Something grabbed my blazer from behind and tried to pull me back, but I kept running, while at the same time Elliot pulled me forward as he ran. He held onto my hand tenaciously and I was grateful for it.
"El… I can't!" I was out of breath and slowing him down. I wanted him to let go of me before both of us became a nighttime snack. His reaction to my resignation was tightening his grip on my hand and running faster instead of releasing me, but we had no chance of beating the beasts. There were many of them and they were faster and stronger.
In the distance, I thought I saw something bright. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared a second ago, and so at first I was sure that my brain was tricking me. Then I saw it again, and this time I recognized it: two headlights coming in our direction. Could we be this lucky? I was almost afraid to believe it, but it was all I had left. Without that tiny hope, there was only death.
After a few more seconds, it was clear that what was coming towards us was a car. The lights became bigger as it got nearer. Gradually, I started hearing the engine, its hum filling me with relief like the sound of life. We were saved. In a few seconds, we would be safe.
The car passed the closest curve down the road and was now driving in a straight line toward us. We both waved our free hands frantically as we ran toward it, signaling the driver to stop.
On the roof of the vehicle, red and blue lights were suddenly turned on, causing us to squint against their blinding beams. The car slowed down and came to a stop right in front of us and I could finally see there was a man in the driver's seat. I pulled my badge from my belt and lifted it against the light as we ran to the side of the car and banged on the window of the back seat for the driver to let us in. The fact that he was a cop too was even a bigger relief for me.
The policeman opened the car door lazily and got out as if he had all the time in the world. I couldn't understand his behavior in light of what was chasing us and the obvious urgency we were in.
"Good evening, I'm Sergeant Johnson," he said calmly. "Are you lost?"
"We have to get inside before they get us!" my voice was louder than usual, I was panicked.
"Before what gets you, Ma'am?"
"Those beasts!" I pointed in the direction we had come from, which was illuminated by the car headlights. All three of us looked to where I was pointing, but the road was deserted. I looked around, trying to see those yellow eyes glowing from between the trees like before. Nothing.
"What beasts?" Johnson asked as he turned back to look at me after searching for whatever we were scared of.
"They were just here! What the hell…" Elliot said quietly behind me.
"One of them grabbed my blazer!" I pulled the back of my blazer to the front and realized that it was not damaged, just dirty.
"Maybe the car scared them away," Elliot tried to find logic in the crazy situation.
Sergeant Johnson stared at us suspiciously. "Have you two been partying?" he asked.
"What?" Elliot said angrily.
"No! I'm Captain Benson from the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, this is Detective Stabler from the Organized Crime task force. We're on a joint mission here, we came to look for a witness," I felt the desperation digging a hole in my stomach as I explained.
"Our car broke down and we got stuck in that abandoned hotel down the road. That place is… insane," Elliot talked fast. He was even more nervous than I was, if that was possible.
"The Dorbridge hotel?" Johnson frowned, looking at us as if it was the strangest thing he had ever heard. "That place was demolished years ago. Black mold," he said and waited a moment for us to respond, but we looked at him in utter shock. "The family that owned it went bankrupt, sold it to some business man who wanted to build a shopping center there but had some legal issues. There's nothing but an empty lot there now."
Elliot and I looked at each other, completely baffled.
"No, we must be talking about a different hotel," I said to Johnson.
He laughed. "There aren't any other hotels in this area, Ma'am. Look around you, this isn't New York City. There's only a motel in the center of Dorbridge and I can assure you that it's not insane. Just a regular motel."
"We're telling you that we were just there," Elliot took a step toward Johnson and I placed my hand on his chest, blocking him from taking another step. The last thing we needed was to get in trouble with the local police.
"Let's go there, I'll show you," Johnson said and got back inside the car without waiting for a response.
"I'm not going back there," Elliot said quietly.
"We have to go with him, we can't stay here," I looked around again. The trees were swaying gently in the wind again. There was no sign of what had happened minutes ago.
"Fine, but let's not get out of the car at any moment."
Johnson waited patiently until we got inside the car and closed the doors. I took the seat next to him in the front and Elliot sat in the back. His tension was tangible to me. I could always sense what he was feeling and usually it was helpful, but now it just increased my own level of stress.
As we drove in silence, I peered outside the window, trying to spot any animals or glowing eyes, but everything looked normal. That seemed to be how everything ended in that place – as if nothing had ever happened. It was driving me crazy. I missed New York City, where things could definitely get messy, but at least they weren't illusions. They were real. I didn't know how to deal with things that weren't real. It made me feel weak and insecure, which I hadn't felt since I was a child.
"Alright," Johnson broke the tense silence, pointing at something ahead to the right as he slowed the car down. "Here we are."
"Where?" I asked, confused. It was hard to see in the dark, but there was definitely no building on the lot. In fact, it seemed like there was nothing but open space. Only the outlines of the shadowy trees around it were somewhat visible.
"This is where the hotel used to be," Johnson said calmly. He was either completely oblivious to our distress, or he just didn't care.
"That's not possible," Elliot said, moving to the edge of the back seat to be closer to us as he talked.
"It's dark, Sergeant. Maybe you made a mistake," I had to make an effort to keep my voice leveled. I was angry at him, at the despair that had taken over every fiber of my being.
Johnson didn't reply. He started driving again but only for a moment before turning the car back around and coming to a stop again.
At first, I was totally confused by what he had done, but then I looked outside the windshield and realized that the headlights were illuminating a sign that we had seen before. The Dorbridge Hotel sign.
My heart sank. This really was the place where the hotel should've been, but it wasn't there.
"What the hell?" Elliot whispered right behind me.
"How's that possible?" I couldn't keep my voice from rising anymore. "We were here like an hour ago. There was a big building, we went inside it and got locked in there. It took us a long time to find a way out!"
"Ma'am, I think you two are tired and confused –"
"She told you that she's a captain," Elliot said angrily through clenched teeth. I knew that his frustration needed an outlet, because I felt like punching something myself.
"Not in my jurisdiction, sir," Johnson kept his cool. I couldn't understand why he was deliberately belittling our trouble and our ranks.
"Listen –"
"Elliot." I said firmly to make him stop. Usually, all he needed was for me to say his name or a slight touch of my hand to ground him, and this time was no different.
"Do we have a problem here?" Johnson asked. "'Cause I can either take you straight to the precinct to spend the night there, or I can get you a room for the night, so you can sleep off whatever it is that's going on here."
"No, Sergeant, we don't have a problem," I said quickly, before Elliot could say anything that would get us in trouble. "But maybe you could take us to our car, so we could get the rest of our things? We left it down the road."
"You mean the black SUV? It was towed two days ago to the closest impound lot."
"Oh. Where's that?" I maintained a seemingly leveled appearance, but every time he opened his mouth, my stress level rose.
"About twenty-five minutes away north of Dorbridge. You can go get it in the morning."
"It broke down, though, that's why we left it there and started walking toward Dorbridge," the desperation was shooting up my veins like a bad drug, threatening to shatter my spirit.
"Well, then, you'll need to sort it out with your towing service."
He didn't offer any help with the matter, and all I could do was stare at him, lost for words. Once again, I felt helpless.
"Alright," Johnson said. He maintained his indifferent demeanor throughout our entire encounter, and it was making me boil with indignation. It was as if he didn't care at all. What kind of police officer was he?
I didn't say anything as he started driving again, this time back in the direction of Dorbridge, without saying another word. His behavior was so strange to me. I could understand people who didn't get easily upset or excited, because I was pretty much the same, but he was downright apathetic. There was not even a hint of sympathy for us, although we had clearly been through something difficult.
Elliot leaned back in his seat and I could feel his anger. I was angry too, but I wasn't going to get myself arrested because I had a point to make. I wanted to get to somewhere warm with a phone, so I could call my people and deal with everything on my terms. At the moment, I had no power.
The drive into town took no longer than ten minutes. I kept looking outside the window, searching for those animals that had attacked us before, but I still couldn't see any hint of them. It was like they had just vanished, but after seeing that the hotel had vanished too, it didn't surprise me. Nothing in this place made sense.
Elliot's reflection was visible to me in the mirror from my angle. Exhaustion had clearly taken over him. His head was resting against the headrest, but his eyes were open. He reminded me of Noah when he was tired or sad and it made me want to hug him.
The car suddenly took a left turn and I realized that we had arrived at the motel. Johnson parked the car and turned to look at me. "Here you'll be able to get some shut eye," he said. "We can sort everything out in the morning."
"Another hotel?" Elliot asked. He sounded terrified.
"Well, where do you expect to stay? I don't think the park bench is that comfortable," Johnson mocked him.
I gave Elliot a stern look and he immediately understood the meaning of it and avoided responding.
"Of course not. We'll stay here," I said calmly, even though I was angry and scared myself.
We all got out of the car and Johnson told us to wait while he went to the reception and arranged two rooms for us.
"Could I borrow your phone for a moment? We really need to let people know where we are," I tried to be as polite and gentle as possible, even though there was nothing I wanted more than to arrest that man, for whatever reason.
"No cellphone service in the area today. Should be fixed by tomorrow," Johnson said casually, as if what he was saying made total sense.
"No service? At all? From any provider?" I asked doubtfully.
"Yup. Something must be wrong with the infrastructure or whatever. I know nothing about those things," he shrugged.
"Well, can I at least make a call at the front desk?"
Johnson stared at me for a moment as he thought about the answer. Eventually he told me he would ask for me, but he insisted on going there alone. Another oddity that I made a mental note to investigate later.
"I'm not staying here," Elliot said the second Johnson was far enough that he wouldn't hear him.
"What do you want to do instead? Wander the streets until sunrise?" I was too tired to try and convince him to behave like an adult.
"I'd rather do that than stay in a motel room by myself for the rest of the night."
I examined his face to ascertain that he was serious. His face twitched and I recognized that tick of his, the one that had appeared after Kathy's murder, when he was consumed by his PTSD and the need for justice. It worried me gravely.
"Would you be willing to stay here if we shared a room?" I asked gently.
Elliot's eyebrows arched up in surprise and he let out air slowly before replying. "Yeah, that's actually a good idea." He seemed genuinely relieved by my suggestion.
"Good," I felt relieved too. If he chose to stay outside, I wouldn't be able to leave him on his own, I would have to follow. Besides, I wasn't too eager to be alone, either. "Let's just take both keys, I don't feel like giving Johnson any explanations." I gestured with my head towards the approaching man, so that Elliot would be aware that he was coming back.
"What's his problem?" Elliot asked quietly as we both watched him.
"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out," I whispered right before he reached us.
"Here you go, adjoining rooms. On the house," he reached out his hand with the two keys dangling from it and waited for me to take them. "The phone lines are out of service, they'll be fixed in the morning. Weird coincidence," he shrugged.
I stared at him, not sure if he was telling the truth or not. His agenda was unclear to me, but I couldn't think of any reason why he would want to keep us isolated there. Still, there was something very strange about him.
"Thank you," I decided not to ask any questions, including why we had gotten the rooms free of charge. It didn't make sense that he would do it as a courtesy to a fellow officer in light of how he had been treating us, but all I wanted was for him to leave already.
"Pleasure. Good night, you two," he gave us a little smile, but even that felt condescending and fake.
"Good night," I replied as he walked back to his car. I expected him to get into the driver's seat and drive away, but he just stopped by the door and looked at us.
I exchanged looks with Elliot, who also seemed suspicious of Johnson's behavior. Another glance at the man told me that he wasn't going to leave before he saw us walking into our rooms and closing the doors behind us.
"Come on," I told Elliot as I started to walk away. Elliot followed me, clearly annoyed, but we didn't say anything until we reached our rooms on the ground floor.
"Room 132 for you," I handed him his key and he took it, playing the game for our audience of one.
Elliot walked to the door of his room and looked at me with fear in his face, his hand holding the key right before the lock.
"See you inside," I reassured him and unlocked my room. Elliot watched me until I passed through the door and we both disappeared from each other's sight.
Turning on the lights, I took a moment to look around before proceeding into the room. It was pretty standard, exactly what one would expect from a motel room. A bed, a small desk and a small TV on the wall. Mustard colored carpets that needed to be thoroughly cleaned covered the floor. The door to Elliot's room was between the TV and the desk, across the room from the bed.
I placed my wet bag on the floor and walked quietly to the door to Elliot's room, as if I was doing something wrong and trying not to get caught. There was a smaller key hanging from the keychain that Johnson had given me, and I assumed that it was for that door. To my relief, I was right. Going to the front desk and asking about it was the last thing I wanted to do at the moment. The thought of meeting more people from this town concerned me. All I wanted was to take a shower and go to sleep. Elliot lying next to me was an idea so comforting that I wished I could speed up time and be in that moment already.
"Hey," Elliot said as soon as I opened the door. He walked toward me and entered my room without waiting for an invitation, still looking extremely nervous.
I left the door open and watched him as he looked around briefly and then turned to look at me.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah," he sounded anything but okay.
"Let's sit down for a moment," I placed my hands on his shoulders, using a little pressure to make him sit down. He wasn't someone I could physically force to do anything, but he obliged silently and I joined him on the edge of the bed, making sure to sit close enough that our arms and legs were touching. It was my way to make him feel like he wasn't alone.
"I don't know if I can sleep tonight," he said as he stared at the floor, the look of exhaustion and despair refusing to leave his face. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to sleep again."
"You will," his hand was on his knee and I placed my hand on it, squeezing gently. "If not tonight, then tomorrow, when we go back to the city."
He held onto my fingers without saying anything. It pained me to see him like that, to know that he was suffering and that there wasn't much I could do about it. If our situation wasn't so surreal, I could have done something to help him, but how does one fight illusions?
"I never thought that the countryside could be more stressful than the city," he scoffed.
I didn't know what to say to that so I stared at his profile, waiting for him to say something else, but he remained silent. "Why don't you go take a warm shower? It'll make you feel better. I'll do the same," I thought it was a good idea.
"And wear what? My bag is still in the car with all my stuff in it, and yours is soaking wet," he brought me back to reality.
"Right," the thought of going to sleep without taking a shower after everything we'd been through made me want to scream. "I'm sure there are towels and extra blankets we could use as pajamas."
Elliot finally looked away from the floor to stare at me, somewhat surprised. As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted them so much that I could feel my cheeks turning red instantly.
"I mean… we're completely wet and we haven't showered in a while…" I muttered, trying to excuse my suggestion to be naked around each other, covered with only a towel or a blanket. I felt like slapping myself for making that suggestion.
"No, yeah, I understand," Elliot suddenly seemed like he had taken a breath of fresh air. I could've laughed at it, if I wasn't mortified.
He got up and started walking back toward his room, muttering something about him definitely needing a good shower.
I kept sitting in my spot for a while, staring at the open door to his room and trying to digest what had just happened. I could hear Elliot moving some things around out of sight, probably looking for those extra blankets before getting into the shower. Only when I heard the water running did I manage to get up myself and search around the room for something to cover myself with after showering.
There was, indeed, an extra blanket in the small closet by the entrance and two towels in the bathroom, but nothing more. I opened my bag and took my phone out. It was completely damp, as well as the charger I had packed for the trip. Trying to plug it in to see if, by some miracle, it wasn't ruined but just out of battery, seemed like a potentially hazardous trial, so I left it on the desk next to the old landline phone. Just to make sure, I picked it up to check if I could use it, but there was no dial tone. The line really was broken, like Johnson had said, and it somewhat surprised me. I didn't trust him at all.
Next, I took the change of clothes out of my bag and hung them in the closet, leaving its door open so they could dry as much as possible, but I knew that they wouldn't be completely dry by the time I would have to put them on in the morning. The thought of it depressed me as I closed the bathroom door behind me and started peeling the wet clothes off of me. I missed the feeling of being dry.
After some time under the warm water, I lost track of how long I had been in there. One never appreciates how great of a privilege it is to take a shower until they are deprived of it. I didn't even care that the cheap shampoo would cause my hair to look terrible in the morning. At least it was clean.
As fatigue fell on me like a heavy blanket, covering every inch of me, I reluctantly got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around me. The other one was smaller so I used it on my hair.
I wiped the mirror from the steam and stared at my battered looking reflection. The scratches and wounds on my belly and waist burned. How could Johnson look at us and not see that we had been through something bad? There was something off about him and I wanted to know exactly what it was, but first I had to get us both out of that place and make sure that we were safe.
The extra blanket that I had taken out of the closet and brought into the bathroom with me was still neatly folded on the counter, waiting for me to use it as some sort of a nightgown. I looked at it and tried to figure out what was the best way to wrap it around me, but pretty quickly logic evaporated from my head and all I could think of was what it would be like to be wearing only that in bed, with Elliot right next to me also wearing just a blanket. I immediately felt my cheeks burning again and rolled my eyes at myself for behaving like a teenager with a crush. We were both tired and shaken from the experience we had just had at that hotel, but it didn't change my feelings for him. I loved him like I'd never loved anyone else and I wanted him like I'd never wanted anyone else.
"Liv?" Elliot's voice came from beyond the closed door. "You okay in there?"
"I'm fine," I responded and quickly unfolded the blanket before unwrapping the towel I had used for my body and covering myself with the blanket instead. For a moment, I considered keeping the towel on, but it was already pretty damp and I couldn't stand the thought of going to sleep with anything remotely wet on me.
"Do you need more time? I can wait in the other room…" he sounded as if waiting alone out there was the last thing he wanted to do.
"No, it's okay. I'll be right out."
I tried to dry my hair with the second towel as much as possible, but it was still damp and cold. At first, I discarded both towels, leaving them in a wet lump next to the sink, but after trying to cover myself with the blanket in several different ways, I figured I could at least use the smaller towel for the parts that I couldn't hide with the blanket.
My heart pounded in my chest as I placed my hand on the door handle. I had to take a moment before opening the door and facing him and my feelings, because they were all over the place. Not long ago we were still fighting for our lives, and now we were in a motel room, still not entirely safe and about to share a bed, covered in nothing but blankets. How was I supposed to contain all of that?
I took a deep breath.