See Tom Run

by Scott Wittenburg

  Tom saw Bummer grin a moronic grin out of the corner of his eye. Tom simply stood there and braced himself for whatever came next.

  “This way, please,” Chappy said, taking Tom by the arm and leading him across the lobby. “I have a special place for you to gather your thoughts and ponder the meaning of life.”

  He led Tom over to a pair of doors located at the far side of the lobby as Bummer and Hoops followed behind.

  “You’re roommate awaits you.” Chappy announced as he swung open the doors.

  What Tom saw nearly made him vomit.

  Suspended by a wire cable attached to a chandelier on one end and wrapped around the wrists of his outstretched arms on the other was, or what used to be, Erin’s boyfriend Kyle. He was totally nude and covered from head to toe in crimson trails of blood. His skull was shattered in several places, swollen to twice its original size and horribly disfigured-presumably Bummer’s handiwork.

  Kyle had been used as a human pinata and now resembled a slaughtered animal hanging in a butcher shop.

  Tom stared for a moment in horror then turned away. Chappy immediately pushed him into the room so hard that he fell to the floor.

  “Take a good look at this luckless wretch, Tommy-Boy! Now you see what happens to intruders to our domain! And this piece of crap actually had the nerve to call me a ‘limey asshole’-imagine that! Before I could recover from this untimely insult Bummer was on the bloke quicker than flies on shit, worked him over real good with his crowbar. Couldn’t bring myself to stop him, actually.

  I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t enjoy watching this worthless shit being turned into hamburger by my loyal mate. Loved every minute of it, in fact!”

  Tom’s shoulder winced in pain from the fall. He sat for a moment and stared up at the three misfits standing before him, wondering where Erin was at this moment. The last thing he wanted to do was let on to them that he knew Kyle and Erin; that much he was sure of.

  “Why is he-” Tom began to ask.

  “Strung up?” Chappy finished the question for him. “Let’s just say that we had a little fun with the bastard before Bummer finished him off and leave it at that. You’ll know the rest soon enough.”

  Tom gulped. He had nearly forgotten that he was a condemned man-or maybe he didn’t want to remember after seeing Kyle hanging from the ceiling like a sacrificed animal.

  Have to find Erin and get the holy hell out of here! he thought. He did not want to stick around long enough to find out ‘the rest.’

  “Well Tommy-Boy, I’m getting pretty hungry so we’ll leave you here so you can and your new friend can ‘hang out’ together until we finish eating. When we come back, you are in for one big surprise!”

  I can hardly wait, Tom thought. Chappy led the other two out of the room and the doors swung shut behind them. He heard the click of a deadbolt and the muffled sound of their chuckles as they left him there in this death chamber.

  Tom tried not to look up at Kyle as he got to his feet and began casing out the room for some way out.

  CHAPTER 10

  The room was cavernous and may have been used for banquets or as a meeting room-he’d never been in the Waldorf and could only guess the room’s purpose. He was aware that the historic site had a rich past and had played host to a number of balls and similar get-togethers for socialites and countless big names throughout history.

  Tom knew he didn’t have much time-Chappy and the boys could be back any minute-so he sprinted along the perimeter of the room, checking every door for a possible escape route. He was forced to turn with his back toward each door in order to turn the doorknobs since his hands were still cuffed behind him. It didn’t take long for to discover that every door in the huge room was locked securely.

  Since he was trapped inside, his only chance for survival would be to make a break for it through the main doors when the lynch mob returned. He may need a weapon, though If he could just get these fricking handcuffs off…

  He stored this fantasy away on his wish list and looked around for a weapon, well aware that there was little he could do without the full use of his hands and arms. Noticing how the silverware was wrapped inside the neatly folded linen napkins, he went over to one of the tables and turned his back against it, managed to grasp an enveloped silverware packet in his left hand and pulled out a serrated dinner knife with his right. Pretty weak defense against a. 44 magnum or a crowbar but better than nothing.

  Next, he looked around for a suitable table to hide under. Fortunately, they were all large with white tablecloths draped over them that fell nearly all the way to the floor. This would enable him to conceal himself fairly easily under any one of them. He moved toward the entrance and searched for the best vantage point. If he were to hide under a table perhaps fifteen feet away and to either side of the door, he just might be able to sneak out past the punks before they had a chance to realize what was happening.

  Which he realized was a long shot at best.

  Suddenly, he heard voices outside that were getting louder. He scurried over to one of the tables, crouched down onto his knees, fell onto his right side, then scooted in under the table. He noticed in despair that the tablecloth was still flapping in the breeze when he heard the sound of the doors fly open.

  “We’re back, Tommy!” Chappy shouted in his signature cockney accent. “I certainly hope that you and our- What’s this? I don’t see you Tommy-Boy! Oh, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy-it’s really not a good idea for you to try to hide from us. It is definitely going to make your demise all the more painful!”

  Tom could see two pairs of feet from his vantage point under the table. Where was the third set? he wondered. Please don’t tell me that one of these cutthroats is still outside in the lobby! If that were the case, he didn’t have an ice cube’s chance in Hades of A shot suddenly fired out. It sounded like a cannon going off.

  “Frick an a, Tommy! You’d best be giving yourself up this very moment or you are going to regret it! I’m going to make it a point to yank off each and every one of these bloody tablecloths until I find you. Then, I shall proceed to make you a very, very sorry bloke!”

  There was a short pause.

  “Okay, mates, let’s do it!” Chappy cried, followed by cheers and the shuffling of feet.

  Mates, he had said, as in plural!

  Tom peeled his eyes to locate all three pairs of feet. A second later, he saw the third set walk directly past him toward the far side of the room. He held his breath and paused a moment, then quietly backed his way out from under the table.

  After he had cleared the tablecloth and found himself out in the open, Tom glanced around and saw Chappy working the tables toward the far end, Bummer to his left and Hoops immediately behind him. All three were yanking the tablecloths off the tables with a flourish, like aspiring magicians. Miraculously, none of them had yet spotted him nor were any of them facing his way at that particular moment.

  Tom hunched forward as far as he could and hurried toward the doors on his knees.

  “I’m gonna get you, Tom-Boy!” he heard Hoops cry from behind. With his heart in his throat, Tom stood up and ran toward the doors as quickly as his legs would carry him. He reached the entrance, shoved one of the doors open with his shoulder, slipped through and turned his back against the doors. He heard Hoops holler “he’s escaped!” as he fumbled anxiously with the dead bolt, trying desperately to slide it home. Finally, he heard a metallic clack as he managed to lock the door.

  One to go He fumbled with the other bolt as he heard the boys running toward the entrance. He was able to slide the bolt home an instant before he felt the weight of the door smash against his back.

  “Open this door, motherfucker!” Chappy snarled from the other side. A shot rang out and Tom saw the hole where the slug had torn through about an inch from the handle.

  Tom sidestepped the doors and ran across the lobby toward the Park Avenue entrance, spotted a ring of keys lying on a table between a Heinekin and a plate
of French fries, managed to snatch them up just as he heard two more shots ring out.

  They were going to shoot their way through that door any second He needed to make a quick decision: either bolt out onto the street and run as far away from these crazy shits as earthly possible or stay in the hotel and likely become a piece of dead meat. The decision was a no-brainer. Erin was somewhere in here and he had to find her.

  He wondered if the elevators were working. Then he recalled Chappy’s words: “practically everything in this place is fully functional.” He could only hope that included the elevators.

  Tom sprinted across the lobby to the bank of elevators, pressed the “up” button with his elbow and held his breath. The door slid open with a quiet whoosh.

  Awesome! he thought.

  He hopped in, pushed the button for the fifteenth floor for no particular reason except that it seemed far away from where he stood now, located the ‘close door’ button and pressed it repeatedly. He heard another gunshot come from the lobby and the muffled sound of running madmen through the door as it closed.

  Tom nervously watched the floor indicator panel as the car ascended. The elevator slowed down and stopped at the fifteenth floor, the doors slid open and he bolted out into total darkness.

  Perhaps not such a good choice, he thought to himself. Were the lights off on all of the upper floors or had he just happened to choose the only one that was?

  No time to ponder-he caught the door before it closed and re-entered the elevator.

  The odds of the power being on were probably greater near the lobby, he theorized. Although he didn’t really want to go back toward the pursuing posse, he knew he was going to have to chance it. Besides, he wasn’t even sure if these bad boys were still in the hotel at the moment. They may have thought he fled outside instead-in fact, that was most likely the case. After all, they didn’t know that he knew Kyle and Erin-so there was no reason for him to stay in the hotel as far as they were concerned. They would assume that he had fled the same way he had come in: via Park Avenue.

  Of course! he thought. Right now was his best shot at finding Erin while they were out looking for his ass.

  He pressed the button for the fifth floor. He would try it and then work his way down. Erin would most likely be on one of the lower floors.

  The doors closed and the elevator plummeted at a fairly good clip. When it reached the fifth floor, Tom crossed his fingers as the door opened.

  The floor was lit up like a Christmas tree!

  He stepped out and looked in either direction, noting that the floor consisted of numbered guest rooms as far as he could see. He went to the nearest room and turned the knob. Locked. He glanced at the ring of keys in his hand, wondering if there was a master key to the rooms or a key to the handcuffs.

  He stepped over to one of the chairs sitting near the elevator, turned around and dropped the keys onto it. He searched for a small key that might be the one for the cuffs. Most of the dozen or so keys were of average size and appeared to be door keys. There was also a GM car key-perhaps the one for the hearse.

  Tom spotted a tiny brass key that looked like it could be the one he sought. Excitedly, he picked up the key ring, went over to a mirror and began the arduous task of trying to slip the key into the tiny hole of the cuff. Sweating profusely, he eventually managed to get the key into the hole and nearly snapped his wrist fumbling around trying to get the key to rotate inside the hole. Five minutes later, he heard a crisp click as the manacle sprang away from his left wrist, freeing his hand.

  A victorious smile came to Tom’s face as he brought his hands around and unlocked the other cuff.

  He’d done it, by god!

  Tom picked up the keys, chose one randomly and tried it in one of the guest room doors. The key went in but wouldn’t turn. What he needed to do now was find the room holding Erin captive and worry about the keys later.

  The problem was that she could be anywhere in this huge hotel and there was really no way to know where to start. He would just have to give it his best shot and pray for a miracle before Chappy and his entourage returned to the Waldorf.

  He quickly worked his way down the corridor, knocking on each door and listening for a sound. Then he advanced to the adjacent hallway and repeated the process until he’d covered nearly the entire fifth floor. When he suddenly heard a sound coming from the direction of the elevators, he froze where he stood and then quietly backtracked toward the direction of the sound. He arrived at the end of the hallway and cautiously peeked around the corner.

  At first, he didn’t see anything. Then suddenly, he saw the door to the stairway open and someone stepped out into the hallway.

  It was Bummer!

  Tom thought Bummer had spotted him so he ran down the corridor, thankful that it was carpeted. He could only pray that Bummer wasn’t headed toward him because if that were the case, he was a goner. The corridor dead-ended and he would have no time to get inside any of the rooms.

  He heard Bummer running down the hall toward him and started looking around for a possible escape route. There was nothing. Bummer would be rounding the corner any second.

  Tom tried the handle of the nearest guest room door and couldn’t believe it-the door was unlocked! Quickly, he opened it, ran inside and closed the door behind him. He slid the deadbolt as quietly as he could, praying that Bummer wouldn’t hear “Room service,” he heard just outside the door.

  Bummer had found him.

  Tom glanced around the room then heard a huge crash at the door. He turned around and saw the sharp edge of an ax sticking out where it had sliced through the door.

  Feeling like he was in a scene from The Shining, Tom watched in horror as the ax blade withdraw then sliced into the door again about a half-inch to the right of the first hole. He ran over to the bed, grabbed a lamp and stood off to the side. It was at that moment that he spotted another door in the room with a deadbolt on it.

  A door that led to the adjoining room!

  Tom ran over to the door, slid open the dead bolt and tried the doorknob. It turned. He opened the door, ran into the adjoining room and locked the door behind him. He was safe for the moment.

  But how long would it take for Bummer to break into the other room then proceed to this room?

  He needed to get away quickly or he would be a dead man.

  Tom heard the ax continuously crashing into the wood as he stepped over to the room entrance. Quietly, with his heart beating hard in his chest, he cracked the door an inch and looked out into the corridor. Fortunately, the door swung in the direction that allowed him to see Bummer next door hacking the hell out of the door with his ax. Unfortunately, there would be nothing standing between him and Bummer once he ran out into the hall.

  So he would have to wait until Bummer axed his way through the door then take off like a bat out of hell.

  “You just wait till I get in there, asshole!” Bummer grunted, short of breath from his labors. “I’m gonna make you look like a pile of raw ground beef!”

  Tom watched as Bummer swung his ax one more time then poked his hand through the gaping hole in the door. He heard the deadbolt slide and watched as Bummer swung open the door. The moment he went inside, Tom bolted out of the room.

  “Gotcha!” Tom heard the stocky slob shout the moment he hit the hallway. He sped after Tom and was directly behind him in an instant. Tom suddenly turned around and saw Bummer holding the ax high over his head, poised to strike.

  That’s when Tom swung the lamp as hard as he could into Bummer’s fat face.

  The boy was so shocked that he dropped the ax and simply stood there dumbfounded for a second, a look of hideous stupidity on his face. Tom swung again, this time landing the brass base of the lamp squarely into Bummer’s jaw.

  Blood literally squirted out as Bummer howled like an animal. Tom hesitated a moment, then gathered up all his strength and let him have it one more time, this time from overhead into his huge hairless skull.


  Bummer slumped and fell like a limp dishcloth onto the floor, out like a light.

  Or dead as a doornail-Tom wasn’t really sure.

  He dropped the lamp and sprinted down the hall toward the elevator, wondering if any of the other boys were in the hotel. Just in case, he opted for the same stairway Bummer had taken instead of risking the elevator.

  Tom made his way quietly down the stairs to the fourth floor, listening carefully for any sounds. All he could hear was his own footsteps echoing off the walls.

  He went through the stairway door. He saw more guest rooms in either direction. He started down the hallway and resumed methodically knocking softly on each door. About halfway down the corridor, he thought he heard a sound come from inside one of the rooms. He knocked again. This time he was sure he heard a sound-a sort of weak, muffled whimper.

  He turned the doorknob, which was locked.

  “Erin, is that you?” he whispered through the door.

  Nothing.

  “Erin, it’s me-Tom. Can you hear me?”

  He heard more muffled sounds, more staccato than before.

  It had to be her.

  “I’m gonna get you out of there, Erin. I just need to find a way inside. Hang in there!” he whispered excitedly.

  Tom frantically pulled the key ring out of his back pocket and tried each key, praying that one of them would unlock the door. He was hoping that the keys were masters for each floor of the hotel, or something like that.

  The next to the last key turned smoothly in the keyhole.

  He unlocked the door and entered the room.

  CHAPTER 11

  The room was pitch dark. The muffled whimpers sounded louder now and were coming from halfway across the room. Tom fumbled around for a light switch along the wall, located it and flipped it up. The room remained dark. Frustrated, he swung the door open all the way to let more light in.