Darkness
The hotel hallway plunged into darkness, though a faint glow from the emergency lights lit the elevator bays.
Esther heard muffled shouts from behind the closed elevator doors and was glad she’d missed it. She squinted into the dimness, calling out for Audrey.
A moment later, the overhead lights snapped back on, and Audrey turned the corner. She had one hand trailing the wall for guidance and still seemed shaken.
“That was weird.”
“Yeah, it was,” Esther agreed. She started to reach for the down button, then looked at Audrey questioningly.
“Stairs?”
“Stairs.”
Their walk down four flights of stairs would have been easier without Audrey’s bulging tote bags, but they managed without too much trouble. No one else was in the stairwell, and no one on the ground floor seemed to be bothered by the temporary blackout.
People milled through the lobby in all directions. Some wore elaborate cosplay, and many had con badges around their necks. Regular hotel guests eyed the cosplayers strangely before noticing the Geekify Greenville posters and nudging each other knowingly.
The annual con was fairly well known in the local area, but it was a small event compared to most pop-culture conventions. Clearly, there were many hotel guests who had no idea it would be going on this weekend. Which struck Audrey as being pretty funny.
“Hey, buddy,” Esther called to a passing security guard. “Did the lights go out down here?”
“The lights?” The guard studied Esther and Audrey suspiciously. “No, why?”
“Oh, they blinked out for a second upstairs.”
“Huh,” the guard shrugged. “Nothing down here. You can report it at the front desk.”
“Thanks,” Esther frowned as he walked away, adding under her breath, “Or you could look into it. You know, do your job?”
“It was probably nothing,” Audrey reassured, smiling at a young boy who was tugging his mom’s sleeve and pointing at a teenaged girl dressed as Pinocchio. “Let’s get the rest of this stuff to my table.”
Esther glanced toward the hotel café longingly. She was beginning to feel excited by the growing crowd and itched to be in on the action.
With a winning smile, she suggested, “Or we could get coffee first?”
- If you want to see what’s going on in the café, click here
- If you think they should report the power outage, click here
You’re reading Audrey & Esther Geekify Greenville, A Twist Your Fiction Storybook online! If you enjoy these sample pages, you can buy the full book here.
With 3 genres, 22 possible endings, and even a time loop, Audrey & Esther Geekify Greenville will lead you through wacky journeys again and again!