9:45 AM
Tony and Anne were lying on their hotel bed, her right hand running over his chest. They had been lying down for a little while now. When they had first gotten to their rooms they had noticed how lackluster the interior of the hotel was.
Lights in the hallway would occasionally flicker, a variety of colored stains were splotched on random spots every couple of yards, and the floors looked like they hadn’t been vacuumed in weeks. From the outside the hotel had looked like a nice, boutique stay. Tony, in one of his sarcastic jabs, had said, “This is really the Regina George of hotels, huh?” Neither Carl nor Mel had found this crack to be humorous.
The air smelled old in their room. It was as if these exact same molecules of air had gone unchanged for the past few patrons. As if air circulation wasn’t yet a feature of this hotel.
Anne yawned and then tapped Tony on his right pectoral. He looked down at her as she spoke, “Tony… I don’t know why but I feel like we made a mistake.”
“I mean, this hotel does kinda smell like ass. Pretty ugly here too.”
“No, Tones. I don’t mean that we picked the least appealing place. I mean that something feels wrong here. I can’t quite place my finger on it.”
“Is it being around Mel? I like that guy less and less with every single interaction. Not that there was much to like from the jump.”
“No… I mean yes. But no? I’m not sure.”
“Is it the cop? He is a little, how can I put this? Weenie-ish?”
“Maybe. I just don’t feel safe. This place feels rickety and it feels like an afterthought.”
“Do you think Davie fucked us? Like he’s in cahoots?”
“No, it’s not that either. It doesn’t feel like we’ve been put in this hotel like rats in a maze. It feels like we’re stuck here on our own accord. It feels like a decrepit building with decrepit infrastructure with an officer who lacks the spine to do his job as well as we might need him to. With an older man who’s technically a victim in the same way we are too; which means he’s not able to put up a fight against this guy either. And… I mean yeah.”
Tony’s mouth moved to the left side of his face. A goofy face he involuntarily makes when he’s contemplating something. “And what?”
Anne shrugged, lightly poking her shoulder into his side, “Nothing, just worried is all.”
“C’mon babygirl, what else? You’re avoiding telling me more. That means you’re trying to spare my feelings.”
“I’m just really worried we made the wrong choice.”
“You don’t think I can protect you, right?”
“That’s not it at all!”
“You don’t think I can protect you.” Tony’s voice was becoming softer, more hurt.
“Tony. Stop. It’s not that I don’t think you can. It’s that I don’t think anyone can. Not in this situation, at least.”
“Babe-”
“Tony, listen to me. I’m usually the one hearing you out on a lot of things, and that’s because I always trust you. But right now I just really need you to hear me out.”
Anne looked into his eyes, lovingly but stern. Tony pushed his hurt feelings as far down as he could manage and his gaze met hers with understanding. He nodded for her to proceed.
“Look, it just feels different. This whole thing. We’re all in this situation together. But it’s not really the same for you and me. It’s not even the same for Tyrone and Jessica. Or Evan for that matter. Whoever is doing this, is doing this to women. If this person had the option between you and me, it’d be me. I understand we’re all stressed, but it feels like a deeper dread to me. It feels like an actual possibility to me. Not that it wouldn’t be for you, but it just seems realer to me. And if Mel really is on the run with us, then that means he can’t fight him either. And I LOVE you, but you’re not a fighter, Tones. You’re a wonderful person and you have an incredible mind, but this is so far from a reasonable situation where you can just defend me. I also know you’d do everything you could for me. I’m also sure that your incredible mind could find a way to keep me safe, I’m just worried.”
“I love you too, Anne. So much. No matter what, we’re getting out of this. We just need to make it a little while longer and we’ll have some incredible stories to tell our kids. So if you feel like this is the wrong place to be, do you have any idea what might make you feel better?”
“Going back.”
“Ok, that’s definitely an answer. Not sure it’s an option at this point though.”
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“I know this is inconvenient, but I want to be with our friends. I want to be somewhere familiar. At least as familiar as we can be.”
“I completely understand. I’m not dismissing the idea and it’s not that I don’t want to go and make you feel better. It’s just that it’s not up to us. It’s up to the cop and it’s up to the weather.”
“Tony, we still have an hour until the storm really ramps up. It’s not a long drive. I think we can manage it. They’ll be ok.”
He let out an expressive sigh and finally smiled the sheepish smile one makes when crossing by someone in an awkward situation. “Ok, I’ll go over and ask.”
Carl and Mel’s room was right next to theirs so Tony knocked on the door that connected the two rooms. Carl answered.
“Yeah what’s up, bud?” A yawn fought its way out of him midway through the sentence. He looked tired, but also on edge.
“I know it’s not the best time, but do you think it would be possible for us to go back to the house? Anne… well both of us were feeling a little skeezed out and we think we might have messed up by not sticking together with the rest of our group. It’d give you and Mel some space too; which I imagine would elevate your stay to about a three-out-of-ten, y’know.?”
Carl was visibly not keeping up, “Hey, kid, I’m sorry but you talk like a sitcom character. You’re saying you want to head back now? What time is it?”
“We’ve got about an hour until things get dicey and icy.”
“Right. Well, let me tell the old timer about this and if we can hit the road in ten, we should be fine.”
“Sweet, Anne and I will wait downstairs.”
Carl shook his head to this response, “No, Mel went downstairs already. Said he wanted to find a drink. I told him it was a little early in the morning for all that. He didn’t really care. Let me go down to tell him and I’ll be right back.”
Tony glanced into the room behind Carl and noticed the room was relatively disheveled. “Lose something in there, boss?”
Carl checked behind him and blushed, “Haha, no I thought I had brought something with me. Had to make sure.”
“Did you find it?”
“No, thank goodness.”
“Thank goodness?”
“Right, yeah, it was just an expensive watch, is all. Gift from a friend, glad I didn’t bring it with me. Just in case.”
Tony gave Carl a deadpan look. One mixed with suspicion but also disinterest.
“Carl, you a killer?”
The officer appeared hurt by this comment. This hurt was followed with, what appeared to Tony, genuine surprise at the remark. “No, son. I’m not here to hurt you. I swear I was just looking around.”
Tony gave him a soft smile. Carl looked like a nice guy. Tony wanted to believe him, but he just didn’t know anymore. For now, he’ll give this man his trust.
“I’ll be right back, Tony. It’s Tony, right?”
“Don’t wear it out, my man. I appreciate you accommodating us.” Carl let a lightly gleeful smile appear. He closed the door. The sound of him leaving his room to venture down was mildly audible from Tony’s position across the door.
Tony strolled back to Anne and flashed her a thumbs-up. He could see how relieved she was by this.
“He wants us to stay in our room for now. He’s going downstairs to let the old man know we’re heading out.”
“Do you think Mel will join us back to the house? If he did, Carl would probably come with us too. Gives us some great numbers.”
“I’ll be honest, I think Mel would rather cut his toes off and tip toe in a lake of lemon juice than be around us.”
Anne produced a brief, but visceral, facial reaction to this imagery. Nothing new from Tony’s mouth, but his hyperbole still found ways to surprise her.
Tony continued, “I’m sorry we’re here. I know we both agreed to come here, but I feel like I probably pressed it more than I should have. Maybe you’d still have agreed, but maybe not. I hate that I put you in this kind of position. I should do a better job of listening to you, Anne. You’re worth listening to more than I let you feel.”
Anne smiled widely, “You make it sound like you’re an abusive asshole.”
This brought a grin out of Tony, “Still, I can always do better. Let’s get pac-”
POP
Anne jumped upright and Tony swiftly twisted his head around towards the door.
POP
“Tony, Tony?? What was that??”
“I haven’t memorized gunshots, but I’m willing to bet my fucking life that someone’s shooting shit right now.”
“What do we do???”
Tony’s breath was quickening at a dangerous rate. He wanted to speak, but nothing came out. His tongue felt larger than his mouth. Larger than his throat. Air wasn’t able to pass through his tightening throat.
Anne lunged at him and began slapping his back with one hand and rubbing his chest with the other. After four hard slaps Tony released bile onto the carpet.
“Tony??”
He was in a fit of coughs and wheezing to catch his breath. Swirling in his head were a myriad of thoughts. Would he catch his breath? Was he going to choke? If he’s fine, what was going to happen with those shots? Who was shooting in the first place?
All of these worries and anxieties were crashing on him simultaneously. However, one thought pervaded. He was worthless and he couldn’t protect Anne. His first response to this crisis was to choke and vomit and cry.
“You have to do better. You have to be better for her. You’re a weak piece of shit. Get a fucking grip and protect her, you worthless pussy!!”
These words rang loudly in his skull as he mentally screamed at himself.
He looked up to the love of his life, “Anne, we need to…”
His voice trailed off as a noise made itself known to himself. A door aggressively opened. He spun around to the room’s entrance. It was still closed, locked. The door that connected the next room to theirs was also still closed. But someone was in that other room and was making their presence known. Items were being jostled, infrequently tossed. Muffled slams on the ground and the occasional object hitting the connecting wall.
Tony and Anne stared at one another. He was clearly trying to stifle the resurging panic filling him.
Anne sighed and mouthed, “We have to leave. NOW.”