"Ma'am, I'm going to need you to co-operate." The uniformed man spoke. The woman opened her mouth but before she could reply with another retort, he stared her down making her halt. "Are you sure you did not hear any screaming tonight?" he repeated the question.
She closed her mouth considering the question. She folded her arms on the clothed table and sat up straight. "Do I really look that old to be considered a 'Ma'am'?", His tired stare made her smile, "I suppose I did hear screaming. But it really is nothing to worry about officer." she finally answered. The police officer sat back in the wooden chair. Not exactly the answer he wanted.
It was about 2 A.M. and he really wasn't up for dealing with psychotic Inn keepers. The woman continued with her story, "I'm fairly certain it was Sammy in room 211 who screamed. She's been having very bad nightmares the poor girl." Her devilish smirk faded down as she thought about this 'Sammy'. "She had been beaten by her last boyfriend and ran away, across the country. I respect her for that. Takes guts to escape such a mess." She shook her head then looked up at the man. "Do you have any more questions Sir?"
"I'm going to have to meet this Sammy, if that's alright. I want to make sure that she's okay." The man stared the woman down. He didn't trust her. It was something about her smile that put him on edge. It was something about her appearance too. She looked as if her age could have been her early twenties if she wore the right clothes, but could also appear late thirties due to the clothes she wore now. Her face was young, perhaps a bit chubby, but somewhat mature. She wore very loose baggy clothing and barely had any skin showing. Her hair was sleek, but was a dusty dark brown and a bit unkempt. The way she talked was like a crazy hold hag, but had a chipper almost teenage voice.
She seemed off. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." her faded smile was now a frown.
"And why's that?"
"After her bad dreams, she gets really... quiet."
"Quiet?" he stared at her. This didn't sound good.
"Yes. She goes into a dark place. I wouldn't bug her.", Her tone was becoming serious. However, he had already stood up and was walking towards the stairwell.
"I'll have to see this for myself then."
"Wait! Y-you don't wanna go in there. She'll be so mad." the Inn keeper put her hands to her head.
"Ma'am, I have two teenage daughters. I believe I can handle this." the officer was in the stair well and began up the flight.
"Right! So then you know that disturbing a probably sleeping, emotionally distraught young woman is a really bad idea."
"I'll be fine.", He was half way there.
"B-but. Maybe she's PMS-ing. That'd explain the sudden heighten of emotions which may have caused the nightmare. You sure you're prepared Sir?" She gave any excuse she could think of.
He was already at the second floor when he stopped and turned to her giving her another serious look. "Two teenage girls.", The woman frowned and nodded at his rebuttal.
"Right." they then continued down the hall towards room 211. She sighed when they got to the room.
He knocked on the door, "Miss Sammy? Hello. Are you in there? I am officer Manning. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" His voice was loud. The Inn keeper stared at the door, very quietly. "Miss Sammy?" He knocked again. "Don't you have some sort of key that opens all of these doors?" He eyed the Inn keeper suspiciously. She ignored the suspicion in his gaze.
"Why, yes. I hold the master key." she pulled a hidden gold chain from her shirt that had an old looking key dangling from it. She pulled it over her head and held it. She stood there hesitantly. "Alright. Here I go. Opening the door." She gulped and put the key in slowly turning the lock. The door creaked open slowly until the officer swung the door open with force.
The room was dark. The only light in the room was the moonlight that filtered in and covered the small inn bed in its glow. Sitting in that glow was someone hunched over staring at the ground.
"Hello." the young woman spoke quietly. The officer looked at the Inn keeper. Well, at least Sammy isn't dead.
"Hello... uh. Are you alright miss?" he looked back to Sammy.
"Yes."
"someone from the room next door called saying someone was screaming."
"Yes." she answered immediately. The officer stood quiet a moment. Perhaps everything the inn keeper had said was true. Maybe this young woman just needs some space.
"I-I'm sorry to have bothered you at such a late hour. I hope you feel better and get some rest."
"Yes." she was quieter.
"Goodnight Miss." He walked out as the keeper closed the door letting out a sigh.
"Told yuh" She gave a half smile.
The officer was escorted out. And after an apology and a wave goodbye he was on his way. The inn keeper shut the main doors and locked them quickly. A bright smile suddenly grew on her face. She bolted back up the stair well and ran back to Sammy's room. She swung open the door ran in and held onto the young woman's hands. "I can't believe this! Your progress is really starting to show. I didn't expect you to be able to speak in at least another two weeks. But holy shit that was close" she laughed, "boy if he saw you in the state you were in yesterday, he'd probably think I'm some kind of murderer." she let go of the girls hands and stood up.
"I'm really proud of you Sammy. You're really getting through this." her voice was sincere. Sammy remained staring at the floor but her mouth slightly tightened as if she were trying to smile.
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