The hotel has always been a trap - something that's right where you need it to be, somewhere warm and inviting until you're too far inside and the illusion drops. For me, it was refuge from a nasty storm in a strange new city and the only building with any lights on. I only went in there to wait out the storm for a short while and call a taxi to the hostel I was meant to be staying at.
Peaceful. It all seemed so peaceful at first, so full of life and laughter and dozens of guests all standing around enjoying themselves immensely. None of them could see or hear me. None of them were alive. Still, the lobby felt warm and inviting and I could feel the carpet rolling inwards like a tongue guiding stray food to the back of its throat.
If it hadn't been for the puddle of blood I stepped in, the illusion wouldn't have broken til it was too late for me to do anything more than complete my eternal reservation. I felt the cold liquid splash up my leg and nearly screamed when I saw just how much of it was on the carpet and walls - the hotel was a messy eater.
I ran faster than I'd ever run in my entire life, I ran til my lungs were burning and my legs collapsed under me. I sat there for a good while, drenched and alone and in the literal blink of an eye the convenience store beside me became the hotel - doors wide open, staff trying to usher me inside.
I barely managed to pick myself up and walk away but I know if I'd stayed a moment longer they would have come out and dragged me inside. I've seen it a few times since then, always just when I really need a place to stay and I've managed to outwit it every time so far.
All it'll take is one small slip-up though, one mistake and I'll end up checking in for good.
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