Chapter Text
The hotel takes its shape as a contemporary building tonight, one that towers over every other structure near it. Its concrete walls are lined with abstract art and sculptures that would make your head spin if you stared for too long. The lobby is dressed in the same grayscale colors, with the front desk sitting dead in the middle. The guest book is laying on its surface, waiting to be filled. Outside, the sound of rain can be heard as the doors slowly open.
A stern-faced woman walks into the lobby, her boots leaving wet tracks on the carpet. Her soaked coat drips as she approaches the front desk. “I’d like a standard suite, please.” The woman says in a monotone voice, “And for someone to take my bags up to my room.”
The man at the desk looks over his reading glasses to see her, glancing at her luggage. “Of course, Ma’am.” He says, pushing the guest book towards her.
As she signs, he leans over and rings a bell to his side. Seemingly from nowhere, a shorter woman comes and rolls her bags to the elevator, grinning the whole time. She puts the pen down, and the man delicately closes the book with a soft thud. “The Bellhop will take you to your room.” He smiles, and hands her the key, “Please, enjoy your stay.”
“Thank you.” are the last words said to the concierge as the woman follows behind.
***
The elevator hums and vibrates, rising up floor by floor. It moves slower than normal, letting the two inside have a moment of silence. The woman looks ahead at the elevator doors, staring at the blurry reflection. Her red lips are pursed tightly, still shivering from the rain. Beside her, the bellhop in gray bounces in anticipation. Chuckling to herself, she takes the time to observe the woman in her heavy boots and coat. The bellhop takes note of her shivering, “You’ll feel much better once you get to your suite, I assure you.”
The woman looks down at her, hardly turning her head, and nods. With a huff of disappointment, the bellhop grabs hold of the luggage tighter as the elevator dings.
The bellhop speeds ahead as soon as the doors open, footsteps hardly making any noise against the floor. The woman fiddles with the key in her pocket, stepping into the long hallway. She takes the key out and reads the label, “Room 324” written on it in smudged black ink. Looking up again, she sees the bellhop by the door to her suite. The bellhop moves out of the way as she comes closer, grinning as the door opens with a click.
The suite is just as colorless as the rest of the hotel, fit with the same abstract patterns and art. The woman continues into the room, looking around. It’s clean and formal, which she appreciates. The bellhop rolls her bags to bed, then gives her a polite nod. She tips, and the bellhop leaves, clicking her shoes together in a joyful tune as she goes. Once the door closes, she sighs and relaxes her shoulders, sitting on the bed with a soft thud. She turns to look out the window, seeing the rooftops of dozens and dozens of buildings nearby. It all looked so minuscule in comparison from her suite.
The woman’s attention is drawn away by an odd chirping in the distance. She sits still and listens, not making a sound. The noise continues, somewhere deep in the corners of the room, accompanied by the sound of scuttling. She gets up slowly, approaching the spot where the chittering is loudest. It stops abruptly the moment she reaches the closet of her suite, the room now filled with a deathly silence. The woman kneels down to look under, blonde hair sprawling out onto the floor as she puts her head to the ground.
Underneath the closet is a fat cockroach, antenna twitching wildly. The woman’s face twists in disgust at the sight. The bug begins to stir, crawling quickly towards her. She leaps up as the roach moves across the floor in a panicked manner. She gets up from the floor, brushing off her pants. Before the critter could escape to another part of the room, the woman raises her heel and crushes the roach with a sickening splat. Her disgust soon turns to frustration upon realizing that she’s not only dirtied her suite, but her nice new heels as well. She groans, she’d have to tell the hotel about their roach problem sooner or later.
Just as soon as she’d heard the first roach, she began to hear more. The chittering of bugs turned from a couple of muffled chirps, into an orchestra of seemingly dozens of bugs. The sound is quickly followed by the sound of rats, mice, and all other sorts of vermin. She stumbles back and whips her head from side to side, the sound coming from every direction. Suddenly, a mass of rodents and insects begin to pour out from all parts of the room. From the doors, the cabinets, even from under the floorboards, filling the room like a pool. The woman screams in terror as she feels nibbling and biting at her feet, toppling her over onto the floor. The creatures begin to surround her, covering her, continuously tearing at her flesh and skin. She shrieks, attempting to claw her way out of the mass to no avail, and before long, there is no empty space to claw to.
In the hallway, the bellhop has her ear pressed against the door. She giggles in excitement as the screams are completely overcome by the sounds of pests. Despite how much she enjoys listening, she restrains herself, and hops her way back to the elevator. She needs to be ready, a new guest is arriving soon.