Tweetie

30

Hazel came to a slow stop, sopping wet and worn from rushed steps. The whole time she walked there, it had rained. Pouring down onto her like gallons upon gallons of melted ice, still freezing to the touch but no longer violently solid.

The hotel was exactly where she remembered it when she passed it once before on her way to Jason Barber's house. Not like it could move, it was a building. But, it was there, broken down and dingy with no clear entrance, a horror show of a building on Thornbell Road and a reminder of a conversation she had with Archie and Roderick.

It was a place of interest, but she didn't think much of it at the time. Drugs were found but nothing else came of that investigation.

Clearly, there was far more they were yet to learn.

It was as grungy and broken as she remembered too. There was, of course, an inkling of a chance that the note didn't mean to lead her there, maybe it wasn't even an address. But, she was there anyway and it was too late now. Even if it didn't lead there, the distance between this place and Jason Barber's home would have eventually gotten her interest, surely it couldn't just be a coincidence that he lived so close to a place that had been hiding drugs.

She stepped closer to the building, taking her time, despite the downfall of rain, to find an entrance that wasn't boarded up. And to her delight, she found it within just a few minutes.

A broken door was hidden at the back of the building, shielded by boxes placed perfectly to hide the entirety of the door frame and a chipped red door that was open just the tiniest amount.

She squeezed through, taking care not to knock the boxes down, and as she got in, she found yet another box placed behind the door, ensuring it stayed open.

Clearly, somebody was still using the old abandoned hotel.

And now knowing that there were signs of recent life in the abandoned hotel, she found even more. Things weren't coated in as much dust as they should have been. Abandoned tables had lines drawn in the dust, handprints. There were footprints and the wood creaked more than it should have for a place that was supposedly untouched.

She stepped further in, unintentionally creeping on her tiptoes in fear of finding that the building wasn't as empty as she would have liked it.

It was dark, there was barely any light except for the gaps in the wooden boards nailed to the windows that were used to both shield the rain and prevent people from breaking in. It failed at both of those jobs, unfortunately. So, she was left to use only the slithers of dull light that crept in to guide her through the dusty building.

She didn't know what she was looking for or if she would find anything of interest at all. All she did was glance around, acknowledge broken doors and continued further in.

Dust filled her nose and throat, drifting into her with every breath. It smelled damp everywhere she went. Even the taps of her own wet hair dripping to the floor put her on edge. It was cold, she was tired, and she was lost. But, she continued anyway, deciding that she was already there, so she may as well explore a bit.

She couldn't even begin to describe the place, not because it was that level of astonishing. But because it was dark and empty. The only things she could think to describe it as were big, old and dusty... But even that didn't say a lot.

Swirling intricate pillars crumbled, the archways were home to more spiders and webs than a nest. The ground, once a pristine pattern of woods in different tones was now home to holes, sections were torn away completely as if somebody got bored and smashed a hammer against it. It seemed there was more rubble than there was wall.