October 21, 2023
All of us were silent. I glanced down at the floor.
"That's his real name? Pietro Hernandez?" Ryan asked.
Lorraine nodded.
"He didn't look like a teenager when we saw him," I said. "It was like... It was like he had no skin..."
"What happened next?" Nakia asked.
Lorraine looked down. "The next day, I confronted him... I tried to dissuade him, to draw him back... You see, even after everything he had done... I believed there was some good in him..." her voice trailed off, and she looked at us.
"You guys need to come with me..." Lorraine declared.
We got up from our seats and Lorraine went to start the car.
"Go back to your cabins so you can get your things."
"Umm... where are we going?" I asked, bewildered.
Lorraine smiled weakly. "Jared Warren, the guy from the story," she hesitated. "My husband, he works in a hotel there."
Nakia snorted.
"You married that guy?" she asked, disbelievingly.
Lorraine smiled and left the cabin to start her car. We got up to leave.
"Oh." a snide voice suddenly called out behind us.
Lila Crosby had entered the cabin.
Nakia groaned and turned.
"The terrorist actually has friends." she added sarcastically. "Must say, I'm surprised."
"What do you want, Lila?" I asked.
"Nothing," she jeered. "I just came to get some water."
She she strolled past us, and we turned to leave the cabin.
Lila's voice then called out to us from behind.
"Um, Miss Terrorist, I think you forgot your water," she sneered. She held up a glass of water - and spilled it all over Nakia's face.
"What the hell is your problem, Lila?" Ryan asked fiercely, but Lila couldn't -and didn't answer.
That was because had Nakia punched her. Right on the mouth.
Lila howled in pain and clutched her hand to her jaw.
Nakia looked surprisedly at her fist and then at Lila, who was screaming in hysteria.
"Yeah I think we'll be going now..." Ryan remarked, and we rushed out of the cabin, where Lorraine's car was waiting for us.
"Remind me to speak to Lila's parents when we get back..." Lorraine muttered, shaking her head in disbelief, as we sat at the back of her car.
We sneaked back towards the cabin to pack our stuff.
As the car pulled out of the campsite, we got a glimpse of the city of Los Angeles below a bridge. The lamp-lit streets seemed calm and tranquil in the middle of the night from the top of the hills.
I felt sleepy, but excited.
The car drove onto the main highway. Before us lay a sloping road, with hills on our side, and lampposts illuminating the gloom that we drove into.
"So, um... Mrs Lorraine..." Ryan began.
"Call me Lorraine," Lorraine said, smiling.
"Uh... Lorraine... where is this hotel?"
