Previously...

Vince, Kelli, Melissa, Joel, Duncan, and Lori died in Marquette Cove within a span of days. Once everyone was laid to rest in their coffins, they awoke to discover they weren't really dead. As they screamed from their graves, unable to escape, all six victims blacked out and awoke in limousines transporting them to the Highwind Resort, where their host Rory Kahn informed them that their loved ones think they're dead, and they are now being held as prisoners.

Tom King met with the mysterious gloved figure who had been watching the residents of Marquette Cove for the past few months.

The Highwind Resort
Vincent Moore's Room

"This is insane," Vincent Moore said, setting his suitcase on the king-size bed in front of him. He unzipped the suitcase and found an entire wardrobe of winter clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch were packed inside.

"The fact that we both thought we were dead, then thought we were buried alive, and then found out we were being whisked away to a five-star hotel and ski resort?" Kelli Anderson asked from her seat at the edge of the bed. "Or the fact that whoever brought us here doesn't prefer American Eagle as the lesser of two preppy evils?"

Vince rolled his eyes. "Obviously, the first one. Although…yeah, the Abercrombie thing is really weird…okay, that's enough, I sound like a commercial."

"Well, whoever brought us here must have save our lives," Kelli said. "Maybe we're waiting here until we get back home."

"I'd like to assume so," Vince said. "But I've been kidnapped enough lately not to find this the least bit suspicious. Which is why I want you to stay in this room here with me, at least for the time being."

"I'm just anxious to get home," Kelli said, rising to her feet. "Everyone has to think we're dead, Vince."

Vince frowned. "What happened to you?"

"The last thing I remember is being shot by…I don't remember who," Kelli said quickly, not wanting to reveal Chris Server's name to Vince. "I'll have to ask…someone shot me, but I don't remember anything else."

Kelli sighed and sat back down, deciding that if she was okay, there was no reason to make Vince angry with Chris. It would only cause more trouble when they returned home. Kelli would deal with all of this by herself.

"So what about you?" Kelli asked.

"Me? The last thing I remember is —" Vince's reply was interrupted by a knock at the door. He moved to the peephole and tried to see who was there. Vince gasped and opened the door to find Melissa Maddock standing in the doorway.

"Oh my God," Vince cried. "You're…you're alive!"

Melissa had a surprised look on her face. "You knew I was dead?"

"Actually, no," Vince said. "I don't know why I did that."

"But wait, why are you here?" Kelli asked Melissa, approaching the door.

"Just like you, I thought I was dead," Melissa answered. "But I turned out up here."

"Okay, this is weird," Kelli said. "How did you know about us dying?"

"It's happened to all of us," Melissa said. "Every one of the guests at this hotel."

"There are more?" Vince demanded.

"Oh, yes," Melissa said. "Detective Kincaid and his brother are here. Another young woman who works at your high school is here."

"So are we all waiting until we can be taken home?" Kelli asked.

Melissa shook her head. "No…we're being held prisoner."

The Highwind Resort
Giselle Ormand's Office

Monique Champlain opened the door to Giselle's office and led Lori Racine inside. She stepped around Giselle's desk and sat down in the large comfortable leather chair behind it. Monique spun around to face Lori and smiled, kicking her feet up on the desk.

"This is where you can come and do coke," Monique said. "You wouldn't want to smoke pot in here, but it's perfectly fine to do it outside."

"I thought you were giving me a tour," Lori said, frowning. "I don't think this constitutes."

"Listen honey," Monique said, beckoning for Lori to come closer. "This job is a cakewalk. Sometimes you got to deal with blackmail and shit, but other than that, you just come here and do your thing. Okay, honey? Do the damn thing!"

"Look, I really only asked you for this tour for one reason," Lori said. "I don't exactly remember when I got here, or how long it's even been since my funeral, but why am I here? Why are any of us here? Being held prisoner…how is this even possible? We're supposed to be dead!"

"I don't understand the question," Monique said.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't understand the question," Monique snapped, glaring at Lori menacingly.

"You're covering something up, aren't you?" Lori demanded.

Monique smiled. "What makes you say that?"

"You glared at me menacingly," Lori insisted.

"Honey, it's in the script," Monique said. "Honestly, not everything's about you."

"What does that even mean?"

"Keep pressing and you'll find out," Monique said, standing up. "Unfortunately, that might not be an answer you want to find out."

Outside the Highwind
Lakeside

Detective Joel Kincaid wandered through the snow, gazing out at the frost-covered lake. He sighed and closed his eyes, attempting to remember what led him to this place. He had images of killing his own brother and the woman who had appeared at the Highwind with them, but they were fuzzy memories. Mostly because he had been drunk at the time.

"This is insane," Joel said. "How did I end up shooting myself in the head, but then get here? And who would have any reason to keep us prisoner here if they were responsible for saving our lives?"

Part of Joel wanted to blame Duncan, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to do that. There was no way Duncan could be behind any of this, despite Joel wanting any excuse to put him back behind bars. God…was that what drove Joel to commit murder? Was he so blinded by his hatred that he resorted to killing people to get revenge?

"I need a drink," Joel muttered. "My hotel room has to have a bar in it."

"Shouldn't you stop drinking?"

Joel turned around to find Rory Kahn, the man who had first welcomed him to the Highwind, standing before him. Joel balled his hand into a fist and tried swinging at Rory, but his hand passed through him. Joel stumbled and fell onto his knees.

"That wasn't very nice," Rory said.

"What are you?" Joel demanded. "A ghost? Is this all a fucking dream?"

"No, it's not a dream," Rory said. "But you need to calm down. You weren't brought here to be an alcoholic."

"Why was I then?" Joel asked, rising to his feet. "Is this someone's idea of a sick joke?"

"No, it's art," Rory replied. "That's all I can tell you."

"Go to hell," Joel snarled.

"If you'd like to, then I can definitely arrange for your stay to be a simulation of that," Rory offered.

"Just leave me alone," Joel said, turning back toward the lake.

"As you wish," Rory said, vanishing as quickly as he had appeared. Once Joel was sure that Rory was gone, he started toward the hotel so he could go back into his room. Whether the person holding them hostage liked it or not, Joel was going to have himself a drink.

The Highwind Resort
Vincent Moore's Room

Melissa took a seat at the desk in Vince's room and turned to face him and Kelli. She had just broken the news to them that they were being held prisoner at the hotel along with three others, and yet she felt like she had nothing else to offer them.

"How do you know we're being held prisoner?" Vince asked.

"We all woke up here, and were met with our new director of proceedings," Melissa said.

"The guy in white?"

"Yes," Melissa said. "He's informed us that we won't be leaving, but won't tell us why or how we got here."

"I know how we got here," Vince said. "At least, how Kelli and I did. How about you?"

"That's not important," Melissa said, not yet wanting the reveal the true reason of how she had ended up here. "I just want to know if my baby is okay."

"You mean Erin?" Kelli asked.

"No," Melissa said. "I'm not crazy, I know that Erin is dead. I just want to know if…I'm still pregnant."

"You're pregnant," Vince said, backing away from her. "With Robert Bale's child?"

"Of course," Melissa said, becoming defensive. "I'm not a whore."

"I wasn't saying that…I'm sorry," Vince apologized. "It's just that, this is all so surprising. Alec's going to have a half-brother. Or sister."

"Alec doesn't know yet," Melissa said. "Only his mother and father know."

Someone else also knew about Melissa's pregnancy, but she wasn't going to divulge that person's name yet. She would deal with Valerie Hanley-Holden by herself, once she returned to Marquette Cove.

"Well, it looks like we've all got a lot on our plates," Kelli said. "We just have to find a way out of here."

"If we can," Melissa said.

"We have to," Vince replied. "Everyone at home thinks we're dead. I can't let my mom go through that, not after we already lost my dad. Whoever is holding us here…I won't let him do that to her."

The Highwind Resort
Lobby

"Well, thank you for your help," Duncan Kincaid said to Elena Halstrom, the woman standing behind the front desk at the Highwind. Elena smiled at him and whipped her hair back, leaning forward to smile at him.

"It was my pleasure," Elena said. "If you need anything else, just let me know."

"Well, the extra blankets in my room should be fine," Duncan said. "I'll just be —"

Suddenly, Elena grabbed Duncan and pulled him into a kiss as a man stormed into the hotel and passed by the desk. Duncan quickly pushed Elena away from him and stared at her in shock, breathing heavily.

"What was that?!" Duncan demanded.

"I'm sorry, I thought that was someone else," Elena said. "I should probably get back to cleaning the bathrooms anyway."

"You clean the bathrooms around here?"

"Yes, Giselle makes me clean the bathrooms," Elena said softly. "She says I'm a troublemaker and needs to keep me in line. That old witch. No one mourns the wicked, you know. I should kill her."

Elena stared at Duncan dramatically, her bottom lip quivering.

"Is something wrong?" Duncan asked.

"No," Elena said. "I'll be leaving now."

Elena flounced away and headed toward the bathroom, just as Duncan turned around to see the man who had just stormed inside. It was his brother, Joel.

"Why the hell doesn't this hospital have a bar and restaurant?" Joel demanded.

"Well, it's a ski resort," Duncan said.

"So?"

Duncan shrugged. "Yeah…I don't know what I was going for. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Joel snapped. "Stop trying to talk to me like we're —"

"Brothers?" Duncan offered.

"Friends," Joel said. "We're not friends."

"No, you certainly showed that well enough when you tried to kill me to get me here," Duncan said.

Joel frowned. "I'd been drinking. I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Duncan said, glaring at his brother. "Whatever. Maybe that's why this hotel doesn't have a bar, huh?"

Duncan walked away from his brother, climbing up the stairs to head to his hotel room. As Joel watched his brother leave, Lori entered the lobby with Monique. Lori said goodbye to Monique and approached Joel.

"Hey there Adam-12," Lori said.

"Was a cop, not a detective," Joel said.

"Right…how are you?"

"I'm fine," Joel answered. It was a relief to know that Lori didn't remember the events that led her to the hotel, mostly because he had grabbed her without her seeing his identity, but it still made Joel feel incredibly guilty whenever he saw her. He was responsible for her being trapped here, and if she hadn't been here…then she would really be dead. "I just need to go take a nap or something. I'll talk to you later."

Joel left the lobby as Lori folded her arms and watched him intently. Her face curved into a mischievous smile, and then she headed toward her own hotel room.

The Highwind Resort
Giselle Ormand's Office

Seated at Giselle Ormand's desk, Isoke waited until Monique returned to the office. Once the young bartender at a strip club/recreational cocaine user/whatever the hell she did at the Highwind entered the office, Isoke had her close the door.

When the door was closed, Rory materialized in the room and leaned against the desk. "You rang, Isoke?"

Isoke smiled and removed the leather gloves she'd been wearing for quite some time as she kept watch on the citizens of Marquette Cove for Tom King. She snapped her fingers, revealing a large screen in Giselle's office that kept watch of every area of the Highwind, inside and outside.

On the screen she could see Vince, Kelli, and Melissa talking in Vince's room. She could see Joel in his room desperately searching for something to drink. She could also see Lori heading to her own room, while pausing outside of Duncan's briefly. Isoke could even view the mystery guest they had staying at the Highwind.

"There's quite a bit more to these proceedings that even my summoner, Tom, seems to grasp," Isoke said. "And you two will be helping me with those plans."

"Of course, Isoke," Monique said, smiling.

"The poor fools," Rory said, glancing at the television screen. "They're all trapped here, tortured over the fact that their family members and friends think they're dead. It's rather amusing…in an ironic sort of way."

"Ironic?" Monique asked. "How so?"

"Oh, it's incredibly ironic my dear," Rory explained. "You see, the good citizens of Marquette Cove don't think our visitors are dead at all."

END OF EPISODE #162

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