#HauntedHotel Entry One - Lawrence Roberts
The Hotel Without Windows
The room was stifling hot. And very silent. The only sound was some liquid dripping down from the room. I heard it drop, roughly every 10 minutes. Another drop would fall.
The bus broke down just past the Niger bridge. We stood by the side of the road for close to an hour till that old mercedez benz stopped. The two men in the car said they would drive me to the town, but somewhere along the road their car ran out of petrol. That’s what they told me. Opposite where the car stopped was this hotel. Only 3 rooms. Two big room that the receptionist said were occupied, and this small room without any windows.
She was strange, that receptionist. She did not look me in the eyes the entire time she was talking to me.
The drops fell from the roof. But they seemed to be falling faster. Every 5 minutes now?
I woke up with a start. I think I had dozed off. The drops were falling every few seconds now. The room was pitch black, except for a tiny sliver of light from the keyhole.
Then the light disappeared and I jumped up in bed. As I did so, the dropping stopped. The place was horribly dark and completely and utterly silent.
I stood on the bed, my legs trembling. Looking around in the dark. This place was too dark. This place was too silent. It made me think of horrible things I did not want to think about.
That’s when the bed started to move.
And I heard the sound. That sound, that terrible sound. It was a sucking flop. Wet and loud, like a creature that did not have lips. It was at the foot of my bed.
I jumped off the bed in one huge jump and ran to the door. I turned the handle, completely expecting it to be locked and pulled with a bit too much force. The door flew open as I fell over backwards on the floor.
Outside the door, illuminated by the full moon, and at eye level were hundreds of dog sized animals. But they sat on their hind legs and had huge eyes. Tea cup sized eyes. All of them looking at me. Their mouths all had the same small smile. Peeking from their lips were tiny fangs.
The one at the front jumped forward, fangs bared, towards me. The other jumped forward also. And from behind me a wet flopping sound, and into the door she crashed. The smell of the river and vegetation, and from her mouth a low scream: “Do not touch him!â€
The animals left me and attacked her. She dashed moved a few steps before their fangs started ripping through her flesh. She turned to me, an age old sadness in her face, her fish-like body glistening.
She said slowly as the animals swarmed her and bit: “Close the door. I am sacrificing myself so you can fulfil your destiny. You are so important to us…â€
One of the creatures turned towards me with those big blank eyes and I slammed the door shut.
I did not sleep that night, and early in the morning, slowly opened my door. There was no sign of anything outside there. I did not expect there to be.
—
The receptionist looked up when I walked up. She stared at me like she did not expect to see me again. I noticed her eyes for the first time. They were almost white, with a small gray dot in the middle.
I left that place.
—
It has been 73 years since that day. I am on my deathbed. I hear the rattle in my chest. My doctor thinks this will be my last day, I can see it in his eyes.
I don’t want to die. Because I never did it. I never fulfilled that destiny she told me about so many years ago. I lived a normal life. I worked, I loved, I had children. Every day I expected some dramatic event where I would be the great hero.
It never came. Or maybe I never looked for it. I don’t know. But I’m afraid of dying. I’m afraid that she is waiting for me - she sacrificed herself so I could be a hero, and I ended up just being a normal guy. I saw the sadness in her eyes as she died, and I wonder so much how what those eyes will say when I see them again.
- Written by Lawrence Roberts.