hotel and ascended the ladder to join Stephen.
“Did you see something out there?” asked Stephen.
“Nope — why?” answered Jack.
“No reason, I just thought you were looking at something.”
“Nah, just thinking that I hope it doesn’t rain more. The woods are so wet,” said Jack.
“You want to go first?” asked Stephen.
“Sure,” said Jack.
Stephen held the button for Jack so he could open the hidden door, and then handed the rope-ladder up to him. After he climbed over the edge, Stephen turned around and studied the woods. He heard something out there, like a cough, and he thought that Jack had heard it too. Stephen had also caught a glimpse of Jack surreptitiously resetting his fishing line. He wondered how much he could trust Jack.
Stephen climbed up the step ladder and through the hatch to the rope ladder. Several feet down the vertical passage, he found the secret panel to the vent that Jack had propped open. The transfer was trickier this direction — the ladder kept moving and he couldn’t figure how to push off from the wall.
He heard Jack’s voice from down the passage — “Hey! You coming?”
“Yeah,” called Stephen. “I can’t figure out how to get in the vent.”
“Just jump at it,” said Jack from the dark.
“Yeah, right,” mumbled Stephen. He took off his pack with one hand and shoved it down the vent. Placing one foot against the opposite wall of the shaft, he could push off that foot and slide his torso. He didn't kick hard enough and he found himself half in the vent and half dangling over the edge. Stephen braced his hands against the sides and tried to pull himself forward. His belt caught on the lip and he couldn’t pull himself in. Flailing behind him, his legs didn't reach the other side of the shaft.
Stephen pushed up to wriggle his hips over the lip, but he slipped backwards. He thought about the drop to the room with the anatomical painting. He thought it must be about twenty feet — not enough to kill him unless he landed wrong, but certainly worth a broken leg.
He braced his arms again, but now his muscles heated up and he feared they would start to give out.
“Jack?” Stephen said. “I’ve got a problem here.” He figured it was useless to call — Stephen knew from experience that the vent was too small to turn around in. His left arm began to tremble and his friction-grip was about to slip. Arching his back, he turned his head to see how far back the rope ladder was. Maybe he could grab that on his way down.
A hand shot out of the dark and grabbed his left wrist. Stephen was so surprised that he let go of the wall.
“Give me your other hand!” ordered Jack.
Stephen reached forward and caught Jack’s other hand.
“Pull!” said Jack.
Once he had something to pull against, Stephen could wriggle himself into the vent. He didn't breathe until he had reached safety.
He dug into his bag and got out his flashlight. Jack stared at him when he turned on his light.
“You almost fell,” said Jack.
“Yeah, thanks,” answered Stephen. “How did you know to come back?”
“I just figured.”
“Well good thing for me,” said Stephen.
“For both of us,” said Jack. “It would have been a bitch explaining your disappearance to my mom,” he said.
“Oh, that's your biggest concern? Very funny,” said Stephen.
Jack backed away, down the tight passage. Stephen took a deep breath and waited for his heart to slow before following him. At the next corner, Jack turned and they continued to the ladder.
Back in the room with the red portraits, Jack hardly looked at the paintings. The red lights were still on, and Stephen jumped down from the ladder and turned off his flashlight. He followed Jack over to the wall with the light switch and the door.
“Think it’s a trick?” Stephen asked.
“What, like the door’s wired, or something?” asked Jack. “No, I think it’s just a regular door. I think we finished the puzzles and traps.”
“That would be cool,” replied Stephen.
“I could be wrong, but that last trap was pretty deadly, I mean it could have chopped off my hand. Then right after that we had to trust that next passage not to kill us when the bars started coming down. It’s like he was saying ‘You made it past that, so now you have to trust me,’” Jack said.
“Yeah? So open it,” Stephen said, pointing to the door.
“Okay,” Jack reached forward and turned the handle. He pulled the door open and they saw a long, carpeted hallway. A half-dozen sconces lit the hall and showed them ten doors, five on each side. About halfway down the right wall, a fire-extinguisher hung between two doors.
Mounted on the dark-green wall, next to each door, was a three-digit number. Jack strode down to one- forty-six, the first door on his left.
“Locked,” Jack announced.
“This is really creepy,” said Stephen. “It looks like a normal hotel — like someone could walk out of one of these rooms at any second.”
Jack crossed the hall while Stephen waited from the threshold of the portrait room. Jack checked that door and moved down to check the next. Four doors later he turned and called out to Stephen, “This one is open — come on.”
Stephen looked back to the portrait room. He felt like he was being watched. He stepped into the hallway and shut the door to the portrait room most of the way, but didn’t latch it. He wanted a quick escape route, if he should need it.
Walking down this perfectly normal hallway, it was hard for Stephen to imagine he was still in the same building. Somehow it felt like the hotel was
“Ready?” asked Jack.
“I guess,” said Stephen.
Jack turned the handle and pressed open the door. It was spring-loaded and he had to reach into the dark room to open it all the way. Stephen flipped the switch and overhead lights came on, revealing the room.
The carpet was dark tan, and the walls were papered in a mute pattern of light-green and gold. Red curtains covered the entire far wall. Jack crossed to one of the beds and Stephen caught the door before it closed. He took off Ben's backpack and used it to prop open the door and then followed Jack in.
“Hey!” exclaimed Jack. “The remote is glued to the nightstand.”
Jack pressed the power button and the television on the bureau came to life. It showed channel two with the volume all the way down.
“We've got cable,” laughed Jack. “This is
“So does your house,” Stephen said. He poked his head in the bathroom and turned on the light. The bathroom had no dust and looked freshly scrubbed. His curiosity was rising and Stephen indulged it by pulling a towel from the rack and smelling it. He took it out to where Jack sat on one of the beds. “I think someone has been here. Recently,” he said, as he held up the towel.
“That’s crazy,” said Jack. “It’s just that nobody has been here to make it dirty.”
“Does your mom leave the guest room made up all the time?” Stephen asked.
“No, she makes it up right before company comes,” answered Jack.
“Yeah, that’s because everything would smell stale if she didn’t.”
“Maybe she’s just lazy and puts stuff off until the last minute,” said Jack.
“I’ve only known your mom a couple of weeks, and even I know that’s not true,” answered Stephen.
Jack thought about that for a second before countering, “Well, maybe the same people hired to replace the money, also keep this room clean.”
