CHAPTER ONE

[Hayden J]

Markus Kapem was a tall, round cheeked man, perhaps a little older than forty. He had salt and pepper hair that ended in a widow’s peak at the arch of his forehead, and mournful eyes that reminded Julia Clemmons of an old beagle she used to have as a child.

The office was large and roomy, furnished with giant armchairs and hand painted portraits. To her left was the gray mouth of an empty fireplace and a mantel piece of diplomas and yellowing certificates.

Kapem leisurely paged through her application, licking the tips of his fingers as he unstuck the paper.

After a few moments of tense silence Julia probed nervously. “Is everything alright?”

Kapem looked up at her as though only just remembering that she was sitting there, waiting for him to start the interview. He cleared his throat loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose and scrunching his eyes up for a moment. “Yes. Yes… I suppose so.”

“What’s the problem?” She uncrossed her legs.

The online application process had asked some of the most ridiculous questions she had ever had to answer, much of it was personality related, tediously taking a good three hours to complete. Frankly, she hadn’t expected to get a call back.

He hesitated then shuffled back a few papers. “It’s just…” There was a long pause where the grandfather clock, tucked into the corner of the office, chimed the hour. “It’s just…” another pause. “I didn’t realize you were bringing your children.”

“Is that a problem, I was told by the phone interviewer it wasn’t.”

“Not usually a problem… no.” he looked gloomily at the folder in front of him, before taking out a pen from the upper pocket of his suit.

“I try to have each individual over the age of sixteen submit an application, despite a legal guardian. Something on the record, you see.” His forehead wrinkled. He clicked his pen.

“Do I need to have them fill out applications ? I could bring them back next week, I honestly didn’t think to bring them.” Her heart was sinking fast… the drive had been hellishly long and she didn’t feel like dragging her daughter or her youngest son across the state.

“No. No. It’s alright. In this case I will just have to ask you a few questions pertaining to behavior. Just for the record.” He repeated himself, fished a fresh sheet from a drawer next to his knee, and set it down on top of her folder.

“I guess good behavior is key?” She asked politely but she felt a prickle of dislike burrowing its way into her stomach.

“Unfortunately, we have to be. You can choose not to disclose but anything you can offer will be helpful.” He checked the top of the page again. “Now, how would you describe your children, Mrs…”

“Miss. Miss Clemmons.” She corrected him.

“Right. How would you describe your children? What are their ages?”

She hesitated. She was pretty sure most jobs couldn’t ask you these types of personal questions. She weighed the options. If she gave up the opportunity she would live out the next eight months in a house that may or may not be swiped out from under her by her ex husband and his prissy new wife.

She gave in.

“Maxwell. Foster. Spelled like it sounds. He has his father’s name, so do the others. Max is twenty, the oldest. Very responsible. An old soul you could say.” She took a deep breath and smiled to make herself more comfortable. She didn’t mind bragging about Max though. He was a genuinely good kid, understanding, open-minded, and forgiving to a fault.

“He had to be the man of the house really young and never balked at it. Never. He has a way about him. He’s always been able to handle his little brother and sister. He treats his cousin like she’s my daughter too.”

She swallowed. The things that kid had done for her, the way he never looked for gratitude or recognition for it. The dinners he’d cooked when she couldn’t bring herself to even leave her bed. The way he would pick up her empty whiskey bottles without saying a word, without judging her for them.

“He’s responsible. Reliable. I’d trust him with anything.” She took a deep breath.

Kapem was silent in reply, his pen scratching against the paper. After a minute he looked up again.

“And… your younger son?”

“James. Hayden, I mean. Sorry.” She kicked herself when she saw his pen hover uncertainly. “It’s Hayden. I changed it legally a year ago.”

Thank god he was a minor or it would have cost her an arm and a leg.

“How would you describe him?”

Something defensive coiled in the pit of her stomach. She hesitated. She knew what people thought when they saw him; that she was a bad mother, that she couldn’t control him, that there was something wrong with her to let him act like that.

“He’s artistic, expressive, and fiercely sensitive.”

“Choice words.”

“Yes.” Carefully chosen. They sounded almost complimentary.

He looked up at her and he said nothing for a short time, eyeing the knot in her jaw.

“Miss Clemmons. I’m a father of four. Let’s be real for a moment, you and I.” He smiled dryly. “We love our children. All of them. God help us. That said… on a scale of one to ten,  just how crazy does he drive you?”

Her shoulders dropped in acquiescence. Screw pretending. “Pretty fuckin’ crazy.” She admitted and immediately moved to apologize but he waved her with a shrug.

“Understood. So, in other words. He’s got that itch for trouble that his big brother doesn’t.”

She nodded, feeling guilty for saying anything at all.

“And your niece?”

Relieved they had moved on, she considered the girl for a moment. “Reclusive. A little off-putting, but quiet. Never really got into much trouble under my roof. Maybe, a little sad. She’s also… a little… artistic too I guess.” She added thinking over the way the girl dressed. “Maybe, lonely. She doesn’t really open up. She watches after my youngest.”

“The child.”

“Yes. Anna’s always around her. The girl’s like a second mom to her.”

The pen scritched against the paper in the silence again, and Kapem pushed his glasses up his nose as he reread his notes.

“Excellent. Just a few more questions.”

She poised herself.

“Have any of them ever exhibited… any kind of violence? Bad tempers? Physical retaliation?”

Dead silence.

Her neck taughtened.

“No.” She lied.

“Never?”

“Never.”

She convinced herself that the same blood that ran through their father's veins couldn’t possibly run through theirs.

Kapem leaned back in his chair and looked out the window then, that solemn expression returning to his face, weighing down the corners of his mouth. But whatever doubt he was having he didn’t share it with her.

“Miss Clemmons. You have the job. You had it last week.”

She was dumbfounded. Blind shock washed over her.  

“That was never the question, you see. We need someone.” He took off his glasses and threw them on top of the folder. “It seems to me, that you know next to nothing about this place so it falls to me to tell you. It’s an old, old hotel.”

At this, she glanced around at the plaster ceiling, mantelpiece, and the old wood molding as if verifying what he said. “I figured as much.”

“Old places. They have… well. They have a certain indescribable character to them, Miss Clemmons, and The Overlook is no exception.”

Julia wasn’t sure if she should laugh or nod, he was looking at her as though someone had just died and he were breaking the news. His fingers fidgeted with his tie.

“She has the devil in her.”

Julia actually did laugh at that, but it was not reciprocal and she quickly stopped.

“I was never a superstitious man, and I can tell you are a practical woman. But the things that have happened here, there is no reason to them.  None at all.”

She shifted in her chair. “What do you mean, what’s happened here?”

“It’s all so unfortunate. Unthinkable, really. Accidents on paper. A slip, a snap, an incidental here and another there. Something about this place I can’t describe. It just is. It’s so close to closing down the only thing that keeps us running is the summer tours of ghost chasers from around the world. But in the fall, when winter comes, even they have sense enough to stay away from this place.”

“Is this some kind of joke.” Julia could feel herself getting agitated. “Because-

He cut her off.

“I wish it were, Miss Clemmons. But this is a real job, a real place, a real offer  and it’s yours. Just bear in mind what I told you. This hotel. It changes you. I’ve seen it change people. The isolation gets to you up here. Even if you think it won’t. It does. The nearest town is forty miles away, the roads stay closed for months, the phone lines go down, you can get a cell signal in one or two of the upper rooms, but barely. You start to see things differently after a few months. Days meld together. Rooms. This place can become a labyrinth.”

“Have you stayed here?” She asked. The drawn lines in his face seemed pinched, his eyes more hollow in the light.

“I stayed for four months, and not a night longer. I took one of the snowmobiles into town. I let this place freeze. And I didn’t give a rat’s ass.”

The office suddenly seemed stuffy to her, she wanted to get up and leave but she didn’t. Instead, she sat perched in her chair, leaning forward, staring at him.

“But that was a long time ago.” He reached across his desk and handed her a clip board. “These are what you need to sign, after you are finished I can arrange a tour with one of the seasoned hotel staff, if you are still interested.”

Shakily, she took the clipboard from his hands.

……………..

The old Suburban’s engine rumbled and wheezed, straining as it climbed over the winding hills and snaking roads past the rivers and pines. Miles of undeveloped land for as far as the eye could see.

She had the windows down and it whipped her blond hair around her face, catching it on her sunglasses.  The girls in the back seat, sitting close together, squeezed in between suitcases. Behind them, on the road, she could hear Max’s motorcycle roaring. From time to time she glimpsed him in the rear-view mirror, hunched over his bike, his younger brother mounted behind him, featureless behind a dark helmet.

When the old hotel finally did loom into sight, she’d forgotten how beautiful it was, stooping in the shadow of the grey mountain, rising behind it. Both ominous and profound. The beginning of a new chapter in her life. A chapter without Michael. Without the rest of the world. Finally. Peace.

[Max Foster]

Max squinted against the chilled fall (soon to be winter) wind as he made his way up the mountain, his leather jacket protecting his upper body from the low temperature. His nose and ears had begun to numb and his lips weren't far behind. His sunglasses helped to steer the wind out of his eyes, but failed to do the job completely. Normally his helmet would solve the problem on its own, but he had insisted that Hayden wear it instead. The younger boy had thrown a fit, but Max required this of anyone who chose to be a passenger on his motorcycle.

The old greyish-blue Suburban climbed the mountain just in front of them, huffing out spurts of grey, polluted breath as it overexerted itself. Max would have trusted the car on most road trips, but traveling up and down mountains, especially in the weather they would supposedly be experiencing later on, that was not an idea he was keen on.

The trees danced by them on the sides of the road, waving them towards their final destination, and for the briefest of moments Max felt as if he was headed back to college for a new school year. Last semester had been the deciding factor for him. Things had happened. Desires had slipped away from him like hot butter trying to cling to a frictionless plate. He couldn't go back. Not yet, anyways. He could barely afford to go when he thought he’d known what he wanted to do. That felt like ancient history now.

They zigged another zag along their crooked pathway and the roof of the looming building came into view. Max had done a small amount of research on the Overlook after his mother had told him that she’d gotten the job. He hadn't found out much. He hadn't gone in search of much. But what he did want to know was there, written in virtual black and white: basic layout of the hotel, how many rooms it had, when it had been built, etc. If he was going to be the one responsible for the majority of mechanic-related issues, he wanted to know ahead of time what he was going to be dealing with, not that he honestly felt his experience prepared him for such a job. He wouldn't admit that, though. His mother needed this job. They all did.

The Overlook crept ever closer from behind yellow and orange leaves. The already empty branches of the surrounding trees pointed venomously at their still-cloaked brethren, as if to express their envy. The motorcycle suddenly jerked as they passed over something and Max white-knuckled the handles as he felt Hayden’s arms tighten around him reflexively. After making sure the bike was steady, he risked a glance back to see what he had hit. A broken tree branch lay in the middle of the road, reminding him that his eyes needed to stay there instead of wandering upwards.

They pulled up in front of the hotel a few minutes later, Max feeling glad to be done with the trip. He wanted to be able to feel his face again, and his legs held on to the phantom vibrations from the bike’s running engine. He parked the Yamaha Warrior beside the Suburban and turned it off. His mother had been right about one thing: the Overlook was beautiful. Not just the building itself, but the surroundings as well. A stunning lawn, even for this time of year, complete with hedges cut into the shapes of different animals. It looked like an Art Major’s dream stay. As he stepped off his bike Max spotted the edge of a playground as well and smiled, glad that Annabel would have something to help her entertain herself. As for Sora, she should have no problem finding a place to be alone in this building.

Yes. This was definitely something they all needed, regardless of the money. They hadn't been forced to spend this much time with each other since… well, since shortly after the divorce, honestly. Hell, Max had been gone for the majority of the last two years. He didn't always miss his family during that time, but he loved them like nothing else. They were already so broken, so damaged, that Max could only hope the Overlook would not be the only one receiving repairs this winter…

[Hayden J]

Hayden  leaned across Sora, still sleeping, bare shouldered, half wrapped in sheets, to hit the buzzing alarm clock. Exhaustion. His eyes slid shut, his forehead bumped against Sora’s back. His body gave way to gravity and the weight of sleep.

Wake up. Wake up.

This was worse than a hangover. He cursed at himself for bothering to try to sleep at all and pushed himself to sit up, blinking groggily in the darkness of his room. Fuck. He rubbed both eyes and swung his legs out from under the sheets, shiveringa little in the cold. Shit.

Clothes. Coffee. Cigarette.

Essentials that he needed RIGHT this second.

Hayden held his hair out of his face, and looked around at Sora. Her expression peaceful and smooth, still dreaming. He lay a hand to her head, stroking her hair, leaning in to kiss her shoulder. He hoped no one would see the hickies he'd left against her pale skin.

“Come on, it’s almost six.”

She didn’t rouse. So he let her sleep.

Fucking forty five minutes. Fuck. He pulled on the pair of black denim jeans he’d left slung over the desk chair, stumbling somewhat as he buttoned them. He threw on his shirt and grabbed his jacket from the bed post. Christ. Hayden paused at his bureau to spray his hair into submission.

He looked like shit.

Outside it was freezing but the way the sky looked at six AM, it was a breath taking spectacle. The soft tinges of pale blue and orange cream bled in through the gray horizon, turning the trees into black specters. Hayden stood rigid in the gravel driveway, breathing vapor out into the autumn dawn, taking in the old house one last time before their eight month departure.

He threw his cigarette into the stones and let it smoke. The old Suburban was packed full of suitcases, books, blankets, pillows, and any belongings they couldn’t seem to do without. The most important things in their lives were stacked neatly in the back of their vehicle.

Trepidation slithered in the bottom of his stomach, an inexplicable dread tugged at the back of his mind. He had this gut feeling that they wouldn’t be coming back.

His thoughts were interrupted by his mother and Max opening the garage door. The peace of solitude was over. Time for Mom’s bullshit.

It was nothing but a blur of breakfast, and clinking dishes. All he remembered was pouring a glass of orange juice for Annabel and not remembering where he put it down.

“Annabel, did I give you juice?” He asked standing in front of the freezer, looking in, completely unsure of why he was there, while his Mother ran, flustered, around the kitchen like a chicken spurting blood from the neck.

“Jesus!!” She let out a yelp as she ran into him and cheerios landed on the floor, two bowls balanced precariously in her arms. “Hayden, don’t just stand there. I want to leave in twenty minutes!!!”

And she was off again. Talking about the routes to Max.

Hayden caught Sora’s eye. She looked like hell too, but hell had some fucking amazing breasts on her.  

He never did find out where he put the juice down.

Twenty minutes later they were all out in the driveway, locking up the house and mom was packing the last cooler into the back of the truck.

That’s when Max threw Hayden the helmet.

“Fuck no.”  He drew the line. Helmets were clunky pieces of safety gear, you couldn’t feel the wind on your face, they weighed your whole head down, hurt your neck.

Max had that face on, the face he usually wore when something really wasn’t up for debate. That didn’t stop Hayden from trying. He had a habit of taking things too far… never really remembering how he got there, just finding himself in the middle of a shouting match.

“HAYDEN SHUT UP!” His mother screamed, interrupting his ten minute cursing spree, during which he opened the back door of the Suburban and actually attempted to pull suitcases out of the back so he could make room for himself.

Sora was sitting in the front passenger’s seat watching him with an ‘are-you-serious-bitch?’ face on.

They were now running late. His fault.

“I can’t fucking take this SHIT anymore.” His mother kicked open the driver’s side door, where she had been sitting, ready to go, listening to him shout. She had an equally bad temper when it came to him as he did to her (And just about everyone else). She wrenched him out of the truck by the back of his leather jacket and pummeled him with her fists,  slapping and shoving him. He flinched away from her, dodging her open handed blow which very nearly hit him in the mouth, backing away.

“Fucking crazy bitch.”

“Wear the GODDAMN HELMET. Or I’ll leave your ass right here.” His mother’s voice was hoarse from years of smoking. Her blond hair, disheveled had fallen from her ponytail into her face.

“Whatever.” He consented, picking the helmet off the ground where he’d thrown it, and giving her a sneer.

Helmets were disgusting, and they ruined your hair. He grumbled under his breath as he pulled it on.

Max was calm. Max was always calm. So he took a few deep breaths and tried to channel whatever it was that kept the stillness in his brother’s eyes.

If only he could share that piece of himself.

Hayden ventured one last look at the house as he swung a long leg over Max’s bike. He’d lived his entire life in that house; still had memories of chasing frogs in the backyard, sparklers in July, and carving pumpkins in the fall. Now, empty… it didn’t look like the same place. Maybe it was because he was older now. Nothing looked the same.

……

The trip was tedious and sleep nagged at him in the form of a throbbing, lingering headache, the vibrations from the motorcycle only made it worse.

His own fault.

Groggily he held tightly to his brother and did his very best not to let his eyes roll closed, zoning out for long periods of time as the pines and mountains blurred together into an overcast afternoon. Denim and leather were cold and didn’t do much to block the chill so he pressed his chest up against his brother’s back and tried to ignore his stiff arms.

The Helmet was hell, his dark bangs stuck to his forehead, and the visor fogged from his breath.

By the time the hotel finally drifted into view he thought his legs were gonna freeze off his body, he could feel his brother’s shoulder’s relax a little as they turned into the long winding driveway, and pulled up towards the front of the monstrous old building.

The bike came to a stop and Max kicked the stand.

Hayden groaned with relief and detached himself from the seat gingerly, pulling off the helmet, his legs unsteady. He couldn’t feel his feet and his jeans were tightly digging into his crotch. He grimaced and adjusted the waist to sit lower on his slender hips. He felt vaguely motion sick.

The Overlook was enormous. A full three floors with balconies, and pillars. In the yard there were enormous hedges in the shapes of animals. His mom hadn’t been kidding when she’d emphasized its size.

“Well shit.” He said fishing a cigarette out of his jacket pocket, his hands were shaking from the lack of nicotine. He lit it up, taking a deep drag, crossing his arms over his chest, balancing his cigarette between two fingers.

The Suburban’s doors opened and his mom climbed out first.

“Welcome to the Hotel Colorado!” Hayden grinned as he approached the car, banging on the hood loudly and running his fingers through his hair to get it under control.

[Annabel Lee]

Annabel woke up to her mother's yelling. This was it. The morning she and her family were moving for the new job. She yawned getting out of bed and let out a shiver. She moved in the darkness to turn on the light, her bare feet padding softly across the woven carpet, and ran into her backpack on the way. She flipped the light switch and blinked quickly to get her eyes adjusted to the brightness. As she walked to the bathroom, she thought of how it would be the last trip down that hall for a while. She used the restroom and ran her toothbrush lazily over her teeth. The realization struck her that the next time she did this, she would be in a bathroom miles away. She spit out the excess toothpaste and sighed.

When Annabel got back to her room she put her toothbrush in the small zipper part of her bag. She stripped off her cartoon character nightgown and pulled on the burnt orange long sleeve dress her mom had picked out for the move-in day. Annabel wasn't fond of the dress, but it'd be warm and cozy. Julia came in and helped her into a pair of white stockings and her black mary janes.

"Alright, go brush your teeth. And don't forget to pack your toothbrush in your suitcase," she reminded her as she disappeared from the room.

Annabel grabbed the stuffed bunny her biological mother had made her off the bed and her backpack from the floor. She moved down the hall and into the kitchen where her brother, Hayden, handed her some Orange Juice. She sat on the couch and sipped some of the tangy liquid. When she finished off the juice, she sat the cup on the table. She wouldn't see that coffee table or sit on that couch for eight months. Frowning, she put on her jacket and walked out the door.

It saddened her to leave the house she had lived in for almost six years of life. She crunched the fallen orange and red leaves that littered the driveway beneath her small heels as she made her way to the truck. She opened the door with some difficulty and took off her backpack, placing it in the floor in front of the seat. She crawled into the cab and sat starring out the windshield, stroking her bunny's head, waiting for everyone to finish getting ready.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Annabel was bouncing in her seat an hour or so later as they headed to their new home. She turned to see if her brothers were still behind them on the motorcycle but couldn't see over the stuff in the back. She let out a small sigh. The ride was a long one and she was getting sleepy. She rubbed her tired eyes with her tiny hands, yawning.

She decided she didn't want to sleep and leaned forward in the seat, reaching into her star-covered backpack to pull out her speckled notebook and jumbo pencil. She opened the journal across her lap and started to write. Writing was much more difficult than reading, but she had been doing it for almost a year now, and the letters got easier to form. Soon she wouldn't even have to think about them.

Dear Diary,
Today we are moving to The Outlook Hotel. Mama J needed a job. We are on the way now. At first Kaladiscopic was nervus. But Sora made her feel better last nite saying as long as we are together every thing will be fine. I hope she's right. I did'nt tell her I was feeling nervus too. Scared actualy.

"We're here," Julia stated from the driver's seat, slowing the car down to a stop.

Annabel opened her eyes- she had fallen asleep anyway. She unbuckled and put away her supplies. Julia got out of the car and Annabel saw Hayden out of the windshield as he banged on the hood. Annabel slid out after Sora and pulled her backpack onto her shoulders, scrunching up her forest green pea coat. Annabel took Kaleidoscopic off the seat and walked a ways so the door could close. She spun on her heel to look at the building. The Overlook Hotel. It was definitely a pretty building, but something felt off. Annabel let out a small gasp and felt goosebumps pop up on her arms. She turned away quickly, eyes wide, grabbing Sora's hand.

[Sora Foster]

Sora laid there for a few minutes trying her best to open her eyes. When she finally opened them, she realized that Hayden had already left the room.

She got up yawned, and stretched her arms and legs out in front of her. She felt like she had a really bad hang over all thanks to Hayden. She stumbled over her own feet trying to get to her clothes. Grabbing her clothes and toothbrush, she then walked out of the room to go to the bathroom. She needed to take a nice warm shower because she felt gross and thought that it would help to wake her up a little. Looking at herself in the mirror she cursed Hayden for being so careless and leaving hickies where people could see them.

"Oh great how am I going to explain this to Julia or any of them if they happened to see the them," she said under her breath.

Putting on her ripped up jeans and tee shirt, she knew it was going to be a long ride and wanted to be comfortable. She went back to the room to grab her bag filled with books and things to do for the car ride.

Sora saw Hayden standing there looking at her in the kitchen when she came downstairs. She could tell he looked the same way she felt and laughed inside her head. She could feel his eyes wonder to her breasts and she shifted a little. She still felt uncomfortable when he did that.

She could hear Max and Julia talking about the directions. She saw that Annabel was sitting on the couch drinking her juice that Hayden had given to her. After grabbing her drink and something to eat she walked outside.

Thank goodness they had packed last night.

Placing her bag in the car and then hopping in herself, she saw that Hayden was having one of his hissy fits about wearing the stupid helmet. She couldn’t believe he would act this way but then she remembered it was Hayden she was talking about of course he would act that way. She knew he caught her staring at him as if he were stupid so, she turned back around in her seat looking at the clock she could tell that thanks to Hayden they were now late.

She knew Julia was not going to allow him to act that way today. Sure enough Julia and Hayden had gotten into a fight and she tried to hit him. 'Wow, I do not want to get on her bad side today.' Sora thought to herself.
……

The trip was taking forever and she was afraid the car wouldn’t make it up this road. Julia was talking to her about how beautiful the hotel was and how there were lots of rooms, so Sora could hide herself in one and no one would bother her. Also about how great this job would be and how she really needed it. But all Sora really wanted to do was to sleep but she stayed up anyways just to have this conversation with Julia.

She heard Annabel move in the back and looked to see the little girl was trying to write in her diary but fell asleep.

"Aww how cute can Annabel be?" She smiled.

She remembered talking to Annabel last night about the move. Sora had to remind her that everything was going to be fine. Looking out the back window, she could see Max and Hayden on the motorcycle behind them. She smirked at the fact that Max made Hayden wear the helmet. She turned around looking out the front window and started to fall asleep.

She didn’t know how long she was out for until she heard Julia say “We’re here.” Opening her eyes, she saw Hayden bang on the hood. Looking past him she saw The Overlook Hotel. Julia wasn’t kidding when she told her that the place was huge. She stepped outside, grabbing her bag and placed it onto her shoulders.

She looked around in wonder, the place was really beautiful. She was about to walk to the back of the car when she heard Annabel gasp and grab onto her hand. Looking down at her, Sora smiled at her to try to reassure Annabel that everything was going to be okay.

She really hoped that everything was going to be okay because they all needed this job to work out for them.

[Max Foster]

Max smirked at his brother’s reference to The Eagles and walked around to the back of the Suburban. His eyes fell to the “My Child is a Straight A Student” bumper sticker that had been placed there almost eleven years ago, and his smile widened for a moment before falling into a frown. He grabbed the handle of the trunk and yanked it up, wanting not only to retrieve their luggage, but to rid his sight of ironically unpleasant reminder as well.

“Don’t- Let’s leave them in the car for now. I want to figure out where they’re going to have us set up before we start bringing things inside,” Julia informed him, stopping Max mid-bag grab.

He looked over to the Overlook, then back to his mother for a split second before closing the trunk back and returning to the front of the vehicle. Sora and Annabel were holding hands, the latter of the two looking somewhat nervous. Max wasn’t surprised by this at all. It was a large hotel, and unfamiliar at that, and Annabel was still a very small little girl, who had only lived in their house for most of her life, probably for as long as she could remember. He figured this change would probably be most difficult on her out of everyone.

Julia led the way up the path to the front doors of the hotel and Max waited for the others to follow her, taking up the rear to make sure that no one got left behind or wandered off. It wasn't that he didn’t trust Hayden or Sora to be on their own, but he figured they should probably all be present for their introductions to the hotel manager and whoever else they’d be meeting momentarily.

A couple in fancy garb exited the front of the hotel and passed them on their way up. They seemed more like rich people in movies and less like what Max had actually expected people on the higher end of the social ladder to look like. He threw a cautionary glance back at his bike. He hadn’t really had any way to chain it up, and didn’t like leaving it unmonitored, but judging by the couple they had just passed and the price range he had read about for a night in this hotel, Max didn’t think he had anything to worry about. Not from the customers, anyways.

He pulled his leather jacket closer to his body. It wasn’t even that cold yet, especially compared to what it would be in a matter of weeks, but two years of college in Nevada had rid Max of his immunity to lower temperatures. It was odd, he thought, how spending such a short period of time somewhere could change something that had been ingrained in you your entire life. His mother pulled open one of the two front doors and they filed into the building like a tiny parade, here to celebrate closing day.

It could change so very many things…

[Hayden J]

Hayden approached the front steps of Overlook. All around them, bellboys swerved between guests, bringing suitcases through the front doors and down the wheelchair access to the limousines outside. The silver and black cars had their doors flung open, trunks up, parked in a long line. It reminded Hayden, vaguely, of a funeral convoy.

He paused, leaning his weight on one leg, the other foot balanced on the toe of his boot. He breathed smoke out his nose and let his gaze travel up and down the ramparts and ridges of the roof. The hotel was a monster of a building, dwarfing their truck, casting the parked limos into a vast crooked shadow.

Up here, there air was thinner, crisper, colder. It felt like winter already.

A pair of guests walked out, dressed from head to toe in designer clothes. Hayden didn’t know the designer’s name but he was sure that his ex boyfriend Gerry would have been able to name them. The woman who’s hair was a natural dark red, done up in perfect ringlets, glanced his way (Because Hayden was a flaming eyesore) and immediately averted her eyes, as though she had looked directly into the sun.

“I bet you’re vanilla in bed too.” He breathed between drags, rolling his eyes and looking back at the hotel.

His mom had told Max to wait to unload the luggage till they knew where they were going, so Hayden let her lead the way, following her closely, glancing back at Annabel and Sora. He’d heard the little girl gasp, saw her grasp for his cousin’s hand from the corner of his eye.

Now, the look in Annabel’s eyes, it threw him. For a half moment, something inside him wanted him to stop walking, to turn around and tell her to stop staring like that, stop thinking like that. But the thought was wild, irrational. He pushed it away.

The gravel crunched under his feet. The sound of trunks slamming shut echoed around the lot, the rev of engines, the click of heels, the jingle of bracelets. The guests came out in a steady stream now and they had to weave through a few to reach the front steps.

Just as Hayden gripped the railing to climb, he was suddenly blindsided. It felt like the ground dropped a meter under his feet.

He held the railing tighter. The woozy feeling ebbed deeper, worming its way inside him and pulsed angrily in his stomach and at the back of his mind. He knew it too well. It was the drop before an episode. He felt himself go stiff, clutching, white-knuckled to the brass bar afraid that if he let go… if he let go. He’d drop right here on the stairs.

He gave no other indication that anything was wrong.

One. Two. Three.

He counted in his head.

Not here, please not here. Not now. Not after so long. Not right this second in the driveway in front of everyone.

Then it was gone. Just like that. A weight lifted off his shoulders and his stomach unclenched. He let his breath go, wrenched his hand off the railing, and balled his shaking hands into fists, putting out his cigarette in the ashtray by the door.

What the fuck.

“You drive like crap. I’m motion sick as hell.” He muttered under his breath to Max, who was looking back at his motorcycle like it was his girlfriend. He was shaken. His eyes gave it away, they always did. They were more expressive than he cared them to be, as stormy as the sea.

From this angle, on the stairs, Hayden could see the Topiary, and beyond that, the playground. It was a long way out. Far away.

They entered through the double doors greeted by the busy lines and chatter of more guests still in the middle of checking out. The lobby was organized chaos, the high-backed chairs were mostly filled. Across from the double doors was an enormous dark wood desk with an old fashioned brass register set on it. However, just behind the shell of the old register you could see the blue faces of computer screens ushering in the new age of tech to an old Hotel that was probably standing long before Hayden’s grandfather was born.

“Fuck me.”

“Hayden.” His mother typically chimed in, suddenly aware of how shabby they all looked compared to the bright red and gold uniforms of the bellboys and staff, and the luxurious outfits of the guests.

“Miss Clemmons!” His mother was greeted by a wispy looking fellow with sickly blond hair and a face of a dead man. “Right on time, actually.” (Not really, they were twenty five minutes late. Hayden’s fault.) “I was beginning to worry. The roads around these parts are a touch icy, even this early in the season.”

“Mr. Daedrim.” She said with one of her big false smiles, the one she wore when she was stressed.

“The trip was fine. It was fine. We all made it one piece. These are my children.” She gestured in his older brother’s direction. “This is Maxwell.” She stopped here to elaborate on which son she was talking about (just encase Daedrim was getting the wrong idea) by grabbing Max’s shoulder and kneading it like he was a genie lamp and her next wish was gonna pop out of him.

“My niece Sora, my youngest Annabel…”

She was still pissed at him.

Aaaaannnd LEAST liked bringing up the rear…

“And my second oldest, Hayden.”

Wow. Low. Middle child. By the way. Which excuses him entirely. Because middle children are always attention seeking whores.

Daedrim looked at Hayden briefly, and like the woman in the parking lot, looked away and shook Max’s hand, probably cause Max was the only one who looked gracious enough to shake his back.

“Right, well. As you can see, closing day is quite a spectacle. Our head cook had important business and left early this morning, if you received my email. Which is why I had her tour the kitchen with you last time you were here. Now, I will show you to your rooms. We’ve opened some suites, but you are, of course, welcome to spread out.”

“And we will.” Hayden commented and pinched Sora’s waist hard from behind, but only because his mother’s back was turned.

Daedrim started to walk, gesturing back to Maxwell. “You and your brother should see the boiler room. You both will probably be doing the majority of the manual maintenance around here.”

[Sora Foster]

Sora still was holding Annabel’s tiny hand when she moved closer to the main doors of the Overlook. She stopped walking to look down at Annabel and saw her still shaking with the expression that something was off, Sora whispered “There is nothing to worry about.”

Sora saw all the bellboys walking around helping the guest with their bags. The limousines were lined up in a straight line and the guest’s fancy looking cars. They were all opened so the bellboys could put the suitcases in. She looked back at the car they arrived in and you could tell the differences between them and the guests. Their car was old and rusted, she was surprised it even made it up the road. The guest’s cars however were nice and shiny without any sratches on them. They looked like they have never been used. But theirs looked like it was on the verge of dying.

“I wonder what it would be like to ride in a limousine.”

Sora watched how Julia moved her way through the people and then disappeared into the hotel. She could tell Julia was happy about getting this job and who could blame her the place was beautiful. Max was following behind her. Stopping to look back at his motorcycle, he looked as if he was saying goodbye to it forever.

Her eyes wondered over to Hayden saw he had double over on the stairs, his knuckles turning white on the railing. He looked like he was on the verge of passing out. But before Sora could ask him if he was alright, he was up and moved passed the people and into the hotel. As if nothing had happened to him.

When they finally reached the main door Sora felt Annabel tighten her grip, Sora looked down and smiled softly at her trying to reinsure the little one it would be okay. She wonder what was making Annabel so nervous to walk into the hotel.

She laughed at the fact that only Annabel looked like she was the only one who belonged here. The reason being was that everyone looked so elegant here. They looked as if they were wealthy and stuck up. She felt like people were staring at her with disgust, but she didn’t care. They could go screw themselves for all she cared.

Her thoughts were interrupted when this man with gross hair and a face that looked like he could belong in a scary movie or something called for Julia. Julia introduced them all to him starting with Max. It was like he was Julia’s pride and joy so, of course she would talk about him first. Julia mentioned Sora and Annabel next. Then last she introduced Hayden. It seemed Julia was still ticked off at him for making them late on the first day.

Deadrim shook Max’s hand and told them they were allowed to spread out if they wanted to. Sora heard Hayden whisper that they would and felt him pinch her waist hard. She wanted to kill him at that point because what if Julia saw this or the other two it would have been awkward to explain. Also she hardly had sleep the night before thanks to them having fun, so she was kind of in a bad mood already.

Deadrim told Max and Hayden that they should see the boiler room and something about them doing the maintenance of the hotel. Sora smirked because she knew it would be mainly Max doing the hard work and Hayden complaining about how it would mess up his hair.

After the creepy man was finished talking she turned around to face Hayden letting go of Annabel’s hand, she stepped closer to him. She looked into his eyes and whispered, “Do you want them to find out.” She pushed him back a little before turning around and walking away to join Julia next to the man.

[Hayden J]

Daedrim was all smiles and circumstance, the dark circles around his eyes aging him another ten years since last month. He lead them, patiently, through each wing of the old hotel and through to the suites that had been opened to their use.
The tour was more for her kids than for her. Julia had gotten one after she had signed the paperwork.

Daedrim informed them time and time again that if they preferred smaller rooms or rooms in a different location they were more than welcome to them. After that, the boys were asked to accompany the maintenance manager to the cellar to observe the boiler.

Julia followed them, mainly to make sure that they were taking it seriously (Hayden). Max would undoubtedly be doing most of the work and maintenance. She only hoped that he would be able to convince his little brother to actually help during the winter.

The maintenance manager, Rich, was a burly man, with beefy shoulders and a head the shape of a bullet. He ran through the basics a little impatiently, not really stopping to take any questions, checking his watch like he had somewhere better to be.

This was a new boiler, it had been replaced when the old one finally gave up the ghost and it was currently over 35 years old at least.

“It’s touchy… most boilers are.” Rich tapped the thermometer. “She’s like a cat, you got to pet her the right way, she likes to die on you during the winter. Just keep checking it.”

Afterwards, the whole group of them met up again to finish the tour off with a stroll through the grounds, ending at the enormous garage where Daedrim showed them three brand new snow trucks and a small convoy of snow mobiles.

It was all a blur, and Julia couldn’t help but want this all to be over. She was starting to get one of her migraines, a pounding throbbing one. She winced through half her smiles.

The silence of their absence would be a blessed one.

After it was all over she squeezed Max’s arm, hugging him around the waist, tightly. “It will be good for us, won’t it, honey? When they are all gone.” She untangled herself from him and started her brisk walk across the parking lot toward their old Chevy.

“Come on, Hayden, Sora, I don’t want you to carry ONE thing in and think that’s good enough. Somebody get a trolley. I want to get this truck unloaded before it starts getting chilly out here.”

Limo by limo the guests left the old Overlook Hotel in their wake, kicking up gravel and disappearing down the snaking mountain roads and out of sight… to where ever they came from before. A few straggling staff members remained, packing their own cars, Daedrim was seeing most of them off. In another half hour the five of them would be entirely alone up here, in the mountains, with the old Overlook hotel.

[Annabel Lee]

“Come on, Hayden, Sora, I don’t want you to carry ONE thing in and think that’s good enough. Somebody get a trolley. I want to get this truck unloaded before it starts getting chilly out here,” Julia said as the family made their way back to the truck.

Not wanting to be in the way, Annabel took off her backpack and sat off to the side. She let out a quiet groan, immediately becoming bored and looked around. The grounds really were quite stunning. If the hotel didn't give her the wiggins, she’d be a little excited for the new adventure. Annabel looked back at the hotel with a sigh. While on the tour of the place, she had been squeezing Kaleidoscopic so hard that she was sure the head would pop off. She may only be six, but she knew when something felt off, and on the normality scale of one to ten, she felt like this place was a whopping one hundred and ten. Annabel, shivering from the cold, decided to go into the foyer for warmth.

Once inside, her body temperature rose quickly, giving her heat goosebumps. Feeling like someone was behind her, Annabel turned to look over her shoulder but all she was the descending staircase. Her eyebrows knitted together as she realized she was on the second floor but couldn't remember walking up the stairs. Shrugging it off, she walked toward the room that had caught her attention on the tour. She looked up at the wooden door, the golden numbers ‘217’ gleamed from the incandescent lights. She tentatively put her gloved hand on the doorknob and held her breath as she opened the door. The room that greeted her was beautiful. The carpet alone was mesmerizing, made up of purple and green swirls. She ran to the four poster bed and sunk into the soft mattress.

“This will be our room,” she muttered, laying Kaleidoscopic on the pillow next her.

Annabel curled up on her side, rested a hand on the bear’s leg, and felt the uneasiness slip from her.

[Hayden J]

When the sun dipped behind the mountains, the fall chill set in as fast as the dusk crept inwards across the sky, towards the Overlook. Even as they unpacked the car they could see each other’s breath in reams of curling vapor. Hayden shivered involuntarily as he helped pull the suitcases from the old Suburban. Nobody did a lot of talking.

He had dragged the brass trolley from the lobby into the parking lot and stacked the suitcases up, as evenly as possible. His mother had climbed around in the back of the Chevy, loudly, letting everyone know how much work she was doing, and how they all were just standing around.

He just wanted to get inside and start unloading so they could make something to eat. He was starving. Their last meal had been breakfast. The darker it got out the colder it became. It felt less like October and more like December here in the mountains. He couldn’t feel his fingertips.

“That’s the last one.” His mom jumped out of the back of the truck and slammed the doors shut loudly, the keys on the lanyard around her neck jingled cheerfully as she walked.

“I want all this up in the second floor suit. We can sort out where everyone wants to stay and who’s is what once we are in there.”

Hayden gave Sora a sidelong look and turned the trolley around towards the wheelchair access, and up towards the front double doors. The old thing had a rickety wheel that twitched spastically as he pushed it.

“I’m thinking we should make up some sandwiches, and defrost some beef for tomorrow.” His mother went on talking like that. Planning out things to herself like she couldn’t stand the silence already. A silence that would last all winter.

It was her incessant need to fix everything, like a dog licking a wound, she couldn’t stop till the problem was infected with her. Till it spread.

It wasn’t long after entering the lobby and heading to the recently upgraded elevator that he noticed the Annabel was gone. Missing. She tended to do that quite a lot. Wander off while they weren’t looking. In a place this big he had no doubt that it would happen again, and again, and again. She was old enough to stay out of trouble… he hoped.

Hayden looked at Max under the anemic light of the elevator, noted how calm his brother was, his face pleasant and unstrained. Envy curled inside him, snakelike. The slightly unshaven look he sported since he’d come home made him look carelessly attractive, like he’d got up in the morning and accidently wound up that way.

While Hayden was in correctional he’d bitterly envisioned his brother cruising through his studies, surrounded by pretty girls willing to throw themselves at him any time he felt like it. Stuck up. Supercilious. Selfish. Prick. He’d thought all those things… often. But seeing him now, perhaps Max didn’t have the life Hayden had always envied, perhaps he didn’t have all those friends. All those girlfriends.

He’d spent all that time resenting Max, alone and anchorless without him. Anchorless…

“Where are you staying?” Looking away from Max, he kept his tone casual. He wanted to know for security purposes. He wanted to know because he would probably pick a room not far down the hall from his older brother’s. This place was starting to give him the creeps. He hoped the individual rooms didn’t harbor the same eccentric taste of décor as the rest of the mismatched building, because the queasiness brought on by bad interior design was purely distasteful.

When they arrived on the second floor and stepped out of the elevator Hayden caught a glimpse of Annabel, walking down the hall, pushing open a door. That girl was a ghost. She could practically walk through walls.

“Hey, sweetheart, come down to Mom’s suite!” he called after her.

The suite was to the left of the elevator, several doors down. Room 211. Led by his mother, he pushed the wobbly trolley down the hall, over the strange patterned orange and brown carpeting, and parked it through the doors.

Inside, there were two queen beds and a small attached lounge room complete with a TV. Double windows overlooked the parking lot and the now darkening sky. The room was equipped with a small kitchen for cooking, and its own fridge and microwave. It would be more preferable for breakfast than walking all the way down to the kitchen on the first floor. Totally not worth it for some scrambled eggs.

“I doubt any of you would WANT to share the room with me, but the offer is always open.” His mom said that quietly, and it hung in the air, almost hopeful.

She was lonely, had been lonely for months, and this place… this place felt even lonelier. Isolated. Far away. Hayden got the slightly uncomfortable feeling that her proposal was aimed toward Max. She used him like a pacifier to fill the space their dad had left. Ever since he’d come back from school, she’d been leaning on him for emotional support. Max was the oldest, the most responsible, and he took on the role dutifully.

Hayden handed some suitcases to Sora, insisting that she help unload the trolley. He’d deal with her later… and in what manner he hadn’t quite decided yet. Last night suddenly seemed like an incredibly bad idea. In these close quarters the chance of no one finding out was extremely slim. The last thing he wanted was Annabel to walk in on them… or… Max. His heart fell into his stomach at the thought.

“Mom, where’s my med bag?” He asked, suddenly, as the cleared the cart.

“Where ever you put it?” His mother tossed her golden hair and used a single finger to brush it from her pale eyes. She air folded a shirt, casually throwing it in the pile she planned on packing into her new dresser.

“I put it in the back of the car.” He retorted, bending to shuffle through the pile of luggage again.

“Well, last time I saw it was on the counter at home before we left… you seemed preoccupied.”

Sora’s chest was falling out of her shirt this morning, what the fuck else did anyone expect? He was a little preoccupied with the guilt that he’d actually seen her without one…

“I put it in the car. I know it.”

“Then it’s here somewhere, don’t make me look for it for you.”

He straightened and felt himself grow instantly impatient. He always teetered somewhere on the verge of blowing up and melting down, he started rummaging through things more impatiently, tossing checked luggage on the bed, each one he went through rendered him a little more irritated.

“Where’s Annabel?”

He paused mid search his hands clawing through his ebony hair which fell from his fingers to slash over his charcoal rimmed eyes. “I saw her wandering down the hall... ANNABEL!!!!” he screamed, more to relieve his own stress.

“Hayden. Stop it. Sora, Max, could one of you two help?”

[Max Foster]

“Where are you staying?” the question flitted into Max’s consciousness and then out again, taking him a second to register it. His mind seemed to slowdown in the cold of this already lonesome place, unable to think of much else besides the yearning for warmth. Not to mention the extreme lack of heat just outside its walls. He was still frozen to the bone from helping unpack the car. Thank god Hayden had gotten the trolley to help minimize their trips, even if it had been a bit wonky.

“Um…” Max shook his head, not really certain what his answer was. To be honest, he hadn't really thought about it. He just knew he wanted a room to himself, but he’d yet to even see the second floor. That was all about to change though. As the elevator came to a stop, he rattled off a sideways answer. “I’m not really sure.” Hayden would probably be unsatisfied with that, but it was the truth, and Max was having trouble thinking right now anyways.

They made their way to the suite down the hall, finding Annabel along the way (or perhaps she was the one who found them?), and began unpacking. Max joined his mother in said task, but worked on auto-pilot. What was wrong with him? He couldn't seem to function at the moment. The cold had never chilled him this much before. And it wasn't that he had just taken in too much information regarding the hotel. A day of classes at college had required far more cognitive activity than this day had.

His family was talking about something, but he wasn't listening. The voices registered, just not the words. Instead, his half-paced mind was focused on the months ahead. The idea of staying here with only his family hadn't bothered him before, but now that they were here, it was as if he had found himself in a dream: the kind that you know is going somewhere bad, somewhere wrong, and you don’t want it to, but you have no control over what happens. It wasn't as if he would have been going to parties and such, had they stayed back home, but he would have had the option. He would have been able to leave and do things. Even back in his dorm room at school, he had started to go a bit stir crazy during finals, when his free time had all been spent in his room studying.

And you’re just thinking of this now? You stupid fuck!

“ANNABEL!!!” The shout made him jump. His attention snapped back to the present, as if an alarm had just woken him from the unwanted dream, and he turned to look at his brother. The conversation seemed to catch up with him all at once, and he stepped over to Hayden, placing one hand around his wrist and another against his chest, then lightly guided him towards a nearby chair. “Hey, just take a seat,” he said, his voice calm and soothing in a way that seemed to come through best when he was taking care of his younger brother. “I’ll find your meds, okay?” He gave his shoulder a light squeeze, then turned back to the luggage to search.

He wasn't too concerned about Annabel at the moment. He knew that Hayden was freaking out about her to keep from freaking out about his inability to find his bag, not because he was actually worried about her. Besides, Sora watched that girl like a protective lioness watching her cubs, though one might never notice if they hadn't spent as much time around them as he had. If she felt the girl needed to be found, she’d go and find her. She knew her best of all, anyways. Even more so than his mother.


Later that night, after they’d finished unpacking (mostly), they all headed downstairs again. Judging by their comments and actions, everyone was beyond ready for dinner. And yes, there was a small kitchen in her suite, but Julia was actually rather excited to get into the large kitchen on the first floor and see what she could whip up, even if only this once. She figured the five of them would probably dissolve into their own schedules as the months went on and they got more familiar with the place, eating at different times, in different locations, so if she was going to prepare a meal for everyone, now would be the time to do it.

As his mother headed into the kitchen to explore and create, Max made his way into the large, fancy dining room. The carpet was a deep red, only complimented by the shiny walls that floated somewhere between silver and gold. It was like no room Max had ever seen before, and he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of it. Circular tables covered with cloths spotted the room, seeming somewhat less elegant with their chairs sitting upside down on top of them. A wooden bar sat at the opposite wall from the door he’d just entered, and as Max explored the room it began to feel less like a dining room, and more like a lounge area. There were even a few couches on his side of the room. The biggest attraction of all, however, was the giant, beautiful chandelier that hung from the center of the ceiling, its crystals reflecting any light that entered.

He spun around slowly and a smile began to creep onto his face. He could almost hear the jazz music that had probably filled this room back in the twenties. He ambled over, hands in his pockets, and began de-chairing the closest table. The chairs were a dark wood, with leather seats that matched the carpet.

After setting up one of the tables, all five of its chairs now surrounding it, Max stuck his hands back into his jacket pockets (he’d yet to take it off since they arrived) and casually walked over to the bar. He retrieved one of his hands and ran his thumb and forefinger along the length of the bar, admiring the woodwork. The stools in front of the bar matched the chairs in the room so well that he was certain they must have been specially made for the room. His eyes migrated to the wall behind the bar then, where the glasses were stacked delicately for use, glimmering and dancing in the yellowish lighting of the room.

The one thing the bar was lacking, however, was alcohol. Daedrim had told them that it was cleared out over winter break. There was, in fact, only one bottle of alcohol in the whole hotel, and that was in the kitchen, “for emergencies.” Max had been slightly disappointed by this. He hadn't drunk much before college anyways, but it was nice every once in a while. However, it was probably for the best. Hayden didn't really need to be getting drunk while they were here, or mixing his medication with alcohol, for that matter, though Max was fairly certain he was smart enough not to do that.

The sound of tiny, padded footsteps behind him registered and he pushed off the counter of the bar to head back to the table he had set up. He didn't need to be seen staring at the bar like a hopeless lush, waiting for a refill. Especially not by his mother. As he turned around, his eyes fell on the tiny frame of Annabel, standing in the doorway and looking around at the room, so large in comparison to her. He smiled at her wondrous expression and took a seat at the table. As her eyes finally moved to him, he smiled a little wider. He stood up and pulled out the adjacent seat for her, waiting for her to walk over and sit down so that he could push it back under as well.

“Are you ready for dinner, Mademoiselle?”

[Sora Foster]

After taking the tour of the house, Julia decided it would be a good idea if they unpack their bags before it became dark outside. The sun was already setting and the air was becoming colder by the minute. Sora stood there watching as Hayden brought the trolley outside to help them bring the bags in. This meant only one trip would have to be made and she was grateful for that. She could hear Julia say something about her not wanting Hayden or Sora to think it would be okay to just take one bag in.

“She knows us all too well.” She muttered to herself as she walked closer to the car. Grabbing the bags and helping to place them on the trolley. All she wanted to do was get back inside where it was warm and find her room so she could unpack.

“I want all this in the second floor suite. We can sort where everyone wants to stay and who’s is what once we are there.”

As Julia said this Sora looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Hayden giving her a side long look, before he turned the trolley around and pushed it into the house. She still remembered the night before and shook her head.

“Maybe last night was not a good idea.”

Once inside Julia rumbled on about after unpacking they could make some food. It seemed that no one was really listening to her. As Sora was scanning the room she noticed that Annabel wasn’t there. Not that she was worried because Annabel also liked to run off on her own. She decided not to say anything, if she felt that Annabel was in danger she would go and find her.

After the elevator ride they finally reached the hotel suite. Room 211 which wasn’t that far from the elevator. Hayden was still pushing the annoying trolley down the hall and into the room. The inside of the room was huge and beautiful. It had two queen beds, a kitchen and a lounge room with a TV. “I doubt any of you would WANT to share a room with me, but the offer is always open.” Julia said quietly and hopeful.

Sora knew who Julia was talking to and it wasn’t Hayden or herself, but Max. Julia had used him a lot for support after he had come back from school. She glanced over at Max who was still standing by the doors. She felt bad for him always having to be the good little boy and help the mother.

“Mom where is my bag?” Hayden asked seeming like he was about to break down. The guessing game turned into a semi fight. Hayden freaking out over his med bag which was a good reason too, and Julia not really caring. Julia asked if either Sora or Max could help him find his bag.

Sora was about to help when Julia realized Annabel wasn’t in the room with them and asked if anyone had seen her. “ANNABEL” Hayden screamed her name making Sora jump back a little. She knew he had yelled out of frustration more than anything.  That is when Max jumped in and sat Hayden down telling him that everything would be okay. Even though she wouldn’t say that she did, she still cared for Max.

After they unpacked the bags, they decided that it was time for them to eat. Even though Julia’s room had a kitchen she thought it would be a good idea to use the big kitchen downstairs. Maybe she knew that once they were used to the place they would have their own schedules. Julia asked Sora to help her in the kitchen, which she did. Just before walking into the kitchen, she saw Annabel appear and Max grabbing a chair for her.

[Hayden J]

He’d spent his adolescent life in and out of psychiatric offices, diagnosed over and over again with different behavioral problems and all the doctors could really ever agree on… was that he was a troubled kid.

Everything seemed to jumble together, crooked, tangled. All his thoughts clotted. His mind was buzzing with a thousand angry wasps at every hour, and  all anyone could manage to do was pour fuel on the fire. Was stand there and stare at him, slack-jawed and useless.

“You don’t understand I NEED THEM.”  He shouted to a silent room, and of course they all understood. Knew how obsessed he was about taking them on time, how much it meant to him that he didn’t start seizing on the floor in public, didn’t fall down the stairs, or… drool, or piss himself…  

His clawed his fingers through his mane of black hair and, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists. His mother kept talking to him condescendingly, like he was four years old. She always talked to him like that. It was no wonder their conversations escalated to shouting matches.

It was this place, already. Already it was suffocating in its enormity. They were drowning in all this space. And that silence. That silence he knew would be absolute when everyone was in bed and he was lying awake at night for hours. That nothing. Ears pricked at every sound. Waiting.

He felt like he was reeling into a panic-attack.

Max grabbed his wrist.

It was paralyzing.

Hayden looked at his brother and a weight dropped into his stomach. His world centered itself. He didn’t fight to stand as Max pushed him till he backed into a chair.

“Hey, just take a seat.”

His anxiety anchored itself, seared his pale face with a residual heat.

“I’ll find your meds, okay?”

And Max would.  Max fixed everything. Everything except mom and dad.

Hayden nodded numbly. Wincing, but not from pain as his shoulder was squeezed. He had to look away. He always had to look away from Max so he stared at the wallpaper across from him. The chaotic pattern that reminded him of a carnival freak show.

Long after his brother pulled away he could still feel where he had touched him, like psychological scald marks in his skin, reminding him that everything would be okay. And it was.
It took them unpacking  everything to find his medbag.  It had been shoved into one of the carry cases so it wouldn’t get lost. He’d taken it and locked himself in the bathroom, blotting out his mother’s voice.

The bathtub was an old porcelain masterpiece, sitting on clawed feet, shrouded by a lime green curtain. There was a more modern stand-in shower off to the left with a sliding glass door and even a bench inside. The walls in here were a mixture of yellow and eggplant purple. HONESTLY, who decorated this place?

He plucked a paper cup from the bathroom counter and turned on the sink, which bubbled and spat from disuse. The mirror took up almost the whole wall and reflected every corner of the bathroom, except the walk in shower, which was just out of sight. He nervously shook his pills into his hand and took them. He looked like shit, so he fluffed his bangs a little and leaned into the mirror to smudge-fix his eyeliner.

He pushed open the bathroom door. Apparently, they all had decided to head down to the kitchen to get something to eat. A good call, because he was starving to the point of an oncoming headache. They took the brass elevator down together and Hayden couldn’t remember what anyone has said to him, only that he had nodded or grunted in recognition.

He walked behind Sora a little ways, distracting his nerves with the way her hips swayed when she walked. His cousin was a ridiculously endowed young woman, nothing like the little blond girl he’d bullied at a birthday party when he was eight. She was grown up and as fierce as she was curvaceous.

After they passed through the halls and foyer they walked through an enormous sitting room complete with fireplace and almost ceiling to floor windows. The kitchen was off the ballroom, an enormous hall with a high ceilings and gold walls reminiscent of the 1920’s. Impressively beautiful.  Dozens of tables were pushed in the center of the room, the chairs turned upside down on top. It could have easily sat a convention of two hundred people quite comfortably.

Sora followed his mother, and Max chose to stay. Hayden slowed a little, as Max move to the bar. He watched him for a little while until he moved to the table, and followed his mother and Sora.

His mother had mentioned several times that she would like to set up something for the holiday before the roads closed. She wanted to go down to Sidewinder and buy some Christmas gifts for all of them and find someplace to set up the tree. The hotel had some old decorations hanging around from the days way back in the thirties when it used to stay open into December. Most of the stuff, Daedrim told them, was locked in a storage room on the third floor. Antiques, but unused so it didn’t matter to him if she wanted to make use of them.

“I would like to get something for the Holidays.” His mother began as she started to take out some ingredients. “Maybe some champagne, and eggnog, a fresh tree, maybe a few for the sitting room. I’d like us to have a family Christmas for once.”

His mom was rattling around with the plates  and went to get some meat from the freezer.

Hayden approached Sora from behind  buried his face in her hair for the briefest of moments reveling in her berry sweet scent. Not really minding his hands as he pushed her into the edge of one of the metal counters. “I want to talk to you… later… about some stuff.” He said his face centimeters from hers…

He pulled away when he heard his mom walking back. “It’s important.” He looked back over his shoulder towards the swinging doors that led back into the ballroom, before walking out of the kitchen.

[Sora Foster]

After walking into the kitchen Sora was amazed, she had never seen such a big kitchen before. The walls were white, and the appliances were all silver. This was such a contrast to what the rest of the hotel looked like. The kitchen had many stoves and like fifteen sinks. The counters were huge and they all had pots and pans hanging above them from racks. There was also a lot of knifes hanging around and a huge walk in freezer and pantry. This was definitely not a place for Annabel to play.

“I am going to need to watch Annabel when she is in here.” Sora mumbled to herself.

She realized Hayden had followed them into the kitchen and that Julia was talking about how she wanted to go out before the roads were too bad. “I want to get something for the holidays.” As Julia started to talk again, Sora helped her by taking the silverware out and the plates. Julia said something about picking up some champagne, eggnog, and a fresh tree and some decorations for the sitting room.

“I’d like us to have a family Christmas for once.” Sora remembered that they never had an actually Christmas together before. Max was away for college and Hayden was also gone, so Sora could understand why Julia would want one now.

Julia was messing with the plates and walked away to go get the meat from the freezer. When Julia was out of sight, Sora felt Hayden approach her from behind and buried his face in her hair. Hayden pushed her up against the metal counter, not hard though. Sora was about to ask if she could help him with anything, when he said, “I want to talk to you… later…about some stuff.” Hayden face was only centimeters away from hers and she started to blush.

She felt him move away when they heard Julia walking back. “It’s important.” With that he walked out of the kitchen leaving Sora standing there blushing. “I wonder what he wants to talk about.”

Julia brought in the meat they were going to use for dinner. Before Julia could say anything else. “I want to go with you into town, I need to pick up some things too.” Sora said while taking the meat from her and placing it on the counter.

[Annabel Lee]

Annabel sat on her knees at the dining table, Kaleidoscopic on the table next to her plate. She ate in silence, ignoring whatever her family was talking about. She was thinking about Christmas. She needed to perfect her letter to Santa. She had written out a few rough drafts, but ultimately decided they were not good enough. In her original letters, she deemed them too childish. What six year old would still want Barbies? She let out a frustrated sigh.

After dinner and cleaning was over, Annabel hurried back to her room and pulled out her notebook and pencil. She flopped onto the bed on her stomach and opened up to a fresh page, passing over the four failed attempts at Santa's letter.

Dear Santa, she wrote.

Annabel laid there, staring at the words until they became blurry and her eyes started to water. She blinked.

"What do I want, Kal?" She asked her bear, rolling onto her back. She stared at the ceiling while she spun the pencil in her left hand. She lifted her right fist into the air, "Why is this so hard?" She sighed, lowering her hand and started to twirl a lock of her hair.

"I've got it," she exclaimed a few moments later. She turned back over and started scribbling the perfect letter.

Annabel read over it, a huge smile on her face, and tore it out of the book. Satisfied, she decided to get comfy. She opened one of her suitcases and rummaged through the clothes, picking out her sushi pajama set. She took off her shoes and dress with eases but ripped her tights as she pulled them off. She inhaled sharply.

"Julia is going to be so mad! That's how many pairs now?" She looked over at Kaleidoscopic. "Seven?" A pause. "In the last few weeks?" She groaned, balling them up and hiding it under her pillow. "We'll just hide them. Maybe she won't notice they're missing." More pause. "I know they're my only white ones, Kal. And you don't have to be so mean." She looked away from the bear in annoyance and put on the pajamas. "I'm going out," she said buttoning the last button of the top. "It'll just be a few seconds." She slipped on her owl slippers and grabbed the letter. "You'll be okay," she said, soothing the bear's arm.

With that she left her room and walked to Hayden's while folding the letter in half.

Once there, she quietly knocked and opened the door. Hayden was on his bed, a bag half unpacked beside him.

"Hey," she whispered, climbing onto the bed on the other side of the teen. She sat on her shins to be the same height and spun to face him. "I finally finished my letter to Santa," she said as she placed the folded letter in his lap. "Could you maybe give it to him for me, please?" With his agreement, she made a rough giddy sound and hugged his neck. Realizing what she was doing, she blushed deeply. Not wanting him to notice, she stumbled off the bed and ran out of the room, leaving the door ajar.

[Max Foster]

After a long and uncomfortable silent dinner, during which Max had unsuccessfully attempted to start up a conversation twice (once about their day so far, and once about when they would go to town to get supplies for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas), the family scattered again, like roaches from a bulb that had just been illuminated. It was as if simple interaction or being in close proximity to each other was physically painful for at least half the family at any given time, Max noted.

Following suit, Max decided to grab his toolbox and head out to check on his bike. It had been a rather long trip up to the hotel, in not-so-warm weather, and he wanted to make sure his bike hadn’t suffered along the journey. He’d only be able to use it for the next few weeks anyways, so he wanted to make sure it would be up and running during that time.

Max slipped on his leather jacket, shoved his hands into his fingerless driving gloves, and stole his mother’s scarf to wrap around his face and head like an Arabic mask and turban. It was nighttime now, which meant the temperature was even lower than it had been when they’d made the trip here, and he’d be outside for a good ten minutes at the bare minimum.

Over all Max ended up working on his bike for close to thirty minutes, checking over all the parts and filling up the oil as the wind nipped at his nose and ears, turning them red. His vision was blurry with tears by the time he made his way back into the hotel. He closed the door behind him and used the warmer side of the scarf to wipe his eyes. An after-chill ran down his spine, and Max quickly began stomping in place, spinning in a circle, and waving his arms in an attempt to get warm. He stopped this unusual dance after a few seconds and made his way towards the stairs, shaking himself like a wet dog with every few steps he took.

He was halfway to his mother’s room to return her scarf when Max saw that the door was closed. She must either already be asleep, or simply not want to be disturbed. Either explanation was easily conceivable, given the day so far. He stopped, contemplating for a second if he wanted to try and return it anyways, but finally decided against it. He resumed his walk down the hallway then, heading towards his room, and stopped at Hayden’s ajar door, surprised to see that it wasn’t closed.

The younger man sat on his bed, looking at a piece of paper with folded creases in it. Max knocked lightly on the open door and pushed it open a little more. “Hey,” he said softly as Hayden looked up at him. “Whatchya up to?”

[Hayden J]

He couldn’t remember the last time they had sat down to have dinner as a family, neither could anyone else. Max tried, like he always tried, to provide some normalcy but even he couldn’t patch together what was so obviously lost. Somewhere along the way they’d just stopped talking to each other. They sat in the silence of their secrets, canyons between them, and convinced themselves that this was some sort of accomplishment.

The months were quite suddenly looking more like years. The mountains pillowed the hotel, dwarfing it in the shadow of their snowy peaks. Isolation surrounded them in every direction, even the birds stayed quiet, like they were afraid to be overheard here.

After dinner, Hayden had taken the stairs to the third floor where they were all staying and made for his room. Max had stayed outside, he wasn’t really sure where Sora was but he was almost positive she wouldn’t sleep alone tonight, if nothing else than to chase away the utter silence of this place.

He unzipped one of his bags and partially through unpacking, stopped.

He sat down on the bed and just stared at the corner of the room lost in thought. Listening. He’d done very little but catch himself doing this, already four times. Once, during dinner, he had suddenly been convinced that there was something creaking in The Overlook, and he’d stopped scraping his plate to hear it. Nothing. Nothing, but the faint electric hum of the light bulb from the lamp near his bed.

There was a knock and he startled, tearing his eyes away from the corner of the room. His little sister was standing on the threshold, looking all for the world like a petite porcelain doll in sushi pajamas. Her curls fell loosely around her face, her angel sweet eyes were wide and so forgiving of the magic that Hayden himself was scared of. Everything unknown.

“Hey, yourself.” He said with a smile.

He couldn’t imagine what all of this was like for her. Being adopted at an older age, being the only young child, she was forced to grow up, forced to play alone. He hadn’t been around to be the kind of brother he would have liked to be. But he tried. She crawled up onto the bed and he turned to face her when she spoke.

"I finally finished my letter to Santa," She set the folded letter into his lap. "Could you maybe give it to him for me, please?”

His heart warmed instantly. Under the piercings and the tattoos and the insistence that he was badass enough to take care of himself was a boy who’d never had anyone look up to him, and no one to be a role model for. Just her.

“Of course, pumpkin, of course” He said gently. He pressed a hand to her back as she swung her arms around his neck in a hug. She seemed almost embarrassed and disentangled herself instantly, her face pink as she stumbled off the bed and ran out the door. “If you get scared don’t be afraid to wake me up!” he called after her, but he already knew she would probably go to Sora first. Still, he wanted her to know she could come to him.

He unfolded the letter curiously. He had hardly thought about Christmas, forgot what it was like to wait with bated breath for that last bit of fairy tale. His mother had squashed it for Max and he early when dad had first started to stray. They had been young at the time, and his mother had told them that Christmas wasn’t coming that year and Santa wasn’t real. He still remembered crying about it. He’d been about Annabel’s age. It was Max, Sora, and Hayden that really tried to keep Santa alive for the young girl.

~~~~~~
Dear Santa, This Christmas I don't want anything. I want you to give my family what they want.

Hayden: he wants a new iPod. Probably in black. Maybe a dark red, if you have it. You should have that if you don't. I like that color. You shuld have that color when I can have one.

Max: I think he would like a tool set. I'm not sure what kind of tools but there for his bike if that helps. Some times I hear him talking to his bike while working on it. Maybe you could make the handles a pretty color?

Sora: She's boring (don't tell her I said that! I love her but she culd use some imagnation when she could literaly ask for any thing she wants!) But she wants clothes or make up. Normal teen girly things. But she's not like normal teen girls, okay? She likes dark elabrate clothes and big clunky boots. And make up I know she'd rather have the priceyer stuff and not the cvs kind.
But you know her best, so I know you can do a good job on deciding!

Julia: She probably wants something mom like. So whatever you think a mom would want you shuld get it for her. Maybe a house.

And if you absultly want to get me something? Maybe a bike. Some kids my age have talked about theres. I want one I guess. I hear that's a good skill to have. I don't no why though. I wuld like to have a basket on it to carry Kalidescopic around. That's my bear. He would need to come with me. He hates being alone. I'd also maybe wuld like the stringy things that comes out of the handles. And maybe have the bike be that dark red we talked about. But yuo don't have to get me any thing. I wuldn't be sad. Thank you very much Santa. I'm sure you don't here that enough. Please tell the elfs thank you for me as well.

Love,
Annabel Lee
~~~
His heart felt like it had melted into his stomach. He felt a flood of emotions for the little girl, mostly guilt that she would feel the need to care for their happiness before her own. Did they really look that dysfunctional?

There was a knock on the door and Hayden looked up quickly, folding the paper over, thinking it might be Annabel.

“Max? Oh. Hey.” He stood up quickly, pushing his hair out of his face, still holding the letter in his other hand.

‘Whatchya up to?”

“Annabel’s Christmas list.” He said, lowering his voice, almost to a whisper, his gaze straying back to the door. He stepped closer to Max and handed him the folded letter. “I feel really shitty about everything she’s been through. I mean… she’s fucking six. It’s all this crap with dad and mom. I swear.”

He shoved his hands into his skinny jeans pockets and perched himself on the edge of the bed, worrying his lip ring.  “I think you, Sora, and I should pull something together for her.” He made a frustrated sound in his throat and pressed his forehead up against the post at the corner of his bed. “She deserves so much better, Max. The kid’s so lonely…”

Since when did they become dads? Since when did Sora become a mom? Since Julia decided that Annabel couldn’t save her marriage from its inevitable slow death. He felt a little nauseas at the thought of a stretch of months filled with isolation. It was going to drive them all to hysteria.

He suddenly wished Max would stay with him tonight the way they did when they were younger and Hayden was afraid of the dark. “Did you see what room Sora’s in?” he asked casually. He’d probably talk to her tomorrow… he was too tired tonight, unless came in to say goodnight.

[Max Foster]

Max read over the list once, and then again. Hayden was right. It almost hurt to read it, and Max suddenly found himself very angry with his mother. But what could they do way up here, away from the rest of the world? Sure, they were running down to get supplies and decorations in a few days, but they would need more than that to give their little sister a Christmas miracle. Creativity had never been Max’s area of expertise. He regretted that now.

“Did you see what room Sora’s in?” Hayden asked, pulling Max back from his thoughts. He looked up at his younger brother. “Um… no. No, I didn’t, sorry. I think it’s one of the ones that way, though,” he replied, pointing away from their mother’s room with his thumb. He looked down at the list again, not actually reading it, but just staring at the paper. Max blinked hard, shook his head, and almost hesitantly handed the paper back to Hayden. Maybe he and Sora could come up with something worthy for the six-year-old. Max would try, but he was fairly certain that his role in this would be limited to the physical work.

“Um…” he looked out into the hallway, then back at Hayden. “I’m gonna head to bed, but you’re right. We’ll have to come up with something and get the stuff when we head to town in a few days. It’ll probably be the last time we get out of this place for the next few months, so no sitting this one out, little bro,” Max said as he stepped forward and ruffled the top of Hayden’s hair playfully. The latter boy hated it, he knew, which partially just made Max want to do it that much more, but he’d get over it. It seemed like years since they had even hugged, and sometimes Max just needed to let Hayden know that he still cared about him, even if it wasn’t in a way that Hayden would prefer.

“Sleep tight, Hayd,” Max crooned, heading back for the door. “Don’t let the frostbite bite.” And with that he headed down the hall towards his room. A light under one of the doors caught his attention and he stopped, knocking on it quietly. After waiting for a response that didn’t come, he slowly opened the door a crack and peered in. As he had suspected, Sora resided inside.

“Hey,” Max said softly. “Hayden was wondering which room you were in, just so you know…” He searched his brain for words. There had never been many between the two of them. Max wished he could change that, but wasn’t really certain how. “I’m… heading to bed, so… goodnight.”

Max closed the door back and completed the walk to his room. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the room. There was no point in turning on the light now. Not when he was about to go to sleep anyways.

His bags lay in a corner of the room. He had yet to unpack them. He’d worry about that in the morning.

Slowly, careful not to trip over anything, Max made his way to his bags and unzipped the first one. He needed to grab his pajamas. Normally he slept nude, but the temperature was so low here that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get to sleep without some extra warmth. He stripped quickly, and threw on his black and white flannel pants and gray t-shirt even faster, then scrambled under the covers.

This was just like his first night in his dorm room at college, except now, somehow, he felt even more alone…

[Sora Foster]

During dinner Sora wondered what she was going to say to Hayden. She already figured that it is was going to be about last night. Max had tried his best to start a conversation which in the end failed. So they just sat in silence for the rest of the time.

After dinner Sora decided to go upstairs and hang out in her room before unpacking. She grabbed one of her bags and started to rummage through it. Grabbing her oversized tee-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. Normally she would just sleep in her shirt but, she figured it would be better to wear pants just in case someone would walk into her room. She quickly changed into her pajamas and jumped on her bed.

Laying on the bed she grabbed her book from the night stand, “My Soul to Take.” She remembered that this was the last gift her mother gave her before the accident. She had read the book so many times, she could tell you everything that happened by heart. A few pages in Sora’s eyes became heavy and before she knew it she had fallen asleep.

An hour after she had fallen asleep Sora was woke up by a knock on her door. Sitting up she just looked over. She knew whoever it was would open the door even without her responding. Sure enough the door began to open and standing there was not someone she would expect to see.
“Hey, Hayden was wondering which room you were in, just so you know.” Max said softly. She felt bad because she never really tried to talk to him. They would say hi to each other but this was the most he talked to her. It is not like she didn’t like him, she just didn’t know how to start an actually conservation with him. She could tell he struggled with the same thing.

“I’m… heading to bed, so… goodnight.” Before she could say anything he had already shut the door. “Goodnight, Max.” She knew he couldn’t hear her but she just wanted to say it anyways.
She decided that tomorrow she would try and talk to Max about his motorcycle or maybe about his thoughts on college. She wants to know more about him and hopefully they could become closer during the time spent at the hotel.

Jumping off the bed she walked out the door walking straight to Annabel’s room. She knocked on the door and opened it. Annabel was lying in bed probably talking to her bear again. “Hey honey, I just wanted to come in and say goodnight.” Walking over to sit next to her, Sora lend in and kissed her forehead. Making sure the little girl was settled in, she walked over to the door. “Make sure you don’t stay up too late talking. Goodnight Annabel, I love you.”

Walking out of the room she walked towards Hayden’s room. Stopping at the door she knocked. She opened the door and shut it behind her. Turning around she saw Hayden laying on his bed. “Hey I was wondering could I just stay in your room tonight.” Without waiting for a reply she walked over and climbed onto his bed. She scooted closer to him and laid on her side. Looking up she saw a piece of paper on his night stand, “What is that? Also you wanted to talk to me about something?” Giving him a curious look, she waited for his reply.

[Hayden J]

There was a pregnant silence as Max looked over Annabel’s letter. Hayden thought he read tension around his brother’s soft blue eyes. Shadows played hopscotch in the hollows of his face. The light from the hallway cut a halo around his strong build. Hayden looked for a reaction, but Max’s eyes were far away.

Maybe all of this really was because none of them knew how to act around one another anymore. Just like at dinner. How long had it been since Max had really been with them for more than a few weeks at a time? He seemed to like college enough to stay over the summer sometimes. Maybe it was mom’s fault. It was almost all Mom’s fault.

Hayden took the letter back. His older brother didn’t know what to do about Annabel, he read it all there in a second.

“Um… I’m gonna head to bed but you’re right. We’ll have to come up with something and get the stuff when we head to town in a few days. It’ll probably be the last time we get out of this place for the next few months so no sitting this one out, little bro.”

His older brother stepped closer and ruffled Hayden’s hair which fell all in his face because of his hair spray. Hayden let out a huff of air and blew his dark bangs out of his vision.

“Seep tight, Hayd. Don’t let the frostbite bite.”

“Fuck you.” He said, just about as affectionately as someone could say that. He loved his big brother in his own way, but he hadn’t said it for years, and doubted he would. When Max left through the door and Hayden folded Annabel’s list and tucked it into the dresser by his bedside.

There was that unearthly silence again, a strange ringing in his ears. He pulled his shirt off and ran a comb through his hair to get out the spray. He changed, without bothering to close his door, into some draw string pajama pants and an old Motionless In White t-shirt. It wasn’t too cold yet, but he was finicky about the temperature. He pushed his luggage off his bed and kicked it under, out of his way, closing his door.

The sheets were cold. For the first time he noticed a dark stain in the ceiling like a coffee mark on linen.

In the corner of his mind there was some odd notion that one of them could have been sprinting through the lobby right now, shouting at the top of their lungs and that echo would never reach the third floor.

He started a little when there was a knock on the door and a click as it swung open and he saw the unmistakably curvaceous silhouette of his cousin slip into his now dark room. She shut it behind her. His eyes had to readjust.

“Hey, I was wondering could I just stay in your room tonight.”

It wasn’t really question since she was already climbing onto his bed by the time she asked it. He moved over a little to make room for her. Right. Last night. Fuck. He hadn’t really considered how to tell her that it was all a huge mistake, he was lonely and she was there and… it didn’t really matter. He let out a breath between his teeth as she asked about the note by the bed.

“That’s Annabel’s you can read it tomorrow. It’s her Christmas list.” He replied. Hesitation nagged at him but she shrugged it off and curled into her body, resting his cheek against one of her soft breasts, listening to her heartbeat. “I can’t remember what I wanted to talk to you about.” He lied, and he nuzzled closer, clinging to her body for more than just heat. The old hotel seemed to shrink around them. He played with the hem of her shirt, the tips of his fingers just brushing her skin. “Help me sleep.” He whispered… and maybe the night wouldn’t be so lonely.

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