HOTEL CALIFORNIA

The year was 1989, and I had just left home from a boring small town in Montana.
Well, not so much left as ran away.
I am still a teenager.
Sixteen to be exact, but I was close to turning Seventeen.
However, I just didn’t quite make it there, and that was about… 30 years ago give or take.

Some how with only the clothes on my back, and 100 bucks in my pocket I made it to what people like to call Tinsel Town.
I stepped off a bus in L.A. like one in the morning, and right away I heard this music.
There was an angelic guitar strum that enticed me, and I followed it all the way up.

At the top of the hill behind the Hollywood sign was a tall dark macabre palace.
In giant letters a sign illuminated HOTEL in a deep dark red light, and there was a man on the roof playing a guitar amorously.
People were outside swaying, and dancing.
Drinking glasses of wine, and hypnotized on drugs.
I was amazed not having ever seen such a thing.

The man on the roof had an alluring aura, and he stared at me with what seemed like daggers in his eyes, and gestured me to enter his hotel with his hand.

I anxiously walked through the Hotel doors.
It was big, and beautiful inside.
There were black chandeliers in every room.
White shiny tile, and red shag carpet covered the floors.

The man glided over to me, and introduced himself as Marius the Hotel owner.
I told him my name, and he proceeded to give me the grand tour.
There was a casino where people dressed like they were from the thirties.
There were all kinds of intimate activities going on through out the hallways, and every other room was vacant with someone passed out with a needle in their arm.

We reached a room with a metal door that had weird inscriptions imprinted on the door in another language.
He was very keen on no one allowed in until dinner was served.

After the tour I followed Marius to the front check in counter.
He goes behind the desk, and dings the bell.
“There is one room left, and it is yours for one small price…. your soul”.
Marius began to laugh, and I laughed nervously with him.
“We will settle at check out” he admitted cagey.
“Here is your key sir” he said.
I warily took the key out of his hand, and went to room 237 to settle in.
I jumped on the bed, and looked up at a mirror on the ceiling.

A knock on the door broke my concentration, and a very beautiful Jezebel wearing a white lingerie corset entered my room with some pink champagne.
She poured two glasses, and sat at the edge of my bed.
“Marius wanted me to help you settle in before the big feast” she seductively told me.
She handed me the glass, and we both sipped the champagne before we made good use of that bed.

I fell asleep, but shortly woken up by a loud bell.
I got dressed making my way to the dining room.
The metal door was now open, and there was a long wooden table set up with black candles, and red placements.
Some of the guests, and I sat around the table anticipating a tremendous meal.
Marius walks into the room holding a white napkin around his arm like a servant, and his helpers closed the doors. One impatient guest lifts up the cover noticing that his plate was empty.
“Where’s the food” he shouted.
Marius had an insidious laugh.
“You are the food” he answered with a devilish tone.
The guests looked around confused, and suddenly Marius, and his helpers face change. They’re eyes glowed red and they grew fangs.
In a split second I watched as they attacked everyone.
Ripping they’re heads off, and sucking they’re necks.
Blood was everywhere. I was last.
I just remember Marius staring at me amused, and then darkness.

I woke up in a coffin in the dungeon of the Hotel.
I walked upstairs, and was greeted with a kiss from Jezebel.
“Marius is expecting you at the check out counter”.
I nod, and on my way there I grab a pool stick from the game room.
From what I know about vampires. I must stick him through the heart.
I sneak up on him.
I raised the stick.
And before I had a chance to strike him Marius spoke.
“You can’t kill me.”
He turned facing me.
“I mean you can, but than you would die too. I made you.”
I put down the pool stick.
“I told you the price of checking in was your soul”.
I was so mad I stared at him with such hatred.
“I mean you can check out if you like but you can never leave” he mocked.

I had to wait for damn near dusk to go outside, but I put on my best threads, and stood on top of the roof with Marius. We see a typical Californian guy driving really fast through the hills in a topless red convertible.
Marius starts strumming the first chords, and I follow singing some lyrics.
“On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair”.
You can see the notes flowing through the night sky as they electrify the mans ears.
Enchanted by our music he turned down our drive way.

Marius, and I met him at the check in counter.
“Welcome to Hotel California” he announced.
I shook my head in misfortune.
“What a sucker”!
Marius showed him the tour just like he showed me, and just like that it happened all over again.
As much as I despise luring innocent humans I must feed to survive, and that was my story.
My chronicle into becoming:
Luther Cel Tradat.
Oh, there goes the mission bell.
It is time for the feast.