The Cecil Hotel
by
Mateo Hellion
It's not what it seems at the Cecil Hotel. Not by a long shot. Beyond the vintage European-styled rooms and lobby that pays tribute to nostalgic era of the 1920's, something evil lurks. Murders and suicides plagued the hotel early on, and at least two serial killers are known to have stayed within the hotel as they actively killed the citizens of L.A.
Jaclyn knew this of course. It was her passion. She loved history and she loved dark history even more. So a weekend trip to the Cecil Hotel sounded like the perfect creepy get away.
She arrived early on a drizzly Saturday morning with her single travel bag with an extra pair of clothing, her toothbrush, note book, and camera. Jaclyn checked in to the hotel and requested room 1414, the same room that the Night Stalker had supposedly stayed in. She tossed her backpack on the bed and started snapping pictures of the room; it was going to be a great entry to her blog.
Around noon Jaclyn made her way to the lobby and out for a quick lunch. On her way she stopped at a nearby bookstore and bought a book on the Cecil Hotel. Then, book in one hand and sandwich in the other, Jaclyn returned to the hotel.
As she entered the elevator and hit the button for the 14th floor she noticed that the elevator seemed colder than before, much colder. The door slid shut and lurched as it climbed up the elevator shaft of the old building. The small space continued to increase in coldness. It didn't take long and Jaclyn could actually see her breath.
She gripped her book and pushed the closest floor so that she could get out of the elevator. As she stepped back and looked at the polished aluminum door she dropped her book and sandwich and let out a scream. Standing behind her was the black silhouette of a huge man. It reflected off of the metal towering over her, but not enough to make out facial features. She half turned half jumped around in panic only to find her self alone once again.
The door slid open and Jaclyn stepped out. A voice called out to her from down the hall, "I want you Jaclyn."
The voice was sinister and husky. She jumped back into the elevator and began pushing buttons. Anything to get the elevator moving again.
"I want you Jaclyn." The voice called out again.
Jaclyn stepped back into the hall and nervously looked about. Still no one was in the hall to be speaking with her. But she could feel someone or something there. It was watching her, getting closer with each passing second.
"I want you Jaclyn. I want you Jaclyn. I want you Jaclyn. I want you Jaclyn. I want you Jaclyn." The voice repeated over and over.
She bolted back into the elevator and jabbed at all of the buttons in a futile attempt to get the damn elevator moving again, even though she knew she was likely overloading the machine's circuits. Terror driven, Jaclyn stepped back into the hall and looked for an exit. She tried to reason with it, "Please let me go. I just want to go home. Please."
The voice droned on, closer and closer, "I want you Jaclyn. I want you Jaclyn. I want you Jaclyn. I want you Jaclyn. I want you Jaclyn."
Suddenly something had her hands. Her fingers bent back and snapped like twigs sending pain shooting up her arms. She screamed in agony as the unseen attacker continued, "I want you Jaclyn. I want you Jaclyn."
It gripped her around her waist and pulled at her, dragging her down the hall. Jaclyn began to kick and fight at the invisible force that had her, but it did no good. She tried to scream again and something icy cold covered her mouth. She couldn't see it but Jaclyn knew it was a hand forcing her screams and pleads for help to become muffled.
She looked at the direction she was being forced to go and noticed it was taking her to the fire stairs. The door flew open as it dragged her to them. Standing in the door way was the same dark figure, "I want you Jaclyn, I want you Jaclyn, I want you Jaclyn"
The figure turned and started to walk up the stairs with Jaclyn in tow and as she was forced through the threshold of the fire door and it slammed shut behind her she found herself in total darkness. Jaclyn could tell she was being dragged up the stairs, that this was going to be her end, and that was confirmed as she reached the top and the figure turned and said, "I have you Jaclyn"
Three weeks later the hotel's maintenance worker responded to the water tanks on the roof after the lobby desk received several complaints about low water pressure and an odd taste. What he found in tank number four not only made the news, but it added to the dark and horrific history of the Cecil Hotel.
