The building stood in the white emptiness, yellow light coming from its windows through the storm. 5 stories of old brick against the wind, frost on the edges of the windows.

  "There it is," Gale shouted over the howling wind.

  The group stopped, snow stuck to their clothes and hair. The hotel looked decrepit in the night.

  "Fuck, that's creepy," Kyle muttered.

  "Who cares?" Ollie said, "better than freezing to death out here."

  Rachel took the lead. "Come on."

  The snow grew deeper by the minute as they trudged through. The scarf that Rachel had given Gale in the middle of the hike was already blanketed with snow. When they got closer, the details became clearer. Wide porch, wooden columns and an off white paint that coloured the whole walls, contrasted by the dark wood on the frames. A peaked roof with snow sliding off. No sign with its name.

  Kyle let out a short laugh. "Well, this isn't familiar at all. Just need some creepy twins and an ax-wielding maniac."

  "What?" Gale asked.

  "The Shining," Kyle said, pointing at the building. "Ancient, ancient movie. Definitely nothing like this place. The hotel was definitely much smaller in the movie. No similarities whatsoever."

  Clyde shoved Kyle forward. "Shut up."

  They climbed up the steps, shaking off the snow. Ollie opened the door, and the creak it produced grated on their ears.

  Gale moved closer to Rachel. She was the safest spot in case a ghost came out at them. Fire powers be damned.

  Ollie turned, looking tired and annoyed. "Ghosts aren't real!"

  "I wasn't thinking that. Definitely not," Gale said. "But just in case… you know."

  Palm went to Ollie's face as he shook his head.

  Rachel stood closer to Gale, holding him by the arm and pulling him to the door. "It's ok. I'm here for the bad ghosts."

  She laughed, but it was definitely no laughing matter, especially in this haunted house looking goddamn place!

  Following Ollie inside, the lobby looked bigger than it showed on the outside. The lights by the walls flickered as if they were candles. A red carpet covered the floor that clearly has seen better days. It had swirling patterns that were mesmerizing to look at.

  A man stood behind the front desk. Old, thin, and white hair combed to one side. Uniform looked crisp like a butler, except the vest was maroon coloured. The desk lamp lit his face at a harsh angle, contrasting his wrinkles even more. And that odd smile that stayed fixed on his face made Gale put his left hand into his pocket. If this son of a ghost jumped at them, he'd slash at it and then dip out of there in a literal blink of an eye.

  "Welcome," the man said, his voice monotone.

  Kyle leaned close to his brother. "Not creepy at all. Not one bit."

  The old man didn't blink. Not even once since they came in as he stared at them. His name tag read "Robert."

  Ollie stepped forward, snow melting and dripping from his jacket. "We need rooms for the night. Got caught in the storm."

  "Room 217," Robert said, his smile not changing.

  Kyle snorted. "Oh, perfect. The haunted room number. That's totally not a red flag."

  Rachel elbowed him. "Behave."

  "I definitely did not read that book," Gale said deadpan. "Totally unfamiliar with that reference. Absolutely clueless."

  Ollie rubbed his forehead. "We need three rooms, not one. There are five of us."

  Robert's head tilted slightly, moving like a machine.

  "Room 217 has two rooms and a couch. That's all I can offer. The hotel is mostly booked. One room assignment per group of guests." Robert's smile stayed fixed the whole time. "Make do with what you can."

  Looking around the lobby, empty chairs with cracking leather. Couches were empty. Hallways were empty, meaning there was no one else in this hotel. Tendrils spread out, searching each room. No one here except them. There's no way this hotel was fully booked.

  "Is this a popular hotel?" Ollie asked.

  "Many ski mountains around," Robert answered, still staring at Ollie. "The weather is superb for such a sport." He reached under the desk and pulled out a brass key with a heavy wooden tag. "I recommend guests stay in their rooms after 12:14 AM until sunrise."

  "Specific time there, Bob," Kyle muttered.

  "Welcome to Hotel Frankley," Robert said, sliding the key across the desk. "Enjoy your stay."

  "Hotel Frankley? As in, practically Hotel Stanley? Room 217? You're shitting me, right?" Kyle said aloud.

  Rachel elbowed him, much harder this time, while giving him a glare.

  Ollie grabbed the key. "Thanks. Which floor?"

  "Second floor. End of the hall," Robert answered, still not blinking.

  Breath of the Void gave him no information on Robert. Just clearly a mundane with no strangeness inside him. Squinting his eyes, his head tracked Robert as the group walked to the elevator.

  I'm watching you, Robert. If that is even your real name.

  They found the elevators with old brass doors that opened with a groan. The smell hit them immediately as they walked in. Hints of cedar, smoke, and something musky.

  "Just me, or is there nobody else staying here?" Kyle whispered as they went up.

  "Shut up," Clyde said. "We're lucky to find any shelter."

  The elevator opened to a long hallway filled with retro looking floral wallpaper. Ollie took the lead, following the room numbers to their assigned room. He held up the key. "Who the hell uses keys in 2069?"

  "Clearly, a haunted hotel literally named after the famous haunted hotel," Kyle said.

  "Shut up," Clyde muttered.

  They reached the room, and Ollie inserted the key. The suite had two rooms, one left, one right. Must be the ones with the queen beds. The living room had a sofa, a coffee table, and two armchairs with lovely ugly retro floral wallpapers--the same one from the hallway.

  "Well," Ollie said, then dropped his bag on the floor with a thud. "Beats freezing to death."

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Clyde immediately went to the second bedroom, tossing his bag onto the queen bed. "Kyle and I call this one."

  "Hell no," Kyle said. "I'm not sharing with you. You punch in your sleep."

  "Better than your snoring."

  "I don't snore!"

  "Yeah, you do."

  "I get a bed, I'm not taking no for an answer," Rachel said.

  "But you're not even-" Ollie stopped.

  "Not even what?" Rachel asked.

  "Nevermind," Ollie said. "Gale and I can take either the sofa and the floor."

  "I'm good with the floor," Gale said. "I'm used to it."

  "That's ridiculous," Rachel said. "There's enough room for two in my bed."

  "Ok. You both take the floor, and I get the sofa," Kyle suggested.

  Everyone turned to glare at him.

  "What? I'm injured!"

  "Pfft, injured?" Clyde said, pulling out a Twinkie from his pocket. "We've been through worse."

  "Rachel takes one bed," Ollie said firmly. "Kyle and Clyde take the other. Gale and I will figure out the sofa and floor. End of discussion."

  "I'm definitely not sharing with him," Kyle side eyed his brother. "The last time we shared a bed on a mission, he punched me!"

  "Well, maybe you should stop snoring!" Clyde shouted.

  "Shut up! Too bad!" Ollie yelled. "It's either you share or one of you gets the bathtub! Or worse."

  "Or what?" Kyle asked immediately, then got smacked immediately in the head by Clyde.

  "This is stupid," Rachel said. "Gale, you're taking half the bed. I don't bite. Unless you want me to…"

  The twins snickered.

  "Wait, what?" Gale said.

  "Relax," she said with a small smile. "Just teasing."

  "Fine," Kyle threw up his hands. "I'll share with this Twinkie-eating stupid, but if he punches me, it's about to go down!"

  "Let's see you try," Clyde replied, taking another bite.

  "Ok. Cool," Ollie said, dropping onto the sofa. "Rachel and Gale get the bed on the right, the idiots get the second, and I get the couch."

  "Who are you calling idiot?" Kyle said.

  "Shut up and get some sleep!" Ollie glared at Kyle.

  Rachel picked up her bag and headed for the right bedroom. At the doorway, she looked back and said, "Gale, coming?"

  Gale hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Just a minute."

  He watched her disappear into the room. Turning his head, Ollie already made himself comfortable on the sofa, attempting to anyways as he continuously shifted to a comfortable position.

  "I can take the floor," Gale said.

  Ollie waved him off. "Go. Before she changes her mind."

  Gale moved to the bedroom, opening the cracked door. Kyle's voice could be heard through the other bedroom.

  "Hey, you think some spooky wooky thing is going to happen at 12:14? Kinda very specific. Just like the horror movies."

  "Maybe that's when the axe wielding maniac does his rounds and you'll hear scratching or something metal being dragged," Clyde said while chewing a twinkie.

  "Twins! Shut up!" Ollie yelled at their door, closing it for them with his telekinesis. "All of you. Just shut up."

  Gale entered the bedroom. Rachel sat on the edge with what looked like an oversized shirt on. She pulled the blanket over her as soon as he came in, putting her hair tie on the nightstand. She looked at him.

  "Are you sure?" he asked.

  "I'm sure," she said. "It's not like we're kids and it's the situation."

  "I thought being kids would make it more ok."

  "Semantics. Besides, I run hot. Like, literally. Keeps the room warm without needing those rusty old pipes."

  Gale sat on the other side of the bed and started taking off his boots and the outer layers of his clothing. He went into the sheets after, then looked at the surroundings.

  The room was simple but clean. Same retro floral wallpaper, blackout curtains covering the window, and a small desk in the corner. Ms. Molly said it's rude to stare, so do your best to avoid looking at Rachel, Gale. You can do this.

  "What do you make of this place?" Rachel asked.

  "Strange," Gale said, turning his head to her, catching a glimpse of her hair messily laid on the pillow, and then turning back the other way.

  "And Robert?"

  "A strange mundane. Like real strange."

  "The 12:14 thing is creepy. Even for me," Rachel said, burying her face in the blanket and turning to his side.

  Gale checked his phone. No signal, as expected. He plugged it into the wall charger anyway. The clock on the nightstand read 11:37 PM.

  "Less than an hour till the witching hour, blood moon, or whatever you wanna call it," Rachel said.

  "It's probably nothing. Get some sleep. I'll keep watch for a while," Gale said.

  Rachel shook her head. "You don't need to keep watch, Gale. Just go to sleep."

  Gale sat up and grabbed two pillows, placing them down the middle of the bed to make a barrier. He lay down on his back. Sleeping light was already a habit anyway. If any sound came through, he'd be the first to know.

  "Really?" Rachel said. "A pillow wall. Very mature."

  Gale folded his hands on top of his stomach, looking up at the ceiling. The bed was soft, softer than he expected. Though his definition of soft was anything softer than the dirt, rocks, or even the branches he used to sleep on.

  "Hey. Can I ask you something?" he said. "Do you think the things my dad did in those documents are… evil?"

  Rachel turned to face the other way, then didn't say anything for a while. Gale could hear her breathing beside him, but she was definitely not asleep. "In our world, nothing is truly evil. That's what my mom used to tell me. Take the Silver Lions. Those documents made it clear they believe the current establishment is in the wrong, that they only care about profits and authority. They want to burn it all down, restore order."

  "And put themselves at the top of the pecking order after," Gale said. "Right?"

  "Yes. But look deeper. It's like they're trying to arm mundanes to stand against the rift invasion. Their methods are wrong, making awakened addicted, exposing mundanes to dust that will kill them... but the intention to protect has roots in something good."

  A gale blew harshly against the window, startling Gale and forcing him to look to her side of the bed.

  "There are skeletons in Ollie's closet too," Rachel said. "Lots of them. But we both know his intentions about creating a cure for dust are good."

  Gale relaxed, letting his head sink into the pillow. It's just the wind. Nothing dangerous.

  "Even Clyde and Kyle," Rachel continued. "They fought us at the airport. They were just doing their jobs. Now look at them helping us in this situation. They're not truly bad people."

  "What do you mean?" Gale asked.

  "What I mean is that good intentions can sometimes cause misguided actions," Rachel said softly. "At the end of the day, everyone just wants to survive. As others call it, chasing survival." She let out a soft chuckle. "I hear that a lot of people talk about how everyone is just chasing ghosts."

  The blankets moved as she turned to face him again, eyes peeking over the pillow wall that caught light from under the door. It was an amber colour he hadn't noticed before.

  "Your dad might have truly thought what he did was for the best," she said. "You just haven't found that part of the story yet."

  That's right. He shouldn't jump to conclusions, right? There were bigger things to this whole equations… like what the dark knight had told him under the stone tower. But thinking about it like that somehow didn't make the hurt go away. After seeing dad's face again, all he wanted to do was just go back to reading books. Drown it all away.

  "What are you thinking about?" Rachel's voice took on a soothing warmth. She brought her face over the pillow wall, her arm already over to his side. "I remember that face from the forest. You get all silent, looking into the distance when something's in your mind. Can you share with me?"

  Gale nodded. "I don't remember my parents teaching me anything outside of survival. Learning how the world works outside of books... I feel like I don't know anything. It's just overwhelming and makes me want to go back to just reading books."

  He hadn't meant to say that last part. The words just came out.

  Rachel's hand reached across, pushing the pillows between them down, resting her hand on his head. Her fingers were warm as they moved through his hair.

  "Remember this," she said, patting his head. "You're not alone anymore."

  The touch felt so comforting that Gale didn't know how to respond. She did that too in the Eclipsed. The safe space that he could be vulnerable in, and that itself was scary.

  Cev told him it was too soon. To hide. It made it all the harder to just open up, and that thought itself was just a plain lie he told himself.

  "Gale. You're the one that pushed us to go through this adventure," Rachel said. "I'll tell you as many times as you need. You don't need to be alone anymore."

  Not being alone anymore. That's right. He has answers for his own strengths. Maybe he can lean on her answers. Just be thankful to not be alone anymore. The rest can work itself out later.

  "Should we get some sleep?" Gale asked.

  Rachel nodded, taking her hand back. "Probably should. Who knows what tomorrow brings?"

  "More snow," Gale muttered, making himself chuckle.

  "More than that." Rachel settled back onto her side of the bed. "Always more than that."

  Gale put his phone back onto the night stand. Settling in and closing his eyes, the pillows now lay below their feet, and neither moved them back.

  Rachel's breathing evened out. The wind against the window made for nice ambient noise in the silent hotel. A draft blew through the cracks, its temperature eliminated as her warmth kept the room at a cosy temperature. A different feeling from the nights in the forest or the orphanage.