By: Quinn Slabach
It was the summer of 2010, I was on my way to Connecticut for a vacation. I was about 20 at the time and driving. Suddenly my mother texts me, I was a bit irresponsible at the time so I started texting while driving. I shouldn’t have been doing that because it was starting to get dark. Just as I responded to the text I saw a deer on the road and I swerved to not hit it. I crashed into a tree and I smelt smoke.
I got out of the car to see the damage. Wasn’t too bad but it definitely needed to be fixed before driving. The deer that I had seen was not actually a deer but a Christmas reindeer decoration; it was strange but I couldn’t be mad. My GPS on my phone said that there was a hotel near here, about a kilometer away. So I started walking, about 300 feet away from the hotel I saw a marking on a tree.
It looked like a spray painted red eye crossed out. “Hey kid,” an old man called out from in front of the. I couldn’t see him because it was foggy and it was about 9:30. “Yeah,” I responded. “Why are you out here in the country with no car?” “Um, my car crashed into a tree.”
The man came forward. He looked like a mechanic. He started saying, “Well it wasn’t your car that crashed, it was you. Look kid, I can fix your car. How bout you stay at the ol’ hotel just up the road while you wait.” I started walking, eventually I got to the hotel but the whole time I was walking I felt like I was being watched. Once I got to the hotel I noted it looked run down with the big sign only having two letters lit up, r and H.
I went into what I thought was reception. There was mold everywhere. The receptionist looked around 32. Not old, not young. The thing is, the receptionist looked like he was nervous but not like it was the first day on the job, it looked like he was guilty of something.
“H-Hello,” The receptionist said. “Uh I’d like a room please.” “Okay.” The receptionist shakily handed me a key. ‘004’ it read. I made my way to the room and I opened the door. The room was dark. I switched the light switch a couple of times, but it didn't work.
“SMASH” something from the bathroom made a loud noise, “Hello?” I walk up to the bathroom, I hear the closet door open and a split second later my head feels like it’s on fire. I fall to the floor losing consciousness. I wake up and I’m in a candle lit room tied to a chair. I realize I am in a hotel room.
Four people in cloaks approach me. One holding an object. They started chanting something but I couldn’t tell what it was. The one with the object came forward. I saw that the object was a knife with the same symbol I saw on the tree earlier on the blade.
The person raised the knife up. “THIS WAS IT,” I thought. One of the cloaked men that wasn’t armed had a jar full of a red liquid. The man with the knife dipped the knife into it. I realized it was blood. “Bhagavaan shiv ko ham aaj rakt dene aate hain. krpaya hamaara upahaar sveekaar karen aur hamen aur hamaare parivaar ko aasheervaad den” The man said.
Just then the receptionist took off his cloak and jumped onto the man with the knife “I WON’T LET YOU DO THIS,” he proclaimed. I had no idea what to do so I tried to break free from the rope I was tied up with. I managed to loosen the knot just in time. One of the cloaked men stood there in shock while the other tried to help the one with the knife. I broke free from the rope and tried to get to the door but it was locked from the outside.
The man that was standing there tried to stop me but I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. I ripped off the tape covering my face “GET BACK NOW.” He put his hands up and didn’t say anything else. I ran towards the window and I tried to open the window. Wasn’t budging, so I smashed it with my elbow. I got out the window and ran out. I heard a scream but didn’t turn back.
I ran into the woods. I hid behind a tree for a while before catching a ride on the road. I contacted the police but they found nothing at the abandoned hotel. I’ve never been on long trips alone ever again.