Frightful Flash Fiction

The Millions Hotel

The officer looked up at me and spoke. "We need you to tell me what exactly happened and what you saw, okay?" I nodded my head. It took me a second to collect myself, and then I was able to tell him what I know. About a month ago, I started working for The Millions Hotel. I was working there as an assistant. It was this giant hotel that resided on some island. The person who owned the hotel also owned the island, but I never met the owner. The hotel was created for the sole purpose of bringing people back together. So couples, married or not, would come here in hopes of fixing their relationship. The hotel couldn't stress enough about there 100% success rate. I didn't see much of what went down, I was only an assistant after all. I would go to people's rooms and remind them of appointments, and the ever classic, bring my boss a coffee. Now my boss, well bosses, weren't actually as mean as I expected them to be. Someone of my stature tends to be pushed around a lot. So while there were a few errands that felt slightly idiotic, I didn't feel like I was getting pushed around. Now back to my two bosses. Mr. Santos was a tall and well built latino. He seemed to be somewhere in his late twenties. He had medium length hair which he always had slicked back. And a short goatee. My other boss, Ms. Cooper, was a thin pale woman. She had short blond hair, and appeared to be in her fifties. One day, they had me stand outside the door, to greet people who entered. Mr. Santos was outside with me, giving me pointers, when this random lady ran up and started screaming at Mr. Santos, claiming he murdered her son. Two security guards appeared almost immediately to apprehend the woman. Mr. Santos assured to her that her son and his partner checked out of the hotel and presumably went home. That if he wasn't home, he had already checked out and his whereabouts are not the responsibility of The Millions Hotel. The lady just kept screaming and the guards took her away somewhere. I was a little freaked out, but continued on with my day like nothing happened. I was left to clean up the floors by myself. I went down every hall and cleaned up any vacant room, until I made it to the basement. The door was usually locked and only Mr. Santos and Ms. Cooper had the key. I decided to try and open it anyway and what do you know, it opens. I guess someone forgot to lock it. I opened the door and walked inside. There I saw something that I don't think I'll ever forget. Bodies where lying across the floor. Many were still fresh, but some of them had been there for awhile it seemed. I heard footsteps behind me and quickly turned around. There I saw Ms. Cooper. She just looked at me for a bit before talking. She said, "Oh dear, it seems Santiago had you work over night. I wish he had told me, I would of been more careful. No matter, I guess you'll find out now, he probably would of told you soon anyway. He's grown quite fond of you, don't tell him I said this, but I think he likes you." "Told me what? What is this? What the hell is happening?" I continuously asked. "You see, The Millions Hotel is the best at solving relationship problems. It is it's intended purpose. But we're only as popular as our statistics would like to show. As you know, the people who stay here undergo special programs and talk to professionals about their problems. The ones that better themselves and leave this place more in love with each other are perfectly fine. But those that don't solve their problems, or worsen their problems, would leave negative reviews for us. If people think they won't get better, they won't show up, and we can't have that. It's usually not too bad in here, but we tend to get more clients around Valentine's Day, which means higher percent of people who don't get better." It took me a bit, but I calmed down. I pretended to understand and agree with their thought process. If I had said something wrong, I may not of gotten out of their alive. I made my goodbye quick and left the hotel. I went to the authorities as quickly as possible. And now here I am. The cop looked at me, a bit unconvinced. I tried to change his mind. "Go to the hotel, the basement, you'll find the bodies there." "We already had guys go check out the hotel, there were no bodies, everything's clean. Next time think before you go and lie, and waste our time." I left the police station in shock, I couldn't believe that they removed the bodies so quickly and well. I went straight home after that. I needed to rest. When I walked inside I saw an envelope on my coffee table. I opened it and saw a card with a bunch of hearts on it. I opened it up, it read, "I have forgiven you for trying to spread lies about the hotel. We truly care about the people that come there and would never bring harm to them. What you saw must of been a stress induced hallucination. Now I expect you to be back by Monday, which gives you a couple days to rest. But do please return, I'll miss you, and I can't help but think about what would happen to you if you left. So again, I'll see you Monday. Love, Santiago L. Santos. P.S. Happy Valentine's Day." I dropped the Valentine's card. Reading that made me realize, I'll be stuck with this job forever, better get used to it. Happy Valentine's Day to you, Mr. Santos.