Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Hotel/Motel (09/12/05)
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TITLE: The Mysterious Visitor | Previous Challenge Entry
By Aubrey Hall
09/19/05 -
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It was only four o'clock in the afternoon when I pulled up to the hotel, but it seemed like midnight. The sky was black,accept for the occasional lightning bolt that lit up the whole sky like the fourth of July. The hotel was a blur through the pouring rain as I pulled into the parking lot. Oddly enough, there were no lights in the parking, lot nor above the balconies. Only a faint light showed through the tightly drawn curtains in the hotel's lobby.
Everything seemed wrong. My gas tank was empty, but the only gas station I could see in this blink-of-an-eye town was closed. The nearest town on the map was a 100 miles away. I had no choice but to wait out this storm till the morning. Lacking an umbrella, I pulled my overcoat over my head. The water rose past my ankles as I stepped out of the car. My breath came in short gasps as the chilly waters swirled around me.
The lobby door was locked, so I ran to the side of the hotel and began trying all the doorknobs of the rooms, but they were locked. The wind was picking up speed, pushing me further down the dark corridor to the stair well. The rain pelted my skin, leaving my face feeling numb. I staggered up the stairway, hanging on to the slick, metal rail. When I reached the top, there was a door swinging open back and forth in front of me. I grabbed the door, peering inside.
"Hello!" I yelled,but the wind and rain seemed to carry my voice away with them.
I felt for the light switch, and slowly a light bulb flickered on, buzzing loudly. The room was in complete disorder. The sheets barely hanging on to the mattress and the blanket on the floor. The nightstands lay on their sides, and the doors to the armoire hung precariously from their hinges. The drapes were either green or brown, I couldn't tell, they were mildewed so badly.
I was eerily aware of the strong wind blowing on my back,as I reached into my suitcase for some dry clothes. I turned to notice a gaping hole in the window, and the broken lamp that lay underneath. Instantly, I was overcome with a keen sense of recollection. The broken window, the rain, the wet clothes were very familiar. I shrugged, just deja vu. Still, the familiarity was disturbing. Somehow, I had the feeling I come here before, perhaps more than once. Why had I come here? What was bringing me to this horrid hotel?
I must have lost something. I began searching frantically around the room, running from nightstand to dresser, pulling out drawers and opening cabinets. There was nothing. I sank to the bed with my head in my hands.
Looking up, I saw the closet door standing ajar. I did not remember seeing the closet shelf, nor searching it. I slid my hand across the top and a newspaper fluttered to the floor. As I bent to pick it up, a picture of a couple stared up at me. My body began to shake and sway unsteadily, as I read the bold headlines of the paper. "Honeymooners Die in Hotel Fire". I staggered backwards, falling into the bed.
The article was dated September 2004, the year my bride and I married. Choking sobs racked my body, as I held the picture of my beautiful bride. I pushed the picture to my trembling lips.
At last, I began violently shredding the newspaper article to pieces.
"NO, NO, NO," I moaned.
I had not saved my beautiful bride! How could this be? I stumbled blindly about the room, the tears bluring my vision. Where is she? Where was my beautiful bride?
I lost my balance falling across the bathroom floor. I grabbed the edge of the counter, pulling myself up to the sink and retching into it. My head came up and I stared into the mirror. I saw only the reflection of the bed with the picture above it. My body moved and my hands reached out to touch the mirror, still the reflection remained the same.
Horror filled my soul with realization. I did not exist. My bride has gone without me. I am all alone.
Then I heard it. The dreaded words of the Master as he said to me,
"I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Matthew 7:23 KJV
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