(A.N.-Sorry for the lack of updates<3)
I stared blankly into the elevator. I was so confused. There was no way anyone could clean up a body and that much blood in so little time; especially when only two people worked in the whole hotel. And there was no way someone took all my pictures away from me, and retook pictures of the normal elevator ceiling. Also, the only person with access to the pictures was my mom—I highly doubted that she would do something like that.
“Anything wrong?” I heard Ted walk up from behind me. His voice sounded ‘peppier’ than normal, and it kind of creeped me out.
“T-the elevator…it…” I shook my head trying to get my brain to think straight. “I thought it broke last night.” I avoided the topic of the dead body that wasn’t there anymore; I didn’t need anymore people thinking I was crazy.
“The elevator was just fine yesterday. The last time it broke down was the last time you were on it.” He said matter-of-factly.
“Yeah, last night.” I said slowly.
He shook his head and laughed. “That was a few nights ago. Remember, you and that Xander kid were on it together.”
“Yes, I remember that, but I was on it last night too.” I said angrily—although I was just feeling uneasy.
“Must have been a dream.” And with that, he walked away.
“Where’d you run off to, Alli?” Mom asked when I entered our suit again.
“I just took a little walk.” I said as calmly as possible.
Mom nodded. “Nice hat, by the way.”
I gave her a confused look before remembering I was still wearing the hat Xander gave me. I laughed and said “Thanks.” I took it off and carelessly threw it onto the table.
I walked to the couch and cuddled up against my mom. She wrapped a blanket around us and we both stared out the window together—Mom had just recently moved the couch to face the window, and we moved the TV into my room.
Outside, snow fell carefully to the ground, and clung to the slippery ground. The window was frosted around the edges, and I could feel the cold air drafting in through the tiny crack at the bottom right corner.
I snuggled up to my mom and closed my eyes. My mom always had a comforting sense to her. You could be having the worst day ever, and when she wraps her soft arms around you, all of your worries just fly away.
“I love you, Mommy.” I whispered.
“I love you too baby.” I felt her soft, pink lips kiss my head lightly. I could imagine her smiling, considering I rarely said that without reason.
“Do you want anything to eat or drink?” Mom asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
“No, I’m good.”
“Well, I’m going to make myself hot chocolate.” Mom carefully peeled me off of her body and walked to the kitchen.
“Oh! Me too, please.” I smiled at her when she nodded her head.
I sprawled out on the couch and stared outside as I waited for my mom to finish.
Christmas was never a big holiday for my family.
It was just a day to spend together. No gifts were ever bought for Christmas—as far as I knew, that’s the way it always was. Usually, my dad, my mom, my brother, and I would all sit in the living room and talk.
We were a very close family.
My brother, Vladimir, joined the army a few years ago. When he came back, he wasn’t the same. We all knew he would never be the same. He was never in a good state of mind, but the army messed him up big time. My mom and dad both came to the conclusion to send him to a mental hospital after a few months of his never ending screams of terror. I never visited him—my parents said they didn’t want me to see him like that, but he always asks for me—and my mom hasn’t visited since my dad passed away.
Last year, my father passed away from cancer. He was a great guy, and I miss him a lot. But at least he’s not suffering anymore—that’s all that matters. My mom and I stayed in our original house, but considering she never had a job, we didn’t have enough money to pay the bills. In my father’s Will, he left us the hotel suit for us to live in until we got back on our feet—he knew that we were going to get kicked out of our house. When he was younger he stayed in there a few times, I guessed it was in better condition then.
“Here you go sweetie.” Mom handed me my hot chocolate in her nice little Christmas mug. “Careful, it’s hot.” She sat down next to me again, and wrapped one arm around me.
“Thanks, Mommy.” I snuggled into her again.
We both sat in comfortable silence and stared out the window, drinking out hot chocolate. I knew she was thinking about Vladimir and my father. That was the first Christmas with just me and my mom. It was something new, a little weird, but new. Neither of us would fully get used to the idea of spending the rest of our Christmas’s like that until I got married and had kids.
After an hour in my mother’s arms, I quietly and slowly drifted off into a deep sleep. Although I was dreaming, I still felt safe knowing my mom’s arms were wrapped around me securely.
(A.N.-Thanks for reading!<3 Love you all!<3)
