The Monsters of the Mind

Part 7

That's how this hotel felt. I could sense there was something rotting within the building, eating it from the inside out - and the lack of visitors that may have once graced these halls gave me the sense that there was something wrong. Something was tearing the building down from the inside out.

"I wonder if Mr. Hall feels the same about all of this?" I asked myself, heading toward the right side of the second floor.

I wasn't at all surprised to see the second floor was very much like the first - old peeling wallpaper, dust covered furniture and table tops, old framed photos of people and newspaper clippings (mostly advertising some sort of circus character or clown), and even an old shelving unit with nothing but medieval weapons and armor. The winding corridors also didn't help, as they were nearly pitch black, the only light being the wall lamps - though some were completely out.

Regardless, I pulled on a few doors that I could see in the never-ending darkness. They were all locked as well, even though I held onto that little glimmer of hope that maybe one of them would open for me.

I headed back to the lift, intending on trying the third floor when I heard a loud knocking echo in the empty halls. I stopped and listened, trying to figure out if it was just my imagination or not.

Silence.

Knock-knock-knock.

"Who's knocking on Heaven's door?" I muttered, listening again. I wanted to try and get a sense of where the knocking was coming from, there may have been someone in trouble or maybe it was the little girl again - trying to alert me of something.

Knock-knock-knock.

The knocking seemed to be coming from where the location of the lift was, so I headed in that direction quickly and quietly - following the noise to the best of my abilities, which was not an easy task as the corridor was dark and there were some holes in the carpeting that would attempt to trip me if I moved too fast. I kept my pace steady and eyes peeled. I stopped at the lift, now realizing that I had passed where the knocking was originating from.

I continued this back and forth several times, stopping and listening every now and again to figure out the exact location. It seemed to grow quiet between the doors to room 217 and 218 before echoing loudly from behind me if I walked past. I tugged on both of the doors to no avail.

"Hello?" I called out, "Is someone there?"

There came no reply.

"If someone's there, please knock," I tried to be reasonable, "I'm here to help you, but I can't help if I don't know where you are."

Silence again.

I sighed heavily, releasing my hand from the door knob and heading back to the lift. Then, I heard it again - only it wasn't just knocking.

Knock-knock-knock, "James? James Hall?"

I whirled around, seeing a strange man I had never seen before standing outside of 217 where I had just been.

He was about average height with an average build with thinning grey hair and a light stubble on his chin. He wore a heavyweight coat - even though it was late spring - and dark colored dress pants and dress shoes. He had a sort of badge hanging from his neck, the lanyard nearly matching the same color blue as his button-down shirt. He had a large bag in his hand, a sort of medical bag that was made of leather - something that may have been seen during the late 70s or early 80s. His other hand was rapping against the door.

"James? Please let me in. Your mother has sent me to help you. I just want a little chat, okay?"

Then, the door opened, a blinding light erupted from behind the closed door. I fell back with a gasp, landing on the floor as my hand lifted to cover my eyes.