Chapter Text
The door creaked open for the young, ginger, long haired girl with the sapphire eye pendant, who's fair freckled skin and light blue eyes shone in the fancy lighting.
She had a short and chubby frame, and wore a sleeveless leather jacket, clashing with her formal wear: a sapphire blue shirt that was slightly metallic, a denim blue jean skirt and sky blue leggings. Her berry blue socks and black flats glistened in the light of the various crystal light fixtures, untouched from the hotel's years of closure.
In her left hand was a letter, previously sealed with a blue wax stamp. And as she approached the desk with as much courage as she could muster, a figure appeared in front of her in a puff of black smoke.
"Well hi there."
"Shit!" The girl stepped back, concerning the blond-haired blue-eyed receptionist in front of her. "...Sorry, I don't normally use that language...but-"
"Oh, I see you've won the Fangoria Night At The Murder Hotel contest! May I see the letter?"
"...Here." She hesitantly placed the letter on the desk, sliding it towards the strange magical man. He grabbed a magnifying glass, inspected, and placed it into his desk drawer in no time flat.
"Letter checks out. Heh. Anyway, you're Iris Seer, right? Did you bring a plus one?"
"No, I didn't, and yes, I am." She sweated. "So...where do I go?"
"The lobby will have a special dinner and historical presentation just before curfew. Tomorrow morning is when the real fun begins." He chuckled to himself. "Sorry, can't help from sounding creepy. It's the murder hotel, after all."
Iris could only shake her head in disapproval as she began to leave.
"Wait! Uh, don't forget your free plush." The receptionist handed her a teal blue plush that resembled an oujia board planchette. It's eyes were closed, it's face was frowning, and a white button took the place of the triangle's hole.
"Huh?"
"Winners get their own custom plushies in the style of the murder dolls, yknow, the ones the old owner used to kill people with." The receptionist awkwardly chuckled. "Some people say they represent your soul in a way. It's really interesting."
"Gee, thanks." Iris rolled her eyes while grabbing the plushie. Though, strangely enough, it did look a little bit like her soul...at least, from someone who dealt with the spiritual realm a lot.
Maybe it was a coincidence?
***
"And so I said to him, 'water you doing here?' And then he punched me. Punched me! Like, what gives? All that for a pun? That's pun-bearable!" Three people were chatting, their own plushies in hand. The guy talking was a red haired asian american kid, had a neon purple sweatshirt, iris colored sweatpants, and white tennis shoes accenting his ballcap of the same color. He held a doll resembling a jester.
An african american girl with brown eyes laughed at that comment, as did a short, young, black haired indian girl.
The former was tall and fit, wearing a light orange fitness tank top, form fitting black leggings and neon orange tennis shoes with yellow laces. Her curly hair was tied into a ponytail with an orange scrunchie. In her hands, she held a buff, muscular plush that looked like a sterotypical jock, complete with twine headband.
The latter was short and scrawny. She wore a blood red hoodie, scarlet red sweatpants and black shoes. Her bangs were sideswept with a neon pink highlight, and had her hair in a sharp, somewhat messy bob cut. The young girl, who looked no more older than an 8th grader, was clutching a red fish plushie under her right shoulder.
"Oh, look, it's one of the winners! Hi!" The fit girl waved. "What's your name?"
"Iris...Iris Seer. Yours?"
"Oh, well, I'm Tiffany Strong, this is Jack Newton, and that's Heather Redd." She pointed to herself, the purple shirted guy, and the red hooded girl respectively. "Did you bring anyone else?"
"No, just me. You?"
"Just my nerd brother." Jack rolled his eyes as he pointed to a short, blond haired kid with a grey You Don't Know Jack sweatshirt, dark grey khakis and black dress shoes. He was holding a grey plush that resembled a stereotypical nerd.
"Well, I'm the plus one for him. Get this, his name is ISAAC NEWTON. What a dweeb."
"Quit with the insults already." Heather rolled her eyes, a look of disgust on her face. "Anyway, I brought my lab partner Ace Copper as my buddy because he pulled an all-nighter for me, and I owed him one." She pointed towards a young boy with light brown skin and coffee brown hair. He wore a Sherriff's outfit alongside a forest green coat and neon green beret, and he held a plush that resembled a fusion between a Saguaro cactus and a traditional western sheriff.
"Hey, I thought this was a costume party, what gives?!?" He yelled out to nobody in particular.
"As you can see, that's clearly going well for me." Heather rolled her eyes, only for Tiffany to squeal.
"Oh. Em. GEE! That's Nicky Starr over there! Beloved teenage heartthrob of. my. CHILDHOOD!" As she freaked out, a browned haired white kid, around college age, turned in confusion. Nicky wore a yellow sweater to match with a bow, which both had a daisy-like flower printed on it's center, in addition to a white skirt, black leggings, and yellow casual shoes. "He is the icon! The legend! THE MOMENT!"
"Oh! Uh...you mean, they're the icon, the legend, the moment." They fixed their messy pixie cut. "I...recently came out as nonbinary."
"...Shit, I am SO sorry." Tiffany stepped back in shock, to which they laughed.
"Hey, hey, no worries. Most people really only know me as that former male teenage nickelodeon star anyways." They glanced at their pastel yellow plushie before clutching it close to their chest. Said plush depicted a spikey haired dress-wearing person screaming, it's limbs like noodles and proportions warped. "...At least whoever made these prizes knows me."
"Yeah." Iris awkwardly laughed as two other people walked over towards the group. One of them had a light pink t-shirt with a print of a crossbones over a melting, bloody neon pink heart. Both the sleeves of the t-shirt and the shorts she wore were of a magenta color. She wore light pink and white stripped armsocks, matching with her tights, and she had black combat boots fitted with neon white and pink laces. Her long orange hair had hot pink dyed streaks, and she wore a magenta headband with a bow made of a wire to finish it off.
The other was much more subtle in terms of his fashion choice. He had a pink sweater, blue jeans, and brown dress shoes to match his strawberry blond hair, freckled face, and red glasses. He held a plushie of a heart with two faces on each half and twine tied in the middle.
"Oh, I see not everyone was here when I introduced myself." The male awkwardly chuckled as he glanced at Iris. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine, no worries. What are your names?" Iris tried her best to hide her reemerging nerves.
"Well, uh, my name's Icarus White, and this is my girlfriend Olivia Black. We're huge fans of murder and crime podcast stuff, but she's the one who won the contest to visit this historic hotel, so I figured I'd tag along as her plus one." Icarus awkwardly chuckled.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Iris Seer. Heh, did you ever think you were flying too close to the sun when you decided to date such a lovely beauty?" She tried to joke to lighten the mood, only for Olivia to give her a death glare.
"I've heard every variation of that same joke, Iris, and frankly, I'm tired of that." Icarus tried his best to hide his frustration. Iris took notice.
"Oh, sorry about that. You know, I probably should've saw this coming. Wonder if the Eye of All Seeing is busted or something." She glanced at her silver pendant, causing Olivia to become intrigued.
"Eye of All Seeing, you say? Are you some sort of psychic or something?"
"Never mind that." Iris checked her watch. "What time did they say the dinner thing was starting?"
"9 pm. What time is it now?" Ace asked.
"8:55. We'd better head there soon." Jack cleared his throat. "Isaac, buddy, let's go! Cmon! Keep your head on earth, not in the clouds, alright?"
"I'm coming, I'm coming, geez." Isaac rushed over to the group, panting all the while. Then the group walked over to the dining area, not noticing the doors creepily locking behind them...
***
"...Hmmm. Did the prize ticket we got in the mail ever say we're the only ones staying here?" Iris questioned as she ate a pork chop.
"Not to my knowledge." Tiffany swallowed. "Thought it was implied."
"Or maybe it's because a former kidcom star is on the premises." Jack suggested, an unamused growl in his voice.
"Nah, they can only clear out buildings with express written consent from me and my agent." Nicky drank some water as the lights dimmed. "And it's only really for music-"
"Shhh. The show's about to start." Heather shushed the group, while Ace tried to suppress a squee.
"Welcome, contest winners, to the newly reopened Murder Hotel!" Spotlights from nowhere shone onto a nearby stage, and with a burst of glittery black smoke, a white male with reddish brown hair, black thick rimmed glasses and a bellhop outfit appeared, microphone in hand.
"My name's Spencer Ham, and I'll be your tour guide for the evening! Thank you, thank you, really cool parlor trick, huh?" He acknowledged in his nerdy voice as applause rang out from the group. "As promised, here's a little bit of history of this fine establishment."
The candles lighting the area suddenly blew out, shrouding the area in darkness.
"Long...long ago, a family of criminals built this hotel to ensnare local traffic and vacationers visiting the local beaches." He spoke with creepy emphasis. "However, out of every 8 people who would check into the hotel, only 1 person would check out, their memory hazy of the stay, if not outright wiped. Rumors swirled of witches, or demons, or other mythical creatures running the hotel behind the scenes...but after 13 years of haunting, it was revealed that the owners, a husband and wife, had something to do with all the carnage. Before they could be investigated, however, the property was closed, and the owners vanished without a trace."
"Creepy. I love it." Olivia whispered to Iris, who couldn't help but hesitantly nod in agreement.
"Tonight, these doors reopen to you, our hallowed guests. And we have loads of fun in store, but a word of caution echoes throughout. Remember this, in the realm of the Quizkiller, nothing is what it seems." The lights faded back on. "Pretty scary, huh? Any questions?"
Iris raised her hand. "What's with the plushies? Do they have to do with any activities, or-"
"Oh...you'll find out why I gave you these presents soon enough." The bellhop laughed evilly to himself. "God, I love foreshadowing things."
He then noticed the kids confusedly starring at him.
"Uhhhh, disregard that. Moving on. Any other questions?"
"Yeah. Was this supposed to be a costume party?" Ace asked, only to stop with Heather giving him a death glare.
"Eh, if you feel comfy being buried in a sheriff costume, more power to ya." He glanced at his watch.
"Oh shit, it's 9:55 already, we are really running behind, huh. We have pajamas and stuff in your rooms, as well as complimentary hotel chocolates." Spencer quickly put up his mic. "I'd better prepare for tomorrow's activities. See you guys then!" With another puff of theatre smoke, he was gone.
"Huh?" Tiffany looked at a nearby clock. "9:55? But the show was only a minute long! Ripoff."
"Maybe he got confused?" Ace looked at his own watch. "Weird. Mine says 9:55 too."
"Either way, we should probably head to our rooms before the staff gets mad." Isaac suggested.
"Psh. Fine. Only because I don't wanna get kicked out of this stupid place." Jack rolled his eyes as the group pushed their chairs in, plushies still in hand.
***
Iris sighed as she put on the silk pajamas and brushed her hair, the moon shining in the window above her. She had gotten bad vibes from this place when she got the letter...but she tried to ignore it. After all, her psychic sense was still developing! And when did a magazine contest ever try to scam someone? Especially with one as well established as Fangoria.
But the strange way time progressed, the fact that her plushie looked exactly like her soul, the fact only 1 staff member seemed to exist at a time...something inside of her told her she should leave and never come back. But again, her sense was still developing, and she didn't have any visions of danger or anything. What did it know that she didn't?
"...At least the chocolates aren't weird." Iris sighed to herself as she popped one of them into her mouth...only for her vision to blur and her brain to get fuzzy. "Woah...uh...guess they...what the hell is in these truffles?!?"
She didn't get an answer as she passed out in the middle of the floor. The last thing she saw was her plush floating in the air, lying upwards and glowing a brilliant blue...