Twenty Questions
Who: Edison and Ella Where: Outside his room then around the hotel When: late morning
Edison had really enjoyed talking to Kennedy and despite the weird waking up in the hotel that didn’t make sense, things weren’t really as bad as they could be. He’d not slept much just an hour or two, passing time on his computer, reading through things to show Kennedy at a later point, things that she might deem interesting and he was awake when he heard breakfast arrive. That itself wasn’t a bad deal and he brought it in to munch on food before getting dressed and deciding to head out again. He packed his laptop, wanting to have it on hand if he happened to run into Kennedy, but his real goal was to explore the hotel, really take it in and see what he could learn from it.
Ella wasn’t pleased about waking up yet again in the hotel, but at least she didn’t have a nightmare that night. She felt a little unsure about her safety, even though nothing had happened to threaten her well being. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened to her during her stay thus far other than the issues she had with her phone the day before. She was still waiting for the right moment to try one of the doors leading outside to see what part of the hotel it would lead her to.
After eating her breakfast she grabbed her things and headed out of her room to explore. She was browsing some of the games she had on her phone when it slipped out of her hands and broke into a few pieces. Ella muttered some profanity under her breath as she gathered the battery, sim card, the back of the phone and started to put the pieces back together. “Stupid phone, stupid lotion,” she said as she kneeled on the floor outside of the door her phone had broken in front of. She didn’t stop to think about it. She just needed her phone working again.
Edison all but stepped on her when he opened the door, not really expecting someone to be kneeling in front of his door, but he stopped at the last minute, bouncing a tiny bit before he stopped in his doorway. “Um. Hey.”
Ella looked up and saw Edison. “Hi,” she replied with a smile. She finished putting the battery of her phone in place then snapped the back piece closed. “I dropped my phone,” she explained as she rose to her feet. She didn’t want him thinking she was a crazy person who randomly decided to kneel in front of his door. Besides she didn’t think that would be the best pickup line. She couldn’t help but notice how cute he was and she wondered how many attractive people she would run into before the day was over. “I’ll get out of your way.”
“Put that together,” Edison said with a nod, considering she’d been working with it. “No worries. Not much of anywhere to go right?” He hadn’t found a way out of the hotel yet at least. Just wound up back in a ballroom when he went to check out the outside.
Ella turned her phone on to make sure it was working properly. “It’s back together and working as it should,” she said with a nod once she was sure this was the case. “I haven’t had a chance to explore much, but I have had the good fortune of meeting interesting people thus far. What about you? What’s your name? I’m Ella. I’m staying in room 125 and I have no idea where the people I’ve met are staying, but I doubt it’s this floor because I haven’t seen them around again.”
Ella knew that one way to find out where people where would be by walking around the hotel and hope to run into them. If she was feeling bolder she may just take a chance and start knocking on some doors just to see if she would eventually find them, but that took not only guts but patience as well. Besides she had no idea how many floors this hotel had.
Edison was a bit surprised by the barrage of questions, but he took them all in and did his best to tick off answers. That was what he usually did anyway, answer questions. “Met one girl yesterday. I’m Edison and I’m staying right here.” He pointed to his door, which was still open behind him. Once he was done, he went through what she said again just to confirm that he had hit all the points and was nodding again.
Ella laughed. “Of course you are. Edison, eh? That’s an interesting name. I’ve never met anyone with that name.” She took a moment to think about all the people she had met thus far and the name didn’t ring a bell. “I’m going to look around a bit. The only places I have seen thus far are the front desk and the ballroom which has this nice bar inside. There have to be other places to explore or so I’m assuming. This is a nice looking hotel after all and it would be a shame if it didn’t have more sights to behold.”
“Out of me and Tom, not many people have it or go by it,” Edison said. “I was thinking the same thing. See what I can see you know?” he said tucking his hands in his pockets after closing his door. “Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all. I always enjoy good company,” she replied. Ella pocketed her phone so she wouldn’t drop it again then started walking down the hallway. She didn’t have any idea where she was going but she hoped that wandering would lead her somewhere interesting. “I met a guy and a girl yesterday. I met both of them by chance but only offered alcohol to one, or at least that’s what I think happened. I don’t recall much, only that he was grumpy.”
Edison made sure his door was closed behind him before following after her. “A guy and a girl. Huh. I met a girl, though not as grumpy.” But Kennedy had been her own version of down on the world. Edison was sure it should have been a turn off but it wasn’t. It was actually more amusing than anything else.
Ella smiled, nodded and continued walking. She looked around to see if she could make some landmarks for herself. This would give her a sense of where she was going, especially if she intended on doubling back later. “I wonder how many people are staying here. So far the people I met have bumped into others. More importantly I wonder how the hell we all got here and why we’re here. I went to bed in my own apartment and woke up here. Strange right?” She didn’t know how else to describe it and was curious about other people’s arrivals.
“I think I fell asleep at work,” he admitted, shrugging a little. He’d been in the library. “I work the night shift.” He looked around them as well, nodding to what she said. “I’m not sure any of us have any answers either. Or I don’t at least. I wish I did.”
“What do you do?” Ella asked, curious about Edison’s profession. She hadn’t taken the time to ask Adam nor Lindsey about themselves, at least not in regards to their professional lives. She didn’t know how this information would help her, but she remembered what the card in her bedroom said. It suggested that the guests get to know each other.
“Librarian. Kind of boring,” he told her, though he liked his job. But he also knew he was pretty boring to most people. It was the downfall of being a nerd. “You?”
“Bartender. Sometimes it can be boring, but sometimes it’s not,” she replied in kind. Ella enjoyed her job thoroughly but she didn’t see herself doing it forever. “Do you specialize in anything in particular?” she asked, remembering some of the librarians back at her university and how she always had to talk to specific ones about certain topics, depending on what information she needed to write her papers.
“I studied ancient histories,” Edison explained, but shrugged. “At work though, mostly just handling the standard stuff. Overdue books and the like.” He worked the night shift so it was cleaning things up, helping guide overstressed college students towards the right sections and occasionally waking them up to send them home. “Not nearly as cool as being a bartender.”
Ella laughed. “What do you think is so cool about being a bartender? I mean yeah you get to meet new people and you have your regulars, but it does get old after a while. I’m mostly doing it to pay off my student loans and because I don’t know what else to do with myself. I assumed I would figure it out as I poured people drinks,” she explained.
“Not interested in doing what you studied?” Edison asked. Most people had been amazed that he’d been interested in studying history and library studies, but unlike so many of his classmates who had just liked history and majored in it but had no intention of doing something with it after graduating. “I guess the situation. Better than a stuffy little library.”
“I am. It’s just not as easy as it sounds. I studied Art and Art History. I could probably find work at a museum, but I don’t have much experience when it comes to curating. I know how to draw though and that’s the main reason I majored in it,” she explained. Ella knew she had a lot to live up to because she held high expectations for herself. Unfortunately she didn’t know where to get started. “I do make some money thanks to my art, but not enough to live on. When it comes to art you have to keep your day job,” she added.
Soon she was face to face with a door. Since the purpose of walking around was to explore she opened it and it lead her to the courtyard. She admired the small garden and smiled. “I thought people said there wasn’t any way to get outside,” she said, mostly talking to herself out loud. She looked around for another door that would lead to freedom, but of course found none because that wasn’t the reason for the garden. She shrugged and decided to just enjoy the garden itself.
“All the best artists are usually more famous after they die tragically,” Edison said with a shrug. “But I understand I think. I sort of knew I wanted to be a librarian and write papers and be lost in books forever.” Which if you don’t want to do as much you don’t study what he studied. That was the short of it. At least his parents had breathed a tiny sigh of relief when they found out he had a plan. They didn’t like the plan but it was a plan.
The garden looked like something out of a novel though, and Edison found himself, turning in circles as he walked behind her. “Well not completely outside it seems. This is still pretty closed off.”
“Yeah and I definitely wouldn’t enjoy the money if I were dead. I don’t want to be famous, just recognized someday. This is the real world after all and you have to make ends meet in any way possible so fame isn’t priority right now,” she replied with a nod. She continued to search the courtyard for a few moments but was disappointed to learn that Edison was right - this place was closed off but at least it was beautiful, not that the hotel didn’t have its charm. “I had no idea this was here. I may have found a new place to draw.” She couldn’t stop staring at the flowers.
“That’s what they say at least. Though you wouldn’t be the only starving artist out there. There’s plenty in Providence alone,” Edison said. He glanced back at her, seeing her watching the flowers. “I think there’s a lot here we don’t know about yet.”
“Yeah. It’s weird enough we all woke up here without any idea why, but on top of it we can’t get out nor reach out to our family and friends. Did you have a card in your room saying something about getting to know the people around you?” Ella asked him. She wanted to confirm that this card was received by every guest and that it wasn’t exclusive to just her room.
“Mmm,” Edison agreed with a nod, turning his focus on her and crossing his arms over his chest. “No other answers, but yes to your question. And I’m not the only other one. I’d bet we all got the same note. Which leads me to believe someone or something has a plan.” What it was though, he had no insight to.
“I wonder what that plan is and how many people are involved in making it happen. So far from what I’ve gathered there aren’t many things connecting the people I’ve met thus far. I haven’t been able to see any indication of it anyways,” she replied thoughtfully. Ella thought about everyone she had met thus far and they appeared to come from different backgrounds. She didn’t take the time to interrogate people thoroughly but from discussions she could tell everyone was different. She wondered if this was part of the plan or if everyone was brought to the hotel by chance. It couldn’t be by chance.
“Oh to pull this off? A lot. Or something much bigger than us. Even then…” His mind went to movies like Cabin in the Woods and Saw and the huge organization that set up giant games and situations. “That we don’t have any real connections or consistency between us is probably the point,” he told her. “You need different people to accomplish tasks right? The brains, the beauty, things like that?”
“I guess. It makes sense but still…” Ella paused not knowing what to say. She didn’t know how she could be helpful to anyone. Yes, she made an awesome drink and she did have some amazing drawing skills. However, she didn’t think either of these skills were the reason she was chosen to be here. She couldn’t guess if someone had asked her to. “What task could we accomplish together? I’m sure your expertise will come in handy, but when will we find out what those tasks are? We can’t stay here indefinitely without finding out what we’re doing here.”
Edison shrugged. “No idea. Though I imagine we’ll find out whatever it is sooner rather than later.” Which was what had him anxious. “I guess for now we just get acquainted with our surroundings and be on guard.”
Ella nodded. “What have you been doing to get acquainted with your surroundings? Have you been wandering around much lately? Oh I forgot to ask, how long have you been here? To be honest I haven’t truly been wandering as much as I’d like,” she explained. “I need to do some drawing in here at some point. I’ll bring my stuff with me next time.”
“I got here yesterday,” Edison said. “And I’ve done some wandering, some hiding out reading through research I already have on my laptop.” He looked around them again and nodded. “Seems like it would be a good space for inspiration.”
“Me too. I wonder if everyone got here yesterday or if some people were here longer than that,” Ella said, partly replying to him and partly thinking out loud. “What have you been researching? If you don’t mind me asking that is. If it’s personal you don’t have to share. I don’t have many of my electronics with me here, but that’s fine because I mostly use my iPhone for everything anyways.” Ella looked around some more then started to head out. She figure there was more to explore and she didn’t want to remain in the courtyard for longer than needed. “I think we should keep looking around unless I’ve already bored you,” she added.
“I haven’t met anyone who got here any earlier, but I suppose it’s possible,” Edison said with a shrug before smirking a little. “The occult actually. And a variety of other things related to my graduate work, but the supernatural stuff tied to religions is sort of the fun aspect of it. I find it interesting, the history and lore of things.” It wasn’t personal, though he was aware that it was a bit odd. The only person that might truly get it was Kennedy, but that was okay in his mind. “I don’t think it would hurt to see more of the place. Just following your lead.”
“Actually now that I think about it can we meet up later and continue looking around then? Maybe I can stop by your room this evening and we can talk some more. Is that okay?” Ella asked. She felt a little hesitant about asking but she really needed to do some thinking. She wanted to continue the tour of the hotel, especially because she thought Edison was really cute and she didn’t mind his company, but she also wanted to do some sketching. She was feeling inspired and it had been a while since inspiration hit her so suddenly. She wanted to take advantage of it before it was gone. The fleeting nature of inspiration made her realize she needed to go with her gut right now and she hoped Edison would understand.
So maybe that was a tiny bit weird, but he found himself nodding anyway. “Sure that’s fine. I’ll be around.” He stated a step away then stopped to look back at her. “You okay?” The drive in him to help people was showing, but he didn’t want her running him off because she was freaking out. He could handle a freak out. Maybe. If she didn’t cry he could probably handle a freak out. Crying made things all the more complicated.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Inspiration hit and I need to draw...like right now. You can stop by my room anytime by the way. You’re more than welcome to. I’m in room 125,” she said, giving him a small wave. She headed towards the door and walked briskly back to her room. Ella hoped she didn’t appear rude. She wasn’t usually so curt with goodbyes. She would apologize to him later if she had to. She liked gifting people a sketch or two as a way of apologizing sometimes.