Chapter 2 So much for moving!

MARK'S POV

"Arrgh!"

"What? What is it Mark?" I heard Mom's yells faintly, my eyes fluttered openly to meet the mid-afternoon sky and Mom shaking me frenziedly in the backseat, one more look around and I discovered we were all in the car. It had only been a dream.

"Are you okay Mark?" Jessie's concerned voice flooded my ears, I turned around to find her without any long fingernails or a bloodied face4, she looked quite normal.

"Mark?" She probed further.

"Yeah I'm fine," I called out wearily, adjusting my position so I could sit up, I let out a soft giggle when I noticed Mom and Jessie moving frantically in their attempts to help me up. "I'm fine, guys," I chuckled again. "It was just a bad dream."

Dad patted my knee and gave a small wave before going back to restart the car, I shuddered at the thought that we all had to pull over just because I screamed from a bad dream-or at least now I knew it was a bad dream. Before I woke up, I literally thought my own sister had grown claws and plucked my eyes out.

I looked out the window, hoping to calm myself with nature a bit, at least I was breathing normally now and my heartbeat was regular. "Mom, where are we?" I asked, not recognizing the landscape.

"We're in Tennessee now, I guess." She replied, getting into the other front seat, everyone had returned to their original positions.

"Hey did you know that in the 1800s, the pioneers used to travel in trains and caravans for two to five months?" Jessie asked-or rather just reminded everyone that she was the nerd type-as far as I knew, no one else gave it a second thought about what people did in the past.

"No, I didn't know actually." Mom said, clearly interested. Okay maybe she was the nerd type too.

"There used to be dangers on the road of course. The Red Indians and other native American tribes hated the white men from Britain, they had taken over their land at the time and labelled them as animals and savages who were not fit for civilization."

"So their immediate response was to attack the travelers while they were on the road huh?" Mom asked without looking back.

"Exactly!" Jessie cried, making me roll my eyes; the topic was making me weary already. "The ancestors, the first owners of the land also rose from their graves to avenge their land." She continued, looking around like she was a high school teacher called to take on elementary kids.

"Oooh, ghosts." Mom said in a fake terrified voice.

"Yes, you see, they waylaid travelers on their way to their various promised lands. They caused storms, upset the horses, and dug their hands into the riders' eyes..."

What the hell?

"That's enough Jessie," I cleared my throat to interrupt her. "I'm pretty sure you made that part up!"

"No it's true!" She turned to look back at me. "The Red Indian ancestors dug their fingernails into the eye sockets of the riders' eyes to-"

Instantly the dream replayed itself in flashes. Me standing over Jessie as she knelt by a rosebush, her fingernails growing and launching themselves into my chest and then right at my eyes. I blinked and stared at the real Jessie as she kept on talking about how the pioneers were unjustly robbed of their eyes. Suddenly her image flickered twice from the teen girl in a pink shirt and jeans to the bloody-faced one from my dream.

"Shut the hell up, Jessie!" I shut my eyes and yelled, grabbing my head and forcing myself to believe Jessie had no connection with the thing from my dream whatsoever.

"Mark Tyndale Wordsworth, you will use no such tone on your sister!" Mom yelled from the front seat.

Dad turned his head back, his expression far from cheerful. Mom took a second to remind to focus on driving before turning back to resume her scolding.

"Now will you apologise or do we have to pull over?"

"I'm sorry Mom," I swallowed.

"Not to me, Mark, to Jessie." She said, motioning to my sister.

"I'm sorry for yelling, Jess." And I was, even though Jessie probably didn't believe me and just kept staring, unable to utter a word.

"I'm sorry sis," I reached forward and touched her shoulder, eager to let this whole scene behind us, she just nodded and turned, leaving me to wonder if that was a good or bad thing. I was about to ask Mom for help before seeing her giving a resigned shrug and turning back to the road.

Jessie would come round. I thought as I sank back into my chair. She could never stay mad at me forever.

We continued driving, time passing slowly as none of us cared to break the uncomfortable silence. I'd grabbed my phone and earplugs to listen to a bit of music before deciding to see if Jessie was still mad. We had arrived at South Carolina now.

"Jess, do you think the red Indians could have passed through this route?" I pointed at some abandoned pre-modern era train tracks.

"No, I don't think so, the train tracks were not like this. I didn't mean literal trains; they were just band wagons with horses to pull them." She said.

"How can you be sure?" I smiled, a little bit happy at the outcome.

"I'm the historian here!" She turned to me with a smirk on her face.

"Isn't 'Historian' an old word?" Mom asked. "I thought the new term was historiographer."

"That's too long for anyone to pronounce." I replied.

"Hey speak for yourself." Jess batted an eyelid at me as I relaxed in my seat again. There was no arguing with those two women, especially not on a car ride, Dad had discovered the secret years ago, it was probably why he didn't talk much with the unbelievable excuse that it would distract him.

But he finally did speak. "Let's stop for the night shall we?" He said as he pulled into a parking lot.

"Whatever happened to your silence on the wheels, Dad?" I teased.

"Technically, I am not on the wheels right now because I'm pulling up on a driveway where there are less than three cars and there cannot be a risk of an accident because-"

"Right Dad; right!" I raised my hands in a mock surrender, seems I was the only one who wasn't good at avoiding car fights, even after years of enough prep time.

"Today isn't just your day is it?" Jessie nudged my arm as we filed out of the car with a few belongings we would need for the night.

"Tell me about it." I sighed.

WELCOME TO WORDSWORTH'S. The sign at the entrance of the hotel read.

"Can you all see that? That's our name right there!" Dad exclaimed and threw his arms up the way he did when he managed to make eighteen holes at the local Saturday golf club.

"What a coincidence darling!" Mom remarked sarcastically.

"No, I say it isn't, this is our hotel! Feel free to take as much as you can because we own the place! And if any of you pick more than we can pay for, you're on your own."

"Very funny, Dad." Jessie laughed, slowing down and letting us get ahead of her, when I passed her she pinched my elbow and drew me back.

"Ow!" I yelled. "Why did you-"

"Shhh," She interrupted. "Whatever did you have to yell for back in the car?"

"Oh! Uhmm did you go back inside when we were all out?" I asked.

"No. We all entered the car and the agents locked the house. Why?"

"Oh... never mind." I turned away.

"You haven't answered my question yet?" She pinched my elbow again.

"Ow, quit it!"

"Well then answer the‒"

"Whatever are you two hanging back there for?" Mom hollered.

"Right, let's go in." Jess grunted, making a pathetic effort to drag me inside along with her. Dad was already at the counter by the time we got in.

"Your rooms are 51 and 52." I heard the receptionist say as I approached, handing the keys to Dad, she didn't seem like the person anyone would use as a first impressions officer; she looked too cold and unapproachable. No, scary was the right word.

And so was the thought of having to share a room with Jess for the night, she would nag me to death about the scene in the car or really turn into one of those Red Indian things. Either way, there was no getting out of it, Mom and Dad already had the other room and under no circumstances was I about to share it.

"Gosh, look how beautiful this room is!" Jessie exclaimed as we entered the room.

I said nothing, though I admired the room as much as she did. I was more concerned with staying away from her for a bit, at least until she forgot about her interrogation.

"It really is very beautiful," She continued, touching everything from the beds to the curtains and even the walls.

"Yeah, um... I gotta use the bathroom." I dumped my bag on one of the beds and hurried into the bathroom.

I'd expected the bathroom lights to be on, so I was stunned when I walked into pitch blackness, I groped around my pockets for my phone, exasperated to find out I'd left it in the room. I decided to pee anyway instead of going back for it.

The bathroom got darker with each forward step I took; I gritted my teeth as I unexpectedly began to remember the dream and I began to imagine Jessie coming out of the shower with blood on her face and her nails stretching towards my eyes. I bit my lip and felt around the walls for a light switch, hoping my vivid imagination would think of something more helpful at this point.

Then I heard something slither along the floor, I gasped as I heard a hiss. Luckily I'd found the light switch, I slammed my finger on it and screamed at the sight on the ground.

"What is it?" I heard Jessie banging on the door.

"There's a fucking python in there!" I yelled hysterically as I tumbled out of the bathroom.

"What python?" Dad yelled as he ran into the room with Mom behind him, he brushed me aside after I pointed to the bathroom, coming out again just after a few seconds.

"There's really a snake in there!!" He yelled, motioning for us all to leave the room, we almost collided with the security guards at the door as a result.

"What's the matter?" One of them asked.

"There's a snake in there!" We all yelled at the same time, the men exchanged glances, then moved past us and towards the bathroom, two of them going in while one remained outside.

"Why there's nothing there, come in and have a look." One of the men exclaimed as he walked out, they both appeared very calm.

"We ain't going in there!" Mom said. I looked out the lobby, heads were poking through various doors now; we had probably ruined sleep for a lot of people. I turned back to see Mom grabbing me and Jessie's suitcases out the room. Shame, I hadn't even unpacked.

"We're leaving this hotel now!" Dad said, going into the other room, he emerged with his and Mom's bags and we filed out to the ground floor leaving the security men behind. The receptionist sat poised like she was expecting us when we got to her desk.

"Leaving so soon? Why the rush?" She asked in a rather smooth voice.

"This freaking hotel is a breeding ground for snakes and my family is leaving this minute!" Dad yelled.

"I'm afraid that will not be possible." All heads turned to see a woman dressed in a suit and heels walking in.