Silence, solitude, serenity, they seemed to be foreign to me. Sure, I got time to myself, but I never got the peace and quiet I truly needed. The thoughts bouncing around in my head made plenty of noise, the constant stress of keeping ahead of my studies destroyed any chances of me being completely calm, and I was never really alone. My siblings were always lurking in the shadows and my mom was always lying-in wait, all three of them searching for any sign of weakness. So, when I was offered a chance to get away from it all, I was more than happy to accept. All I'd have to do was travel a few states over, which I'd done plenty of times before. In fact, I did it a few times a year.
Every Winter, my family and I would take a plane to Colorado and stay at a skiing resort in the Rockies. Sounds relaxing, right? For most, it would be, but, like I said, when my family was near, relaxation was off the table. Constant pranks from my siblings, which the bastards made sure to do while we were in public, a lot of passive aggressive insults from mom, dad disappearing to do who knows what, all par for the course. But, this time, my family wasn't coming with me. Both my parents were too buried in their work, and my brother and sister requested to stay home (probably so they could cause as much trouble as they could while their snitch of a sister was gone). I would be all on my own. No schoolwork to worry about, since we were on break, and no family to make me miserable.
Just the thought of it brought me to life. I could sleep in as much as I wanted, spend a majority of the day reading and drawing, and then end my day with a nice dip in the hot tub and a bit more reading before bed. Could a vacation get any more perfect? Though my chance at a flawless holiday came at a cost. Since I was the only one going, my mother figured I should stay somewhere cheaper. She said she didn't want to spend a boatload of money on something only one of us (aka not her) will get to enjoy. Okay, whatever. As long as the hotel had comfortable beds and that hottub I mentioned earlier, it was fine.
The entire trip from San Diego to the Rockies was a blur. I couldn't remember a single thing about it; I only knew that it happened. I couldn't remember taking a cab to the hotel or walking into it either. But here I was standing in the lobby, donning a thick faux fur coat and a synthetic arctic fox scarf.
What? Did you think I'd be wearing real fur? We may have been asshole royalty, but my family was still somewhat progressive.
The walls of the lobby were freshly painted, the smell of new paint still lingering. The dark green carpets looked to have been recently steam-cleaned, while the front desk was so well polished it shined like a star.
A handful of hotel guests surrounded me. All of them… looked really weird. Some looked fairly normal, apart from having weirdly colored hair and pointy elf ears, while others looked like they had just crawled out of the darkest pit of hell. I mean, one guy was completely blood red with small bat wings for ears, tentacles in his eye sockets, and no eyes.
Nope! Never mind! He had one eye, and it was on his tongue!
All I could do was stare. I know it was impolite, but how could I not? Either they were shooting a horror film nearby or the plane crashed on my way to Colorado and I'm… No, no. Let's just go with the horror movie theory.
Finally, being able to tear my eyes away from the present freakshow, I was able to make my way to the front desk. I rang the small silver bell on the counter, my foot tapping impatiently a million miles a minute. The sooner I got to my room, the better.
"Just a second!" I heard a voice call from the closest first floor hallway. It caused me to once again freeze; this time I was left staring at nothing. I'd know that snarky annoying voice anywhere.
From around the corner, an emerald haired teenager, who looked just a few years older than me, shot towards the desk. He jumped onto it and slid across, landing gracefully on the other side. He did a small fist pump in celebration before finding his cool and acknowledging me.
The teen's unnaturally golden eyes instantly grew gloomy when they landed on me. His pointy ears drooped down a little in dejection. He tried hard to hide his sudden sorrow with a fake smile, but he ultimately failed.
"Hello. Did you place a reservation?" he asked, each word hurting him more.
"Omar?!" was all I could respond with.
What the hell! My brother wasn't supposed to be here! He was supposed to have stayed home with the other pains in my ass!
"What are you doing here?! And why are you wearing that stupid wig and pair of elf ears?!".
My furious questioning brought back some of my brother's energy, at least enough to whine about my scolding.
"First of all, this is my natural hair color, and I was born with these ears". He flicked one of them up and down to emphasize his point.
"No. No you weren't. I should know, I've had to live with you for all of my life. Now answer me, Omar! How did you get here?! And does mom know you're here?!" I snapped, my voice gradually turning into a snarl.
My sibling let out what little frustration he had out with a sigh. His ears sunk again as he went back to frowning.
"I'm not your…". Omar had to take a moment to stifle his rising anguish while he reconsidered what to say. "My name's not Omar".
"Except it is, Omar!" I spat. "I can clearly tell it's you! You're shitty cosplay isn't fooling anyone!".
Truthfully, those movable ears were pretty cool. A small part of me wanted to find out how they worked, so I could incorporate them in an Azura themed cosplay. The rest of me wanted to bash my brother's head against the desk repeatedly. How dare he! That hypocrite mocked me for my secret interest in things like cosplay and fanfic writing for years, and now that rat bastard was dressed as if he lived in a fantasy world!
"You need help, Edric?" a new voice to my side joined in.
I turned to the side to see a young brunette, who was a bit closer to my age than "Edric" was, leaning against the counter. Just like my brother she also seemed dispirited, but her slightly sunken brown eyes shimmered as if a bright light was stuck within her. Her smile, though tired, was honestly infectious. It took my everything to not smile along with her.
You could say she was…cute…I suppose.
"Yes. I would love that" my sibling yelped cowardly.
"Okay, then" the newcomer said with a clap. "Let's get you settled into your room Miss Bliii–Bane! Yes, your last-name is Bane, not Blight, which is why I said Bane instead of Blight. I mean, where did Blight even come from?".
"Where did Bane come from?" I asked as fear slowly chilled my veins. The girl began to sheepishly rub the back of her head.
"Is that not your name?" she chuckled nervously.
"It is, but how did you know that?".
"...Um…well…you see".
"It's alright, Luz," Omar purred. "I won't tell Rucker you looked at the guest list".
The stranger stared at my brother in confusion for a second before she started to fakely laugh. Clearly what "Edric" said was a lie. Luz had obviously not known the guest list he mentioned existed, if it even existed at all. She had gotten my last name by other means, and I had a strange gut feeling that those means were stalkerish.
Yet there was something deep inside of me telling me to trust Luz, something assuring me that the girl was in fact not a stalker interested in harming me. Perhaps that thing was reason. After all, my parents both headed a large security tech company, and, though our family name wasn't that well known, people from San Diego had surely heard of us. And the idea that Luz was from San Diego wasn't far-fetched in the slightest. We were in a hotel in a state not that far from California.
"You caught me," Luz admitted with a feigned sly grin. "Nothing gets past a clever son of a witch like you".
You know, even though Luz didn't seem to know Omar's real name, she wasn't too far off there. Maybe she had heard of our family before, or at least my mom and dad.
"Good one," Omar smirked. "But that's not the first time you've told that joke, is it?".
Joke? I wouldn't really call that a joke. She just replaced the word bitch with witch.
"Now let's get you to your room Miss. Bane" Luz chirped, completely ignoring my sibling's comment. "I'm sure you're dying in all that fur".
Now that she mentioned it, yeah, I was getting pretty hot. I may have needed my fur coat to keep me warm while in the Rocky Mountain snow, but I definitely didn't need to wear it inside the hotel.
"That sounds like a good idea". I then turned towards "Edric", my anger temporarily resurfacing. "We'll talk about this later".
"Okay. Cool, looking forward to it" Omar rushed while I followed Luz with my suitcase dragging behind me.
I caught one last glance at Omar before rounding the corner into the left hallway. He had a small smile on his face, but it wasn't his usual smug grin. No, he actually looked reminiscent, nostalgic even.
"Same old Mittens" I barely heard him murmur.
While walking towards my room we passed a small nook with an ice machine and two weathered golden elevator doors. Luz slowed down at the sight of it before she stopped all together. Wistfully, she gazed at the two slightly crooked pieces of metal. Tears began to form in her eyes, but, before they could spill over, she wiped them with her arm and shook her head.
As I stood next to her, my eyes instantly locked onto the same pair of shiny doors. Though instead of sorrow, an intense, unexplained horror welled inside of me.
"Hey, um" I stammered. "The elevator doors look a little bent. Did something happen?".
My question startled Luz out of her rueful state. She whipped her head around to apologetically face me.
"Oh! Yeah! Right!" she sputtered. "Our elevator is currently out of order. Some of the cords broke and… it sort of… fell".
"It fell?" I questioned in concern. "Was anyone hurt?".
That was a stupid thing to ask. From the way Luz was staring at it, something bad had obviously happened when the elevator fell. But, in my defense, asking if everyone was ok seemed a lot more delicate than asking "hey, who died?".
"Yes. Ami… There was a casualty. Don't worry about it, though. The elevator will be working again soon" was all Luz said before continuing onwards.
I decided not to press. Luz seemed to not only have personally known the "casualty" but also cared for them quite a bit. And I was just some random stranger. What happened wasn't really my business.
Though I was still curious about what Luz was going to say before she cut herself off. She almost said the name of the person who passed, Ami-something. That sent a chill climbing up my back. It sort of sounded like she was going to say Amiyah.
Maybe that was what Luz's early freak out was about, when she said Blight instead of Bane. Was Blight the last name of the person who'd died? Did my last name remind her of her lost loved one?
Like I said, it was none of my business.
"So" Luz began once she opened my hotel room door. "Room service will come to clean your room somewhere between two and three o'clock every day, but you can also page us at any time on that phone over there. Just try not to do it in the middle of the night".
Luz led me to the bed stand where there was indeed a landline. Next to the phone was a paper with instructions on how to use it. Inside the bed stand drawers were a few menus with breakfast, lunch, and dinner items on it. Luz handed me one to look at, as she continued to speak.
"The kitchen opens at six-thirty am and closes at eight-thirty pm," she explained.
"Actually. I was thinking about going out for dinner a little later on" I said while slipping my coat and scarf off and placing them on the bed behind me. "Is there anywhere nice you might recommend?".
Luz's brown eyes flooded with despondency. She gnashed her teeth together and began to fidget. It looked like she was barely able to stop herself from darting out of the room.
"I'm sorry" she squeaked. "I really am".
"It's okay. I'm sure I'll fi–".
"You can't leave".
I couldn't what? By the way Luz was making it sound, I was at a prison instead of a hotel, and I was stuck here until they sent me to the gallows.
"I can't leave?" I questioned with a humorless scoff. "Why the hell not".
Luz didn't respond with words. Instead, she led me towards the window in the back of the room. On the other side of it sat this really big, really odd, red wall. It was semi-see through and was so tall I couldn't see the top of it.
She opened the window, stuck a part of herself out of it, and tapped the wall. It made a large thud in response as red energy rippled away from where she had touched it.
"This barrier surrounds the hotel," Luz lethargically explained. "And while witches and demons can walk through it, with a few exceptions, all humans cannot".
"Witches? Demons? You mean those guys in all the costumes in the lobby?".
"Those weren't costumes, Agridulce. And I know that guy at the counter looked a lot like your brother, but he's actually a witch named Edric".
I glared at the poor girl for a second, then let out a calming sigh. Luz was probably just doing her job. It wasn't her fault that no one told me the hotel was a themed experience beforehand.
"Look. I'm all for a good roleplay, and I'm a huge fan of fantasy, but I came to this hotel to relax".
"You won't be able to do much of that here, not with him around" Luz shuttered.
She seemed genuinely disturbed. I could feel grief radiating off of her body while hopelessness made her look half-alive. Luz wasn't acting, I could just tell. There was a real threat out there, one that chilled the friendly teen to the bone.
Maybe she was telling the truth. It was a crazy thing to believe, witches and demons walking around while keeping humans locked up like zoo animals. But that feeling from earlier was once again crying out in Luz's defense.
"With who around?" I asked a bit more earnestly.
"I can't say. If they find out I warned you about them, I'll be punished. And God only knows how bad that punishment will be" Luz regretfully answered. "But what I can say is you're not alone".
Luz shut the window then went over to the writing desk. Sitting on top of it was a pen and a notebook.
"You'll notice that your memories will get very fuzzy while you're staying here. Keep a journal in this notebook. You're gonna need to write some things down in order to stay sane".
"You mean like keeping a diary?" I questioned.
"No. Don't write anything you don't want someone seeing. You see, writing in this notebook is like texting on a cellphone. When you write something down, someone on the other side will see it and can write you back". As Luz went on, she began to grow more nervous. You could hear the hesitancy in her voice even though she didn't falter while speaking.
"So, what you're saying is I should start writing letters to this mystery person on the other side?" I prodded.
"Yes, but also no. You should keep a journal, too. Write down anything strange you remember, and the person on the other side can help you sort out what's real and what's not".
Once again Luz seemed genuine, though I couldn't help but be suspicious. There was something Luz wasn't telling me, an important piece of the puzzle.
"I know this all seems weird, but I know you'll get the hang of it" Luz finished with a kind grin.
She placed my key on top of the writing desk and turned towards the door. She was in the middle of closing it when she popped her head back in.
"Oh! And don't go up to the second and third floor. Both haven't been refurbished yet, and the third floor has…". Luz had to stop for a moment to think. "Let's just say it has a rabbit problem".
With that, the strange girl left me to my own devices. I got lost in my own thoughts immediately afterwards. It was like my brain was split in two. On one hand, how was anyone with any sliver of sanity supposed to believe that there was a hotel in the middle of Colorado that has magical creatures staying at it and a magical barrier that messes with human's memories. That's stuff that happens in a horror novel not, you know, real life.
On the other hand, those demons looked too real to be costumes. I know there are amazing makeup artists out there but some of the things I saw could not have been just makeup and creative puppetry. Like I said, one of those demons had tentacle eyes, like moving squirmy tentacles. How would someone pull that off without special effects?
As I was finding a good place to put my suitcase, my gaze found the clock on the bed stand. It was a quarter to six, around when I would have supper every night. On que my stomach growled loudly. Looks like getting something to eat was the next step to surviving the fever dream that was my vacation.
Since I wasn't allowed to leave, I would have to get my meal from the hotel kitchen, and I had completely forgotten when Luz said it closed. I was kind of more focused on the demons walking around and the witch who looked exactly like my brother.
I was really starting to think that the plane did crash. That was the closest thing to a good explanation for this.
I decided to eat in the hotel's dining area. I wanted to see if I could find any other humans there. They could tell me what they knew, and I could tell them what I knew. Then we could try to see if we could figure out what's going on.
Besides, I wanted to talk to Edric again too. Based on both his and Luz's melancholy, I assumed that he knew whatever secret Luz did. Plus, it may have been easier to squeeze information out of him then it was with Luz.
The dining area was brimming with people, a lot of them being either a witch or a demon. My eyes scanned all of the tables for any sign of someone who may have known something. Once they moved towards the corner near the kitchen doors, I hit the mother lode. There was a table with two humans sitting there, one of them being Luz.
"Mija, please" the eldest begged. "You need to eat something".
"Lo siento, mamá (I'm sorry, mama). I'm just not very hungry" Luz replied.
"But you haven't eaten since yesterday," her mother argued back.
"I know. I know. I just don't know if I have the energy to eat anything". While Luz spoke, she picked at the food on her plate. She had what looked to be a grilled cheese with a bowl of soup on the side, obviously a blander option for someone who felt sick in the stomach.
"¿Estás pensando en ella de nuevo? Sabes que no había nada que pudieras haber hecho de manera diferente. (Are you thinking about her again? You know there was nothing you could have done differently)".
I didn't know what any of that meant, but I had a feeling I wasn't supposed to. It sounded like whatever the older woman told Luz was very personal.
"Estoy pensando en muchas cosas. Por eso estoy tan agotado. (I'm thinking about a lot of things. That's why I'm so exhausted)".
I began to walk towards Luz's table. I know, they were having a private conversation, but I think I knew a way I could help with Luz's lack of appetite.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," I began. "But can I sit here? The dining area is rather crowded tonight".
My words gave Luz a tiny spark of energy. She was able to muster a smile and a welcoming, "sure". She turned towards her mother, who, now that I saw the two side to side, really looked like Luz. She had the same brown eyes and hair, and even some facial features looked similar.
"This is my mom, Camila," Luz said almost happily. "And, mom, this is Amiyah".
"It's a pleasure to meet you" I greeted while stifling my fearful suspicion. Not only did Luz know my last name, but she knew my first name too? How did she know that? I never told her my name, at least, I don't think I did.
"The pleasure is all mine, querida" Camila cooed back. She also sounded worn down by tragedy, or, perhaps, it was her daughter's own despair.
"So" I drawled, while my gaze moved back to Luz's plate. "You've barely touched your sandwich. Is the food really that bad here?".
"No!" Luz jumped, as if she had just been accused of a crime. "Not at all! I'm sure mom grilled that cheese sandwich to perfection".
It was my turn to jump in surprise. It was bad enough that I eavesdropped on her conversation with Luz, but now I unknowingly insulted Camila's cooking.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am! I meant no offense!".
"It's alright, Amiyah" Camila reassured. Her attention shifted to her child. "I just wish that perfectly grilled cheese sandwich wouldn't go to waste".
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?!" Luz growled. Her anger was sudden, but it didn't come out of nowhere. "I'm not hungry, mami, and you pushing me to eat isn't going to change that!".
The look that appeared on Camila's face was painful. She looked desperate, ashamed, and deceived all at the same time.
"What am I supposed to do?" she cried. "Am I supposed to just sit here and watch my baby suffer, mija?".
"I…um" I stumbled. I didn't want to make the situation worse, but something had to be done before Luz and Camila's argument became an all out war. "I might have a way to help".
I braced myself for the mother and daughter's angry reactions, but they never came. Instead, they patiently waited for me to go on.
"Well, and I know you're not a picky five-year-old, but, whenever one of the kids I watch won't eat, I talk to them about something they're interested in and tell them to take a bite whenever I start talking".
I once again waited for Luz to get upset, only for the younger brunette to smile instead. It wasn't a full smile, definitely not one with teeth, but it was something other than her fighting with her mother.
"I'm sure you have a few questions about the Boiling Isles. We could talk about that" Luz suggested.
"Boiling Isles?" I questioned. "Aren't we in the mountains?".
"Nope" Luz answered before taking a bite from her sandwich. "You're not even in the Human Realm. You're in what we call the Demon Realm".
"Demon Realm? My god does that mean I'm…?". I couldn't even finish. It was starting to look like I died without knowing it more and more each minute.
"No, querida. You're still alive" Camila responded, while Luz took another bite. "They're multiple different worlds that are all connected by an in-between space. You've just been pulled into one of the other worlds".
My stunned reaction made both Camila and Luz chuckle, but I didn't think it was funny at all! I was trapped in another world that was inhabited by creatures that belonged in everyone's worst nightmares, and so were they!
"Doesn't being stuck in a whole other world bother you just a tiny bit?" I questioned wryly.
Camila's smile softened. Her eyes shone with sympathy yet were dull in heartache.
"It is a little scary, even after you get used to how weird it is".
"But" Luz jumped in as soon as she swallowed her mouthful. "It's not all that bad. A lot of the people here are really nice".
"So, we're not in New York right now?" a new voice asked from the table next to us.
Switching seats so she could sit closer to us was a girl, around both Luz's and my age, with nearly white, blonde hair and darker skin. Despite sounding confused and slightly alarmed, her grayish hazel eyes were full of excitement.
The sight of her made a heavy feeling of deja vu sit on my back like a prowling vulture. I knew without a doubt that I had never seen the stranger before that moment, yet her appearance seemed really familiar.
"Apparently not," I sighed while breathing out my initial dread. "Let me guess. You were traveling somewhere, everything became a blur, and the next thing you know you've arrived at a hotel full of demons".
"That's exactly what happened" the blonde affirmed in amazement. "You mean it happened to you too?".
"Yep. I was on my way to Colorado from San Diego. I can't even remember leaving the manor to go to the airport".
"I was on my way to NYC from Chicago. Honestly, I can't remember leaving home either". The stranger held out her hand. "I'm Skyler by the way".
"Amiyah" I simply responded after shaking Skyler's hand.
Skyler then offered her hand to both Luz and Camila. They both introduced themselves before Camila began to explain how she got to the hotel.
According to the older woman, her and Luz both came to the isles at separate times. Camila hadn't been traveling anywhere, she had just been sitting on her front porch when she blacked out and woke up on the third floor of the hotel.
And Luz?
"I…that's probably a story for another time. I promise I wasn't summoned here, though. I went through a portal door long before this hotel opened".
"There's a portal?". An excited hope lit me up like a lamp. "So, we aren't as stuck here as we thought".
Luz went to take another bite from her sandwich, which was more than halfway gone, but the question made her freeze. A heavy shame made her sink, what little energy she had when the conversation started was instantly washed away.
"There isn't a portal anymore. I…I destroyed it".
"What!" I snapped in dismay. "Why would you do something so stupid!".
"I had too!". Luz's cry in defense sounded more like a cry of pure agony. "They were going to kill Eda! I couldn't let her die, not for some stupid mistake I made!".
"It's okay! It's okay!" I frantically tried to soothe. "I'm sorry! I didn't know!".
If I could go back in time a few moments and slap myself for yelling at someone who clearly had some serious issues, I would have in a heartbeat. Even if she did destroy the portal for some selfish reason, which was completely opposite from what actually happened, Luz had definitely suffered way more than enough for it.
"If the portal was destroyed, how did we get here?" Skyler questioned, desperate to distract Luz from her shame.
"Like I said, you were summoned here with something called "titans blood". I didn't know there was anymore left, since it's main source had gone dry. I was a fool to think that nobody else had any" Luz sniffled. "I mean, Amity risked her life for nothing".
Amity. That had to be the name Luz was about to mention in front of the elevator, the casualty. No wonder my name made her so despondent. Amity Blight and Amiyah Bane were pretty similar.
The sound of shattering ceramic cut our conversation short. A few tables away, a shorter boy with broad shoulders, rugged lighter black hair, and a speckled face was leaning against his chair. He was grasping at his chest, shaking as he took violent deep breaths. Everytime he breathed out, he let out a haunting wheeze that rang through the lobby like broken bells.
Camila sprung from her chair and rushed to the boy's aid. Just as she reached him, the younger teen collapsed to the floor. He was now unconscious; his chest had gone completely still. The older human went straight to administering CPR. For almost five minutes she expertly pressed down on the boy's chest, only pausing to check his pulse.
But as time uncaringly ticked on with no sign of the boy waking up, Camila gave up her attempt to save the teen's life and simply held his hand. Tears spilled from her eyes. From the look on her face, it was apparent that she had lost what little hope she had.
Finally, Camila turned her attention away from the boy. She could barely stop herself from sobbing as she confronted everyone in the room.
"He's gone".
I rushed over to where his plate was laying on the ground. On top of the sub sandwich that he ordered were these small white salt looking crystals. I recognized them right away. As someone who had nearly been poisoned a hundred times in their life, I knew cyanide when I saw it.
"He's been poisoned!" I shouted. "There's cyanide salt on his food!".
Instead of the fearful hollering I expected all of the demons around me began to murmur to each other. Most of them sounded fascinated as if the horrible murder of the younger teen was some sort of learning experience.
"Cyanide is poisonous to humans?".
"They really are fragile".
"That must suck. I put cyanide on everything".
And, while all the witches and demons had their conversations, Luz just stood and stared. She looked completely numb. Though tears laid in them, her eyes were clouded by a horrifying painful acceptance.
Is that why she was so hesitant to eat? Did she know someone was going to be poisoned? With all that talk about some mysterious person lurking around, it sounded like she did.
Yet there was that inner voice again, this time a plea, urging me to trust Luz in spite of everything that had just happened.
"Did you know about this? Did you know that someone would be poisoned tonight?" I choked.
"He's done this before". Luz couldn't look me in the eyes while answering. "It was only a matter of time until he poisoned somebody else".
"Who, Luz? Who are you talking about?" I pressed beggingly. The girl hesitated for a few moments before reluctantly responding.
"The killer".