Nightmare Motel
Chapter 4
Tobias' POV
No matter what button I click, all I see is damn static on the screen of this freaking TV. I wonder for a second if it's the old rabbit ears? I quickly stand up from the bed, walking over to the TV.
"Are you sure he said he would handle it?" Tris asks.
"Yes, he said he would handle it. He needs his only two guests to be happy," I replied. I bend over finding a few VHS tapes that are unlabeled. I push one into the VCR, at this point I'll settle for any background noise at this point.
The tape automatically begins to play. My mouth drops open and I'm totally disgusted by what I see on the screen. It's a man who is covered in blood, there is a thick rope around his neck and a man in a mask is strangling him.
"Fuck!"I mutter. I pop that tape out of the VCR and try another one. This time the room is filled with three women screaming as they are being attacked by two masked men. I begin to notice the familiar room they are in. One of the women is pushed to the floor, one of the two men is stabbing her to death. I quickly stand noticing that it's the exact same spot that I am kneeling in. I glance down, shocked, looking at the large blood stain that stares right back at me. Holy Shit! I glance back at the TV, I notice the drapes are the same as in this room. Another woman is being strangled with the chains of the light fixtures. What the fuck?
"Can you shut it off?" Tris says, obviously now noticing what I just discovered. "Four?" She asks, trying to reach me. But I can't answer her, my eyes roam the room, the air conditioning ducks… the vents… They are the same angles of the shots from the movie. How could this be? This can't be?
"What is it?" Tris asks, seeing the horror on my face.
But I can't speak, I'm in total shock. This can't be happening. I must be going crazy. I finally pointed up to the TV. "Do you see that room from the movie?"
"What about it?" Tris asks, finally taking a better look at the TV screen. I can almost hear the clicking in her head as the wheels are spinning, putting it all together. She jumps off the bed, as one of the men begins to stab one of the women on the same exact spot that she is sitting on. "What is that?" She asks, walking closer.
"I … I don't know," I confess to her. Looking around the room, I walk up to one of the vents on the floor, looking in I see that there is in fact a camera pointing right at us. Son of a bitch! I move faster walking across the room investigating another angle. Sure enough there is another camera.
"Is that this room?" She asks.
"Sure looks like it," I say, breathlessly.
"This has to be some kind of joke, right?" She says, her hands beginning to shake as she pops out the VHS tape and tries another and then another. Frantically wishing for another reason for this all to be happening. Maybe even a punch line.
How the fuck can we get out of this? We can't just walk out? They are probably watching us. The room goes dark as I contemplate what the hell to do. The noise of knocking begins again, but this time it sounds like it's in more than one place in the room. The TV, the air conditioning and everything goes silent, other than the skin crawling knocking. Then just as they turned off, they turned back on and off again… I feel like we are stuck in this cycle of in and then out of darkness. I pull Tris' body behind mine, protecting her as I move us both slowly back until our backs reach a corner. I feel somewhat comforted by the fact that no one can come for us from the back at least.. Just as fast as the knocking stops and the lights come back on, including the screaming from the TV, it starts all over again. I rush over, turning the fucking TV off. It is not helping.
"I'm calling the police." Tris blurts out, jumping onto the bed and reaching for her purse. "Shit." She says, when the phone has no signal.
"Okay, we gotta get out of here," I say, turning around to face her. My mind is racing with all sorts of thoughts."Alright? Alright." I repeatedly say, as I pull up my pants. Fuck, how do we get out of this creepy place?
I catch Tris by her shoulders as she marches down to the door, turning her towards me. "Wait. Wait. Wait." I begged her. "Whoever is outside…. They had to have heard the TV, right? Which means they know we watched the tapes," I whisper.
"That asshole was the one to put us in here. He was never going to help us. He is a part of this." Tris whispers, her voice is cracking with these realizations.
"I know. I know, Tris. I also know that they know we fucking watched it. They know we are going to try and run. They are going to be waiting for that." I continue whispering as my mind continues to race, as I think out loud. We can't just run out of here. They wont let us. We are way past that now.
"So then what now?" She asks, her body shaking.
"We need to find another way out," I explain, pushing past her and towards the bathroom. We look at the window, knowing damn well that shit is too small even if we tried.
"We can just sneak out." Tris whispers.
"Tris, they are just not going to let us fucking stroll out of here," I point out.
"Well they aren't going to just let us sit in here either," She says.
"Fuck," I say, punching the bathroom wall. I walk back out to the room, trying to think things through.
"Tobias." Tris calls for me, her voice full of more fear than it was a minute ago. For a moment, just a moment, I let my mind register that she actually called me Tobias and not Four.
"What?" I ask, with concern in my voice.
"Did you put this here?" She points towards the mirror. I walk back, looking at exactly what she is pointing at. My stomach drops when I recognize what she is referring to. It's a picture, a picture that I have kept in my car ever since we separated. I usually keep it pinned on my visor mirror so I can look at it when things get tough.
It was a sunny day when we took it. It was a day that we never wanted to forget. We were sitting on the grass in Millennium park enjoying the pleasant weather. We felt so good, we had just seen Tris' OBGYN. It was a girl, a gorgeous healthy baby girl… We asked a woman that was passing by to take the picture for us. I stood behind Tris, my hands on her swollen stomach and her hands on top of mine. We had never been happier.
My blood runs cold. Someone obviously has been in here. But how?
"No," I whisper. I step forward, having the sudden urge to check behind the curtain of the shower.
"How did it get in here?" She asks.
"I don't know." I replied. I peel the photo from the mirror, glancing behind the photo. "Glad you could join us," is written on the back. "Fucking asshole!" I say, folding the picture and pushing it into my back pocket. I move through the room, turning all the lights out. I glance out the peephole and then out of the window.
"Okay when we get outside… We are going to run to the trees, okay?" I explained. "The trees will cover us. They can't see us, we gotta move fast, Tris. Okay?" I ask, grabbing her hand tightly with my right as I unlock the door with my left. I slowly open and close the door to the room, "Just stay with me," I whisper, pushing my feet forward as I drag Tris behind me by the hand, not letting her for a second lose her momentum. I stop just short before the trees when I notice a faint shadow before us, keeping us away from our destination. Tris breathes heavily as the man in a mask steps out of the shadows. I run the opposite way, dragging Tris once again. Coming up short once more when I see another masked man before us. Pushing us into a corner we have no choice but to turn back and run back into the damn room. We close the door just in time, as one of the men crashes against the door forcing it to almost open. I block the door with my body, keeping it closed as best as I can as I feel the resistance of the door from the other person's body.
Tris places her hand over her mouth in fear, before she finally snaps out of it and helps push the door closed.
"Stop. Leave us alone!" Tris cries out. The resistance stops against the door. I stand up, looking outside through the peephole. No one is there. I secure the door with the locks and a chair jammed up under the door knob. I check the other door that joins the other room, all is quiet and locked.
"There's nobody there," I whisper towards her.
"Did they just leave?" Tris asks.
"No they wouldn't," I answered.
"If they want to come in here, they are coming in here. It doesn't matter. We have to find a way out of here right now." I say with urgency.
"Please Tobias, I can't do this anymore." Tris cries, falling to the ground in the corner closest to the bathroom. I bend over where she is sitting, ready to plead with her. "Tris if we stay…If we stop fighting… We are going to wind up like all of them…. Please." I told her. For the first time in a long time, she gazes into my eyes with mixed fear, emotions and love. She reaches for me, encircling my neck with her hands, bringing me towards her. Our lips meet for the first time in years. Snapping us out of our bubble, the banging picks up again.
"Why are they doing this?" Tris cries.
"Listen…It's going to be light soon. They are going to want this to be over with… We need something to defend ourselves, scissors, a knife, anything." I suggest finding the sudden will to live, to fight for both our lives. We break out of each other's grasp, digging through every drawer, every closet…. Nothing. I finally give up heading to the bathroom. I take off my top shirt, wrapping my right hand with it. I slam my fist into the mirror. It breaks into large chunks into the sink. I grab the biggest, sharpest piece. This will have to do. I move Tris into a corner, as the banging continues. I realize they are just trying to get a rise out of us. A last hurrah before the big finale.
Revised by: FDFobsessed