The Unwelcome

It was a windy Tuesday when I first saw them. My parents, who are reporters, were on an assignment in New York. They told me to stay in my hotel room, but I decided to explore. A lot of things caught my eye, but nothing like the group of hard core punks that I saw crossing the street. I hid behind the nearest thing I could find, which happened to be an abandoned building.
I peeked out, one of them saw me and smirked. I freaked and ran farther along the building. Then I bent down and started silently started saying. "Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me."
She followed me behind the building and started kicking and spiting on me. Her friends came soon after and started laughing and cussing at me. One of the guys with spiky purple hair grabbed me by my collar and pulled me to my feet. I wasn't quite sure what he was saying, by that time I’d tuned everything out. "Hey, what're you kids doing." Came a deep voice from behind them. I looked over the guy's shoulder and saw a group of construction workers looking at us. the guy let go of me and I ran out of there, but not before hearing them promise to meet me again.


I returned to an empty hotel room. A note had been pinned to the refrigerator, it was from my parents. They had to wait over night at some crime scene. I frown There was a good chance that this hotel room would be a crime scene.

I was too creped out to sleep so I just took a long shower and hoped into bed.

I don't know how they got in. It had to be 2:00 in the morning when I felt the cold hand fall over my mouth. "Shhh."
I began looking around for something to grab.
A girl with short red hair and a lip ring walked over to me. She sat on the bed and smiled. Then held up my mom's gold earrings. "Mind if I keep these?"
I quickly shook my head, hoping that was all they wanted.
"Good." She said tucking it into her pocket. "What's your name?"
The cold hand removed itself from my face. "Andy." I replied.
"Ok, Andy, here's how it goes, Butch here has a little surprise waiting for you in the bathroom, now because you were so easy to work with, he'll go easy on you, got it?"
I nodded.
"Good, now go, come out thirty minutes after Butch leaves the bathroom."
I walked slowly to the bathroom and opened the door. Looked inside, walked in, then closed it behind me.

I wasn't sure when it was okay to come out. There weren't any clocks in the bathroom so I couldn't be sure if thirty minutes was up or not. I yanked a piece of tissue from the roll and balled it up. Then I slowly turned the faucet on, wet the tissue and pressed it to my bottom lip. When the tissue was completely covered in blood I threw it away and reached for another piece, trying not to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My whole body hurt, it hurt to move, to blink, to breathe.

The next day I crawled off the bathroom floor. My body was still soar. I stood and stared at myself in the mirror. My cheeks looked like I'd stuffed a pillow into them, my lips were busted and the inside of my eyes looked like smashed strawberries, while the outside looked like I’d been playing in my mom's eye shadow box. I toke a shower, which hurt a lot and put the only pair of clothes they’d left on. The hotel room was completely destroyed.
Most of my things were gone. I looked in my mom's suitcase and found it empty. Her makeup was gone, her stocking ripped to piece, a bunch of tampons were lined up to spell BITCH.
I put her things back into her suitcase and put it under my bed. Then I checked my dad's things.
They'd only left him a tie. I sat on one of the mattresses that was slung on the floor. "How am I going to tell my parents?" I thought out loud. The phone rang and I was almost too afraid to pick it up. But finally on the third ring I answered it.
"Hello?"
"Andy is that you?" It was my mom, never in all my life had I been more happy to hear her voice.
"Yeah it's me."
"You sound different, is everything alright?"
"When are you getting home?"
"Tonight I hope, I was just calling to check up on you."
"Everything's fine." I lied.
"Okay see ya in a little bit."
"Bye."
I decided I'd better start cleaning up before my parents got there. An hour later the room looked much better. They'd taken the sheets so I just threw the cover on the bed. All three lamps were broken and sprayed on. I carried to the broken bulbs to the trash bin and threw them away.
Then I noticed door handle turning. Before I could say a word the door fully opened and I came once again face to face with the red hair girl.

"Hi Andy, what's up?" She said causally. Like she'd never broken into my hotel room and stole my stuff.
"Uh Hi?"
"Sorry about your face, man." Butch said from behind her.
I just stared at them in awe. They were waiting for me to respond.
"Uh it's okay....I guess."
"Good, c'mon guys." she waved her crew in.
They carried bags and suitcases with them into the room.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was the purple haired guy. "Thanks for letting us crash here."
"What?"
"Thanks again." He walked away.
I had had it. There was no way these kids were going to be here when my parents returned. I didn't even care if they beat me up again. I just wanted them gone.

"You guys have to leave and right now."
the room got quiet and I instantly wished I'd kept my mouth shut.

"What're you doing?" Someone pulled on my shirt. It was the red haired girl.
"My parents will be back soon, they'll flip."
"So you'll just have to explain."
"I can't, why don't you just get the fuck out of here."
She stared at me. "Look, I really like you, hoping we could spend some time together."
"You told Butch to beat the shit out of me."
"Oh c’mon."
"No you come on, get them out and maybe we can 'spend some time together'."
"I can't." she looked down.
"Why?"
"But I could maybe pay you back?"
"No need."
"Follow me."

She ran out of the door and I followed her. We ran down an alley till we came the abandon building I'd first met them at.

"Wait here."
A skinny girl with long shaggy blonde hair came out. Her blue leg warmers' were tore and dirty.
Her previously white dress had a huge the size of a quarter in it. Still she smiled at me.

"We'd met as well be lovers after I give you this."
She held me into the building and through a series of twists and turns before ducking into her hole.
I followed and found a broken nightstand resting in corner, next to a cardboard box with piles of clothes pouring out. In the center were the sheets that had been on my bed.

"Here," she said laying out a stack of teen magazines. "You can have these."
I looked at the magazines, some were home and garden, but most were Teen People.
"Or if you don't have one, you could have my guitar." I'd had ten guitars at my house.
I smiled at her and she left.

When I'd returned to the hotel room, my parents were already there.
"Mom, dad, I can explain."
"Explain what?
"The...."
It toke me awhile to realize nothing was missing from our room, everything was the way it had been before.

"I don't get it, but the sheets, and your tampons."
"Excuse me?"
"Son, what're you trying to say."
"Nothing's gone?" I asked.
Both my parents shook their heads.
"Should there be?"
"Did you have some wild and crazy party?"
"I guess not." I said looking out the window, watching them walk down the street.

I never saw them again.