"Happy Apocalypse Day!" Diana greeted me cheerfully from behind the front desk.
What now? I had been working at the Good Shade for several weeks at this point, and
had just started to become accustomed to all the things that go on. I could finally check-in
guests, and I was learning more about the types of people that stayed in the hotel.
Not all of them were bad, but most were terrifying.
I was already starting to lose track of how many times a guest had smelled me. On the
bright side, apparently my scent is delicious. Perhaps not the best compliment, considering
it's probably something that would make me more likely to end up a victim. Diana didn't
seem too impressed when she saw such a thing occur to me for the first time.
A tall, pale woman had entered the hotel a few days after I started the job. She looked
like death-- literally. She was beautiful in a dark way, and I found myself compelled
to walk up to her as soon as our eyes met. Long black hair cascaded down her back, matching
in color with her eyes. If the grim reaper was personified as a gorgeous woman, then
that's what I was staring at.
She was as tall as me, a surprising attribute considering that I'm 6'1". She leaned
close to me as I came to a halt in front of her. Her lips hovered mere centimetres away
from my neck, and her breath felt cold on my skin. I trembled due to the fear of what
she may be, but also because I was suddenly awash with a deep lust for her. She laughed,
a deep and alluring sound as she backed away.
"You smell delicious, young man," She purred as she walked around me.
I didn't trust my legs to walk, so I simply stared as she took long graceful steps towards
Alice. "Marise, he's new. Don't play with the staff,"
Alice chastised her. "Shame, it gets lonely at the hotel."
"No it doesn't," Alice laughed, "You bring in more unregistered guests than anyone
else. You keep turning people and there will be none left to feed on."
Abruptly I felt the rush of desire leave my body, leaving only the traces of fear. I walked
hesitantly up to the women, and Marise glanced at me with a pout.
"What if I get hungry?" The pout transformed into a smile, revealing her sharp elongated
canines. Alice sighed, "You know Smith provides for
the guests, and I've already asked you once not to mess with our new staff member. Get
out of his head." Marise shrugged and broke her gaze with me.
I stood there confused until she left with her room key.
"Don't let the guests play with your head," Alice scolded me once Marise was out of sight.
"What do you mean?" I questioned, still confused about the encounter.
"The desire, her teeth? She does it to everyone. It's not real, you have to steel yourself
mentally so that it's not so easy for Shades to get in your head."
I nodded, "What about her teeth?" "You think mine are scary? Hers are just
plain hideous, but almost equally as dangerous." I took what she had told me into account,
and have worked on locking down my brain since then. By the time "Apocalypse Day" arrived
I had a minor grasp on how to protect my mind, but at the same time I was plagued with nightmares
of jagged teeth. I came into work that evening exhausted, the nightmares had made sleep nearly
impossible. "Apocalypse Day?" I questioned with a
yawn.
"It's a sort of holiday at the hotel. I mean, if holidays meant a ton of extra work,"
She was vigorously typing things into the computer as she spoke, "That's the downfall
of being in the hotel business though. It makes for an interesting night at least."
I watched as she pushed chestnut colored hair away from her tanned face. She was pretty
this way, short and curvy with dark green eyes. She noticed me staring.
"What?" "I'm just not used to Diana yet, what was
wrong with Alice?" "Nothing, I just needed to change bodies
so I could move on undetected," She shrugged at me as though it was the most obvious thing
in the world. I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to Alphaea
switching names and bodies, it was definitely confusing the first time she came in as Diana.
I nodded in understanding at her explanation, but wished she would let me call her by a
single name. She requested that I call her by the name of the body so that she wouldn't
slip up around other humans. I doubt she ever slips up though, I'm pretty sure she just
gets a laugh out of my confusion. "So what exactly is this so-called holiday?"
I got back on task, not wanting to be blindsided tonight.
"Years ago-- back in the time of Al Capone-- there was a group of men who thought themselves
Demon Hunters," She glanced up from the screen to make sure I was paying attention,
"Their leader led them to believe the apocalypse was imminent. He brought them here on the
claim that this hotel was run by demons." I listened intently, her tone made it obvious
that their visit to the Good Shade didn't end well.
"I'll tell you the rest later," She cut the story short as two young men entered the
hotel. "Hi, welcome to the Good Shade hotel,"
She smiled sweetly at the new guests.
"Damn, this place is pretty remote," The taller of the pair spoke, "Stumbled on it
by luck." "Mhmm, we don't advertise much," The edges
of her smile tightened as though she knew what would come next.
"So is the place where that massacre happened? Do you know where they died?" He asked casually
as they walked up to the desk.
I took in their appearances, they seemed almost normal. The taller guy sported short blonde
hair, he had an arrogant air about him. The shorter one had dark hair, and he practically
dragged the bags he was weighted down with. He didn't seem to be as thrilled about being
here as his friend was.
"Do you need a room for the night?" Diana ignored his question.
"Can you tell me what happened that night? It's the anniversary you know, those men came
into this forest," The blonde ignored her in return.
She rolled her eyes, "Do I look old enough to remember that?"
"Fine, whatever, we'll take a room. Can we film here, and in the area?" He sighed
and gestured to the bags. "The other guests probably won't want to
be on camera, but do what you want without bothering anyone. Names for the room, please,"
She was typing the booking into the computer as she spoke.
"I'm Eric, my friend here is Tim. I'm actually doing research on a mass killing that hasn't
been publicized," He leaned in like he was expecting this would get her to talk.
"I take it that means you didn't come here because you found some sort of advertisement
or invitation?"
Eric simply shrugged, apparently annoyed by the lack of information Diana offered. She
held out a key card silently, and gripped his hand when he reached for it.
"Only use the third elevator, don't leave your room after 11pm, and enjoy your stay
in room 217," She smiled, her eyes seemed to turn into deep black pools as she stared
into him. He yanked his hand away and began walking,
"Crazy. C'mon Tim, let's go set up in the room."
She frowned, "Not long enough," She muttered under her breath, "Tyler, will
you make sure those two make it to their room okay? Third elevator only. The other staff
aren't here yet." I nodded and quickly jogged to catch up with
the men near the elevators. They were trying to enter the wrong one. Eric seemed frustrated,
while Tim seemed slightly scared. "Swiping your key card will only work on
the correct elevator," I told them. We moved to the third elevator, and I took
a few of the heavy bags from Tim. As soon as we entered the elevator Eric began speaking
again.
"So, do you know about the massacre?" He asked me.
"I'm pretty new here, you're the first person to mention it," I replied.
He told the story as we made our way to the room. Apparently this occurred almost a hundred
years ago, most of the story was small town rumor. A group of men had followed a preacher
out into the woods, they believed he was leading them to stop the apocalypse. As the tale goes,
the men never came back and their families believed something in the woods had killed
the entire group. No one knew where exactly the men had gone, and there has been conspiracy
theories about it being a cult that committed a group suicide.
Variations of the story included the men finding a haunted building and being tortured by malevolent
forces, or the preacher turning on them and slaughtering the group. The only solid fact
that Eric had was that this forest was the one where the men had disappeared.
I nodded and made understanding noises at the right moments, this information seemed
to coincide with what Diana had been telling me before. I helped them bring the bags into
the room, and was about to leave when a question popped into my head.
"Why are you filming at the hotel?"
"This is the only place around for miles, no one has ever heard of it, and everyone
who has come looking for answers has gone missing. When we stumbled upon this place
I figured someone here must know what's going on."
"Maybe," I muttered halfheartedly. Oh the people here know what's going on, I
thought. Why else would they celebrate a holiday called Apocalypse Day?
When I returned to the lobby Diana gave me a curious look, "Learn anything interesting
from your fellow humans?" "I suppose," I shrugged, knowing she didn't
plan on enlightening me any further. I didn't have much time to dwell on the fact
that she was leaving me clueless yet again. Guests seemed to pour into the hotel in an
endless stream. Human and Shade alike came to stay. It wasn't uncommon to have human
guests, people like to roam the forest and are always relieved to find that there's somewhere
to rest. None of them remember the hotel once they leave, we have staff that make sure of
that. The influx in guests was apparently due to
the holiday. Half the human guests were out ghost hunting for the missing men, and I wasn't
sure what about this day appealed to the Shades. By the time we had gotten the flood of guests
into their rooms it was almost 11pm. I was entirely exhausted at this point, and couldn't
keep my eyes from closing as I took a seat behind the desk.
I awoke a short time later to the sound of a disagreement.
"You need to go back to your room," Diana said sternly.
I was still half asleep and hardly heard the response from a familiar male voice. I stood,
trying to collect myself, and saw a group of people enter the hotel. Diana noticed that
I was awake.
"Take care of the guests," She barked at me as she took Eric's arm and led him away
quickly. The group was made up of about ten men, and
they seemed angry. It only took a moment of them crying out for redemption upon demons
before I recognized who they must be. I couldn't pinpoint which of them might be the so-called
preacher. As they got closer I faced a horrifying realization. They were all obviously Shades,
and they were mutilated beyond belief.
Suit sleeves dangled limply, lacking arms to fill them. It was a near sea of red, blood
splatter could be found in abundance on each one of them. Eyeless sockets, mouths sewn
shut, limbs snapped and mangled, and missing chunks of flesh. These men had been brutally
torn apart. I was used to seeing awful things, but hadn't yet witnessed anything of this
magnitude. I stood staring, absolutely shocked by the scene in front of me. The gruesome
visual was paired with a soundtrack of enraged shouts.
"Demons come forth!" "We shall end the bringers of the apocalypse!"
"The night of your reckoning has come!" My stupefied state was interrupted by the
sound of elevator doors opening. A tall man in a pristine black suit came over and stood
in front of the gruesome mob. "My followers, welcome to the reckoning!"
He gave an eerie smile to the group, who responded by dropping to their knees.
They sang out praises and gratitude, the man who stood before them was their preacher.
By this point a throng of guests had heard the commotion and crowded around the edges
of the lobby. The humans were easy to distinguish, they bore panicked expressions and some even
screamed at the sight. Other guests held on to them and kept them from running away.
"Friends," The man gestured towards the edges of the room, "Let history repeat itself,
Apocalypse Day has arrived!"
He laughed like a madman, and the room was suddenly chaotic. Shades descended upon the
human guests, tearing them apart or dragging them away. The preacher ran through the room,
laughing as his razor sharp nails cut through his flock of mutilated followers. The men
dissipated when he made the violent contact, but the blood and screams were not lost. The
guests kept the sound alive as they tore each other apart.
I was backed against the wall behind the front desk, shivering with fear. The guests had
gone crazy, this place wasn't safe. I don't know how I could have thought I would get
used to being around such murderous creatures. Suddenly Diana was besides me, blood dripped
from her shark-like teeth and ran down her chin. She looked at me with curiosity, but
her eyes were inky black pools. I shrunk away from her.
She rolled her eyes at me, "I had to take care of Eric, he was getting too aggressive
while asking about the hotel. I see the festivities have started."
I stared at her speechless, and she seemed to suddenly realize the depth of my fear.
"This is what the holiday is for, a cheat day of you will. The guests go wild to celebrate
the massacre. Not a great day for your kind, but you're safe. You're with me, I'll protect
you," She said reassuringly as the darkness faded from her eyes, but the fresh blood dripping
from her chin didn't make me feel any better.
She hooked her arm through mine as we watched the brutal chaos surround us. I couldn't help
but feel afraid that she'd suddenly turn on me, I wasn't sure if she was safe to be near.
As if the universe had set out to prove me wrong, someone clutched at my free arm and
tried to pull me into the disaster.
Diana bared her teeth at the woman holding my arm, "This one is mine," She growled
in an inhuman voice. The stranger backed away, returning to the
grotesque show. We sat there and watched until the violence died down and the guests had
returned to their rooms. The lobby was awash with blood and bits of flesh, and I felt sick
to my stomach. Diana patted me on the back as she stood.
"Congratulations, you've made it through your first hotel holiday," She smiled, "Your
shift is being extended. We need to check in the morning to see how many guests we lost."
I hesitated before speaking, unsure if my voice would work, "Won't people come looking
for them?"
"We have people to take care of that, and people to clean all of this up. Everything
is fine, it's just another day at the hotel. You should get some sleep before we check
the rooms in a few hours."
I laid down on the soft couch in the office, but I couldn't sleep. I'd never get the scene
I witnessed out of my head, and I feared for my life more now than I ever had before. Just
another day? How was this considered a holiday? I was so exhausted that I couldn't keep my eyes
open, and I fell asleep to fearful thoughts.
How was I supposed to stay sane when I still had nearly two months left on my contract?
How was I supposed to get used to their idea of holidays? I didn't understand how they
could be so nonchalant about massacring guests. I felt a deep sadness for the human guests
who had thought this hotel was a safe haven amidst a dangerous forest.
This place might end up being the death of me, and every time something crazy like this
happens I flash back to the words I was told on my first day.
You'll see much worse, trust me.
Those words still remain true. Apocalypse Day may have been violent and gruesome, but
it wasn't the most terrifying night of the job.
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