The Graveyard Hotel

"I can't believe I totaled my car! Oh, Thank you!"

I was woken up by a frantic female voice coming from the other end of the hall.

Well, maybe not exactly woken up because I swear I never fell asleep. The whole night I only laid in bed, eyes closed thinking about this whole ordeal over and over again. Just waiting to get tired enough to fall asleep. I never did.

It wasn't because of overthinking due to unanswered questions. I just wasn't tired and had no form of exhaustion whatsoever. And perhaps the strangest part, I had no trace of irritability.

I got up and walked towards the doorway for a better listen.

"Thank you for allowing me to stay! But the invitation ..."

"You don't have to worry about that."

I stepped back just slightly from the doorway as Hermes passed by, a young woman no older than twenty following close behind.

It was the same thing he said to me when I questioned my time to leave the hotel.

Every now and then, I heard others walk by, up and down the hall and fragments of conversation. How long were they here at this hotel? Had Hermes told them the same thing? That they didn't have to worry about when they would have to leave?

I stepped out of my room and wandered down the long hall, each turn like a labyrinth. While I had no destination in particular, I hoped I could at least remember the direction to the main lobby.

Each step down the hallway was just as luxurious as before. I paused to gently touch the walls, to marvel at the paintings.

I was no longer concerned about finding the lobby.

I only wanted to explore the halls. To go down each one and discover what else awaited me within this hotel.

I passed several others, some who looked like they knew every inch of this hotel and others who very well might have only arrived not long before I did.

As the next person started to pass me by, I couldn't contain my curiosity any longer.

"Excuse me! How long are you staying? Do you know when check out is?"

"Check out?" The man stopped mid step and raised an eyebrow as if he didn't know the meaning of the word.

"Yes! I received an invitation for a stay here but it said nothing about when to leave."

"I received an invitation quite some time ago although it only feels like yesterday." the man said as he pondered deep in thought. "I was never given a day or time check out. No one who has stepped foot inside this hotel has. And even if I was, I have no desire to leave. I doubt anyone would. Would you?"

The man continued down the hall not waiting for me to answer.

I watched the man as he proceeded down the hall. The way he looked, the way he responded, I knew he was one of the invitees who had been here for a long time.

I took a chance and followed him from a distance as he moved at a calm and steady pace. He had a destination but was in no hurry. As he turned another corner, the halls gave way to a more spacious area. An area I remembered passing through when Hermes showed me to my room. The lobby.

I stood in the middle of the lobby, my eyes moving from the luxurious marble floor beneath me to the chandeliers that hung above me. My eyes continued to wander throughout the hotel lobby until they rested on some benches close to the checkout desk.

I saw a young woman sitting on one of the benches and stopped my wandering gaze immediately. It was the same woman I saw pass by as Hermes led her to her room. The same one who totaled her car.

I walked over to the same bench she sat on. The benches were just long enough that a stranger could sit on the same bench without it feeling intrusive.

I sat on the bench as I continued to marvel at the hotel lobby. My gaze shifted as I took a look at the young woman beside me on the bench.

She only looked straight ahead towards nowhere in particular. My peripheral only allowed me to see part of her expression, but it was just enough for me to know that she was just as confused as I was.

I turned in her direction. "Did you get an invitation too?"

She nodded. "And it really couldn't have come at a better time!"

I turned my full attention toward her.

"I was miles away from home. It was the strangest thing. After the crash, I noticed an envelope that was stuck between the wiper blades. I didn't know whether to believe it. What anything in the invitation said. And then a moment later, some weird chauffeur stopped by and picked me up. I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't call anyone. I couldn't find my cellphone anywhere."

The young woman looked visibly distraught but not exhausted as one would be after surviving a car accident.

"You're definitely lucky! Sounds like a horrible accident! " I softened my gaze and gave a warm smile. "My name's Hazel."

"I'm Clarissa," the young woman replied as she managed a smile.

"What do you mean she's not on the list?!"

Both me and Clarissa jumped as we turned our attention to the front desk where a man stood. Agitated, he stretched his body slightly over the desk to try to get a better look at the names on the list.

"No. There has to be some mistake! I was supposed to meet my wife here." He turned to look disapprovingly towards the lobby but even as he did so, I swore I saw a glimpse of wonder in his eyes. "This doesn't even look like the right hotel!"

Elara, the same woman who sat behind the front desk when I arrived wasn't phased one bit by the man's outburst. "For now, Hermes will show you to your room. And we promise you, your wife will eventually join you here at the Amulet Rosette."

I turned to Clarissa who had the same confused expression I had.

There was something off about this hotel but neither of us could place what.