Hotel

------ Mooney's dead, Mooney's dead, Mooney's dead, Mooney's dead. . .

------ I couldn't focus. The hallway was glassy and distorted. My eyes darted wildly, and the images blurred together: the carpet, the ceiling, the lights. Dizzy, I fell against the wall.

------ Somehow I found my room key and jammed it into the slot. I heaved my body against the door and stumbled into the hotel room.

------ Tina was on the bed with a nail file. Becky was holding a magazine, and Jennie was in front of the television.. They stared at me.

------ "Renee, where have you been?" Becky asked.

------ "Nowhere," I said. My voice sounded far away, and I was faintly aware of the door closing. "I'm taking a shower." I slammed and locked the bathroom door behind me.

------ "Make it fast," Jennie's voice floated from the main room. "Becky and I still need to shower."

------ I collapsed on the floor. The tiles were cold and solid against my skin. Reaching for the circular dial, I twisted the shower on so they wouldn't hear me throwing up. I puked until my stomach was empty and sore.

------ Gripping the sink for support, I dragged myself to my feet and stepped into the shower. The water was freezing, and the droplets stung like ice. Shivering, I tossed my soaked clothes over the shower curtain. I managed to hold onto the bar of soap, and I ran it over my skin in a light, circular motion. I rubbed shampoo through my hair and stood under the water.

------ My razor was on the edge of the sink. I lathered my legs and sloppily scraped at them. "Shit," I choked as the blade gashed my skin. Blood filled the cut and spilled over. I held it under the stream of the shower, and red water swirled down the drain.

------ "Renee!" Jennie was banging on the door. "It's getting late."

------ I shut the water off. Stepping out of the shower, I yelled, "Do you have a bandage?"

------ "No, I don't. Are you almost done?"

------ "Could you get me one? Ask at the front desk."

------ "Why? What happened?"

------ "I just nicked myself shaving," I said, watching the blood pool onto the floor. "I'm fine. I just need to put something over it."

------ She sighed loudly. "Fine, I'll ask. Just hurry up!"

------ "Mooney, Mooney, Mooney. . ." I whispered. I sat on the floor, curling into a ball with my back against the tub. Rocking slowly, I remembered his deep smoky eyes and the way they flashed to faraway dreams. His eyes were filled with so much passion.

------ "And they killed it!" I cried suddenly. I grabbed the shampoo bottle and hurled it violently at the mirror. It clattered into the sink.

------ Freezing, shaking and bleeding, I dropped my head between my knees and sobbed. Nothing mattered. My best friend was dead.

THE END