The Inn (Evenstad Media Presents Book 3)
Page 13
But if anything happens to her… well, that would just be near impossible to deal with. He’d snap and I’d definitely run from him. I’ll say one thing for Max: he’s devoted to keeping people safe, and his sister especially.
I think everything will be fine, but I don’t know. I just plain old don’t know what’s going to happen. How could I? I just have a lot of hope to spread around. I hope she finds something. I hope she makes it back soon. I hope Max can stay calm if he finds out she ran off anyway.
I’m sitting here in the dark, hoping.
ENTRY END
JOURNAL 09HIKARU
ENTRY 011
DATE: 1/28/2076
I rethought my strategy. There was quite a noticeable flaw, but at least I managed to catch it before things went wrong. By opening the door, I would be announcing myself. It could be that I’d shock them enough that they wouldn’t know what to do. But I realized that, even if no one else seems to be playing the same way I am, the fact is that the person in here has managed to make it into what I assume is the late game. They’ve managed to survive for nearly a month in this place, and that’s not something to be ignored. They could very easily be able to overcome the initial shock and fear and attack before I had the chance to find them.
So I only have two options. I can sit and wait, which would eventually make me do something rash to speed this along, or I can try to lure them out. Make noise, scare them enough they have to come see.
I’ve started by rapping on the door and walking around just in front of it. Eventually, they’ll come out, or be so frazzled they’ll do something else stupid. I just need one thing to go right, and I really don’t think it’s going to be that long at all. If the tables were flipped, it wouldn’t take long at all for me to snap.
ENTRY END
TO: Magnus Evenstad
FROM: Niels Evenstad
SUBJECT: Going Forward
SENT 1/30/2076 AT 4:12 a.m. EST
Brother,
I have a plan to handle Uncle Magnus. I don’t know that it will work, but I need to try something if I want to keep him sated. I wanted to tell you, at least, so you didn’t think that I had lost it, or that something was wrong. You can inform Marta, if you think it’s necessary later.
I’m going to cave to him, show him the fealty he’s looking for. Include him in everything with the next season so I can soften him up. I think he’ll be more peaceful toward me if I feign that respect.
We may have to meet in person more than usual to avoid any suspicions with him working so closely with me. I hope you understand. Magnus is not someone to toy with.
Be well, Brother,
Niels Evenstad,
Chief Operating Officer, Evenstad Media
JOURNAL 03MAX
ENTRY 009
DATE: 1/29/2076
Fucking Terrence let Joy go out on her own. I can’t even believe that. How the hell could he agree to that?
He said he’s supposed to stop me, because this is something they both think is a good idea. I ain’t about to let it happen. I’m heading out after Joy. I don’t know where the hell she’s going exactly. It don’t matter. I’ll fucking find her wherever she ran off to. If she wants to go out and play explorer, she can take a damn bodyguard.
When I get back, I can deal with Terrence. My suggestion would be that he run. You don’t put my sister in danger and expect me not to come around and let you know how I feel about it. And I told him as much.
Enough typing. I’m finding Joy. Only bothered to fucking stop so Terrence might stop watching me for a second. Don’t want to deal with him trying to hurt me, even if it’s a low chance. But taking off now.
They both think I’m losing it. I wouldn’t be this damn lucid or able to plan if I was losing it.
ENTRY END
JOURNAL 07DANIEL
ENTRY 009
DATE: 1/29/2076
Is this the end of me, Marie? Is this my last day alive in here? My last day alive anywhere? Even being here, I never really faced the fact that I wouldn’t continue. I knew I would die, but it feels different. Now that I’m pretty sure that it’s close, I don’t want this to be the end. I work in an office supply store. I help people, even if I sometimes hate them for bringing in their stupid concerns. I don’t do damage to anyone. No more than any other person in the world. Less than most, I’d like to think.
Why me? Why is it that I deserve to die out of everyone in the world? Why am I the worst today? Is there something I’m not seeing, Marie? Something that the cameras picked up that I’ve somehow missed all these years? Did I really deserve this?
I know I said that I wanted you to fall into some kind of tragic love with me. Now I hope you don’t. I hope you really hated me. That way, when I die, I won’t be worried about you. Even if you’re not real, I’m worried about you. You’ve been the only one caring about me while I’m in here.
If I try hard enough, it’s almost like you’re here. I guess whatever they did to me when I got stuck really is fucking with me. Or maybe it’s because I lost that blood out of the wound on my hand. I don’t know. But I know this is pretty much it. There’s someone out there. They’re knocking. Eventually they’ll come in, won’t they?
I’m in pain. I’m not myself mentally. I don’t know how long any of that is going to last. I’ll probably end up losing my hand if I somehow get back out into the real world. Then I wouldn’t even be able to do my real work. A lot of money would have to go into medical bills, paying off college debts. It wouldn’t take all of it at all. Ten million after taxes is still a lot. I know that. But how much would it take to get rid of whatever the damn chemicals did to my brain? And to get through the therapy? And what are the real chances that I could even make it through this? With my hand and my head?
I’m done, Marie. I don’t want to spend another day in here, feeling like this. And at least once, I’m going to make the choice for myself instead of allowing this game to make all the real decisions. This game, the people here. They’ve been in charge. I’m manning up and I’m facing the end.
I’m going to answer the door.
ENTRY END
TO: Jacob Leigh
FROM: Niels Evenstad
SUBJECT: Joy – The Inn Advertisement
SENT 1/29/2076 AT 9:42 a.m. EST
I realize I would normally send this through Suzanne, but this is something I wanted done quickly. There was excellent footage captured early this morning with Joy and Max. 1:24 to 1:27 this morning, up on the third floor, western corridor. I want an ad put together with that footage, and I want it to me for approval by noon today. It’s a very powerful moment, but obviously avoid directly revealing anything plot-related that happened up there. In this short amount of time, there aren’t going to be many places to slot the ad in. I need it under thirty seconds. No budging on that. I would greatly appreciate something around fifteen seconds, if that’s at all possible, but I understand that it won’t be easy. But I have to insist on thirty seconds as the upper limit. You’ve done much more difficult with much less material in the past.
I want this to air tonight, so everything else needs to either be delegated or delayed. I want your full focus on this ad.
I’m counting on you for this. I admit that this isn’t something I could have predicted or manipulated any of them into. It was pure luck, and that’s the kind of thing that we need to work with as much as possible, as quickly as possible. Luck is responsible for a lot of media successes over the years, and I feel no shame in using it when it falls in my favor, and you’re going to help in using it.
Niels Evenstad,
Chief Operating Officer, Evenstad Media
JOURNAL 09HIKARU
ENTRY 012
DATE: 1/29/2076
I had to run. There was someone else coming. Thankfully, there was a corner for me to hide behind. I can watch it. I heard footsteps gettin
g closer to the door, but I also heard them coming closer down the hallway. I didn’t want two people. If it was the man who killed the woman behind the desk down in the lobby, he would very likely kill me if he came across me attacking someone else.
Luckily it wasn’t. It was an older woman. Approaching sixty, if I had to guess. That let me really go for something. I threw down another flash grenade, used the pepper spray or mace or whatever it was on the gun, and turned away. As much confusion as I could. There was light, there was the sound of the gun, there was a shout. And then the shout got cut off. I still don’t know exactly what happened, but it played in my favor no matter what. I’m finishing up this journal, then I’ll look.
But no. I can’t. Something just changed. My heart’s definitely pounding. This is bad. I can’t check on anything just yet.
More footsteps. Someone running closer. I’ll have to retreat for now. Not ideal, but I’ll just have to adapt. I have no choice.
ENTRY END
04
JOURNAL 12TERRENCE
ENTRY 010
DATE: 1/29/2076
Of course he had to go. He was in a way, and he told me flat out that I should be gone when he gets back. I’m not surprised that he’s unhappy with me. In his mind, I sent his sister out to her death. I’d want to kill me, too.
So I’m already gone. I hope that everything turns out. I’m still with Joy on this. She wanted to take the initiative and find somewhere they could hole up better. Everyone and their damn dog knew there were people down in the lobby. How hard would it be for someone to come down there and sweep through all of us? Finding a new place isn’t a bad idea.
I did, when I thought Max was going to come down and kill me. I thought we should when Joy brought it up. But I also wouldn’t at all be surprised if she ended up dead for bothering. I admit, I wouldn’t have gone to go and find some new, unseen place. I stayed damn close to the lobby, even if there might be more of a risk of being found.
I do hope she’s okay. I don’t know that Max could handle it if she was dead. He’d blame himself for not being there to protect her. It would probably destroy him. If he was holding onto any semblance of sanity, that would cut it loose. And then I wouldn’t want to be anywhere around him at all.
ENTRY END
TO: Magnus Evenstad
FROM: Niels Evenstad
SUBJECT: Season Four Proposal
SENT 1/31/2076 AT 2:46 p.m. EST
Uncle Magnus,
I need to meet with you in person. I have an idea for the next season, but I don’t want to send it to you through email. Given some of our security issues still being unresolved, it seemed better to discuss something of such a sensitive nature in person.
I hope we can meet soon, as the legal side of things may be considerably more complex and might take quite a bit more time, if this proposal gets approval. And I do hope that, in spite of anything else that may have happened between us recently, we can put that all aside for the good of the company and the good of the family. If we’re going to be working closer together, we’ll have to get along, at least to some extent.
I hope to see you very soon,
Niels Evenstad,
Chief Operating Officer, Evenstad Media
—
TO: Niels Evenstad
FROM: Magnus Evenstad
SUBJECT: Season Four Proposal
SENT 1/31/2076 AT 2:51 p.m. EST
I’m happy to meet with you. I don’t have any pressing meetings that need my attention, so you can come to my office whenever is most convenient for you. I’m here to help you, after all. And we’ll leave the bad blood aside. I’m a businessman. A professional. You know as much about me by now, I’m sure.
I’ll be here when you can fit the meeting into your schedule. I’m glad to know that you have some new ideas for the next season.
Magnus Evenstad,
Chief Executive Officer, Evenstad Enterprises
03
JOURNAL 03MAX
ENTRY 010
DATE: 1/29/2076
She’s dead. I didn’t make it in time. She suffered because I wasn’t there. I don’t know how it happened, but her body was still warm. I was just a little too slow, damn it. Just a little too slow.
I slit the bastard’s throat who killed her. I hope to hell that she was the one who fucked up his hand that bad, and I hope it hurt. I wanted her to go down fucking fighting.
That’s not true. I didn’t want her to go down at all. But she did. She’s dead. I let my sister die. What kind of person does that make me? I shouldn’t have ever let her out of my sight. What would Mom and Dad think?
Why her?
ENTRY END
TO: Eddie
FROM: Laurie
SUBJECT: End
SENT 2/2/1076 AT 1:14 p.m. EST
We’re getting close to the end of this season, and that means that we’re going to be losing a lot of our opportunity to do anything until the beginning next year. I know it sounds paranoid, but do you think they could have planned this kind of speed to limit any sort of resistance they might have been up against? I know, I know, it’s stupid. I’m just getting frantic. We haven’t done much, yet. I suppose we got some fair numbers built up with the Jeremiah North scandal, and we got some spread for our message. News coverage. I just know it wasn’t nearly enough. We obviously haven’t changed public opinion about Evenstad.
I don’t know what I’m expecting. Every single one of us knew that we probably wouldn’t do anything when we started this. But somehow, I thought something might change as we got more and more people behind us. But it’s all just nothing, and it feels like this whole thing is a waste.
—
TO: Laurie
FROM: Eddie
SUBJECT: End
SENT 2/2/2076 AT 2:39 p.m. EST
Calm down. This is a long, drawn-out game, not Go Fish. We’re getting numbers, and that’s good. We can continue, and we can wait. You know that’s always been the plan. I know that it feels slow, believe me, but this is important. Even if we don’t ever manage to do anything, the fact that we’re choosing to stand against this whole vile thing is important. I’d rather be doing this than doing nothing, no matter what we accomplish, and I know you feel the same way. A lot of our people feel that way, otherwise they never would have agreed to do this.
Just try to relax as much as possible. That’s all you can do.
Normally I wouldn’t have responded to this, but you needed an answer. Delete this whole email chain and clear your cookies. You know how it goes.
JOURNAL 12TERRENCE
ENTRY 011
DATE: 2/2/2076
It’s been far longer than it should have been. I hope Max didn’t die, going up there to get his sister. I hope she’s alive too, but after such a long time, I can’t honestly let myself believe that’s true. She’s dead, and I haven’t seen another soul down here in days.
What if I’m the last one? They’d come tell me, wouldn’t they? It’s not as though I’m particularly hard to find. I’m sure they know where I am with all the cameras in this place. Do they expect me to try and walk out on my own? They’re nuts if they do. Do they want me to go count the bodies and find out if there’s eleven of them?
Much as I don’t want to leave and go do anything like that, I might end up having to. It’s better than just sitting around wondering what might or might not be out there, or who might or might not be alive. I think I’ll have to. At the very least, I owe it to Max and Joy to see if they’ve made it. That sounds right to me, anyway. And I owe it to myself to see just how close I am to being done with this shit.
I never would have guessed it, but is it possible for me to survive this?
ENTRY END
JOURNAL 09HIKARU
ENTRY 0
13
DATE: 2/2/2076
It was the older guy who came along when I threw out the flash grenade. He killed the man who was in the room, which means I was right to stay away. I’m assuming he and that woman were close. He was there with her body for nearly an hour, just crying. Then he moved her. He wasn’t fast, which meant that I could follow along fairly well. He moved her into one of the hotel rooms. I didn’t follow. I’ve been resting and trying to decide. I was ready to stalk him, if things went that way, but he hasn’t left. It’s given me time to think about what I should do. I know he’s dangerous, but I know that I’m getting more and more tired of being in here every day. If I have to stay here, I’ll probably do something foolish eventually. And if I’m going to do something dangerous, I’d rather do it while I have more control over myself.
I think I’m going to end up going in there. If I’m fast enough and smart enough about the whole thing, I should be able to stay safe. But even if I can’t stay safe, sometimes a risk is okay, and this is a very strongly calculated risk. I know exactly what the dangers are of doing things this way. I personally think they’re worth it. I hope they are, if nothing else.