The Monsters of the Mind

Part 2

The rooms were quite cozy, considering that they were in dire need of an update.

When I entered, the room gave off both a comfort and nostalgic feeling. The wallpaper was covered in chocolate and cream-colored stripes with little pink rose buds painted into the cream parts of the paper, glowing with the help of the scarlet colored carpeting that matched the outer halls of the first floor. In the main part of the room was a warm carved wooden bed covered in leaf green sheets and matching cover, a heavy wooden wardrobe, and a small bedside table with a lamp. There was also a desk on the opposite side of the bed, though covered in dust. The bathroom was small, with white flooring and tiles. A pale pink rug was seated on the floor between the sink and the tub, chasing the chill out of the room. Towels rested on the edge of the bath, matching the rug on the floor.
I let out a sneeze, my body reminding me that I was still in damp clothing.

I walked further into the room, setting my purse onto the desk and going to the wardrobe. I hadn't brought any of my overnight bags with me, considering that I thought I could just make my phone call and walk out willy-nilly. I was secretly hoping that maybe someone had left a robe or something behind that I could put on while my clothing and jacket dried.

Fate seemed to want to humiliate my bad luck further by providing me nothing in said wardrobe.

"I still have to get out of these clothes," I muttered to myself, "I'll get sick and be forced to stay here longer than needed. I'll have to air dry them..."

I pulled my jacket off and hung it in the wardrobe, grimacing as the rain water continued to drip down like tears. My shirt wasn't horribly damp, thankfully, but my jeans, socks, and shoes were another story. They were so soaked through that my lower body could feel the dampness as well as the chills slowly creeping in.

I slipped the shoes and socks off next, setting the shoes by the bedside and depositing the socks by the little heater that sat along the wall on one side of the room. My jeans came off next, laying flat on the carpeted flooring. Satisfied with what I could control, I slipped into the bathroom and shut the door.

***

Warmth... It felt so long since I had felt warm. The water had stopped a little bit below my shoulders as I leaned back into the tub, warming my chilled body from the outside in.

I could still hear the wind howling and rain pelting against the walls of the hotel, just outside my room walls. It was funny that there were no windows inside my little room, no way to tell if it was night or day - or even when the rain stopped. I wondered if the other rooms in this massive hotel were the same.

Speaking of which, it seemed like I was the only guest here. I hadn't seen anyone in the elevators or on the first floor when I walked out - and it also seemed like Mr. Hall was the only one working tonight. There were no cleaners, no waiters... no other staff members for that matter. It was just the two of us. How eerie... strange even.

'I wonder if anyone has visited this place before?'

"Don't be stupid, Kylie," I grumbled, sinking further into the bath water, "Now's not the time to be fantasizing like you do in one of your books."

My ears perked at the sound of the door to my room rattling. Was someone trying to get in?

I had locked the bathroom door while inside, primarily out of habit from university, and was silently thankfully that I had done so. I stayed quiet as the main door rattled again before I could hear the squeak of the hinges as the door opened. I sunk lower into the tub, unsure if I should pull myself out and figure out who had entered my room or stay in the tub to keep my dignity.