Page 23 of Dark Shadows
“Just a moment, dear,” the clerk replied. She began rummaging through a logbook instead of a computer, while Savanah's eyes darted around the room.
Savanah shivered. The sensation of someone watching her left a chill crawling beneath her skin.
The old lady handed Mason two tarnished keys, their metallic clinking slicing through the tension in the room. “Here you go, dear. You’ll be in rooms twelve and thirteen.”
Keys. Actual keys. It was as though they’d time-traveled back into the past before card readers were invented.
“Thanks.” He turned to Savanah, his eyes softening. “Let’s get settled, okay?”
“Sure,” she replied and followed Mason back out the door to the outside stairs that led to their rooms. The parking lot was nearly empty, just a few cars scattered around. Across the street, a lamp post flickered in and out, in need of a new bulb.
Mason unlocked the door to Room 12 and handed her the key.
“This one’s yours. Get settled in. I’ll be next door. I need to check in with the office.”
Savanah stepped inside, grateful for a moment alone.
The stale, heavy air hit her like the A/C hadn’t kicked on in years.
She flipped the light switch. The room lit up, clean but dated.
She shut the door behind her, dropped her bag on the bed, and crossed to the thermostat.
Blackout curtains covered the windows, blocking the last light of day.
She pulled one aside to peek outside.
A solitary figure loomed in the distance, backlit by the glow of a streetlamp, casting an unsettling silhouette that sent a shiver racing down her spine.
She didn’t have to see his eyes to know he was staring straight at her room.
She dropped the curtain and hurried to the adjoining door. She flicked the lock and pulled her side open, knocking quickly on Mason’s adjoining door.
Mason’s adjoining door creaked open. “Everything okay?”
She pointed to the window. “Someone is across the parking lot staring up at my room. You have a gun, right? Can I borrow it?”
Mason’s gaze flickered over her shoulder toward the window, concern etched across his face. He moved around her and peered out the window then frowned. “I don’t see anyone. Are you sure you saw someone?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” she said, frustration mingling with fear. “It felt like they were watching me, like they could see right through this place.”
“I’ll check it out. You stay here,” he said, returning to his room. He reappeared armed with his gun, a flashlight, and his phone. “Give me your phone.”
“Why?” she asked, crossing the room to hand it to him.
He put his number into it and called his phone and answered. “Stay on the phone with me. I want you to tell me exactly where you saw him.”
She nodded and pressed the phone to her ear as Mason stepped outside.
“Lock the door behind me.”
She flicked the lock and watched through the window.
She pressed the phone to her ear and stared through the gap in the curtains.
“He was standing across the lot,” she said. “Far side, near that black pickup truck.”
“Copy that. Tell me when I get close,” Mason answered.
