William woke up with a terrible headache. Opening one eye, he tried to figure out where he was. He was back in his room, sprawled across his bed.

Forcing himself to sit up, he tried to remember how he got back. All he remembered was that he and Adam were drinking at the bar.

He dragged himself to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. Suddenly he wondered where Adam was. Concerned, he quickly went to Adam's room.

He knocked on the door but there was no answer. He turned the knob. The door was open so he went in.

Adam's room was identical to his. He did not seem to have a roommate so one of the beds was neat. Adam was lying on the bed near the window.

Sighing in relief, William decided not to wake him up. He turned to leave when he tripped on a sock on the floor and fell, knocking down a few things from the bedside table.

Adam woke up with a jerk. He had a panicked look on his pale face and was sweating profusely. His eyes darted around the room which stopped when he saw William.

"I didn't mean to wake you up man. Go back to sleep." William said, picking himself up.

Adam frowned and tried to get up but winced in pain and fell back on his pillow. Pulling his hand out from under the blanket he stared at it. William saw it too, his heart was beating hard.

Adam had no fingers. It appeared like all his fingers were completely cut off and his hand was wrapped with a white band aid with spots of red blood.

"It was real!" Adam gasped, shaking terribly.

"What happened to your hand?" William gaped, taking a step closer. But Adam backed away, pushing his body away from William with his one good hand.

"You! Stay away from me!" He yelled.

"Adam, what are you talking about?" William asked, confused. He tried to put his arm around Adam and calm him down. But it only made things worse. Adam tried to jump off his bed but he was too weak and crashed on the ground.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed. "YOU CRAZY, PSYCO!"

William froze. What was wrong with Adam? This was not how Frank was when he stabbed himself. Was Adam crazy now too? He cut his fingers off?
William rushed out of the room to get help.

"You will pay for what you did to me!" Adam said when he left.

William's mind was buzzing with questions. How could Adam blame him for hurting himself?

The first person William ran into when he left the building was Captain James Norman. He literally ran into him, almost knocking him to the ground.

"Cooper! Watch where you are going!" He snapped.

"Sir! I need your help." William said, he was out of breath and tried to convey the urgency to the captain. People around them began to stare.

"It's Adam, sir. Something is wrong. He is not making any sense. I am worried it is something like what happened to Frank." William said.

The captain did not hesitate. The moment William said this, he followed him to Adams room without another word.

They rushed up to Adams room to find his door ajar. Panicking, William rushed in. It was empty.

Adam wasn't there. His bed was empty and blanket was missing. The mess of bedside things which fell to the ground was all back in its place.

"No signs of a struggle. No Adam." Captain Norman said tonelessly.

"He was here! Just a few minutes ago." William said.
"I swear sir."

"There is only one way in and out of this building, William." Captain Norman snapped at him. "Unless you are suggesting he vanished into thin air, I am less inclined to believe you."

William stared at his captain with his mouth open.

"If Adam does not report to me by this evening, I will have to call the police and a full investigation will be done." Captain Norman said, turning to leave. "I suggest you keep out of trouble until then."

When the captain left the room, William tossed the water jug across the room in frustration.

Damn! What the hell is going on!!

******

Dana was lying on the couch in the lobby when she woke up. Her head was on her mother's lap and her dad was watching her in concern.

"Oh honey! Are you ok? Why were you screaming in the hall?" Alice said, her eyes were red and puffy for she had been crying.

"The doctor is on his way. Don't worry." Derrick said, relieved to see her awake.

Dana could feel her elevated heart rate. She was terrified. She tried to tell her parents what she saw but her throat was dry.

Just then David came to her with a glass of water. Eric was standing nervously next to Sophie.

Gulping down the water desperately, she managed to get her voice.

"Louie is dead!" She choked out before fresh tears began to pour from her eyes.

"W-what?" Sophie gasped. After Dana, she was most fond of the cat.

"I went to my room, it was covered in blood and then I saw him. He was- he was-" Dana cried harder thinking about what she saw. "Oh! Mom! It was so horrible!"

Alice and Derrick exchanged looks. Derrick understood what needed to be done. Nodding towards the manager they went to the direction of her room.

******

Captain Norman paced his office.

"What's wrong with this godforsaken place??" He thought. He strongly felt that William was innocent. But never has the evidence pointed at anyone so clearly.

Norman looked up at the stacks of newspapers in his office. Ever since he joined the Lanchester security team he had been investigating the mysterious disappearances and suspicious resignations of the hotel staff.

There was a pattern. Lonely people without any family and friends. They were the kind of people you would not notice if they disappeared.

Then came William. Another loner but he seemed to look like the reason for these disappearances, which was strange because up until then, the plan seemed meticulous. 

Then there is Adam. His apparent disappearance is also strange because Adam had a lot of friends at the hotel and he had family back home. Surely his little brother would wonder where he went. This is unusual and is throwing his secret investigation totally off track.

Norman cracked his knuckles impatiently before pushing down a stack of newspapers.

He felt better so he pushed another.

Then another.

And another.

Now the office was covered with newspapers. Months of hard work, going through strange reporting in Lanchester and he had nothing to show for it. Adam was most likely gone and the police would have to be involved.

Captain Norman could not wait for retirement.

******

William felt panic. Although he knew Adam for a little while, he already cared for him. He did not want to see him end up like Frank.

Grabbing a cup of coffee from the cafeteria he ignored all the pointing and staring and went to a quieter part of the hotel to think.

Think! Think! What happened after we started drinking?

Suddenly he remembered the girl with short blond hair....

No! Not her!

William began to panic more. If he remembered correctly and it was definitely who he thought it was, then he knew exactly where to go for answers.

Finishing up his cup of coffee, he rushed to the copper pan pub. He needed to make sure he was wrong. For everybody's sake.

******

Yes! Kristen Stewart is the mystery blonde. But who is she? And is she dangerous?

What do you think happened to Adam?

What do you think about Captain Norman?

Comment below to let me know.....

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Vote, comment, follow!
<3<3