Hostel M2

M2-Part XVIII

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The evening was cold and misty with the fading red ball of fire, struggling to light up the sky. Small packs of snow lined across the roads making movement around the city much of a task as the traffic built with the close of day's work. The drive back home from the hospital wasn't all smooth. After much protocol from the medical staffs, Chris had been affirmed fit to leave the hospital, leaving behind just Marcello there. The man sure felt no fear whatsoever-or at least he acted like he didn't.

Chris had tried starting a conversation a few times with little success as it seemed both Mr. Parker and Henry were occupied with certain things. The traffic on the way home infuriated Mr. Parker, especially when the gas level blinked a red. Henry on the other hand was preoccupied with trying to solve the mess they all had found themselves in and every now and then, he looked at the web page on his phone, trying to match the clues.

The look on Alex's face when she answered the door was of mixed feelings of both surprise and delight to see Chris there with her father and Henry. Her eyes brightened up as a smile crept up the corner of her lips, Mr. Parker walked past her with Henry and Chris following behind. Henry nodded, acknowledging her presence while Chris sheepishly smiled, remembering the event from their last visit.

"Hey," she muttered in a low note.

"Hey," Chris answered, still wondering if really she had just greeted him with a smile.

"Sorry about what happened to you," Alex said, keeping her eye on Chris, "hope you get better soon."

Chris remained goggle eyed, struck with awe as Alex patted his cheek. His stomach rumbled with the aroma of freshly served meal which drifted in the air as he hurried up the stairs to the room he shared with Henry.

"Dude!!! Did you see that?" Chris squealed like a kid who had just seen Santa Claus. "Alex smiled at me. Dude, she even touched me."

Henry shook his head at his friend while he tried settling himself.

"Don't go there; when Professor Parker finds out, you'd be getting an F this semester."

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad."

They both gave each other a perky look and burst into a hysterical laughter.

Dinner was eaten almost silently without Mrs. Parker and it felt quite awkward as everyone kept to their selves all through the meal. Something wasn't right and it was pretty obvious.

It was almost 10 p.m. by the time they finished dinner. Mr. Parker was first to leave the table, his face wore no emotions and his mind scampered through many thoughts with so much pressure on him. Five days was all the time they got to if they were ever going to solve this mystery and he still couldn't think of a start off point to all of it. The trails were just so faint that keeping track seemed almost impossible, or at least it'll be a whole lot of work especially when the only lead they had was just a piece of article from the school's newspaper.

Meanwhile, miles across the city, in the dim lights of his office, Detective Maloney readied himself to leave for his home. By this time of the day, it was quite unlikely to see any staff around but with the series of events that had occurred lately and with his partner's pressure; the detective couldn't help working overtime. He flicked off the switch to the office and then made his way into the open office space with several rows of cubicles of idle computers.

Detective Miles was on the phone when Maloney stepped in. Acknowledging his partner's busyness, he walked over to the computer where Miles had been working, going through all the open tabs which were mostly articles of murder cases around the state. On the table were a few files, Miles flipped through and sighed, even more murder cases and suspects. He carefully placed the bag which had been slung over one shoulder on the table and waited till the other detective ended his call.

"You're all set to go I guess." Detective Miles put in the phone into his pocket while he talked; his tone was calm and devoid of any sense of stress in it even when the bags under his eyes told otherwise.

"Yes, but it seems like you'd be staying here a bit longer," Maloney said, scanning through the contents of one of the files from his partner's table.

Miles sighed, his head nodded in reply to Maloney's statement while his hands pressed on the bridge of his nose, as if trying to push in all the questions the events form Hostel M2 had brought to him.

"We can't keep up with this Miles," Maloney said, dropping back the file, "this isn't what we do."

"What do you mean?" Miles asked as he poured himself a glass of whiskey.

"The murders from Hostel M2."

Miles scoffed half way through downing the burning liquid in his cup. "What is this, are you going to buy the Professor's story now?"

"Your theories aren't 100% up to par mate and you know it," Maloney said, "this is more than mystery man and we're not paranormal investigators."

"Cut it out now!" Miles snapped, slamming the cup on the table with a loud thwack. "I know the 5 days frame is freaking you out but I got this, okay," he was pointing at the table filled with a slush of files by the time he completed his statement.

"Right." Maloney heaved as his hands ran over his fluffy auburn hair, "right!" He said, still unconvinced by Miles, especially when Miles sounded like the case was some kind of vendetta with the professor.

"You should get some rest now buddy," Detective Miles said, leading his friend out of the office towards the elevator, "and by the way, any word yet from Jo?"

The elevator's door glided open causing them to halt. They looked momentarily at each other since they were still a distance away from the empty open elevator. They walked closer, checking its insides, empty.

"Looks like I'll be using the stairs," Maloney said after pushing the 'close' button numerous times to no avail.

"See you in the morning," Miles said as he watched his partner leave and soon enough, only his faint footsteps could be heard trod down the stair. His jaw parted, and his eyes filled with confusion when suddenly the elevator's door glided back together and for a moment there, he could've sworn he had seen the shadow of something-or someone-in there.

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