CHAPTER 3
SPECIAL TREATMENT

HADLEY didn't understand what she was doing. She sat on the edge of a balcony, just overlooking the entrance of the Cortez. She found herself spending her whole day here, watching the small amount of guests filter in and out of the hellmouth, until she finally got the urge to fall asleep.

Her feet would dangle off the edge, hitting the old concrete that held up the building, as she leaned back on her elbows and just stared down. Hadley wondered if anyone saw her up there and questioned if they should call the police, thinking that she was contemplating suicide. But if she wanted to kill herself, she would've done that a long time ago, and it definitely wouldn't be from jumping off a balcony. A swift, silver bullet to the head could do the job just fine.

She told herself that she now hung around this part of the hotel to avoid Elizabeth, but that was believing a lie. She knew why she was there, peering down at the double doors, and it felt so wrong.

The group of boys left the Cortez around the same time each night, and usually, if she was lucky to still be awake, came back by two AM at the latest. The shift in attitude between each time stamp was ridiculous. They left the Cortez nudging each other, laughing at some cruel joke, but the second they returned, the boys were a fumbling, drunken mess. Except for the tallest boy, the one with dark honey-colored locks. He kept to himself, casually commenting on his friends' stupid conversations, and he was always the one to be dragging the others back to the hotel at night, despite his own tipsiness.

They were fascinating. Hadley didn't understand why, but they were. It made her hesitate on killing them – until she finally decided to venture into her room after a few days, during one of their bar outings.

The suite was absolutely trashed. Clothes were strewn in various places, hanging off random knobs and hooks. Her own clothes and toiletries were left untouched in their proper places, but the room was now littered with items made for men. A box of condoms was left open on one of the bedside tables. She found toothpaste stains on the sink, as well as bottles of Jack Daniels and Crown Royal near the bureau.

Hadley was beyond feeling angry. She was absolutely, fucking livid. This was her room. Room 66 had always been her room. It was a joke between her and Donovan, who gave her this suite on behalf of the Countess because he thought it could represent Hell. Sometimes, he liked to call her, Hades. Room 66 was her own personal Underworld.

But these people – these boys – had ruined it. She should've never hesitated to kill them, to suck them dry as if they were all just sand particles from the Sahara desert. It was a big mistake on her part. She shouldn't have gone against her better judgment. But now that she could admit her wrongdoings, she knew what she had to do.

It would probably be wise to kill them first, Liz's voice echoed in her head.

As Hadley took one last look at her messy room, she released a disgusted grunt, wondering if she should call over Mrs. Evers to clean up the place. But then she had an idea – an absolutely wonderous idea on how she could kill the boys – and it was going to be messy.

It was best that she wait for the mess to be over before calling in the dedicated laundress. Mrs. Evers was going to have an absolute ball once she saw the stains that Hadley was going to make.

•••

Percy was totally, unquestionably, completely uncomfortable.

Out of all places, just why did he agree to go to this strip club with Christian and Bobby? The flashing colorful lights were making his eyes hurt. The club smelled like the mixture of a cum dumpster with overpowering Victoria's Secret perfume. Dancers surrounded their every corner. Percy would never be able to leave. Their presence held the men to their seats, causing them to compulsively throw dollars at them. Percy ended up running out of ones within an hour, so now the dancers hardly looked his way. He didn't blame them.

At least, the food was good. Percy almost ate the whole plate of chicken wings that Bobby ordered, and downed half a pitcher of beer. He was uncomfortable, but his tipsy mind betrayed him, making him think that he was living his best life. His hazy vision had him eyeing a certain brunette dancer all night, with long lashes fluttering over her grey eyes and freckles dusting her cheeks. She wore nothing but a simple, thin fabric across her waistline. The sight made him halt. He suddenly felt a shift in his pants. Shit, Percy thought. He was getting hard.

Wait a minute. Was that the girl from the hotel lobby?

Percy blinked rapidly, daring to stand from his seat to get a better look. The dancer swung around the shiny, silver pole, chest bouncing in the air as Percy felt every muscle in his stomach twist. He needed her to spin around. He needed to see her face. It was the girl from the hotel. It had to be. The girl with the penetrating grey eyes and an unwavering smirk.

Why was he thinking of her so much? Did they know each other in another life?

But when the brunette dancer turned again, she had a completely different face. Not the same grey eyes. Not the same hair. Different height. She wasn't the hotel girl at all, and maybe that was for the better. Percy tried to act like he wasn't disappointed as the dancer paused, staring him down with a dark stare. When she saw his empty palms, she stuck her pointy nose in the air and spun back around the pole, ignoring him. He understood her reaction, but the bulge in his pants hadn't ceased, leaving him to sigh in defeat. Percy pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't sober, but he knew then that he had enough.

"Guys," he groaned, "can we please leave?"

Christian exhaled, annoyance echoing in his tone. Bobby, however, took a moment to rake his gaze down before responding. Percy froze, immediately feeling self-conscious under his friend's judgmental eyes. Once Christian noticed Bobby's hesitation, his own eyes followed. He coughed out a loud, "Ha!"

A smirk appeared on Bobby thin lips. "The boner in your pants says that you want to stay, bro," he chuckled loudly. "Just sit down! Another half-hour. Promise."

Percy rolled his eyes, plopping himself back in his seat. Turning back to the brunette, he felt his insides form into knots. The hotel girl's face came in flashes, and he was suddenly wondering just why his mind was plaguing him with her presence. It was like she cursed him or something.

The night couldn't get any worse. At least, it hadn't just yet.

•••

Christian made them stop off at one more bar, despite Percy's attempts to bring them back to the hotel. He refused to have more alcohol. Percy knew his limits. He made the effort to even ask the bartender to put water in a shot glass so he could pretend it was vodka. He shouldn't have to do that in front of friends.

They managed to round up two drunk girls to take back to the hotel room. Both were redheads. Twins. Their names were Natalia and Nadine, like that wouldn't be difficult to tell them apart even more. "Good thing we packed the rubbers," Bobby snickered in Percy's ear, as if he was actually going to get any of the action.

It was two thirty AM when they finally approached the brightly lit sign of the Cortez. Natalia was hammered more than anyone else, loudly spewing words from her pink lips. Her lipstick was smudged in various places from Christian already kissing her at the bar. Nadine, on the other hand, stayed as quiet as she could, releasing a few giggles and hiccups. She was Bobby's choice. Both twins hung on his friends' arms for dear life. Percy followed them from behind, sticking his hands in his pockets.

He couldn't stop thinking about the dancer at the club. It wasn't that she was attractive – no, she really wasn't his type at all. It was the fact that his mind had perceived something that wasn't there, even for the smallest of moments. He had thought he'd seen the girl from the lobby. Why his mind was suddenly so stuck on her, he'd never know. It wasn't like she was that special. She was just a girl he saw at the hotel. That's it.

And, perhaps, also a girl that managed to make him hard at the thought of her being a dancer.

God, why was he acting like this? Maybe it was finally time to go back to Sunday morning church.

"Maybe we should get them their own room," Percy whispered to Christian as they got inside the small elevator. "It's two. They're drunk as fuck. Let them sleep."

The elevator dinged when Christian laughed loudly, bringing his lips close to Natalia's ear. "It's fine, Perce."

But it wasn't. It was totally not fine. The two girls were completely intoxicated. Percy knew what was going to happen in Room 66 as they approached, and he didn't like it. Bobby whispered disgusting things in Nadine's ear while Christian slid the vintage key in the door. Percy's heart was hammering in his chest and there was no way to stop it.

"Christian," Percy called, louder this time, causing his friend to go stiff. His voice was harsh and demanding, gaining the boys' attention immediately. "We need to get them another room."

Christian slowly turned his head, glaring at Percy from over his shoulder. Percy swallowed down his fear. He wasn't going to show it. Finally, it was time for him to stand his ground with his friends. He wasn't going to let this happen.

Christian's stare hardly wavered when he raised his hand towards the other boy. "Bobby," he ordered, "take the girls inside. I'm going to have a little talk with Percy here."

Fuck, he was really in for it this time.

Bobby nodded quickly, ushering the drunk girls inside Room 66. Christian approached Percy with precision, as if his intoxication had simply floated into the air. His eyes blazed with fury. Christian was so close now – nose to nose, eye to eye. Percy could feel the hot breath from his nostrils on his face. He swallowed hard.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Perce?" Christian demanded, arching a brow.

Percy sighed. "I just think –"

"Are you trying to start a fight with me?"

"What? No! Can you listen to me for a sec? They're completely hammered. You need to fucking –"

"Yes, you are. You're trying to start a fight with me." He jammed his finger into Percy's chest. "You're acting like a loser right now."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut the fuck up. You're really resorting to that –"

"Yes, I fucking am, amigo. You're acting like a loser. And you know what losers get?" Christian clapped a hand on his shoulder. His grip was strong and tight, practically cutting off the circulation in Percy's arm. He leaned back in again, grinning maliciously. "They get special treatment."

Before Percy could make a move, Christian was yanking on his arm, pulling his friend inside. Percy tried to tug his arm away, but it was no use. He could just see Bobby hovering over Nadine on the bed as she started to whimper, and then Percy was thrown to the side. Christian scoffed in his face while shoving him into the bathroom, slamming the door in his face.

The brightness of the bathroom almost blinded him at first. He had to adjust to it quickly, but then he was running back to the door, pressing himself against it. He heard the click of a lock. Percy grabbed the knob, trying to open it, but it wouldn't move. Christian laughed from the other side before his voice disappeared further into the suite.

They locked him in the bathroom.

Percy huffed, scrubbing a hand down his face. Lifting his eyes upward, he blinked rapidly at the intense lights. He then looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were red; whether it was intemperance or lack of sleep, he wouldn't know. His face was red, flustered from all the anger that had been flooding his head just seconds ago. He was exhausted. This vacation had become a job, and he couldn't wait to get home.

Turning to the door, Percy knocked his fist on the door. He heard a female moaning on the other side. "Guys," he sighed, allowing his voice to remain soft and pleasant, "let me out. Please. This is stupid. You don't want to do this."

"Losers stay in the bathroom!" Christian yelled from the other side.

His anger spiked again. Percy began pounding on the door, ready to break it off its hinges. "Fucking let me out, guys!" He growled, shaking the objects around him. "I swear to god, if you don't –"

That was when he heard the screaming.

High pitched shrieks engulfed the room, piercing his ears at an unmeasurable sound. Percy plugged his fingers into his ears, but nothing could drown it out. Natalia and Nadine kept screaming, and then Bobby and Christian were hollering obscenities. "Get away, you bitch!" yelled Bobby. "Why the fuck do you look like that?"

Percy's eyes went wide, and he was scared to ask what was going on. The girls' screeched, their voices getting closer to the entrance. Percy heard their heels running for the door, whipping it open as fast as they could. "We have to get out of here!" Natalia squealed, slamming the door shut behind her. Percy shook his head. What were they running from?

The screaming didn't stop. In fact, it got even worse. Percy could hear someone crawling on all fours – at least, that's what it sounded like. He heard another click, and it wasn't heels this time. There was an incoherent hiss – it sounded female – and Christian started whining, "Please, don't hurt us. Please. We can give you whatever you –"

Then, there was a thump, like a body hitting the ground.

Bobby cried at the top of his lungs, but after a minute, that stopped too. Everything was silent. The only sound in the whole suite was Percy's own breathing. His heart was beating so loud in his ears that it drowned out the breathing. Something happened to them, he thought, but what? It had only been the five of them in the room. Unless –

The door was suddenly sliding open. His palms slipped from the surface, falling to his hips. Percy felt all the blood rush to his head, as if he was hanging upside down, and he could hardly process moving an inch as he watched the once locked door swing open. He held his breath. He didn't want to walk out of the room, but something was pulling him forward.

It was a smell.

The scent of roses and cinnamon sent his brain into a frenzy, causing his feet to inch forward. Every bone in his body willed him to lock the bathroom door again, to not go out into the suite, but the perfume was overwhelming. He wanted more of it. Percy walked forward and into the darkness of Room 66. The second he made his presence known, something was thrown at him – more like, someone.

Percy dodged it, but he was still caught off guard as a body landed at his feet. The corpse stained his t-shirt, blood spewed from its neck, coating Percy's face with red. He wanted to gasp, to scream, but he couldn't. His mouth wouldn't move. When he moved closer to the body leaking crimson onto his sneakers, he almost didn't believe it.

It wasn't just some corpse. It was Christian.

A growled sounded in front of him. He heard the sound of flesh ripping, of metal slicing into skin. Percy's body began to tremble, but he couldn't move. He was frozen in place, unable to shift his stare. Percy bore his eyes into the darkness of the suite and waited from the murderer to reveal itself. He wondered if it was possible that he had to kill this person, or would he embrace the comfortable arms of death?

But when his stare connected with a pair of familiar grey irises, Percy could do anything but tremble.

•••

A/N: HADLEY ABOUT TO FUCK IT UPPPPPP