Tatum Donnelly (a_straychild) wrote in horror_story, @ 2012-09-17 08:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | cj, complete, cycle001, tatum |
Who: Tatum & CJ.
When: First night at just around 12:30AM, after the end of the tour. Ends just before 4AM.
Where: Their room [115].
What: CJ is understandably freaked after his experience in the kitchen, and Tatum discovers him tearing up their room shortly after. In progress.
Warnings: Swearing, violence toward inanimate objects, generally mild.
It was an unfamiliar feeling, but on the way back toward her room, Tatum felt like she was walking on air. Everything had felt like one big mistake and mess when she had arrived at the Eclipse earlier, but things had been looking up since she had actually checked in. She was experiencing a lot more positive encounters in her stay than she would have expected. She had met not just Luce, who still had her stomach fluttering despite herself, but several new people, and she had actually spoken to them. And she hadn't dropped dead from embarrassment as a result. That was pretty fair odds to her. She was still a little freaked out from the tour, she couldn't promise she wouldn't be having nightmares about the Jane Doe from the hotel manager's construction story. But just the fact that the stories had managed to be more scary than the social aspect of the tour was refreshing. It would have normally been quite the opposite.
She had considered leaving a note for CJ earlier to tell him she would be back later, before she had left for the tour, but she had chickened out at the last minute. He probably didn't care what her plans were, and why would he? They were just roommates, at best. So now she was left wondering what he was doing the whole time that she was gone. Their room was basic, and Tatum wasn't complaining, but it certainly wasn't the most exciting place to hang out. They didn't even have a window that opened, so smoking was out. Maybe he just went to bed while she was gone.. they had ended up with two single beds, and that worked for her. She was feeling kind of like getting some shuteye herself. She wanted to get up early, and head back downstairs, have a quick wake and bake with breakfast. Maybe she would run across Luce again, or Nona.. any encounter with a beautiful girl was a good encounter, even if a little terrifying.
Exiting the elevator on the first floor, Tatum was humming lowly to herself as she navigated the short distance of hallway, her head kept ducked down as people crossed her path in the corridor. Her brow furrowed as she became closer to her room, and she could already hear a ruckus from several doors up. Was that really coming from her room? She got closer, realizing it had to be, and she could feel her heart starting to climb up her throat. Oh god, why had she agreed to share a room with anybody.. what was going on in there? Maybe it wasn't even CJ, maybe they were being robbed. Whatever or whoever it was, it sounded like they were doing quite a number on the place. Her whole mouth felt dry, and she chewed her lip anxiously and roughly as she stood, scared stiff outside of the door with her hand on her key in her sweater pocket. It was now or never, and Tatum braced herself as she heard the tinkle of breaking glass on the other side of the door. Twisting the key into the lock, she threw the door open and stepped inside, expecting the worst.
But it was just CJ, and he had done a number on the room indeed, was still doing a number on it. Tatum's eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared around at the practically obliterated hotel room. Trashed would have been putting it nicely, everything was everywhere, and all sorts of things were unscrewed, taken apart, strewn about. She could see the source of the broken glass, a lamp knocked down from the bedside table and broken in his haste. It was clear he was searching the room for something, a needle in a haystack apparently. Tatum was speechless, sure that her mouth had to be hanging open as she stood by the door and continued trying to take everything in. She was going to get charged through her ass for this kind of damage, and that alone was enough to make her want to burst into tears. There was no way they would be charging her credit card for this. That lamp was probably practically an antique. She should have known trusting people was a stupid idea after all.
"W-What the fuck, man!" Tatum finally managed to choke out, hurrying forward to adjust a mirror hanging lopsidedly on the wall before it fell to the ground and shattered. Every mirror and campy hotel photograph that hung on the walls looked like they had been moved, checked behind. But what the hell was he looking for? With the ghost stories of the tour still fresh in her head, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know. She half-hoped that he was just having a bad trip. Maybe he did more drugs after she left earlier. That would be better than the alternative, that he was in his right mind.
"W-What happened? S-Stop t-that!" she demanded, surprising even herself by stalking over and grabbing CJ's arm as he was in mid-trashing. "S-Stop it, p-please?"