Night Auditor

Meredith (14)

The laundry room was situated towards the back of the ground floor, not too far from the exit to the back porch. Industrial washers and dryers, which looked enormous in the tiny laundry room, lined up the bare walls, almost an overkill for a huge hotel that often accommodated very few guests. While the room itself was windowless, the cold breeze painfully pierced through my skin and Abby's, who immediately began shivering when we stepped in.

"I feel terrible. I hope I'm not keeping you from your work." said Abby.

I wondered what I would be doing if she didn't need my company (I wasn't sure exactly what kind of help she needed from me to protect her from the boogeyman), especially now that I wasn't expecting any more people to arrive. I pondered on what Miss Ester might have done on quiet nights such as this. "I don't need to do anything until," I glanced at the wall clock hanging above one of the dryers, "about an hour from now."

An orange pencil with a worn-off tip and an open Sudoku book was left on the plastic table in the middle of the room. Eraser dust sprinkled all over the incomplete puzzle grid with its unanswered blocks more apparent than the answered ones.

"You play Sudoku?" asked Abby.

I shook my head. "No but probably whoever does the laundry."

Abby remained quiet for a moment, looking around the laundry room as if she was discreetly looking for something. I watched by the door as she ran her fingers across the metal casing of the washers, on the rough plastic surface of the folding table, on the crumpled pile of sheets left in the corner for the morning attendant to fold. She seemed lost in her own thoughts but the worry previously plastered on her face had long been replaced by curiosity and, somehow, loneliness. A part of me wondered about the possibility that there was no "boogeyman" watching her daughter in their sleep, and that it was merely a story, a manipulation, to keep her from her boredom.

She remained speechless for a while longer, just letting me watch her memorize and observe everything that was in the room. I wasn't in the mood to accommodate a possible compulsive liar so I finally said, "Again, I can assure you that everyone in this hotel is accounted for. Especially in this weather."

Abby then switched her focus on the Sudoku book laid open on the table, picked it up with her slim fingers and read through the page as if she was solving the grid in her head.

"I understand how you feel though. Sometimes, what's real for us isn't real for everyone else so we're at the mercy of whoever we're telling our truths to."

"Huh," her eyebrows formed an inquisitive curve, obviously ignoring what I'd just said. She picked up the pencil from the table, scribbled some numbers on the page. "The attendant will thank me in the morning for that." Then she put the book down, leaned against the dryer behind her.

"Was there more to what happened?" I asked, my voice sounding more irritated than I intended.

Abby rightfully caught the tone. "No, God. Maybe I am losing my mind. This is such a stupid question but... no one else has access to the keys, right? Like if there's a master key or something."

"Not anything easily accessible to a stranger."

She took a deep breath, her kimono spreading open as she let go and tapped her freckled cheeks with her hands. "Jesus, of course I'm losing it. That's probably why Lily's..." she hesitated. I could almost feel the internal debate she was having with herself. "Never mind. I feel better now. Well, not better. I'm still freaked out but you know what I mean."

I nodded and thought of my dead husband who kept me company until Ron Petrie came back down looking for his fresh coffee. If anything, I was losing it more than this poor woman who probably saw a random ghost.

"I should probably head back--"

I paused, trying to listen to what I thought I'd just heard. Very faintly I could hear a muffled sound but I couldn't make out what it was or where it was coming from, and it certainly didn't help that I was in the laundry room. The sound was low and came in quick spurts, but it could easily be missed if the dryer was on. I wondered if I was truly losing it but the curious look on Abby's face proved my sanity. She was hearing it too.

"You heard that?"

"Yeah," she muttered and walked towards the door behind me. "I think it's coming from outside."

I followed Abby out of the laundry room, and for a few seconds there was nothing but the familiar silence we left hanging. Then we found out what the sound was and where it was coming from.

"Abby! Abby!" a woman called out from the front side of the building, her voice bouncing louder against the walls.

"Shit, that's Lily," said Abby. "She's probably looking for me."

She led the way back to the front desk, and when we were within the woman's earshot, she said, "Right here, Lils. Sorry, I was just talking to Meredith here--"

And here I thought Abby Soupley looked distressed when she came down in the middle of Ron Petrie lecturing me over coffee. The woman's bulging eyes looked like they were about to pop out as she turned around and saw me and Abby approaching her. However, Abby already knew something was wrong.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Abby as she squeezed the woman's, Lily's, shoulders.

Lily then looked past me and Abby, turned around and looked behind her, then paced around the lobby like she was unsatisfied. Then she said, "Is Gale with you?"

"No, I left her with you. Where's Gale? You're scaring me, Lils. Where's Gale?"

"She's gone!" exclaimed Lily before we were all engulfed in the darkness.