t the Grand Elysium w

sic vibrated throu

er stool at the far en

sses sat in a neat

It cast a thick, heavy fog over her brain, d

the breaking news. The chyron read: VANCE

around her were whispering exc

on. A bitter, drunken laugh sc

herself off

ke it was made of liquid. She swayed, her ha

r clutch and slapped it onto the wet wood. She wa

bank. Her vision blurred, splitti

loor. She rented it year-round for late

for her room card. Her fingers brushed against a thick plastic rectangle. She pulled it out, not reali

e clumsily jabbed her finger at what she thought was the button for the third floor.

glitch, combined with a maintenance mode left active by a careless technician earlier that even

ot upward at a

oor. It bypassed every level u

id open with

erent. The carpet was thick, plush wool. T

in didn't regis

eaned her weight against the heavy wood. To her surprise, it gave way. The highest security lock in the building

hed the hea

smelled like sharp cedar and som

n came from the sprawling Los Angeles sky

ked barefoot across the rug, blindly headi

d unzipped the back of her dress a few i

ed her dead i

A wet panting coming from the d

ard. She squinted

a large, broad-shouldered s

low, guttural gr

isfired. She thought he

haky step to