male!jennifer au, chapter one: ‘the stanley hotel’
pairing: colby x male!reader
you meet colby with sam, jake, and corey during your stay at the stanley hotel anticipating a shoot for your acting profession. what you don’t realise is that these boys will change your life—one boy in particular.
word count: 2.6k
“He’s probably more of a romantic than either of you,” says Nadia, the psychic, offhandedly, reading Colby’s palm.
Colby smiles at the camera and then up at Sam for confirmation. “Yeah.”
“Yeah, I would say so.” Sam agrees.
It’s not until much later the next day is that challenged.
“I’m sorry,” you call. You’ve just watched the four boys walk along the corridor.
Colby turns around at the sound of another voice aside his group’s own. Behind him, he finds you, standing slightly taller than him, inquisitive look in your eyes. “What did you say?” He asks.
“I feel like I’ve seen you guys somewhere,” you state simply, tucking one hand in your pocket. You eye the camera Sam holds when the rest of the group walks up to reside at either of Colby’s sides.
“We do, like, YouTube, and stuff . . .” Sam pipes up, looking you in the eye.
“No, not that,” you say, “did you do videos before that? Like Vine, or something?”
Colby laughs slightly at the recollection. “Yeah, we did Vine.”
“Yeah, in Kansas!” You lighten up at Colby’s comfortable sense of humour.
Sam seems to brighten at the mention of Kansas. “That’s right!”
“Oak Park Mall,” you say, smiling, now. Sam and Colby are smiling right back at you.
“Yeah, we used to live in Kansas.” Sam supplies.
You beam. “Yeah, so did I.”
Colby is the one to ask questions now: “where in Kansas did you live?”
“Leewood.”
Sam and Colby immediately turn to one another. Colby starts, “Lee — Leewood?” Where Sam interrupts, “that’s literally where we’re from! That’s awesome!”
“Small world, what the hell,” Colby smiles.
“Right?” You affirm.
Sam gestures to the camera and wiggles it about slightly. “We’re just here filming a video, so.”
Curious, you ask, “for what?”
“You know how the Stanley’s haunted?” Sam explains. “We do a lot of that type of stuff on YouTube. Paranormal investigations.”
“I’m big on paranormal,” you admit, taking your hand from your pocket to play with the hem of your t-shirt. Looking at all of them, you’re dressed very lightly for the time of year, in just your t-shirt and shorts. White sneakers.
“What about you?” Sam asks. “Why are you here? If you’re from Leewood.”
“Oh, now I’m from LA. I’m an actor and I’m here for a shoot that’s tomorrow.”
Sam and Colby share another look that you can’t decipher. “You’re from Leewood where we grew up and then . . .from LA, and then now you’re here? That’s crazy.”
“What the fuck?” Colby scoffs, laughing.
“What are the odds of that?” Corey pipes up.
“Why? Why is it crazy?” You laugh slightly, nervous but excited with all the energy the boys bring.
“Uh,” Colby steps forward, still sporting his shocked grin, “Sam and I moved to Los Angeles after having lived in Leewood, too.”
You smile with similar surprise. “Oh, wow. You weren’t kidding. What are the odds?”
“Yeah, it’s like fate,” Colby grins stupidly.
“Nice meeting you,” Sam greets, “that’s awesome.”
“Good to meet you.” Colby echoes. “But let me ask this — why the Stanley Hotel?”
“This is like my favourite place,” you gesture vaguely to the hotel around you, the vast hallway. “I come here a lot. I feel connected, somehow.”
Corey laughs ironically. Sam looks at you: “you say you feel connected to the Stanley Hotel?”
You don’t even have to think about your answer. “Yeah.”
“What do you mean? Do you have, like, a story?” Sam questions. He can’t help his curiosity and you feel vaguely confident. Nobody’s ever asked you these questions before though you have an abundance of answers.
“I have a lot of stories,” you chuckle slightly.
Colby looks down to the camera and asks, “can we, like, film you?”
You smile kindly. “Yeah, go for it.” Suddenly there’s a camera in your face and you hope you don’t look as awkward as you imagine yourself.
“What’s your name, by the way?” Sam asks from behind the camera.
“Y/N.”
“What’s up? I’m Sam,” he points to himself, then to Colby, “Colby.” You knew their names prior but you let them have their introductions, Sam spinning the camera to the remaining of their group, “Jake and Corey.”
After the introductions, Sam goes right back to questioning your knowledge: “so what do you know? Did you take a tour, or . . .?”
“No, I just know random things that some people don’t.”
The group looks slightly concerned over your statement, as if you’ve said something terrifying. Corey walks off laughing, out of shock, you presume.
“Are you — are you going anywhere? Are you . . .alone?” Sam asks.
“Yeah, I’m alone.” You admit. “I was just walking around.”
“Where are you staying at? Like — what?” Colby asks, also slightly worried.
“Uh, 216.” You recall.
“Oh, cool!” Sam smiles. “If you want, we’re about to go on, like, a trip, like, just going around it.”
You don’t waste any time before saying, “yeah, let’s go.”
You all walk off in tandem from the corridor. Corey remarks, “we’re about to learn a bunch of scary things!”
“Yeah, cool!” Sam cheers. He turns to you. “Like, do you have any recommendations of where we should go first?”
“Uh . . .fourth floor has a lot of children that run around.”
“Children?” Sam asks.
“Yeah, they like to mess around. It’s where families of the caretakers used to stay before they turned the whole floor into rooms.” You explain. “They really like 428.”
Colby immediately looks from you to Sam from having been locked onto your face during your explanations. “428?”
Sam laughs nervously.
“Yeah.” You nod.
“What?” Jake asks, out of the loop.
“That’s where we’re — that’s where we’re staying.”
The five of you climb the stairs unto the fourth floor from the third and approach the boys’ room, the aforementioned 428. The whole floor has a sort of playful energy from the children though you can’t help but feel the slightest bit tense around 428, as if it has a forcefield of energy around it.
“428 has a few stories,” you add to the suspense, feeling smug with the information you hold.
“Oh yeah?” Colby asks, still feeling spooked but acting as though he isn’t. Seems like it’s for your sake, but you couldn’t be any less calm. You’re in your element, after all.
“Yeah. In there there’s a cowboy who likes to stand at the foot of the bed. If you’re a woman, he’ll kiss you on the forehead.”
Sam turns the camera to Jake. “Jake! He’s gonna come and kiss you on the forehead.”
You can’t help but to laugh at the joke. Colby laughs with you and you both just smile in one another’s direction for a moment.
“Maybe when, uh, someone grabbed my wiener, maybe it wasn’t Colby.” Jake explains.
Colby turns to the camera and it feels reminiscent of The Office. You chuckle again.
“Okay.” Sam deadpans. He turns the camera to you, “that’s a long story. Uh, we won’t have to talk about that, but!” His group laughs with him and you smile slightly.
Sobering up, Sam turns to you, “it’s so weird because we literally just, like, heard like two giant knocks in our room, probably an hour ago.”
“In the closet,” Corey interjects.
“In the closet.” Sam confirms.
“The hangers were swinging and stuff. Have you heard anything about, like, the closets?” Corey asks you.
“Yeah, they like to go into the closets. The children, I mean.”
Corey laughs out of fear, clapping his hands together with wide eyes. “Okay!”
“Dude!” Sam calls their attention, snapping his fingers, “dude, when we were — when were doing this,” he points to the device in Colby’s hands, “remember we said like, ‘is there anyone here?’ and we got a ‘hey’ from, like, a dude’s voice.”
“Dude. Can we switch rooms?” Corey asks, voice high.
Colby turns to Sam. “Why did you pick the room with a haunted cowboy in it?”
“Yeah!” Corey agrees. “We should go to 427.”
Sam now turns back to you: “basically, every room up here, like, has a story, right?”
You nod, happy to be included in conversation again. “Yeah. 401 has an Irishman who stands in the closet. If you’re a woman and you go in, he’ll start grabbing your hair and putting his hand on your neck.”
“Oh!” Colby hums in surprise.
Corey’s expression has dropped further with open-mouthed shock when Sam pans the camera back to him. “I’m glad we didn’t come here as women.” He chuckles fearfully.
Corey jokes, “good thing we didn’t come here six years from now.”
“Is that it? Or is there, like, multiple . . .” Colby asks you, ignoring Corey and Sam’s back-and-forth quipping.
“Yeah, can you show us?” Sam asks.
You lead them along the corridor with all of them in tow, trying hard not to let them fall behind. At some point, Colby comes up to walk side-by-side with you and shows you how the camera works for lack of better conversation. You enjoy it nevertheless. You hold the camera for them for a few shots before handing it off to Jake who goes up to investigate the door to the attic. When they find ‘REDRUM’ written on it, you can’t say you’re surprised. You love the movie too.
“You ever seen The Shining?” Jake asks you once he’s down, passing the camera to Colby. You all move off and continue your journey down the corridors, Jake and yourself leading the effort.
“Yeah,” you smile. This is probably the most ‘normal’ question they’ve asked you. “I love that movie. I love a lot of Stephen King’s works, too. I liked the book more, though.”
Colby interjects excitedly, “I agree! I love The Shining as a book!”
“What’s the difference?” Asks Sam.
You turn back to him, looking over your shoulder, scandalised. “‘What’s the difference’, he says . . .” you mutter. Colby laughs at your sarcasm.
You tell them the story of Paul, the worker of a 10-year tenure who’d died of a heart attack, hanging out in the concert hall following his death, haunting it. You tell them about his strong feelings for curfew and what he does to those who break it, getting mixed reviews from the boys, looking scared albeit excited.
“Just a random question,” Colby asks once you’re all heading down the stairs. “Do you get, like, scared, staying here? You said you’re by yourself?”
“I don’t like sitting in the vortex. It gives me a heavy feeling and a huge headache.” You explain truthfully. “Other than that, I love this place. Reminds me that we’re not truly alone.”
Corey laughs self-deprecatingly at your statement. “At least that comforts one of us!”
Colby smiles at your sentiment, though. “That’s cool.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
You take them to the vortex and explain the whole thing about the Stanley being built above a burial ground and whatnot, walking them through the lobby and then outside on your collective way to the concert hall.
“So, how old are you?” Colby asks. Sam’s filming your guys’ interaction. If you didn’t know better, you’d guess Colby was trying to pick you up.
“I’m 21.” You state, once again tucking your hands into the pockets of your shorts against the wind that howls in the dark. “And you?”
“Dude, that’s props to you. I would never be able to do that at 21,” he compliments. “I’m 22.”
“Hey, you guys are young too, doing this!” You laugh.
“I guess so,” Colby flushes.
“Good for you,” Sam tells you, “or, it’s kind of frightening.”
You shrug. “I’m drawn to these things.”
Following the concert hall, once you’re all equally freaked out (though you’re on the more nonchalant end) and walking slowly back to the hotel as a pack, all the boys check on one another to ensure they’re all doing okay, doing the same with you. Colby walks at your side, moderately close, almost pressed to you, having noticed your shortcomings in outfit choice for the weather.
“Do you think that we overstepped some boundaries?” Jake asks you on the walk back.
“I mean,” you take a steadying breath, “I think they were just telling us that they were there the whole time.”
“Yeah,” Colby easily agrees. “Just letting us know.”
Corey at some point lifts his phone out of his pocket and inspects the photos they’ve taken in the mirror down in the concert hall, seeming moderately terrified. When Sam stalks over and tells Corey that he ‘sees it now’ you can’t help but wonder what ‘it’ really is.
“Y/N, look — look at this.” Colby calls you over.
“What do you think that is?” Sam asks.
“Right there.” You watch Corey’s screen as he zooms in on the face made of shadow in the image and get a pang of fear in your heart.
You shake your head, moving away. “Mm—mm.”
“Oh God!” Sam freaks out at your reaction.
Corey is still looking at the photo when you walk back. “Dude, it’s, like, short, like a child!”
“Mhm,” you hum.
Jake is leaning over Corey’s shoulder, now. “Oh my God, it looks like it’s screaming, like it’s angry.”
“When did you take that?” You ask, swaying on the ball of your foot.
“Just now!” Corey answers.
“Was it, like, as we were leaving?”
“As we were leaving. That was — that was the second before you said ‘let’s get out of here’.” Corey explains, Jake circling him in horrified amazement. “That was the second before you said that.”
“So that entire time something was watching us.” Colby says into the camera.
“I mean, like I said,” you steady your slightly trembling voice. “They’re just making their presence known. Letting us know that they’re with us.”
Colby and you make small talk while the group and yourself venture back up to their room. When on the stairs, he hands you his phone.
“Put your number in. We can go for breakfast, or something. And talk.” Colby suggests. He speaks nervously.”
“Talk?” You feel your lips fold into a smile. You take his phone and type your number in, something you’ve memorised over the years.
“Yeah. We can let you know if we get possessed tonight.” He jokes, swallowing his anxiety down.
Your heart is racing though you don’t know why. You immediately recognised Colby as a handsome man upon meeting but didn’t have a reaction such as this. During the night he made you feel comfortable and included, but that’s what everybody should do. Isn’t it? “You won’t get possessed,” you tell him softly.
“Yeah?” He grins, taking his phone back once you pass it to him. Your fingers brush and you can feel the cold metal of his rings graze your knuckles. “Thanks for your help tonight.”
“Of course.”
Colby turns to the boys talking at the top of the stairs before you can leave. “Yo, guys. I think he’s going to peace out, he’s got that gig tomorrow.” He struggles his phone into his pocket.
“Yeah,” you corroborate.
“Okay, cool. Well, thank — again, thank you so much.” Sam says, smiling.
“Yeah, we appreciate it,” Colby repeats.
You run your hand down the bannister, still tingling from where Colby had touched you. “It was nice to meet you all.”
“Definitely,” Sam says at the same time as Corey speaks, “nice to meet you too!”
“I’ll text you,” Colby calls after you.
“Yeah!” You call back. You take the last step down and then you’re gone down the hall.
“What do you mean you’re gonna text him?” Sam asks Colby as soon as he’s climbed the last flight of stairs into their room. “He was creepy as fuck.”
“But he, like, helped us.” Colby defends. He wouldn’t admit it, but that touch you shared meant more to him just like it did to you. “I was thinking we could have breakfast with him before his shoot.”
Sam relents once he realises Colby isn’t going to let up. “Okay.”
