They walked down the hall, Zac tripping on every step for no real reason. Taylor and Brooke were ignoring each other, which seemed like no big deal to anyone. Isaac was trying to carry on a conversation with Elaine and Brooke but was constantly interupted by, no other than, Zac and his little tripping spree. The door to the hotel room was right by the elevator yet it seemed like an eternity untill they reached the door. Taylor grabbed the keys from Ike and opened the door, expecting their parents and siblings to be siting around, or running around in some cases. However, the room was empty. Zac stopped tripping and walked in the room right after Taylor, giving the same puzzled look. Isaac walked in after Elaine and Brooke. He too gave the same strange look that only brothers could make exactly the same way.
"What's wrong?"Brooke asked, seeing their expressions.
"Nothing really. It's just that.."Taylor said, mumbling it like he was deep in thought.
"'It's just that...' what?" Brooke asked, determined to get to the bottom of the situation.
"Our family is always here. They even told us they were going to be,"Isaac replied.
"Maybe they're in the joining room,"Elaine stated, pointing to a nearby door.
"I'll check!" Zac proclaimed. Somehow, nobody was surprised by that. He was gone for only a minute but returned, an even stranger look upon his face.
"Zac, what's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost!"Brooke stated.
"Oh! I'm fine but the room was empty of people and I couldn't find even a note. I know what happened. They probally got caught up and we beat them here. That's all. No need to worry. Everything's just fine,"Zac replied, trying to convince himself more than the others.
"I'm sure that's all it is. Why don't we just eat and by the time we're done, I'm positive they'll be back," Elaine said, smiling.
"Okay. You're right. No need to get worked up," Isaac said. "Let's eat."
"I agree with Ike! Let's eat!" Tay said, pretty much forgetting the situation. He sat down the bags, which he still held in his clutch form Brooke, on one of the hotel tables that was over by the back window. Everyone else gathered around and pulled up chairs. Zac and Taylor dashed into the food bag. Issac, Brooke and Elaine were smart enough to keep their fingers out of the way in fear they would loose them in the frenzy. Once Taylor and Zac had pulled out hteir food, and just about everyone else's, the other three grabbed their food in a much more civil matter.
"I'm sorry about that little food seen. When I get hungry, I can only think about food," Taylor apologized once he downed his share.
"It's okay. Just reminds me of my house!" Elaine procaimed, causing every to laugh.
"Yeah? That's cool. So, tell us more about you guyses interesting lives," Zac said to Elaine and Brooke, getting curious. By this point everyone had finished eating and forgotten about the family not yet being there.
"Well. I have two sisters, a dog, cat, and two rabbits. My life is pretty simple. Not much to it. NOthing interesting to talk about it. Never thought about how simple and boring my life was untill I started thinking about it just now," Elaine replied, getting somewhat depressed.
"Well, my life is interesting!"Brooke exclaimed with much enthusiasm.
"I'm an only child and live with my both my parents. I have a half sister but she doesn't live with me. She's older but cool. I spend most of my time at Elaine's house and watching out for cute guys. I also enjoy embarrassing people!" Brooke stated, giving Taylor a smirk when she mentioned the fact that she enjoyed embarrassing people.
"That's cool," Ike told her, then switching the conversation back to Elaine. "Now, there has to be something that's cool about you."
"Well, I love to sing, dance, and act. I perform for everyone and anyone. I'm also a 'gifted' student. Ya know, academically smart,"Elaine replied.
"Hey! That's cool," Zac said.
"Guys, whoa, wait. Ike, where's mom and dad?" Taylor asked.
"I don't now. But it's been two hours. The sun's already down. I'll try to page them,"Ike replied. He walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Uh, guys. Something ain't right."
"What's wrong?" Zac asked worridly.
"I don't have a dial tone. The phones out. It's plugged in but there's no dial tone," Isaac replied.
"I'll go check the phone in the other room!" Brooke volunteered. She returned quite quickly. "It's dead too."
"I think there's a pay phone outside the hotel. I'll go try that one," Taylor replied. "Anyone wanna come?"
"I will," Elaine said.
"Okay, come on. We'll be back in a minute or two," Taylor said. The other three went and sat down on the chairs by the table.
"And hurry," Isaac replied.
Taylor and Elaine proceeded to the elevator.
"Uh dear,"Elaine said as the entered the elevator. "Why don't we just use the phone in the lobby. if it's out there, maybe we could ask them if they know what's going on."
"Hmm...Good idea," Taylor replied.
The elevator stopped on the ground floor. As soon as the stepped out,Elaine felt a cold shiver crawl up her back. The walked the hall to the lobby to discover that it was completly empty. Not a soul was around.
"Taylor, where'd everyone go?" Elaine asked.
"I don't know. Come on, let's go look for their phone."
"Okay. I guess. I just don't understand why there aren't even any employees"
Taylor just shrugged and proceeded up to the front desk. Elaine followed close behind.
"There it is. See, no big deal. I'm sure there's an explanation for all of this. I'll call my parents then you can cal yours. Okay?" Taylor told Elaine, reaching for the phone he had discovered.
"Okay,"Elaine replied, relaxing a lot more.
Taylor grabbed the phone off of the reciever and held the speaker to his ear, listening for a dial tone, a tial tone that never came.
"Dang! It's dead too. Great, just what I need," Taylor groaned.
"Taylor, I'm scared," Elaine told him.
"You worry too much. It's probally just the main phone line that's dow. That's all," Taylor told her, giving a reasurring smile. Something was out of place about the way he smiled. Something that Elaine just couldn't place.
"You're right. It's just that I know my mom. She's probally having a heart attack right about now,"Elaine told him, only half jokingly.
"Come on. Let's see if we can find a pay phone outside,"Taylor stated. Elaine nodded her head in agreement. She walked on the left side of Taylor. The reached the main doors. Elaine pulled on the doube doors. Neither door moved.
"They're stuck," Elaine said, her anxiety building back up.
"Calm down. It says 'push' not 'pull'," Taylor told her. He pushed on the right door, then the left. Still, no movement of the doors. "I don't want to panic you, but we're locked in."