Melanie stretched as she woke up. She turned towards the window, where the glow of early morning could be seen. She turned again to the clock on the nightstand: seven thirty-two. It had been a better night's sleep than she'd initially thought she'd have, and it looked like it had been the same for her friends, as Marti in the bed next to her and the others elsewhere in the suite were still asleep. She exhaled softly. Now came the tough part: she still hadn't decided whether to continue investigating or back off...
Just then she heard it: a loud humming that sounded very much like a drill. She shot upright in bed and stared at the wall. Sure enough, something metallic broke through. Gulping, Melanie rolled out of bed to the floor, stumbled rapidly into her clothes, the rushed over and thrust her finger through the hole in the wall. There was a growl, and a figure could be seen through the hole stumbling away, clutching a hand over his or her eye. The person took off running. Melanie threw the door open. The peeper, though, dressed entirely in black, had gotten a good head start and was almost at the end of the hall already. Melanie froze up, wondering if she should follow after the peeper, but after a moment's hesitation nodded firmly and took off running after the figure. There came another crash and howl around the corner. When she reached the end of the hall and turned, she saw the figure had cut themselves against a large plate glass laying against the wall and cut themselves, thus leaving a trail of blood on the floor behind them. Melanie thus dropped back, letting the figure disappear into the distance. She then bustled after the blood trail, hoping someone else with security or the general staff would join in the pursuit. The lobby, however, has largely deserted when she reached it, with the only bellboy wheeling a loaded luggage rack into the elevator across the hall, and the night desk clerk on the phone in his office. Neither would have noticed the man, and neither turned when Melanie shouted to them. She sighed and continued pursuit of the trail of blood. It went through a partially open door into the downstairs service area, which she was able to slip through. She rushed down the stairs and followed the blood down the hall into the deserted washing room...
...but came to an abrupt end in the middle of one row of running washers. Melanie frowned, glancing around. Where did the intruder go, she wondered, glancing hesitantly into the nearest unused washing machines. There was no sign of any human presence in the room, and no blood on any of the machines that would have given the person's location away. She squatted down and glanced around the corner of the row, wondering if the person was stooped down out of sight...
...when a rough hand grabbed her from behind and jerked her to her feet. Melanie spun and let out a scream at the sight of the figure, its head obscured with a ski mask but with angry eyes visible through it, right behind her. Before she could run, the figure clamped a hand over her mouth, pushed her up against the nearest washing machine, drew a huge knife, thrust it against Melanie's neck, and slashed hard...
...at which point Melanie bolted upright in bed with a scream, breathing heavily and with sweat pouring down her face. She glanced around the hotel room, which was pitch dark. She spun to the clock on the nightstand: two twenty a.m. "Just a nightmare," she whispered softly, for her scream had not awoken Marti or any of the other girls, she saw, "Better make good and sure, though..."
She climbed out of bed and started checking around the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and no one else was in the room, but Melanie still had the feeling she was being watched. She rushed to the window and glanced outside. No one could be seen through the heavily swirling snow, which was drifting practically up to the windows now. Melanie breathed a sigh of relief...
...only to cry out again when there was a soft knock on the door. She rushed towards it. "Who's there!?" she hissed softly through it.
"It's me, Rick," came his voice on the other side, "Are you all right, Melanie?"
"Oh, oh. Yeah, Rick, I'm fine," Melanie whispered back. She fumbled around on the desk for one of the room's code keys and slipped outside. Rick was standing outside in the hall, alone as far as she could see. "What are you doing here, Rick?" she asked him.
"I heard about what happened down in the tunnels they found under the hotel, and the fire in your old room, so I got from the staff you were here now, and, well, felt I owed it to keep watch over you for tonight," Rick explained to her, "I heard you scream and worried for a moment that..."
"No, just a nightmare, thank god," Melanie explained, "You didn't have to do this, Rick..."
"No, I do. Like I said earlier, I owe you for saving me, Melanie," Rick put a hand on her shoulder, a warm smile crossing his face, "I don't want to see anything bad happen to you, because you're a real special girl. I haven't stopped thinking about you all day. Everything you said about kindness and helping others, it really stuck with me. To be honest, I haven't lived the best of lives," he looked regretful, "I've drank hard, had wild sex, broke a few traffic laws. I guess being the starting quarterback gave me a feeling of entitlement. After everything you've said earlier, I've started to feel like I've been squandering my life, and I need to redeem myself. I figured making sure nothing happened to you was a good start, especially after pointing me in the right direction. I want to help, I want to be a better person. I hope this is helping."
"It is, Rick, it is," she smiled back at him, "Admitting your sins is the first step to getting your life on track. And if you're determined to make..."
"Hey!" came an upset shout from up the hall. A pajama-clad Rhonda was storming towards the two of them. "I've been pounding on your door all night, Rick!" she upbraided him, "What are you doing here!?"
"I'm watching out for Melanie and her friends, Rhonda; someone might be...!" Rick started to protest.
"You!" Rhonda spun to Melanie, "I warned you not to try and take him away from me! I know what your little game here is! Well Rick is mine, as I made perfectly clear, and you're going to pay now!"
"I am not trying to take him away, Rhonda; you're getting paranoid!" Melanie uncharacteristically found herself shouting at the popular girl.
"Rhonda, this isn't the time; go back to bed!" Rick tried to push her away.
"Not unless you come with me; let's go! Come on, Rick...!" Rhonda seized her arm and tried to pull him away ignoring the loud shouts from adjacent rooms to be quiet.
""Rhonda, let go of me!" he pulled his hand away with a furious glare, "If this is the way you're going to act, than I have no qualms about ending whatever relationship we still have right now!"
"What's going on out here!?" a bleary-eyed Marti stuck her head through the door.
"Stay out of this, Martina!" Rhonda bellowed. "Like I said, you're going to pay for poisoning his mind!" she bellowed at Melanie, and abruptly decked her hard in the face. Melanie stumbled to the floor, but quickly rose up. Growling, Rhonda, reared back to swing another punch, but Marti burst from the doorway and grabbed her wrist in midair. "Hey, leave her alone, you jealous snake!" she shouted.
"Let go of me, or you're in trouble too!" Rhonda yelled, trying to pull her hand loose.
"Security, down here!" Rick waved furiously up the hall. Melanie noted three security guards rushing up the hall, being directed by other guests who'd now spilled out into the hall. With a roar, Rhonda abruptly shoved her back to the floor and raised her fist to strike her again, but the guards grabbed her and pulled her away before she could. "Cool it, missy!" one of them warned her.
"She assaulted Melanie; we'll press whatever charges apply!" Marti shouted, extending Melanie a hand to help her up.
"Don't worry, miss, we'll make sure she can't bother you again. Come on, back to your room," the guard told Rhonda sternly, leading her up the hall. "And by the way, now it is over, Rhonda!" Rick shouted at her, "I don't date jealous psychos!"
"You want me a psycho! You haven't seen psycho yet! I'll get even with all of you for this!" Rhonda threatened them before she was dragged out of sight. "You OK?" Rick asked Melanie, concerned.
"Yeah, it just stings," Melanie rubbed her cheek, "I'll be fine."
"I don't know what I ever saw in her now," Rick muttered contemptuously up the now empty hall, as the bystanders had filed back into their rooms. "Well, I found someone better, someone a lot kinder and nicer," his smile returned, putting his arm around Melanie.
"Yep, you can't do better than Melanie, Rick," Marti added with a grin.
"Marti!" Melanie gave her a playful shove, blushing. "Well, I guess I'm all right now, Rick, so I guess Marti and I'll go back to bed," she told him, "Thanks again for being our guardian angel, though."
"Mind if I come in?" Rick offered, "If you'll feel more comfortable having someone with you..."
"Well, OK, I guess that would be fine. But no sex, Rick," she held up a finger, "I'm chaste and would like to stay that way till I'm married."
"No problem there, Melanie. All Rhonda ever wanted was lots and lots of sex with me, and after a while, one gets burned out from it. So don't worry," he assured her.
"What's all the shouting out here?" it was Sydney opening up the door now. "Oh hi Rick," she greeted him with a small smile, "What was the commotion?"
"Tell you in the morning, Sydney. I'll be staying over tonight, so you know," he told her.
"Well, that should make Emily feel a bit better," Sydney declared, "Knowing someone's watching over us all. Come on in."
She held the door open for them. "Make yourself at home, Rick," she gestured around the room, then sided alongside Melanie and whispered, "You lucky devil; he's head over heels for you."
"I know, and I can't believe it," Melanie said with a smile. She yawned. "Well, good night, everyone, I'm going back to bed," she declared, climbing back into bed.
"Same here; surprised no one else woke up," Sydney glanced with confusion at her room, "Oh well. "Night all."
"Night, Sydney," Marti wished her well, climbing into her own bed. "Night, Melanie; hope you can have a better night's sleep after all this," she asked the blonde with concern.
"I'll keep an eye on her, Marti, don't worry about that," Rick had dragged a chair next to Melanie's bed and sat down in it, "I'll make sure no one bothers any of you girls."
"Well, I trust you, Rick. Good night." Marti switched off the light and rolled over in bed. Melanie leans towards Rick. "Just wanted to mention, Marti's infatuated with Patrick," she whispered in his ear with a grin.
"Oh she is, is she? Well, I think we might be able to do something about that," Rick grinned himself. "Whatever you want, Melanie, I'll make sure it comes to pass."
He rubbed her shoulder gently when she laid back down in bed. "I heard you've been looking into what's been happening here at the hotel, to Rob and everyone. Find out anything yet?" he whispered softly.
"Well, we kind of know how they've managed to escape each time. I'm not sure I want to go on, Rick; I don't want to put my friends in danger anymore," she admitted.
"Well, I understand if you want to stop; you've got a great group of friends, Melanie. But if you are going to keep investigating, I'll be glad to help. Like I said, I still owe you for saving me."
"I appreciate it, Rick," she yawned again, "Well, good night, and thanks again for wanting to make sure we're safe."
"Don't mention it. Sleep well," Rick planted a soft kiss on her cheek, then started gently stroking her hair. Melanie smiled warmly, snuggling down in bed. She'd won the heart of the boy of her dreams, and she couldn't be happier than she was.
"I want her dead!" Rhonda hissed into the phone in her darkened hotel room, "And I want to kill her myself! No one takes Rick away from me!"
"All right, calm down," came the raspy voice on the other end, "She's already marked for liquidation, so there's no need to overreact."
"It's not enough to kill her; I want her slaughtered now like an animal, butchered, ripped apart, a closed-casket funeral!" Rhonda yelled.
"I said we will. Now don't do anything rash; she and her friends will not live to see their homes and families again. By the time the roads are clear, they'll be good and dead. Don't do anything rash to expose anyone or anything here."
"I'm not being rash! I'm just...!"
"Good night," the raspy voice said, followed by the line clicking off. Rhonda growled and slammed the receiver down on the cradle. "I should probably trust you, but with that little brat, I'd better make sure," she mumbled, opening her purse and withdrawing a very large knife, "You're paying in blood, Haddix, and gallons of it. If I can't have Rick, no one will."