My family likes to travel, and when I say travel I don’t mean sunny tourist spots like Aruba or Florida. When we travel, we travel for real. We’ve white-water rafted in the Himalayas, tracked big game all over Africa, and even fished for Piranhas in the Amazon.
I am the youngest of 3, with two older sisters and happily married parents. Like most families, we fight for space in the car, argue constantly, and get lost wherever we go. I used to find them incredibly irritating but now, I would give anything for one more trip with my dad at the wheel and my sister pinching me because I sat on her sweatshirt.
Our last trip was our biggest one yet, a 3-week excursion to Uganda and Rwanda, filled with safaris, gorilla tracking, and plenty of hiking. The entire trip was planned for almost a year and stepping foot off the plane into Uganda felt surreal. The first half of our trip uncharacteristically went off without a hitch. We made all of our reservations in time, unleashed our inner Jane Goodall sitting with Gorillas and everyone was in high spirits when we started our drive to Rwanda. Halfway there and we received a call from our upcoming hotel, they had overbooked and we were being moved to a “brand new” lodge just up the road. Not a big deal we thought, as we crossed the border.
The lodge was not in fact “just up the road”, it took us well over 3 hours to find the road, and after much backtracking and yelling we finally reached it just as dusk was settling. We hadn’t seen another building for ages but there was still a gate with a shabby attendant waiting for us. He waved us in and we pulled up the long road to the lodge, I turned back to watch the attendant follow our car after closing the gate.
We reached the entrance to the lodge and who was there to greet us but the same attendant, strange because he had just been behind us on the road but I assumed he had taken a shortcut through the woods.
“Welcome to Agrandi safari lodge, I like your stay here to be comfortable”. We thanked him as he took our bags and led us inside the main lobby a shabby room with a front desk, a small door behind it, and a fireplace in the middle of the room. He hurried behind the counter and signed us in. “Have 2 rooms, one double and triple”. My dad chirped “Nothing like sharing a room for some sibling bonding!” I rolled my eyes as we followed the attendant to the room.
The room looked like it had been designed by the 70’s worst architect. The walls were covered in fake and cracked plaster rocks, a fireplace sat derelict in the corner and the bathroom was like something out of a colorblind kid’s coloring book. There was a tiny bathtub painted bright orange with a cracked mirror above it, a shower painted an unsettling shade of blue, a leaking toilet, and a sink that only dribbled out brownish water. As the attendant was showing us how to lock the door my sister opened the large shades to let a little light in, the view was nothing but the back of another building. The attendant hurried over to close the shades, “don’t want these open now, yes?”, we were confused but nodded our heads so he would leave the room as we were eager to lay down after the long drive. “Dinner 8:30, don’t be late,” he said with a wink as he closed our door.
“This room is shit for a supposedly brand-new hotel,” my sister said. I chucked a water bottle at her “stop complaining hoe, I my beauty sleep, wake me up for dinner” I said as I closed my eyes. The bed felt like laying on a pile of potatoes but I still fell asleep quickly.
I awoke to a pitch-dark room, fumbled for my phone, and checked the time. “8:45, fuck. Why did I think they would wake me up?” I heard the shower running in the bathroom jumped up and knocked on the door. “It’s 8:45, we’re late for dinner, why didn’t you wake me up!” No response. “Fuck her,” I thought and left the room to head to dinner. It was then I realized that I had no clue where “dinner” actually was.
I wandered around the lodge area and got a general understanding of the layout. Other than the main lobby there were three other buildings, two of them being the rooms my family was staying in and one I assumed to be where the workers slept. I wandered back to the main lobby to ask for help but it was empty, however, there was a door behind the desk ajar and I could hear quiet conversation behind it. I peeked through and saw a small dining room and most of my family eating at a table.
My stomach rumbled as I walked through the door, my family stopping their talk and looking at me as I sat down. “Why are you late?” my mom said with a frown. I shrugged “blame it on them they didn’t wake me up,” I said pointing at my sisters. “Wait wasn’t one of you in the shower?” They shrugged and said nothing. “Where’s dad?” I asked my mother. “Your father isn’t well, he won’t be coming to dinner” my dad has never been the healthiest so I wasn’t surprised.
I heard rustling behind me and saw the same man who opened the gate and checked us in wearing a ridiculously small chef’s hat. “Dinner no longer served, sorry”. I stood up “What the fuck? First off are you the only worker here and I’m only 15 minutes late. What is your kitchen on a fucking egg timer?!” I rarely raise my voice but I chop that outburst up to a mix of hunger and the shitty bed I slept in. The attendant was unmoved “Don’t worry you didn’t miss entertainment, children from orphanage come sing for you soon”.
This had happened before to us in Uganda, a bunch of kids come to sing and dance for donations. A fully uncomfortable experience where you sit with a fake smile on your face for 15 minutes and wait for the end so you can give them 20 bucks to split between 30 kids who don’t even have shoes. “Fuck this” I growled “I don’t want to hear a bunch of kids with no parents come sing and I feel like shit”, I pushed by the worker and headed back to my room as a sudden headache came over me.
Walking out of the lobby I noticed just how dark it was outside. There were no outdoor lights and the lobby was lit up only by a fire.I turned on my phone flashlight and returned to my room, feeling immensely tired, hungry, and a little embarrassed about dissing orphans. I groggily brushed my teeth and got into bed happy the bathroom was no longer making noises. Just as I was drifting asleep I heard kids’ voices and singing. My anger at the orphans was renewed as I fumbled in the dark for some earplugs and crashed back into my bed.
I don’t remember falling asleep, although who does to begin with but I awoke to the sound of singing. An earplug had fallen out, I checked my phone, 02:17, “alright fuck these orphans” I grumbled. I looked over to my older sister’s bed, she wasn’t there and a glance in the other direction confirmed my other sister was gone as well. I checked the bathroom, the lights wouldn’t turn on but I knew they weren’t in there. Considering we were getting up early for a hike in just a few hours I was beyond confused and decided to go back to the lobby to see what was going on. I groggily slipped on shoes and a shirt then ventured outside.
It was drizzling outside and I could hear the singing coming from the lobby. I hurried over and saw my mom and sisters sitting by the fire but no kids, my family didn’t even acknowledge my entering. It was then I noticed that the singing was coming from speakers by the desk and that my family all had this same glassy-eyed look on their faces. I coughed and none of them moved, then I yelled, then I grabbed my older sister. Nothing, I was getting a little worried now, I walked up to my mom and asked if she was okay. Nothing, I was tired of whatever joke they were playing and pushed my younger sister on the way as I headed back to my room, she toppled over like a bag of bricks. Concerned I tried to lift her back but I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. The attendant appeared to be sneaking up behind me with a rag in his hand.
“What did you do to my family” I demanded. He said nothing and smiled, I am 21 years old and stand at just over 6 ft, I try not to get scared at much but just one look at that smile and I was out the door running back to my room. I could hear steps behind me as I ran, and I slammed the door behind me and locked it.
Breathing heavily I noticed the light was on in the bathroom and heard the sound of the shower running. I grabbed the fire poker from the fireplace and walked over slowly pushing the door open. My dad was crumpled up on the floor of the shower, clothes still on and face down, a red stream flowing out of him and down the drain. I dropped the poker and rushed over, I grabbed his head to roll him over and that’s when I saw. His face was in tatters like he had been half eaten by an animal and he wasn’t breathing. I dry-heaved as my vision went blurry and then black.
I woke up on the bathroom floor, my dad’s body still in the shower next to me. I knew I needed to call the police but on account of being in Africa, I had no service on my phone. I had seen a phone in the lobby but was terrified of going back there. I slapped myself and told myself my family was in danger and they needed my help. Leaving the bathroom I saw light through the shades, my stomach dropped, I had passed out through the night I thought. I opened the shade and instead of sunlight, I was greeted by hundreds of what looked like flashlights shining into my room moving as if held by hundreds of hands. I ripped the shades closed and turned around. I was breathing heavily and staring at the wall to calm down. That’s when I saw, the cheap plaster rocks looked a lot like faces and they were dripping a dark liquid. I didn’t even need to look closer, I knew it was blood, this place was beyond fucked. All of the sudden the lights outside the window turned off.
I do not consider myself a brave person but at that moment a wave of calm realization came over me and I had two goals, get to that phone and fuck up anyone that gets in my way. I peeked out the front door and saw nothing but darkness, with the dim light from the fire in the lobby flickering in the distance. I swallowed the spit building in my mouth I made a mad dash for the lobby.
The lobby was silent other than the crackling fire, my family members were gone but the door to the dining area was ajar. I crept my way in and the room felt smaller than before, as if the walls had closed in, and indeed they had. The shapes of bodies were pushing out from the wall, faces pressed against the plaster as if it were a plastic bag suffocating their faces, my family’s faces. I ran up to the plaster knowing it takes hours to dry but it was harder than a rock. I grabbed a chair and slammed it against the encased body of my mother to no avail. I punch the wall until my hand was bloody and screamed for help. All of the sudden there was a thud behind me. I turned to see the attendant with a trowel in one hand and a dropped plaster bucket in the other.
“You fucking bastard” I whispered, he did nothing but stare at me. I felt like a character from a cartoon who gets so angry that steam comes out of his ears. I grabbed the closest thing to a weapon I could, a dinky fork, and charged him. He smiled and charged back leaning down his shoulder to make a football-like tackle. I sidestepped, stabbing him in the neck with the fork. He stumbled allowing me to land a swift kick on his ass and ran into the lobby looking for a new weapon. He followed me, “no running, time for you to help build” he sputtered out. I grabbed a piece of half-burnt wood from the fire and swung it in front of him. All he did was stare at the fire, saying nothing. I didn’t hesitate and clocked that fucker straight in the face with the burning end of the log. He slowly turned his gaze toward me but didn’t move. It was like he was looking through me, and he was.
I felt the heat on my back realizing that the chair behind me was on fire. “Shit, shit, shit” the fire was already spreading to the next chair over, there was no water around and my attempts to smother the growing flames were futile. The speakers sputtered back on with a garbled version of the kids singing and my head started throbbing harder than a gas station boner pill. My vision started blurring as I stumbled outside, crashing down onto the grass. I watched the attendant calmly arrange the front desk even as the fire began licking at his feet. The last image I remember was just a little smile on his face as his pants caught on fire.
I woke up to rain pattering on my face, sitting up I saw the burnt-up husk of the lobby in front of me. My head hurt like I was hungover and I coughed up a glob of black spit. I ran over to the rubble and started tearing through it, only stopping when I saw the burnt bodies of my family. I barely stayed upright but I was snapped back to reality when I realized the attendants body was not among the rubble.
I was overtaken by the feeling that I needed to leave that forsaken place and first needed my wallet and passport. I practically crawled back to my room, stumbling through the door. The room was almost peaceful, my sisters beds still made, the walls no longer looking like faces and were back the same fake rocks. I peeked into the bathroom, my dad’s body was gone, but there was still blood by the drain. I frantically searched for my passport and wallet to no avail. The urge to leave was overpowering at this point, I ran out of that room and down the road. The fence at the entrance was open and I bolted through, never looking back.
I still don’t know what to do. I can’t go to the police, I started that fire killing my family no matter the situation. I have no way to leave the country and I stand out like a sore thumb here. I’ve been getting by going to hotels and pretending to be a guest, stealing the bear necessities but that can only last so long. I wonder how things are back home, if my house has been sold and if people held a funeral for me and my family. I still have one hope, that maybe my father still lives and I can find him but I don’t know if I could ever face him again after what happened. Either way, at least I’m alive and not a part of that damn hotel.