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PERCY enjoyed his birthday. It was actually the first birthday he enjoyed in a long time. He wasn't a fan of parties, or being around people – even though he had partaken in many frat outings during college – but he managed to have fun. Nowadays, having fun was a rarity, but Hadley had somehow made his life do a three-sixty spin.
Despite the smell of rotting flesh in the basement of the Cortez, the small party she gathered hadn't been anything short of spectacular. She got his favorite drinks and somehow managed to find his favorite flavor of Bugles. (He had never even told her that he liked Bugles. Perks of dating a supernatural being.) She got a live band to play, which ended up being a few musically-inclined spirits haunting the hotel. He danced with her all night, holding her close as they swayed to the soft beat.
Even the Countess showed up – an hour late, of course. She stood in the corner with Hadley's siblings, watching Percy with ease. She smirked at him when their eyes met, as if to warn him what was to come. Elizabeth had other plans for him. He shivered at the thought.
Hadley had been tasked to watch over the front desk while Liz was on her hour-long break. Iris had partied too hard last night and was currently asleep in her room with a killer hangover. That left Hadley being the only person available for the shift, which she didn't mind at all. Percy, on the other hand, was incredibly annoyed, seeing as she was called in when he wanted to have some – you know – "alone time."
She tried to make the best of it as she sat there for the hour. After twiddling her fingers for five minutes, Hadley resorted to thumbing through Liz's file cabinets, trying to something – anything – that interested her. She managed to find her old article deep within the contents of the second drawer, and Hadley smiled at her old school portrait, thumbs brushing over the black and white photo. Her hair had been so curly back then, and her eyes – they were full of more light.
"Nice of you to invite me to your little shindig last night."
Hadley stood up abruptly, narrowing her eyes once they landed on the woman in front of her. Sally staggered up to the front desk, coming down from her high, and smacked her pale, veiny hand on the bell. She smirked at Hadley, who simply cringed at the high shrill of the bell. Hadley could see a few recent needle punctures in her arm.
Approaching the desk slowly, Hadley replied, "It was open invite, Sally. You could've just shown up." She eyed the older woman up and down, upper lip curling in disgust. "But it's probably a good thing that you didn't. You were probably too high to realize where you were last night anyway."
Sally laughed, a deep hearty chuckle that rattled her frail bones – as if she needed them after her death. Placing a hand on her chest, she bared her yellow teeth, covered in tar and grime. Hadley lifted her chin, "What's so funny?"
