The Dead Body in the Hotel Room

It was May 1, 2020. A hotel security officer of the Cohen Hotel in Orlando knocked on the door of room 362. The guest in the room was supposed to check out of the room that morning at 11:00 AM. There was no answer at the door, but the television was on. It could be heard through the door. The security guard knocked on the door again, a little louder. Still, no answer.

The guard got onto her radio and messaged her supervisor, “Officer Rodriguez to Base.”

“This is Base,” said her supervisor, Sgt. Brown.

“I am at room 362 and there is no answer at the door. Do I have permission to enter the room?”

“Negative, Officer Rodriguez. Please wait for backup.”

Officer Rodriguez, age twenty-eight, waited outside the room. She was five-foot-five with reddish-black hair and brown eyes. She wore a white button-down shirt with “Hotel Security” patches on her sleeves, black pants, and black shoes. She wore a black belt and attached to her belt was a radio. Her hair was put up in a bun.

It was about five minutes until three more hotel security guards came up along with Sgt. Brown. Sgt. Brown was an African American male in his late thirties, about six-foot-one with short hair, and brown eyes. He looked a little like Nick Fury. He wore a grey suit with a white shirt and a purple tie. He too wore a radio on his belt along with a nametag that said, “Sgt. Geoffrey Adam ‘Danger Zone’ Brown” on it. He carried a Master Key for all the rooms in the hotel. With him were Officers Lauren West, Jason Zonca, and Joel Reader.

Officer West was in her mid-twenties, about five-foot-four with blonde hair and green eyes. Officer Zonca was in his mid-thirties, five-foot-eight, bald with a brown goatee beard, brown eyes, and glasses. Officer Reader was about six-foot-one, in his late twenties, with long brown hair, and brown eyes. All three of these officers were dressed like Officer Rodriguez.

Sgt. Brown walked over to the room and knocked on the door. “Hotel Security,” he said loudly. There was no answer. He knocked louder, “Hotel Security.” Again, no answer. He took out the Master Key Card and placed it against the lock. The door unlocked and they entered.

The lights were off, and the curtains were drawn. The room was about thirty feet by fifteen feet with grey and blue paint on the walls. There were two queen-sized beds, a nightstand between the two beds with a lamp on it, and two sets of reading lights on the sides of each bed. Next to the bed near the window was a chair and an ottoman. In front of the beds was a big desk that had drawers underneath them for clothes, a cabinet for a refrigerator, an area with a chair, and another area where there is an ottoman underneath a part of the section of the desk. Close to the door was the bathroom, sink, and closet area where there were toiletries on the sink, towels on the floor of the bathroom, and some toiletries in the shower area. On the desk where the chair was sat a laptop computer that was still on with a series of video logs in a file on the screen. It started on the date April 13, 2020, and the last video was dated April 30, 2020, at 11:59 PM.

The guards walked into the room and the television was on to the Cartoon Network. There were two shapes on the bed. The first shape was human, the second shape was the shape of a dog. Both were not moving and there was a slight smell in the room as well. They couldn’t see properly in the room, so they turned the light on by the bed. That’s when they saw the bodies lying on the bed.

It was a human male and a male dog, lying on the bed, not moving, and covered in blood. The worst part, the vilest part, was that both bodies' chests had been cut open, the hearts removed, sewn back up, and the heart of the human male was in the left hand of the man while the dog’s heart was held between the dog’s paws. The human was a Caucasian male with shoulder-length brown hair, and his eyes were closed. He was five-foot-ten and about two-hundred-forty pounds. The dog was a black and tan Australian Shepard with short fur. Both victims' eyes were closed, and both had a look of fear on their faces.

All the security guards gasped as they saw the sight on the bed. Officer Reader saw this sight and ran to the bathroom to vomit. He returned and could barely look at the sight of the bodies lying on the bed. None of the security officers could stand the bloody sight on the bed. The white bedsheets were covered in blood and most likely soaked through to the mattress.

“Call 911,” said Sgt. Brown. “We need to get these bodies out of here and have an investigation.”

911 was called with an ambulance for the bodies and Florida Orange County Sheriffs and detectives came to investigate the crime scene. The two detectives who came were Detectives Patrick Hoehn and Kirk Moore. Detective Hoehn, a Caucasian male, was about five-foot-nine with blue eyes, a brown goatee, and a bald head. He wore brown slacks, a white shirt with blue stripes on them, and a blue and white tie. He carried his gun on his right hip and his badge on his left. Detective Moore was about six-foot-one with short brown hair, and brown eyes. He was also in his late twenties. He wore black slacks and a white shirt with a blue tie. Detective Hoehn was the senior officer of the two.

“Bag them up and dust for fingerprints,” said Hoehn. He went over and looked at the bodies. “I’ve never seen something so vile.” He looked at Moore. “Take the laptop with you, I think those videos should be able to give us some kind of clue as to what happened here.”

“Yes sir,” said Moore and he gathered the laptop wearing gloves. The other sheriffs dusted for fingerprints and left the room. They placed crime scene tape over the doors so that no one would enter the room.

Back at the station, both detectives went over the file of this case. “What doesn’t make sense,” said Hoehn, “is that both bodies were found dead on the bed with their hearts removed, sewn up, and placed in the man’s hand and between the paws of the dog, all the while, the door was locked from the inside. There is no way that anyone could have gone in or out of the room without leaving the door unlocked.”

“No,” said Moore, “it doesn’t make sense at all. But who or what could have done that? This is like something out of a horror movie.”

“Yes, it is. Maybe there will be something on that laptop.”

“I watched the vlogs; they were just a ranting of a crazy guy.”

“I don’t think so,” said Hoehn skeptically. “I want to watch them myself and take some notes. Maybe there is something in them that you didn’t see. How many did you watch?”

“Just the first few. Just mainly him complaining about not sleeping and how he misses his mother.”

“I’m going to watch each one, maybe there’s more to it than you saw.”

“Okay,” said Moore. “Maybe I missed something, maybe I didn’t.”

****

Hours later Hoehn sat at his desk with a tape recorder in his hand. He placed the small cassette into the recorder and looked at the notes on his desk. “This is Detective Patrick Hoehn,” he said, “recording my notes from case number 2020-653683. So far, I have looked over the coroner’s report with the same notes I already took. The first victim is a Caucasian male, age forty-one with long brown hair and hazel eyes. The age was taken from his license in his wallet. The right side of his face was drooped lower than the left side, due to at least one stroke. His left foot, a broken right big toe that had never healed and was sticking up as if he were giving everyone a thumb’s up with his big toe. Under his right eye, a scar that looks like it has been there for years. Thumbnails cracked and it looked like he chewed on his fingernails. The odd thing is it looked like his whole body was recently completely shaven except for the hair on his head and his eyebrows. He had several medications that looked like they were for high blood pressure, allergies, and diabetes. His name was Marc Miller. His heart was in his left hand after being removed and then his chest sewn up.”

He turned the page and continued. “The second victim was a male black and tan dog that looked like it could be either a small German Shepard, an Australian Shepard, or a Rottweiler/Shepard Mix. The dog seemed to be about a year old. The chip, inside the dog, was registered to the human victim and its name was ‘Tank’. The dog’s heart was placed between its paws, and he was laying on his right side with his back to his owner. Both victims looked as if they feared something.”

Hoehn stopped recording and looked at the laptop. “I am now going to start watching the vlogs recorded by the victim starting on April 13, 2020, which is the first vlog recorded by the victim.”

He clicked on the icon on the laptop, and it began to play.

****

On the screen appeared the victim wearing a grey t-shirt with ∑ΑΠ on it. He was crying out of sadness.

It is April 13, 2020, at 10:00 PM, said the victim crying. My mother had passed away today at 5:40 PM. She died in my arms as I was trying to give her CPR. I couldn’t get her out of the car. We were at CVS on I-Drive, and she had just gotten her medication so that she could lower her blood pressure and relax her. It was an anti-anxiety medication. She had just taken the pill when her heart stopped. I called 911 and they came and tried to revive her. They brought her to Doctor Phillips Hospital where she was pronounced dead twenty minutes later. The sheriff drove me over there and back to the car. I can’t believe she died. A little while ago, I had a visit from my friend Tracy who spent some time with me to give me some condolences. I don’t know how to explain to my dog Tank that his mommy isn’t coming back. I can’t explain how painful this is. I don’t know if I will be able to sleep tonight. I keep seeing her dead. I can’t go into the car without seeing her dead next to me. I can’t handle it right now, but I made a few calls. I called her niece Abby, who called me right back, and her brother Manny. He called me back a few minutes ago. He begged me to allow him to bury her because he didn’t want her cremated. I agreed but I doubt I will hear from him again.

The screen stopped as the video ended. Hoehn could see the sadness in the victim’s eyes as he spoke. He saw tears flowing down his face and he could sense survivor’s guilt and disbelief that his mother has passed away. There was no evidence of a hint of the cause of death.

****

Hoehn clicked on the next file. This one was dated April 14, 2020. The screen came on and this time the victim was wearing a red Epcot t-shirt. His face was still sad and looked as if he was in mourning.

This is my second video log after my mother’s death. I’m taping this at 8:00 A.M. on April 14, 2020. Last night was complete Hell. I barely slept and when I did, I kept dreaming of her death. I when I was awake, I saw a shadow in the room. It only happened when the television turned off from the timer. I couldn’t see the face, but it was shaped like a human body and the eyes were red. When I turned on the lights, it disappeared. The dream was of Mom and I sitting in the car, we were talking after she had her medication from CVS, and she asked me to rub her back. It was then that she stopped breathing and turned blue. But, in the dream, she told me that I killed her. She looked at me with her dead eyes and said it to me. I couldn’t sleep after that and that’s when I saw the shadow by the door. It was just standing there staring at me. I know nothing could have gotten in the room because I had locked the door, but there it was. As I said, I turned on the light and it disappeared. I turned the television back on and “watched” it for the rest of the night. I didn’t really watch it because I lost all interest in any form of entertainment. I’m scared of this thing. I don’t know if Tank saw it, but he seemed to be sleeping until I turned on the light. I had to take him out and we had no other incident of the shadow for the rest of the night.

The video stopped and Hoehn sat there staring at the screen. He could see the fear of the victim in his eyes. Hoehn thought to himself that it was probably just a hallucination from lack of sleep and stress that caused the victim to see the alleged shadow. He found this case to be an enigma and enigmas intrigued him.

****

Hoehn clicked on the next file dated April 15, 2020. This time the victim was wearing a black t-shirt, but he couldn’t see what the logo was on the shirt. The victim looked exhausted like he barely slept again. The video began to play.

It’s April 15, 2020, at 8:30 A.M. I barely slept last night again. The same nightmare of Mom dying in the car and her telling me that I killed her. I know there was nothing I could do to save her, but I still feel horrible. I know I did what I could to save her. I did CPR, I did what I could, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t save her. I woke up crying and again I saw the shadow. This time it was closer than it was before. The night before it was by the door of the hotel room, this time it was between the hotel door and the wall that separates the sink from the rest of the room. I assume that it appears once the television turns off from the timer set by the hotel’s system. It moved silently because again, I didn’t hear it enter and the door was locked from the inside. Again, I turned on the lights and it disappeared. Tank woke up next to me and I had to take him out. I let the television stay on for the rest of the night because I couldn’t go back to sleep. Tank on the other hand cuddled up next to me and fell off to sleep. Tonight, I’m going to put the chair against the door to see if that will help. I hope so.

The video stopped and Hoehn sat there dumbfounded. He could not believe what he was hearing. This shadow was a conundrum for him, and he did not know what was going on. There must be an explanation, he thought. This death is not going to be a cold case, I won’t let it happen.

****

He clicked on the fourth video. This time the victim had dark circles under his eyes and wearing a blue t-shirt. He looked like he hadn’t slept more than an hour at the most. He was also twitching and looking over his shoulder when the video played.

It’s April 16, 2020, at 7:30 A.M. The same nightmare woke me up again and I saw the shadow. I don’t think I slept more than an hour, give or take, and it is really starting to get to me. This time the shadow was on the far side of the other bed. I had the chair against the door and made sure I locked it when I came back from walking Tank an hour prior for his last walk for the night. I woke up this time from the nightmare and this time Tank was up. He was staring at the shadow as I was. He was shaking, scared, terrified. I looked at the thing right in its red eyes. They were hypnotizing and I felt like I was falling into them. Tank barked at it and woke me out of the hypnosis. I turned on the light again and the shadow disappeared. I don’t know what it wants but I think it wants my soul or maybe something worse. Since I know the chair won’t stop it from coming into the room, I don’t know what will. Is it a monster? A demon? What? Did I summon it? I don’t think so.

The video stopped there. The shadow was getting closer. How could this be? Hoehn looked at the clock. It was 1:00 A.M. His eyes were weak from being tired and he went home for the night.

****

It was a long drive from the station to his apartment in Calypso Key outside of Lake Buena Vista. He opened a beer and ate some leftover Kung Pao Chicken and then went to sleep. That night he had a dream or thought he had a dream of the shadow in his room. He woke up the next morning with a slight headache, but it wasn’t from the beer. He took some ibuprofen and went to work at 10:00 A.M. The computer was still on his desk unlocked and untouched. On his desk were a few Marvel Funko Pops, a Venom, a Deadpool, and a Spider-Man. They stared at him, and he looked at him back. He went back to the computer and looked at the next fifth video. It started and the victim looked worse than he had the night before, his face was haggard, and he was shaking.

April 17, 2020, I didn’t sleep more than two hours last night. The nightmares kept coming. I don’t even know what time it is. Oh, it’s 6:00 A.M. My head is hurting me. I can barely think from the lack of sleep. I drank a Monster to wake me up after the nightmare. I know I’m not supposed to drink them because I’m diabetic, but I don’t know how long I’m going to be alive. The shadow came back last night, and it was closer. It was standing at the foot of the other bed right in the center. Its red eyes glaring at me. This time I think I saw its mouth or what I think is a mouth. It was smiling at me but not in a friendly way. I know it is evil. I can feel it. I turned on the light and kept it on for the rest of the night. I put the television on for noise. I don’t know how long I can deal with this. I’m exhausted. The nightmares and this shadow are really putting a toll on my health. I don’t drink or like coffee so that won’t help me with the lack of sleep. Tank saw the shadow again and he growled at it. I don’t know if that was what woke me up or the nightmare. Both happened at the same time. I know the little guy is trying to protect me. He’s my best friend and I love him. I wouldn’t let anything happen to him. I’m going to try to get rest and then get some food. I’m exhausted and I’m hungry. I doubt I will sleep but any form of rest must be better than nothing.

The video stopped and Hoehn sat there with his mouth agape. This was not a normal murder and he had to figure out what was going on. The victim seems to be getting tortured by something, whether it is psychological or supernatural, he wasn’t sure. He got up and went to get a cup of coffee and brought it back to his desk. There were donuts in the breakroom, but he ignored them and went to watch the next video.

****

The video started the with the next morning, or night. Hoehn couldn’t tell because the curtains were drawn in the room. That was until the victim began talking. His right eye was partially closed and swollen.

April 18, 2020, at 4:00 A.M. I had another nightmare tonight and more of the shadow. The same nightmare that I’ve had since Mom died. I woke up crying and I think I hit myself in the eye. I took something for the pain, and I think I’ll survive that. (He laughed). The shadow was in the same spot by the other bed as it was last night. I woke up but I couldn’t move this time. It was like my body was paralyzed. My arms, legs, chest, and body felt heavy, I couldn’t move at all except for my eyes. I couldn’t even move my mouth. The shadow or thing or whatever it is stared at me again, menacingly. This time I could smell it. It smelled like death. It smelled worse than death. You know when you accidentally leave chicken in the fridge, and it goes bad? It smelled worse than that. It made me want to vomit but I couldn’t. I don’t know what this shadow is, but after the initial paralysis stopped, I turned on the television immediately because I kept the remote next to me and it disappeared once the television came back on. The worse part was that my joints and muscles ached after the paralysis left. I ran to the bathroom and vomited in the toilet and then took Tank out. I haven’t been back to sleep since, and I don’t think I will sleep for the rest of the night. I decided to make this video now just in case I forgot later.

The video stopped. Hoehn got up and stretched. He walked around the room and then called to order takeout to be dropped off to him, a double bacon cheeseburger with fries, and a cola from Five Guys Burgers and Fries. He ate the burger in silence while watching the next video.

****

The video started off with the victim in front of the camera but this time there were heavy bags under his eyes. He looked sick and very pale as if he hadn’t been outside in the sun in days. His hazel eyes were red as if he was either crying or hurting from the lack of sleep.

It’s uh, April 19, 2020, at 8:00 A.M. I didn’t sleep at all last night. I stayed up to see when the shadow would appear. It seems to only come into the room when the room is dark, and I waited until the television turned off to see if it would appear last night. The television went off at 2:00 but this time nothing happened. I think it only manifests when I sleep and have the nightmares. My head is killing me from a lack of sleep. I’m going to go to the store and pick up a Monster to help with the headache and to keep me up during the day. I feel nauseous and I’m seeing double. Tank slept well last night except for when I got up to walk around since my right knee and my left big toe hurts. I had to stretch out my muscles. I think I’m less scared of COVID than I am of this shadow creature. I’m scared because I think this thing is going to kill me. Tonight, if it appears, I’m going to talk to it and find out what it wants. I know it isn’t something you’re supposed to do if it is a demon because it can invite the demon into you.

The video stopped and Hoehn had finished his fries. He realized this was becoming supernatural and he had to somehow explain this to his chief. He wanted to watch the rest of the videos to make sure that these weren’t the ravings of a mad man, but then again, how did both he and the dog die? The hearts of both victims were next to each other, and their bodies were sewn back up. No person could have done that, even after taking their own heart out of their body. That was physically impossible! He went to the next video.

****

The video started and the victim looked frazzled. His hair was a mess, part of it was in his eyes as if he had just woken up. His eyes were wild and scared. His lips were cracked, and the lower lip was bleeding a little.

It’s April 20, 2020, at 4:00 A.M. I confronted the shadow like I shouldn’t have done, but it didn’t respond verbally. I woke up from the nightmare and there it was. It just stood there staring at me. When I asked it what it wanted it pointed at me. Its red eyes glared at me as if it was laughing as it pointed. I almost reached out to it but decided against it in the last second. Instead, I turned on the light and it disappeared. This time it was at the edge closest to me of the other bed. I think it intends to kill me. I feel so weak from the lack of sleep. I don’t think I’m going to get back to sleep tonight.

The video stopped then. That was when Hoehn saw the shadow behind the victim. He thought it was a lighting issue and just the victim’s shadow from the light, but it was not at the same angle that the light should have made for the shadow.

As Hoehn was staring at the screen, Brown walked up behind him. “Hey Patrick, did you see anything interesting in the videos,” he asked.

“Yeah, Geoffrey, I have” replied Hoehn. “I’m not sure how to explain it but this guy was murdered by something, not of this world.”

“How so?”

“Think about it, the door was locked from the inside, according to the coroner’s report both bodies died at the same time, and how could the victim have sewn himself up after removing his own heart? It’s impossible for that to happen any other way.”

“That’s crazy. What do the videos say?”

“Something about a shadow in the hotel room. The guy was barely sleeping after his mother’s death, and he was having nightmares. The victim so far thinks that the shadow was after him most likely to possess him.”

“Weird, very weird, man.”

“Tell me about it. I’m going to watch the next video. After this one, I have a few more to watch.”

“Well, don’t get too caught up in them. You’re looking a little peaked.”

“Nah, it’s just this case is getting to me. I want to know how this is going to end. There has to be some clue as to what happened.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to you later.”

****

Hoehn clicked on the next video. The room was still dark, the curtains drawn but there was a crack of light coming in from between them. The victim sat in front of the camera. After about five minutes of just staring, he began to speak.

It’s, uh, April 21, 2020, at some time in the morning. I’ve lost track of time. I know I could look at the time, but my eyes are blurry. I can barely see from exhaustion. I’m barely eating. I’ve been eating stuff like sliced turkey on rye but I’m giving more to Tank than I’m eating myself. My head is killing me. I took something for the pain, but nothing seems to work. I can’t sleep, I can barely eat, I can barely think. There was another long pause. The victim seemed to be staring into the camera with red-veined eyes. I had another nightmare and the shadow returned. This time it was standing at the corner of my bed. I woke up screaming from the nightmare and there it was, just standing there with its eyes glaring at me. Tank woke up as I did, and he barked at the thing. It looked at him as he barked at it. It didn’t show any fear in its eyes, just malice. As Tank got up to go after the shadow, he stepped on the remote for the television and it went on. At that moment the shadow disappeared. Tank is a tough little thing when he wants to be. He’s very protective of me, which I appreciate, but now I’m worried that something may happen to him.

The video stopped. Hoehn had finished his soda and saw that he had ice left in the cup. He got up and went to the vending machine and got himself another cola. It felt good for him to stretch his legs. When he came back to the computer, he saw on the screen the victim as the video stopped but the shadow, he saw in the previous video, was there again, this time closer than it was the last time. Again, he could see the red eyes, full of fire, full of malice, full of darkness. It seemed as if he was being stared at through the computer itself.

****

Hoehn shook his head as if to say it was just his imagination. He clicked on the next video. It seemed as if a few days were skipped because the next one was April 28, 2020. The victim looked horrible at this point. His skin was pale, and his face was haggard. He looked like he hadn’t eaten in a few days but was hydrated from just drinking water. He just sat there for a few minutes staring into the camera.

It’s April 28, 2020. I don’t know the time anymore. I can barely see, and I can barely keep awake. I know I haven’t done a video for a few days I think a week. I’m barely eating. I went to Walmart the other day to get some Ramen noodles and people avoided me. I know I look like something from a zombie movie only I have no craving for brains. Besides, the tourists here don’t have any. His laugh was a chuckle. The whatever it is has shown up the past few nights. I can hear it breathing now next to me. I sleep with the covers over my head, but I know it is there. I can smell its breath. It is disgusting. I want to vomit each time I smell it. It smells like rot, the most disgusting rot out there. I wish I had something to hit it with but there doesn’t seem to be anything that would probably hurt it. It wants me and Tank and I don’t know why. I’m so tired and I’m afraid to fall asleep. I want to eat but I’m not hungry. I wish my mom was here and hadn’t passed away. This all started after she died. If you are watching this and find me dead, I didn’t die of natural causes.

The video stopped and Hoehn again could see the shadow behind the victim. It was closer, looking over the victim’s shoulder. Hoehn felt like the shadow was in the room with him. He shivered as if someone had walked on his grave. He turned around and looked behind him. The clock on the wall said it was 6:00 PM. He stood up and stretched. I guess there are two more to go, he thought. I’ll watch them tomorrow.

Hoehn got up and left for the night. He was exhausted. He had a quick dinner of pizza and beer and fell asleep on his recliner chair. That night he had the strangest dream that he was being stalked by the creature/shadow that his victim had described in the videos. Hoehn ran away from the shadow after firing his gun into the creature and nothing happened. Then again, this was also a dream. Hoehn woke up to his alarm on his cell phone going off. It was 5:00 AM. Hoehn thought to himself that the dream was a mixture of the beer, the pizza, and the videos getting into his head. He got up and made himself a pot of coffee. He drank about half the pot before heading to the precinct and work. He got there about 8:00 AM and sat back down at the computer of his victim.

****

There were two videos left. He tried to open one that was two days before the death of his victim, the screen was mainly static with the victim just sitting there. Every time the victim tried to talk, the picture would stop or glitch. He could see the shadow behind the victim, extremely close to the victim, close enough to touch the victim. The video ended with the shadow creature’s face over the victim’s face. There was no way to get a proper dialogue from it because it was broken up too much. He went to the final video.

This video played. The victim was sitting there in front of the camera crying. I think it is going to take me tonight. I’m terrified. It kept telling me last night that I won’t survive the month. I tried to record a video, but I could barely get it done. When I watched it, it either became static or it would freeze up. I’m not a software expert but I can tell when there are issues afoot. I can feel it behind me, I know it’s there. I just want it all to end. I’m so scar-.

At that moment the victim was pulled back and thrown on the bed behind him. The shadow creature was there standing and blocking the view of the camera, but Hoehn could hear the victim scream in pain. There was a bark and growl and then a yelp as the dog was then attacked. The creature turned back to the camera and looked into it. Hoehn could see the blood-red eyes as it smiled, and the video stopped with the shadow creature’s smiling demonic face on the screen.

Hoehn shivered again as he closed the file. The problem was that the shadow creature’s face was still on the screen. Hoehn looked around the room where his desk was, and it was completely empty. It was odd because it was in the middle of the morning, and it is usually a busy time in the office area of the precinct.

“H-h-hello?’ he said quietly. There was no answer. The building was empty, and it shouldn’t be. He looked back at the screen and the shadow creature was gone. He turned around and stared right into the eyes of the creature.