Alone In The Night

The streets surrounding the El Capitan Hotel in Merced California are empty. The year is 2098, the month, December.In room 512 a seventeen-year-old girl pecks at a computer keyboard. In the night, strong winds blow sheets of rain on the hotel's fourth floor window. The smell of stale rancid smoke and musty mildew carpet permeate the air. Red neon lights flash through sheer grey curtains.The horizontal slats of dusty venetian blinds are half open.A privy pearl-handled 45 automatic sits next to the computer on a dilapidated oak desk.The girls jaw muscles flex as she grits her teeth and wipes black mascara from pallid cheeks. Her plum coloured spiked hair is only a shade darker than her chewed fingernails.Loud male voices and heavy footfalls are coming down the paint peeled hallway. Bam! Bam! Bam!The heavy metal door rattles on it hinges."Police. Open Up. We just want to ask you a few questions."Looking out the peephole, she sees their cocked guns held low to their sides.One is carrying a short-barreled pump shotgun.Black riot helmets shield their faces.A calico kitten jumps off the bed, and strolls over to the barefoot girl."Trust us. We just want to talk to you." One shot rings out in the darkness... then another.