by Tasha Black
“Yes,” she said. “I found the key. Now I just have to decode it.”
He stepped around behind the desk with her.
“May I?” he asked, indicating the other chair.
“Sure,” she told him.
He sat beside her, so close their legs almost touched.
She fought the urge to lean closer.
“How did you figure it out?” he asked.
“That’s the crazy part,” she said. “My grandmother used to work in this hotel, back in the ‘60s. I asked if I could stay in her old room.”
Beside her, Viktor stiffened.
“I know, I know it’s so sentimental,” Dru went on. “But I loved Nana Jane so much, and she’s a real inspiration. Anyway, her initials are carved on the top of the desk in there, and it got me thinking. Sure enough, her initials are the key.”
“So this is… her journal?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” Dru beamed. “Isn’t that amazing?”
He reached out and ran a finger down the spine of the little book.
“Look, I’ve already decoded the first couple of pages,” she said, opening it for him.
“What does it say?” he asked.
“Well, nothing all that exciting,” she admitted. “She started the journal when she started working here. So far she’s mainly talking about the hotel.”
Viktor leaned back in his chair.
“Amazing, right?” Dru asked.
“Are you sure you should be reading it?” he asked.
She glanced up, surprised.
His eyes seemed a brighter blue than before, he gazed at her intently.
“Why wouldn’t I read it?” she asked.
“If that was written by your grandmother, maybe there are things in it that you don’t want to know,” he said.
“Not so far,” she said. “And really, she’s just keeping a record of her life here.”
“But it was private,” he went on. “Think about the kinds of things young women write in their diaries. Do you really want to read about your grandmother’s romantic escapades?”
Dru laughed.
Viktor didn’t.
“This was before she married my grandfather,” Dru explained.
“And you think this makes it less likely that you’ll read something you wish you hadn’t?” he asked.
“Whoa,” she said.
“It was the sixties, Drucilla,” he said. “You have no idea what you might find in that book.”
“I can’t really picture her that way,” Dru replied.
“If you want to keep not picturing her that way, I suggest you stop reading her diary,” Viktor said.
He had a point.
She tugged her pendant and ran her thumb across her grandmother’s initials.
Her initials…
“She wanted me to read this,” she realized out loud. “She literally gave me the key.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“It’s her initials, J=A, I’ve been wearing the key to the journal around my neck all my life without realizing it.” She lifted the locket up so he could see it.
Viktor leaned in and cupped the tiny locket in his palm.
She tilted her head to the side so he could read the faded letters.
But he wasn’t looking at the necklace.
There was something like pain in his eyes as he leaned closer, his eyes on her lips instead of the locket.
“Dru, have you seen my key?”
Howie’s nasally voice interrupted whatever might have been happening between them and Viktor stood suddenly, as if his chair were electrified.
“Uh, no, I haven’t, Howie,” Dru said, trying not to let her voice sound as disappointed as she felt.
Howie was forever losing his skeleton key, which was super irritating, since he always wanted to borrow hers and then she had to track him down to get it back.
“Shit,” he said, shaking his head and wandering off.
She glanced at the grandfather clock. It was awfully late for Howie to be wandering around. He must have wanted to get into the good guest snacks in the locked kitchen pantry.
“I’d better go,” Viktor said, without making eye contact.
Dru watched as he disappeared back up the stairs, sorry to see him go, but a little relieved at the same time.
Whatever was happening between them, it wasn’t for a place like the front desk.
She finished the rest of her shift uneventfully, taking occasional breaks from her writing to decode a little more of the journal. But it was a slow process, and Nana didn’t seem to have much to say so far.
By the time Zander came in to relieve her, she was exhausted. She told him how useful his cypher wheel turned out to be, and he clearly wanted to hear all about it. But Dru was too tired to think straight, so she excused herself and headed to her room to get some rest.
13
In her dream, Dru waited in the round room with the stone floor again.
Summery air swirled in her hair as she watched the arched doorway, her back to the pretty view.
She didn’t care that it was a dream.
She needed to know why this kept happening. Where was she, and why did she keep meeting him here?
His footsteps were faster this time, setting an urgent pace.
“Drucilla,” the words echoed through the chamber in his deep voice just as his familiar form appeared in the doorway, hair tousled and shoulders tensed. Hunger was written on his beautiful face.
He closed the door behind him, and she moved toward him, cursing her body for being so frantic for his touch.
Before she could reach him, he was suddenly illuminated.
A flash of white light washed out the shadows, over his face.
She turned back toward the windows to see a wall of fire burning through on all sides.
The flames were so bright they hurt her eyes.
She curled her body away, burying her face in Viktor’s chest as he stood, immobile in the harsh light of the fire that would soon consume them both.
And it would consume someone else, too.
Because behind Viktor, the door to the stone room was creaking open once more, scraping against the floor.
Dru awoke in a cold sweat, her heart pounding.
The sound of the door scraping open hadn’t been part of her dream. It was real, and it was still happening.
Someone was in her room.
“Hello?” she called out.
There was no answer.
But she was sure someone was there in the darkness.
She froze, eyes wide to let in as much light as possible, trying desperately to see. Her whole body was on high alert, but she couldn’t sense anything.
Slowly, she reached for her bedside lamp and turned it on.
The light blinded her for a moment, and she cursed herself for not shutting her eyes first. Once they adjusted to the light, she saw only the familiar sights of the desk, typewriter, bookshelves, and laundry.
Dr u slid out of bed and tiptoed to the door.
It was still bolted from the inside.
She headed for the bathroom, still in stealth mode, grabbing a big glass paperweight from the desk on her way by, just in case.
She caught sight of her own movement reflected in the mirror as she stepped in, and barely restrained herself from smashing it with the paperweight.
Dru took a deep breath and drew back the shower curtain.
The tub was empty.
She wandered back into her room and ran a hand through her hair.
These vivid dreams were making her a little crazy - that was the only explanation.
“I’ve got to eat better,” she said to herself.
It wasn’t even noon yet. She knew she should go back to sleep, but there was no point. She was too amped up to sleep.
She showered and dressed quickly.
When she returned to her desk, Dru decided to work on the journal for a little while. She was still a li
ttle sleepy and didn’t feel ready to write yet.
She reached into her bag, but the journal wasn’t in the pocket.
Weird.
She grabbed the bag into her lap and rummaged around.
Nothing.
She closed her eyes and tried to remember the end of her shift. She could picture showing the journal to Zander when he came in to relieve her, and then sliding it into her bag.
That was this morning, right?
Maybe she was remembering wrong and she had left it at the desk. She was too tired to trust her own memory.
She headed downstairs to find out.
It was odd to see light filtering in through the stained-glass window at the landing. She hadn’t been awake at midday in so long.
The hotel was bustling. Well, as close to bustling as Hemlock House ever really got. She could hear music and conversation behind some of the doors.
The Wilders were in the hall right outside of their room. Jeffery had Jenna pinned up against the wall with his hips. She was moaning lightly and twining her arms around his neck.
Wow, they really did need some privacy.
She wondered why they didn’t send their daughter out on an errand or something. But Angie was a teenager and probably too smart for that.
Dru tried to slip past them noiselessly but Jeffrey must have sensed her presence.
He pulled back from his wife, who made a little surprised sound and smoothed down her blouse.
“Sorry,” Dru mouthed to her and kept going to the stairs.
She jogged down so as not to interfere with them anymore.
Zander was sitting at the desk, his wide-shouldered frame looked too big for the space.
“Dru,” he said happily when he spotted her.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Haha, I guess it is morning for you,” he replied. “Did you swap shifts with Hailey?”
“Nah, I just couldn’t sleep,” she told him. “Have you seen that journal anywhere?”
“No,” he said.
“Oh, I thought I might have left it down here when I showed you earlier,” she said.
“Let’s look,” he offered.
She came around behind the desk with him. Together they checked the drawers, though she was very sure she hadn’t put it in a drawer.
“Sorry, Dru,” he said, popping up from under the desk where he was checking to see if it fell.
Suddenly, he was close enough to touch. Close enough to kiss.
“Hey, Dru,” he said, his voice husky. “I, uh, was wondering if you might want to get dinner tonight. I could come back in before your shift and pick you up.”
Wow. Hailey had been right after all.
Dru had longed for this moment since high school.
Now that it was here, she was shocked to feel annoyed instead of elated.
She backed up and cleared her throat.
“Maybe another time. I’m really worried about the journal, so I’m just going to retrace my steps.”
She could see the disappointment in his eyes, but he didn’t argue.
“Sure, thing,” he said, nodding. “I hope you find it.”
She found herself running back up the stairs, her feet carrying her to Viktor’s rooms instead of her own.
She tapped on the door to Sapphire, feeling a little bad, knowing he was likely sleeping.
There was no answer, so she knocked loudly.
It occurred to her that he hadn’t wanted her to read the journal, and now it was gone.
Surely, she was overreacting. He wouldn’t actually take the journal just because he thought her reading it was morally ambiguous.
But it was too late - the idea had taken root.
She decided to knock on Onyx and then Quartz.
Nothing.
Before she could give up and go back to her own room, Dru spotted the housekeeper coming down the hallway toward her.
“Hey, Gert,” she said.
“Someone’s up early,” Gert said brightly. “Or is it up late?”
“Feels like both sometimes,” Dru replied, following in the older woman’s wake. “How’s your shift going?”
“Oh,” Gert said, sounding pleased and surprised. “So far, so good. Those poor folks in Topaz are really jonesing for some privacy though.”
She paused to slip her skeleton key into Sapphire’s lock.
“Oh the Wilders, yeah,” Dru said, following Gert inside as casually as she could. “I caught them making out in the hallway today.”
Gert clucked disapprovingly and strode over to the bed.
It looked purposefully mussed, but somehow not really slept in.
“How can anyone sleep without untucking the sheets all the way?” Gert asked, obviously not expecting an answer.
She threw the bedding into her wheeled bin and headed to the bathroom for towels.
Dru took advantage of the moment to look around.
The big trunk was still on the floor in the corner, and the closet had only a few items of clothing hung in it.
The surface of the desk was clear. There was no sign of the journal, and she couldn’t really look without opening drawers, which she didn’t dare do with Gert in the next room.
And there was no sign at all of Viktor himself. Was he really sleeping in one of the other two rooms?
Gert emerged from the bathroom with an armload of towels.
Dru knew she couldn’t make enough excuses to follow her through all three rooms.
“Do you really wash all the towels every day?” Dru asked. “Some of those are still folded.”
“Of course,” Gert said. “It’s the only way to be sure they’re clean.”
“What about in his other two rooms?” Dru asked.
“Them too,” Gert said. “Though I can’t see that he’s ever spent any time in any of them except to put sheets over things. Weird guy. Seems like he could spare a room for the Wilders if he’s not even using them.”
It was weird.
Suddenly Dru felt desperate to find him.
“I guess I’d better let you get to it,” she said. “See you later, Gert.”
“See you,” Gert said with a smile as she continued to fluff up pillows like her life depended on it.
Dru headed out into the corridor again.
The Wilders were gone now, presumably looking for a more private spot to enjoy each other’s company.
Dru decided to check the solarium for Viktor.
After brushing off Zander, she didn’t exactly feel like bumping into him again so soon.
She headed back to the servants’ exit, and then down the backstairs. It was comfortingly dim back there, since there were no windows and just the one ancient light fixture.
She opened the door to the lawn and was momentarily dazzled by the brilliance of the sun on the snow.
The air was cold enough to be unpleasant without a jacket, so she turned right and entered the solarium quickly from outside.
Warm, fragrant air greeted her as she stepped in among the plants. Light filtered through the foliage, making her feel like she was in a palace in some fairytale.
Dru was struck again by how different the hotel was in the daytime.
A glance around made it seem that she was alone, but she wandered the paths between the plants to explore the nooks and crannies.
“Oh, hello, dear,” Hazel Van Buren exclaimed in a pleased way, looking up from the game of checkers she was playing with her sister.
“Hello,” Honey echoed.
“Hello, Miss Van Buren and Miss Van Buren, how are you today?” Dru replied.
“We’re fine, child,” Hazel said primly.
“You haven’t seen an old diary around, have you?” Dru asked impulsively.
“I can’t say that we have,” Hazel said. “Did you lose it? I don’t think you’re old enough to have anything that could rightfully be called old.”
“I did,” Dru said with a smile. “It belonged to my grandmother. Would yo
u let me know if you see it anywhere?”
“Of course,” Hazel said.
“Of course,” Honey echoed.
“Thank you, ladies,” Dru said.
“You have a nice day, dear,” Hazel told her.
“You too,” Dru said over her shoulder as she headed for the door.
She stuck her head in the dining room and even the sitting room, but Viktor was nowhere to be found.
She went back the way she came, through the solarium and back outside, to get back to her room from the rear stair.
The snow around the back of the hotel was unbroken, except for a line of tracks leading from the groundskeeper’s cottage.
That made sense, most guests going in and out would use the lobby to reach the trails. Only Chester had a reason to be out here.
Where are you?
She sighed, her breath pluming in the cold, clear air.
There was nothing to do now but go back upstairs and try to take a nap before her shift.
Though she had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to sleep thinking about her missing journal, and her missing friend.
14
Dru woke up from a short, dreamless sleep feeling disoriented.
Her phone was playing its usual chime. She grabbed it and swiped it off, realizing she felt strange because she had only slept for a few hours, and she was fully dressed.
So much for thinking she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep without knowing where Viktor and the journal were. Apparently, she needed rest more than she needed answers.
She got up, stretched, and then freshened up.
It was almost eight, so too late for dinner from the dining room.
She left the typewriter behind for the moment, and wandered down to the vending machine as she searched for some change.
“Dru, where have you been?” Hailey yelled, spotting her from the lobby desk.
“Just grabbing something to eat,” Dru said. “Want anything.”
Hailey waved her off.
Dru selected jalapeño chips and diet Dr. Pepper from the machines and then joined her friend at the front desk.
“Where were you?” Hailey demanded. “It’s been a super weird day.”
“You didn’t see an old journal down here, did you?” Dru asked.
“No,” Hailey said. “Should I have?”
“I lost one, so I was just hoping,” Dru said. “If you see it let me know.”