Author's Note: I will be posting the original version of this story and then the revised version in the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! Saints' Speed -Anna

My baby boy slept soundly in his car seat as I pulled off Route 66 and into the deserted parking lot of a ramshackle motel.

I should not have been stopping since it was only noon but we had thirteen days to get to my parents' house before Thanksgiving. We were exhausted.

I picked up my son and made my way into the lobby of the motel.

The clerk behind the cracked counter had midnight waves that matched her ebony uniform. Her eyes were haunted like she had seen things she did not want to relive.

"Happy Friday and welcome to the Valdis Motel. Do you have reservations?" The clerk sang as I trudged my way over to the counter. Her name tags told me she was called Lila.

"I have reservations under Alma Adams." I said as I sat my son on the dingy counter top.

Lila was busy tapping away on the outdated computer between us. She turned to me when she finished.

"I have you set up in room 6." She handed me the rusty room key. Before I could make my escape, Lila spoke up. "What is your adorable little boy's name?"
I turned to face her. "Poe. He is named after Edgar Allan Poe." She smiled and I took it as a sign to escape.

The door creaked as I shoved my way inside the rundown motel room. It was everything I had expected it to be with a single moth-eaten bed paired with a stained, beaten up desk.

Sitting on top of the desk like it was a throne, was a child-like figurine of an angel. The angel had a small delicate face framed by sun-kissed hair. She was missing a white wing on her right side and appeared to be leaning heavily on a glass number four.

There was a wooden door leading off the main room that I dared not enter. All in all, the room looked like it had seen better days.

In a puff of dust, I sat Pie down on the threadbare blanket. As I headed out to pick up the rest of our baggage, the angel's crystal eyes chased me out the door.

When I was all settled in, it was just after one o'clock in the afternoon, so I decided to put Pie down for a nap. Since I was exhausted from the drive, I laid down for a nap, also.

Right before I could drift off to sleep, a strange knocking reverberated from behind the closed bathroom door. The sound continued for a full three minutes before it finally faded off.

It had me quaking with fear before the three minutes was over.

When it started up again, I decided enough was enough. I hopped out of bed and called the front desk. Maybe Lila knew what was going on.

After the phone rang for the millionth time, Lila finally picked up.

Before I could talk, she spoke over me. "There is a flashlight in a desk drawer. Get it and all the noises will vanish." Then she hung up.

When the noises picked back up, I decided the flashlight was my best bet. It was an old rusty thing that looked like it had not been used since the 60's.

As I flicked it on, Poe started screaming from the bed. When I turned to help him, a small blonde girl was standing beside him.

"Hello," I said hesitantly.

She stared blankly ahead as she rushed me with a murderous scream.

The protective glow of the flashlight flickered off as a freezing hand snatched it away. The light flashed back on as the girl brought it down in a brutal arch.

The last thing I heard was the frantic sobbing of Pie as the girl finished him off.