The Monsters of the Mind

Part 20

The decor of the third floor was still the same as it had been the previous night and early hours of the morning.

The walls were still that cold green with ghostly eyes watching me as I exited the lift. The age-old furniture still sat in the lobby remained dressed in cobwebs and dust. But the lamps were now lit, strangely. I thought that, perhaps, the spirits of the Sea View Hotel had the power to turn the power on and off as a way to guide me about where I needed to go. 

With the lights now illuminating my way, I rushed on my feet toward Room 301.

It wasn't hard to find the room, I had passed it during the events of last night and had even attempted to open the heavy wooden door when I was searching for Harvey. Then, it felt as if a force had wrapped itself around the door and the frame - keeping me from even trying the handle. When I tried the knob again, however, the door creaked open - permitting me entry into the long forgotten room.

The room was mostly dark save for the short hallway that led into the room, illuminating the bathroom door on the right hand side. But, even in the darkness, I could see that the room was like any other in this hotel - the same wallpaper, the same plush carpeting - and had no doubt that the furniture would be the same as it was in all the others.

I turned on the device, the static crackling louder now, "Rose? Are you there?"

The static continued for a few minutes before I switched it off. 

I looked at the spirit receiver, tapping my foot in thought. Was she trying to tell me something? What was so important about this room anyway?

'Maybe this was where she died?' my mind asked.

"Unlikely," I answered, "the other spirits told or showed us everything leading up to their demise. Why would she show us where she was killed right off the bat?"

'Jimmy did mention that she commited suicide,' my mind answered after a while, 'Maybe she drowned herself in the bathroom? Or maybe was on some special medication? There might be something in this room that Rose's spirit might be trying to tell us.'

I nodded at the thought, but it seemed unlikely - there was just something about this room that seemed off. Unlike the other rooms, the darkness clung to this one like smoke on fabric. I could feel something shifting about in this place that wasn't like the other spirits either - who were more forthcoming about what had happened to them. I could feel the chill of fear crawl up the back of my spine and feel my hair stand on end as a ghostly wind blew through the empty room. 

The spirit in this room - if there was one - was angry.

I could feel a lump in my throat form. If, from what I've seen in horror movies and read in ghost stories, angry spirits were not to be messed with. They would take their rage out on whomever entered what some would call a "safe room" or "ghost room" - in some instances, killing said person or other living creature on the spot. From the little light, I couldn't see anything that would confirm or deny the concept of there actually being a spirit who killed the living because they were angry. But the air still held that unnatural stillness that had been around Harvey when I had encountered him.

Regardless, I mentally steeled my nerves. If I was going to find Rose, I had to start somewhere - and it seemed the bathroom in this haunted room was one of a few places to start.

The door to the bathroom opened with ease - but there was nothing in that room.

The floor - that would have been made up of white tiling - was completely bare and made of wood. There were no utilities in there, either - no toilet, no sink, no cabinet... even the tub and shower was gone! All that was in there was a large hole in the center of the floor, as if someone had dug down through the floorboards and all the way to the ground and below. I couldn't see anything - though I should've at least been able to see the rooms of the floors beneath this one.