The Monsters of the Mind

Part 7

Since I had already eaten a late breakfast - but an early lunch - I decided to take the opportunity to scope out the remaining floors of the hotel.

With the memory of the little girl in the hallway from the previous night now fresh in my head, I wanted to see if perhaps I could spot her again - so I took to the floor, moving steadily and silently.

It wasn't easy. The first floor was full of twists and turns, easy for someone to get lost if not for the signs on the walls indicating where the exit was. In some parts of the floor, it was almost dark save for the few lamps that lined each corner of the wall. Doors, dark mahogany, blended into the nearly dark read walls while shadows fell onto the matching carpeting - reaching out with murderous intent. I was comforted with the knowledge that I had no one chasing after me like in many of my favorite thrillers - knowing that not only would I get lost within these shadows and corridors, I would most likely be caught by whatever monster may have been pursuing me.

As I moved through the halls, I tried random doors here and there to look into - with little to no results. The ones I tried were locked - up tightly at that. I would need to use a master key to break into them and I had no doubt of who had one on their person. 

'It's a bit strange that I find myself excited by the idea of snooping through our host's home, like a detective from those old classic mystery films,' my mind thought.

"Well, I am a guest, which should allow me to at least search the floor that I'm staying on," I reasoned, "Besides, it's not like I'm going to be taking anything from the rooms. I'm just curious about what's inside them."

'But aren't you still committing a crime? Breaking and entering ringing any bells?'

I scoffed, "It was your idea to start posing questions."

With no luck on the first floor, I decided to take the lift to the next floor.

In total, from what I could gather from the floor buttons within the lift, there were at least five floors in the hotel. I didn't want to be snooping around on the ground floor yet - not with Mr. Hall still present there - and I didn't want to try the lower ground for fear he would go down to find something and see me there. I could go to the second and third floors to try the rooms up there and, hopefully, not be bothered by a sudden appearance by the proprietor.

Stepping onto the second floor when the lift stopped, I was surprised to see the main lobby covered with streamers and balloons hanging on the walls and strung out on the carpeting - as if someone was expecting a party to happen but no one showed, or it was leftover from whatever celebration had happened before my arrival. 

'A birthday perhaps? A if so, who's?'

I looked down the two entrance ways that divided the floor - 201 to 215 on left side, 216 to 225 on the right. The left side as I was peeking out from the elevator doors was completely black, not even so much as a candle was lit. The right side was still dark, but there was a bit of light that I could see from one of - most likely - many lamps.

'Must be a financial strain to have all these lights on.'

I could only agree with my mind, knowing full well that no one had visited this place for some time due to the lack of cleaning efforts as well as lack of repair the building needed. I suddenly felt myself comparing the building to the rotting of a tree. As the trees became older, they would become more vulnerable to diseases and insects that would cause harm to them. Eventually, they would rot from the inside out - pieces of bark falling from their branches as they shriveled and died. As the tree slowly died, the animals that depend on the protection of the living home would slowly leave to find a new place to call home.