Hotel Le Grand

v

I shoved the girl aside and ran into the hall, sprinting straight for the front desk when I stopped short. There was no front desk. Hell, this wasn't even the lobby.

We were right back on the sixth floor.

"What-"

The girl slid out of the elevator, running her hand along the wall as she walked. As she got closer, I heard it.

She was humming that terrible nursery rhyme.

"Ring around the rosie," She sung, more slabs of her skin falling onto the floor.

"Oh, god no." I said, my eyes growing wide.

Her eyes snapped up from the floor and looked at me, the blue gone and replaced by the sterling gray. "Pockets full of posies."

Stumbling backwards, my hand made contact with a small table holding a dimly lit lamp and knocked it over into the ground. The glass shattering on impact and the shards crunched beneath my feet, digging into my bare skin. I winced, ignoring the pain as my every nerve was focused on whatever that thing was.

The girl stopped walking and giggled, pointing at my feet, which were leaving dark colored splotches on the carpeting as I walked backwards from her. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"Like hell, but that's not my biggest problem."

A burst of adrenaline pumped through my veins as I rushed forwards, shoving passed her and shooting down the hall towards our rooms. I reached room 661 and began to slam my fists into the wood, shrieking loudly for Violet. "VI! VI, OPEN UP!"

"She won't hear you," The little girl's voice piped up behind me, making me jump and spin around. She looked at the door and smiled that disgusting little smile of hers, "She's dealing with some stuff."

Instead of staying for a chat, I took off again and began to knock on Levi's door, "BABE!? LEVI! HELP!"

"He won't hear you either. None of them will." She laughed behind me.

I spun around and stared at her, "What did you do to them!"

"Oh, I did nothing." More skin peeled from her body and fell to the floor. "I'm just the monster in you're closet."

I backed further down the hall, "That's funny cause I don't remember having a zombie in my closet."

She didn't answer. She looked at me and hummed, stalking slowly closer before opening her mouth, "Ring around the rosie."

Not this again, I thought. The girl stopped and glared at me. "WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN!?" She screamed in a demonic voice before lunging for me, grabbing ahold of my shirt and tearing the fabric on my stomach shreds. The nails on her rotting hands suddenly extended into large talons and the missing patches of flesh on her face seemed to darken and sizzle as if they were being burned. "You better run, Tempie."

I didn't need to be asked twice, I took off down the long hall, biting back screams as my feet wailed in agony. Largest shards of glass from the lamp were cutting deeper into my feet with each step I took.

After flying around a few corners, I ended up in a hall with one open door. I stared at it for a few seconds before rushing at it, only to have a hand reach out and slam it shut from the inside with a laugh. Shocked, I began to slam my fists into any door I could, screaming for help.

My breath came out in fast bursts and I rushed through the hall, screaming and pounding on the doors . I stopped for a split second to scan the hall.

I couldn't see her, but I could hear her singing.

"Ring around the rosie."

"Oh god, please no." I cried, pounding on a door. "Help! Help me!"

"Pocket full of posies."

"Someone help me!" I took off sprinting again, "Anyone!"

"Ashes, ashes."

I'd reached the end of the hall, slamming my fists into the wall. "NO!"

"We all fall-" A hand grasped onto my upper arm and yanked me to the floor where the small girl smiled at me, half her face now missing due to the intense rot. "Down," She whispered and grabbed a handful of my hair, dragging me down the hall.

I screamed, kicking out at nothing. The girl's grip was impossibly strong and her talons dug into my skull. Looking down at the hall, I saw just how bloodied and torn my feet really were. It was when I saw it that the pain truly hit and I grit my teeth in an attempt to stop from crying out.

Like some kind of mutant mini-hulk, the girl continued to drag me while I fought, clawing at her hand and twisting my body to loosen her grip, until we reached my room. She tossed me onto the floor like it was nothing and slammed the door shut, looking at me. "You're such a mean, little bitch."

"I'm the mean, little bitch?" I snapped, moving away from her. I grabbed ahold of the bed covers and pulled myself up, hissing when my feet burned in pain. "Try looking in the mirror."

The little girl suddenly belted out a laugh, looking me dead in the eyes before taking a step forward and shoving me down onto the floor again. "You're quite the fighter. Tonight should be fun."

I rolled over onto my stomach and pushed myself to my knees, "What's tonight?" I asked without looking at her grotesque face.

"Don't you remember, Tempie? From your nightmares?"

I stared at the carpet for a moment, no nightmares coming to mind. Hell, I didn't even remember having her as the monster in my closet. Suddenly, it hit. I sat up straighter and spun around, staring at the peeling flesh on her face. "No."

"Oh, yes, Tempie." She skipped over and yanked me to my feet, pulling out a long jagged dagger from her coat. "We're going to play hide and seek."