Behind Door Number 12

Part 9: Live to doubt another day

I slowly got back to my feet and had another look at the gawker from the second-floor window.

It was a creepy, paper-maché, life-size model of a patron saint. Couldn't remember which...Christopher or Michael. Jane had made it with the boss's twins the year before. It had been a big arts & crafts project. Now, in the dark, it just looked like an actual person.

I told myself, "everything's normal" and I stayed put on my big bed. And after about an hour, I got up and went for a walk down my hall.

Walking very gingerly, of course, all the way to the fire-door with my lit phone and weapons. My aim was to make a dash for the landline downstairs. But, just as I'm about to take my first step down... I change my mind. I'm going to explore the top floor.'

I exchange a crazed look with Siska.

'I know. Why the hell would I explore the source point of that creepy laughter, of that thumping and...oh, the paper-maché peeping Tom? But I had to check it out. I climbed three steps at a time and gave the fire door on the second-floor a big shove.

The door was completely rigid, so I waved my lit phone over it—there were planks of wood barring the door. The whole floor was condemned.

I fly back to my new room, bolt the door and lie down in bed, shuddering under the covers.

My alarm went off somewhere in my bag around 7:15 am. I jolted to my feet, quickly tidied up, and ran back to room 12. The broken glass was piled up on the bedside mat, the bed was stripped down to the mattress and angled 90 degrees relative to the bed, and the curtains were knotted to my pants...but aside from that, everything was normal.'

Siska suddenly looked worried.

'It doesn't end there,' I said, reading her mind. 'While I was mentally preparing for what Jane and my boss would do if they knew the mess I made, I formulated a few questions of my own. I skipped breakfast and went straight up to reception, found Jane, and mentioned the broken picture pane in my room. I explained how there was a tremor sometime before 2 am and how it had dislodged the frame from the wall and created all that broken glass.

'So how did she take the news?' urged Siska.

'Well...Jane remained silent until I was done, giving me this "humm" look. I wanted to see how she would react if I mentioned something else, so finally, I told her: "Hey—I heard something rustling in the night."

Siska quickly covered her mouth but couldn't resist. 'Rustling! Like that's all it was!'

'Ha! Yeah. It's the understatement of the century but I had to seem sane, right? So, I look Jane square in the eyes and ask her: "Are you sure there was no one else in the hotel but for me last night?"

She cocks her head and after a pause, looks back at me. "Actually, there might have been one person staying here other than you—I'd forgotten about him—"

My jaw drops like a pile of books. I'm so relieved and furious at the same time, that I'm dumbstruck.

'How did Jane take your reaction?' Siska asked, sliding off the edge of her seat. 

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Photo is from Matheus Guimaraes (Pexels)