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People don’t fear The Hotel when they’ve just entered. That’s how I know it wasn’t what he was afraid of.
He comes in, frantic, rambling about how he needed a place to stay. His eyes are wide and his entire body is shaking like a leaf. Tonight, he finds himself feeling safer inside the years-old wallpaper and carpet.
Of course, this form is only temporary. The Hotel only stays one way for as long as a new guest comes by.
The Manager smiles at him and uses a gentle voice as she tells him who to go to.
She was always good at luring the guests into a false sense of security.
As I take him to his room, he starts to tell me about his… horrible story. He talks about it like he’d die if he didn’t tell me.
I hate the desperation in his voice as he tells me about a friend he left behind.
“H-he told me to leave,” he says, “I didn’t know what else to do. I should have stayed, I can’t do anything without him.”
He seems so lonely, but all I can do is nod and take him to his room.
The room he takes is the smallest we could have provided. He opens the window and lays on the bed, exhaustion seemingly overwhelming him as his panic dissipates.
He just lays there. For a long time. His eyes are shut. Maybe he’s asleep.
His eyes shoot open once he realizes something is missing.
The window. The cool air isn’t coming through anymore.
He turns to the door. There isn’t a door anymore.
His panic comes back full-force. The shadows the bed cast start to darken.
He runs to where the door was and starts hitting the wall with his fists and they become bloody and bruised. He’s crying.
I don’t like how he sounds while he cries.
He tries to dig his way out. His fingernails and fingertips bleed and continue bleeding as he continues scratching and beating the wall and crying and screaming. It hurts my ears to listen to.
The light fizzles out, and he lets out one final scream. I know what that scream means.
He knows he’s going to die here.
Alone.
His sobs slowly start to fade as The Void swallows him whole.
… At least I won’t have to clean up another mess.