Circus Supernatural

Chapter 4

Before picking a hotel, I had paid a visit to a charity store and picked myself up an oversized hoodie, cotton tracksuit trousers, a pair of trainers, faded AC/DC t-shirt, and a fur lined hooded coat. I had even granted myself the luxury of a trip to the pound store for some shower gel, shampoo and conditioner, and a new packet of knickers. Despite being followed around the store by the security guard, I took a little pride in paying for my purchases at the till, which included a first aid kit. As I passed him, I shook the receipt in his face out of defiance.

I chose a Premier Inn for my little indulgence. It was no Hilton, but it was the safe choice. Looking as I did with my mangled face and filthy clothes, I wasn't confident enough for my Pretty Woman moment, arguing with a jumped up concierge in a fancy hotel. All I needed was a clean room, a comfy bed, and a warm shower.

When I successfully checked in and had the room key safely in my hand, I made my way to my room via the lift on the third floor, and my heart sang as I tapped the card on the door and saw the light turn green.

Once inside, I marvelled at the white sheets with the purple bed liner and the fluffiness of the pillows. I wanted to throw myself straight on it, but I was filthy and needed to wash first. I stripped down to my underwear, taking one last look at my clothes that had kept me warm these past few months, before rolling them up and tossing them in the bin. Grabbing the bag of things I got in the pound shop, I took to the bathroom, lining my bottles in the bathtub, and turning the shower on, setting the heat high.

My underwear disposed of in the bathroom bin, I stepped into the shower. As the warm water made contact with my skin, I felt my muscles relax, and I watched as the water swirled at my feet, turning a murky brown colour as the dirt and blood washed from my broken body. The water stung as it hit my face, and I gently cleaned my body with one of the smaller hand towels, scrubbing away months of filth from the streets. I washed and conditioned my hair, marvelling at how long it had gotten since I last had been able to wash. Usually it was tied up, but to feel it wet, hanging down my back, almost to my backside, felt unfamiliar. I could feel each of my ribs protruding as I cleaned my torso and chest.

Even when the water ran clear, I stayed, and forty-five minutes later I dragged myself from the shower, setting to dry myself. As I swiped a hand across the foggy mirror, I gasped at the girl staring back at me. Bruised, but clean. My red hair draped over my bare shoulders. I didn't recognise myself. It had been so long since I had looked in a mirror. The woman staring back with dark circles under her eyes was pale and thin, and her eyes looked hollow. Tears pooled in my eyes as I tended to the open cut on my cheek with a large white dressing.

I twisted a towel around my hair as my stomach rumbled. Time for food, I decided. I switched on the TV and perused the menu before calling down to reception and asking for a large all day fry up to be delivered to my room. I couldn't face the stares of the restaurant. No, here it was cosier and quieter. I wanted to enjoy every moment of the room before I had to leave, back on the streets. I threw on the hoody, perusing the channels of mind numbing tv shows before settling on a film. Nestling into the pillows, I found myself drifting into a light sleep before a knock at the door woke me with a start. I accepted the tray with a sincere thank you, sitting at the desk as I tucked in to the food. Every mouthful danced on my taste buds and it took everything in me not to lick the plate when I was done. Stomach full, I yawned and checked the time. It had just gone one in the afternoon, and the call of the bed overwhelmed me as I climbed underneath the fluffy duvet and fell fast asleep.

***

I woke to total darkness. Something had woken me and as I came to full consciousness, I realised it was because of a loud ringing noise, like an alarm. The pitch was so high it hurt my ears. Panicking, I jumped from the bed, flicking on a bedside lamp. A fire. It must be a fire. I quickly slid on my 'new to me' tracksuit bottoms and socks, making haste towards the door. As I swung open the door, I was faced with an empty corridor. No one was running, no smoke, nothing. I stepped outside my door, one foot holding it open as I noticed the noise had dulled out here. That meant it was coming from inside.

Confused, I went back inside my room and glanced around. A twinkle of gold caught my eye on the desk. There, spinning on its side, was the gold disc I had pawned just hours before.

"How the fuck..?" I gasped.

The screeching became louder, more insistent, and I felt a pull at the very core of me to reach out and take it in my hand. But as I did so, it danced mid air a few feet away. My brows furrowed as I took a couple of steps towards it, but it spun in the air and moved further away, towards the door. Every step I took forward, it moved out of reach. I moved quicker now, but it had reached the door and was bouncing itself hard and noisy against the door. The banging became louder and louder, making me panic that it would draw complaints from the other hotel guests and I would be thrown out. I tried in vain to catch the disc, but every time my fingertips came within touching distance, it spun away, continuing its banging. It was trying to get out; I realised with a gasp.

I opened the door wide, and as I guessed, it spun out of the door, but hung in mid-air just outside as the screeching intensified. It spun off down the corridor. I stood there open-mouthed and aghast, determining I was still asleep and this was nothing more than a really fucking weird dream. I closed the door quietly and sat on the edge of the bed, contemplating the possibility I needed to see a therapist, if I was in fact awake, and imagining spinning screeching, floating gold discs.

"Get a grip, Willow." I told myself as I flung myself back on the bed, rubbing my temple. More sleep, that's what I needed, more sleep and a shitload of therapy.

Then I heard it, an incessant banging on my room door that got louder and louder, until I vaulted from the bed, swinging the door hard enough for it to ricochet off the wall. There in front of me was the disc, as it hung there, then moved a few feet down the corridor.

"What do you want?" I asked it, feeling absolutely ridiculous for talking to an inanimate object.

It tilted slightly and moved another few feet down the corridor and I got the overwhelming feeling that it wanted me to follow it.

"Crazy, absolutely fucking crazy." I muttered to myself as I fetched my shoes, hopping to slip them on, before grabbing my backpack out of habit and entering the corridor, the door snapping closed behind me.

The disc stopped its ear-splitting screeching and zoomed towards the staircase as the door opened of its own accord, and it soared down the three flights of stairs, waiting expectantly at the bottom.

"Oh, that door you can open!" I rolled my eyes, but dutifully followed. Why I didn't know, but colour me intrigued. It wasn't every day a spinning disc turned up at your door and beckoned you to follow. If I was going to be committed, I may as well do it to the best of my ability and go full cuckoo's nest by following. Plus, I was intrigued as fuck as to where it wanted me to go.

Out on the street, the disc flitted between pedestrians and I had to, at times, jog to keep up. I marvelled that no one else seemed to see it, but had no time to ponder this as the disc sped up darting down a side street, into an alley. The coin stopped. As I doubled over, trying to catch my breath. It bobbed up and down as I approached a graffiti laden brick wall and I sighed.

"This is where you wanted me to go? To a stinking back alley and a dead end?" I grumbled. "I'm missing a warm bed, dinner and a potential bubble bath for this!"

I was about to turn on my heel when the coin screeched again, as a shimmer of gold ran down the wall. I blinked, as a perfectly manicured hand extended through the wall, palm open. I watched, in shock, as the disc floated into the hand. The palm closed around it as it disappeared back into the wall, which slowly lowered until it was no more. In its place stood a thicket of tall pine trees. They parted to reveal a path lined with a string of twinkling lights, twisting to the left and out of sight.

I took a hesitant step forward until my feet found the beginning of the path. I glanced behind me at the alley, pondering going back, but before I could, the wall reappeared. I slammed my hands against the brick, but it didn't budge, as I glanced up, I noticed the wall had no end - no way over, and I realised with a gasp that I had no option but to continue, there was no way back. I had to move forward and find out where the path led; I conceded. I would find answers to what the hell was going on, try to find out how in the fuck I was going to get back to the other side of that wall and...maybe find a therapist when I did.