The Golden Rose [[walk in//ignore post count]]

Choose your poison

Vodka	23.2%	[ 22 ]
Rum	15.8%	[ 15 ]
Whiskey	13.7%	[ 13 ]
Tequila	8.4%	[ 8 ]
Beer	5.3%	[ 5 ]
Wine	14.7%	[ 14 ]
Other	18.9%	[ 18 ]
Total Votes:			[ 95 ]

[Counterfeit Intoxication]

Don't be good, be well...

As his weight shifted back, he felt the door give and he fell, panic on his face and arms flailing to try to grab onto something to stop his descent. He landing flat on his back, his head bouncing on the thick carpet. It was an embarrassing little episode and, for the first time, he was grateful that no one was around to see it. He pulled himself to his feet and turned to look around. "Well, if the door was open..." He grabbed his bag and stepped inside, quietly clicking the door closed behind him. He dropped his bag just inside the door and looked around, taking in the elegant foyer. It looked like an inn, nicer than he expected for a town of this size. Cobwebs had gathered in the corners and the room smelled stuffy. It looked as if it had been abandoned long enough to need a thorough deep cleaning, but not long enough for the building to begin to decay.

"Hello?" He called out, loud enough for his voice to carry to the adjacent rooms. Silence. He took a couple of cautious steps towards the reception desk. A thick layer of dust lined the counter. He called out again. "Hello? Anyone here?" Silence quickly returned as his voice seemed to sink into the walls and carpet. "I guess not." He took a quick glance around the room, then walked himself around the back of the counter. Despite the fact that no one seemed to be around to care, he was nervous about being back there, somewhere he was fairly sure he wasn't permitted. He looked around for signs of life, but nothing jumped out at him. Old paperwork, nearly a decade old, sat in neat piles off to the side, while a register of names and rooms lay open in front of him. It looked haphazard and any semblance of an organized policy was abandoned long ago. Lines were missing populated fields (most inconveniently, dates) and many of the rooms looked as if they were still occupied. But here, on a board under the desk, sat a number of hooks with all keys accounted for. "Huh."

He walked back around to the other side of the counter and glanced up the stairs. A bit of light showed at the top, likely from a hallway window. He turned back and looked from door to door in the lobby. "Let's see what's behind door number one!" He chuckled quietly at his own stupid joke as he crossed the room to the door to the left of the entrance. He turned the handle and was happy to find it unlocked (nothing had been locked yet, why did he think this would be?) He poked his head in and found a lavishly decorated bar and dining hall, full of rich woods and a large fireplace. Most interesting of all, he saw the bar on the back wall, lined with half-filled bottles and sparkling glassware. "Jackpot!"

...and make the world a better place.

[Selenite Sugar]

What was Arijana thinking? She had walked past here several times on her way to an actual, lucrative job, where she had been held to a decent amount of responsibility as a head accountant. Something about the "For Sale" sign had called to her and ...she gave in. She quit her job, took out a second mortgage on her condo and purchased the inn. The paperwork took an unusually long time to be completed and she hadn't taken over as owner in months. There was so little known and relinquished about the building that there weren't even keys. She was told that somewhere in the bowels of the building, there was a chest with room keys, a blueprint and ground information regarding the maze in the back.

That was it.

No historical writings, nothing in the archives. She had asked around but the majority of this city had been a town when the Inn was built, and there weren't any original settlers. The building, though, was still pristine. An unknown source held the paperwork of ownership and was selling it.

The thick haired woman sighed at the doorstep, contemplative if she even wanted to attempt an entry into the building. The door hadn't given way when she had tried to view the building, but her lawyer had assured her the investment was pristine. No one had been in or out in the previous years after the Inn had closed. She still wanted to acknowledge the dust and cobwebs. She wanted to know what the previous owner had stripped and what she needed to budget for, but no matter what they tried, the doors and windows just wouldn't give. Her slender fingers grasped the door handle, pushing on it.
She expected it to be stuck again, shoving hard, but it gave away easily and she stumbled. A yelp escaped her lips and she fell onto the floor, tripping over the threshold.

"What the hell!" She exclaimed, her palms slapping on to the wooden floor as she skidded to an eventual stop. The sound was loud, startling herself as it echoed throughout the dead building.

She huffed out, catching her breath and there were noises. She wasn't expecting noises.
Her brow knit together, expressing confusion outwardly as she glanced around. Lifting her small frame from the floor, dusting herself off, a small voice perked from her lips,
"Uhm? Hello?"

[Counterfeit Intoxication]

He slipped in through the door and slid out of his jacket, draping it on the chair nearest him. He turned to the bar, curious to browse the stock, but froze at the sound of someone barging through the door in the lobby. His eyes widened and he quickly realized the compromising position he found himself in. He probably shouldn't be here. Panic overcame him as he grabbed his coat and quickly moved towards the kitchen door, hoping for another way out. Alas, his coat held fast to the chair and pulled it over behind him, clattering to the floor with a ear-shattering crash. He panicked, dashing towards the bar and vaulting over to the back.

s**t. Think you could make a bit more noise there? He pressed himself against the back of the bar, trying his best to quiet the pounding in his chest. The silence in the room seemed deafening and every little sound he made - the rustle as he readjusted himself, the heavy breathing, the pounding in his ears - seemed intolerably loud. After taking a moment to compose himself, he began to slide over towards the kitchen door, while listening closely to any noise coming from the other room (was that a 'hello'?). If he could just get out through there, he could make a run for it and no one would be any the wiser.

He reached the door and leaned into it, but it didn't give. He tried it again, but still it stood strong. He eyed the gap between the frame and the door and saw the deadbolt holding fast. After another brief moment of panic (I'm not going to make it out, I'll definitely be caught), he slid around the end of the bar to look for option number two. Out the door? It was still closed, but there's no telling who's out there or where they are. The windows! He could surely slip out the front windows, likely unnoticed. He raised himself to his feet and began shuffling as quietly as he could across to the closest window to him. He flipped the lock, sliding the window up in its frame, and already had a leg over the sill when he remembered his bag, sitting in the lobby, right by the front door.

[[Ugh, I'm sorry. I struggled to write this and rewrote it probably four times. The creativity is not flowing...]]

Don't be good, be well, and make the world a better place.