Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-33957951-20171215212855

In Colorado, west of Lamar and off the Santa Fe trail, I found my self driving along a dirt road at about 7:00 at night. The later days of December had come, so therefore the nights had slowly crept earlier into the day. A light snow had taken place in the proceeding days, and the remnants of it were still covering the grass on either side of the road.

Now I was originally traveling to a family members house that lived all the way out in Iowa to spend the holidays with them, however I had become lost and found myself become more anxious about if I was even moving in the right direction. At about 8:30 I finally gave up trying to find cellular connection, and decided to head back the way I came.

After just several moments of driving, I rounded the peak of a hill and saw my self staring at a small hotel, about 100 meters away to my left. I was perplexed. first of all, I hadn't even seen another car on the road, much less a hotel before I started heading back the way I came; second of all, what was this even doing miles away from the nearest town? I needed a place to stay until I could find some assistance in finding out exactly where I need to be moving, so in the meantime, the hotel was my best bet for a good nights sleep. The moonlight still cast a pale glow across the hillside, and the lights from within the hotel made the whole building seem like a large jack o' lantern. Unsurprisingly, no cars were in sight from where I parked.

Pushing the door open, the hotel seemed nice enough. A small fire was to the right, surrounded by a few chairs and a small table. Above the fire was a moose head bolted to the stone plated wall. The adjacent walls had the occasional black and white photo of a farm scene, the people in it long forgotten. Overall a pleasant space. Had a real cozy feel. After taking it all in for a moment, I started towards the check in, but no attendant was in sight. I rang the bell a few times to no avail. Looking into the back room, I could actually see the heels of someone's shoes, though the right side of the doorway was blocking my line of sight, so I couldn't actually see the front of her. A little weirded out on their lack of response, I just decided to take one of the room keys and pay for it tomorrow.

I woke up around 11, and stepped outside my room. I immediately picked up what seemed like nails tapping against wood. It was coming from the lobby. I causally walked down the hall towards the lobby, but stopped moving right before turning the corner. I don't know why I did this, but the whole experience last night had me feeling like something wasn't quite as it usually is. I leaned out so I was barely peaking out from behind the wall, and let out a short breath of air in disbelief. The front attendant was not longer absent from her post.

Oh she was there alright, standing straight as a board. Her head spun around in a circle on her neck time after time, as if she was a toy and someone had winded up a crank implanted in her back. A small smirk was on her face, and her fingers were lightly tapping the desk. It almost seemed like she was anticipating something. After a few seconds of shock, my head shot back behind the wall and I promptly walked back to my room, closed the door, and locked it.

My experience had actually traumatized me so bad that all I could do was lay in bed in the hours following the incident. At around 9 that night, I heard footsteps, muffled by the carpet approach my door. Although I knew they stopped right outside my room, the loud knock made me sit upright in my bed. I was completely still. Another loud knock rang out through the room again. I got out of bed and started to slowly move to the door. Then, whoever was outside tried the handle. Luckily, I locked it when I came back into my room earlier that day. There was a pause, and I moved to the door and peered through the peep hole, but by then the only thing I could tell was that the footsteps were moving away from the door and back towards the lobby.

This whole day had been highly unsettling, and I was now aware that someone in this hotel, was aware that an uninvited guest was staying in one of the rooms. I really needed to get on my way again and decided that I was just going to run back to my car. That was until I stepped outside my room and the door closed; loudly. The footsteps started a second later, coming towards my room. They sounded frantic this time. I made the split second decision to run up the stairs to the second floor. I listened carefully once at the top, and could hear my door handle being tried once more. When I ran out I had accidentally left the key in my room, and the door locked when it closed. I guess whoever is desperately trying to find me still thinks I'm in my room. It was already late, so I looked around until I found a workroom. I let myself inside, locked the door, and fell asleep.

The next day I walked out of the work room and decided this was the day I was leaving this place. I looked out the window and saw my car outside surrounded by about 15 others. I froze in place. I had never heard anyone else walk in the hotel my entire stay. I just stood there. It was deathly quiet, only the light hum of the lights filled the silence. Suddenly, there was a crash from downstairs, and I could hear several people move into one of the rooms. Now was my chance, and I bolted down the stairs and down the hallway. My stomach dropped as I now knew that my door being splintered inward was the source of the crash. I could hear several pairs of feet rummaging through what was once my room, as well as what sounded like nails tearing through the sheets that lied on the bed. I bolted past the room and out the lobby. I dashed to my car and took a few pictures of the other cars license plates before speeding off down the dirt road again.

Eventually, I found myself in a small town after hours of driving. Thankfully, I could fill up my gas again and return to my original destination. Once I got to Iowa, I was finally in an area where I could get some reception. I called my family and let them know that I was alright, and just got lost on the way there. However, before I got to my family's house, I asked a friend of mine who works for the local pd to run a few of the license plates I photographed. He was a small town guy, and there weren't any real consequences that could come of it so he did. All of the cars belonged to terminally ill or deceased people.

All of the cars; reported missing. 