The Hotel

The Beach

Chapter 4

T h e B e a c h

The next day Julia woke up first, around six in the morning. She stretched her arms out and pushed the covers off. She walked slowly into the bathroom with one of her bags. She dug through it, looking for a brush, a hair elastic, and her toothbrush.

On the bathroom counter there was a toothpaste bottle. Julia didn't bring any toothpaste herself so she had to use theirs. She applied the toothpaste, remembered to not use the water, and began to brush her teeth. She brushed her hair, tied it in a neat bun, and got dressed.

She saw Ally and Claire still sleeping and decided to go for a walk around the hotel. So quietly, she exited the room and began to walk down the hall.

Julia walked through the hotel's hallways until she saw elevators. "I didn't see these yesterday." she whispered to herself. She pressed the down button and it didn't do anything. She did it again, persevering to make it work but nothing happened. She sighed and figured that she would just have to walk the thousands of stairs leading to the lobby. She got tired and decided to walk back to the room. She hadn't remembered there being that many stairs.

"No, that's too much.." she whispered to herself as she walked back to their room.

"So what should we do first?" Julia asked. "Maybe we should start with the beach to bring up everyone's mood from yesterday!" Claire exclaimed. Ally rolled her eyes, knowing she was talking about her, and only her. She hadn't told them about the creature yet, or her venture with Charles all around the hotel "Uhm, I'll go ask the desk guy where the beach is!" Julia said.

"We know where the beach is though." Ally said. Julia got up from the covers and ran out the door. "Oh well" Claire laughed as she got up and followed Aliya out.

As they left the room, Ally felt a bit hesitant. She thought, "what if we see that creature again?" Little did she know, Claire had heard the second set of strange noises. She got up and first noticed Ally out of her bed. She made the conclusion she was just out for a walk.

She looked out the window, and she saw it. But she saw something Ally and Charles hadn't. She saw its face. It had sharp teeth, huge eyes and no nose. Just as she had gotten a glimpse of it, it ran away on all fours, like an ape. Soon after she heard that Ally had come back in, but decided not to tell her. She didn't want to ruin the vacation.

Julia ran to the stairs and began to run down them. She could feel the euphoric excitement inside and it felt as if it was consuming her body. Claire and Ally followed her down the stairs, far behind her. Though they were far away she could still hear Julia's giggles.

Julia reached the bottom of the stairs and went out to the lobby. Charles was sitting on one of the desks and smoking weed. She stared at him in surprise and then ran to him. He looked at her then threw his tobacco. "Can you show me where the beach is?"

He smiled and hopped down from the desk. He grabbed her hand and she opened her eyes widely. They ran out the door together and left Ally and Claire at the front of the hotel watching them. After a few minutes of walking they reached a large beach area.

"Wow..." Julia said, breath taken. She had never seen a beach in person before. Of course this one wasn't as beautiful as she made it seem. She smiled and kneeled down to pick up a handful of sand. It slipped through her open fingers and back on to the ground.

"Want to go to the water?" Charles asked her.

"Of course!" She replied.

They walked to the ocean and Julia gasped in absolute horror at what she saw.

In front of them was deer skin, ripped apart and spread out through the water. She turned around so she wouldn't have to look at it and began to throw up in disgust.

"Oh my God.." Charles whispered. He turned around to look at her. "Julia, let's go back now...Uhm..." She wiped her mouth and turned back to him.

"Okay. Okay" She said. They walked back to the hotel and met up with Ally and Claire on the way.

"Whats wrong?" Claire asked as she saw the awful looks on both of their faces.

"Dont." Julia mumbled and gagged as she did so. She kept walking and Ally and Claire gave each other a look of confusion, but followed them back.

They walked through the hotel doors and to the desk. "Julia you look sick, are you OK?" Claire asked. Aliya looked back at her but before she could respond she fainted. Charles put out his arms and caught her. He laid her down on the floor and checked her pulse.

"She's alive." He said. White bubbles began to foam out of her mouth and she began to shake rapidly. "She's having a seizure!" He yelled. "Someone call an ambulance!"