The Lincoln Hotel

This is by far my favorite story I have yet to write. It is very similar to The Legend of Somerville, but this time I wrote it from a totally different perspective. The story idea actually came at the spur of the moment, when I asked my friend to come up with a random place, they told me "Lincoln New Hampshire", thus the story was born. I wrote the story from the perspective of a teenage girl, I'm not sure how well I did with that, but it was something I wanted to try and learn from. This was also the first story I used dialogue in, which was also a bit of a challenge for me, but I once more learned from it. I don't know if the ending will surprise anyone, because there isn't actually a set ending that I had planned; there are about three different explainations behind the ending, you may choose whichever one you like best, because all three can work.

The Lincoln Hotel

It wasn’t until noon that I finally put the last of the suitcases into the truck of my dad’s shiny, new Mercedes. And as I grabbed the backpack that held my iPod, laptop, and reading material, I could already hear my dad’s muffled voice yelling at my little sister about who knows what. I knew then this would be a very long trip up to New Hampshire for our annual stay in Lincoln. I never understood why my dad felt obligated to bring us every summer.
“It’s a great way for us to bond”. He would say every year.

However, I often doubted his optimism. The only thing that ever kept me sane on these expeditions up north was the pure beauty of the White Mountains. But the spas, pools, and buffets don’t hurt either though. Yet the real truth was, these trips always ended in my dad yelling at my sister or I to the point of tears; and then since he felt bad, would bring us out for ice cream thinking it fixed everything. I would much rather be sitting at home right now with my laptop talking to my boyfriend while watching America’s Next Top Model, but my mom always forced us to go with our father. We all knew the only reason she did was because she had one fear in her life; my dad’s lawyers. Sure it was nice having a rich dad, you get whatever you want. Cell phone, laptop, Mustang waiting in the garage for when you turn sixteen. But you know what they say about money and happiness.

My dad and little sister finally appeared at the front door around half past noon. I then armed myself with my iPod and made sure to turn the volume up to full. Olivia jumped into the back seat with that disappointed and embarrassed look I’d seen to often from my little sister. And as we made our way onto the highway, my dad blasted Kenny Chesney through his six, surround sound speakers. His speakers were no match for my iPod, and my Death Cab for Cutie song soon became a hybrid of indie music, and country.

After what seemed like an eternity we finally reached our hotel in Lincoln. Thus commencing the task of unpacking all we put in only hours earlier. This of course made my dad angry since we weren’t unpacking to his specifications or speed. And by the time everything was in the hotel room, it was around dinnertime; so I brought Olivia down to the buffet get some supper. As we left our hotel room, I noticed that the parking lot was now almost full. There was a black Porche parked to the left of my dad’s car, and an unmarked, white van parked to the right. The van seemed a bit out of place in such an upper class hotel, but my stomach cared more about eating than my conscience did wondering. When we got the buffet, there was a mass of either inline, or already seated and consuming their mountain of food on their plate. I took a large helping of mashed potatoes, bread, and what I assumed was rice. And even though I hated meat, that didn’t stop my sister from taking what looked like three or four chicken legs, mashed potatoes, and a think slice of steak. You wouldn’t think a ten year old girl as skinny as her, could eat as much as she does. But I’m sure it’ll catch up to her eventually anyway, like all Americans.
“How come daddy didn’t come to eat with us?” Olivia asked.
“Because he’s busy cleaning up the hotel room and he didn’t want us around to mess it up.” I said.
The rest of the meal was mostly silent, since Olivia had to eat her large mound of food, plus desert, in a very limited time. And by the time we were both done it was almost seven. When we got back to the hotel room our father had finished cleaning the hotel from top to bottom and was now lying on his bed watching the evening news.
“Where have you been?” He said.
“The dinning hall” I told him.
“And why didn’t you tell me you were going there?” He said.
“Because Olivia and I were hungry and you were busy yelling at us to get out of the room since you were cleaning.” I said back.
“Well that doesn’t give you the right to just walk out without telling your father.” He said
“Whatever dad.” I said, already on my way toward the bathroom to take a shower.

That night I took an exceptionally long, hot shower, then put on my favorite pink bathrobe that my mom got me last Christmas, and went back into the room to get ready for bed. My dad was still laying on his bed watching the news when I got out, only now his hands were in a large bag of Lays chips. He gave me one look, rolled his eyes, and then went back to watching TV. By the time everyone was done taking their turn in the shower, it was almost ten and we were all tired from all the time we spent in the car. Olivia jump into bed with me wearing her pink Spongebob pajamas, she had a smile on her face for the first time all day. My dad finally turned off the TV and the lights, and the first night we all slept a healthy sleep.

The next morning I got up around ten, took another shower, and changed into jeans and my favorite top, a black tank top I got last month. When I got out of the bathroom, Olivia was up as well, and my dad was still sleeping. I decided that Olivia and I would go to the spa, get our nails done, then come back before my dad woke up. I left a note on the nightstand telling my dad that Olivia and I were at the hotel spa getting pampered, just incase my dad wakes up early. By the time we finished getting our nails done, having facemasks, and getting cucumbers put on our eyes, it was almost noontime. And when we got back to the hotel room my dad was out of his bed and rummaging through the bags looking for some clothes he could put on. When we entered, he gave us both a dirty look, and then proceeded to yell at Olivia for making a mess on the bathroom counter before we left. It eventually got to the point where Olivia started crying. And being the big sister that I was, I wanted to do all I could to protect Olivia. So I took her by the hand and stormed out the door.
“Where do you think your going?” My dad screamed.
“Why do you even care?” I yelled back, slamming the door behind me. And that was the last time I saw my dad.

Not knowing where to go, and not caring, I brought Olivia and myself up behind the hotel where there was a mountain covered in ski trails. Since it was summer the trails were deserted and instead of being covered in snow, they were covered in a tall grass. The trails started at the top of the mountain, and then broke off into a dozen or so forks, creating large patches of trees in each fork.
“Wow, this would be a great place to play hide and seek!” Olivia said with much excitement.
“You want to play a game of it?” I asked, not caring what kind of game we played, just anything to get her mind off of my dad’s voice.
“Sure!” She said with a bright smile that only ten year olds know how to give.

We played hide and seek for nearly an hour, then we laid in the grass together and stared at the cloudless sky in the bright, summer sunshine. Around two, I decided it was best that we go back to our dad. We gave him nearly two hours to calm down, and we didn’t want him to worry too much about us. As we stood up, and began our descend down the mountain, we were stopped in our tracks by what lay ahead of us. In our path was a man in a dark gray sweatshirt and blue jeans. The hood he was wearing obscured his face, and he had his hands in his sweatshirt pockets. He just stood at the base of the hill staring up at us. Scared out of my mind, I took Olivia by the hand and instead of going down the mountain; I turned around and went further up it. I wanted my little sister to be as far away from this man as I could get her, and up was the only direction. Olivia understood immediately, and followed my lead without hesitation.

When we were about halfway up the ski slope, I turned around for the first time since we started running. I was hoping, praying, that the man was gone. But when I turned around I was greeted with that same lifeless, faceless man in the dark gray sweatshirt. And even though he wasn’t climbing the mountain as fast as we were, he managed to still keep up with us. Now I was really scared, not only for my sister but for myself as well. He had trapped us on this slope with only one direction to go. I didn’t know the topography of the White Mountains too well, but I knew one thing, there were a lot of mountains, and not a lot of people to help us.

During the rest of the climb up the mountain I looked over my shoulder nearly every minute. And by the time we reached the top, he seemed to be closer to us than he had when we started. But how could that be possible, we were running up the mountain the whole time and he seemed to be taking an mid afternoon stroll up it.
“Autumn, I can’t run anymore, my legs are killing me.” Olivia said.
“I know Olive, me too, but we can’t let that scary man catch us” I said.

I often called my sister Olive for short, since it sounded cute and it always made her giggle, but there weren’t going to be any giggles coming from her today. The ski trails ended abruptly at the top of the hill, and now the only thing that lay ahead of us were a wall of ancient pine trees. The arch of the mountain however provided a brief view of the landscape ahead of us. I could see a sparkling, blue lake not to far ahead of us, and past that I could only see dozens of tall, green hilltops.
“Autumn, can we stop at that lake for some water? I’m really thirsty.” Olivia said.
“Sure Olive, but we’ll have to be very fast.” I said.

We got to the lake about five minutes later, and Olivia and I drank handfuls of water from the lake. I wondered if it was such a good idea to be drinking right from the lake, but the lake looked cleaner than most tap water. Besides, I had a feeling this was going to be a long journey and we could use the energy. Once we were finished our quick drink, I looked over my shoulder, and there he was again. Just standing there in the shade of the tall pine trees, just like he had when we first saw him. Only this time he seemed closer to us, which made me feel even more uneasy. I pulled sharply on Olivia’s hand, causing the water in her cupped hands to splash into her face.
“Hey! What was that for?” She said.
“Sorry Olive, but we have to keep moving.”

And so we were off again, back into the tall pine tree forest surrounding the lake. When I turned around the man in the gray sweatshirt was once more following us, getting ever closer. The late afternoon sun cast strange shadows across the forest floor, making it hard to distinguish fallen branches from tree shadows.
“Slow down Autumn, I can’t keep up with you.” Olivia cried as she tripped over a sharp, pine branch.
“I’m sorry, I just want to get away from that man.” I said while helping her up. The dead branch had poked small holes in Olivia’s skin where small droplets of blood already began to form. For a big sister, I was doing a horrible job of protecting her I thought to myself. She quickly brushed the dirt off her jeans and hands, and we were again off as fast as our legs would carry us.

Even though it was bright and sunny out that day, the shadows and tall pine trees made the forest as black as night. And the man’s sweatshirt and jeans blended right into the forest itself, a sort of camouflage that seemed almost planned. I looked back often to see where he was, but the dark forest covered his position. After what seemed like hours of running, I stopped next to one of the great pines. And even though a strange man was chasing us, I knew both Olivia and I needed a quick break. It was during this break that the strange man appeared next to another pine tree, this time he seemed considerably closer to us, but still not close enough to see his face inside that hood.
“Leave us alone! Just go AWAY!” I yelled at the man as loud as I could. But I was given no response, just that blank stare from eyes I couldn’t see

The place where his face should have been was as dark as the forest. Covered by the shadow of his oversized sweatshirt. And for the first time that day my body began to feel weak. My stomach longed for food and more water. I knew then that my adrenaline was beginning to wear thin, and I prayed that we would find a trail, a house, anything that would give us hope. But our only choice for the time being was to push further into the woods, even though I had lost all sense of direction now, and for all we knew could be heading north toward Canada. Before we started moving, I scanned the ground for something, anything to protect us if it became necessary. The ground was littered with only pine needles though; there wasn’t a rock or thick stick to be found.

Not long after we left our resting spot, the sun started to reach the mountainous horizon. Blinding us with its orange-red light whenever there wasn’t a tree trunk to shade our eyes. The setting sun told me two things; the first was that we were heading east, and the second was that it looked like we would be spending the night in the New Hampshire wilderness. The man was now very close to us, maybe a hundred yards at the most. I could now see that he had very white skin, and sunglasses in the setting sun, but any other facial features we obscured by our distance. Just as the sun was hiding behind the first of the distant mountains, we came upon a stream, and once more Olivia asked if we could make a brief stop to drink. I hesitated, but once more said ok. Olivia knelt down beside the shallow river, cupped her hands, and took two large gulps. But after swallowing the second gulp, I could tell by the look on her face that she knew she made a mistake. Not even a minute later she vomited whatever water she just drank back into the river. My guess was that her empty stomach didn’t take to the water to well, and decided to send it back up. At least that’s what I hoped the reason was. Regardless of the reason, I found it best if I didn’t test my stomach to see if it could keep it down. So we were off once more, only this time Olivia looked a little paler, and the man seemed closer.

It was nearly dark now, and the man wasn’t even a hundred feet from us. I began to panic and was starting to break into a near sprint. Then suddenly, I tripped on a large rock that was hidden by the dark forest. As I fell I let go of Olivia’s hand, releasing our bond. My knees hit the ground first, striking the sharp rock with a loud bang. I put my hands out to stop the fall as best I could, but ended up sliding a couple of inches on the pine needle forest floor. Before Olivia could help me up, I was suddenly grabbed by the ankles and dragged across the ground. I screamed as loud as I could as my legs were scrapped by the outcropped rock. Then I heard a loud cracking noise, and the grip on my ankles was released. I turned around to see that Olivia had found a large branch and hit the strange man over the head with it. Then as I got up I picked up a rounded rock besides me and threw it as hard as I could at the man. It struck him in the stomach and he gave out a painful grunt. I quickly grabbed Olivia’s hand and together we ran as fast as we could, not caring about the sharp brush we were running through.

I cannot say how long we ran for. My mind lost all concept of time. All I remember is that the forest had become pitch black when we slowed down to catch our breath. I turned around for the first time since I was on the ground, only this time I saw no man at all. It could have been hard to tell though since there was no moon out, and the woods were now completely dark. Feeling a bit safer, Olivia and I slowed down to a fast walk. My legs were throbbing from the blood loss, and every step I took felt like a shot in the leg. I could also feel Olivia was shaking and coughing. I knew I had to start looking for shelter, but the thought of stopping and seeing that man again scared me more than dying from exhaustion.
“Autumn, I’m really tired and hungry, can we find a place to lay down?” Olivia said.
“Yeah, don’t worry Olive, I’m looking for a good place were we can rest and maybe start a fire.” I said.
“What are we going to eat?” Olivia said.
I never thought of food. I had no idea how to hunt or strip an animal of its fur, but if it came to that point I might have to learn. But the answer I gave her was a bit less morbid.
“Oh we’ll have a double cheese burger with a large fry, then an ice cream for desert” I said.
“Can I have an extra large coke with it too?” Olivia said with a smile as she looked up to me.
“You can have anything you want.” I said, smiling back.

What seemed like half an hour later, I saw a large, dark figure emerge in front of us. I couldn’t tell what it was, only that it was darker than the surrounding woods. As we got closer to it though I realized one of my prayers had finally been answered. It was a small log cabin. The cabin had one floor, a porch, and what looked like a small shed attached to the cabin in the back. I figured it must be a seasonal hunting lodge, but since it wasn’t hunting season it would remain empty for another three months. I knocked on the front door anyway though, but as I suspected I got no reply. When I tried to open the door, I expected it to be locked, but I was surprised to find that it opened easily. Almost like somebody knew we were coming I thought to myself. Inside there was an old looking woodstove, a large refrigerator with an old case of beer in it, a cot, a sink, a couple of chairs, and a large wooden desk.

Now that we had shelter, I began with the next priority, water. I went over to the sink, expecting that the pipes were turned off long ago, but was once more surprised when water poured into the stainless steal base. Then another thought crossed my mind. What if this water was also sickening like the water in that stream? But after viewing my options, I figured I would rather get sick from the water, than get my sister and I sick and drunk from the old beer. I tested the water the water to make sure it would stay down; which it did, so I offered some to Olivia. After we both replenished ourselves, I went on to tackle the next priority, heat. I found a box of matches in the drawer of the wooden desk. So I went over to the woodstove, struck the match against its rusty exterior, opened the little door, and realized that I forgot woodstoves need wood to work. I put out the match in a fit of anger after realizing my stupidity. I looked around the cabin and found no wood to burn. This meant I would have to go back outside where I saw the woodpile. But outside was the last place I wanted to go, I somehow felt safer inside this small log cabin; I felt like nobody could get to us in here. I went back to the desk drawer to see if I missed anything else that I could use. Inside of it I found a pencil, a magnifying glass, a compass, a map, and a large pocketknife. I grabbed the pocketknife and unfolded it. I figured any kind of weapon is better than nothing. So with the dull blade of that knife, I ventured outside slowly, always turning around to make sure nobody was going to grab me. After what seemed like hours, but ended up only being five minutes, I reached the woodpile. I took as much wood as I could carry and hurried back to the cabin.

After I got the fire started, I examined my legs. There were large holes in my jeans and you could see large patches of bloody skin in the holes. The blood had seeped into the clothe of the jeans, during them a dark purple color that made me feel dizzy. I couldn’t bare to look at my legs since I feared I might pass out, so I turned my attention to Olivia. All the color was washed from her face, and dark bags had begun to form under her eyes. She was still shivering even though she was next to the fire. I wrapped her in one of the blankets that was on the cot, and I kissed her on the top of her head.
“Do you think we’ll see daddy again?” She asked.
“Yeah, I think so. I’m sure the whole town is out looking for us by now and will find us any minute.” I said, hoping she would believe me.
She smiled back up at me but said nothing, then continued looking at the fire.

I loved Olivia more than anything in the world. She always knew how to put a smile on my face and make everything better. Yet somehow I envied her. She was too young to remember my parents fighting; she was only two when they got the divorced papers signed. I often wished I could have been like her and not have to remember those painful memories. And for that I tried to protect her from everything that’s hurtful in this world. I tried to protect her from her dad today, but in the end only got her in more danger; some big sister I am.

A little while later I moved the cot close to the fire. Olivia and I got into the bed, and we went to sleep within minutes. Then suddenly I was at Old Orchard Beach in Maine. My father was carrying me on his shoulders while my mom was holding a baby Olivia in her arms. We were on vacation for the week in Maine, and today we made a stop at Old Orchard Beach. My dad let me down so I could go run off in play in the water with the other kids while my parents stood back and watched me. I was only seven at the time, and I was the happiest girl in the world. After playing in the waves and the whitecaps for fifteen minutes or so, I came out of the water, soaking wet. And as I ran back into my dad’s arms and lifted me up to his face, he suddenly changed into the strange man in the sweatshirt. The surrounding area was no longer the ocean, it was those dark woods in New Hampshire, and I was no longer seven, I was sixteen. I woke up from my nightmare with a sudden jerk. Olivia moaned then fell silent once more. I didn’t fall asleep for the rest of the night.

As dawn broke the horizon, and the log cabin became lit by the sun, I was greeted by a loud shattering. I jumped out of the cot and looked to the window. The window on the far side of the cabin had been smashed and glass now lay on the floor. Inside the broken window was the strange man trying to get into the cabin. I grabbed Olivia and started looking for a way out. There was a latch on the floor in the corner of the room nearest us. I must have missed the latch last night since it would have been covered in shadows from the fire. I scrambled over to the latch, pulled it open, and found that it led to a basement. Seeing it as our only hope out, we climbed down the wooden ladder and closed the latch above us. We had very little time since I could now hear that the man was inside. I scanned the basement and saw a narrow set of stairs at the opposite end. I remembered now that I saw what appeared to be a shed outside in the back. Assuming that the stairs led up there, we quickly climbed up them, and burst open the door at the top into the morning sunshine.

Fortunately, I put the map and compass in my pocket the night before so I wouldn’t forget them. I had forgotten the knife however in our panic to get out of the cabin. I tore open the map, and found that the cabin had been circled with a big red circle. The town of Woodstock was only four miles southwest of us. I took out the compass, found southwest, and started running as fast as we could that way. The man was now back outside, only now he was running after us as well. I didn’t dare look back in fear of seeing his face. According to the map, the cabin was on the side of a hill, and if we just get to the bottom of the hill there’s a stream that will bring us right into Woodstock.

Soon after, we found the stream, and hurried as fast as we could to get across it in hope of slowing the man down. It put some distance between us, but not enough for us to slow our pace even a bit. Not far after the spot where we crossed the river, Olivia suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Her adrenaline had finally run out, and mine was on the verge of it. But I was not about to abandon my baby sister after going through all of this, so I picked her up and tried to run as fast as I could while carrying her in my arms. The man had gained a lot of distance during that delay, he was so close I could smell him. He reeked of a mix of body odor, and cologne that was both appalling, yet somehow familiar.

The next time I looked back I saw that he was further away than before. In fact he was resting with his hands on his knees and taking in heavy gusts of air. I took advantage of this moment and took a brief rest myself before continuing, Olivia still in my arms. After another half an hour, I saw something that I hadn’t seen in what seemed like years. In front of me was a concrete bridge that carried Interstate 93 across the river into Woodstock. Feeling a sense of hope, I turned around again, and saw that the man was only ten feet behind me now. I put all the energy I had left into that final sprint for my life, and my sister’s life. I had just crossed under the interstate bridge when I to suddenly collapsed onto the sand bank next to the river. My legs had become crippled and refused to move any further. Fearing that the man was closing in on us I felt around for a rock to arm myself with. When I grabbed one, I turned around, prepared to throw, but saw that the man had stopped chasing us. He was simply standing on the other side of the interstate overpass; giving that blank, eyeless stare he first gave us at the ski slopes. Bewildered and confused, I stared back for what seemed like hours. Eventually my legs released the cramp it had, and allowed me to stand up. I looked at the man one last time before turning around and heading down the river toward Woodstock with my unconscious sister in my hands.

The river brought me to a 50’s style diner that had half a dozen cars parked in its dirt lot. As I entered, every eye was turned to my sister and I. They stared at us with confused and shocked eyes. I asked in a raspy whisper for somebody to dial 911, but no body moved from their shocked state, which made me wonder if they even heard me. But eventually, somebody pulled out a cell phone and dialed the local police station. Minutes later my still unconscious sister and I were put into the back of an ambulance and were driven to the hospital in Lincoln. Olivia and I were brought to the emergency room where needles and an IV were put into us. The last thing I remember was holding my sisters hand in our room in the intensive care unit; then I feel into a deep sleep. When I awoke the next day my dad was sitting the chair beside my bed holding my hand. The first thing I noticed was the smile he had on his face; the second thing I noticed was the dark gray sweatshirt and blue jeans he was wearing.