Mayville - Part Six

The next morning, May woke to find that Baker had left breakfast on the desk in her room. If she were honest, it unnerved her a bit to know he'd been in her room while she slept. She took a moment to use the bathroom - one of those big ones attached to the room like her parents used to have back home - before checking out her room-service breakfast.

Sitting down at the desk, May noticed a small sticky note next to the plate that read "eat up" with a smiley face. She pushed her uneasy feeling aside after reading the note, instead deciding he simply didn't want to wake her too soon and was only being kind. The small, misshapen chocolate chip pancakes reminded her of her father, who used to make pancakes for dinner every Sunday night. A small, sad smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. She ate slowly, tears threatening to spill over as she thought about those nights with her parents that she would never have again.

When May finished her breakfast she slowly opened the closet doors with a heavy sigh to dress for the day. She chose a basic pair of jeans and a light sweater in her favorite shade of plum purple. She pulled on her sneakers and grabbed the breakfast plate of her desk, intending to bring it to the kitchen, but two additional notes had been left beneath it that stopped her for a moment. One note said "school work is in the desk drawer" and the other "plates are left on the table by the door" both with smiley faces. May noticed now that these notes, as well as the "eat up" note, were taped to the desk.

May stared at the notes on the desk for a moment. She tried to think of a reason for this system Baker had in place but couldn't come up with anything. Except... That couldn't be right, though, could it? She thought back to all those Lifetime movies her grandmother had watched while babysitting her. She swallowed hard, trying to come up with any normal reason for this, but she could think of nothing. This didn't feel right.

May moved toward the door, her stomach twisting and knotting up, and looked at the table beside it - tall metal legs with a small wooden top, coming up to the height of the doorknob. Another sticky note was taped to the surface "plates here" with yet another smiley face. She didn't set the plate down here. Instead, May slowly reached for the doorknob. Her hand grasped it firmly and she waited, hearing her nervous heartbeat in her ears, before she tried to turn the knob.

Fear and anger overtook her as she realized she'd been right. It was locked.