My name is Sarah, at the time this story takes place I was 18 years old. I had just finished high school and was taking up a part time job as a cleaner in a local hotel. I had been struggling to find a job but my friend recommended this place. I went for a small interview and a few days later they called me and told me I had the job.
I had very little money to my name so this job would be a perfect opportunity to build a reputation for myself, hopefully throughout the following weeks my coworkers and guests would realise I was dedicated to my job and hopefully someone might share the news.
My first shift was on a Monday. So I got up at 7 am and headed over to the hotel. I met another young man who had just started. He introduced himself as Sam, he was maybe six feet tall, brown hair, blue eyes and a well put together boy. He was only a few years older than me but he carried himself with such confidence.
We parted ways and I headed to the staff room to collect my supplies. I found my name tag, my mop and various other cleaning supplies. One of the other cleaners was taking care of the left side of the building so it was my job to clean the right. I headed down the halls and began cleaning the hallway.
Once I had vacuumed the halls, cleaned the windows and straightened up any paintings on the wall I began knocking on the doors, announcing myself as the cleaner. Some people didn’t answer their doors but mostly everyone did. I would enter their rooms, make the bed, collect any dirty bedding that had to be washed and just took care of any smaller things that might need cleaned.
As I was walking down the hall knocking on doors I felt a hand being pressed on my shoulder. I turned around and there was an elderly gentleman with his bags.
“Excuse me dear, I’m having a little trouble finding my room.. I believe it’s room 171. Can you please point me in the right direction?”
He looked like he was having trouble carrying his bags so I took them for him and led him to his room. We walked up a flight of stairs and as we walked through the double doors I was surprised to see how odd this hallway looked. The curtains were all closed, the floor was dirty, paintings fallen to the floor. It looked like a stampede of elephants ran through the hall making as big a mess as they could. I walked down the hallway and opened the door to room 171. The room was dark and similar to the hallway it was in a big mess.
“I’m so sorry sir, I can get all of this taken care of right away” I said with a frustrated tone.
He assured me everything was alright and he closed the door behind him. I continued my shift and did my best to clean the hallway. It was getting late so I headed back down to reception to hand my stuff in. As I walked up to the desk the entrance doors swung open and four paramedics rushed into the building.
They demanded to know where room 171 was and after the receptionist told them, they ran as fast as they could. I asked what was going on and she told me the man staying in that room unfortunately had a heart attack. 10 minutes later and the paramedics walked back slowly with their stretcher. The body had a white blanket wrapped over it.. unfortunately the man did not make it.
Sam came rushing in asking what had happened and after finding out he had this panicked look on his face. He offered to take me home and I agreed. On the trip back to my house he turned to me with a blank expression on his face.
“You know, Sarah, I’ve only been here a couple of weeks but rumours spread. Apparently when this hotel was built during the early 1900’s there was a man who would regularly book room 171. He had anger issues but on top of that he was always drunk. So, one night he supposedly brought back a date and he strangled her to death before taking his own life. For the next few years everyone would avoid that section of the building so eventually they closed it down. They only recently opened it up last year. I don’t think that man had a heart attack. I think someone, or something, did that to him”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. I’ve never been a huge believer in the paranormal or anything of the sort but there’s definitely some things that I can’t explain..
“Sam, you shouldn’t say things like that. That poor man died tonight. Whatever the cause. Its over with.”
He continued driving me home and I entered my house. i struggled to sleep that night. That man seemed so innocent. I kept replaying what Sam said to me but I eventually ruled that out as a possibility. The man was old, it was just a heart attack…
A few days later and I was back working, this time I was doing the night shift. Once again I gathered the supplies and I headed throughout the hotel. There wasn’t alot of work to do considering the day shift cleaners had only left a couple of hours ago. As I was dusting in one of the halls I kept hearing footsteps above me. They were getting heavier and heavier so I walked up to tell whoever it was to please quiet down considering it was late at night.
I walked up the stairs and I was confused as I saw no one there. It was that same dirty hall. I took a few steps down and turned the corner but there was still no one there. I heard a door opening from behind me but as I turned I noticed it was the door to room 171. The light was on, but no one was supposed to be staying in that room. I took a few steps towards the room and slowly entered. I didn’t get two feet into the room before I felt something grab my hair and pull at it. I yelped out in pain and spun around only to see there was no one there.
My back was now faced towards the room and as I turned back the light was now off. I closed the door and rushed back down to reception. I asked Emily, who was the receptionist to check the bookings and confirm no one was staying in that room. She confirmed and I spent the rest of the shift in the staff room wondering what I had just experienced. Sam entered and I jumped to my feet.
“Sam, I have a really strange question. Is there any chance you have access to any of the security footage?”
Apparently Sam was friends with one of the security guards and said he would be more than happy to show us the footage. We headed to the office and we searched the cameras. There I was dusting, and then walking up to the hallway, but the weird thing was instead of seeing the door swing open, I just rushed away. Some of the footage appeared to be missing.
I took Sam outside and explained what happened. Fortunately he believed my story and said he would help me prove what had happened. We set up our own cameras just outside the room. Nothing unusual happened until a week later. I checked the cameras as I did on the previous nights but this time around 3am the door slowly cracked open. From the position of the camera you can just see into the bathroom inside the room.
Shivers ran down my spine when I say it. In the reflection of the mirror, I could see a face. I couldn’t make out any distinct features but I knew there was a face. I called Sam to come through and he checked out the footage. He ran up to the room and when he went to open the door it was locked. He ran to get a spare key while I waited outside. When he returned however, the door was now unlocked. No one came by, there was no sound but now the door could be opened.
He rushed inside and searched the room but there was no one there. The face I had previously seen was no longer there either. Sam walked towards the door but it slammed shut. He started hitting at it yelling for me to open it, I tried to kick the door Down but nothing happened.
Sam’s cries for help soon died down. I called his name to no answer. The door slowly creaked open once more but Sam was nowhere to be seen. All that was in that room was his name tag. I called the police and Sam was reported missing. I took a few weeks off before returning to that place.
Throughout the next few days nothing strange happened. However one night there was a group of people who were having a part and booked out our dining area. In the group of people who were all dancing, I could have sworn I saw Sam. I pushed through the crowd but he wasn’t there. I decided to go back to that room one last time. I opened the door and made my way in. As I was searching around I felt a burning sensation run up my arm. I rolled up my sleeve and there was a claw mark, going straight up my arm. I ran out of that room, out of the building and as I looked up to the window I saw Sam. He was just standing there. The most unsettling part is there was a man standing behind him.
I ran as fast as I could and never looked back. I quit my job the following day and moved back in with my parents. Anything I could do to get away from that place. The last I heard, another guest reported strange behaviour and once again they abandoned the room. No one has stayed there for years as far as I’m aware.
Now to present day. I moved to a new city, away from my family and my friends and I became the manager of one of the highest rated hotels in the state. It was late at night and I was one of the only people in the hotel aside from security and one other receptionist. A hooded man burst through the doors. It had been raining so his clothes were completely soaked. He didn’t say a single word, he just walked up to the counter and placed down a box and left the building.
I opened up the box and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was Sam’s nametag…
That incident took place two weeks ago. Ever since then I’ve been having nightmares about that room. About Sam. That elderly man. Something is calling to me. Trying to lure me back in… whatever is in that room, its evil. I can’t let anyone else get hurt. I need to go back… I need to find answers…