#collateral 4.11

[quowreadspact]

All in all, the thing was big enough that its shoulders rubbed branches I couldn’t have touched if I reached overhead and jumped.

Silent.  I hadn’t heard it approach, hadn’t heard branches break or snow crunch.  Its breathing didn’t make a sound.

It moved forward, cutting off my retreat.  Not that I was particularly capable of runningfrom it. I had the creature to my ten o’clock, the river to my right, and the steep hillside behind me.  Walking forward would mean walking to the same destination it was heading to.  Walking to my left would only require the thing to turn around.

I saw its limbs.  Scrawny fore and hind limbs, narrow enough for me to make out the bones and tendons.  I could see gaps where the flesh sucked in around the ribcage, its dangling, twisted, knotted genitals, and the broken, splintered claws on each foot.

For all that it was gaunt and broken, it was more scary, not less.  Those claws wouldn’t cut me like a scalpel.  They’d tear me like the uneven end of a broken bottle.

This thing was mangy, malnourished, and it was still strong enough to beat me in any contest of strength, no question.

I owed that little boy ghost an apology, for the accusation.  No mistaking what I was looking at.

Tru

Anyway shotgun time? 

“Hello,” I said.  “You’re the thing they call the Hyena, I take it?”

It moved through the trees without a noise.  When it was visible again, I could see its muzzle pulled into a leer, revealing teeth that were every bit as broken and disgusting as the claws.

Hatchet wouldn’t do a thing.  Shotgun… assuming it was vulnerable and not weak to the iron, and the bullets would hurt it as much as they would hurt any other non-Other thing, I couldn’t imagine the shotgun doing anything substantial.    The chain was too fucking short to surround the bastard.

Oh. You’re Fucked! 

Maybe this was a suitable battleground.  But I sure as fuck wasn’t ready to fight the thing.

It stopped pacing forward, now at my twelve o’clock.  Standing by the bank of the frozen stream.  Two red eyes stared at me.

Seeing it more clearly, where I could make out any feature, I could see that it didn’t resemble a hyena.  It didn’t resemble a wolf, either.  Everything fit together wrong.  Proportions were off, if even, muscles overlapped in odd ways.  This was not a creature crafted by years of evolution.  It had been made wrong, more like a humanoid thing that had once walked on two legs and then been twisted and wrenched into a four-legged shape, everything torn apart and rearranged and regrown until it was this.

If anything told me that, it was the expression it wore.

I shook my head a little.

It was a goblin.  A big, bad sort of goblin, twisted into a monstrous shape.  It wanted to tear me apart and then tear my ghost apart.

That was the reality I needed to focus on.

“Do-” I started.

I stopped because he lunged.

Crossing the distance between us.

Stream to my right, steep hill behind me, thick trees to the left.

Wade in the water.

I took the same path the ghost had.  Over the jutting, ice-slick stones.

I’m so sorry for doubting you ghost. 

I got about two steps over before I fell.  Foot slipping, shin slamming into the space between two rocks, chest hitting another rock dead on, knocking half of the of air out of me.  All in all, I came a matter of inches from simply bouncing off the rock and tumbling down the ‘waterfall’.

Rip. Well guys, Pact was a good story, it ended pretty arguably though. 

I heard a crash.  I looked down and to the right, and I could see one of the big boulders from the hilltop tumbling down, tearing out chunks of frozen earth and ice on the way, sending smaller stones skidding out onto the frozen stream’s surface.

When I looked up, the thing was no longer there.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to call it the Hyena anymore.  It felt off-target.  A bad name for what I was dealing with.  But what fit?  The Goblin-beast?  A bit wordy inside my head.

The beast?  That had connotations.

The monster?  That would have to do.

Moving more slowly, more carefully I dug my fingers into the craggier spots on the rock, where the snow didn’t cover it, found my feet and made my way across, slipping twice more, though not so badly.

It was gone.  It hadn’t simply followed and pounced on me.

Why?

The water?

The little boy had apparently found a way to evade the monster he called ‘the wolf’.  Crossing the water.  Not explicitly an anti-goblin measure, but… well, labels were dangerous.

Its Something! Now to examine why and how to use it...

Distant murmurs and shouts suggested I wasn’t alone.  The boy wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but the noise of the falling boulder had attracted attention.

I could make out the shitting ghost, way down the way, staggering in zig-zags, blind and clutching its stomach.  More were visible in the trees.  They walked around trees, but they passed through branches that had been lowered closer to the ground by snow and snowfall.

This was how the goblin functioned.  Take the prey it could, use the remains of its prey when it couldn’t do it itself.

I headed into the trees, and the cries of the ghosts carried sensations.  Illness, an inability to breathe, pains here and there, disorientation, blindness, weakness.  Few lasted for more than a second.

Doubts harried me much as the ghosts did.  The fact that there were ghosts on this side meant the monster could and would travel over this way.  The stream wasn’t a barrier, not completely.  It moved in near-silence, and it could find me.

Hmm. Maybe it is just can cross at certain points.

I was following the boy, after a fashion.  Taking his advice on paths and on that escape route.

Problem was, well, he’d died.

His advice wasn’t perfect, or he’d be alive.

Yeah, i was about to comment on that too :/

I moved the shotgun around my body until I had it in position and ready to fire.  More for the security than out of any belief that it would help.

The murmuring of ghosts fell behind me as I moved on.  I saw an Other to my right, something more wooden than anything, doubled over in pain, but it moved too slowly to pursue me.

Moving was making my injuries from last night felt.  The scrapes and gouges I’d left alone, because I simply didn’t have enough glamour.

There weren’t enough assurances here.  The rules for this goblin were a little different than the usual.  I had to bind it, and I had almost no experience on binding, let alone binding goblins.

The kid had figured something out, or he’d been awfully lucky.  I could use that knowledge or luck.

“Little boy,” I said.

Not even a glimmer.

“Wet boots,” I said.

If there was a connection, I couldn’t make it out.

How to connect to him?

“The little survivor, trying to make it until he can go home,” I murmured.

That is so sad :( 

[hotelsmarket]

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2017 Results

MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Park Hotels & Resorts Inc.(NYSE: PK) yesterday announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017. Highlights include: Second Quarter 2017 Operating Results * Comparable RevPAR was $170.35, a decrease of 0.2% on a Pro-forma basis from the same period in 2016; without San Francisco hotels, Comparable RevPAR increased 1.7%; * Net income was $115 million; * Net income attributable to stockholders was $112 million; * Adjusted EBITDA was $217 million; * Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders was $173 million; * Diluted earnings per share was $0.52; * Diluted Adjusted FFO per share was $0.81; and * Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin was 29.2%, a decrease of 110 bps on a Pro-forma basis from the same period in 2016; San Francisco hotels contributed to 70 bps of the decline. Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are pleased with our operating results despite the challenges experienced this quarter, which were not unexpected with soft group demand partially offset by continued strength in the leisure segment. We remain optimistic about our future growth prospects and our portfolio has one of the lowest exposures to new supply over the next two years with markets like Hawaii, San Francisco, Orlando and Key West all well below the industry average. Combined with increasing demand in these same markets and a return of city wide events in San Francisco upon the re-opening of the Moscone Convention Center in 2018 and 2019, we believe the near-term fundamentals favor outperformance for our portfolio of iconic assets. Moreover, our team continues to make great progress against our goals to shift our group mix, improve margins, recycle capital and execute on our near-term ROI projects.”   Selected Statistical and Financial Information (unaudited, dollars in millions, except per share data, Comparable RevPAR and Comparable ADR)   Three Months Ended June 30,   Six Months Ended June 30, 2017   2016   Change 2017   2016   Change Comparable RevPAR(1)(2) $ 170.35 $ 170.77 (0.2)% $ 163.39 $ 162.50 0.5% Comparable Occupancy(1)(2) 84.3% 85.2% (0.9)% pts 81.0% 81.4% (0.4)% pts Comparable ADR(1)(2) $ 202.13 $ 200.41 0.9% $ 201.78 $ 199.52 1.1%   Net income(3) $ 115 $ 62 85.5% $ 2,465 $ 85 NM(4) Net income attributable to stockholders(3) $ 112 $ 60 86.7% $ 2,462 $ 82 NM(4)   Adjusted EBITDA(1) $ 217 $ 218 (0.5)% $ 394 $ 388 1.5% Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA(1)(2) $ 201 $ 207 (2.9)% $ 366 $ 368 (0.5)% Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin(1)(2) 29.2% 30.3% (110) bps 27.6% 28.2% (60) bps Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders(1) $ 173 $ 170 1.8% $ 311 $ 298 4.4%   Earnings per share - Diluted(5) $ 0.52 $ 0.30 $ 11.48 $ 0.41 Adjusted FFO per share - Diluted(1)(5) $ 0.81 $ 0.87 $ 1.45 $ 1.52 Weighted average shares outstanding - Diluted 215 198 214 198 ___________________________ (1)   For 2016, amounts are calculated on a Pro-forma basis. (2) Excludes unconsolidated joint ventures. (3) Includes income tax benefits from the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 of $24 million and $2,312 million, respectively, associated with Park’s intention to be taxed as a REIT. (4) Percentage change is not meaningful. (5) For 2016, per share amounts were calculated using the number of shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the spin-off. Per share amounts are calculated based on unrounded numbers and are calculated independently for each period presented; therefore, the sum of the quarterly per share amounts do not equal the per share amounts for the six months.   2017 Second Quarter Operating Results: Total Consolidated Comparable Hotels Comparable RevPAR decreased 0.2% for the quarter and increased 0.5% year-to-date, on a Pro-forma basis, due to decreases in occupancy, offset by increases in rate, as compared to the same periods in 2016. Highlights from some of Park’s markets and segments: * Florida: RevPAR growth of 4.9% for the quarter and 2.9% year-to-date, with increases in both rate and occupancy from strong leisure demand; * Hawaii: RevPAR growth of 3.0% for the quarter and 3.5% year-to-date, due to increases in rate driven by an increase in group business; * Northern California: RevPAR decline of 7.6% for the quarter and 5.1% year-to-date, with decreases in both rate and occupancy, primarily attributable to ongoing renovations at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco coupled with the Super Bowl taking place in San Francisco in February 2016; and * Group / Transient: group rooms revenue decreased by 6.3% for the quarter, partially offset by transient revenue growth of 2.8%, while both group and transient revenues were relatively flat year-to-date; partially attributable to the Easter shift and ongoing renovations at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. 2017 Second Quarter Operating Results: Top 10 Hotels RevPAR for Park’s Top 10 Hotels, which accounts for approximately 64% of Hotel Adjusted EBITDA, declined 2.8% for the quarter and 0.6% year-to-date, on a Pro-forma basis, due to decreases in occupancy and rate, as compared to the same period in 2016. Within the Top 10 Hotels: * Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort: RevPAR growth of 3.0% for the quarter and 3.5% year-to-date, due to an increase in rates from a rise in group demand; * New York Hilton Midtown: RevPAR decline of 3.9% for the quarter and 1.1% year-to-date, due to ongoing renovations; * Hilton San Francisco Union Square / Parc 55 San Francisco – a Hilton Hotel: RevPAR decline of 12.5% and 11.5%, respectively, for the quarter, and 10.3% and 3.9%, respectively, year-to-date, due to ongoing renovations at the Moscone Convention Center and a tough comparable period in 2017 due to the Super Bowl in 2016; * Hilton Waikoloa Village: RevPAR growth of 2.5% for the quarter and year-to-date, due to strong leisure demand; * Hilton New Orleans Riverside: RevPAR decline of 6.2% for the quarter and 2.3% year-to-date, due to a decrease in city wide events as compared to the prior year; * Hilton Chicago: RevPAR growth of 0.9% for the quarter due to improved revenue management strategies and growth of 5.6% year-to-date due to strong group demand; * Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek / Waldorf Astoria Orlando: RevPAR growth of 4.8% and 4.5%, respectively, for the quarter, and 6.8% and 0.6%, respectively, year-to-date, due to strong leisure demand; and * Casa Marina, A Waldorf Astoria Resort: RevPAR growth of 1.2% for the quarter and RevPAR decline of 1.1% year-to-date, due to strong leisure demand.   Balance Sheet and Liquidity   Park had the following debt outstanding as of June 30, 2017:     (unaudited, dollars in millions)   Debt   Collateral   Interest Rate Maturity Date As of June 30, 2017 Fixed Rate Debt Unsecured notes   Unsecured   7.50%   December 2017   $ 55 Mortgage loan   DoubleTree Hotel Spokane City Center   3.55%   October 2020     12 Commercial mortgage-backed securities loan   Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Parc 55 San Francisco - a Hilton Hotel   4.11%   November 2023     725 Commercial mortgage-backed securities loan   Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort   4.20%   November 2026     1,275 Mortgage loan   The Fess Parker Santa Barbara Hotel - a DoubleTree Resort   4.17%   December 2026     165 Total Fixed Rate Debt(1) $ 2,232   Variable Rate Debt Revolving credit facility(2)   Unsecured   L + 1.50%   December 2021(3)   $ - Term loan   Unsecured   L + 1.45%   December 2021     750 Mortgage loan   DoubleTree Hotel Ontario Airport   L + 2.25%   May 2022(3)     30 Total Variable Rate Debt $ 780 ___________________________ (1)   Excludes $15 million of capital lease obligations. (2) $1 billion revolving credit facility, with $1 billion available as of June 30, 2017. (3) Assumes the exercise of all extensions that are exercisable solely at Park’s option.   Total cash and cash equivalents were $324 million as of June 30, 2017, including $18 million of restricted cash. Capital Investments Park invested $49 million in the second quarter on capital improvements, including $38 million on improvements made to guest rooms, lobbies and other guest-facing areas. Key projects include: * Hilton San Francisco Union Square: $7.1 million primarily on rooms and suites renovations; * Hilton São Paulo Morumbi: $4.7 million primarily on rooms and corridors renovations; * New York Hilton Midtown: $3.5 million primarily on suites and meeting space renovations; and * Hilton New Orleans Riverside: $1.5 million primarily on ballroom renovations. Dividends Park’s Board of Directors declared a second quarter 2017 cash dividend of $0.43 per share to stockholders of record as of June 30, 2017. The second quarter 2017 cash dividend was paid on July 17, 2017. On July 28, 2017, Park’s Board of Directors declared a third quarter 2017 cash dividend of $0.43 per share to be paid on October 16, 2017 to stockholders of record as of September 29, 2017. All future dividends are subject to approval by Park’s Board of Directors. Full Year 2017 Outlook The Company has updated its 2017 guidance that was previously provided in connection with the reporting of its first quarter results in May 2017. Park expects the full year 2017 operating results to be as follows:                 (unaudited, dollars in millions, except per share amounts)                             2017 Outlook   Variance to Prior Outlook     as of August 2, 2017   as of May 3, 2017 Metric   Low   High   Low   High Comparable RevPAR Growth     0.0%       1.0%       0.0%       (1.0)%                             Net income   $ 257     $ 280     $ 7     $ 3   Net income attributable to stockholders   $ 251     $ 274     $ 6     $ 2   Diluted earnings per share   $ 1.17     $ 1.28     $ 0.03     $ 0.01                             Adjusted EBITDA   $ 740     $ 765     $ 5     $ —   Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin change     (80) bps     0 bps     0 bps     0 bps Adjusted FFO per share - Diluted   $ 2.70     $ 2.80     $ 0.05     $ 0.03   Full year 2017 guidance is based in part on the following assumptions: * General and administrative expenses are projected to be $42 million, excluding $12 million of non-cash share-based compensation expense and $10 million of transition costs; * Fully diluted weighted average shares is expected to be 214.5 million; * Excludes income tax benefits for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, of $24 million and $2,312 million, respectively, resulting from the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities associated with Park’s intention to be taxed as a REIT; * Due to the transfer of a significant number of rooms at the Hilton Waikoloa Village and Embassy Suites Washington DC Georgetown to Hilton Grand Vacations, the results from these hotels are excluded from Park’s comparable results in 2017; and * The transfer of rooms at the Hilton Waikoloa Village until the fourth quarter of 2017. Non-GAAP Financial Measures Park presents certain non-GAAP financial measures in this press release, including NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA, and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered along with, but not as alternatives to, net income (loss) as a measure of its operating performance. Please see the schedules included in this press release including the “Definitions” section for additional information and reconciliations of such non-GAAP financial measures. Pro-Forma Financial Information Certain financial measures and other information have been adjusted for Park’s historical debt and related balances and interest expense to give the net effect to financing transactions that were completed prior to spin-off, incremental fees based on the terms of the post spin-off management agreements, adjustments to income tax expense based on Park’s post spin-off REIT tax structure, the removal of costs incurred related to the spin-off and the establishment of Park as a separate public company and the estimated excise taxes on certain REIT leases. Further adjustments have been made to reflect the effects of hotels disposed of or acquired during the periods presented. When presenting such information, the amounts are identified as “Pro-forma.” About Park On January 3, 2017, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. completed the spin-off of a portfolio of hotels and resorts that established Park as an independent, publicly traded company. Park began publicly trading on the New York Stock Exchange as an independent company on January 4, 2017. Park is a leading lodging REIT with a diverse portfolio of hotels and resorts with significant underlying real estate value. Park’s portfolio consists of 67 premium-branded hotels and resorts with over 35,000 rooms located in prime United States and international markets with high barriers to entry.   PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. CONDENSED COMBINED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (unaudited, in millions, except share and per share data)     June 30, December 31, 2017 2016 ASSETS Property and equipment, net $ 8,495 $ 8,541 Investments in affiliates 87 81 Goodwill 605 604 Intangibles, net 43 44 Cash and cash equivalents 306 337 Restricted cash 18 13 Accounts receivable, net 188 130 Prepaid expenses 53 58 Other assets   22   26 TOTAL ASSETS $ 9,817 $ 9,834 LIABILITIES AND EQUITY Liabilities Debt $ 3,014 $ 3,012 Accounts payable and accrued expenses 178 167 Due to hotel manager 97 91 Due to Hilton Grand Vacations 210 210 Deferred income tax liabilities 123 2,437 Other liabilities   194   94 Total liabilities 3,816 6,011 Equity Common stock, par value $0.01 per share, 6,000,000,000 shares authorized, 214,835,403 shares issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2017 2 — Additional paid-in capital 3,823 — Retained earnings 2,277 — Accumulated other comprehensive loss (53) (67) Net Parent investment   —   3,939 Total stockholders' equity 6,049 3,872 Noncontrolling interests   (48)   (49) Total equity   6,001   3,823 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY $ 9,817 $ 9,834     PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. CONDENSED COMBINED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (unaudited, in millions, except per share data)     Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2017   2016 2017   2016 Revenues Rooms $ 469 $ 472 $ 901 $ 901 Food and beverage 200 200 392 380 Other   64   53   124   105 Total revenues 733 725 1,417 1,386   Operating expenses Rooms 118 118 232 232 Food and beverage 132 131 263 258 Other departmental and support 181 170 358 335 Other property-level 48 47 94 92 Management and franchise fees 39 25 73 51 Impairment loss — — — 15 Depreciation and amortization 73 74 143 147 Corporate and other   19   19   37   35 Total expenses 610 584 1,200 1,165   Gain on sale of assets, net — 1 — 1   Operating income 123 142 217 222   Interest income 1 1 1 1 Interest expense (31) (46) (61) (92) Equity in earnings from investments in affiliates 8 7 12 10 Loss on foreign currency transactions (4) (1) (3) (1) Other loss, net   (1)   (2)   (1)   (2)   Income before income taxes 96 101 165 138 Income tax benefit (expense)   19   (39)   2,300   (53)   Net income 115 62 2,465 85 Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests   (3)   (2)   (3)   (3) Net income attributable to stockholders $ 112 $ 60 $ 2,462 $ 82   Earnings per share: Earnings per share - Basic $ 0.52 $ 0.30 $ 11.79 $ 0.41 Earnings per share - Diluted $ 0.52 $ 0.30 $ 11.48 $ 0.41   Weighted average shares outstanding - Basic 214 198 208 198 Weighted average shares outstanding - Diluted 215 198 214 198   Dividends declared per common share $ 0.43 $ — $ 0.86 $ —     PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES RECONCILIATIONS EBITDA, ADJUSTED EBITDA AND PRO-FORMA ADJUSTED EBITDA (unaudited, in millions)     Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2017   2016 2017   2016 Net income $ 115 $ 62 $ 2,465 $ 85 Depreciation and amortization expense 73 74 143 147 Interest income (1) (1) (1) (1) Interest expense 31 46 61 92 Income tax (benefit) expense (19) 39 (2,300) 53 Interest expense, income tax and depreciation and amortization included in equity in earnings from investments in affiliates   7   7   12   13 EBITDA 206 227 380 389 Gain on sale of assets, net — (1) — (1) Loss on foreign currency transactions 4 1 3 1 Transition costs 1 — 2 — Share based compensation expense 4 — 7 — Impairment loss — — — 15 Other gains and losses   2   8   2   11 Adjusted EBITDA 217 235 394 415 Less: Spin-off adjustments(1)   —   (17)   —   (27) Pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA $ 217 $ 218 $ 394 $ 388   PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES RECONCILIATIONS PRO-FORMA COMPARABLE HOTEL ADJUSTED EBITDA AND PRO-FORMA COMPARABLE HOTEL ADJUSTED EBITDA MARGIN (unaudited, dollars in millions)     Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2017   2016 2017   2016 Pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA $ 217 $ 218 $ 394 $ 388 Less: Adjusted EBITDA from investments in affiliates 15 14 24 23 Less: All other(1)   (10)   (11)   (21)   (22) Pro-forma Hotel Adjusted EBITDA 212 215 391 387 Less: Non-comparable hotels   11   8   25   19 Pro-forma Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA $ 201 $ 207 $ 366 $ 368   (1) Includes EBITDA from Park's laundry business and certain corporate expenses.   Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 Total Revenue $ 733 $ 725 $ 1,417 $ 1,386 Less: Revenue from laundry facilities 3 3 6 6 Add: Spin-off adjustments(1) — 5 — 10 Less: Non-comparable hotels   40   41   85   86 Pro-forma Comparable Hotel Revenue $ 690 $ 686 $ 1,326 $ 1,304   (1) Includes $5 million and $10 million, respectively, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, of allocated costs previously excluded from other hotel revenue for services provided to Hilton Grand Vacations ("HGV") at Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort. In connection with the spin-off, Park entered into a services agreement with HGV.   Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2017 2016 2017 2016 Pro-forma Comparable Hotel Revenue $ 690 $ 686 $ 1,326 $ 1,304 Pro-forma Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA $ 201 $ 207 $ 366 $ 368 Pro-forma Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin 29.2% 30.3% 27.6% 28.2%   ___________________________ (1)   Includes derecognition of deferred tax liabilities for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, of $24 million and $2,312 million, respectively, associated with Park’s intention to be taxed as a REIT. (2) Spin-off adjustments include adjustments for Park’s historical debt and related balances and interest expense to give the net effect to financing transactions that were completed prior to spin-off, incremental fees based on the terms of the post spin-off management agreements, adjustments to income tax expense based on Park’s post spin-off REIT tax structure and estimated non-income taxes on certain REIT leases. (3) For 2016, per share amounts were calculated using the number of shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the spin-off. Per share amounts are calculated based on unrounded numbers and are calculated independently for each period presented; therefore, the sum of the quarterly FFO does not equal the FFO for the six months. (4) For 2016, amounts are calculated on a Pro-forma basis.     PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES RECONCILIATIONS 2017 OUTLOOK – EBITDA AND ADJUSTED EBITDA (unaudited, in millions)   Year Ending December 31, 2017 Low Case   High Case Net income(1) $ 257 $ 280 Depreciation and amortization expense 291 291 Interest income (2) (2) Interest expense 125 125 Income tax expense(1) 19 21 Interest expense, income tax and depreciation and amortization included in equity in earnings from investments in affiliates   23   23 EBITDA 713 738 Loss on foreign currency transactions 3 3 Transition costs 10 10 Share-based compensation expense 12 12 Other gains and losses   2   2 Adjusted EBITDA $ 740 $ 765 ___________________________ (1)   Excludes an income tax benefit of $2,312 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, resulting from the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities associated with Park’s intention to be taxed as a REIT. (2) Per share amounts are calculated based on unrounded numbers.   PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. DEFINITIONS EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA Margin Earnings before interest expense, taxes and depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), presented herein, reflects net income (loss), excluding interest expense, interest income, a provision for income taxes and depreciation and amortization. The Company considers EBITDA to be a useful measure for investors in evaluating and facilitating comparisons of its operating performance between periods and between REITs by removing the impact of the Company’s capital structure (primarily interest expense) and asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization) from its operating results. Adjusted EBITDA, presented herein, is calculated as EBITDA, as previously defined, further adjusted to exclude: * Gains or losses on sales of assets for both consolidated and unconsolidated investments; * Gains or losses on foreign currency transactions * Transition costs related to the Company’s establishment as an independent, publicly traded company; * Share-based compensation expense; * Non-cash impairment losses; and * Other gains and losses that management believes are not representative of the Company’s current or future operating performance. Hotel Adjusted EBITDA measures hotel-level results before debt service, depreciation and corporate expenses of the Company’s consolidated hotels, including both comparable and non-comparable hotels but excluding hotels owned by unconsolidated affiliates, and is a key measure of the Company’s profitability. The Company presents Hotel Adjusted EBITDA to help the Company and its investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of the Company’s consolidated hotels. Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin, is calculated as Hotel Adjusted EBITDA divided by total hotel revenue. EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin are not recognized terms under United States (“U.S.”) GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income (loss) or other measures of financial performance or liquidity derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, the Company’s definitions of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. The Company believes that EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin provide useful information to investors about the Company and its financial condition and results of operations for the following reasons: (i) EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin are among the measures used by the Company’s management team to evaluate its operating performance and make day-to-day operating decisions; and (ii) EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties as a common performance measure to compare results or estimate valuations across companies in the industry. EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income (loss) or other methods of analyzing the Company’s operating performance and results as reported under U.S. GAAP. NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders, Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders NAREIT FFO per share - diluted and Adjusted FFO per share - diluted NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders, presented herein, is calculated as net income (loss) attributable to stockholders (calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP), excluding gains or losses from sales of real estate, impairment, the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles, plus depreciation and amortization and adjustments for unconsolidated joint ventures. Adjustments for unconsolidated joint ventures are calculated to reflect the Company’s pro rata share of the FFO of those entities on the same basis. The Company calculates NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders for a given operating period in accordance with the guidelines of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”). As noted by NAREIT in its April 2002 “White Paper on Funds From Operations,” since real estate values historically have risen or fallen with market conditions, many industry investors have considered presentation of operating results for real estate companies that use historical cost accounting to be insufficient by themselves. For these reasons, NAREIT adopted the FFO metric in order to promote an industry-wide measure of REIT operating performance. Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders, presented herein, is NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders, as previously defined, further adjusted to exclude: * Gains or losses on foreign currency transactions; * Transition costs related to Park’s establishment as an independent, publicly traded company; * Share-based compensation expense; * Litigation gains and losses outside the ordinary course of business; and * Other gains and losses that management believes are not representative of the Company’s current or future operating performance. NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders are not recognized terms under U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income (loss) or other measures of financial performance or liquidity derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, the Company’s definitions of NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. The Company believes that NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders, provide useful information to investors about the Company and its financial condition and results of operations for the following reasons: (i) these measures are among the measures used by the Company’s management team to evaluate its operating performance and make day-to-day operating decisions; and (ii) these measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties as a common performance measure to compare results or estimate valuations across companies in the industry. NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income (loss), cash flow or other methods of analyzing results as reported under U.S. GAAP. NAREIT FFO per share – diluted, presented herein, is calculated as the Company’s NAREIT FFO, as previously defined, divided by the number of fully diluted shares outstanding during a period. Adjusted FFO per share – diluted, presented herein, is Adjusted FFO per share, as previously defined, divided by the number of fully diluted shares outstanding during a period. Occupancy Occupancy represents the total number of room nights sold divided by the total number of room nights available at a hotel or group of hotels. Occupancy measures the utilization of the Company’s hotels’ available capacity. Management uses occupancy to gauge demand at a specific hotel or group of hotels in a given period. Occupancy levels also help management determine achievable Average Daily Rate (“ADR”) levels as demand for rooms increases or decreases. Average Daily Rate ADR represents rooms revenue divided by total number of room nights sold in a given period. ADR measures average room price attained by a hotel and ADR trends provide useful information concerning the pricing environment and the nature of the customer base of a hotel or group of hotels. ADR is a commonly used performance measure in the hotel industry, and management uses ADR to assess pricing levels that the Company is able to generate by type of customer, as changes in rates have a more pronounced effect on overall revenues and incremental profitability than changes in occupancy, as described above. Revenue per Available Room Revenue per Available Room (“RevPAR”) represents rooms revenue divided by total number of room nights available to guests for a given period. Management considers RevPAR to be a meaningful indicator of the Company’s performance as it provides a metric correlated to two primary and key factors of operations at a hotel or group of hotels: occupancy and ADR. RevPAR is also a useful indicator in measuring performance over comparable periods for comparable hotels. References to RevPAR and ADR are presented on a currency neutral basis (prior periods are reflected using current period exchange rates), unless otherwise noted. Comparable Hotels The Company presents certain data for its hotels on a comparable hotel basis as supplemental information for investors. The Company defines its comparable hotels as those that: (i) were active and operating in its system since January 1st of the previous year; and (ii) have not sustained substantial property damage, business interruption, undergone large-scale capital projects or for which comparable results are not available. The Company presents comparable hotel results to help the Company and its investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of its comparable hotels. Due to the conversion, or planned conversions, of a significant number of rooms at the Hilton Waikoloa Village in 2017 and Embassy Suites Washington D.C. Georgetown in 2016 to HGV timeshare units, the results from these properties were excluded from comparable hotels. Park’s comparable hotels as of June 30, 2016 also exclude the DoubleTree Hotel Missoula/Edgewater and the Hilton Templepatrick Hotel & Country Club, as these hotels were not retained by us as part of the spin-off. Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

[quowreadspact]

“I… the car.”

“There isn’t a car here.”

“I… I’m trapped.  My legs are crushed.  Nobody’s coming.”

The mention of his legs made pain emanate outward.  The brute lashed out, but the different sources of noise were confusing it.

“You were in an accident,” I said.  “What are you going to do?”

Move it along.  Push him to follow the script.

“I’m… need to get my phone, call for help.  But it’s not where it’s supposed to be.  Day’s dead.  Oh god.  My arm hurts.  Why?”

I wasn’t sure, but he seemed a fraction fainter than he had.

He was coming to pieces.  Every time he mentioned his legs, he reaffirmed the imprint he’d made in the world.  Every time the arm came up, though, he was running headlong into dissonance, into something that didn’t fit him and his existence.

Question was, would his anger and restlessness drive him to keep pursuing me, despite everything else, or could I get him back on track, using some metaphysical survial mechanism?

“You can’t reach your phone.  What’s the next step?”

“My arm, it hurts.”

Not a bad thing, if he was unraveling.  But it was taking too long, and I only had thirty seconds to a minute at best.

“What’s the next step?” I asked, again.

“Get out, get away, the car might blow up.  Have to get up, get away.”

Cars didn’t really blow up, but that was the narrative.  The image that was Mr. Legs here.

“Then hurry,” I said.

I could see the image distorting, a gap, a flaw.  A scene trying to play out and glitching on some fundamental level.  An interruption in the script.

“Hurry,” I repeated.

Blake needs to hurry too!!!! Can’t believe this is working though. 

My voice echoed through the trees.  The giant punched a tree where the sound had bounced off it.

Not necessarily a good thing.  More were coming.  I might very well have cut off my head to spite my face.  Or whatever the appropriate metaphor was for attempting to solve one problem and creating a bigger one.

If I couldn’t handle two Others, how was I supposed to handle four?  Or ten?

He was replaying the script, stuttering.

“Hurry,” I hissed the word, pushing him to try again.  If he broke down enough, I could slip free.  But I couldn’t jump down to the ground if he was right there, to grab me, or hit me full-on with whatever he was made up of.

He tried again, a little more distinct.  I could hear him now.

“I can do this, I just have to push hard enough, squeeze myself free-” glitch.  “-My arm, it’s not there.”

“Try,” I said.

“Where’s my arm?”

“Try,” I said, once more.

I was nearly out of time.  Others were now drawing closer, getting caught up in one of the same tangles of branches that had slowed me down.  Except they didn’t care about making noise.  Not ghosts.  Men and women in white, features bland and blanched by pain, their clothes stained red around gouges where sharp blades had penetrated the cloth and flesh beneath.  Intelligent enough to be distracted by the sound.  Perhaps intelligent enough to look for me and find me.

The ghost began to struggle, jerky movements, replays of scenes.  This time, however, he simply skipped the scenes where he’d used one arm to help pull himself free.

He screamed, an agonized sound, somehow folded over or partially wrapped aroud something that wasn’t present here, and blood began to pour, flooding the snow around him.  His legs were tearing, his wound where the arm had been torn off joined them in how it bled openly.

I felt the same pain in my own legs.  Each time I’d felt his power, I’d felt like something was being used to pulverize my kneecaps.  Now I got to experience what it was like to try and heave those pulverized limbs free of a vise.

My vision swam.  It was bad enough that I nearly let go of the branch.

I could hear a growling echoing around the area.

The Hyena.

No.

Sorry for big chunk of text, I was just on the edge of my seat.

ANyway, Blake is fucked. 

When I managed to heave in a breath, gasping for air like I was drowning, I heard that same sound echoed.  The noise had been my own, echoed.

I saw the ghost pause for rest, and fragments of bone slid out to protrude once more through the flesh around his knee.  He screamed.

Three or four stab wounds made themselves felt around my own knees.  Illusory, not real, no real harm done, but I still felt it, still screamed, a strangled sound.  I closed my eyes, to shut out everything else, to keep myself from losing my lunch as my vision wavered.

Adrenaline flooded my body.  Again, not real adrenaline.  Only an illusion, the desperate sort of energy one got when they had no other choice but to face terror head-on.

No doubt in my mind: destroying one’s own body in a desperate attempt at freedom and escape was terrifying.

Congrats Blake, by saying that you have ensured that that will happen to you. 

He wrenched himself free, tumbled over some invisible barrier, and collapsed in a heap, radiating agony.

The old spatters of blood from his earlier theatrics faded as the new ones appeared.

He wasn’t moving.  I didn’t, however, trust him to stay still when I hit the ground.  Not with how my own mobility might be suffering.

“You’re free,” I said.  “What now?”

“I’m- I did it,” he said, without rising.  “My… my arm.  I’m supposed to have an arm.  Day!  Day, can you hear me!?”

He was barely there, his voice faint.

“What now?” I asked, again.  “She’s not responding.  She can’t respond.”

My real voice was enough for the pale Others in the woods to turn my way.

I wasn’t exactly sure what they were, but they moved as a flock.  Pale haired, pale skinned, dressed in white, bleeding from their ragged Hyena-inflicted wounds.

I got a bad vibe from them.  Of all the Others here that were in pain, they were in a eerily quiet, bottled-up sort of pain.  They were solemn.  They were different, cold, and I liked them less than I liked anything else I could make out.

Now they were headed my way.

“You’re free of the car, Day isn’t listening.  What do you do?”

I couldn’t keep the desperation out of my voice as I asked that last question.

Maybe the desperation was what he paid attention to.

“Wait by the car.”

“The car isn’t here,” I said.

Just like that, he was gone.

...Wow, you did actually save them. And yourself. Kind of. For now. Also I remembered Blake can’t lie so I double checked and it seems like he didn’t, so good for doing that too. 

I couldn’t say whether it was one more straw, to break the camel’s back and unravel him or if he’d simply gone back to where the accident happened, but he was no longer beneath me.

I dropped from the branch.  Half hopping down, half letting go.

The snow crunched under me, and my ‘wounded’ knees didn’t hold my weight.  I fell, the snow crunching again, beneath my weight.  Both crunches echoed around the space.

The brute and two more ghosts seemed to react to the ghost noises, but the pale ones weren’t so foolish.  They were heading for me, moving with a quiet sort of insistence, heedless of branches in the way, to the point that they got caught, branches scratching their faces and digging into their chests and guts.  But each branch in turn broke, and they were making headway.

The phantom pains in and around my knees faded swiftly, now that ‘Mr. Legs’ was gone.  I found my feet, assessed the general dangers around me, and headed for the nearest gap, the same direction the ghost boy had gone.

The false adrenaline faded, and I made myself slow down, take stock of where I was going, where I was coming from, and what I needed to do.

Branches were broken here or there.  Had I not seen the Others, if I were viewing all of this in blissful ignorance, I might have dismissed it as the casualties of winter.  Ice and snow tearing weaker branches from the trees.

As it was, I was aware that these were more wounds, of a sort.  Something big had come this way, and its mass had knocked healthy branches free, scattering them to either side.  The clearest, most open path available to me was also the path that it traveled.

More things were veering my way as I made my way through the woods.

I shouldn’t have been making that much noise, but…

I was multiplying the amount of noise I did make.

As much as I wanted to keep moving, I made myself stop, and I manually altered the glamour.

Glad you remembered that cause I sure forgot! 

[quowreadspact]

My eyes moved back up to the line of trees, searching for a large form moving through the woods.  I couldn’t pinpoint our stalker with the meager connection.

“What year is it?”  I tried.

“Twenty-thirteen, I think.”

“Twenty-thirteen,” I responded.  “Right.”

Just last fall, then.  No small wonder he was so lucid.  He’d practically died yesterday.

Help was never going to come for him.  There were wards, to keep people out and away from the monster in the woods.  He’d been lured or spooked into entering the area, and there hadn’t been a way out.

Now that he was a ghost, he’d retained all of the prey instincts and tactics and desperation that had kept him going, up until he’d stopped.  Such was the imprint he’d left.

It didn’t explain why he’d been so typical a ghost before, though.  In the tree, by the river, looking through me.

There was more to this particular riddle.

The river has something fucky about it. 

I investigated the fence.  Sure enough, it was plastic.  Faux picket fencing, waist height, churned out by machine, with interlocking panels.

No reason it should stop the monster.

The bush… I had to push off the snow that layered over the top, to get a better view.

Holly.

“Run.”

“Run?”

“Over the fence, over the bush.”

He had to climb over the bush, passed through the snow that layered it, as if it wasn’t there.  Which it wasn’t, for him.

I simply leaped, rolling over the top of the edge, and landed on the other side.

I had to look twice before I saw it, lurking.  I could make out the red eyes, glowing in darkness.  It was breathing hard, from the long run.

I looked down, and the boy was shivering.

Evan spoke, “He wants to eat me.  He won’t let me sleep, growling and sending things.  He won’t let me stop.  Then he grins.  He smiles.  Because I’m not happy and he enjoys it.”

“Yeah,” I said.  “That’s… what he is.”

“It’s never going to end,” Evan said.  “Help’s never going to come.”

“Hey,” I said.  “I-”

The Other lunged.  Evan screamed, backing up, as the goblin-beast ran towards us.

The reaction had to be a replay, the movements were too natural.  The ghost tried to retreat, and he fell instead.  He screamed.

The goblin, the Hyena, Evan’s Wolf, the monster… whatever it was, it stopped short of the hedge.  It paced there, on the other side, looming, looking down on a child who had been reduced to stark terror.

Petty.

Vile.

The hedge served two purposes.  It hid the shotgun, for one thing, which let me pull the trigger, with less than ten feet between me and the monster.

It also meant that when the shotgun did fire, there were shreds of holly mixed in with the shot.

Oh holy shit. Its over, just like that? 

The monster reacted, rearing up, flinching, shaking his head as if to get the offending materials loose.

I could have raised the shotgun, to get a better shot, but I kept it where it was, firing again through the hedge.  Further away, less direct.  But there was the wind rune, and that counted for something.  A little more oomph.

I hope this is enough. Seems chapter is ending soon though... 

He still flinched, reacting.  He growled, breaking the perpetual silence, and backed away to a safer distance.  One open eye glowered at me.  The other squinted. I fumbled with the shotgun until I managed to open it up.  I reached into one pocket for ammo, and reloaded rather clumsily.  I could have managed better, but I wasn’t about to take my eyes off the Other. Evan stepped closer to me.  He’d stood up without traversing the space in between.  Switching too rapidly to another state, another piece of script. Wonder and fear both.  Awe? I imagined it was the same expression he’d had on his face when he’d discovered the water was a boundary the Other couldn’t cross. “Like I said, kiddo, help already came.” The ghost was kind enough that he didn’t disagree.  Script or no. I watched the thing, looking for a response. If it could talk, I imagined it would have just now.  But it didn’t, which posed problems. Everything I’d bound thus far, I’d negotiated with. How the fuck was I about to bind this thing?  It was a big, nasty, cunning animal, beast in every respect that a ‘beast’ was a problem for me, and it wasn’t stupid. Not stupid, but petty.  It was content to taunt. Except it wouldn’t be in a taunting mood, now that I’d shot it. I’d embrace the fact.  It was angry?  I’d have to find a way to use the anger. “Your move, little goblin,” I said.

...Sure, little.

Now start thinking of how to use its large amount of anger. 

He stepped back again, and then he roared.

Howled.  Screeched.  It wasn’t a natural sound.  It was a broken, crackling, painful sound, one that made my skin crawl.

That done, it disappeared, fleeing into the thick of the woods.

The hunter becomes the hunted (once hunter figures out how to kill)

[quowreadspact]

There.

A connection, faint.

Through that connection, I saw something else.  Not just a thread or a line between me and the boy, but a bolt of lightning, arcing off.

I focused on other things near me, on trees and stones.

I could tell, now, there was a conflux, a well.  A star at the center of this small world of trees and hills and frozen streams.  Something powerful and scary enough that every other thing in these woods related to it in some fashion.  The monster.

Through the connections that surrounded me, I could see it.

No sooner did I try, than I felt it looking back.  Far away.  Navigating around the stream.

I felt it change course, making its way to me.

Shit. Gotta remember these connections are 2 way. 

Instinct told me to make a break for the stream.  If this was how he functioned,  I could cross each time he came over to my side.

Instincts were not my friend, in this particular circumstance.  He’d called things to that location by knocking the stone over.  They would get in my way.

Besides, I needed to make progress.  Backtracking over and over would be safe, but it wouldn’t get that monster bound and over to Conquest’s custody.

I headed in the direction of the kid ghost.

A kind of conviction settled within me, as pieces clicked into place.  This was how he operated, how he hunted.  The territory was his, almost like a demesne.  All spirits fled from him, because there was no denying what he was and what he did to Others and mortals both.  Thus, the rules of the world were bent.  He made no sound, because there were no spirits to be found.

He littered the area with wounded spirits.  His spirits.  Maybe he held parts of them in his stomach.  Maybe he had a kind of ownership of them because he’d traumatized them.  But he maintained a kind of power over them all the same.

When a connection did form, when something did reach him, he was sensitive to it.  Easy enough to be sensitive, when the only spirits that maintained any connection to him were the ones that had to.

Any maimed ghost I had contact with, in turn, contacted him.

As if the forest was littered with strings and bells.

Too many different types of Other to avoid contact with all of them.

It also meant that interacting with the little boy’s ghost would bring the monster down on my head.

I didn’t have enough chain to make a ring that would encircle him.

Draw a circle in the snow? On the frozen river? Ohhh... cut a hole in the river? Idk how you’d do that though. 

I found the boy in a tree.  He’d made a makeshift treehouse.  Chickenwire stretched across a ‘v’ of branches, forming a hoop overhead, with openings on either end. I could see the fence posts the chickenwire had been taken from. He simply sat there, twenty feet above the ground, arms around his knees. “What’s your name?” I called out. Stupid question, dangerous, given the fact that any connection to him would help the monster find us.  A ghost could only give answers from its particular script. “Evan,” the hooded ghost said. “You’ve stayed alive all this time?” I asked.  I could feel the connection, sense it drawing closer.  ‘Close’ being relative.  The monster had rounded the far end of the stream some time ago, though. Not just the monster.  It was causing noise, and the Others were following in its wake. “It’s been days,” he said, high above me. When he looked at me, eerily enough, he looked at me.  Not through me. “Trying to stay alive long enough for help to come?” I asked.  While I spoke, my eyes roved over the area.  The wire fence was up there.  There wasn’t anything down here.  “Have you eaten?” “I haven’t eaten, I haven’t slept.  I’ve barely drank.” “Yeah,” I said.  “Not sure you want to drink the water from that stream.” “I’m seeing things,” he said, his voice small.  “The wolf was there from the beginning, but there are other things.  There’s a fog.  And the hungrier and tireder I get, the thicker the fog gets.  I see things in the fog.” I touched the chain from around my shoulders, but I had no idea what to do with it.  Couldn’t form a ring big enough… clothesline the thing?  It wouldn’t do anything. The thing was getting closer, and my priorities were changing. “Where do you run, when you need to run from here?”  I asked. I didn’t hear a response, so I looked up.  He’d shrugged.  “If they’re down there, I wait.  But they have to leave.  Or they leave so they can try to trap me.  I go down, and then I go that way.  Climb over the short fence and bushes.  He doesn’t follow that way.” “Can you show me?” I asked. He didn’t climb down.  He disappeared, in something between a flicker and a fade, and he appeared at the bottom of the tree, letting go of a branch and stumbling a bit.  So exhausted he could barely stand.  He took a step and nearly tripped. I reached out to steady him, and my hand passed through him. “I’ll be okay,” he said.  “Have to wait.  Be brave.  Help has to come.” “You’re awfully lucid for a…” I stopped before finishing the sentence. “Are- are you calling me something bad?” I was so caught off guard by the direct response I couldn’t put two and two together at first.  He wasn’t drawing a conclusion.  He was responding to the word ‘lucid’. “Lucid is good.  It means you’re… awake, aware.  You’re making a lot of sense.” “Oh,” he said.

... This is not a regular ghost. I do not know what it is though. 

The thing was getting closer. “Where’s the short fence?” I asked. He didn’t respond, but flickered and traveled a good ten feet away, already walking as he arrived. Still moving a little too slowly.  I wanted to be running. We reached the fence. I’d hoped for metal.  I’d hoped for barbed wire, or more chainlink or chicken wire.  But it was short, plastic, and from the height, apparently meant to keep rabbits or other pests from spilling over to another section of the park.  The cheap look of it was disguised by a hedge.  I couldn’t see with the snow, but my gut told me there had once been a walking path here, when this area of the park was more traveled. All it was now was a stupid, pointless boundary, in the middle of the woodland. “You couldn’t go home, huh?” I asked.  The monster was close, but I couldn’t find him, scanning the trees.  “How’d you get stuck out here?” “I got lost.  My backyard opens out onto the park.  I saw something… someone?  I went to look, and I got turned around.  Scary noises, and growling.  I wanted to leave, but there was always something.  I tried following the paths, but then I’d see the wolf standing there.” “He let you go?” “I… I don’t think so.  This bush is how I escaped the first few times.  I’d follow the hedge, and if I saw or heard him, I’d climb over and hide on the other side.  I- I use the water to hide my scent, washing my boots, like I learned about in school, but yesterday, he was there, and he saw me.  He attacked, and I ran over, and he didn’t follow.  There are two places I can use to escape, like that.” “The stream and the hedge?” I asked. “When I can, I go to the road.  I follow the hedge, and I have to leave it behind to peek.  I look for cars.  Then trouble comes and I have to run harder than I ever run.  There’s nowhere else I can go where I have a place to run to if I need to hide.” “So you wait,” I said.  “Getting hungrier, more tired, thirsty…” “And cold at night.  But I’ll be okay,” he said.  He said it like he was reassuring me.  “I’m tougher than I look.  And smarter.  Did you see my treehouse?” “I saw.”  I kind of want that chickenwire. “I’ll be okay,” he said.  There was more of the ‘ghost’ to his voice, as he said it.  “I just need to wait.  Help will come.” “Hasn’t it come already?” I asked.  “I’m here.” “You’re not really real,” he said.  He started to reach out, then dropped his hand. I looked down, and saw the streaks of glamour, turned into insulation. Mucking with his senses? He was capable of rationalizing, but not entirely capable.  He remained a ghost.

A more recent ghost, that died of hunger or cold and not the Hyena, I suppose. 

[quowreadspact]

Collateral 4.11

Hooray, we are doing this. 

Congratulations, Blake Thorburn.  You’ve successfully reverted two or three million years.  You’re an ape in a tree, hiding from the scary things.

Don’t be too hard on yourself Blake. It is a very scary thing. 

“Day!  It’s your arm that’s supposed to be fucked up!  Day!  You’re the one who died, Day!”

Shut the fuck up.

“God, my legs!”

Again, that wave of pain.  An illusory sort of pain, something that might have knocked me out of the tree if I hadn’t been wrapped around a branch.

The big thing that loomed beneath me, it seemed, wasn’t any more a fan of the ghost than I was.  This wasn’t a bad thing.  Wasn’t a good thing either.  It was just a thing.

Another scary thing! 

It lashed out, striking blindly at the air with thick, heavy arms.  The ghost didn’t have the sense to get out of the way, but the Other didn’t have the ability to hit the ghost.

Nothing accomplished.  Only a brief distraction for the blind Other, a bigger threat beneath me, and a bit more nervousness on my part, when one large clawed fist came a little too close to the tree I was perched on.

It wasn’t calming down, either.  The pain it suffered, the wound, it was driven out of its mind, unable to calm down or relax.

I wasn’t sure how to label the thing.  Yeti?  Troll?  Ogre?  It was big, strong, and somewhere midway between human and animal.  The books had said that the more brutish Others hadn’t survived the years without being enslaved or killed, but it could be argued that this one wasn’t exactly alive.  Or free.

The Hyena was apparently coming my way.  That was, if the ghost wasn’t simply repeating a stock phrase.

“Day!  Oh god, Day!  Oh god!”

The big thing lunged.  Its shoulder brushed against the trunk of the tree, and I swayed briefly.  I heard a faint cracking sound.  Ice breaking, or wood splintering?

“Please, Day, wake up!” the ghost cried out.

Speaking of stock phrases.

Mr. ‘Legs’ here was a car accident victim.  One nearby.  He’d hurt his legs, his girlfriend or wife or sister or something had been in the passenger seat, dying.

Could I reason with him?

Probably not, I decided.

Yeah these things are much more far gone than the dude that Pauz fucked up was. No way to save them. 

Could I do something, given the chance to talk?  Maybe.

But I couldn’t afford to make too much noise and give the ogre-troll thing a chance to home in on me.  I didn’t trust the shotgun to work, and I did believe that a missed or ineffective shot would get me killed.

Besides, I suspected I’d need what I had for the Hyena.

Well, I was camouflaged in glamour.  Whatever that was worth.  It wasn’t helping much against these Others, but it was very possible they were using other senses to track me.

Was that my bias at play?  I was human, so I thought in human terms when camouflaging myself?  My own bias would influence the glamour, in turn…

Alright.  Moving very slowly and very carefully at my position on the branch, I ran my hand along my arms, across my face and over the top of my head, raised one leg to sweep my hand over the glamour I’d painted there…

I could see a brassy highlight here and there, where I’d made contact, deeper shadows.

I had no idea if it would work.

I whistled, a small, tentative sound.

The big thing turned to face me, drawing one hand back.

The whistle echoed, faint sounds a short distance away, bouncing off the trees.

The thing turned, first one way, then the other.

It wouldn’t fool anyone or anything that was thinking straight.  The false sounds were too faint, the sound I made still too distinct.  But this thing wasn’t thinking straight.  It was purely reactive, every action undertaken with blind aggression.

“Tires squealing,” the ghost said, but he didn’t move his mouth.  A thought uttered aloud?

The ghost was still directly beneath me.  He was the real problem.

Damn Blake, you are getting better at this. I am surprised that worked though, honestly. 

More problems, I could tell, were on their way, attracted by the voice and by the violence of the big ogre-giant thing.

They weren’t here yet, though, meaning I had a moment.

Was I supposed to rationalize with this very confused spirit?  Or take a different tack?

No time to waste.

“You killed Day,” I said.

Whispers of my voice echoed through the area.  The brute snorted and grunted, lashing out at air, before stepping a little bit away from me.

“Day!  No!”

“You fucked up,” I said, injecting a note of anger into my voice.  “Day’s dead.”

“Please, Day!  My arm, it’s not supposed to hurt like this!”

“Why are you talking?  Who’s listening besides yourself?  Day is dead.”

I can;t see this tactic working..

The ghost went momentarily quiet.

Which only made it easier to notice that other spirits were drawing nearer, some murmuring.  I could see glimpses of them through the trees.

“My arm, it’s not supposed to hurt like this.  Hurts more than anything else.  It’s your fucking fault, Day!”

More volume meant more attention from the locals.

I needed to think simpler.  I needed to break this pattern, and the way to do that was… what?

Get him back to his usual pattern?

“Your arm isn’t supposed to hurt like this, and you’re not supposed to be here.  Think,” I said.  “Think, where are you supposed to be?”

Ah, that is much better. 

[hotelsmarket]

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: PK) yesterday announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. Highlights include: First Quarter 2017 Results (as compared to First Quarter 2016) * Comparable RevPAR for the domestic portfolio was $163.90, an increase of 1.7% on a Pro-forma basis * Comparable RevPAR was $156.34, an increase of 1.4% on a Pro-forma basis * Net income and net income attributable to stockholders were $2,350 million, including an income tax benefit of $2,288 million resulting from the REIT conversion * Adjusted EBITDA was $177 million, an increase of 4.1% on a Pro-forma basis * Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders was $138 million, an increase of 7.8% on a Pro-forma basis * Diluted earnings per share was $11.02 * Diluted Adjusted FFO per share was $0.64 * Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin was 25.9%, a decrease of 10 bps on a Pro-forma basis Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are very pleased with our first quarter results, which came in ahead of expectations both on top line and bottom line, clearly demonstrating the benefit of owning a geographically diverse portfolio of high quality assets with multiple levers of demand. I am thrilled with the progress our team has made after just four months operating as an independent public company with our attention keenly focused on creating value for our shareholders. On the asset management front, we continue to build out our team as we implement aggressive asset management strategies to help narrow the margin gap that exists between Park and our peers. Separately, we continue to make progress on our ROI projects and our team is formulating a strategic plan to determine the scope of our non-core asset sale program given our intention to recycle the bottom 10% to 15% of our portfolio over the next several years.”         Selected Statistical and Financial Information (unaudited, dollars in millions, except per share data, Comparable RevPAR and Comparable ADR)   Three Months Ended March 31, 2017     2016 2017 vs. 2016 Comparable RevPAR(1)(2) $ 156.34 $ 154.23 1.4% Comparable Occupancy(1)(2) 77.6% 77.7% (0.1)% pts Comparable ADR(1)(2) $ 201.41 $ 198.55 1.4%   Net income(3) $ 2,350 $ 23 NM(4) Net income attributable to stockholders(3) $ 2,350 $ 22 NM(4)   Adjusted EBITDA(1) $ 177 $ 170 4.1% Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA(1)(2) $ 165 $ 161 2.5% Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin(1)(2) 25.9% 26.0% (10) bps Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders(1) $ 138 $ 128 7.8%   Earnings per share - Diluted(5) $ 11.02 $ 0.11 Adjusted FFO per share - Diluted(1)(5) $ 0.64 $ 0.65 Weighted average shares outstanding - Diluted 213 198 ____________________________ 2017 First Quarter Operating Results: Total Consolidated Comparable Hotels Comparable RevPAR increased 1.4% on a Pro-forma basis, attributable to a 1.4% increase in rate, with occupancy remaining relatively flat. Across Park’s major markets: * Washington, D.C. was the best performer with RevPAR growth of 10.0% attributable to increased demand during the inauguration and related political events; * Chicago showed RevPAR growth of 8.1% with an increase in both rate and occupancy primarily from increased group business and renovation disruptions in 2016 at the Hilton Chicago; and * Hawaii generated RevPAR growth of 4.1% due to an increase in rate driven by an increase in group business. The solid performance was primarily attributable to increases in group business, which accounted for approximately one-third of revenues. Group rooms revenue for the quarter increased by 7.1%, led by the following properties: * Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort increased 28.4% * Parc 55 San Francisco – a Hilton Hotel increased 23.8% * Hilton Chicago increased 22.2%; and * Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek increased 16.1%. 2017 First Quarter Operating Results: Top 10 Hotels RevPAR for Park’s Top 10 Hotels, which accounts for approximately 66% of Hotel Adjusted EBITDA, grew 1.8% on a Pro-forma basis, driven by a 1.0 percentage point increase in occupancy and a 0.5% increase in rate. Within the Top 10 Hotels: * Hilton Chicago was the best performing hotel with RevPAR growth of 17.5% from strong group demand and renovation disruptions in 2016; * Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek had RevPAR growth of 8.7%; * Parc 55 San Francisco – a Hilton Hotel had RevPAR growth of 4.2%; * Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort had RevPAR growth of 4.1%; and * New York Hilton Midtown had RevPAR growth of 2.9%. Hilton San Francisco Union Square was the weakest performer with a decrease in RevPAR of 8.0%, due to ongoing renovations and a tough comparable period in 2017 due to the Super Bowl in 2016. Balance Sheet and Liquidity Park had the following debt outstanding as of March 31, 2017: (unaudited, dollars in millions)                 As of Debt Collateral Interest Rate Maturity Date March 31, 2017 Fixed Rate Debt Unsecured notes     Unsecured     7.50%     December 2017     $ 55 Mortgage loan     DoubleTree Hotel Spokane City Center     3.55%     October 2020       12 Commercial mortgage-backed securities loan     Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Parc 55 San Francisco - a Hilton Hotel     4.11%     November 2023       725 Commercial mortgage-backed securities loan     Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort     4.20%     November 2026       1,275 Mortgage loan     The Fess Parker Santa Barbara Hotel - a DoubleTree Resort     4.17%     December 2026       165 Total Fixed Rate Debt(1) $ 2,232   Variable Rate Debt Revolving credit facility(2)     Unsecured     L + 1.50%     December 2021(3)     $ - Term loan     Unsecured     L + 1.45%     December 2021       750 Mortgage loan     DoubleTree Hotel Ontario Airport     L + 2.25%     May 2022(3)       30 Total Variable Rate Debt $ 780 ____________________________ Total cash and cash equivalents were $336 million as of March 31, 2017, including $18 million of restricted cash. Capital Investments Park invested $37 million in the first quarter on capital improvements, including $32 million on improvements made to guest rooms, lobbies and other guest-facing areas. Key projects include: * Hilton San Francisco Union Square: $9.5 million primarily on rooms and suites renovations * Hilton Sao Paulo Morumbi: $5.8 million primarily on rooms and corridors renovations * Hilton New Orleans Riverside: $5.1 million primarily on ballroom and exhibit hall renovations * Hilton Chicago: $2.7 million primarily on ballroom and meeting space renovations. Dividends In January 2017, in order to comply with requirements related to Park’s declaration of intent to be taxed as a REIT, Park’s Board of Directors declared an Earnings and Profit (“E&P”) dividend of $2.79 per share, payable in cash and shares of its common stock, to stockholders of record as of January 19, 2017. The E&P dividend was paid on March 9, 2017 and consisted of $110 million in cash and the issuance of 16.6 million shares of Park’s common stock. In February 2017, Park’s Board of Directors declared a first quarter 2017 cash dividend of $0.43 per share to stockholders of record as of March 31, 2017. The first quarter 2017 cash dividend was paid on April 17, 2017. On April 28th 2017, Park’s Board of Directors declared a second quarter 2017 cash dividend of $0.43 per share to stockholders of record as of June 30, 2017. The second quarter 2017 cash dividend is to be paid on July 17, 2017. All future dividends are subject to approval by Park’s Board of Directors. Full Year 2017 Outlook The Company has updated its 2017 guidance that was previously provided in connection with the reporting of its 2016 results in March 2017. Park expects the full year 2017 operating results to be as follows: Full year 2017 guidance is based in part on the following assumptions: * General and administrative expenses are projected to be $45 million, excluding $12 million of non-cash share-based compensation expense and $11 million of transition costs; * Fully diluted weighted average shares is expected to be 214.5 million; * Excludes an income tax benefit of $2,288 million recognized in the first quarter of 2017 resulting from the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities upon Park’s declaration of intent to be taxed as a REIT; * Due to the transfer of a significant number of rooms at the Hilton Waikoloa Village and Embassy Suites Washington DC Georgetown to Hilton Grand Vacations, the results from these hotels are excluded from Park’s comparable results in 2017; * The delay of the transfer of rooms at the Hilton Waikoloa Village until the fourth quarter of 2017; and * Refined estimates in Park’s effective tax rate. Refer to the financial supplement for additional information. About Park On January 3, 2017, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. completed the spin-off of a portfolio of hotels and resorts that established Park as an independent, publicly traded company. Park began publicly trading on the New York Stock Exchange as an independent company on January 4, 2017. Park is a leading lodging REIT with a diverse portfolio of hotels and resorts with significant underlying real estate value. Park’s portfolio consists of 67 premium-branded hotels and resorts with over 35,000 rooms located in prime United States and international markets with high barriers to entry.         PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. CONDENSED COMBINED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (unaudited, in millions, except share and per share data)   March 31, December 31, 2017 2016 ASSETS Property and equipment, net $ 8,516 $ 8,541 Investments in affiliates 82 81 Goodwill 604 604 Intangibles, net 43 44 Cash and cash equivalents 318 337 Restricted cash 18 13 Accounts receivable, net 180 130 Prepaid expenses 51 58 Other assets   28   26 TOTAL ASSETS $ 9,840 $ 9,834 LIABILITIES AND EQUITY Liabilities Debt $ 3,012 $ 3,012 Accounts payable and accrued expenses 174 167 Due to hotel manager 125 91 Due to Hilton Grand Vacations 210 210 Deferred income tax liabilities 146 2,437 Other liabilities   202   94 Total liabilities 3,869 6,011 Equity Common stock, par value $0.01 per share, 6,000,000,000 shares authorized, 214,767,295 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2017 2 Additional paid-in capital 3,820 — Retained earnings 2,258 — Accumulated other comprehensive loss (60) (67) Net Parent investment   —   3,939 Total stockholders' equity 6,020 3,872 Noncontrolling interests   (49)   (49) Total equity   5,971   3,823 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY $ 9,840 $ 9,834       PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES RECONCILIATIONS EBITDA, ADJUSTED EBITDA AND PRO-FORMA ADJUSTED EBITDA (unaudited, in millions)   Three Months Ended March 31, 2017     2016 Net income $ 2,350 $ 23 Interest expense 30 46 Income tax (benefit) expense (2,281) 14 Depreciation and amortization expense 70 73 Interest expense, income tax and depreciation and amortization included in equity in earnings from investments in affiliates   5   6 EBITDA 174 162 Gain on foreign currency transactions (1) — Share based compensation expense 3 — Impairment loss — 15 Transition costs 1 — Other adjustment items   —   3 Adjusted EBITDA 177 180 Less: Spin-off adjustments(1)   —   (10) Pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA $ 177 $ 170 ____________________________   PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES RECONCILIATIONS PRO-FORMA COMPARABLE HOTEL ADJUSTED EBITDA AND PRO-FORMA COMPARABLE HOTEL ADJUSTED EBITDA MARGIN (unaudited, dollars in millions)   Three Months Ended March 31, 2017   2016 Pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA $ 177 $ 170 Less: Adjusted EBITDA from investments in affiliates 9 9 Less: All other(1)   (11)   (11) Pro-forma Hotel Adjusted EBITDA 179 172 Less: Non-comparable hotels   14   11 Pro-forma Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA $ 165 $ 161 (1) Includes EBITDA from Park's laundry business and general and administrative expenses.   Three Months Ended March 31, 2017 2016 Total Revenue $ 684 $ 661 Less: Revenue from hotels disposed of — 3 Less: Revenue from laundry facilities   3   3 Pro-forma Hotel Revenue 681 655 Add: Spin-off adjustments(1) — 5 Less: Non-comparable hotels   45   42 Pro-forma Comparable Hotel Revenue $ 636 $ 618 (1) Includes $5 million of allocated costs previously excluded from other hotel revenue for services provided to Hilton Grand Vacations ("HGV") at Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort. In connection with the spin-off, Park entered into a services agreement with HGV.   Three Months Ended March 31, 2017 2016 Pro-forma Comparable Hotel Revenue $ 636 $ 618 Pro-forma Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA $ 165 $ 161 Pro-forma Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin 25.9% 26.0%   _____________________________ (1)     Represents the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities upon Park’s declaration of intent to be taxed as a REIT. (2) Spin-off adjustments include adjustments for Park’s historical debt and related balances and interest expense to give the net effect to financing transactions that were completed prior to spin-off, incremental fees based on the terms of the post spin-off management agreements, adjustments to income tax expense based on Park’s post spin-off REIT tax structure and estimated non-income taxes on certain REIT leases. (3) For 2016, per share amounts were calculated using the number of shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the spin-off. Per share amounts are calculated based on unrounded numbers. (4) For 2016, amounts are calculated on a Pro-forma basis.       PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES RECONCILIATIONS 2017 OUTLOOK – EBITDA AND ADJUSTED EBITDA (unaudited, in millions)   Year Ending December 31, 2017 Low Case     High Case Net income(1) $ 250 $ 277 Interest income (2 ) (2 ) Interest expense 125 125 Income tax expense(1) 26 28 Depreciation and amortization expense 292 293 Interest expense, income tax and depreciation and amortization included in equity in earnings from investments in affiliates   22     22   EBITDA 713 743 Gain on foreign currency transactions (1 ) (1 ) Share-based compensation expense 12 12 Transition costs   11     11   Adjusted EBITDA $ 735   $ 765   _____________________________ (1)     Excludes an income tax benefit of $2,288 million in the first quarter of 2017 resulting from the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities upon Park’s declaration of intent to be taxed as a REIT.   _____________________________ (1)     Excludes an income tax benefit of $2,288 million in the first quarter of 2017 resulting from the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities upon Park’s declaration of intent to be taxed as a REIT.   PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC. DEFINITIONS EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA Margin Earnings before interest expense, taxes and depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), presented herein, reflects net income (loss), excluding interest expense, a provision for income taxes and depreciation and amortization. The Company considers EBITDA to be a useful measure for investors in evaluating and facilitating comparisons of its operating performance between periods and between REITs by removing the impact of the Company’s capital structure (primarily interest expense) and asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization) from its operating results. Adjusted EBITDA, presented herein, is calculated as EBITDA, as previously defined, further adjusted to exclude gains, losses and expenses in connection with: (i) foreign currency transactions; (ii) share-based compensation; (iii) non-cash impairment losses; (iv) transition costs related to the Company’s establishment as an independent, publicly traded company; (v) asset dispositions for both consolidated and unconsolidated investments; (vi) debt restructurings/retirements; (vii) severance and relocation; and (viii) other gains and losses that management believes are not representative of the Company’s current or future operating performance. Hotel Adjusted EBITDA measures property-level results before debt service, depreciation and corporate expenses of the Company’s consolidated hotels, including both comparable and non-comparable hotels but excluding hotels owned by unconsolidated affiliates, and is a key measure of the Company’s profitability. The Company presents Hotel Adjusted EBITDA to help the Company and its investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of the Company’s consolidated hotels. Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin, is calculated as Hotel Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of Total Hotel Revenue. EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin are not recognized terms under United States (“U.S.”) GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income (loss) or other measures of financial performance or liquidity derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, the Company’s definitions of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. The Company believes that EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin provide useful information to investors about the Company and its financial condition and results of operations for the following reasons: (i) EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin are among the measures used by the Company’s management team to evaluate its operating performance and make day-to-day operating decisions; and (ii) EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties as a common performance measure to compare results or estimate valuations across companies in the industry. EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margin have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income (loss) or other methods of analyzing the Company’s operating performance and results as reported under U.S. GAAP. NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders, Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders NAREIT FFO per share - diluted and Adjusted FFO per share - diluted NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders, presented herein, is calculated as net income (loss) attributable to stockholders (calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP), excluding gains (losses) from sales of real estate, the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles, real estate-related depreciation, amortization and impairments and adjustments for unconsolidated joint ventures. Adjustments for unconsolidated joint ventures are calculated to reflect the Company’s pro rata share of the FFO of those entities on the same basis. The Company calculates NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders for a given operating period in accordance with the guidelines of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”). As noted by NAREIT in its April 2002 “White Paper on Funds From Operations,” since real estate values historically have risen or fallen with market conditions, many industry investors have considered presentation of operating results for real estate companies that use historical cost accounting to be insufficient by themselves. For these reasons, NAREIT adopted the FFO metric in order to promote an industry-wide measure of REIT operating performance. Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders, presented herein, is NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders, as previously defined, further adjusted to exclude: (i) gains or losses on foreign currency transactions; (ii) litigation gains and losses outside the ordinary course of business; (iii) transition costs related to the Company’s establishment as an independent, publicly traded company; (iv) share-based compensation expense; and (v) other gains and losses that management believes are not representative of the Company’s current or future operating performance. NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders are not recognized terms under U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income (loss) or other measures of financial performance or liquidity derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, the Company’s definitions of NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. The Company believes that NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders, provide useful information to investors about the Company and its financial condition and results of operations for the following reasons: (i) these measures are among the measures used by the Company’s management team to evaluate its operating performance and make day-to-day operating decisions; and (ii) these measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties as a common performance measure to compare results or estimate valuations across companies in the industry. NAREIT FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income (loss), cash flow or other methods of analyzing results as reported under U.S. GAAP. NAREIT FFO per share – diluted, presented herein, is calculated as the Company’s NAREIT FFO, as previously defined, divided by the number of fully diluted shares outstanding during a period. Adjusted FFO per share – diluted, presented herein, is Adjusted FFO per share, as previously defined, divided by the number of fully diluted shares outstanding during a period. Occupancy Occupancy represents the total number of room nights sold divided by the total number of room nights available at a hotel or group of hotels. Occupancy measures the utilization of the Company’s hotels’ available capacity. Management uses occupancy to gauge demand at a specific hotel or group of hotels in a given period. Occupancy levels also help management determine achievable Average Daily Rate (“ADR”) levels as demand for rooms increases or decreases. Average Daily Rate ADR represents rooms revenue divided by total number of room nights sold in a given period. ADR measures average room price attained by a hotel and ADR trends provide useful information concerning the pricing environment and the nature of the customer base of a hotel or group of hotels. ADR is a commonly used performance measure in the hotel industry, and management uses ADR to assess pricing levels that the Company is able to generate by type of customer, as changes in rates have a more pronounced effect on overall revenues and incremental profitability than changes in occupancy, as described above. Revenue per Available Room Revenue per Available Room (“RevPAR”) represents rooms revenue divided by total number of room nights available to guests for a given period. Management considers RevPAR to be a meaningful indicator of the Company’s performance as it provides a metric correlated to two primary and key factors of operations at a hotel or group of hotels: occupancy and ADR. RevPAR is also a useful indicator in measuring performance over comparable periods for comparable hotels. References to RevPAR and ADR are presented on a currency neutral basis (prior periods are reflected using current period exchange rates), unless otherwise noted. Comparable Data The Company presents certain data for its hotels on a comparable hotel basis as supplemental information for investors. The Company defines its comparable hotels as those that: (i) were active and operating in its system since January 1st of the previous year; and (ii) have not sustained substantial property damage, business interruption, undergone large-scale capital projects or for which comparable results are not available. The Company presents comparable hotel results to help the Company and its investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of its comparable hotels. Due to the conversion, or planned conversions, of a significant number of rooms at the Hilton Waikoloa Village in 2017 and Embassy Suites Washington D.C. Georgetown in 2016 to HGV timeshare units, the results from these properties were excluded from comparable hotels. Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

[quowreadspact]

“Move, Evan,” I said.  I hopped over the hedge much the way I’d come.

“What?  It’s dangerous.”

“It’s about to get more dangerous.  I’m ninety percent sure he just called out to all the other bumps and spooks and ghosts in this forest,” I said.  I watched Evan slip over hedge and fence, struggling a bit, helpless to help.  “No more stealth.”

“Shouldn’t we go the other way?”

“No,” I said.  “Can you tell where he is?”

“He’s hiding.  Far, but not that far.  Watching and listening.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“It’s… easier to tell.  I guess, and I’m right.  I went to sleep this afternoon, too tired to keep moving, too hungry… I woke up feeling… not better, but it’s easier to tell.”

You died, I thought, and just like the monster more sensitive, with connections only to his half-devoured prey, you’ve got less flesh in the way of sensing things.

“Alright.  He’s sorta far, and he’s watching.  Not the worst case scenario,” I said.  “There’re just a few moments.  Let’s see…”

I drew June, and hacked off a few of the biggest clusters of the holly hedge.

“What’s the worst case scenario?” Evan asked.

“Him running.  Getting as far away as he can.”

“That’s not right.”

“Let’s move,” I said.  “We gotta get gone before the little guys close the net.”

“Him running is the best thing,” Evan said.

“Not when you’re hunting him,” I said.  “Come on.”

Ayy, called it.

That won’t be enough Holly but it’ll help. Seems like that is enough to make him flee. I am hopeful this will actually work! See ya next time. 

[quowreadspact]

How were they finding me?  There were too many variables to cover. Rather than dwell on it, I chose a simpler concept, focusing on it. Insulation. Hold in the heat, hold in the sounds, the smells. Abstract.  But the Hyena seemed to be a very concrete being.  One that dealt directly with the world, gouging it, biting it, leaving it ruined and in pain.  I had to work against its basic nature, and that meant being a little less direct. In a simpler sense, there was no fucking way I was going to fight it on its turf, using weapons of its choice. I started off again. Quieter. I could make out a stream through the trees.  No more than ten feet wide, it had largely frozen over. A cluster of ghosts sat by the water.  A family, it looked like, haggard, maybe homeless.  All but the youngest child were bloated, drenched and wet.  All had been wounded by the Hyena.

That is really sad :( 

I circled around them, giving them a wide berth.  They paid me no mind, only sitting there, shuddering, occasionally exclaiming in pain.

Reaching the stream, I saw another ghost by the water’s edge.  The hooded boy.

“Water in my boots,” he said, with that peculiar affect ghosts had.  Maintaining the emotions they had at the moment of death.  “Wet socks.”

I judged his outfit.  The hooded coat wasn’t really meant for the worst of winter.  The boots were closer to rain boots than anything else.  Not the simple rubber sort, a little warmer, but not that warm.  When had he died?

Fall?

“Cold water, huh?” I asked.

He spoke, but it sounded more like he was talking to himself.  “Feet are cold, but I have to keep running.  Have to.  If I keep running and keep hiding someone will come and find me and I can go home.”

That said, he took off.  No snow crunched under his feet.  There was only the sound of wet socks squishing.

I looked back at the family.  Too many ghosts for one area.  How many of these guys had followed the Hyena from its last haunt?

Or did it have a way of engineering these deaths?  Spook a car into going off the road?  Drive a homeless family into the water?

Doing whatever had been done to this boy?

If I’d had any hesitations about setting foot on the ice, that idea was one more reason to stay back.

Taking risks was a bad idea.  If this thing was cunning, it was all too possible that it was capable of something more devious.

I traveled alongside the stream.

Another ghost squatted on the far end of the stream, face impossible to make out, pants down, hands holding nearby branches for balance.  It was shitting an endless stream of liquid shit and blood at the edge of the stream.  Claw marks criss-crossed its back, having gouged flesh, shattering ribs and spine.

Um... nasty. 

They apparently hadn’t been having a good day before the Hyena appeared to savage their ghost.

I could hear the intermittent grunts and groans well after the ghost was out of sight.

“Sorry, ghost,” I murmured.  “If my life wasn’t what it was, and if this wasn’t what it was, I might come back to put you to rest.”

Maybe come back after Hyena? 

Alexis had once given me a hand to help me up from the lowest point in my life.  Or the lowest point before I inherited the house, in any event.  Even if this was a ghost, a psychic echo, I felt like it deserved the same.  I knew it wasn’t real.  It was merely a replay, a bad recording.  There wasn’t anything to it beyond the scenes it lived out in perpetuity.

But I still felt like I should be doing something.

I guess I assumed ghosts had some sort of consciousnesses still... is that not true? 

I started hiking up a steep hillside with large rocks jutting out.

I could imagine the Hyena running up, knocking the rocks from where they sat, crushing me.  Knocking me ten feet to the right, so I hit the ice and broke through to hypothermia-inducing water.  Doing something.  I was vulnerable while climbing.  But I wasn’t about to backtrack.

The savaging at the Hyena’s hands that would inevitably follow, to defile my corpse and ruin me after death…

I picked my course carefully, with attention to where I put my hands and feet, and where everything was.  No icy patches to slip on, no areas where the ground wasn’t really solid.

I was focused enough on the navigation and my thoughts of the shitting ghost that I was caught entirely off guard by what waited at the top of the hill.

The little boy stood there.  His eyes technically on me, but looking through me.  From my angle, I could see his face beneath the hood.

Large eyes, with exaggerated dark circles under them, a thin mouth, hair plastered to his forehead by sweat.  Hands in his pockets.

... what the fuck.

Ummm... no comment. Gotta read more. 

His eyes moved this way, then that.  Searching his surroundings.

“We keep running into each other like this,” I said.  “Is that because you took good paths, or because you want to run into me?”

“The slaves sang songs,” he said.  Voice high.  Prepubescent.

“What?”

“…a secret way to spread the word.”

“That so?” I asked, not really looking for a response.  Riddles.  I climbed to my feet, walking around him.  There weren’t as many spirits over here.  But then again, most of the spirits had come in response to the noise.  I’d chosen the path with the fewest of them, in an indirect way.

Which made sense, sort of.  The stream was blocking ones on the other side from coming over here.  It was only natural there would be less lurking around here.

Was this a good battleground?  If I were to lay a trap…

“Wade in the water,” he said, drawing out the words slightly.

“What’s that?”

“Wade in the water, children,” he said, a lilt to the words.  “Wade in the water.”

Singing?  Halfway between a whisper and a song.

Is this how the Hyena lures people into the water?  This can’t be the Hyena itself in disguise, right? Can’t it? 

“Something, something, trouble the water…” he murmured.

I heard hints of a chorus.  They could have been an echo, but there were different tones, different cadences.  Some were more song, others more whisper.

“Rest assured,” I said, “You’re doing a fantastic job at being creepy.  As ghosts go, you’re first rate.”

He turned his back, then hopped along the biggest rocks that sat at the upper edge of the short, frozen waterfall.

A moment later, I saw him doing it again, the opposite way.

A half-dozen flickering replays all at once.  Back and forth over the river.

While the scenes played out, he appeared again in front of me, still very alert, watching the surroundings.

“Not your average ghost,” I said.

I had a very bad feeling.  A sense of pressure.  Foreboding.

Was this the trick?  The trap that saw me tumbling over the waterfall to become a ghost?

“Are… you the Hyena?” I asked.

“The wolf,” he whispered, in response, eyes wide and staring.

... Oh fuck. Are there two things here? 

Not reassuring.

A moment later, he turned, running.  Scrambling away.

I heard a frightened noise escape his mouth as he scrambled over the rocks, interrupting his whispers to himself.  “Wade in the water.”

I turned to look, and I saw it.

It stood in the thickest patch of trees.  The way it was obscured, I could only make out bits and pieces.  Fur, matted and stained with mud and dark bodily fluids.  It breathed hard enough that I could see its chest expanding with each intake of breath.  Fog appeared with each exhalation, and it took a moment before the fog faded enough to reveal a deep red eye that I could make out through the gloom and intervening branches.

Found the Hyena.