Auntie's Hotel

Chapter 11 It all Leads Somewhere

As Victor and Billy stepped into the fog, an explosive clap sucked the air out of the room and Don Cook lie on his back staring up at the ceiling as he struggled to find another breath of air. Darkness crept in on the edge of his vision and then a bright singular light bolted from one eye to the other and back again. The light slowly burned away the darkness. It's presence seemed to bring the oxygen back, allowing him some relief. Yet, it also shocked and scared him.

A shadow appeared beyond the light and a distant voice called out to him, but the words were unrecognizable. A heavy pressure pushed down on his forehead. Needles stabbed at his temples. Pain seeped in through his eyes and pushed its way back into his skull.

"Don Cook! Can you hear me?" Officer Jensen held his fingers to the side of Mr. Cook's throat to check for a pulse.

"Who?" he asked as if he had just been slapped by a door or maybe hit by a bus. "What happened?" He still couldn't see anything beyond the blurry yellow light.

"It's Brian Jensen!" he yelled. "Do you know where you are? Can you tell me your name!?"

"Where did they go? Where are they?" Don Cook muttered almost incomprehensibly.

"Who, Mr. Cook?! Who are you looking for?" Jensen asked.

"Victor... the butler... he's dead... I killed him."

"Are you telling me... you killed someone tonight, Don?"

"No... no." Don stumbled over his words. "He's been dead a long time. He was here."

"Mr. Cook." Brian Jensen asked. "Are you sure you know where you are and who you are talking to? There are no dead people here. There are a bunch of unconscious people outside, but none dead. I'm thinking I should have come earlier. Is this a confession?"

Don shook his head and brought himself to a sitting position. He took a few moments and examined the room. The fog had gone and the lights shone brightly outside.

He wiped off the invisible dust on his clothes and brought himself to a standing position. His clothes were damp, evidence that he wasn't crazy, but that could easily be from a mad sweat due to the nightmare he had just faced. No one was in the room, except Brian Jensen, who was watching him with a queer look on his face. Where had they all gone?

He began to believe he had imagined the whole thing. "The others?" Don asked. "Where are they?"

"The people outside will be fine. I have called for an ambulance. They'll be here shortly." He placed his hand on Don Cook's shoulder in order to redirect his attention. "I need to know what happened here tonight?"

"Everyone's gone." He stood, turned and walked away. He left through the sliding doors Victor had come in. He walked slowly and Officer jensen followed.

Across the wood patio, the individually laid brick path surrounding the pool, and through the garden of exotic and rare flowers, the two of them walked, one behind the other. Don expected to find footprints, or at least some sort of wet residue spread across his patio or on the bricks. He expected to find Victor standing near the edge of his pool, waiting to repay the sacrifice. Why hadn't he already? There was no one. He continued on, beyond the view of the mansion. He knew where they had gone and he needed to go as well.

Officer Jensen followed as closely as he could, while also being cautious of his surroundings. Whatever had spooked Mr. Cook, was also beginning to spook him. With a flashlight in one hand and his gun in the other, he brought light to every dark corner and expected someone to jump out at them at any moment. The further, they went away from the mansion, the faster they moved, eventually having to throw caution to the wind. He didn't like this.