Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-24987453-20141228215409

It was three in the morning, and I was driving down Interstate 40 in the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina. I was beggining to feel tired, so I thought I should exit and find a place to rest. As soon as I exited the highway, I found myself driving down an unlit backwoods road. I soon came to the realization that my chances of finding lodgings were slim, so I considered pulling over on the side of the road to take a nap. However, my car was small and I was unarmed, so this would be a very risky. I continued down the road for several more miles, until I noticed a pale light in the distance. As I drove towards the light, I could feel my hopes increasing. Sure enough, I saw a small inn on the right side of the road. "Ms. Smith's Inn and Bookstore", was displayed on the neon sign facing the highway. I parked in the small lot, and then walked to the door. When I knocked, an extremely old woman opened the door. She was at least ninety, and her skin was criss-crossed with deep wrinkles, almost canyonlike. The wrinkles were so deep that they obscured her eyes, which were little more than black holes that seemed to protrude past her brain and into the universe itself. Her mouth was little more than a pinkish line, like a child's drawing of a mouth. Her nose was hooked and sharp, like a hawk's beak. She seemed to be completely bald. The entire lobby of the hotel was lined with books, some with their spines cracked and looked ancient, although many looked rather new. Without speaking, the woman gave me a key, which surprised me as I had not needed to pay. Along with the key, the woman thrust at me a stack of papers. There was a message on the top page:

"Summarize to me your life right up until you have visited my inn."

This was an excerpt from one of many books found in the fire at "Ms. Smith's Inn and Bookstore.  Upon examining the remaining books, it was determined that the material used to bind the boks was not leather, as was originally thought.  The inn was part of an investigation about the disappearances of 523 men and women from the years of 1949 to 2007.  Through the use of DNA analysis, it has been determined that the books are bound in the skin of the victims.  The proprietor of the inn is still at large.   