Friday, May 21, 2010 | |

First Chapters by Darren Part 2

This one is from Soul Proprietor:

    When I started my new job at the hotel, I never thought for a moment that the graveyard shift would lead to my actual grave. I had just finished cleaning up a beer spill in the elevator (yeah, it was just that kind of a night) and was "walking the grounds", a clever euphemism my friend taught me for staying away from the desk work. I was riding the elevators up and down, checking the  floors, when I noticed something strange.
    There were only four floors in the hotel, but the elevator sudddenly had a button labeled 5F. That was new. Yesterday we only had four floors... Out of curiosity, I pushed the button.
    I arrived on the fifth floor, and the doors chimed as they opened into a very different place. There was no carpet, or wallpaper, or windows. The room was very small, probably less than 20 feet square, and lit by a strangely dim light source I couldn't see. There was a single door with a sign on it saying "No Trespassing. Violators will be sacrificed". It would have seemed funny, if the atmosphere of the room wasn't creepy as hell.
    I hesitantly went up to the door, and put my ear against it. I heard voices that I recognized as my boss, and my friend Derrick.
    "...you doing this? I never did anything to you! I've worked for you, and I've never been late or sick or anything! Just... just put the knife down Mr. Rogers! Come on! Please?" shouted Derrick desperately. He sounded, well, desperate.
    I inched the door open, and looked through the crack. Mr. Rogers, my boss, was walking up to Derrick, who was tied to what appeared to be some sort of stone altar. He had a wavy-bladed knife in his hand, which I knew to be a kris from my martial arts background. He was right next to Derrick now, and laughing quite evilly. Before I could do anything, he plunged the blade right into Derrick's chest. Derrick gasped once, then convulsed. I saw some... thing hovering over him. It had long black robes on, and was humanoid in shape. Its arm shot out and pointed at Derrick, and I noticed it had very pale and skinny hands, almost like... bones.
    I wish I could put a better light on this, but I was freaked. I turned, ran to the elevator, and just shook the entire ride down. When I got the desk, I called the cops.
    "911, what is your emergency?"
    "I'm at the Westcreek Hotel, my boss just killed my best friend, he's on the fifth floor, please come quick!" I gasped into the phone, all of it rushing out at once.
    "Sir, please remain on the line, I'm sending someone over to you now."
    It took about five minutes for the cops to get there, and when they did, I took them to the elevator.
    "Right this way, gentlemen, it's just in here. He was on the fifth floor, it'll only take a second to get th..." the words died in my throat. There were only four buttons. The fifth had vanished.
    "But... it was... what?" was the best I could manage.
    The cops looked at me skeptically, asked if I was on anything, and called my boss at his house. He arrived on the scene a few minutes later, and said he was sorry about all the trouble, he'd take care of it.
    They left, but gave me a warning about calling the cops on a false alarm again.
    "Look, sorry about that, but could you do me a favor and go check his house? Please?" I asked, and gave them the address. They said they would, and left.
    "So James... what was all that about? Did you see something? What happened?" said Mr. Rogers, doing his best father figure impersonation.
    "I... no, I didn't see anything, sorry. I've just been having some trouble sleeping lately is all." I lied, hoping that he wouldn't ask me anything else about it.
    "Well, I can understand that, adjusting to a new schedule and all. Go ahead and go home, I'll finish the shift. Get some rest. I'll need you to be healthy for me, alright?" he said innocently enough, but I could tell there was an undercurrent of... hunger is the best way to describe it.
    "Sure, yeah... that'll be good. Thanks." I said, and walked out the door hurriedly, trying to figure out just what the hell had happened there. My cell phone rang. It was the officer I gave the address to.
    "Yeah, you sure this is the right place? No one's home. It looks like he might have just stepped out. No signs of a struggle or anything. Kid, thanks for the wild goose chase, but I have better things to do." He hung up.
    Great. I turned to go home, thinking furiously. What was that... thing above Derrick? How had my boss gotten home so quickly, and without me noticing? I didn't know of any back doors out of the hotel... then again, I didn't know there was sometimes a fifth floor either. "They really need to train us better" I though, and laughed. I knew I was still in shock, but laughing helped a little. Hell, it was better than crying.

That's all for now! I hope you enjoy!

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