"Do we have to watch another scary movie?" Popuri whined. "I really hate them! The last one we watched at Karen's house, with the weird doll they bought at that yard sale that came alive and murdered the whole family at night, one by one – ugh, I couldn't sleep right for weeks! I kept thinking that creepy doll was going to come get me or something. I couldn't even close my eyes at night without seeing it!"
"Oh, come on Poppy, don't be such a chicken." Karen laughed as she put a light stress on the word. "That movie was so dumb… But at least I don't see how it could get any worse."
Over in the corner, Mary nodded in agreement as she adjusted her spectacles. "I would have to agree with Karen on that point. The plot was just far too predictable and overdone for my taste. Are you sure this one is any different, Ann?"
Ann shook her head. "No, but I still wanna watch it."
"So what's it about, then?"
Ann waggled her finger disapprovingly in Karen's direction. "Uh uh uh! This one's a secret! Not telling! You'll have to watch and see for yourself!"
She popped the movie into the DVD player and plopped herself down on the sofa between Karen and Popuri. As the red haired girl sat down, she winced in pain, causing Popuri to glance at her sympathetically. "You okay, Ann? Is… is it… you know?"
Ann nodded, somewhat regretfully. "Yeah… It still hurts sometimes, if that's what you're asking. Only when I make abrupt movements, though."
"Hey, um… do you think we could have a look at it?" Karen asked, somewhat hesitantly. Claire couldn't help but think that the girl had an awful lot of nerve to bring up such a questionable topic, but Ann didn't seem to mind.
"Oh… oh, yeah. Sure, I guess. If you really want to." Ann lifted the hem of her shirt slightly to reveal most of her lower abdomen. Her stomach region was no longer wrapped in the clean white bandage that it had been in when Claire saw it previously, but there were three long, jagged scars that ran parallel to each other from the center of her abdominal region out toward her left side, the skin surrounding them an angry red color that had slowly begun to recede. The scars looked like they had been very deep, but were currently in the healing process.
As Ann's remaining injury was exposed, Claire noticed that Elli hadn't turned to take a look like everyone else, but instead turned the other way, her eyes filled with worry and what looked like glistening tears, though that could have very well been a trick of the light.
"Ouch…" Karen stared at the area on Ann's stomach open mouthed. "Goddess, Ann, that looks like it hurt."
Over in the corner, Mary let out a sly snort, and Popuri looked horrified. Ann, however, merely laughed it off. "It's all right. It's not infected anymore, thankfully." She nodded graciously toward Elli, who still refused to look at Ann's wounds. "It's all thanks to Elli and Doctor Trent that I'm getting better."
"Oh, you don't have to thank me, Ann. It's all part of the job." The brunette nurse tried to accept Ann's courteousness with quiet poise, but only managed to look even more distraught. However, if any of the other girls noticed it, they didn't let on.
"Oh, the movie's starting!"
The girls quickly settled themselves and turned to stare at the screen, which was now displaying a glowing full moon, half hidden by darkened storm clouds, shining over a large, rather gloomy-looking red brick building. "So, how scary is this movie again?" Popuri asked tentatively.
As if in response, an earsplitting boom of thunder echoed throughout the room, and Popuri let out a squeal.
"Oh, calm down," Karen chuckled at her friend, "it's just thunder. And the movie can't be that scary."
"Maybe for you," the pinkette muttered in retort.
"Oh, wait you guys! We don't have any popcorn!" Ann exclaimed as she abruptly jumped up from the sofa, clutching her side with one hand.
"But we just ate dinner…"
Ann ignored Elli's words as she turned to rush out of the room. "Oh, come on! What's a good movie night without popcorn? I'll be right back!"
Five minutes later, Ann returned with the largest bowl of popcorn that Claire had ever seen in her entire life, filling the entire room with its hot buttery scent. She settled back down on the couch, nestled the bowl in her lap, and began to munch away without further ado. "What did I miss?"
"Not much," Karen responded as she grabbed a fistful of popcorn, her eyes never straying from the screen, which was currently detailing the events of a cheesy high school Halloween dance, teenagers sporting purple and black dresses and tuxedos dancing amidst hanging bat decorations and orange streamers. "Just a dumb high school party on Halloween, during a full moon… dark and stormy night… doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going to happen next."
The words were barely out of her mouth when all of the lights in the room flickered once, then twice, prompting another squeal from Popuri. "Oh… that startled me!"
"Goddess, Popuri… since when are you so skittish?" Karen stared over Ann's popcorn bowl at her pink haired friend, her elegant brown eyebrows raised questioningly.
"I don't know… I'm just feeling a little spooked, is all. Why did the lights flicker?"
"It most likely has to do with the incoming lightning storm," Mary spoke up knowledgably. "I've noticed that the wind speeds have picked up considerably since this afternoon."
Claire glanced out the window, and sure enough, the tree branches outside the Inn were being whipped around and battered by strong, periodic gusts, sending crumpled leaves flying. A shiver crawled down her spine as the lights flickered once more, ever so slightly, and she quickly turned her attention back to the television.
As the movie went on, Claire noticed that a few of the other guests were beginning to lose interest in the cliché film. Mary had pulled a thick paperback novel from her bag and began to read, meaning that Claire was correct in her assumption that the tote was filled to the brim with books, and Elli was picking loose threads from the carpet absentmindedly, her thoughts presumably somewhere else entirely. Karen, however, let out a mocking chuckle at the film every few minutes, occasionally with a few scathing comments like "That's so stupid!" and "Why would anyone do that? Idiot," while Ann crunched on her popcorn ravenously, as though she had been starved, her eyes glued to the screen.
Popuri still looked nervous about the randomly flickering lights, and with every particularly loud boom of thunder or strong gust of wind, she would glance out the window fearfully before reluctantly returning her gaze to the movie.
Claire found herself becoming distracted as time went on, her mind wandering as she imagined the same creepy scenarios in the movie coming to life in her own world. Normally, she would scoff at such situations in horror films, but as of that moment, some of those developments didn't seem that farfetched after all… In fact, some of them she could relate to almost too well. Claire found her eyes closing of their own accord as she thought of mysterious sounds outside bedroom windows, large dark forms with glowing eyes following travelers through the trees, inexplicable feelings of anxiety rising up in her chest…
She opened her eyes with a jolt. Turning back toward the screen, she watched as one of the female protagonists ran wildly through an endless maze of trees, stumbling over rocks and down the craggy slopes of ravines, splashing through shallow streams in her haste to get away from… whatever the thing was that was following her. The girl was completely lost in a frenzied state of fear, which Claire could relate to, rather uncomfortably.
The only light in the darkened forest came from the full moon hovering threateningly in the sky above. Claire couldn't help but feel slightly on edge at the vaguely familiar scene; the blonde girl in the movie looked a bit like herself, and the ominous music in the background was picking up speed, growing louder by the second, signaling an impending scare.
Claire glanced over at the other girls again, their faces illuminated in the darkness by the light of the television screen. On the couch to her left, Popuri was whimpering slightly as she pulled her blanket up to her chin, while Karen nudged her with an elbow and laughed out loud; meanwhile, in between them, Ann had finished off the bowl of popcorn, and was now watching the movie with an enraptured expression on her face, as if in a trance. In the corner, Mary had actually put her book down on her lap to watch for a moment, though she looked somewhat bored by the proceedings, and Elli leaned against the front of the sofa next to Claire, her face obscured from the farmer girl's line of sight.
Claire looked back at the television and almost screamed; the girl in the film had stopped to catch her breath for a moment at the edge of a cliff, but abruptly leapt away as something utterly enormous and hairy jumped out from beneath her, snarling savagely and gnashing its teeth. It pounced at the girl, who had frozen against a nearby tree in fear – there was no escape –
"Aaaaahhh!"
The room was plunged into darkness. Suddenly, she couldn't see a thing.
Popuri had screamed, and there was a scuffle at her other side, followed by a thump and faint cry of surprise as though Ann had dropped the popcorn bowl on Elli sitting below her.
"What happened to the movie?"
"I can't see!"
"Did the power go out?"
"Mary," Karen said, taking charge, "Can you try to turn on that lamp you were reading next to?"
There were a few small clicks, and then Mary responded, somewhat shakily, "It's already on. I can't get it to light – the power must be out in the entire building. Perhaps even the entire town!"
Karen laughed nervously in a way that made it seem as though she were trying to act brave without really feeling the part, and Elli let out a small squeak. "Stu-!"
There was a sound of someone making their way toward the door, quickly but cautiously, so as to not run into anything in the darkness that their eyesight was slowly adjusting to.
"Elli?" Popuri asked in a high pitched tone, even higher than usual for her. "Where are you going?"
"I need to go back home, quickly; I need to check on – aaahh!"
There was a loud slam of hard wood, followed by two simultaneous shouts – Elli's and a familiar young man's.
"Kai?" Ann asked, "Is that you?"
"Yeah!" the masculine voice called out in reply.
Still nestled on the couch, Popuri whispered, "Oh, thank goodness," while Elli released a sigh of relief.
"Goddess, Kai, you scared me!" she said, a little breathlessly.
"Sorry," Kai muttered in response. "Are you girls all right? I heard a lot of shouting in here after the power went out. Ann, I was thinking we should probably check with your father downstairs, see if you guys got any candles or a flashlight down there somewhere."
Ann nodded before remembering that it was too dark for anyone to see the gesture. "Oh… I mean, we're fine. And yeah, we do. There's a flashlight in my dad's bedroom, and candles and matches in one of the drawers behind the counter."
There was a sudden flash of lightning outside the window, followed by a loud clap of thunder, and the room was lit up briefly before being bathed in darkness once more. Popuri jumped up from the sofa in surprise and ran toward the door where Kai was still standing. "Come on, this is freaking me out. Let's go!"
Murmuring their agreement, everyone got up at once and promptly began to run into furniture and each other. Still somewhere in the corner of the room, Mary tittered. "Oh, enough of this standing around in the dark like a bunch of fools."
There was a rustle of fabric and a few thumps, as though the librarian had begun rifling through the books in her bag, and suddenly a tiny burst of light appeared.
"My pocket reading light! Good thing I always carry this around, even if it's not much to go by."
Kai snorted, and Mary glared at him from across the room, an expression that Claire had never seen cross the usually mild-tempered girl's face.
"What? It's better than nothing. Unless you'd prefer to bumble around in the dark and most likely fall down the stairs face first? Because if that is the case, then be my guest."
Kai promptly shut up.
"No, that's great, Mary," Ann said in a faintly strained voice, as though she were fighting hard not to show how freaked out she truly was. She gestured for the darker haired girl to follow her. "I'll take that and go first, if you don't mind. F-follow me, you guys."
Claire pretended not to hear the slight stutter in Ann's voice as she followed the redhead into the hallway with Mary. They were followed closely by Kai and Popuri, the latter of whom was holding onto the former's arm in a death grip, while Elli and Karen brought up the rear.
The Inn's hallway looked ten times more ominous in the pitch blackness beyond the tiny glowing bulb of Mary's book light, accented by the sounds of the summer storm outside. Everyone was so quiet, but for the creaking of their light footsteps against the floorboards, that Claire could practically hear the breathing of each individual around her.
"Here," Ann spoke up once she came upon the staircase, "Why don't we-"
BAM!
"Aaaahh!"
"Oh!"
Claire's scream cut off short as she realized just what had happened. One of the guest room doors had flung open unexpectedly, nearly knocking her to the ground, and in the dim lighting, she could just make out a very familiar form in the open doorway.
"Oh my, I-I'm sorry, Claire…" Cliff said apologetically, "I-I didn't realize you guys were out here. I didn't mean to scare you… or hit you in the face with a door."
"No, that's all right," Claire laughed, startled but greatly relieved. She had forgotten that the young man lived in a room at the Inn, and though she couldn't see his face clearly in the darkness, she could tell from his tone of voice that he was blushing furiously. "I'm just glad it's you."
"Hey, is everyone all right?" a gruff voice called out suddenly.
The hall was suddenly bathed in a blinding white light, and as her eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden brightness, Claire could make out a large mustachioed man wielding a flashlight in his right hand – Doug.
"Yeah, Dad, we're fine," Ann replied brightly, "It's just really difficult to see, obviously. I… se you already got the flashlight, so I was just gonna go get the candles to use, too."
Doug nodded. "Why don't we all come downstairs? We only have a limited number of candles, so we can set them up on the tables in the dining room and wait to see if the lights come back on together."
The group followed the innkeeper's lead down the staircase, and once downstairs, Ann and Doug took the flashlight and went digging around in the drawers behind the dining room counter while the others waited in the dim light, listening to the thudding and scraping until Ann finally called out, "Aha!" and pulled out three long wax candles and a box of matches. With her father's help, she lit the trio of candles and set them down on one of the wooden tables as the others gathered around in the surrounding chairs. Claire went to sit down in the seat beside Ann, and blushed slightly as her hand met Cliff's, who had tried to grab the same chair at the same time as her.
"Sorry," Cliff muttered, and he grabbed the chair on the other side of Claire instead. Meanwhile, Doug pulled up a few extra chairs from an adjacent table so they could all fit at the same one, where they then stared at each other awkwardly, unsure of what to say.
The thunder and lightning had finally started to lighten up, but, judging from the sounds coming from outside, the wind was still blowing strong. Claire could just make out the dark forms of tree branches swaying in the gale out the front windows.
Suddenly, the uncomfortable silence was interrupted by a harsh knocking sound, and it took a moment for anyone to register the source of the noise.
"Um, Mr. Doug…" Mary interjected quietly, "I-I think someone's at the door."
Huffing slightly, the innkeeper rose from his chair and approached the heavy wooden double doors to answer the call. As soon as he opened one, the dining room was filled with a strong gust of wind that ripped at their hair and clothes, and a familiar old man with white hair and round spectacles burst into the Inn.
"Help me! Somebody, anyone, you have to help me!" Barley cried frantically. Claire gasped – she had never seen the normally calm elderly rancher in such a frenzied state. What could have happened to him?
"It's my granddaughter!" Claire's unspoken question was immediately answered. "May – I can't find her anywhere!"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down there," Doug interrupted, his eyes wide with suppressed worry. May was such a sweet little girl, loved by all of Mineral Town, and the townspeople were so protective of her that many would be devastated if anything bad happened to her. "What do you mean? She's missing?"
"I must have dozed off right after dinner," Barley explained, "Which does happen sometimes. And when I woke up, the entire room was pitch black, and there was a nasty storm brewing outside. The wind must have blown the lights out, because none of the electricity was workin'. I was worried about May, so I looked around the house for her, but couldn't find her anywhere! She wasn't in her bedroom or anything, and she wouldn't answer my calls!"
He gazed at the crowd around him pleadingly. "You have to help me – May could be anywhere by now!"
"Are you sure she's not at home?" Doug asked calmly, before anyone else could intervene. "Or out in the barn, possibly?"
Barely shook his head, his voice wrought with distress. "No… I already checked the entire ranch. I couldn't find her anywhere… Please help me find her! I don't know what to do!"
"But… Why would May go outside in such a strong storm?" Popuri asked, confused. "Wouldn't she realize how dangerous it is?"
Beside her, Karen shrugged. "Kids do unexpected things sometimes. They're not the best at thinking things through…"
"But don't worry, sir," Kai added as he rose from his chair, nodding resolutely. "we'll go look for her… She can't be far."
"But what about the curfew?" Doug reminded him. "The mayor did say that it's dangerous to go outside, given the circumstances… and especially during this storm."
"Dad," Ann spoke up, "that just makes the matter even more urgent! This is more important! We have to go and search for May right away!"
Elli, who was sitting beside her redheaded friend, nodded. "We have to find her! This – this is crucial, if May really is out there all on her own. But I might know where she is…" she added quietly.
"Where?"
Elli sighed, her voice wavering slightly. "After noticing her grandfather fell asleep, I think she may have snuck out to play with Stu. She's done it before… We should check at my house, first. We need to make sure they're okay, especially after this power outage."
"Then it's settled," Kai announced, disregarding the hesitation in Elli's voice. "We'll set out immediately! There's no time to waste."
"All of us?" Mary asked.
"Yeah, come on! It'll be safer that way," Ann responded impulsively as she ran out the door. Kai and Elli quickly followed her. Shrugging, Karen took off after them with Popuri on her heels, and after exchanging a tense glance with Cliff, Claire and the remaining two young people left the Inn.
Doug merely shook his head in a state of disbelief as he watched his daughter leave. "That girl…" he muttered. "Her spontaneity will be the end of her. So much like her mother…"
"But hopefully, they'll be able to find your granddaughter, Barley," he added as he pat the old man's shoulder in an attempt to console him. "Goddess, we've practically got half the town out there looking for her… I'm sure she'll turn up perfectly fine. Come on, let me get you something to drink."
Outside in the retreating thunderstorm, the makeshift search party ran through the streets of Mineral Town frantically, their footsteps echoing through the night as their feet slapped loudly against the stone pavement. Every few steps, one of them would call out May's name in a pleading tone, carried on by the wind, but with no response – not from the little girl in question, nor from any other neighboring villager or creature.
Normally, Claire would feel especially nervous about all the running and shouting in the night – wouldn't all the noise they were making attract unwanted attention, from who knows what? But with a specific goal in mind, thoughts of any possible shadowy stalkers or even the trouble they could get in if they were caught after curfew faded to the back of her mind for the time being. They were on a mission, and there was no way they could turn back until May was proven safe and sound.
Overhead in the darkened night sky, the thick clouds were slowly withdrawing toward the edges of the valley, leaving an ominously shining full moon in their wake. It seemed to taunt them in a way, teasing them in their search from its lofty height over the town like some great omnipresent being.
In less than five minutes, the group came to the small brick house where Elli lived with her grandmother and younger brother, and the young nurse hurried inside as the rest of the searchers waited out on the street, shivering slightly in the night air and praying for good news.
Please let her find her, please let her be there…
At that moment, Elli burst out the front door with a shout and ran back to the road where the group stood in wait. Claire craned her neck to see whether the brunette toted a small black haired girl with her, but was disappointed to see that Elli was alone, her arms empty… And when she saw the look of pure horror on Elli's face, her heart stopped.
The farmer wasn't the only one who noticed the disconcerting strangeness of the scene, and Karen was the first to respond, grabbing her friend by the arm. "Elli, what's wrong? Did you find May? What happened?"
Elli took in a panicked gulp of air, her eyes darting around wildly as she struggled to speak.
"Oh, no… oh, no. Stu! He's missing too!"
A/N: Just wanted to note, this was my longest chapter yet! I've surpassed the 5,000 word mark! Thank you for reading this especially long chapter, and feel free to leave a review!
-CCM