“Hello?” said the little girl. She walked down a dark lobby taking in the massive columns and large fountain, which was of course dry. The girl’s name was Isabel. She was quite a curious girl and she couldn’t resist entering the hotel when the door was open wide and the sky was turning dark, she had to find shelter from the shadows in the night. When she entered the building she was surprised by how clean the place appeared even after two years of abandonment. She instantly changed her mind when she saw a five-inch rat skid across the hard marble-tiled floor on her way to the elevator. She pressed the up button on the elevator twice. It didn’t light up. Isabel shrugged her shoulders and ran around looking for the stairs.
The little girl bounced up the stairs three at a time, and arrived in a long dark hallway with doors all the way to the end. She slowly walked down the long hallway admiring each door as she passed by but the most interesting room was the room at the end of the hallway. She saw at the end of the hallway a door quite different than the other door, it was much taller and had a carving of a screaming face on it. Slightly put off by this, she proceeded with caution deciding if she should see what was behind a door so disturbing. She decided not to look and continue walking down the corridors that branched of the hall way. She soon found that as she went down the corridors that the doors were all locked accept for the one with the screaming face. She opened it and walked in. The door shut behind her with a click. She turned around and tried the door. It was locked. Panicking, she looked around the room for a window or something that would get her out of the room. As she was looking she saw a horrible sight in the middle of the room, laying in a puddle of blood, was a body illuminated by the eerie glow of the desk lamp. She let out a stifled scream.
She backed away from the body and stumbled towards the door. She tried the door again then banging on it with her fist and screamed. She heard a groan behind her and went silent. There was someone else in the room. Isabel pressed herself against the wall ready to attack whoever was in the room. She heard the sound of someone leaning on the wall slowly walking towards the doorway. She heard the scratching of long nails against the rough carpet floor. And before she even saw him, she attacked. She leaped at the figure lit by the dim light and threw a punch at its face, she just barely heard the cry of pain before she flung her leg at the figure and felt it strike against the figure’s chest. She felt something tightly grab her leg as she pulled it back. She flailed her legs trying to loosen its grip, nevertheless she felt herself being pulled away from the door and closer to the body where the lamp was. It was so dark that Isabel could see nothing but the faint silhouette of the large figure gently bobbing up and down.
As the silhouette moved closer to the lamp, she could see features of its face. It appeared to be a tall man of a average build with a nose that seemed to come from someone with a larger face. Right then, it the man let go Isabel’s leg hit the ground making a loud thudding sound. She quickly got up screaming and ran towards the door again, she shouted “Help” at the top of her lungs.
She heard a chuckle behind her, she quickly turned around with her back to the wall. It was the man. “What do you want?”the girl said.
“Well, you're a pretty little girl, and I’m a lonely man. I deserve an extra meal.” the man said in a way that hinted insanity. “Its not like you're going anywhere soon.”
As the man stepped closer, she could smell the stench of body odor and old clothes. She was cornered, her back to the wall.
“I live here, stay please, I’m hungry,” the man whispered. He was close now, his hand was outstretched, reaching towards her. She tried to flatten herself against the wall in a futile attempt to escape the man’s touch as if it was acid.Then the hand suddenly pulled back. The man looked around, he backed away with an alarmed look in his eyes. He was next to the dead body when he completely turned around and ran away from the girl. Isabel relaxed her body and sat down. She felt uncomfortable and vulnerable in the middle of the wall so she found her way into a small corner and dozed off.
When she woke up, she heard the sound of someone eating, she could hear the person chew and swallow the food. She felt herself grow hungrier by the second. Then she couldn’t stand it. She stood up quietly and looked around the corner and saw a horrifying sight. What she saw was unbelievable, it was the man who was eating and though his eating was quite messy what he was eating was quite disturbing. He was eating the dead body. He was crouched over it with the leg in his hands, tearing meat from the bone. His blood-smeared face was dimly lit and was quite frightening in appearance. Still in shock, Isabel stumbled back and tripped over a book on the floor. She felt herself fall back, it all happen slowly, as if she was falling through water. When she felt her hand hit the rough carpet the feeling went away. Her hands stung and she hit the ground with a thud. The man heard this and looked up, he scanned the room but saw nothing. He went back to tearing the meat and eating it loudly. Isabel gave a sigh of relief. She crawled back to her corner and fell asleep on a still-empty stomach.
When she woke up, she was surprised by how bright the room was lit. The light seemed natural and pristine. She looked around and saw that the spot where the man was eating was now the same as the rest of the room, empty and plain. She asked herself if it was a hallucination or just a crazy nightmare. It had all seemed so real. She looked around and saw that the man he was quietly sleeping. It was as if it had never happened.Then she saw the body,it was hanging from the ceiling by a cord just a couple feet from where she sat.. Beneath it was a blood stain the size of a table, the leg was completely torn off with strands chewed flesh strewn on the ground. She was horrified, recalling yesterday’s scene as vividly as if it was happening in front of her.
She looked back across the room. The man was laying there sound asleep directly under the light. Isabel squinted through the light and saw an amazing sight, a window. It was right there waiting for her. Just then the man started to wake. He groaned and grunted as he woke up squinting in the light. For the first time Isabel saw the man in full light. He was not as tall as she thought he was, he was actually barely taller than average. He wore a coat that reached down to his knees. His pants were frayed old jeans that just past his knees. The man slowly stood up putting his weight against the wall. He looked around sleepily and saw the girl in the corner.
Isabel froze ready to run if the man attacked her. In an instant the sleepy man threw himself into a full dive across the room. He reached his arms out to grab her as he flew across the room. Even as Isabel ran she knew she wouldn’t be able to escape in time. She soon found herself thrown onto the ground. She felt the man grab her shoulder as she flailed her arms and legs attempting to put up a fight. This time she was helpless. Every kick she made fell inches short. She began to run out of energy. Each swing, each kick became more tiring. Then the man made a mistake, he bent down, closer to Isabel and took a deep breath. A small smile crept across his face. Isabel took this chance to punch him in the eye. She felt his grip weaken and kicked the man away. He stumbled back on his knees clutching his injured eye. Isabel rolled over and began to crawl away while making an effort to get back on her feet. Then she felt him grab her foot. She struck out with her leg, making contact with the side of his head and slamming into the wall. His grip was still strong so Isabel kicked him right in the throat and she felt him instantly let go. He stumbled back grasping his injured throat, gasping for air.
Isabel ran to the door and pounded on it repeatedly she screamed and kicked the wall. She screamed and screamed until her throat was sore and her fists hurt from pounding. Then she began to cry. She slumped down and curled herself up as the tears ran down her face. She turned around, tears still running down her face, expecting to see the man’s frightening figure. She instead found herself looking into a completely empty room; no lamp, no crazy man, nothing. She began to freak out, she looked up expecting the man to have found a way up onto the ceiling, but he was nowhere to be found. Then she looked up, at the window, the only thing in the whole room. She could see butterfly gently flying away into the distance. It moved gracefully across the blue sky as it disappeared into the distance. Then she spun around, motivated to be free and began for the wall as if to attack it, but then she saw something new. There was a door. A new door had appeared on the previously empty wall. Isabel thought about her choices, jump out the window and risk falling to death or going throught the new door. So she did what any child would do, eenie meenie miney mo.
