Requested Pillow Fort Story sort of? I'm sorry

>>198272748 (You)
Victoria building a cozy pillow fort with Kate and her sisters.
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Victoria finally let out the breath she was holding in as she stopped her one year old black Cadillac sedan.

October 11th was a shitty day, but it was getting better and it was almost over.

She looked at her phone.  Still dead.

Her glancing at her phone was the way it had started, of course.  Her phone died sometime after the power went out, but not before she had gotten a text.

Victoria, Kate is still at the hospital.  Please get her and take her away from there.

The storm is going to hit near there, and they aren't evacuated yet.

And she hadn't doubted Max's text, but she did wait until she saw how the wind was blowing.  The power had gone out when she was leaving the dorm, and she floored it to the hospital, and-

A gentle hand touched her shoulder, and she flinched a little.

“Victoria, this is the hotel, right?” a little voice asked her.

Lynn, she reminded herself.  One of the two siblings that had tagged along.  It was easy to tell her apart from her sibling, since she was far younger and not stuck with glasses.

“Yeah.” She cut the ignition.  One foot in front of the other.

“The Courtyard by Marriot?” Lynn asked.

Instantly, Victoria felt embarrassment.  For a Chase, a hotel like this was slumming it by far.

“It's not the nicest hotel,” she admitted, “but it'll do.”

“This looks wonderful!” It was the older, louder sister with the glasses.  Judith?  Or did she prefer Judy?

She decided that she'd just ask Kate when the girls were asleep or something.

“Can you two handle Alice while I take our bags?” Kate said.

“Katie, we can take care of the bags and Alice!  You just go with Vicky to the room, okay?”  Judy said.

And of course Judy liked calling her Vicky.  She was just old enough to think she could get away with anything...

Kate hesitated, and it didn't take a genius to imagine why.

Even if they weren't really 'kids', she could imagine that they'd drop something if they tried lugging everything at once.

Alice the Rabbit was probably bothered enough by the mostly above the speed limit ride.  Getting dropped onto a hard tile floor would probably not improve her disposition.

“I'll come back out with you two to get the bags once we're in the room.  Just focus on carrying the bunny, okay?” Victoria said, trying to keep the edge out of her voice.  She had never babysit before, and she could see why people would complain about it.

Kate's protest was to grab her backpack off of the floor in front of her.

Victoria put on the best smile she could muster and made for the front desk.

“Good evening, ma'am,” the receptionist greeted with a friendly smile and a slight bow of his head, “how can I help you tonight?”

“I had a reservation under Victoria Chase?”

“Ah, Ms Chase...for the adjacent double suites?”

“Yes.”

He glanced at the sisters who each held an end of the cage. “There is a pet deposit.”

“That's fine.  If there's a problem with the card on file, I have an emergency card just for this occasion,” she said that far more for her companions than the man.

“Oh, yes.  Sorry, it's just-” He chuckled and he fiddled with a few card keys behind the counter, before shoving them into little paper holders.  “Never mind, just need you to sign there, and here's your keys for 217 and 218.  I hope you all have a wonderful stay.”

“Thank you, sir.” She led the way to the elevator, up to the second floor, and then down to the rooms.  It had been quite a long time since she had stayed in a hotel, and she knew she should be disappointed in the accommodations.

Still, between Kate walking over to the chair and sinking into it and her sisters setting Alice's cage up on the desk, she couldn't find it in her to complain.  No, instead, she left the keys with Kate and said, “open the door when we come knocking, okay?”

“Are you sure you don't-”  The sisters were gone with the wind.

“I think I'll have to fight them just to carry my bag.” Victoria smiled.  “It was smart of you to get your backpack out of the way early.”

With a wave and a wink, she headed down.

Thankfully, she was the one who had the car keys, so it was easy enough to make sure she had her backpack before the two could fight over it.  That just left them jointly hauling the duffle bag that the sisters had brought with them.

At least if they dropped that the worst they'd do is mess up the clothes they hastily packed for their ill-advised trip to see their sister.

It made her wonder if Kate's parents had been out to see her, and why they wouldn't take the girls.

She hadn't really thought of that, but she was too damned tired to decide how in the world she could broach the subject.

Kate was Christian, and she could only imagine that there was a line in the Bible about seeing to your family if they tried to fucking kill themselves.

At that moment, a chill crawled down her spine.

How many people in Arcadia Bay were dead because of the storm?  Who got out?  Was Blackwell even still there?  Kate had been ready to go when she got there.  The girls had asked questions, but they did so as they all walked to the car.

Max would probably be all right, but that didn't mean much.  That was one person out of...

It had been bad enough that the hospital was starting to evacuate when she showed up, but...

“One foot in front of the other,” she muttered.  Kate and her sisters and her were all right.  Once she could plug in her phone, she could make any calls they needed to make.

“You all right, Vicky...Victoria?” Lynn asked, smiling nervously as their eyes met.

Victoria had to bite back the comment she wanted to make.  She shook her head. “Driving for all that time's just got me tired.”

For all the stupid shit she had done in the last week, she didn't want to add 'bullying children' to the list.  She just wanted to get into bed and go to sleep...and that definitely wasn't going to happen.  She'd have to send out more than a few 'yes I'm all right' texts, and...then the responses would come.

“Thanks for driving us all that way!” Judy piped up, turning around so she could stare, too.

“It's no problem.  That car mostly just sits around anyway, so...it needed it,” she lied.  “Watch out for the door.”

“Thank God for good friends,” Lynn said as she reached up to pull the door open.

Victoria did her best to zone out and not think about why that absolutely didn't apply to her as they walked into the elevator.

She posted that video.

She did everything she could to share it.

She ignored her when she said, 'you'll be sorry, one day.'  Right after, she called her a viral slut.

Not a week later, she was definitely sorry.  The universe had a delicious sense of irony.

The elevator doors opened (when had they shut?) and they headed back into the hall.

Get into the room, send some texts, get to bed, and sleep until the staff come to kick her out of the hotel room.

It'd be utterly impossible to do quickly, but it sounded easy.

Knocking on room 217's door, she didn't have to wait long until Kate welcomed them in.  At least the desk was big enough that she could put her elbows on it without bumping Alice's cage off.   That's enough room to plug her phone in and start texting.

She decided to just send the same text to everyone important on her list.

Parents, Courtney, Taylor, Max, N-|

For an instant, her heart stopped.

Nathan.

Was he all right?  So much was going on this week, especially with him.  He had been so warm.  Even when he was cold or scared or angry, he managed to be a little bit warm, if she listened long enough.

She swallowed her doubts and decided that he would definitely reply.

Alice stared on at her, silently judging her ways.

Finally, she decided to just add the whole Vortex Club to the list.  If anyone was worried about her, they might as well know she was fine.  And if they weren't worried about her...she could unfriend them later.

Hey, it's Victoria.  I'm okay, and I'm in Portland right now.

She sent the message, set her phone on vibrate, and prayed she'd hear back soon.

Yawning, she stepped over to the bed that she decided was hers and flopped onto it

For an instant, she could actually just lay there with her face pressed into the pillows.

As soon as her phone vibrated, though, she sprang up and returned to the desk.

One from Max:

good to hear ur all right

She stared at that message for a while.

Max knew about the need to evacuate in the first place.  She'd probably know about who was all right.

Then again, that also meant that she might know someone was dead.  The answer wouldn't be good if she asked what she really wanted to ask.

Max was safe.  Anyone who could text back was probably safe.  Her parents were safe.

So she quickly typed:

stay safe, selfie ho

The response was near instant:

;D

It almost made her feel like it'd be okay...that there wouldn't be a dead friend or classmate to worry about by tomorrow.

“Katie, can we have your pillows?” It's Judy.

“I know how you two are with pillows.  We'll never get them back if we let you take any.” Kate started out stern, but giggled.  “Come in here if you're going to try to be...pillow architects.”

Victoria suspected that trying to be serious while in her pajama pants and a t-shirt wouldn't even really work for her, and she was the Queen Bitch of the Vortex Club.

It didn't take a minute for them to toss every last pillow, including the cushions from the chair, over from the other room.

Weaponized sibling power may not destroy the world, but it would certainly make a hell of a mess for the help.

The siblings had already dressed down from the skirts and blouses they had had on, and were running around with t-shirts and pajamas.

Between her sweater and slacks, she was totally overdressed for this crowd.

“Vicky, wanna help?” Judy asked, adjusting her glasses.

A child who couldn't be a year into high school spoke to her like they were friends on the playground.

She turned back to look, and saw the smile on that face.

But the hopeful look on Lynn's face was what broke her.

She did bring her phone over, though, as she walked over to the bed and sat down.

Kate sat on the other bed and handed over the chair cushion.

Lynn was quick to array one in front of the gap between the beds, and Judy set it on top of it.

If Fort Marsh was about to be attacked by teddy bears, it'd be safe...but if those teddy bears had air support, it'd be in trouble fast.

A teddy bear anime with fighter planes and mecha would be pretty sweet.  Giggling at her own thought, she passed over a couple of her pillows.

Whatever design the girls were up to, she decided it would be best to just help out.

Lynn squirted out of the front and ran back to their room, and came back with a big ball of sheets and probably a blanket.

Kate smiled, and shook her head softly as Lynn shoved herself along with her supplies into the fort.

She leaned over and stage whispered, “they're probably not coming out of there until it's time for food.”

“I don't blame them,” Victoria murmured, laying back on the bed.

“Hey, Victoria...I know I've said this, but thanks.”

“Thank Max.  I'd probably still be in the dorms if she didn't say anything.” She huffed as she stretched out.  These clothes could honestly go and fuck themselves right now, but she didn't feel like getting up.

There came no response.  Only the sound of Kate rising and slowly walking over to the light switch.  The lights dimmed to about half strength.

Kate stopped near the bed and leaned in, speaking softly, “still, even if someone else called you, you came.  There are people who would hear that same call and say 'it is not my problem.'”

She sat up to say something, but then her mouth fell shut noiselessly.  Finally, she nodded and fell back onto the bed.

She glanced over at Kate as she walked away, and saw Lynn poking her head out of the pillow fort.  Had she heard?

Victoria smiled as her eyes fell shut and murmured, “thank God for good friends.”

And all of the world's suffering faded to black.