Last summer I went to the Croatian beach for a vacation. I was looking for a hotel to stay online, but it’s a busy place at that time of the year, so most hotels were full. Luckily, I found a really cheap one which wasn’t full, so I chose that one.
When I arrived, I rented a room for one week. The receptionist was an old guy with a white beard. He was nice and even told me his name, which was Zvonimir. He gave me a key to a room on the first floor.
It was already evening, so I just wanted to sleep. I went up to the first floor and opened the door. My first impression wasn’t that great, but for a room that cheap, I should’ve expected this. The room was small; it only had a bedroom with an uncomfortable-looking bed, and a bathroom.
I didn’t even care at that point, just dropped my bag on a chair, then laid down on the bed. I laid on my back and immediately noticed a big hole in the ceiling right above my head. It was big enough so I could’ve fit through it. I could see the floor above me.
It was really bothering me. I didn’t notice any noise from that room, so I hoped nobody was there, or they could watch me sleep. I just couldn’t fall asleep and kept watching that hole.
I considered moving my bed to the other side of the room, so I don’t have to sleep under the hole. Then I suddenly heard some noises from above. Great, somebody was up there, I thought. I decided that I’ll find Zvonimir and ask him to give me another room. I walked down to the reception. Luckily, Zvonimir was still here, reading some books.
“Hey, sorry for bothering you this late at night,” I said.
“No problem, I’m happy to help,” smiled Zvonimir. “What can I do for you?”
“There is a big hole above my bed. It’s kinda bothering me because I heard that somebody is in the room on the second floor, and I’m not comfortable with the thought that somebody may watch me sleep. Can I please get another room?”
“Oh, I forgot to fix that! The guy above you complained about it too! Sorry for that, but all of our rooms are full.”
I was surprised because there were a lot of keys behind him, and all of them had a number of a room on them. Anyway, I was really disappointed by that. That meant I had to sleep under a hole for a whole week.
“So there is no solution right now?” I asked just in case.
“No, there’s not. I’m sorry about that. But don’t worry, that guy on the second floor is not the type to stalk you during your sleep, and he’s gone most of the day.”
I went back to my room and tried to sleep again. Eventually, I fell asleep and woke up in the morning. I was tired but still went to the beach.
When I came back to the hotel, it was around 6 o’clock. The sound of my keys echoed in the corridor as I was opening my door. That was when I realized that the hotel seemed empty. Zvonimir said it was full, but I haven’t seen anybody other than him since I arrived. It was strange.
I just stood in front of my door for a few minutes. I haven’t heard anything since I was at the hotel, except the noises from the room above me. Then I had an idea. I decided to knock on some doors to see if someone will open them. There was a door right next to mine, so I went there and knocked on it. Nobody answered. I knocked again, and still no answer. I started listening, hoping that I could at least catch some noises from inside, but I heard only silence. I tried this with a few more doors and got the same result. I felt really uncomfortable. What is going on in this hotel, I asked myself. Is there anyone else in the hotel, or just me and Zvonimir? I started to think that I didn’t even hear someone from the room above me. Or maybe I was just crazy?
I went back to my room and just stared at the hole above my bed. This time I didn’t hear anything from the second floor, so I just had lunch, then had a shower. After that, I went to sleep.
I woke up around midnight because I heard some noises. As I slowly opened my eyes, I froze. There was someone in that hole in the ceiling. I still have nightmares from this. It was a guy, and he was just smiling and staring at me with his eyes wide open. After a few seconds, which felt like an eternity, I screamed and jumped out of my bed. I quickly grabbed my keys, then ran out of the room, straight to the reception. Zvonimir was there and looked at me surprised.
“You look like you saw a ghost,” he said.
“Oh god, maybe I just did!” I responded. “Someone was watching me sleep. He had a big smile, he looked so scary, damn!”
“Are you sure that it wasn’t a nightmare? Or maybe you just had sleep paralysis.”
“It was real, I know what I saw!” I argued. He just looked at me like I was crazy. He didn’t believe me.
“Well, I guess I can take a look at the second floor.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, just wait for me here,” Zvonimir said, he then went up to the second floor. I tried to calm down, but I was still shocked. After a few minutes, Zvonimir came back.
“The guy was sleeping,” he said. “I just woke him up. There wasn’t anyone else there. You were probably just dreaming, son, don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you, I guess.”
I was angry, but there was nothing else I could do. I went up to my room, but it took a few minutes before I could calm myself enough to open the door and go inside. I slowly walked back to my bed and looked up at the hole. There was nothing there, but I just couldn’t sleep anymore. I took another shower, then I read a book. As soon as the beach opened, I left the hotel and didn’t come back until night. I spent all day at the beach and ate at a restaurant.
When I arrived back at the hotel, I once again started knocking on some doors to see if anybody else was there, but no answer. Then I decided to go to the second floor, and visit the guy who stays in the room above me. I went up the stairs and quickly found his room. I knocked on the door. I got no answer, but I heard some noises from inside.
I peeked through the keyhole, and I saw a man crawling on the ground, smiling like a madman, sometimes even laughing. It was terrifying. A crazy man like this lived there since I was at the hotel? He was probably the one that I saw in the hole. I had no idea what to do, and what the hell was going on in this hotel. Zvonimir probably knew about this already. He lied to me.
I went back to my room, but my legs were shaking. I wasn’t safe there, I knew. While I drank my hot coffee, I tried to look for some other hotels online, but haven’t found any. I suddenly heard some noise from the hole. I looked there, and then I saw that crazy man jumping down through the hole in the ceiling. I froze.
The guy was still smiling, like some kind of maniac. Then he just ran towards me on all fours, like some dog. He jumped at me and punched me in the face. I quickly grabbed the object that was closest to me, which was my cup of hot coffee. I backed away from him, then threw the cup at him. I hit him in the face. The cup shattered into pieces, while the hot coffee in it burned his face. He screamed. It was the most terrifying scream I’ve ever heard in my life. I ran out of my room and closed the door behind me. I heard him hitting the door and screaming, and sometimes laughing. I almost fainted. I had no idea what to do, it was near midnight, there was nowhere to go, and Zvonimir wasn’t going to help.
“Hey, what’s that noise? What are you doing?” Zvonimir shouted as he walked up the stairs. When I saw him, I screamed at him.
“Who is that guy inside?” I pointed at my door. “He wanted to kill me! What is going on here?”
“What are you talking about?” Zvonimir asked calmly but confused. “Who wanted to kill you?”
I noticed that the noises inside stopped when Zvonimir arrived. What the hell, I thought, are they playing some kind of joke with me?
“The guy jumped down from the hole and tried to kill me!” I shouted.
“What guy? Man, you should take a rest, nobody is trying to kill you.”
I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Somebody was trying to kill me, how could he be so calm? I was sure that he knew that crazy man, and was trying to protect him.
“And by the way, why is nobody staying in this hotel, except you, me, and the crazy guy?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” he raised his eyebrows. “The hotel is full. I came up here because someone was complaining that you were too loud.”
Was Zvonimir really believing that? He thought that I was stupid. What a crazy guy, I thought. Then he started to slowly walk towards me. I didn’t hesitate and pushed him aside, then ran down the stairs and out of the hotel. Luckily, I found a plane back home the next day. I spent the night in a park, then went home the next day. What a crazy week it was…