Lucky

83

"Pizza's here!" Sam said as he came back into the room. "Finally! I was about to eat Corey." Jake said as I put my phone back on the bed. "You're so dramatic." Sam said with a laugh as he handed me a box of pizza.

"You're dramatic." Jake said as I grabbed a slice of pizza and handed it to Colby. "Sam, I hate to break it to you but Dominos sucks." I said as he rolled his eyes. "Oh, not you too." He groaned as I grabbed a slice and took a bite. "Stuffed crust for life, bro." I said as Colby chuckled. "That's my girl." He said then tapped his pizza against mine before taking a bite.

"You guys are gross." Jake said as I rolled my eyes. "Be happy for your friend, Jake. He's been single for 23 years, he's excited." I said as Corey snorted. "Dude, your girlfriend just roasted the shit out of you." He said then slapped Colby's arm.

"I'll get her back for it later." Colby said with a smirk as the hotel phone rang. "Oh hell no." Corey said then ran away from the phone. "What's the big deal?" I asked and stood up so I could grab the phone.

"No!" Colby yelled as I brought the phone to my ear. "Hello?" I answered as the guys all looked at me with wide eyes. "Hi, this is Jennifer from the lobby. You left your card down at the front desk." A cheery voice said as I looked at the guys as if they were crazy.

"Okay, we'll be right down to get it." I said as the guys looked at me cautiously. "Perfect!" Jennifer said then hung up.

"You left your card at the front desk." I said to Sam as they all breathed a sigh of relief. "What is your problem?" I asked them as I grabbed the room key so I could go down to the lobby. "You know about the Black Dahlia..." Sam said as I nodded. "Yeah..and?" I asked and laced my boots up.

"Well..the last time she was seen was on the phone. The first time we came here, the phone rang and Corey answered it but there was no one there. A couple days later he got into a car accident." Sam explained as I nodded.

"Woah, that's a weird coincidence." I said then stood up again. "That doesn't freak you out?" Colby asked as I shook my head. "Nope. I'm gonna go get your card though, I want to look at the lobby again." I said as I walked to the door. "Want me to come?" He asked as I shook my head.

"Nope, you guys can meet me down there if you want." I said as they continued eating. "Okay, yeah. We'll be down in a few." Colby said as I smiled and blew him a kiss.

I left the room then started walking towards the elevator. I noticed there were pictures on the walls so I would stop to look at them.

They were all old timey photos, probably from around the 20s or 30s.

I ran my fingers along the pictures frames as I admired them. They ranged from pictures of the hotel in its early stages to portraits of people.

My eyes stopped on the portrait of a girl with porcelain skin, with black hair styled to perfection. I recognized her but looked at the plaque under the picture.

Elizabeth Short 'The Black Dahlia.' 1947.

I brushed my fingers along the picture as something moved in my peripherals. I gasped and looked down the hall, thinking the guys were trying to scare me when I looked I saw a woman walking across the hall.

She was wearing a long white dress which whisped in the wind as she walked. She didn't notice me as she walked down the hall and out of sight.

I shook my head then walked towards the elevator. I didn't like how silent it was all of the sudden. It felt eerie.

When I got into the elevator I pushed the lobby button then waited for it to go down. I was excited to try and do the elevator game even though I didn't think it would work.

I remember reading about it one night when I was unable to sleep. There's been some strange occurrences where it seems like it might have worked but I didn't know if I fully believed in it.

I sighed and looked at the numbers as they descended to the lobby. When the doors opened I was met with an older man. He glared at me then pushed passed me so he could get into the elevator.

I scoffed then got off the elevator as soon as he was out of my way. As I turned to glare at him one more time, he was gone. Maybe he was just hiding in the corner of the elevator that I couldn't see.

I shrugged then walked to the front desk. "Hi! I'm here to pick up Samuel Golbach's card." I said to the girl behind the desk as she smiled. "Oh!! Okay, what room are you in?" She asked and grabbed his card for me. "1024." I said as she nodded. "Okay! That's for security purposes by the way." She said as I took the card from her.

"Good to know....I actually have a question for you." I said as she smiled. "What's up?" She asked as I tapped the credit card on the counter. "Have you had any paranormal experiences here?" I asked as she grinned.

"Yeah, I work the night shift, I see everything." Jennifer said as I nodded. "So this place is for real haunted?" I asked as she nodded. "Oh yeah. I hear things all the time." She said as I nodded. "Nice, do you know if there are any restricted areas? Like can we go in the ballroom and stuff?" I asked as she nodded.

"You can go in the ballrooms, we keep off limit rooms locked." She explained as I nodded. "Okay, thank you!" I said and smiled at her as the phone rang. "Have fun!" She said then answered the phone.

I looked up and sighed with content as I admired the beauty of the lobby. I walked over to the wall and ran my hand along the pattered design. I admired every painting that was in the lobby.

I probably looked like a lunatic as I brushed my hand along everything. It was just the way I appreciated art.

I walked into a little corridor that was all gold. There were teenage girls taking pictures for Instagram which made me laugh. I was never really into social media like that so seeing how they would intricately pose was funny.

I also found it funny that I was dating a social media influencer even though I haven't posted on social media in forever.

As I walked around the room my phone started ringing. "Hello?" I answered as I plugged my other ear, trying to block out the orchestral music that was playing in the small room.

"Hey, where are you?" Colby asked as I made my way towards the main part of the lobby. "I'm in the lobby. Where are you?" I asked as I walked towards the front desk. "Oh! I see you now." He said as I chuckled. "Okay, stalker." I said as I looked around for them.

"Too soon." He said as I rolled my eyes, walking towards them. "I'm hanging up." I said then hung up and started walking to them.

"Got my card?" Sam asked as I nodded. "Here ya go."  I said and handed it to him. "Did you have fun exploring?" Colby asked as he kissed my cheek. "I love this place." I said with a smile and laced my fingers through his. "I'm glad you like it." He said as I smiled and turned towards the guys.

"So I talked to the girl at the front desk, she said we can go into the ballrooms and stuff and that they keep the doors locked for the rooms we can't go in." I explained as they nodded.

"Sick, let's go to the ballrooms then." Sam said then pointed towards the ballroom. "Did you guys see a man in the elevator?" I asked as we made our way to the ballroom.

"No? Why? Did something happen?" Colby asked as I shrugged. "I don't know, this guy just shoved me out of the way and got onto the elevator when I got down here, I was just wondering if you happened to see him." I said as Colby tightened his grip on my hand.

"He shoved you?" Jake asked as I nodded. "Yeah, like shoulder checked me. It's not a big deal, it was just weird." I said, remembering that when I turned around he wasn't there. "That's rude as hell." Corey said as I nodded.

"Most old white men are...no biggie." I said as we walked into the large ballroom. I smiled as I looked around the massive room. I could imagine people dancing in big gowns and tailcoat tuxes, that's how authentic everything still looked.

"So, there's apparently secret passage ways hidden in the ballroom." Sam explained as we walked around. "Did you want to find them?" Corey asked as Sam chuckled. "Yeah, if you guys do. You down, Vi?" He asked as I nodded.

"Let's find them." I said with a grin as Colby squeezed my hand.