Room 49

 

 

The snow was settling now, landing in a thick white carpet on the road ahead. Richard gripped the steering wheel tightly; he could see the faint glow of his new wedding band and felt it dig into his ring finger in an unfamiliar way.

Without taking his eyes from the road Richard spoke to his new bride ‘We are going to have to stop, there’s no way we are going to make the castle tonight.’

Catherine (only her mother called her that, she preferred Cat or Cathy) sighed heavily and shifted in her seat. The wedding night in the castle had been the one fairy-tale bit she had been looking forward to after their extremely basic registry office ceremony.

‘I’m sorry Cat, I know you are disappointed’ Richard said quietly, feeling the muscles in his arms starting to tire, he had been driving for three hours since they left their reception to try and get ahead of the weather.

Cat glanced at her husband sideways from under her remaining wedding day curls, she could see he was tense and rigid. He had little experience of driving in snow and the last time they travelled this road in the Scottish Highlands it had been early summer and pale blue sky had peeked between fluffy white clouds over the beautiful loch.

‘Damn!’ Richard shouted, making Cat jump a mile ‘The bloody Sat nav is playing up now!!’

He watched in despair as the little car symbol on the screen appeared to float in the middle of nowhere with no recognisable roads.

‘Wait’ said Cat suddenly ‘If you remember, back in the summer we passed that lodge, motel, hotel thingy place on this road, we haven’t passed it yet, maybe we can stay there?’

Richard peered into the darkness and the never-ending thick snowflakes that swirled into the headlights racking his brains and finally remembering they had, at the time, commented that it looked like Bates Motel even in the bright sunlight. He opened his mouth to protest but Cat was pulling his arm and pointing towards the upcoming bend.

The motel, miraculously with its sign lit up stating it had vacancies, was just past the bend.

Richard decided they had no choice but to stop, he braked as gently as possible but still slid sideways into the car park entrance making Cat let out a little nervous squeal.

‘Doesn’t look terribly busy’ Richard said sarcastically as he switched off the engine and lights and disconnected his sat nav tucking it into the glove box.  ‘Not that that surprises me!’ he added.

Cat reached down for her handbag from the passenger floor and scanned the lodge car park. Two other cars were parked up close to the chalet style accommodation, one room was in complete darkness and the in other she could just see a chink of light passing through tatty, ill-fitting curtains.

The reception area was in the main block of accommodation, an equally grim two storey house with a badly constructed flat roof extension it was lit by a single lamp on a very old-fashioned desk.

Pushing open the passenger door Cat was greeted by an icy blast nearly making her want to stay in the car, her wedding dress offered no protection whatsoever even with her pretty faux fur stole.

She looked down at the snow and then at her feet clad in ivory silk kitten heels, she was not dressed for this weather, there was no way she was going to be able to walk in these! Before she even had a chance to speak Richard appeared at her side, grinning at her, his dark brown eyes sparkled with mischief as he bent down and scooped her up in his arms.  He deftly shut the car door with his foot whilst holding his bride, making him slip and slide and making Cat squeak with fright and tighten her grasp around his neck.

Within a few minutes he stood Cat gently on her feet safely inside the reception area. It was cold and uninviting, there were patches of damp and peeling paper in one corner it smelt damp and musty. A few tourist leaflets stood forlornly in a dusty tray and single lamp on the desk stood next to a strangely bright and polished silver bell that Richard could see his face in as he leaned forward to make it ding with a swift hand movement.

For an eternity it seemed no one was coming to their aid but suddenly a door creaked open in the gloom behind the desk and an ancient man shuffled forward slowly and looked at them questioningly. He was strange looking man with wispy hair and very down at heel musty smelling clothing.

‘Evening’ said Richard, putting on his best polite voice ‘Do you have any vacancies?’ knowing full well that the total occupancy of the rooms including them, was probably three.

The man stared at him, his eyes seemed to bulge and almost glow in the gloom. He nodded and turned to look almost pointedly at the rack of keys lined up neatly with their cheap plastic tags, each stamped in worn white lettering ‘PROPERTY OF GLEN LOCH HOTEL AND LODGE’

Richard shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, he could feel Cat shrinking into the shadows behind him. ‘Great!’ He declared over enthusiastically ‘We were on our way to Craig Glen Castle but we, er…’

‘Didn’t make it’ Cat finished from behind him as she delved in her handbag for her purse and started looking for her credit card, then held it aloft in triumph.

‘Cash only, £140, no breakfast’ barked the owner surprisingly fiercely for his small stature. ‘Card machine is down, take it or leave it’ he continued, shrugging as if he really didn’t care.

Richard looked dismayed and turned to Cat but she was already on the case and pulled three £50 notes from a wedding card she had squirrelled at the bottom of her bag. ‘wasn’t what it was intended for but still...’ she muttered under her breath.

Cat smiled brightly as she stepped forward and offered the notes to the man. He took the money slowly, his yellowing fingers and long, dirty nails made contact with her hand for a little too long, making her shudder involuntarily. Embarrassed, she remarked on feeling cold and stepped back to the safety of Richards side.

The owners face creased into a smile, which was somehow more disturbing than his previous demeanour, his lips peeled back to reveal a few tombstone teeth and insipid looking gums. He pocketed the £150 and without offering change, slammed a key onto the dusty desktop. ‘Room 49, end of the block’ he said gesturing with a wrinkled finger towards the only other occupied rooms and with that he was gone.

‘Okaaay’ said Richard taking Cats hand and pulling open the door, bracing himself for the icy blast as he did so.

They noticed that their tyre tracks were almost completely covered by snow and the car seemed somewhat awkwardly parked at an angle where they had abandoned ship.

Once again Richard scooped up his bride and carried her as carefully as he could to room 49, setting her down on the worn rubber doormat as he fumbled for the key.

The door was stiff and needed a good push before it eventually squeaked open. In the gloomy glow from the whiteout outside, even before they could find the light switch, they KNEW the room was going to be awful. It smelt damp and musty, Cat wrinkled her nose and covered it with her hand.

They could hear the distinct sound of a tv from the next-door room, the one that had been and still was, in total darkness. Richard found the light, it was quite dim and that was probably a blessing. The room didn’t look like it had been decorated or dusted, hoovered or polished for some time. The overly flowery wallpaper had spots of mould and was peeling in several places it was also faded from sun damage. Cat’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the rusty pipes, filthy shower curtain and seatless toilet in the bathroom. She thought longingly of their luxury room at the castle.

Richard joined her in the doorway ‘He saw us coming really didn’t he? Want me to complain? Get a different room?’ He asked a little nervous of his brides’ reaction.

Cat shook her head and refused to let the tears flow. ‘No, it is one night, we can deal with this’ she said smiling at him bravely.

Richard switched on the ancient wall heater and the smell of burning dust temporarily masked the other odours in the room. ‘At least we have heat’ he declared a little too brightly.

Cat was sitting on the very edge of the bed, her bottom firmly on her faux fur stole so she didn’t have to sit directly on the covers. Richard joined her and held her hand ‘I’m so hungry!’ He said suddenly clutching his stomach. Cat realised she had been ignoring her own hunger pangs, the wedding breakfast had been at 12 midday, it was now a little after eight. ‘Takeaway?’ she said jokingly as she smiled at her husband.

‘No, can’t do that but, hold on, I will be back in a minute’ Richard said as he disappeared into the night.

Cat felt so uneasy in the room alone, she half expected Richard to never return. However, return he did, with their overnight bag, a picnic hamper and some towels. ‘Just remembered this in the boot of the car, good old Aunt Celia! Oh, and the towels were from Derek and Linda I opened them I hope you don’t mind’

Cat shook her head and watched as Richard laid out the towels and placed the hamper on top, opening the lid with a flourish. The pair seized the contents like they were the most amazing things in the world. Oatcakes, vintage cheddar, shortbreads and luxury chocolates were all devoured and washed down with a bottle of champagne drunk from plastic cups. It was perfectly chilled by their snowy and treacherous journey.

‘One more thing’ added Richard, his mouth full of shortbread ‘The castle receptionist called, they guessed we weren’t coming. They agreed to roll over our night to tomorrow AND they upgraded our room, we now have a room overlooking the grounds and free treatments in the spa for tomorrow daytime!’

Cat frowned slightly; the snow was still falling outside. ‘It sounds wonderful Rich but will we get there?’

Richard reached to kiss her on the cheek ‘It is only 3 miles on from here, the lady on reception at Craig Glen said the plough will be through first thing and its due to thaw a little tomorrow, so I think we should be fine’

‘Only three miles’ said Cat wistfully with a wry smile. ‘Don’t’ said Richard who was kicking himself for not pushing on further.

 

The room was warming up and things didn’t seem quite so bad with a couple of glasses of champagne inside them. Richard glanced around him as he hadn’t fully taken in their surroundings.

‘Wow’ he declared, whistling in surprise ‘that is the oldest TV I’ve ever seen!’

Cat followed his gaze to the far corner of the room; it was so dimly lit there she had not even noticed it until Richard remarked on it. It was indeed an ancient TV, not one she had ever seen in her lifetime it looked like one from a museum. It was probably a reproduction piece otherwise it would be far too old to function she imagined.

Richard went to inspect it more closely ‘It has skull feet and it is bolted to the wall!’ he announced slightly amused as he bent down to plug it in. ‘Wonder if the football is still on?’ he said half joking.

‘You dare watch football on our wedding night!’ exclaimed Cat as she wandered over to the corner where Richard was down on one knee, pushing the plug into the socket on the wall. She looked closely at the television, the top was covered in coffee rings where countless mugs had been put down without care or thought and a really ancient artificial plant covered in dust was blue tacked into place.

The skull head feet bothered her most, they were a more recent addition to what was clearly a very old piece of furniture.

Richard reached for the switch and flipped it to the ‘on’ position , the TV hummed slightly and then briefly burst into life before flatlining. ‘Damn looks like we will have to find something else to do to amuse ourselves’ he announced as he made a pounce for his new wife.

‘Richard James Anderson!’ she scolded, evading his grip and playfully smacking his arm ‘If you think I am getting naked in THIS bed in THIS room you’ve got to be joking!’

For the first time in a few hours they found themselves laughing and this time Richard put his arms around her and held her tight. ‘You’ve got a point there Mrs A’ he said kissing the tip of her nose.

Cat stole one of Richards shirts from the overnight bag and pulled on some jogging bottoms, not very glamorous but the least amount of contact with the bed the better she decided. They arranged two towels over the pillows and used bath sheets for bedding.

Richard curled into Cat’s back and with arms entwined they swiftly fell asleep.

The sound of running water woke Cat at about 4am, she frowned trying to make sense of what she was hearing. She could tell from looking at the gap in the curtains that there was no snow falling now, so that was something at least, perhaps they would make the castle after all. Pushing herself up on one elbow she realised that Richard was not beside her. She reached out her hand, the bed was cold indicating he had been gone for some time. The water, she quickly established, sounded like the shower was running and there was light coming from under the bathroom door.   It didn’t make sense, it was 4am why would he be showering now and why HERE? The bathroom was the stuff of nightmares, Cat certainly had no intention of showering until she reached their lovely castle room. Perhaps he wanted an early start, find somewhere for breakfast on the way. She smiled; he was always thinking about his next meal.

Cat became aware of a dim, flickering light out of the corner of her eye as she turned on the bed to settle down again. The TV had sprung to life, Richard couldn’t have unplugged it thought Cat. She hoped Rich would hurry up and be done in the bathroom, she couldn’t help but begin to feel a little unnerved.

Cat pushed upright against the headboard of the bed, instantly regretting it as she could feel the stickiness of the dirty fabric against her neck. There was now a fuzzy shape on the screen, and a faint scratching sound that seemed to be coming from behind the glass. She tried to scream but nothing came out of her mouth, she could definitely see a face on the television now it seemed as if it was pushing against the screen, like it was elastic …

‘This is a nightmare, I’m going to wake up in a minute’ thought Cat although she knew this was definitely happening, her heart was pounding, and she began to sweat in fear.

Frozen to the bed, Cat managed to shout Richard, there was no reply, he obviously couldn’t hear her with the shower running. She watched in disbelief as a mans head and torso began to pour itself out of the screen until it flopped onto the floor. Something was clawing its way along the floor, Cat  couldn’t see it, but she could HEAR it, could hear its rasping breath.

Terrified, but unable to move, Cat pressed herself harder and harder against the headboard bringing her knees up and clutching them to her chest. The dragging sound and laboured breathing had stopped she KNEW it was directly by the bed.

For a moment nothing happened and then, slowly, slowly the bed cover was slipping from the end of the bed as this man, this THING, pulled itself up onto the end of the bed.

Cats heart rate was through the roof, yet she was paralysed with fear as the head slowly came into her sights. She smelt the fetid breath before she truly took in the detail of the face in the dim light cast from under the door of the bathroom.

The face was grey with bulging eyes, small wisps of hair clung to the skeletal head, but the teeth, Oh God, the teeth, were yellow and pointed and razor sharp. Cat could only see the torso upwards in the light, it was clad in a dirty green and red striped jumper, the hands filthy with long yellowing nails. 

Mustering every ounce of strength, Cat leapt from the bed only to stumble and trip heavily on the overnight bag. Winded, Cat sat up, her face wet with tears.

It was only when she felt a hand grab her ankle and sharp nails pierce her skin that she finally managed to scream ….

 

 

 

 

 

By 7am the flashing lights of police patrol cars filled the lodge car park. The temperature had risen slightly and the plough had been through, things were on the move on the road again finally.

Room 49, now a crime scene, was cordoned off with police tape. Two officers stood chatting blowing on their hands and stamping their feet to keep warm whilst forensics did their stuff inside the room there was, by all accounts a LOT of blood.  A second set of forensics clothed head to foot in white were in and out of Richards car retrieving and labelling as they went.

The occupants of the room next to 49 were being questioned they were the ones who had raised the alarm on hearing Cat screaming.

One other man, who was profoundly deaf and claimed to have seen nothing had been taken away in one of the patrol cars.

‘So, what exactly happened here?’ John Riggs asked his fellow officer motioning behind him with his hand.

‘We don’t exactly know until the guys are done but looked like a murder suicide initially’ replied David Moore the second officer as he watched the struggling dawn light peeping over the horizon. It was very slightly tinged with pink ‘Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning’ he thought to himself.

‘Mind you’ he continued ‘It doesn’t really make sense. They were only married yesterday. The male was found dead in the shower with his throat cut. He died first. She was found pretty much disembowelled on the floor by the bed. If she killed him how they hell did she do that injury to herself? Also no knife has been found as yet, so you can see things don’t really stack up. I’m guessing they are suspecting someone else has been involved, hence why they carted that deaf bloke off.’

Riggs nodded as he rubbed his hands hard to try and bring some life back into them. He glanced at his watch, only another hour until they would send someone to relieve him, it really couldn’t come quick enough, this run-down hotel was giving him some bad vibes.

‘You know the history of this place?’ Moore asked his colleague. Riggs could see he obviously couldn’t wait to fill him in and shook his head reluctantly.

Moore let a long, slow, breath out, it hung in the air like a steam cloud on this cold, cold morning.

‘This placed was closed up at the end of the summer last year when the owner went missing and the alarm was raised by one of the locals who found his dog running in the road. It took them a long time to find him, you see he’d built false walls behind each of the rooms, like an extended corridor that was linked directly from the reception area. They discovered his body in that corridor, behind the very room these poor unfortunates stayed in last night thinking about it. Heart attack, coroner recorded.  Once they removed the body, or what was left of it, rats had got to most of it, they discovered hundreds of spyholes built into the false walls. There were even some two-way mirrors including one in an old-fashioned TV, the psycho had been spying on people for years!’

Riggs shuddered and tried not to look disturbed. ‘So why were these two newly weds here, in an abandoned motel and the others...?’

David Moore folded his arms and let out another steam cloud ‘The weather of course, I know a confirmation for Craig Glen was found in their car I imagine the road got too bad to continue. The others were squatters in Room 48, broke in a few nights back judging from the litter in there.  The old man I don’t know much about, except he’s a drunk who was thrown out of a local hostel in the next town, looks like he forced the door of room 42. Stupidly the electricity has never been disconnected, which in my opinion would just be asking for people to squat and break in. The cars in the car park don’t belong to any of them, I think they were abandoned here a while back. Our newly weds must have used their brains, they found the keys behind the reception desk and even left money for the room bizarrely as £150 was found on the desk at reception. Think I’d be asking for my money back …’ 

Riggs couldn’t wait for his shift to end but he was a captive audience as Moore continued filling him in with gusto.

‘Of course, there have been stories about mysterious lights at night in various parts of the owner’s accommodation, but I don’t believe in ghosts do you?’

Riggs shook his head in stunned silence, every hair on the back of his neck was standing to attention as looked up at the blank dark windows in the main building. Just for one moment, he thought he saw the fleeting image of the face of an old man and then it was gone.

 

Sarah Russell Dark Wishes Designs UK 2021