The Hotel

The Hotel

         It was decaying.  The shutters appeared to be hanging by a thread, windows were cracked and broken and the stone walk way was destroyed.  There were three of us, and we had no where to go.  Our car had broken down miles away and we had no choice but to walk and hope for finding a telephone.  After nearly four hours of walking we passed a sign that said, “Hotel 1 mile.”  And here we were, standing in front of this dump.  I looked to my left to see Tony’s reaction but he only shrugged looking back at me.  You could always count on him for support when you needed it.  I looked to my right and my sister, whose face was normally bright and rosy, seemed pale and placid.  A broken sign hung from the balcony that appeared horribly weather worn.  Its gold trim and green letters were nothing but faded memories now.  Graffiti covered part of the sign distorting its once inviting title.  Yet, we could still read it, “The no Hope Hotel.”  If the buildings exterior didn’t remind me of every horror movie I had ever seen, the creaking of the wooden floor boards and swinging of the shudders sent chills down my spine.  Still, there was no where else to go.  Our cell phones had no signal and neither of us could imagine how much farther the town would be. 
         “Well, we’re waiting for you to lead the way, ‘oh fearless leader!’”  Tony chimed in.  Tony and I have been friends for a very long time.  We had always known what was best for one another but he always said the wrong thing at the wrong time.  Tony was a fairly large guy subtleties.  He wrestled and played football as a kid, and while that may have been years ago, his larger build never seemed to fade.
         “Gee, you sure are a lot of help Tony…”  I looked up at the door and looked at my feet again.  My stomach was doing an infinite amount of loops and I could feel a cold sweat trailing down my spine.  I looked to my right to see my sister, Laura, look back at me with an expression of utter fear in her eyes.  Laura was my twin sister.  Even as brother and sister we both looked like an exact copy of the other.  We shared a lot of things growing up, but she never shared my lust for excitement.  She inched closer to me and took hold of my sleeve.
         “Leslie, can we please just keep walking?  It will be daytime soon and it can’t be that much farther to the nearest town.”  The pleading in her voice almost made me want to turn tail now and run for the hills, but I had to at least check for a phone.  If we went that much farther to the nearest town and there was a working phone here the entire time I wouldn’t be able to stop kicking myself.  So, I mustered all the courage I could find and took the first step to the front door.  The tug on my sleeve was stronger now, as my sister attempted to hold me back.
         “It will only take a second sis; we have to at least look.”
         “Damn and I thought we were going to be able to have a trip for once where we would be able to avoid the chance for heart attack inducing exploration.”  Tony said.  It was true that we did have a terrible knack for getting into trouble in the worst situations.  We even nicknamed ourselves “Murphy’s bitches” after Murphy’s Law.  Childish I know, but the three of us have the worst luck.
         I began my approach to the front door and I could hear Tony’s footsteps behind me and I felt a small sense of security built.  It’s not that I wasn’t able to look after myself, quite the contrary.  Years of martial arts practice and a few school yard fights have taught me how to defend myself.  It’s just reassuring to know when someone big is beside you; hopefully it will detract those from wanting to start anything...hopefully…
         I continued forward, my feet clapping on the broken stone as I made my way up the steps.  I could feel the wood beginning to bend underneath my feet and I was silently praying I wouldn’t fall through.  As I stopped on the landing, I heard it.  A low growling was coming to my right.  My heart must have skipped a beat because my chest was suddenly heavy and hard.
         “Les-Leslie!” I heard my sister shout.
         I looked to my right and at the very far end of the wooden patio that stretched the length of the front of the hotel was a black dog.  No, it was too big to be a dog, it was a wolf.  Its eyes were a sickening yellow and I could hear the low growling even louder now.  I could see out of the corner of my eye, Tony and my sister were frozen in their spot.  The wolf bared its fangs and let out a sharp bark as drool flew from its mouth.  I fought the attempt to throw up as I opened the corner of my mouth to speak to my friends, “On the count of three we run through the doors.”  I heard no protest from either of them.  “One.  Two.  Three!”  The three of us made a mad scramble for the door and I reached out to grab the door knob.  As I touched it a feeling of warmth spread throughout my body but the sight of the large wolf barreling down on us pushed the sensation from my mind.  I threw the door open and the three of us spilled into the entryway and I quickly slammed the door behind us.  For a few seconds I thought I could hear scratching on the door behind us followed by a long hollow.  My eyes seemed fixated on the back of the door and I was finally brought back to reality when Tony grabbed my shoulder to turn me around.
         “Leslie, where are we?”  He asked, with a sense of panic in his voice.  I did not understand what he meant until I turned around and was able to look at what was before us.  My expectations for a cobweb filled lobby with no lighting, broken appliances, and the stench of mold were all wrong.  As I looked around, everything was perfect.  The lights above us covered us in a golden glow.  The front desk was still perfectly constructed, tables, chairs, everything looked brand new.  As I turned to my right, people were busying themselves, carrying luggage up the stairs, and children running around.  To my left I saw a beautiful grand piano, so shiny I could make out the distorted reflection of myself, and in front of us stood a beautiful woman.  Her hair was put up, and she wore an elegant but attention getting dress.  A simple golden name tag read, “Natasha.”
         “Welcome to the Hope Hotel.” She said, her voice not airy or high pitched but simple and strangely warming.