“Wait,” Alan said. “This is the wrong way.”
“Get back inside and we’ll talk about it,” Ricky said.
“Where’s Liz?”
“I’m here,” she said. Their shadows grew as she approached.
Alan snapped back to alertness when they were still a dozen paces from the door.
“No, we said we were leaving. Get off me. It was beautiful.”
Alan shook off Ricky’s grasp and turned back towards their car, stabbing the button on the fob with his thumb. Across the lot, the car chirped and the lights flashed. Ricky saw things moving in the flashing lights. Things had been surprised by the sound and flash and they were scattering into deeper shadows.
Alan raised his arm to block the light from his wife’s flashlight.
“Hotel, Alan,” she said. “We can’t make it to the car.”
Ricky saw another moving shadow—this one was between himself and the hotel. He didn’t have a weapon. Ricky balled his fist and shifted his stance.
The shadow was Nick.
“Grab him,” Nick said.
Ricky nodded and turned and then understood the urgency in Nick’s voice.
Alan had wandered a couple of paces back into the dark. Liz had the flashlight pointed at his face. Down near his feet, something slipped out of the black and was about to grab onto Alan’s leg.
“Liz, go!” Ricky said. “Get the door.”
She obeyed. Nick and Ricky darted forward and each grabbed one of Alan’s arms. His keys tumbled from his hand as they dragged him backwards. Alan broke free long enough to scoop up his keys before they caught up with him. He fought for a moment and then began to fall once more. This time, his stumbling momentum helped. Alan’s pumping legs propelled them towards the hotel door. Clutched in his fist, he still had his half of the broken broomstick. It was the only thing that kept them upright when Alan tripped backwards on the curb. He used it like a cane and the three of them stayed up and continued their stumbling lurch towards the door that Liz was holding open. Once through, they collapsed.
Liz pushed the door shut as fast as it would go and then pressed her back against it.
“They’re coming,” she whispered. “Don’t look.”
Ricky got back to his hands and feet. He scrambled backwards until he joined her at the door. They were both sitting on the floor with their back to the glass, blocking its swing with their bodies. Ricky reached up and felt around until he found a deadbolt. It snapped into place, locking the metal frame of the door into the pillar.
The tapping started a moment later.
“What is that?” Nick asked.
Nick and Alan were still untangling themselves on the floor a couple of feet away.
“Don’t look,” Liz said. “Whatever you do, don’t look.”
“Why?” Nick asked.
“It’s too beautiful,” Alan said as he covered his eyes with his hands.
The tapping started in a slow rhythm and then it picked up its pace. When it reached a crescendo, Ricky heard the deadbolt above him click and he cursed himself for not setting it properly. The tapping stopped and the things started to push their way in. The pressure against the door from the outside made it impossible to re-latch. He pushed his shoes into the thin carpet, trying to get traction, but he couldn’t get the door fully shut.
Liz felt the pressure too. She strained at the glass. Ricky wondered how hard they could push before the glass would crack under the opposing forces.
“Help us,” Ricky said. “Get over here and help us push.”
Nick moved first. He rolled over so his back was to the door and then he crawled into place pushing back with his hands they finally had enough force to overcome the things trying to push. Ricky clicked the deadbolt home again.
The tapping began again. Once more, it started slowly and then built.
“Here,” Alan said. He slid the stake towards them.
“We’re not letting them in,” Ricky said.
“No,” Alan said. “Put it through the handles.”
Ricky still didn’t understand. Liz figured it out. She raised the broken broom handle and slid it between the door and the handle of the stationary side of the door. Even if the deadbolt flipped again, the stake would stop the doors from opening. It was a loose fit. Ricky looked up and saw the handle rattling in time with the tapping.
Alan climbed to his feet and ran towards the front desk.
The woman had vacated her position at the desk, so there was nobody to complain when Alan threw himself over the counter and crashed down on the other side.
Through the dim light of the emergency lights, they saw a projectile fly over the desk, hit the floor, and roll towards them. It was a roll of packing tape. Liz snagged it with her foot and dragged it towards them.
Ricky and Nick held the door while she closed her eyes and unrolled the tape. She got up on her knees and began to loop the tape around the door handles and the wooden stake. The tapping continued even after the deadbolt clicked open a second time. The things pushed on the door and it clanged to a stop when the stake stopped it from opening any farther.
“Run for the stairwell,” Liz said.
Nick was already in motion.
Ricky waited for Liz to go first. He crawled to the left a bit so he could snatch the flashlight from where it had landed. Alan burst from behind the registration desk and caught up to them at the stairwell. Ricky ushered everyone through and shut the door behind them.
“That door won’t hold forever,” Liz said.
“Third floor. Amber’s room,” Alan said, pointing.
Above them, the stairs were lit by battery powered lights at each landing. There were too many shadows above them, even when Ricky pointed his light up the stairs.
Liz led the way.
# # #
Amber didn’t move when the knocking came to her door.
It was the shout that made her stir from her position on the hotel bed.
“Amber? Are you in there? It’s Liz.”
Amber moved to
