“
“
not
“So we start down here. I’m thinking the bookshelves and books first. And the tables and chairs after that?”
She hadn’t seen a single spider or flying insect but there were cobwebs everywhere and the dirt in the library was thick enough to plant crops on. Just from them moving around, enough powdered filth was rising into the air to make her cough. “This is going to take ages!”
“
She followed, still coughing. She was curious to see what was inside the fabled closet.
“
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“
Emma joined him in changing into a pair of overalls. He saw her slip out of her bathrobe and turned his back. She giggled. “Such a gentleman!”
Her set was a little big on her, but it would serve. She tied her hair up to keep it out of the way.
He cleared his throat. He stood next to two large industrial vacuum cleaners and a cart loaded with cleaning supplies.“Would you push the cart while I lug the vacuums?”
“
* * *
He went out into the hallway pulling the vacuum cleaners after him. “So here’s my idea: We vacuum the floors and the shelves first, get most of the gunk that way, and then we can start wiping the shelves down.”
“
“
She shrugged. “It won’t hurt to try.”
“
As she began pushed the cart, Emma wondered the same thing. Would it lead them closer to understanding where they were? “I guess we’ll find out.”
They returned to the library and the boy found a couple of electrical outlets, one for each vacuum. “Better mask up,” he said, handing her a heavy-duty dust mask.
Emma took the mask and tied it on, then picked up her vacuum. “Ready when you are,” she said, her voice muffled.
He nodded. “Let’s do this.”
They walked into the library, vacuuming the floor as they went. They worked their way around the big room, sucking up the dirt from the floor and the bottom shelves. Slowly, tediously, things started to look brighter.
“
“
She laughed. “That was terrible and I love it.”
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was
He gave her a pointed look. “I got us the snacks last time. Shall we say it’s your turn?”
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She nodded and took the shortest route to the atrium. She reached the dining hall and goggled at the food. The buffet table hadn’t gotten any bigger but it felt like there were so many more choices today.
“
“Hah! Sorry for taking so long.” She hefted the basket onto a reasonably-clean table. “I didn’t expect there to be so much to choose from.”
“
“Oh, c’mon, I just wanted to make sure you had a good variety. Plus I didn’t want to risk not having enough.”
“
She frowned. “I . . . I guess you could say that. I spent the past few years not having a lot. Not a lot of food or stability, so I take what I can, when I can.” She spoke quietly, almost shamefully.
“
She looked at him. “You’ve . . . been here for years and years?”
He held up a hand. “That’s right. But please, no more questions about what I can and can’t remember. If anything comes up you''ll be the first to know.”
She offered him a small smile. “No more questions, I promise.”
He rolled his eyes. “I wish. But I won’t hold you to that when your curiosity gets the better of you.”
She giggled. “You know me too well!”
“
Emma picked up her own sandwich and took a careful bite. “Mmm,” she said, feeling more normal.
“
She looked into the picnic basket and picked out a bottle of soda. “I wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for, so I grabbed a few different flavours.”
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She looked at the bottle, noticing the Pyramidion’s logo. “I guess they’ve got everything, huh?”
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She took another bite of her sandwich. “Yeah, and the company isn’t too bad either.”
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She glared at him. “Hey, I’m a great conversationalist!”
“
She leaned back. “Well, you’re perceptive, maybe even a little too much. You’re stubborn in a way that can be endearing and annoying. You''ve got a sarcastic sense of humour, but underneath that, you care about others. Is that good enough for you?”
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“facts
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She paused. Did he tell her his name? “Umm . . . yeah, I think you did. But, uh, remind me again just in case?”
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“that girl
“that girl
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“talkativeirritatingscrawny
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She got up from her chair. “I suppose we ought to.”
They started up the vacuums again and moved on to the shelves, using the long hose-attachments to reach higher. Emma groaned as she felt the familiar tedium set in again. They vacuumed for what felt like hours, cleaning shelf after shelf, with only the steady roar to fill the silence. Her mind wandered freely.
She glanced over at the boy next to her. Despite the conversations they had shared, she still knew so little about him. As he suspected she would, she wanted to ask him more questions.
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She blinked and realized she’d been staring. “Oh, nothing much,” she said. “Just thinking about how tiring this vacuuming is.”
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Henry had indeed finished hoovering his area. She looked back at her own area and saw she was close to finishing as well. “Thank goodness. This contraption is starting to weigh me down.”
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She nodded. Wet-dusting the shelves seemed easier after such a long time vacuuming. “You go ahead.”
She began with the first bookshelf. She worked steadily, moving from shelf to shelf, making sure to get into all the little places. The library took up the space that on the residential floors was taken up by the hallway and stairwell. As Emma worked, her mind wandered again.
She dumped the dirty rags in a bucket and Henry replaced it with a fresh bucket, taking the full one back to the janitor’s closet to wash. They moved as a team, with her wiping the shelves and him taking away the rags and replacing them with fresh ones.
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Her stomach grumbled. “You’re right. Let''s call it a day.”
They wheeled the cleaning equipment back the janitor’s closet and stripped out of their boiler suits. The sink was big enough for both of them to wash at the same time. Emma felt fresher already. She looked over to see Henry doing the same. His face was wet and his hair was falling in tangles.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
* * *
“
Her eyes roamed over the dishes. “That’s a tough question. After today, it all looks good. But I’m in the mood for something light. Maybe a nice salad or soup?”
There were, in fact, several choices of soup and also a salad bar. Henry pointed them out.
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They sat at their usual table and she looked at his plate—it was identical. He shrugged. “You looked like you were having fun.”
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She took another spoonful of soup, enjoying the hearty flavour, before continuing the conversation. “You could have gotten something different, you know.”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t craving anything in particular, so I just went monkey see, monkey do.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, so now I’m a monkey, huh?”
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She laughed and took another spoonful. “Well, in that case, we make a pretty good pair of monkeys.”
“
“partner-in-crime
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She stroked her chin with one hand and tapped her lips with her forefinger. “I suppose we could start small. Maybe stealing some chocolate from the pantry, or staying out past curfew.”
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She glanced towards the food bar, looking at the sweets. It was very tempting. “No curfew? So we can stay up all night?”
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She took a sip of water. “You’ve got a point there. There''s no point in battling sleep if we''re missing out on life.”
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She looked around. “Definitely more exciting than some candy heist.” She lowered her voice. “But where do we even start? Breaking out of this hotel isn’t exactly easy, is it?”
“
Her smile disappeared as she remembered that she''d thought about climbing down from her fourth-floor balcony. “Hey, Henry. I remember I thought about climbing down the other day . . . Would that actually work? Just dropping down from my fourth-floor balcony?”
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He rolled his eyes. “Of course. I happen to be an escape artist.”
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She rolled her eyes. “Whether it’s three days or a lifetime, you still have more practical sense than I do.”
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She watched him for a moment, trying to figure out what she might have said wrong. “Hey, are you okay?”
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She decided not to press the matter. For now, at least. “There’s a chocolate cake on the shelf over there. Looks pretty good.”
“
She was still puzzled she was determined to bring back the banter. “Chocolate cake it is, then. And I might steal some extras for our escape later. Heh. A basket of cake for our daring escape!”
He looked up. “What were you thinking of doing for the rest of the night?”
“Well . . . I was hoping we could just spend some time together, maybe talk a bit, just . . . enjoy each other''s company, y''know?”
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She laughed. “Oh, I know. But now that you’re always on the lookout, I''ll have to get even more creative. Don''t worry. I promise I won''t be too cruel.”
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* * *
She stepped out into the roof deck and into the evening air. She tightened her bathrobe and looked around.
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“YAAAAAAAAUUUUGH!”
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The pool was underlit with chilly blue lights but she was never one to back down from a challenge, especially not from him. She untied her bathrobe, draped it over a sunlounger, and took a few steps back for a running start.
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heated
The boy could barely tread water, he was laughing so hard. “Gotcha! I gotcha!”
Emma laughed and splashed some water at him. “I can’t believe I fell for that. You''re too sly for your own good!”
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She took a moment to appreciate the warmth. “Maybe I do.”
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She floated beside him, close enough that she could feel the movement of the water as he paddled ever so gently to stay on his back. She turned her head toward him. “You knew exactly what I was thinking. It was almost like you could read my mind.”
He thought about it. Finally he said, “I missed you.”
Heart skipped a beat. She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, the touch both comforting and seeking. “I missed you too.”
“
She repeated herself, her voice softer. “I missed you. I missed being with you, talking to you.” She paused and looked him squarely in the face. “I missed everything about you.”
He frowned. “That’s great, but how did we get to talking about this?”
I missed you
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“
He shook his head. “Nope. I was looking at the stars. I was thinking, ‘What a fine night this is.''”
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So he did say it, but he didn’t recall why. “You don’t have any idea why you would say you missed me, if you weren''t thinking about us?”
He thought a moment. “D’you know that sea otters hold hands so they don''t drift away in their sleep?”
She blinked. “Ah, yeah, I’ve heard about that. Otters holding hands to stay together. Why do you ask?”
She felt his hand reaching for hers. Her breath caught and then their fingers intertwined in the water.
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She glanced at their joined hands, then back at him. “Rafting,” she said. “That’s a nice word.”
She gave in to the silence and floated closer to him.
“
She took a deep breath. “So, you don’t always understand why you do things, yeah? But you go with it anyway? It just . . . feels right?”
But the boy had drifted off another way. He was asleep.
She extricated her hand and moved closer, kicking under the surface to gain some height on him. She studied the way his eyelids fluttered and his chest rose and fell. He said he’d missed her.
She brushed a strand of hair from his face. Much as she hated to ruin the moment, she needed to wake him up. Falling asleep in a pool wasn’t safe.
She shook his shoulder. “Hey,” she called out. “You need to wake up. You’re asleep in the water.”
“
She shook him again. “Wake up. You’re asleep in the water. You need to wake up!”
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Emma gasped as she was yanked underwater. She found herself sputtering and giggling when her head reemerged. “Hey! You can''t just pull me underwater like that!”
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She ran her hand over her face, trying to clear the water out of her eyes. “No, this isn’t your bed. You''re in a swimming pool!”
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She laughed again and splashed him. “Yeah, you are.
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“
* * *
The next day saw them cleaning the bookshelves and as much of the books as they could reach without pulling them out. They worked side by side, wiping down the bookshelves and the book spines. Luckily for them, the tomes were bound in leather and could take a little damp.
Emma watched Henry as he worked. He’d run his rag over a shelf, the same sweeping length each time, his hand moving from left to right, left to right, as steady and as regular as a machine. Then he’d flick up the rag to a clean side and start running it down the books, working his way back to the side of the shelf he''d started at.
“
The Hardy Boys Casefiles
“Animorphs
Her eyebrows arched. “Child soldiers? That . . . that sounds intense.”
“
She paused her cleaning. “Body horror? What does that mean, exactly?”
“ooze
She shivered. “Sounds horrific.”
“Goosebumps
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He pursed his lips. “I wish we only had horror-movie monsters to worry about.”
“Yeah. If life were just a simple, clichéd horror film we''d know the villains and we''d know how to survive.”
“Army of Darkness
Emma looked sheepish. “I haven’t. I''m not that well-versed in those types of films.”
“
This was the first that she had heard of a supermarket. “There’s one in the hotel?”
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She placed a hand on her hip and quirked an eyebrow. “It seems you may have conveniently left that detail out.”
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“Army of Darkness
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“What made it so good?”
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She couldn’t help but smile. “I suppose it’s not so bad after all. At least we''re not alone.”
Later, she found herself in the janitor’s closet washing the rags. The repetitive action of scrubbing and wringing allowed her to circle back to the conversation. Still holding a wet rag, she paused. It was strange, really, this mix of comfort and fear. The hotel felt like a refuge. But at the same time, it was a prison.
She paused again, staring at the now-clean rag. She wondered if she had the strength to use a climbing rope. And was she ready to face whatever lay beyond the hotel walls? She leaned on the sink and turned over her thoughts. The reality was that they had no idea what would happen once they escaped. It could be another set of dangers. She clenched her fists around the rag, her knuckles whitening. Could she survive them?
She wouldn’t be alone, she remembered. The boy would follow her, and that made her smile. Yes, she wouldn’t be alone. But she wondered if it was fair to drag him into the unknown.
She sighed and picked up another dirty rag. She scrubbed it furiously.
* * *
Working steadily, they managed to finish the library in time for a late dinner. As they stepped back to look at the shelves, Emma glanced over at Henry. “Lovely, isn’t it?” she said.
“
She glanced at the bookshelves one last time. It was calming to have some sense of order. With a sigh, she leaned against the shelf.
Emma tried to think. “I don’t know . . . something simple? Do we have any bread and butter left over?”
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They regrouped at what was becoming their regular table. Emma settled down with her sandwich. It was mostly cheese and melted cheese between two slices of toasted bread. She took a nibble.
She noticed the boy taking a big bite of his own sandwich. “Hungry, are we?”
“
She took another bite of her sandwich and chewed. “I wonder the same,” she said between bites. “There must be so much we have yet to find.”
* * *
The next morning she woke up to him knocking on her door. “Hey, wake up in there.”
She stirred, her eyes fluttering as she slowly emerged into wakefulness. “I’m awake, I''m awake,” she called. Slowly, she sat up in bed.
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She followed him as they made their way down to the west lobby and toward the entrance, which was a large revolving glass door flanked by two smaller glass doors.
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She approached the revolving door and gave it a light push. The door began to turn. She pushed a little harder and the door spun faster, depositing her outside. She was outside!
Henry was right behind her. “Pretty cool, huh?”
The hotel stood on a hill that was flat enough for an expansive lawn. There were paved paths and park benches and what looked like a stage for events. Emma stood in the fresh air and sunlight and open space.
“
The haze made everything feel like a dream. She took a few more steps forward, her footsteps muffled. The air was crisp and the fog made it feel like she was exploring another world.
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“Quite a change from the library.” She looked at the gym area and estimated the amount of cleanup that would be needed. Like the library, the gym was a large space that on the upper floors would''ve been taken up by the stairwell and the space fronting each room. There was a dance studio, a boxing ring, and floor space for cardio machines and free weights. There were mirrors everywhere, all covered in dust.
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“
They’d left the library clean the previous night, but just like the arcade it had somehow gotten a final deep-clean overnight and was full of polished surfaces. Henry ran his finger over a row of books and found nothing gritty. Even the leather bindings looked newer.
Emma looked around in bewilderment. “How does it look so good?”
He shrugged. “The hotel does what it does.”
She heard a clink. She turned and saw a young woman, not yet twenty, who was reading at one of the tables. She wore big round eyeglasses and had her dark hair up in a bun. She occasionally broke the sound of the distant lobby music by turning a page or putting her cup into its saucer.
“
The woman looked up, her eyes going from Henry and Emma. She smiled and shook her head. “No, I just read here. You’ll find that the books eventually find their way back to the shelves.”
“