Day 163

Visiting a new city was bound to come with risks,
he just didn't realise what those risks would be.

Of course he'd been to the city before, not at this
time of year though and not to this exact area but
he'd been.

He reckoned he could get by just fine, I mean there
are subway stations all over to act as guide points.

Apparently the night life in this new area was to die for,
especially at this time of year, he just had to check it out.
Every street was decorated to match the autumnal season,
pumpkins and ghosts on every corner.

By the time he'd had his fill of wandering it was near three AM,
stumbling back to his hotel room proved to be easier than he
expected.

His room was on the eighth floor out of twelve - he was far
past the point of using that many stairs and vaguely remembered
the elevator not being in working order.

Luckily it seemed he was wrong as he caught it just before the
doors began to close.

The stranger in the elevator was an average looking woman
though she seemed nervous.
He asked what floor she was heading to as he pushed for his
floor.

She said thirteenth which didn't exist yet somehow there was a
button for it.

He didn't much care for this sudden change, only wanting to sleep.

The elevator had a voice which certainly threw him off - it
sounded just like his grandmother.
He laughed and told the woman who didn't seem to hear him.

She must be tired too, he reasoned, and waited for his floor to come.

He must have dozed off waiting as he startled to find himself falling
out of the elevator door.
He caught a glimpse of the strange woman running towards one end
of the floor's corridor.

All of the rooms started with 13 which meant he had definitely dozed
past his floor.
He turned to get back into the elevator only to find it gone and a wall
in its former place.

Maybe he'd stumbled further than he thought?
Yet when he looked left and right he only saw doors, endless doors.
Was the hotel always this wide?

One of the doors was open, room 13M.
Maybe they'd let him sleep on their sofa for the night?
He was falling asleep in the corridor!

Calling out he gently pushed the door wider and cautiously stepped inside.
Maybe he could sneak a few hours there and be gone before they woke up?

Well there wasn't anyone there though they'd left their luggage and an
awful smell.
Seemed to be coming from their suitcase which was half unzipped.
He figured that if they'd left everything open it must be okay to have a look.

He didn't get a proper look but as he opened the case something black and wet
leapt out, ran past him and out of the door, clawing his cheek in the process.

Dazed he sat on the bed, nursing his wounded face, was it a cat?
No, far too big for a cat.
Kid in a costume?
No, too pointy and agile.

As he sat wondering the strange woman from the elevator came running in.
By the looks of it she'd encountered the creature too and come out of it worse
than him.

She was white as a sheet and clutching her stomach.
He stumbled over to her and touched her shoulder, asking if she was alright.
Hands falling away from her stomach, her internal organs came spilling out
of the gaping hole in her torso and she collapsed.

Panicking he fled the room into the bloodsoaked hallway.
Every door had been torn from its hinges and bloodied handprints lined the walls
as if unseen bodies had been mutilated and dragged... upwards?

He slowly gazed up, following the trail of handprints.

They were all on the ceiling, suspended by some kind of webbing.

He recognised a few people, his siblings and mother were up there, eyes glazed
and bodies shredded beyond any hope of survival.

He heard his grandmother's laughter at the end of the hallway.

He turned and she was not there.