~Then~
Adam Morris hadn't booked in to The Glade Hall Hotel before. He'd used several other hotels and resorts owned by the Oleander Hotels Group and they'd sent him a flyer, offering five nights for a truly silly price. There were rumours about their Oxfordshire hotel, even the mainstream press were picking them up. Occupancy was obviously low and Adam had decided to accept the offer of a very cheap vacation.
"Mr Morris, we received your booking and you've been allocated one of our VIP suites in the main building."
The girl at the reception desk was pretty and blonde, just his type. He smiled at her and wondered if she lived on the premises. Oxford was quite a distance away and he was certain the hotel must offer staff accommodation to get decent employees. Not that the pretty and confident blonde was likely to be his next victim. He liked his victims to have a certain aura of vulnerability, a feeling that they wouldn't fight back or tell anyone afterwards. Adam was good at picking his victims, he'd never once been interviewed by the police.
"Thank you." He replied. "The offer was just too good to ignore. Is the golf course finished yet ?"
She was frowning a little.
"No, it's almost there, but not ready to use. Our heated outdoor pool is open and ready to use and the sauna."
They really did seem to have it all, five star accommodation and he was paying peanuts for it all. God bless the loonies who believed in evil spirits and ghosts.
"Will you be having dinner in our restaurant ?" She asked. "I can take your booking now."
"Yes, that would be nice. Book me in for about 8pm."
There was a young guy in uniform to put his bags on a trolley and take him to his room. There were certain areas that had obviously been quickly tidied up and painted over, but the general impression of the building was good. Not that Adam was really interested in the facilities. His hunger was for other pleasures, a real hunger, likely to be sated by one of the cleaning staff, or maybe a waitress. Always female though, never a boy, no matter how pretty he might be.
"Thank you."
He tipped the porter and ignored his cases for now. Adam looked out of the window and loved the view of the estate.
"The old aristocracy knew how to create beauty." He muttered.
Well cut lawns and neat trees, seemed to go on for miles. There was a lake just within his view, with a beautiful arched bridge crossing one end of it. It was all his to explore for five days and who knew what fun he might have at night, in amongst those trees. There had to be a staff wing, his first move would be to find out where that was and if there was CCTV installed. Research was everything if he wanted to keep a clean police record and his career as an external auditor for a large multinational.
There had been a girl in the early days, when he'd been younger. He'd made the mistake of getting to know her too well and she'd lost any fear of him. As she'd sat on the edge of the bed, naked and threatening to call the police; he'd offered her money. That had been a terrible mistake and one he'd never repeated. Adam had killed her, the only one of his fifty two victims that he'd ever killed. Sex was one thing, he loved to feel in control of them. Killing wasn't something he enjoyed, it seemed such a waste. Offering her money had made her near hysterical and strangling her had been an effective way to stop the screeching. She'd been his fourth victim though, when he was still learning his trade. One of the staff of The Glade Hall Hotel, was going to be number fifty three and he felt a little bit of fluid ejaculate into his boxer shorts, at the mere thought of it.
