You Can Never Leave...

It called to me from the two lane highway. It was hard to miss in the desolate landscape of the Nevada desert. It was the tallest structure as far as the eye could see, and I felt as if I was trapped in a lasso, being pulled into it's insidious grasp. I took a few deep breaths and tried to center myself as my car inched closer and closer to what many consider a portal to hell.

I called upon my spirit guides and asked them to protect me as I parked the car across the dirt road from the massive building. It was quite a sight to behold. Four stories tall, this hotel took up almost an entire city block. Although it was a sunny day in Goldfield, Nevada, everything felt inky black, the air was thick. My heart was pounding and my breathing had become shallow as I got out of the car and made my way across the street, to the front steps.

There was a large sign propped up on a chair. It read- "Contractors and laborers needed". This was no surprise to me, as I knew the reputation of this place. The current owner, who inherited it from his father, couldn't keep workers on the job because of what happens in the hotel. There are too many reports to count of people's experiences- banging, objects moving, or worse yet, being thrown, disembodied voices, sightings of shadow figures and apparitions, demonic growls caught on recorders.

And yet, here I stood, undeterred by the many warnings from fellow paranormal investigators. The energy coming off of this place was causing my head to ache, but I was determined to continue my quest. I peered through the glass of the front doors, where paper had peeled back, showing me the expanse of what was once the hotel lobby. No walls stood. Just concrete floors and joists. Even though the space was wide open, it did nothing to quiet the nagging thought that someone, or something, was watching me from inside.

Just for bragging rights, I decided to try the door, and as I put my hand on the brass doorknob, a zap of static electricity went through my fingers. "Youch!" I said out loud, as I took a step back. I figured the electricity had been discharged, so I went for a second attempt. I heard a click in the mechanism, and the doorknob actually turned. Suddenly, behind me, I heard a gravely voice say, "I wouldn't go in there if I were you. You might never come out."

I whipped around to find a disheveled man standing about five feet away from me. "Excuse me?" I said. "Ma'am, trust me. You do not want to go in there. Even if you do make it out, the things that inhabit this place will follow you home. They pull you back here, ya know."

I had questions. So many questions. But before I could mutter another word, the man said, "I've got to be going. And you should too." And he turned and walked away. He rounded the corner, and I started to follow him, but as I reached the intersection, he was nowhere to be seen. There was no way on God's green Earth that this guy had moved that quickly to make it out of my sight.

I stood there on the sidewalk scratching my head. I noticed an elderly woman standing outside the old mercantile across the street. She motioned for me to come over to her. I smiled nervously as I approached, but she greeted me warmly, "Hey there young lady! I ain't seen you around these parts before. What brings you to Goldfield?" I replied, "Just sightseeing. I am staying in Tonopah, and decided to take a drive out here. I have a question for ya. Did you see the man that I was talking to out front of the hotel?" I described the man to her and she said, "Well now, I didn't see you talking to anyone. But I have a feeling I know who you're talking about."

At this point, my head is really aching, and I am beginning to feel a little light headed. Before the old woman could continue, I sat on the bench outside the store and asked if she might have some water for me. She said, "Of course!" and headed inside, returning a moment later with a mason jar of lukewarm water. I took big gulps and she asked if I was doing okay. "Oh, yeah, I will be fine. Just a bit of a headache. I didn't mean to cut you off. Can you please tell me what you know about the man I was talking to?"

She sat down next to me, her leather like skin a testament to living in the desert. She said, "About six months or so ago, a man stood on that there corner right there and shot himself in the head. I was closing up the store when it happened. The bullet went through his head, and through the window right here!" She turned slightly and pointed to a bullet hole in the window behind us. She continued, "Now I knew that man was dead before he hit the ground. I called the sheriff, but I knew it was gonna take some time for him to get here, so I walked on over across the street. There was blood everywhere. But there was a note at his feet. Now I know I didn't have no business picking it up, but I did. I wish I hadn't."

She shook her head and looked visibly distraught. She carried on, "That note said that he had traveled all the way here from New York because the demons told him to. It said that he wanted to be one of them but knew he had to die to make that happen." And then she said, "The man you described was that man I saw bleeding all over that sidewalk. And from the sounds of it, those demons are tryin' to get their hooks into you, too. You look like a smart young lady, so I am going to tell you this, you should get in your car and get back on that highway and never look back. Forget this ever happened."

I handed her the mason jar and thanked her for her time. I made my way back to my car, and without any doubt, I know she believed that I saw the spirit of that man. Back at my hotel room, It took me until the wee hours of the morning to finally fall asleep, and when I did, I was plagued with nightmares about that building and the man who had driven cross country just to end his own life, taking direction from demons calling to him from that nefarious place.

I almost think the spirit of that man saved me from opening that door. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had actually stepped foot inside that place.

I would like to say that after I left Nevada, I did not have another dream about Goldfield, but every so often, I have terrible dreams, at least I think they're dreams, about a demon standing over my bed. Sometimes, the face of the demon is that of the man I met outside the hotel. but every time I have this dream, I am paralyzed in my bed and can't move. Sometimes, the demon tells me to return to Goldfield to join them.