Gabrielle Hadad, “Hotel Loup Gris”

Abigail was tired of her plain apartment. She decided to treat herself and book a room at one of the most prestigious hotels in Colorado, Hotel Loup Gris. When she arrived something already seemed off. The receptionist smiled eerily and welcomed her with a small nod. After she checked in, Abby saw that all the hallways were dark and void of any other people. It was late, so she shrugged it off. Once in her room, she snuggled up in a complimentary robe and fell asleep. The next morning she slipped her swimsuit on underneath her soft robe and hurried down to breakfast. The breakfast room was surprisingly empty and the buffet seemingly untouched. She assumed others had gone out to eat or were still asleep. The food looked amazing though, and she lunged for it without another thought.

After grabbing enough food for a family of four, she sat down and noticed the eerie renditions of some of her favorite songs playing. Creeped out by the weird clown decorations, mirrored ceiling, and the echoing music, she quickly finished her breakfast and left the empty room. Stuffed full of croissants and juice, she decided to take a refreshing dip in the sizable pool before she left. She passed through a cozy room fully furnished with a pool table and an unlit fireplace. Turning over her shoulder, Abigail felt a chill down her spine as she stared into a room decked out with clown costumes, suspicious paintings, and other malevolent memorabilia. Feeling even more spooked, she once again heard the ominous music from the breakfast hall. Then, the deafening chiming of the looming grandfather clock, as if she was in some sick horror movie. Feeling extremely unnerved, Abigail sped out of the room. She hopped onto an elevator and after a few wrong turns, she found the entrance to the pool. She had to enter through a pitch-black changing room which she rushed past. She slipped off her suffocatingly warm robe and thin slippers then jumped in. After what felt like only a few minutes cooling off in the pool, Abby crawled out to check her watch. 11:45, it read. She only had fifteen minutes till checkout! Quickly, she ran up to her room to change and pack up. She rushed back downstairs and asked to check out. The receptionist stared at the clock and simply shook her head.

“What?!” Confused, Abigail asked what she meant.

“You’re too late for checkout,” she explained calmly. “You’ll have to pay for the next night whether or not you stay.” Abby was dumbfounded.

“Late?!? By two minutes!” The receptionist raised an eyebrow. Frustrated, Abigail agreed to pay. She now had no reason not to, so she decided to stay the second night as well. After carrying her bags back upstairs, she hurriedly left to spend a distracting day on the town. After finishing a garnished dinner, she was reminded that she was spending another night at the unusual hotel. Reluctantly, she returned and got ready for bed. Before she fell asleep, she set her alarm so that she would have more than enough time before check-out in the morning. The next day, her alarm woke her up before dawn and she watched the serene sight of the sun rising above the small mountain village. She then quickly ate breakfast to spend the least amount of time in that creepy room. She still had not seen anyone else. When she arrived back in her room she found it empty. All her bags and clothes were gone. She ran down to the front desk and demanded to know where her luggage was.

“The maid probably thought you had checked out and left without it.” The receptionist plainly answered.

“Where is it, then?!?” Abigail shouted, losing her patience.

The thought that the maid had taken her stuff was preposterous, especially since she had made sure to put the do not disturb sign outside her door before she went downstairs. She decided not to mention it though since the receptionist was clearly stupid and would not care. Abby hastily asked for directions to the Lost and Found and stomped off to find her things before noon. She quickly got into the elevator and pressed the lit button marked with a 1-which actually stood for basement- as the receptionist had instructed. When she stepped out of the elevator, she found a plain hallway. The black and white checkered floor stared back at her. A single door stood at the end of the hallway. She checked it and found it locked. Even more confused and annoyed, Abigail pressed the button calling the elevator. As she waited, she stared at the walls. They were as clean as could be and stark white.

“Except, there’s that stain in the corner,” she muttered to herself, ” Wait, is that blood?!”

Suddenly the lights flickered out. Abigail waved her hand in front of her face. She could see the faintest outline of it thanks to the small red numbers over the elevator, indicating the floors. The elevator sat on the 4th floor.

“Weird..” she thought. No one else seemed to be in the hotel except the receptionist, who seemed to have been behind her desk on the second floor since the first night. After a few minutes, searching for a light switch in the twilight eerieness, Abby gave up and swiftly pressed the button. 3, 2, 1. The red numbers counted down. She waited in anticipation for the ding of the doors as they opened. But she only heard silence. She looked up. 2, 3, 4. The elevator was going up again! She pressed it again, harder this time, ready to kill that clueless receptionist. 3, 2, 1. She heard the echoing music once more. 2, 3, 4. As the elevator climbed up the floors, still empty, Abigail heard the grandfather clock strike noon. She was late. Furiously, she pressed the button one last time, losing hope. 3, 2, 1. As she watched the glowing red numbers tick down, she heard clown-like laughter, slowly growing louder. This time the elevator stopped. With an ominous ding, the doors slowly opened. A shadow dashed out of the elevator. Before Abigail could even move a muscle, she was met by a cloud of smoke and a knife against her neck.