A Hotel Without Time

Dya Wyuscu

Tylie stared out the carriage window, mesmerized by all before her. She was currently in the rolling meadows beyond the swamp. The swamp, she could say, she did not want to visit again if one could help it. It was a dismal place, full of mosquitoes. It was as one would think a swamp to look with sickly looking trees standing up out of the green, still water. Nothing about it was nice and she could not figure out how the inhabitants of that place could stand it. In one good aspect, it did seem hauntingly mysterious. Definitely when they travelled through the fog. She kept waiting for some monster to jump out of it and attack the carriage. While no reports of monsters being here on Adylastrya has been made, she couldn't out rule the possibility. This land was completely new and undiscovered by the outer world, who knew what new creatures there were. For about two hours she had been in that swamp on no sun made it through the dense trees. When they finally arrived on the other side, it was like depression meeting joy. A whole new land opened up, one of rolling meadows spotted with trees and flowers. She was looking out the window right now, seeing the slowly approaching town of Anewell in the distance.
So close, she thought.
There were other travelers about, she had seen carriages farther back filled with beautifully clad people. There were three and they seemed to be heading the opposite way as them. Right now, she was looking out at a herd of horses, whom she assumed were wild. She had counted the herd to be seven in total. Four were dark bay in color, a couple pintos, and one black coat. They were gorgeous and she wished she could step out and go over to pet them. However, she highly doubted they would ever let her close enough to do so.
She turned her head, to look ahead at her destination and saw that there were now two men on horseback. One was young, around the same age as her, which was 23. The other looked to be in his late thirties. The younger had on brown leather pants, with long boots, and a white shirt that was tucked into the pants. He was tanned from the sun and had shaggy blonde hair. The other had on a red shirt with tan leather pants, and the same type of long boots on. He had black hair that was short. They both walked by on their horses and nodded at her upon seeing her. She smiled back and waved at the two as they trotted away north to whatever destination they were heading to.
She had a slight wish that she was apart of this world. This society and culture. That she could understand all the customs, know it, be it. Wouldn't that be quite cool, to be a native of this place? She thought. Although, she figured she only thought it was cool because all of this was so new. In likelihood, she wondered if she would really like being a native here. While wonderful looking, it could be a tough life mattering on the status of which she was born here. Maybe it would be best just to stay a visitor and enjoy the land from that perspective.

She saw now that the town off in the horizon was now a quaint town they were now entering. The houses were two story homes of stone and wooden roofs. On the outskirts was farmland, that they were passing by now. Goats, sheep, cows, and horses meandered about the open fields. She saw, as she came into the town that everything circled a center, where a bigger building, rectangular in shape, sat in an open courtyard, this courtyard was filled with vendors. Canopy roofs stretched across the marketplace, covering the vendors from the harsh sun's heat of the day.
They took a road that circled around the market and to the left of them. On the street corner was the five story, cobblestone building of the hotel. She had to say, it was the tallest building she had seen yet here. Then again she hadn't seen much yet.
Hynlir, her chauffeur, stopped the carriage on the side of the street where the hotel was and hopped off the seat to come around to her door. Her hands gripped the door, ready to open it herself, but Hynlir rushed to it and politely opened it for her.
"Ma'am." He said, respectfully to her. Holding the door open as she climbed out and stepped onto the stone sidewalk. "Thank you, Hynlir." She told him as he shut it behind her and hurried to the back where the luggage of hers was stashed. He pulled it out and carried it to her. "Here you go, Lady Tylie." She grabbed it from him and placed the suitcase on the ground, pulling the handle out so it could roll. "Thank you again." She couldn't help but notice how he eyed it with a perplexed look. She looked down at it with him and realized how it must be weird for him. A luggage carrier that was not a satchel, bag, or pack, but a large case that had zippers, a metal, collapsible handle, and small wheels built in.
She smiled at him. "Strange, huh?"
Hynlit looked up at her in embarrassment probably from being caught staring. "Very, miss."
"It's called a suitcase. Nice for travel, you don't have to carry a heavy thing on your back." She explained to him, since he seemed curious.
"Suitcase..." Hynlir repeated her name for it. "It is a very interesting invention. Thank you for telling me about it."
"Oh, no problem, Hynlir. Thank you for taking me here." She gestured up at the hotel.
"It was my pleasure. You do enjoy yourself and welcome again to Adylastrya, Lady Tylie." She watched as Hynlir climbed up into the seat again.
"Thank you and goodbye!" She told him.
"Farewell, miss!" He called back.
Once he had ridden away, she turned around to face the hotel.
Awesome, time to get a room! She thought.
She grabbed the handle and pulled her luggage as she took the five steps needed to the door and grabbed the cold handle and pulled the door open. Cool air greeted her as she stepped inside and the door clanged shut behind her. The first thing she noticed was the two men on each side of the entrance. At first she thought them to be butlers due to their matching uniforms that were strangely the matching colors of the Sentinels' uniforms. However, then she realized they had weapons on them. This took her back a bit as she wasn't expecting hotel security to be so, well... she didn't know, harsh?
They both glanced over at her after a few seconds of her not moving from the entrance. Noticing that she had now been awkwardly standing there, she kicked her feet into gear and walked over to the front desk. A clerk waited with a smile. She had red hair, a pale freckled face, and her eyes were hazel. She wore a black suit with a silk undershirt that was a deep purple. Her skirt and jacket was black and her vest underneath was white. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun on the nape of her neck.
"Hello! Welcome to the Lyrsa Saufira, where one comes and never leaves!" The woman said and she found that last part a little strange, but chalked it up to it being there slogan. Like, once one comes they never wish to leave because it is so nice here.
"My name is Adalas. How can I help you?" Adalas, she thought, that is a pretty name. They all had some pretty unique names here.
"Yes, I would like to stay in a room here for a week." She answered Adalas.
The woman pinched her lips together and nodded her head. "That's wonderful! Can I get a name real quick?" Adalas' hands were waiting to type her name into a computer.
That's strange. When did Adylastrya get computers? She didn't know, but more than likely some country must have been selling to them.
"Tylie Kimair. T-Y-L-I-E and K-I-M-A-I-R." She spelt out her name. She found that it was difficult for people to spell her last name, so she was used to telling people how. Adalas finished the paperwork and looked back up at her with a smile. "Great! We have room 613 open for you." Adalas turned around and grabbed a key off the wall behind her and handed it over to her.
It was her turn to have a perplexed look as she stared down at the key. It wasn't that the key was strange, it was the number of her room. She had only counted five stories. So, why did she have a room that was 612, which indicated there being a sixth floor? Maybe, they were counting up from the basement? She did see stairs off to the side that led down.
"Excuse me? Did you say 613?" She said, wanting to clarify that she heard right.
Adalas nodded. "I did." She didn't say anything past that.
"I only counted five stories from outside." She informed Adalas, as if she even needed informing. After all she did work here. So, she should know.
"Are you sure that is correct?" She asked her.
"I am very sure. We have nine floors actually, ma'am." Adalas answered her question, seeming as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Nine floors?! That was way past impossible. The building would have been much bigger. She couldn't of missed that. What the heck was going on?
She looked about to see other people sitting around and chatting, some others were walking towards a restaurant, others down hallways, and then there were the guards posted about. Every one of the guards were watching her. That gave her the creeps, instantly. Trying to ignore them, she looked around to see that some other people were watching her too, but they seemed to have expressions of pity.... Pity for her?
Uhm, okay, now she was totally just disturbed. Maybe, she will just go elsewhere.
She turned around and faced Adalas again, whom had this look on her as if she knew what was about to happen.
"Sorry, uhm... I have changed my mind. I want to go see some of my other options before... committing. So sorry. Here." She placed the key she was given on the desk and turned to leave.
Adalas didn't say anything to her as she walked to the door.
Everyone was watching her now. She tried to maintain a calm appearance as she came up to the door, but inside she wanted to run. She darted her hand out and pushed to open the door. It didn't budge. Didn't even move.
What the heck?
Confused, she tried to pull it open, but again nothing happened. Now, she put her shoulder into it. Nothing. Absolutely no movement.
Was it locked?
She looked at the two guards, who watched her.
"Did you guys lock it?"
"No, ma'am." The one to her right answered.
"Then why isn't it opening?" She asked the guard that had answered her.
"It doesn't open from the inside." He stated, matter-of-factly.
She gave him a dumbfounded look.
"It doesn't open from the inside." She repeated. "What? It's a door. It opens from both sides. What are you talking about?"
"Not this one, ma'am." He answered.
"Open the door, now." She commanded, her voice rising due to the sudden fear of being trapped here in this creepy hotel.
"Sorry, ma'am."
Ignoring his apology, she turned and put her entire body into it. Nothing happened again. She was desperate now and marched over to the nearby window.
"Open the door now or I'll break the dang window." She said, her voice demanding and alot more desperate sounding than she wished but she couldn't help it. This was a terrifying situation for anyone. She was in a foreign land and now stuck in a creepy hotel. For all she knew, these were a bunch of cannibals. Oh heck, please don't be a sadistic group of cannibals. She didn't want to die that way.
The people about, the residents, they just watched her. All didn't make a peep, nothing, just calmly watched her as if this was just another normal part of the day.
What was wrong with them all?
She grabbed a small statue made of marble and held it like a bat and got ready to break it if they refused.
"It's not happening, ma'am." The same guard said to her.
"Fine then." She took a hard swing at the window. The statue made contact with the glass a with a thud, it bounced back off. Not a single crack showed in the window. What was this thing? Bullet proof? That's not possible. They don't have that technology yet.
She took another swing and another swing. All with the same results.
Now, completely terrified, she marched over with the statue in hand to the guard that kept talking to her.
She stood face to face with him. She had to look up, though, the native man was tall. Much taller. While she stared up at him, trying to seem more brave than she was, he only stared back down at her with empty eyes. Not that he wasn't incapable of emotion, it was just that he did 't care.
"Let me out." She demanded again.
"No." He stated, his tone allowing no room for arguement.
She didn't know what to do. What to say. What was she to do? She was stuck here and no one was helping her.
"Let me out or I'll..." Her voice tapered off as her mind came up with nothing to threaten with. She will what? Scream? She wasn't going to give them that satisfaction. Fight? Could she even beat these men? They all were strong and tall. All carrying weapons. What did she have? A stone statue. She wasn't going to win that fight. Not in a hundred years. Not even if she trained in the ways of attack using a dang stone statue. There was no capable way, but heck if she wasn't going to try. She wasn't going down without a fight. No one was going to get to just easily kill her. No way.
She began to think the possibility over. If she hit suddenly enough, the guard would likely not expect it. Therefore not dodge it. If she got him on the head, he would pass out. Maybe he had the keys on him. Then she could grab it and hurry out the door. However, there was the second guard. What was she going to do about him? He would be ready for her and she wouldn't be able to fend against him?
Time was running out, the guard in front of her was watching with anticipation for her to finish her sentence. Nothing else was coming to her. So, in an adrenaline-filled, frighten rush of desperation she swung the statue at the guard's head and he caught it with lightning-fast reflexes. His grip around her wrist was like steel and stopped her momentum right in its tracks. She struggled against his grip, pulling and even tried kicking him. He just blocked the kicks and kept his grip on her wrist, reaching up with his other arm and pulling the statue out of her hands. He handed it over to the other guard that had now come over to help and the other took it.
Wanting to get out of his grip, she punched him in the stomach but only came in contact with thick leather. The man didn't even seem to feel it.
Man, she was so weak.
She kicked at his shin, and he moved his leg to dodge it. She through her whole body weight away from him and it did nothing but cause her wrist pain as her arm stretched but did not follow the rest of her body.
He was now reaching for her other arm and she was doing her best to not allow him to get ahold. However, the other one was now returning from placing the statue back in its place and she wasn't going to have any chance after that. Not that she really did anyway. One last try, she through her whole body weight into him in hope of pushing him off balance. It didn't. Nothing was working and this dang guard was unmovable. Unfortunately for her, putting her entire body weight into him allowed him to grab her entirely and pick her up.
She was thrown over his shoulder, the top of his shoulder digging into her stomach, which was very uncomfortable. She began to kick and beat his back, kinda like in those stupid fairytale movies. However, she couldn't help herself. She was pissed and scared and helpless. At least this allowed her to get some of her rage out.
She was carried back over to Adalas, who looked to the guard.
"Please give me the key to her room, I will bring her up to it." He told Adalas. She nodded in reply and glanced at me before grabbing the key from the desk and handing it over to his open hand.
"Just let me go!" She cried out. "I just want to go. I won't say a word to anyone. Seriously." She was totally not serious. If she got out, the first chance she got, she was telling someone. They didn't have to know that though.
"Ma'am, that is impossible. I will be taking you to your room. Please put yourself together as you wait for the Manager. She will visit you when she can and help you settle in." The guard informed her.
"I don't want to settle in. I just want to go." She sounded like a whining child now. While she didn't want to admit it, tears were welling up in her eyes right now too. Though, really? Who wouldn't be crying and begging right now. She was being kidnapped and had no clue what was going to happen to her. A horrible death? Possibly. A life forever trapped in these walls? Also, possibly.
The guard entered a small room, the size of a closet... wait, an elevator? It's a dang elevator! What in the known world? They don't have this technology!
Neither did they have a sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth floor, but here they are as options.
"This is impossible." Shd mumbled to herself. The guard seemed to have heard, though.
"Not impossible, ma'am." He told her as the elevator doors shut on them.
"You don't have the technology."
"Not yet." He answered her.
"I don't even understand what that is suppose to mean."
"Yeah, you do. It is just very... impossible of an idea." His tone was very cryptic.
"Okay, you know what? I don't care. Please, just let me leave. I won't say a word. You can take me to a back door. I'll leave quietly. No one will know." She hoped for this guard to have a conscious. One that would help her escape.
"Sorry, ma'am." He answered. She was getting sick and tired of him saying that.
She went back to beating his back with her tired fists.
"Let. Me. Go! Dang you! Let go of me!!"
The elevator dinged and the doors opened to the sixth floor. He calmly walked out, ignoring her protest and beating. He seriously wasn't being phased by any of it and that only made her more pissed.
He traveled down the hall and stopped at a door with the golden numbers 613, which was at the end of one corridor on the right. He pushed the key in the hole and twisted it, then pushed the door open.
He stepped into the room, which was actually quite modern and very, very nice.
The walls were a mint green color, the floors were a light gray. Off in the left corner was a small livingroom. A big, plump sofa, pale yellow color sat against the wall with two white chairs beside it. In front was a flatscreen TV and a bookshelf lined the left wall to the left of the sofa. It held books and movies.
Beside them was a small kitchenette with a granite counter and a small refrigerator. Then over in the other corner to the right was the king size bed done up in lacy patterns of white, yellow, peach, and aqua colors. Everything was so nice and so not matching the time period here.
This was insane. This was impossible. The chandelier above and the lights, they were all electric. Now that she thought about it, the lobby was all electric too.
This made no sense.
She stared at everything over the guard's shoulder. He moved over near the bed and placed her down on her feet. Without waiting, she immediately darted for the door and was stopped in her place by an arm that wrapped around her waist.
"Stay here and calm down." It was an order.
He didn't wait up, but turned and left her right there. The door clicking shut and she could hear him lock it. He didn't leave the key.
She stood frozen in the middle of the room. She spotted a secondary door by the bed. She figured it to be the bathroom. She didn't care to confirm that theory. Instead, she just turned and fell down on the bed.
Her mind was racing and her adrenaline was crashing. Soon enough later, she drifted off to sleep.