All characters in sexual situations are 18 or older. Thanks for reading!
"Did you find anything?" Anna met with her son in the hallway of floor 160. The hall was decorated with what looked like bamboo but was actually created on-site using fungus. The murals on the walls and ceiling depicted scenes from feudal Japan.
"I found two terminals. Both were locked." The hair on George's neck suddenly stood up. Something was wrong, but he wasn't sure what it was. His mother seemed chipper. "Mom, is that really you?"
"What sort of question is that?" She smiled like he was playing a silly game.
From her response, George was fairly sure that she wasn't Kapnos. "Have you seen Mrs. Salazar? Something feels weird here." He scanned the hall to both sides. His eyes stopped on the wall twenty yards away. A human shadow pressed itself against the wall, almost becoming part of the mural. There was nobody attached to the shadow. It was just blackness. No, that wasn't right. Now that he focused on it, there was a rainbow sheen on its surface where it caught the light from the fake torches lining the hallway. He stepped between the thing and his mother.
"I haven't seen Mrs. Salazar since we got to this floor. She was going to check the rooms..." Anna's words faded away when George put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed tightly. His face blanched and went slack. His eyes were round as saucers. He looked horrified. She followed his gaze but didn't see anything amiss. It looked like an abandoned hall. "What is it, sunshine?"
"On the left... under the fifth torch down," George whispered. As he said the words, eyes formed in the shadow's head. It was almost like they were rising from the depths in opaque liquid. The eyes wobbled a little and found their place about where they should be in a human face. He squinted. He could see other things moving below the surface of the thing. What looked like a femur rose near the surface of the shadow's thigh, and then sank again, disappearing from view. George's pulse thundered in his ears, and his heart seemed to want to jump out of his chest. A cold sweat beaded his face. With his hand on his mom's delicate shoulder, he forcefully moved her directly behind him and started backing them away from the thing.
It took Anna a moment to see the odd shadow. It hid well, blending into a group of charging samurai in the mural behind it. Once her eyes spotted the thing, her muscles tensed. She clutched at George, grabbing a fistful of jacket with her gloved hand. "It... it... has eyes. It's watching us." She was immensely grateful that he had put himself between her and this thing. At the same time, she knew it was a mother's duty to protect him from the world. She didn't try to switch places with him. "Is it some sort of robot? Part of the hotel?"
The thing darted away from the wall, swept down the hall on legs that did not bend in the right directions, and disappeared down the stairwell.
"That wasn't part of the hotel." George released his mother's shoulder and wiped sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. "I... don't know what that was."
Is that Kapnos in her natural form? If so, she's terrifying.
He turned toward his mother. She was a woman whose disposition had been forged with steel. Even so, she looked rattled. Her face was ashen, and her eyes darted with fear. He put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her. "It's gone, Mom. It's okay." He could feel her shoulders trembling. He turned and moved sideways so he could watch the stairway where the thing had disappeared and pulled his mom into a hug. She melted into him.
Gratitude for her dauntless son filled Anna from head to toe. Whatever his teenage flaws were, he was a special person. She was proud of the man she'd raised. Anna buried her face in his chest for several reassuring seconds, and then turned her head to the side so she could speak. She continued to squeeze his back tightly with her arms. "Océane, what was the creature that just ran down the stairs from this floor?"
Océane answered with her cheerful, disembodied voice. "Vous faites référence à l'invité le plus récent. Il bloque les ascenseurs de cette tour et limite l'accès à l'anneau. Contrairement à l'invité le plus ancien, celui-ci a été un problème pour moi. Il m'a dit que si je le nourrissais, il partirait. Je l'ai servi comme j'ai pu, mais il n'a fait que grandir. Je ne pense pas qu'il partira de lui-même. Si vous pouviez faire partir le nouvel invité, je vous en serais très reconnaissant. Je ne peux toujours pas utilizer -"
"That's enough, Océane." Anna sighed. She should know better than to ask the computer for help.
George was making a list of things to do after they retired to their rooms for the night. He doubted he'd get much sleep. He would get to the bottom of what the shadow was one way or another. From the length of Océane's answer, he suspected the computer knew something about what they'd just seen. And he hoped he might have a translator. "Why don't we find Mrs. Salazar, have dinner, and call it a day?"
"Yes, that sounds good." Anna nodded into his chest and released him. She glanced down the hall, but the thing hadn't returned. "Let's stick together."
"Forever and ever." George nodded. They began searching for Kapnos.
~~
Ernest woke with a start. He was covered in sweat. His feverish skin felt like it was pulsing. He pulled himself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. He took a long, cold shower, muttering to himself. "Falling. We're all falling, but we'll never land. The top is the bottom, and the bottom is the top. This is hell. Falling. We're all falling. The falling thing saw me. It reached for me, but I escaped. But for how long? I'm falling. I'll fall back to it." All the while, his knuckles rapped on the tile.......- -. --...-. /.- - / -..... / -... --- - - --- -- / ---..-. / -..... /.--..-...-..
When he was done with the shower, he dressed himself in one of his everyday suits. It was wrinkled, and his tie was loosely knotted, but he didn't notice. He cautiously stepped out into the hallway. The mirrors on either side made him dizzy. He didn't see any shadows lurking about. What would he do if he did see one? He couldn't chase it back down the tower. An idea occurred to him, and he went into Albert's room. He picked up the sword, placing the flat of it on his shoulder. Now he didn't feel so naked. He would go searching again. And when he found one, he'd...
"Returning to the scene of the crime, Mr. Zaal?" Roy stood in the doorway, peering in at Ernest.
Ernest spun and scowled at the intruder. "Out of my way, Mr. Haversham. I'm going about a task." He stepped toward the door but faltered when Roy didn't move.
"I know what you did, Mr. Zaal. I know you killed Mr. Dmytruk." Roy pointed his finger. "Your guilty countenance confirms it. You and your boy murdered that man, and now you're back to destroy the evidence."
Ernest glanced at the sword. "This? Evidence?" He shook his head. "I came for this because I intend to exterminate vermin. I always tell my children, 'You need the right tool for the right job.' And this is perfect." Ernest frowned. "Though a pistol might be better. Do they have those in the armory?"
"I... um... don't think so." Roy backed away from the room. The look in the other man's eye was murder.
Why did I confront him on my own?
His hands trembled with fright. He stuffed them into his pockets.
I was so wrapped up in the case, I didn't see the danger. This man is deranged.
"What... um... vermin... are you going to exterminate?" He tried unsuccessfully to keep the quiver out of his voice. He looked over his own shoulder at the closed door to his room. "Constance? Could you join me, please?" There was no reply.
"I don't like you, Mr. Haversham. Not at all." Ernest sauntered out of Albert's room, sword still on his shoulder. "Stay out of my way." He walked up to the trembling man, and leaned in close, so they could be eye to eye. "I'm trying to keep us all safe."
"Is... is... that why you killed Mr. Dmytruk?" Roy tried to keep himself calm and collected, the very image of a detective cataloging evidence. But it was mighty difficult with an existential threat just a couple feet away.
