“Welcome to Hotel Entropy, with death in all but seven rooms.”
Hotel Entropy?
What?
I felt like I was waking up from a three day long daydream. My muscles were sore and weak at the same time and my head was throbbing, a pain I had felt only once in my entire life – after an abundance of tequila shots.
But this couldn’t just be a horrendous hangover. I hadn’t even touched a single drop of alcohol in several months, starting the day I had found out I was pregnant.
You know those moments where something just feels off?
Well, this wasn’t like that at all. Everything felt off.
Here I was standing in a uniform I had never before worn, in a room I had never seen, within a hotel of which the name I had never heard. As if a whole chunk of time had simply vanished from my mind and even then I couldn’t make sense of it.
Because it simply didn’t make any fucking sense.
Even the hotel itself felt a bit surreal, as if it wasn’t from this time.
I glared at my watch, the only thing that felt familiar, and focused on the little hands ticking away.
11:03
With all mental strength I was trying to recall the last thing I did remember in certainty, but somehow I couldn’t pinpoint it. Was it the moment I went to bed? My seventh ramen noodle meal this week?
Gun to my head and I still wouldn’t be able to tell you.
“And here’s your key, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. You’re lucky, we’ve had no unfortunate incidents in this room. Theodore will help you with your luggage and show you the way.”
The elderly couple standing by the front desk thanked the man sporting a fancy blazer and wandered away, as a young lad quickly dragged their suitcases behind him.
“Laura, are you dreaming again?”
I froze.
He knew my name.
Blazer Guy made his way over to me, close enough for me to make out his name from his nametag and to catch the foul smell he carried with him.
Herman. Front Desk Manager.
I swallowed away a sour taste in my mouth.
“You look a little pale. Perhaps getting back to work will get some colour back in those cheeks,” he spoke in a way that made my stomach turn.
My instincts told me not to share my confusion with him, so I did my best to mutter a lie – though that was never my strong suit.
“I- I’m not feeling too well, actually. Perhaps I could go home?”
A kind smile graced his sharp facial features. And then it grew wider. And wider. And wider. Past anything natural.
“Home? What a silly thing to say. That sounds like a very stupid idea,” he put a slender, cold hand on my shoulder - causing a shiver to travel through my spine and then the rest of my body – and laughed. Uncomfortably loud.
And then all of the others in the hall joined. The receptionist, security, even some guests. Everyone letting out a cackle as if they had heard the joke of the year. Yet within a few mere seconds all of them stopped and continued on as if nothing had happened.
“Come on now, I know you can do better than this. Room 237 needs cleaning, off you go.”
I nodded and started making my way up the stairs, looking over my shoulder to see that horrifying smile just one more time.
Though I had no idea what was happening, one thing I knew for sure; I couldn’t simply walk out of here, wherever here was. I just needed to buy myself some time and figure out what the hell was going on.
Room 237 seemed like as good a place as any to start, and simultaneously keep myself covered.
Too many steps later I arrived on the right floor, seeing a hallway stretched out with at least a couple of dozen rooms. My focus was purely on catching my breath though. I bloody hate stairs.
“Oh dearie, you should’ve taken the elevator.”
An older woman appeared through one of the doors, a reddish mop in hand and wearing an outfit exactly like mine. Unlike the others downstairs, she seemed more human. Just a bit too chipper for my taste.
“We’re a bit too early, just got to wait a wee bit,” she said cheerfully as she beckoned me over and handed me an overused rag and bucket.
The name Aileen graced her uniform.
“Wait? Wait for what?“
Aileen furrowed her brow. “For it to be over, of course… Are you alright, Laura? You seem a bit off today.”
I couldn’t even respond before a bone chilling scream echoed through the hall, causing her to clap her hands together a single time in excitement.
“That’s our cue!”
My heart sank. Nothing good could come of this.
Still I dutifully followed as she opened the door that was graced by the number 237, in elegant golden letters. I wanted to take a proper mental note of where she put that key after she used it, but I couldn’t.
Of course I couldn’t.
The smell hit me in the face like a ton of bricks, the view even more so.
The walls were covered in thick, dark red splashes of what could only be blood. Confirmed by a sight revealed to me as Aileen took a step to the side, the elderly couple I had seen before – spread out over the bed in the shape of a gutted starfish.
It didn’t make any sense.
I had seen them a few minutes ago.
“This is lovely,” Aileen muttered, before getting distracted by a sound that I too had unmistakably heard. A gurgle. A raspy breath.
She shook her head in disapproval. “She’s a wee fighter that one,” she said, looking at the woman, “No worries, she’ll stop in a second. Her husband’s been gone for hours though. Typical men.”
This time I couldn’t stop the nausea, nor whatever was making it’s way back up my oesophagus.
A disgusting yellow substance that once was food, was lying splashed over the floor before me - and my shoes - in the blink of an eye.
“Oh honey, pregnancy is tough isn’t it? Why don’t you take a little break? I won’t tell Herman.” She winked happily.
And I took her offer, sort of. I stumbled out to the hallway and fell down against the wall, wrapping my arms around myself.
Only then did I discover my phone in my pocket.
All my contacts were gone though, not that it mattered. I’ve tried to call 911 several times, to no avail. Typing this out seems to be my only option.
I don’t know what’s going to happen, nor what to do.
What I do know is that I don’t have a lot of time to figure it out, as I’m certain I don’t want to be here when the hotel’s full.
And like an echo, Herman’s voice is right on cue to remind me of this.
“Welcome to Hotel Entropy, with Death in all but six rooms.”