The rumbling of rocks thudding to the floor slowly abated above Melanie, and the tunnel became silent again. Her heart was pounding worriedly. She felt all right, but was everyone else...?
She slowly rose to her feet, sending rocks tumbling off her. "Marti? Sydney? Sophie?" she called out worriedly for her friends, not wanting to shout too loudly and risk another cave-in.
"Over here, Melanie," came Marti's voice to her right. Melanie could just make out the redhead's form in the darkness. "You all right, Marti?" she rushed over to her.
"My legs are pinned, but I'm all right; get these rocks off!" Marti asked her. Melanie groped around in the dark for the rocks and slowly pushed them off. "Hey, need a hand?" an apparently unharmed Sydney's voice rang out behind her, followed by a cellphone screen blazing on.
"Yeah, give me some light here too, Sydney," Melanie waved her over. The black-haired girl helped her pushed the rest of the rocks off Marti's legs. "Can you walk, Marti?" she asked, taking Marti's arm and helping her up.
"Yeah, nothing feels broken, thank God. Dah, look at this though," Marti wiped mud off her clothes with a disgusted look, "Brand new jean jacket and jeans, ruined just like that! Where's Sophie!?" she looked around worriedly for the other blonde.
"Over here, guys, help!" came Sophie's worried shout from the other side of the tunnel. Melanie followed the swinging gaze of Sydney's cellphone to see Sophie largely buried under a large pile of rocks. She rapidly rushed over and started straining hard. "You must have been caught in the heaviest part of the blast; these are real heavy," she groaned, straining but having no luck in pushing the rocks away.
"My ribs hurt," Sophie was grimacing heavily, "Hurry, this weight is horrible on my chest!"
"We're...trying...Sophie..." Marti grimaced herself, pushing with the other girls on the rocks. "I don't know if we can do this!" she lamented, slumping down, "Somebody needs to go get help...!"
"Hey, look!" Sydney pointed backwards. Melanie saw it too: flashlight beams around the corner of the tunnel. "Is anyone down there?" came the voice of Mr. Hunt the security chief.
"Over here; we have a girl trapped under rocks!" Melanie called to him. A thunder of footprints came towards their location. "Ahhhh!" another security guard gasped at the sight of the dead body hanging from the ceiling, "Ed!? What happened to him!?"
"We heard him gasping for air, came down here, and saw him dead before the dynamite went off," Melanie explained, still straining on the rocks pinning Sophie down, "Give us a hand here."
"One side, young lady," Hunt pushed her aside, "Good thing you heard the bangs, Carla," he called to Walton, who was standing at the back of the knot of people now surging forward to release Sophie.
"I am too, Bill. You girls come with me, we'll get you out of here," Walton waved Melanie and the others to follow her up the tunnel. The three of them trailed after the undercover officer for about a hundred yards, them climbed another ladder into what Melanie recognized as a meat locker. "So that's how he got in," she mused.
"Outside, please," Walton looked stern, waving her and her friends outside. She glanced around the kitchen to make sure they were alone. "Are any of the rest of you hurt?" she asked softly, pushing the meat locker's door closed behind them.
"Not really, thank God. Marti's legs ache, but..." Melanie began.
"I told you to let me handle this, Melanie. What were you doing down there!?" Walton gave her a brutal, piercing glare, "You promised me you would not play detective...!"
"I know, I know, and I'm sorry. We found the secret entrance in Carol and Roxanne's room, and felt we had to see where it went," Melanie confessed, lowering her head.
"I see. Where was it?"
"In the bathtub; you have to pull on the shower head to open it."
"I must have been pulling it the wrong way," Walton mused to herself, "Thank you for finding it, but from now on, I'll be the only one doing searching here," she gave the girls another harsh glare, "Because if you get involved in my investigation again, I'll have no choice but to arrest you, am I clear!?"
"Hey, we're just having a little adventure, and we did just give you a tip on...!" Sydney started to protest. A stern scowl from the policewoman, however, made her go quiet and mumble, "OK, OK, it's your case."
"Melanie?" Walton gave her another look. "Yes, we promise, for good this time," Melanie nodded.
"I'm really going to hold it to you this time," Walton warned her. She sighed and slumped against the nearest stove, "But since you know as much as you do, might as well tell you I'd suspected Jones of being a Bishop recruit. This probably proves it; he must have gotten into an argument with another Bishop disciple down there, and he hanged him."
"We saw a figure run by in the tunnel, but it was too dark to make out clearly who it was," Melanie told her.
"I have an idea; one of Bishop's top agents was Tony Major, and hanging his victims was his specialty," Walton said with a shake of the head, "I almost got him a year ago, but he slipped away. Now I know he's here-and God knows who else. I guess I do owe you girls some thanks," she cracked a small smile, "I probably would have searched forever for that secret entrance. Now I know how they've been moving around, and what to look for in other rooms. But again, I want you and your friends to stay absolutely out of it from here on, or..."
Suddenly the hotel's fire alarm sounded. "What's this now?" Marti frowned, "Is this with...?
"I don't know, but it could be. Come on," Walton waved them out of the kitchen and up the stairs into the dining room. Staff members were rushing across the room with fire extinguishers. And Melanie noticed one familiar figure running in the door the staff was running out of: Emily. "Guys, your room's on fire!" she cried, rushing towards them, "Carol and Roxanne and I heard it burning, smelled the smoke, and...!"
Without listening to another word, Melanie took off running in the direction of hers and Marti's room. Rounding the bend, she could see the large flames shooting into the hall despite the staff firing foam from their extinguishers into the room. "Did you see anyone start it, or leaving the room!?" she asked Emily when the brunette slid to a stop next to her.
"No! I'm not about to run into a burning room!" Emily protested, "And Melanie, even if they say this was an accident," she fixed the blonde with a serious glare of her own, "Don't think for one minute this wasn't deliberately set. Somebody knew you and the others went down there and set this fire as a warning."
"We...We saw somebody rush by us in the tunnel; he could have doubled back and started it," Marti mumbled, watching steam start to replace the smoke under the steady stream of the fire extinguishers. "Looks like that's it," a porter declared, "All clear."
"How bad...?" Melanie cautiously approached the doorway. The room was blackened, the beds reduced to ruins. "Oh boy," she mumbled softly.
"Looks like a lot of damage," the porter mused. "Don't worry, miss, we'll get you and your friends another room," he assured Melanie, "We'll tell Mr. Chase to get you the best available to replace this one."
"Wow, this is really great," Sydney exclaimed, walking through the deluxe multi-bedroom suite she and the other girls had been granted, "How much does this usually run for, fifty thousand a night?" she asked Sophie, standing by the doorway.
"Well, not quite that high, Sydney, but it's the best we had available. Glad you like it," Sophie nodded in satisfaction, "Anyway, my dad said I could sleep in with you guys tonight, if that's OK."
"Sure is, Sophie, we're glad to have you," Melanie spoke up from the window, watching the snow pour down in buckets now. She turned back at the sound of Sophie grimacing. The other blonde was taking painful steps into the room. "You sure it's not just one cracked rib, Sophie?" she asked her worriedly.
"That's what the doctor said. Sorry I won't be skiing with you guys the rest of the week," Sophie winced with each step, one hand on her chest. She fought her way to the bed and plopped down on it. Heavy guilt swept through Melanie. "Sophie, I'm so sorry," she mumbled, sitting down next to her, "I wouldn't have gotten you hurt if I hadn't insisted on going into..."
"Hey, it's not your fault, Melanie," Sophie absolved her, "How could any of us have known they'd have dynamite wired up in there? If there's...what are you doing?" she frowned at Emily, who was bracing a chair against the room's door.
"Nobody comes into this room tonight, I've got to make sure of it!" Emily said as much to herself as to Sophie, jiggling the door into place, "I might not have found any secret entrances so far, but I'll have to check again to make sure...!"
"Emily, no one's coming in. And there's safety in numbers," Marti pointed at the other girls around them.
"Yeah, there's safety in numbers, but I..." Emily was cut off by a knock at the door. "Go away!" she shouted with a nervous look.
"It's Carol; can Rox and I come in?" the older Parker sister asked.
"Sure thing, Carol," Melanie gently pushed Emily aside and opened the door for the sisters, who had their bags slung over their shoulders. "Mind if we join you all for the night?" Carol asked again, "Rox and I agreed we didn't want to be all alone in our wing."
"Sure, sure, make yourselves at home," Melanie nodded. Carol dumped her bag on the floor. "You guys all right?" she asked the other girls, "Rox and I were a bit concerned."
"Basically...Emily!" Melanie couldn't help snapping as the brunette started barricading the door again, "Emily, we are not going to be invaded in here!"
"You still don't get it, do you!" Emily snapped back, straining to push the dresser towards the door, "Once the warning comes, the close deaths start! And I could be first for all I know! I told you that you were pressing your luck going into that tunnel, Melanie, and now we're marked girls! Now, they're going to be coming for us, and nothing we can do will stop them! You'll probably be the last one standing, so you'll have some time, but right now, I'm as good as dead as far as I know...oh God, I know I'm dead now...!"
With a loud sob, she slumped to the floor, buried her face in her hands, and started crying hard. "Emily, you're not going to die, I promise," Melanie slid down to the floor and put an arm around her, "I'll stand in front of you if someone comes for us and take a knife or worse for you if it comes to that."
"Thank you, but once one girl starts investigating, the others around her die; it happens all the time, and no one can save the victims!" Emily moaned, wiping at her eyes, "Nothing can save me now...!"
"No, Melanie's right, Emily. I'll take a bullet or knife for you too," Sydney sat down on Emily's other side and put an arm around her too, "You're my sister in all but blood, Emily, and I'll die before I'd let anything terrible happen to you."
She hugged Emily hard from behind. Count me in too," Marti sat down with them as well.
"And, well, I guess Carol and I too, right?" Roxanne plopped down with them too, and looked up to her sister for affirmation.
"Absolutely," Carol joined them.
"And me too," grimacing, Sophie did as well. "See, Emily, we're all in it together. Friends stand by each other to the bitter end, and I'm so glad to consider you a friend," Melanie told the brunette sympathetically, "We'll all be there for you, and I hope you feel the same way."
"Well, yeah, I do appreciate you guys a lot," Emily managed a small smile. Thanks," she told the other girls, "I appreciate you all care so much."
"You're a special person, Emily Young, and I wouldn't want to consider anyone else my best friend," Sydney rubbed her shoulder, "Nothing's going to happen to you as long as there's an ounce of life in my body."
"Right. Everyone, hands in," Melanie extended her hand out among her circle of friends. The others all took hold with their hands. "With this, we solemnly swear as sisters to protect each other to the bitter end," she announced, looking among the others.
"Amen," they mumbled at once. For what seemed like an eternity, the seven of them sat still in the middle of the floor, silently maintaining the hold on each other's hands. Finally, a large blast of wind against the window made Melanie look up at the clock on the nightstand. "Well, it's about quarter to midnight now. Guess we might as well turn in for the night," she said.
"That late already?" Sydney glanced at it herself in surprise. "Oh well," she unzipped her boots and tossed them into the corner, "Might as well hit the sack, then. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."
"What big day? It's going to be a blizzard all day tomorrow?" Roxanne frowned.
"Exactly, Roxanne; we make the best of a snow day. Coming, Emily?" Sydney helped her neighbor to her feet.
"Yes-but we're leaving the light on, Sydney, and that's final," Emily said firmly, "I am taking no chances of anyone sneaking up on us while I'm sleeping."
"Oh come on, Emily, you know I'm going to be right there to protect you if anyone shows up."
"The lights stay on, Syd, end of story," Emily put her hands on her hips.
"OK, we'll sleep with the lights on. See, I'm reasonable; I put my best friend's wishes ahead of my own," Sydney patted Emily on the shoulder. "Besides, I like new experiences anyway," she bustled into what would be hers and Emily's bedroom, fiddling with the knot to her neck scarf. "Any of you guys see or hear anything, scream as loud as you can; I want advance warning," Emily begged her friends.
"Promise, Emily. Try and sleep well," Marti encouraged her. Emily gave a small smile, then followed Sydney into their bedroom. "Come on, Rox, we'll take the floor in their room," Carol told her sister, hefting a blanket and pillow. Good night, everyone," she told the remaining girls, bustling with Roxanne after Sydney and Emily. "And I'll take the sofa in the living room area, if that's OK," Sophie told Melanie and Marti, "Don't you worry; I asked the security chief to watch the hall outside like a hawk. We're good and protected, so don't worry. Sleep well."
"You too, Sophie," Melanie bade the owner's daughter good night. She plopped down on her bed with a sigh. "What a day," she mused, kicking off her high tops.
"You're telling me," Marti agreed, unlacing her sneakers and tossing them on top of Sydney's boots, followed by her jean jacket. You doing OK, Melanie?" she asked her friend.
"Well, yeah, basically, Marti, it's just..."
"Want to talk again?" the redhead knowingly slid a few feet down on the bed and patted the mattress to gesture Melanie to sit next to her. Melanie obligingly plopped down on the bed. "Maybe, once the blizzard's over, and the roads are clear, we should just go home," she said softly, shaking her head, "I just feel horrible knowing Sophie got hurt in the tunnel. Maybe it isn't my fault, but I was still bent on investigating what was going on." She sighed and put her head in her hands. "I just don't know, Marti. Maybe I am endangering all of us, and if you or the other girls get hurt from here on, I don't know how I can live with myself. So maybe we should bail while the bailing is good. I don't know. What do you think?"
"Tough decision, yeah," Marti admitted with a slow nod, "I can see why you'd think that. Well, it's your call, Melanie. If you think we should stay, we'll stay; if you think we should go, we'll go. Just know I've got your back either way, and won't be upset no matter what you decided."
"I know. You're the best friend I could have asked for, Marti," Melanie smiled at her.
"You know it," Marti rubbed her shoulder warmly, "Like you just said, we all stick together here to the bitter end."
She stretched and got up. "Problem is, with all this snow, it's going to take a while for the roads to be cleared," she mused, staring out the window.
"How much now?" Melanie joined her.
"At least ten inches, far as I can see," Marti frowned at the deepening snowdrifts, "So let's hope nothing else dire happens while we are here, stay or go."
"Yep, those nosy girls I told you about were in the tunnel," the figure said into his phone in the darkness, "They got out mostly unharmed this time, but just say the word, and we'll take them out."
"What about Jones?" hissed the raspy voice on the other end.
"He proved an incompetent fool, was too obvious with his machinations. Everyone there's suspicious now. So I took him out of the equation to limit the damage."
"I see. I prefer doing that myself, but I see. I'm calling everyone I can; they'll get there at their fastest convenience. With the resort snowed in under the twenty inches they're calling for, we can really do well now. And as for those pesky girls, yes, you have my unfettered permission: slaughter them all good."