by Lola Swain
“Oh, Brandt,” Nellie said and turned onto her back, “what are we going to do?”
“Now Perry!” Patrick said.
The recorder clicked and we all looked at Nellie who didn’t notice.
“Brandt, I wish you’d talk to me,” Nellie said and closed her eyes. “I know things have been difficult since we were here last, but I really don’t understand why. We should be flourishing and we seem to be worse than we were before.”
“Boo-fucking-hoo,” I said.
“But the thing is,” Nellie said and ran her hand down Brandt’s chest, “we won. Can’t you see that?”
Brandt lifted his head and looked at Nellie out of one eye.
“What?” Brandt said.
“I was just telling you that we won,” she said and kissed his cheek.
“What did we win?” Brandt said and looked around the room. “Where the fuck are we?”
“At the Battleroy,” Nellie said and pulled an emery board out of my purse.
Brandt sat up on the bed and looked around the room. He scratched the side of his face and wiped his nose on the sleeve of his pajamas.
“It’s like watching apes in the wild,” James said.
“I don’t like it,” Brandt said. “The room looks too much like the last.”
“This is it, Perry! Push the microphone out more,” Patrick said.
Nellie looked at Brandt and rolled her eyes as she filed her fingernails.
“It looks like the last room because it is the last room,” she said.
“Huh? Why did they give us the same room? They know,” Brandt said and tried to sit up but fell back against the headboard.
“They gave us the same room because I asked for the same room,” Nellie said.
“You’re insane. I don’t want to be here,” Brandt said and covered his eyes with his arm.
“It’s one night, Brandt. It doesn’t matter anyway. Between your scene in the front of the hotel, the talking to I got from the creepy manager and you nodding off for the last hour, it’s almost time for us to check out!”
“Good,” Brandt said and closed his eyes. “We shouldn’t be here.”
“Why the fuck not? Don’t I deserve a vacation? You know what, I am tired of getting the short end of the stick when I did what I did for us.”
“You fucking killed her,” Brandt said and slumped down in the bed.
“Yes!” I said and hugged James.
“She needs to say your name, Sophia,” James said.
“Are we back to that?” Nellie said.
“Where else?” Brandt said.
“You need to move on, Brandt. You’ve completely fallen apart. We are sitting on a mountain of money and you won’t allow us to do anything with it except spend it on drugs! We have that huge apartment and you won’t consider selling it. We could move and you won’t leave. It’s like you’re still married to Sophia.”
“I am still married to Sophia,” Brandt said and cried.
“Sophia is dead,” Nellie said and flung the emery board at him. “Get the fuck over it!”
“I was never a killer,” Brandt said and shook his head. “Look what you’ve done to me.”
“Oh, here we go,” Nellie said. “This is my fault now. You forget, it was your plan.”
“My plan to take her money,” Brandt said.
“You know, you’re right,” Nellie said and punched Brandt in the arm, “this was a fucking mistake. We’re back in the same room, fighting about the same shit that we did the night she died.”
“She didn’t die,” Brandt said as he wiped his eyes, “we killed her! I was never a killer.”
“Well, you are a killer Brandt. But baby, so am I. We’ve got the same thing in common. So, it’s not a great thing, but it’s our thing and we share that along with so many more things.”
“She’s sick!” May Gaspar said.
“I need to sleep,” Brandt said and closed his eyes.
“Yes, sleep,” Nellie said. “We’ll take a nap and then go to dinner, okay?”
But Brandt already nodded out. Nellie picked up a magazine and thumbed through it when a repetitious clicking sound started under the bed.
“What the fuck is going on under there, Perry?” Patrick said.
Nellie put the magazine on the bed and looked around the room.
“Brandt,” she said as she shook him, “there’s a noise.”
“Turn it off, Perry,” James said.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Perry said from under the bed.
“Just turn it off,” Patrick said. “She hears it.”
Nellie slid off the bed and cocked her head.
“Brandt, wake up!” Nellie said.
“What’s wrong?” Brandt said as he opened his eyes.
“Listen!” she said as she walked to the end of the bed.
“Perry, turn it off and grab the tape!” I said.
We all jumped up and ran toward the bed and Nellie was right behind us. Perry managed to turn the recorder off and pulled the microphone under the bed.
“Fuck, the tape is caught in the thingies!” Perry said.
“She’s coming!” Andy said.
Nellie walked to Brandt’s side of the bed and knelt on the floor.
“It came from here,” she said and lifted the bedspread up.
“Fuck!” I screamed.
Nellie tried to wedge her body under the bed and shoved her arms in and pulled the tape recorder out from under the bed. She studied the recorder and then looked around the room.
“What the…Brandt!”
The tape from the cassette hung out of the machine and Nellie pulled at the plastic window on the recorder and yanked the cassette from the machine.
“Call the dogs!” I said.
“Sophia, it’s too early,” James said. “It’s not even dusk.”
“We have to do it now. It’s going to take her about five minutes to figure this out and then what’s going to happen? They’ll leave.”
“Sophia, I’m sorry,” Perry said and hung his head.
“It’s not your fault,” I said. “I am not going to let them live if I can’t even save Bobby. Call the fucking dogs!”
Anthony ran out of the bedroom and quietly opened the front door. Nellie stared at the cassette and the recorder.
Brandt rolled onto his side and looked at Nellie.
“What is it?” he said.
“It’s one of those recorders,” she said and pulled a long strand of tape out of the machine.
“Maybe she won’t figure it out,” Patrick said. “Maybe she’s not that—”
“Someone left it,” Brandt said. “Just put it back.”
“Yeah, someone left it, alright,” Nellie said. “I bet it was that fucker Conway.”
“Why would he do that?” Brandt said and yawned.
“Why do you think?” Nellie said.
Nellie hurled the recorder across the room. It hit the wall and hunks of plastic flew. She pulled all the tape from the cassette and wrapped the tape around her hands several times and then stretched her hands apart. Finally, as her hands turned purple, the tape stretched to near transparency and snapped in two.
“Well, there goes Bobby Allen’s freedom,” I said.
“Baby,” James said, “we’ll figure something out.”
“No, it’s too late. We’ll be lucky if the dogs get here before they leave. You were right, James.”
“I can’t look at them anymore,” James said and walked out of the bedroom.
“Perry, take Mica and Mary and find Heinrich. Get the steaks from him and go to the property line and wait.”
“Throw some meat out into the woods,” Judah said, “to get the animals interested.”
“Got it,” Perry said.
“Brandt, Conway knows something,” Nellie said. “We need to get out of here.”
“Are we moving to another room?” he said and closed his eyes.
“Brandt,” Nellie said and threw the syringe into the sui
tcase, “we need to leave the hotel!”
“They’re coming,” Anthony shouted from the front door. “The dogs are coming!”
“Andy, you stay here and watch them,” I said.
We ran into the living room as Anthony ran into the suite. He leaned against the wall of the foyer and tried to catch his breath.
“Are you okay?” May Gaspar said as she rubbed Anthony’s back.
“They’re at the shore by now,” Anthony said and coughed. “They should be here soon.”
I looked around the suite and saw James sitting at the desk in the corner and staring out the window.
“What’s wrong?” I said as I walked toward the desk.
James looked at me and rested his chin in his hand.
“You are incredibly beautiful, you know that?” he said and smiled. “I was just thinking about the first time we met.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I can tell something is wrong.”
“Go and join the others,” he said and looked down at the desk. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
There was something in his face that told me not to argue with him and to do exactly what he said.
“What’s the plan now?” Patrick said.
“What are they doing in there, Andy?” I said.
“He’s in the bathroom and she’s sitting on the bed,” Andy Larabee said from inside the bedroom.
“Did you notice a lot of people in the lobby?” I said to Anthony.
“I didn’t have time to take a formal count, but I had to dodge quite a few bodies. We have to stall this.”
I turned around and looked at James who was once again staring out the window. Céline came up to me and put her arm around my shoulder.
“What’s wrong with him?” she said.
“I’ve no idea.”
“Shhh…do you guys hear that?” Judah said
We all crammed in the foyer and listened.
“A train,” Jennie-Lynn said.
“No,” Anthony said, “that’s the dogs.”
They sounded like a line of horses barreling down a track.
“Man, they’re loud,” I said.
“They’re hungry,” Anthony said and walked into the hallway.
“Could everyone step into the living room, please?” Anthony said. “I don’t want them spooked.”
We all backed into the living room as the snarling got louder.
“Dogs terrify me,” Jennie-Lynn said and grabbed Tara’s arm. “I’m phobic.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Jennie-Lynn,” James said from behind us, “they’re not really dogs, they’re—”
“Wolves!” Jennie-Lynn said and covered her eyes as the pack slunk into the living room.
“Don’t be afraid,” I said and walked toward the wolves. “They belong to us. What’s going on in there, Andy?”
“Not much,” Andy called from inside the bedroom. “She’s sitting on the bed getting dressed and he’s in the bathroom.”
“I hope he’s not dead,” Judah said.
I knelt on the floor and the wolves lined up in a row in front of me.
“Order them to sit, Jennie-Lynn,” I said. “Be commanding.”
“Sit!” she said.
And they sat.
“Oh my goodness,” she said, “did you guys see that? They did it all together.”
“Yes,” I said and reached out and ran my fingers through Number Eight’s thick fur, “they’re amazing.”
The wolves stared at us, panting in unison and waited for their commands.
“I’m not sure what to do,” I said as I looked into the wolf’s shiny, black eyes.
“She’s dialing the phone,” Andy said.
“If they don’t leave, we wait. If they do, we have to do it,” James said as he joined us.
“Okay,” I said and smiled at him.
“She’s calling for a taxi!” Andy said.
“Thanks, Andy,” I said.
“Well,” James said and squeezed my shoulder, “there’s your answer.”
“Let’s take them outside,” I said. “At least the guests won’t see them being dragged through the lobby.”
“She’s still on the phone,” Andy said. “They’re going back to Boston! He’s coming out of the shitter now!”
“Ace reporting, Jimmy Olsen,” Patrick said.
“She’s yelling at him!” Andy said from inside the bedroom.
“What else is new?” Céline said.
“I feel nervous,” I said.
“You?” Anthony said and stepped into the hallway outside the room. “I feel like I’m gonna drop dead.”
“Good one, Anthony,” James said.
“Sugar sticks, Mr. Conway is coming,” Anthony said.
“Did he say sugar tits?” Tara said.
“No, sugar sticks. He doesn’t swear,” I said.
I walked into the hall and stood next to Anthony as Mr. Conway walked up the corridor. He stopped and pressed his back against the wall before the door to the suite and mumbled to himself. Then he twisted his head and looked into the suite.
“What the hell are they doing now?” Mr. Conway said.
Mr. Conway tiptoed into the foyer and took a deep breath. Anthony and I walked around his body and into the room.
“Hello?” Mr. Conway said.
The wolves turned their heads together and stared him down.
“No,” Anthony said, “not him.”
“Yet,” I said and smiled.
“Sophia!”
“She’s off the phone now,” Andy said. “She’s putting his robe on.”
Mr. Conway walked backward toward the door to the suite and tripped over his feet and fell against the wall in the foyer.
“Who’s there?” Nellie said from the bedroom.
“Um—” Mr. Conway said and leapt toward the front door.
Nellie walked out into the living room.
“Conway?” she said.
Mr. Conway turned and faced her and the wolves stood and growled.
“Sit!” I said. “Not yet.”
They all sat and fixed their eyes on Nellie.
“Is it your habit to barge into guest’s rooms uninvited?” she said. “What do you want?”
“The door,” Mr. Conway said and pointed over his shoulder, “it was open.”
“Perhaps because you opened it?” Nellie said and walked toward Mr. Conway.
“N-n-no,” Mr. Conway said and backed toward the door.
“Y-y-yes, you stuttering fuck,” Nellie said.
Patrick chuckled and we all stared at him.
“What? Come on, that was funny!” he said and rubbed his eyes.
“Look, Conway,” Nellie said, “I don’t know what you’re thinking or why you’re acting like such a fool, I don’t really care. Brandt and I are leaving this flea-bag hotel.”
“I see,” Mr. Conway said and cleared his throat.
“So, your plan didn’t work,” Nellie said and leaned against the wall.
“What?” Mr. Conway said and shook his head.
“Spare me,” Nellie said.
“That boy is in jail,” Mr. Conway said.
“And? It seems to me, that’s where he belongs.”
“Not if he didn’t do it.”
“Do what?” Nellie said and smiled.
“You know what we’re talking about.”
“What are we talking about?” Nellie said and moved away from the wall toward Mr. Conway.
“I have to get back,” Mr. Conway said.
“I doubt that anyone will miss you,” Nellie said.
“Is she going to kill him?” I said.
“Let’s hope not,” Judah said. “I couldn’t bear his weekly staff meetings in the afterlife.”
“That would be horrid,” I said.
“Brandt’s walking toward the door!” Andy said.
Brandt shuffled toward the open bedroom door and peered around the corner.
“Nellie,” Brandt said, “the man said
he has to get back. Leave him alone and finish packing my things.”
Mr. Conway looked at Brandt, turned around and ran out of the room.
“What did you do that for?” Nellie said and walked toward Brandt.
The wolves stood up and snarled at Brandt.
“We should make our move outside,” Anthony said. “They’re getting a touch cagey.”
“We don’t need any more trouble,” Brandt said. “Let’s wait for the cab outside. It’s stuffy in here and I need some air.”
“Okay, guys,” I said, “let’s go outside. Come on, Andy.”
Anthony and the wolves left the room and the others followed. I turned around to find James. He stood in front of Brandt and got into his face.
“I hate you for doing this to her,” James said and gripped the back of Brandt’s neck. “And I hate you for making me do this.”
“You’re not doing a thing,” I said and grabbed his hand, “the wolves are. Let’s go.”
James and I walked down the corridor toward the lobby.
“Just let them go,” James said.
“What?” I said and stopped in the hallway.
“There’s no point if there’s not a confession, is there?”
“Are you serious? You’re the person who told me not to give up.”
“Yes, I suppose I am.”
“You definitely are. Look, no one wanted them to confess more than me, but that didn’t work, did it?”
“No. I have a bad feeling, though.”
“Yeah, I do too. I have a bad feeling that Bobby Allen is going to die for something he didn’t do. But them? Nah. Brandt and Nellie are here to die.”
“You seem to be living among wild beasts and you become a wild beast yourself.”
William Beckford
“What’s he doing?” James said as we walked through the lobby and passed Mr. Conway.
“Pacing,” I said. “He’s probably just waiting for them to leave like we are. At least it’s dusky now.”
“Not dark enough,” James said.
We walked outside and Anthony and the wolves were lined up on the lawn across from the entrance to the hotel and the others stood behind them.
I looked across the property and waved at Mica, Perry and Mary McDonald who were posted at the property line by the forest flinging chunks of meat into the woods with Dr. Newlander and Heinrich.
“There are no animals there,” I said.
“That’s why I wanted to wait. The less activity going on, the more likely whatever lives in the woods will come out. I think Jonas wants to see you,” James said and pointed.