Chapter 9: NINE

Holly had spent the rest of the night restless. She had driven home without either Elizabeth nor Peter, he had been working, monitoring the cleaners cleaning the hotel vicinity after the party. Holly had insisted on waiting with him, just in case Elizabeth showed up, but he had totally disagreed.

So she went home. She was exhausted but still she couldn't get a shut eye. With all the news of people dying in Warmaukey and Elizabeth suddenly gone MIA, she doubted she would be at peace until she got a text back, a call back, or even saw something on the news. So a little past twelve in the afternoon, she paced about the front of Elizabeth's small building, at the top of a steep mountain, in the loneliest part of town, awaiting her arrival. Just behind the house was an outstretch of woods. There were a lot of trees. The heavy, wet scents of soil, pine, and decaying leaves closed in on Holly, and the chirping of birds overhead was dizzying. The sun was out, but obstructed and was barely peeking out just above the roof of Elizabeth's house. Holly was shielded from the rays by the building's shadow.

She could have gone in because she knew where Elizabeth kept her house key in the flower pot by the door, but she was too nervous even to stay inside. So she'd seat by the stairs for a few minutes, pace about a little too, before returning to seat again. The moment she spotted her friend's willowy figure approaching from the path leading to the house, she'd rushed over to her, the look of annoyance pulling over her face like a killer's mask.

“The fuck did you go last night?” Holly queried. She sounded, and looked, like a furious mother nagging her teenage daughter for staying out a little too long. “You had me worried sick all night! Elizabeth!”

“Come in first.” Elizabeth muttered. She walked past her friend without a care about how worried Holly truly was. She had her silver heels clutched to her chest, and took steps like a petrified looking zombie. Holly had damn well noticed how much of a mess she looked, and her expression of anger had quick turned into that of genuine worry. Elizabeth's hair was a tousled mess, and was then hanging loosely over her shoulders. The left strap of her gown was also loosely hanging. Her mascara was running down her face, and her nose was red, which told Holly she had indeed cried which she was indeed always quick to resort into when she had to undergo even the slightest of discomfort.

Wrapping her arms around the frail girl, Holly helped her in, not before throwing in a worrisome genuine question. “What happened last night?”

That was all it took for Elizabeth to let out the wail. Her shoulders quaked against Holly's arms, and the sobs tore through her. She was in-fact, very big on dignity and morals. How could she let that happen?

..bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbn.

“Okay. You're starting to scare me. What happened?” Holly began by parting the curtains to let some natural light into the house. After she was done, she settled next to her friend in the couch. “First off, you disappeared on me—”

“I didn't...” a strangled wheeze. “You were too busy. I tried to tell you, I was going to be just outside. I headed out, there was this man—”

“Wait. A man? What man?”

“I was drinking.”

“Okay?”

“He'd come over, talked. There was a woman too. They seemed to be arguing. I was confused. I can't remember what transpired after. I continued drinking. I remember being lightheaded and then the next thing I remember...” there was a long pause. Elizabeth tried to remember something else, something worth remembering. She knew she had definitely heard the man's name the night before, but at that moment, everything had evaded her. She swallowed and continued to speak. “I was on a bed, naked, and there was a letter and some stacks of dollar bills?”

Holly instantly pulled away, having put the pieces together. “Hol' up? Did a random man at the party take advantage of you being drunk?”

Elizabeth nodded.

“Fucked you and paid?”

She nodded again.

Holly jolted out of the couch dramatically, and squatted to face Elizabeth squarely in the face. Her hands held onto her friend's shoulders. “Okay. You need to calm down.” she began, slowly. “It was a big party, and things like that are sometimes bound to happen. Men can be assholes, terrible people and you had been drinking—”

Elizabeth tried to incoherently argue. “I-I I could...” she cupped her face again. “God, I feel like such a whore. I feel like mom.”

Holly was very quick to hush her up. She wiggled her friend’s shoulders and tried to say soothing words that could help. “Come on, come on, come on!” she jiggled her friend like to shake the misery out of her at that moment. “Just one mistake doesn’t define who you are, and please, never compare yourself to that woman. You barely even knew her!” 

“The same thing...” Elizabeth whispered. “It’s like the same thing once again.”

“Listen to me!” Holly said, in a very commanding tone. Still shaking Elizabeth’s figure like a hysterical mom. “For me to help you, I need your stability, and sanity. This is not time to wallow in self pity and relate and compare to someone yo u barely even know. . .”

Elizabeth nodded in understanding. 

Holly continued. “Yes, it was a party at an hotel and I’d expected at least one to ten cases of this, but not expected it being on you. For me to help you, you help me first. You need to give me more than a few descriptions. I need more information on this man. And the woman even, tell me about them both. You need to remember. What’s the one thing you can recollect right now.” She wiped the tears of her friend’s face, and waited, patiently. 

Elizabeth looked above her friend’s head and into space, trying to actually remember something. The moment she did, she spewed it out. “He gave a tour of the hotel. We were both sharing my bottle of drink, very drunk.”

“Okay, he gave you a hotel tour. You were both drunk. That’s not enough information, Elizabeth.” She groaned. “He might as well be a hotel worker.”

Elizabeth shook her head certainly. “I don’t think so. He seemed pretty wealthy.” She slid her bag off her shoulder and zipped it open to reveal it’s content. “See this?”

Holly, taken aback, pulled away and stared wide eyed at the stack of money on her friend’s hand. “Whoa!” she exclaimed. “That is definitely not just any man. I’ll tell Peter to look into the CCTV footage of the party and see what he finds. In the mean time,” She hopped onto her feet, and eyed her friend sassily, her hand around her waist. “Take a shower, Elizabeth. You look like you’re dying. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just a one night stand.”