Room 1038 is a horror story, written by Sandie May Joyce (a.k.a. Sandie Angel). This is chapter 3 of the story. George is about to find out something mind-blowing from the unmarked room. Scroll down to read chapter 3 of the story...
Chapter 3
Suddenly, George felt a chill run up his spine that caused goosebumps to flush his skin. He quickly went back downstairs to the hotel lobby, making a beeline for the reservation desk, finding himself quite puzzled at what he had just experienced on the 10th floor.
"So? What happened?" Simon asked as George approached the front desk.
"Nothing! No one was there! There isn't a room with the number 1038 on the 10th floor!" George responded, incredulously.
"Are you serious? I was just talking to that woman! You've heard me!" Simon was puzzled. He was almost angry at George's finding. "Well then, I will just leave it at that. So far she hasn't called again," he informed his equally puzzled coworker.
Simon proceeded to serve the customer who stood before him, moved to a stunned silence after his sudden outburst. It would be best to exercise discretion, he thought.
George looked over the keys panels, trying to find the keys to room 1038. Every set of keys seemed to be in place for the 10th floor, but there was not a key marked "1038". He continued to give the panels the once-over glance, his eyes soon rest upon a large key ring of several unmarked old keys.
I've got to get to the bottom of this mystery, he thought, and with the unmarked keys in his hand, off he went again, back to the tenth floor.
As George ever so cautiously walked down the dimly-lit hallway, so as not to alarm patrons in the other rooms, he approached the unmarked door once again and gave it a solid knock. There was no reply from the other side of the door, so he tried the keys. One after another until... click... Success! On the 5th attempt, he heard a click. He gave the door one hard push and the door swung open. George walked inside, not knowing what he would expect to find. As crew manager, he had a duty to find out the truth of what lay behind this unmarked door.
"Hello! Is anyone here?" He announced, walking into the room full of furniture covered with sheets of white linen. It seemed like the room had not been used for a long time, and there was no sign of a living soul.
George walked around the suite to examine everything. At one point, an icy chill crept toward him from somewhere in the room which had caused the goosebumps to rise from every pore of his body. He prayed that he would not see anything unsightly. He proceeded with caution.
Every piece of furniture seemed to be in its rightful place. The bed was in the bedroom, the end tables were beside the bed. He passed what seemed to be a dresser and lifted the white linen up to look at a mirror, revealing a reflection that nearly gave him a heart attack. It was his own reflection!
"Ahhh!!!" He screamed loudly. Be brave, George! He told himself.
He opened the drawers and found some brochures and travel guides. As he flipped through them he noticed they were outdated and beginning to molt. The dates on the brochures and pamphlets that showed when they were printed were from 20 years ago. George wondered if it has been that long since the room had been occupied. He continued his investigation walking around the room to examine other items, including the outdated pictures that were hung on the wall. Every piece of furniture in the room seemed to have been covered, left untouched for a long time.
Next, George inspected the bathroom. Like the living area, everything seemed to have been in place. The bathtub had been cleaned. Some small bars of soap were on the sink counter. A couple of glasses and toothbrushes. The face towels and bath towels looked like they've been hung there for the same length of time.
How odd! If Simon had been talking to someone, obviously it would not have been someone from this room, so why is this room being locked up? And where is room 1038?"
He turned around to walk back into the front room. To his horror, as he crossed the threshold into the living area, he was surprised to find himself in a totally different room! The white linens that previously covered the furniture were gone, exposing every piece of furniture in the room!
"Hello! This is the front desk! Did someone call the front desk for help?" He made one final attempt to call out before he leaves. He felt silly. Obviously, there may not be anyone there who would answer to him.
What's going on? Why is this room looking different now? Where are all the linens that covered the furniture?
He couldn't understand what was happening. There was a soft musical lullaby coming from somewhere! He looked around for any sign of a living soul but found none. George tilted his head as if it would help him hear more clearly. He blinked his eyes hard in a futile attempt to switch the room back to how it was when he had first stepped in, but when he opened his eyes, the furniture was still sitting there, uncovered.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he now could see a bloody mess splattered on the wall, and the bed that had been covered with white sheet was now in full view. On the bed was a bloody mess as well. He tried to reason with what he was seeing and then suddenly noticed a woman was crawling out from the side of the bed! The woman's face was battered black and blue. Her hair was matted and soaked with blood. It looked as though she had been bludgeoned with a heavy object: there was a gaping hole on the top of her head which oozed blood down to her face and onto the carpet. She crept steadily toward a shell-shocked George, her mouth agape. George could hear the sound of air hissing through her lungs as she struggled for air, he sensed that the woman was out crying for help. She held up her bloodied hands with each inch she crawled as if asking George to help her stand up.
What George was seeing took him by surprise. His heart was pounding so hard that he could even hear its heartbeats like drumbeats in his ears. He could not figure out whether this was a hallucination or reality. He felt a sharp pain in his chest. It felt like the onset of a heart attack. He tried inhaling a few deep breaths to steady himself.
He instinctively retreated to the doorway, he needed to call the police and the ambulance immediately if anything was really happening. He took a few steps but collapsed just before he could reach the door. When he came back to consciousness he opened his eyes and fully expected to see the same bloodied scene, but was surprised to find that everything was quiet. The furniture was covered with white linen once again, just as the way he had seen it when he first stepped in.
George looked around curiously, still wondering if there was anyone in the room. He thought if someone was really hurt he needed to call for the police and ambulance immediately. Yet, the room is empty of life once again. A sudden fear had swept over George. He immediately stood up and ran out of the room, locking the door behind him.
What in the world was all that about? Who was that woman I have just seen? Is the room haunted? Why had no one talked about this unmarked room? Shouldn't the hotel employees need to know if one of the rooms is haunted?
Simon was still at the reservation desk, looking after yet another customer by the time George returned. Out of the corner of Simon's eyes, he observed George hang the set of keys on the board and made a mental note to himself. He didn't want to have any further conversation with George just in case he might think he had a mental problem. He just couldn't understand what was happening. What a way to begin his first day on the job! He wondered if someone was trying to play a joke on him because he was a newbie.
I'll just not say anything for the time being, he told himself.
You are doing it again, Sandie!! You are scaring the bejeebers out of me!!!
Love ya!
Jane
Reviewed by Danny Underwood
6/28/2018
I'm glad George didn't die of a heart attack. That was really a scary experience for him. Your are very descriptive and keep me on my seat to read through the whole chapter. Great story! Well-done!
George not only finds that the room is real, but a vision that is so real that it renders him unconscious for a moment or longer. And, that there is something murderous going on that leaves that room abandoned by the hotel. Good stuff, while wildly unrealistic. Readers will still love it. Horror, murder, and time travel…
I have heard, but not verified, that hotels routinely don't number the 13th floor and leave it out altogether because they have a hard time looking superstitious people into rooms on those floors. I noticed that your room is on the 10th floor.
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