The Yellow Jacket

I fell asleep last night, as one normally does, gently and without knowing when the waking hours were replaced with a time of rest, but there was something that brought wonder to my mind upon waking from my slumber. I couldn’t say is was a dream, for we don’t recall much of what we experienced when we have such things, but I could remember anything and everything that occurred whilst sleep took my body for a time, forgetting what my reality consisted of.

I can’t truly remember where I stood at the start, but with the busy streets that surrounded me and the crowded walkways in which people strolled upon, buildings towering far above my head numbering in the thousands, I assume it was a city though I was not given anything that told me exactly where. Of course I could put a name to it and say it was New York, for my mind remembers fondly the time I spent there as a child and the sights were quite similar to what I saw. I will call this place New York- Manhattan to be even more precise, for I think of it often. To continue, before I get sidetracked anymore than I have already, my feet were standing upon an unknown street, and my eyes were met with a sight I could recall every detail of. Inside of a tall, black gated fence that stretched for a measurable distance in each direction stood a large building, a hotel that is, called “Autumns End” which was illuminated by red letters that shone brightly in the gloom of the night. There was no valet of any sort, no entrance for vehicles, rather there was a simple walkway that led to the grand entrance, populated by two unnecessarily large blue doors that had ironically small, style lacking door handles. I found myself moving towards them, and without much thought my hand was gripping the knob and I pressed inward.

The door opened easily enough for its size, but it wasn’t without a painful moan from the weathered hinges that held it in place, thus I assumed that this was a building of age. I came upon the main floor, the lobby I would guess, of the hotel which was deserted of all people except for a man who stood deathly silent behind a desk at the far end of the room. I was hesitant to venture any further in, for I found it odd that not a single person inhabited the elegantly decorated environment, as everything about it was warm and welcoming, in every sense of the word. The wooden floors were shined to the extent that the panels looked like fresh water, a warm hue from beautifully lit crystal chandeliers blending perfectly into the surrounding walls painted a subtle white, bright enough to be seen but dull in nature so not take away from the other elements in the room. A fire roared to the right of me, the focal point for the lounge I would presume, provided for guests awaiting a room or to talk among others who were presently staying, though I did not see any. There was no echoing sound of distant chatter as one would normally hear, only a quiet composition of bossa nova that came from speakers positioned at the corners of the lobby. The man at the desk stood motionless, dressed tastefully and groomed more than any man should be, and he looked as though a figure that wandered out of a wax museum unnoticed. I wanted to turn back, but something drew me in further, and my feet moved forward before I could decide otherwise.

Within a few steps I was positioned directly in front of the desk where the man stood, and it baffled me, for just moments before I was well across the room from him, and I could not understand how I ventured so far in so few movements. My thoughts were interrupted by an eerily pleasant “Good evening sir, your room is ready for you”, by which I replied “I’m sorry? I reserved no room here”. His expression did not change, but he quickly turned and gestured for me to follow him, “This way sir, your room is ready for you”, and I replied again, “I requested no room here, you must have me mistaken with someone else”. Again he gestured and said with the same unpleasant pleasantness, “your room is ready for you”, and I stared at him with great confusion. I had an unknown urge though, to follow him, thus with a only a moment's hesitation, I did as he directed me to.

We walked for quite some time down a hallway lined with the same eggshell white that coated the lobby walls, but the wooden floor was replaced by a deep red carpet that our feet made a gentle sound upon, lanterns at every doorway lit the extensive pathway. The hotel clerk walked with his gloved hands behind his back and with a fast pace, as though I was chasing him through this corridor of white doors. He suddenly stopped, and turned towards me, though his gaze was set somewhere in the distance, and held out a key along with another, “your room is ready for you”, at which I promptly took the key from his hand and said nothing else. We stood in front of a room numbered "000", which was odd for I know we had been walking for some time and would have thought that the number would be higher in value, and I turned to ask him why he had brought me here. Before the words left my lips, he began walking briskly in the direction we had come from just moments prior, down the hallway that seemed to stretch for miles, and I watched as his stride turn into a run, and he quickly became difficult to make out. I began running after him, screaming for him to stop, but he did not acknowledge my voice, my eyes watching as he turned a corner I don’t recall seeing on our journey from the main floor. I began to slow my pace, knowing he was too far out of reach, and my legs felt as though led had replaced them, resulting in my lunges being unable to take me any further.

My gaze ventured down the hallway once more to see a man in a yellow jacket whose body was facing my direction, though he did not move. I called out to him and he responded with silence, but I saw movement in his legs, and it became painfully clear that he was in stride towards me. I could feel my face drain of its color, sweat beginning to protrude through my pores, and I tried to move my legs but they stood steadfast on the blood red carpet that lined the floor. The man in the yellow jacket was still in pace towards me as I was trying desperately to pick up my legs from where they stood, but nothing worked, a beating in my heart reaching an intensity I had never felt before. My struggling came to a sudden stop, as my ears were met with his voice crawling faintly through the corridor, chanting in cadence, “Zero Zero Zero...Zero Zero Zero”, planting a fear inside of me unparalleled, though I knew not of what it meant. The palm of his hand glided across the wall as he walked, resonating a sound similar to that of prongs dragging across the surface of a porcelain dish, accompanied by the constant, “Zero Zero Zero”, that left his mouth.

My gaze turned to the doorway that lay beside where I remained standing, and I felt the key I had been given by the clerk pressing into my hand, as my frightened nature had turned them into clenched fists. I reached for the knob and struggled to insert the key, trying desperately to turn it as I was barely able to reach the entry way with my lead bound legs, and the approaching presence caused impressive trembling in my fingers. The handle turned and the door fell open as did I, for all of my weight had been pressed up against the wood. My upper half lay inside of the room, thus I could not see where the yellow coated man was, but I could feel the pounding of his footsteps and his chant growing ever so near. I gripped the floor and pulled my body through the opening with every ounce of strength I had left, slamming the door and crawling back to the handle to lock it, as my legs still failed me. My breath was heavy as I rested my back against the doorway, my arms falling limp on the ground beside me.

I could no longer here his chant nor his footsteps, and I felt a sense of relief that lasted no longer than the blinking of an eye. His fingers were tapping on the wood, just above where my head lay, “tap...tap...tap”, and again, “tap...tap...tap”, three at a time and with a pause after each, causing my skin to crawl violently and my heart to beat with the same intensity. It began relatively soft, a delicate contact between the tip of his fingers and the white door, but it was growing in force as I began to inch further into the room, hoping to find somewhere to hide myself if he broke through. I looked around wildly, pressing myself past the bed until I saw in front of me a closet, upon which I pulled myself towards in a dramatic fashion. I reached my arm upward and pushed it open, entering the space as quickly as my body would allow me to. I hoisted my legs inside one at a time, their weight resulting in a great depletion of my strength, but I mustered what remained of it to shut the door upon entering. The man who stood outside now was pounding the cadence in which he endlessly repeated, “BANG...BANG...BANG”, over and over, three times through and always with a pause.

My body lay limp inside of the closet, shivering terribly now as the temperature dropped in a matter of seconds, falling well below freezing. Enough light shown through the closet doorway to see a yellow coat lying on the floor in front of me, which I quickly grabbed and put on with great urgency. After it was tightly bound around my body and a slight warmth was again felt inside of me, I noticed the silence. The pounding had ceased, but through the wall in which I lay pressed against I could here voices, one which I recognized as the clerks proclaiming, “Your room is ready for you”, but there was no response from the second party I had just heard prior. My ears soon could make out footsteps, walking with some intent passed the room where I took refuge, and I then wondered if the man in the yellow jacket had gone, for they couldn’t have just not taken notice of his figure in the hallway. With great caution, I reached for the knob and pushed it open slowly, and to my relief found the room empty. At that same moment, I could feel the life return to my legs, movement no longer a stranger to them. I stood and, still with hesitation, stepped out of the enclosed closet, darting my eyes around the room to ensure my initial impression of it being empty was accurate. No one else was there, thus I made my way to the entryway, which remained closed, reaching out and attempting to turn it, and found it locked still. I shot my gaze down, scanning for where the key left my grasp, but it was no where to be seen. I tried the door again, shaking it vigorously but it would not give in, panic beginning to replace my all to short sense of well being. Releasing my hold on the door I began to search desperately for the key, ripping the sheets from the bed, tearing open drawers and taking them from their hinges, rage and fear possessing my body and causing me to destroy the room. Through all of this, I never once noticed the desk that lay nestled up against the window, the area I left untouched amidst my destructive actions. I saw it, though, and with a slight craze in my eye, I spotted the key, reflecting the light from a lamp that rested on the surface. I made my way over to where it lay, and began to chuckle at myself for tearing the room apart for no reason at all, reaching at the same time for the key. I stared blankly at the piece of metal, smiling and saying, “You stupid man, how could you have missed it?”, hitting myself violently on the head, and then again, and again. I felt the distinct sensation of warm blood flow down the side of my face, the words, “Okay that’s enough for now”, coming out of my mouth, and without thought I faced the door and made my way towards it. My hand found the keyhole, and I turned the lock, turning the handle in the same motion and pulled the door open. My eyes were met with the familiar site of the brightly lit hallway, the red carpeting easing my mind for a moment and I stepped out, closing the door behind me. I went to lock it once again so that no one would see what I had done to the room while frantically searching for a way out, and saw the number on the door that read 000, and I repeated it first in my head, and then out loud “Zero..Zero...Zero”, three times and with a pause.

I continued to recite the three digits, laughing at the fact that I had completely destroyed my room when I knew where the key had been placed when I entered not long ago, the clerk told me to keep it there as I recall. It was then I saw someone standing at the end of the hallway, a man who was looking directly at me with fear in his eyes. Whispering the three numbers still, I remained still as he watched me. Soon I became annoyed, angry that he was still fixated on me, and I began waking slowly in his direction, the open wound in my head still oozing and throbbing aggressively. The loss of blood made me light headed, my vision going in and out of focus, thus i leaned on the wall for support as I walked, the sweat from my palm screeching against the dry wall. My voice got louder, “Zero...Zero...Zero”, being the only thing I could remember how to say, and the man continued to stare back at me, and my anger grew. He fell against a door trying to open it, and I moved with more intent to try and reach him before he could do so, now screaming, “ZERO ZERO ZERO”, my body rocking to each side of the hallway, blood continuing to flow freely from my head. My vision went blurry, but I could just see his legs disappear into the room, followed by the slam of the door and the turn of the lock. I struggled to reach where he was, my knees becoming wobbly and the strength beginning to leave my body, but I came to the doorway in time. My head rested against the wood, and I began to lightly knock my skull against it, “tap...tap...tap”, and again, “tap...tap...tap”, three times through and with a pause.