Five Star Hotel

27. Saturday

This song really only goes to the beginning of the chapter not the end, because... well you'll see. Anyways the only reason why I got another update out, (yes you can clap) is because I really needed to get these ideas out before I forgot them. Anyways, enjoy!

Finally the weekend came around, ending what seemed to be the longest week of my life. Dante, Jade, Nick...

Nick. Nick. Nick. I couldn't let him die. We weren't in a relationship, we weren't even friends, but I still couldn't let him die. It would be like second hand murder if I did.

I agreed to help, but in truth I was going to run away. I felt like no good could come out of staying at the hotel that appeared to be infested with the mob and their drama, not to mention that the owners themselves were somehow involved and had been for years.

It was too much to wrap my brain around.

My plans for this miserable Saturday were to do the cliché things that girls did after a breakup. While Dante would probably spend the next few weeks a strip club and going back to one night stands, I planned on going to the salon, max out a credit card on clothes and makeup, eat gallons of ice cream, and watch sappy romance movies to make myself feel better.

I didn't invite Jade, I didn't even tell her that I was going out. There was something about wandering the city alone with no strings attached that I loved. It reminded me that I could do whatever I wanted without anyone telling me otherwise. No curfews, no anything.

So first I hit a breakfast place where I ordered waffles, eggs, bacon, hash browns, coffee, and a glass of water. I ate it all, starved from not eating the day before.

The waiter noticed I was alone and continuously tried to hit on me. At the end it all worked out. In exchange for my fake phone number he cut five percent off the bill. Of course he didn't know the number was fake.

Then I went to one of those high class salons that cost forty dollars just to step through the doors. I hadn't been to one since the wedding, where my mom and aunt tortured me into getting waxed, and painting my nails an ugly color green.

This time I cut my hair. "How do you want it?" The lady with bright pink eyeshadow and rainbow highlights asked me.

"To here." I pointed to my shoulders. I hadn't gone that short since freshman year of high school, but I was excited to chop it all off.

It was curled, clean, and short.

I looked like a new person after she finished. A rich person thanks to all of my Christmas gifts and shopping spree.

The whole rich person vibe made me want to act rich, so I decided to get both a manicure and a pedicure. But after being in the salon for a while, surrounded by actual rich people I was happy to a fraud. They talked and gossiped, and after they claimed to hate drama, they would find a way to create some. All in the matter of two hours I witnessed the ending of multiple friendships and heard the schemes that they would use to break others up. It was like Gossip Girl in real life.

I left then, making my way to the nearest mall. It was cold and cloudy outside, but who needs the sun when I'm walking down the street? I laughed at my sad attempt at a joke.

I went into fitting rooms of expensive stores and tried on all of their clothes. At the end of my shopping trip I had bought two dresses, a new pair of boots, a purse, makeup, and a winter jacket which I needed desperately. I tried to keep it light because I would either have to carry it into the subway or a cab. The thought of having a car in the bustling city did not sound like fun.

I went to the food court to get a slice of pizza and a milkshake, finally decided to look at my phone. It had been on silence all day, buried in the bottom of my purse. I had a total of nine missed calls– one from my mom, three from nick, and four from Jade. Since for some reason, none of them texted me what they wanted like normal people, I had to listen to the voicemails.

All my mom wanted to tell me was that she was leaving for the cruise and would call me when she came back.

Nick only left one message despite his three missed calls. "Skyla, I know I'm not your favorite person right now but you need to trust me. Get out of that hotel, it's not safe." That was it.

It was so cryptic, and came from a man who couldn't help but spew out lies when he spoke, but knowing everything I knew, his words didn't sound like much of a lie. It wasn't safe, I came to that conclusion on my own, what I didn't understand was the urgency in his message.

I tried to control my shaking hands and listened to Jade's message next.

The first one was about Luke. Apparently after she told him the news, he didn't say anything. He didn't show her any signs of being sad, he didn't get mad, there was no yelling, no fighting. Luke didn't say a single word to her. He gave her the silent treatment and I think that hurt her more than if he had called her a cheating whore.

There was another message after that which sounded just as urgent, but far more panic-ridden than Nick's. "Oh my god, Skyla! Please call me, why don't you answer your phone. It's Sean, they got Sean and he won't wake up! Dante and Anthony had to drag him out of there, but I think it was too late, he's not waking up, Skyla!"

My milk shake was threatening to come back up.

There was one more. "Skyla you're scaring me, why aren't you answering your phone?"

"What the f@ck?" I said out loud, causing the family of five beside me to give me a dirty look. I shot the same look back at them. "What the f@ck." I repeated, not sure what I was supposed to do, where I was supposed to go, or as I had said twice, what the f@ck was going on.

My hands were trembling as I called Jade back but she didn't answer, so I tried again. There was still no answer and I began to hyperventilate. Who was the bad guy, was it Nick or Dante? What did Sean have to do with any of this, what did I have to do with any of this. "F@ck it." I mumbled as I stood up. I was going to grab Jade and we were going to meet my father in Cabo, I was not going back to that hotel, and most of all I didn't want to know who the bed guy was, all I wanted was to get out of this chaotic mess.

I slowly stood up, careful not to fall, and as casually as I could, walked out of the mall. My plans were to go to Long Island, buy two one way tickets to Cabo with my father's money and then find out where Jade was. Maybe I was being irrational and impulsive but I didn't care.

The second I stepped out onto the curb someone grabbed me from behind, and dragged me into an alley way.

I wanted to scream but my throat locked up. I couldn't move. None of my senses worked properly. My head rung.

I felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed against my temple. "Don't move. Don't scream."

"Dante?" I gasped.