My friends and I have decided to visit the hotel in our neighborhood. The reason that led us to this decision is simple: people say this hotel is haunted. My best friend told me that he knew somebody who had gone missing after visiting this hotel. I did not believe him. Turns out, I should have.

It’s 8 AM and I am standing in front of the famous “haunted hotel”. Thomas, one of the 3 friends who came with me, really wanted us to go in broad daylight, or else he wouldn’t come. Can’t believe he’s scared by those rumors!

I decide to open the door. On the other side of it, it’s so dark I can’t see a thing.

-Did anyone bring a flashlight?

-…

-Come on… Aren’t you the one who loves paranormal stuff, Ally? The number of flashlights and “ghost detectors” you probably…

-I couldn’t guess there wouldn’t be any windows!

She has a point. There aren’t any windows in this hotel… which is kind of scary, not going to lie… I take a step forward and start sinking in the darkness. I can’t see my friends anymore, but I hear them telling me to go back. I keep walking forward through this pitch-black room until I accidentally hit the wall…

I wake up in the same room, but with light this time. I look around me and see my friends and they seem to be looking for something. Jeremy is opening drawers while Ally is inspecting the bookshelves and Thomas is looking at a painting. My friends really look surprised to see me awake. They tell me that they came in this room looking for me, and that the door slammed behind them and was blocked from the other side. There’s also a locked door on the other side of the room.

“We are looking for a key to get out of here!” says Jeremy.

I laugh.

“Hey, look up!”

The key is glued to the ceiling. It’s the first thing I saw when I woke up.

The next room is pretty much the same as the first one. Empty closets, with some plants and old grapevines on the wall. There is another door, and there is a number on it: 002. The previous room was 001, surprisingly.

“This isn’t a normal hotel at all” mumbles Thomas.

Another door opened, another similar room. But this time, there’s a window. And then it hits me:

-Wait, wasn’t it sunny outside earlier?

-Yeah, I mean, I think… says Ally.

-Then why is it raining? And why does this place look way bigger from the outside than the inside?

We’re all frozen in place. There has got to be a logical explanation for this.

We keep progressing through rooms that look a bit stranger as we go on. On door 007, there’s a bed on the wall. Room 011 is full of air vents with paper clips in them. And at the 13th door the light flickers, and…

“What is that sound?!?” screams Thomas, terrified.

A distorted voice can be heard from behind. My instinct tells me to hide, but I still look behind me. A sort of smiling skull surrounded by smoke is standing there. His dark, black eyes make it even more horrifying. After a few seconds, it rushes towards us. I hop in a closet, praying for it to turn around. My friends are screaming, I can’t take this anymore. My eyes are closed. The sound is getting louder, until a shrill scream takes over my friends’ voices. The lights are breaking, the closet is shaking…

After around ten seconds, the sound is gone.

-H-hello…? Are you guys alright…?

-Yes, I’m fine… but what in the world was that? answers Ally.

Thomas is still in the closet. I can hear him repeating “no, no, no, no…” over and over again.

-Wait, where’s Jeremy? realizes Ally.

-JEREMY, NO!!!

I see why Thomas is panicking. On the ground, next to his closet, there’s a hand. A hand with no body. There is a sort of black liquid on it, but it does not look like blood whatsoever.

-This can’t be what I think it is… right?

Thomas explains what he saw. When the skull came, Jeremy tried to open the closet door. However, Thomas was so scared he kept the door shut. And when he realized that it was his friend Jeremy that wanted to get in, Thomas saw his friend’s hand turn black and fall to the ground.

Jeremy is dead. In front of all his friends’ eyes, Jeremy died. If we hadn’t entered this hotel, if Thomas had opened the door, if a skull hadn’t attacked us…

We need to get out of this place… and quickly.

After going through a few more rooms, we encounter another problem… The next room is dark, and the door is locked. There are no lights in the room, not even one. Luckily, with the amount of paper clips earlier, you can try to lock pick it.

-Look around while I’m picking the lock of the door…

-For what?

-I don’t know… Food? An exit?

Ally goes searching for something, but Thomas is too scared to go.

-Psst!

-Stop, let me focus…, I say.

-That wasn’t me! answers Thomas.

-Yeah, right. Who was it then? A gho- wait…

A floating head covered with black tentacles with big, humanoid teeth and glowing eyes bites Thomas’ head.

-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!

-I unlocked the door, get in!

The head goes back into the dark room and Ally runs away from it as fast as she can. Thomas’ head is leaking that same black liquid we had seen earlier. And his eyes… his eyes are white. That same glowing white that the screeching creature had earlier.

-A-are you okay, T-Thomas…? asks Ally.

-Psst!

-Ally, run!

We are running through rooms and more rooms, but we soon realize that Thomas… or whatever he became, can’t move his body.

-Thomas, do you hear me? mumbles Ally.

-I don’t think he’s the Thomas we knew before…

How can this be happening? I thought that this was just a random, underrated little hotel. What have I done?…

Door 050. Hope this is the last one.

A sign next to the door says “Figure’s Library”, and I hear loud footsteps behind this door. Still not knowing what it means, we open the door. A big creature that

has a mouth full of spikes instead of a face walks in a giant library.

-Is that a Demogorgon?!? says Ally out loud.

The monster turns his head towards Ally.

-…

We are both petrified, standing there like idiots in front of a deadly monster. It then turns its head back to where it was looking at before and continues walking. I whisper to Ally:

“It is blind, I don’t think it can see us… Do not make any sounds”

We slowly walk towards the door, trying to make as few sounds as possible. But Ally trips over something on the floor… I run as fast as I can to hide in the nearest closet. I hear screams, from the creature and from Ally.

I don’t want to come out of this closet, I want to stay here forever. Away from danger, free from the pain.

I notice that the “Figure” is getting closer to the closet where I’m hiding. But I am not making any sounds! The figure is getting closer and closer … what should I do?

My heartbeat! The monster can hear my heartbeat! It may be the stupidest thing in the world, but it might be dumb enough to just work. I hold my breath as long as possible. After about 30 seconds, the monster goes away. I then open the closet door and run to the next door I see. Ally is probably on the ground behind me, but I am not turning around. The Figure screams behind me and chases me to the door, but I quickly close the door behind me.

Grass. There’s grass. Finally, an exit. Fresh air. Finally. The sky is blue and it isn’t raining. I am finally out. But… still…

I escaped… but at what cost?

Eric Fortin

Inspired by the game called Doors

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