Through Her Shattered Eyes ✔

Chapter 17

I remember walking down a hallway with doors lined up on each side. However, it's not the same one I walked in at the hotel where Erika went. This time, I'm outside, my footsteps echoing. It's unusually humid and dark. Really dark. No lampposts are in sight, no streetlights anywhere to cast some light on my path to see where I'm going. Regardless, I keep walking. Each of the doors I pass have no numbers, which is odd. I know I'm looking for something. What, though, I don't know. But my legs keep pressing me onward.

I come to a stop when I reach a door that's in between two others. My eyes linger at it, observing its features. This door isn't uniquely designed or anything but it's the only door that has numbers mounted above the peephole. For some strange reason, I know no one is home and the place is completely empty. After checking the door, I glance up at the numbers. It reads 135.

One hundred thirty-five? Does that mean something?

Hey.

Suddenly, the place gradually begins to vanish. All the doors one by one fade into oblivion, disappearing out of existence. Pretty soon, I'm standing in utter darkness with nothing around me. No doors, no hall, no path, nothing.

"Alexis?" a voice says gently.

I moan, slightly aware of some reality invading my slumber. A hand shakes me softly, and my eyes open somewhat but they close again.

"Alexis, wake up," the voice repeats more firmly.

"Huh?" I open my eyes and glance over at the driver's seat. Nathan has his hand on my shoulder. I sit up in the seat as he removes his hand. "W-what's wrong?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing's wrong. I'm gonna pull over at a hotel for tonight because I'm really tired and I keep falling asleep."

"Oh, okay." That's totally fine by me. I'm feeling bushed, too. "How long was I asleep?"

"Not long. Only a couple hours," he replies.

"Where are we, do you know?"

"South Carolina. Traffic cleared up an hour later and I've been driving since then. We're near Columbia so I'm just gonna stop there and get us a room," Nathan explains.

I nod. "Better to be safe than sorry."

"For sure, especially when you're a police officer."

I half-smile as I put my legs up on the dashboard.

Soon, he finds the exit for Columbia and merges onto the lane for it. Once we get off the highway, he drives around in search for a hotel. We end up finding a quaint-looking one and he pulls into the parking lot.

"Stay here, I'll be back," Nathan tells me.

"Okay," I respond, yawning.

He opens the car door and climbs out. I watch as he enters the lobby, walking up to the front desk. I shift my head to lean against the seatbelt and position my body to a more comfortable spot. As I turn to look at the clock on Nathan's dashboard, I see it's twenty-five minutes before midnight. Eleven thirty-five. The soft green glow from the numbers shine in my eyes. Eleven thirty-five. One thirty-five. The numbers from the door comes to mind. One thirty-five. What could that mean? Is that a clue to something? A clue to what? A house? An apartment? Passcode? God knows. But it's odd. That door had the numbers one thirty-five, which was the time of Erika's death. Does this mean those numbers have something else to do other than her time of death? Where's Erika leading me to?

A few minutes later, Nathan comes back, nearly startling me out of my thoughts.

"We're in room twenty-four," he says, flashing me two key cards.