Room 4: Two Weeks Later

* Set two weeks after the original Room 4 story. This time, it’s a couple who witness the events of Room 4. *

“Are you ready to go, Claire?!!” Andy called out.
My husband and I had been married for a year now, and we both decided to go on a first anniversary trip. We weren’t sure where we were going, we had just packed the car up for a long drive.
I came out of the house with the last of the suitcases. My daughter, Amanda, followed me out.
“Have a nice time, guys,” she said.
“Thanks,” Andy and I replied, as we both got in the car and drove off.
We drove mostly all day, stopping only once, at a quaint little café, set back from the road, up a lane. When it got dark, Andy agreed to check into a B&B for the night. We saw a signpost for “Samprey’s Bed And Breakfast.” It pointed to a driveway, where Andy turned into.
The driveway was quite long, and the B&B was at the end, after a two minute drive. It was a large building with three stories. We both got out of the car, and walked up to it. Neither of us had stayed at a B&B before, so we weren’t sure whether to knock on the door, or just walk in. In the end, Andy opted for knocking on the door, to be polite.
The door opened, and a friendly looking woman poked her head out. As soon as she saw us, her pretty face cracked into a wide smile. It was so infectious, it made me want to smile as well.
“Hello,” Andy said. “Er, we were just wondering if you had a room spare for the night?”
“Of course we do,” answered the friendly woman. “Come in. You’re lucky, we’ve only got the one vacancy left. I’m Mrs Samprey, by the way.” She led us indoors, into a hallway, in which there was a desk. Beyond that, the hallway stretched out; home to two rooms on the left, and three rooms on the right.
“… it’s upstairs,” Mrs Samprey was saying. She was holding out a key to Andy.
“Sorry, what?” I asked, feeling rude.
“She was just saying that room 4 is the only room available, and it’s upstairs,” Andy told me.
He handed me the key. “Why don’t you go upstairs, Sweetheart, and look for it? I’ll bring the suitcases in.”
“Let me show you the way,” Mrs Samprey offered.
I followed her upstairs, and along the corridor to Room 4. She opened the door, and showed me inside. The room inside was quite large, with a double bed in one corner, and a table that housed a small TV and a kettle, along with a few cups, cutlery and a box of tea bags and a pot of coffee. Next to this table, there was another door. Mrs Samprey showed me inside that. It was a bathroom, equally large, with a blue bath, blue toilet and blue sink.
Andy had come into the bedroom, as Mrs Samprey and I came out of the bathroom.
“Wow,” he breathed, dumping the suitcases onto the bed.
“Glad you like it,” Mrs Samprey smiled. “Well, I’ll leave you to it.” She left.
Andy and I got dressed into our pyjamas, then we snuggled into bed together, and watched some TV for a few hours. Around one in the morning, we both admitted defeat, and turned the TV off for some shuteye.
Around 2:30, I woke up. I was very aware of a strange noise in the bedroom. It sounded like footsteps wandering around the room. It started by the window, and then ended when it reached the bed. Andy was prone to a bit of sleepwalking every now and again, I though it was one of those times. But I could feel him in the bed next to me. When the footsteps stopped at the bed, it went silent, although I could feel someone’s breath on my face for a couple of seconds. I switched the bedside lamp on. Andy was lying on his side, snoring his head off, very loud. I moved over onto my back to get more comfortable, and saw the window. It was wide open! It was closed earlier, wasn’t it? I got out of bed, and padded over the window, and shut it. Then I got back into bed, and fell back to sleep.
An hour later, I found myself awake again. And I heard a strange noise. It sounded like it was coming from underneath the bed, like someone shuffling around. And I swore I heard a man breathing!
I switched the lamp back on, and looked over to where Andy was lying. No, it couldn’t be him. He was sleeping too deeply. He wouldn’t have enough time to climb back into bed. I sighed and turned the lamp back off. Maybe I was still half asleep, or something.

The next morning, I woke at ten past nine, and got up five minutes later. I went into the bathroom to have a shower and got dressed. After which, I felt more awake and refreshed.
When I came out of the bathroom, Andy was sat there on the bed.
“Claire, you won’t believe what just happened,” he said. “I got up to go to the bathroom, except you were in there. When I turned around, there was this man climbing out from under the bed. He was an oldish chap. Then he put his finger to his lips, and climbed out of the window.”
I listened to him with shock. I told him the events of last night.
“… And then, to top it off, at one point, I noticed the window was open,” I finished.
Now it was Andy’s turn to look shocked. “Maybe he was a tramp,” he said.
Andy went off to have a shower. After which, we packed our suitcases, and went downstairs to check out.
“Had a good night?” Mrs Samprey asked.
“Well, actually, I don’t want to be rude, but I didn’t,” I answered. I then went on to tell Mrs Samprey about last night. The footsteps starting at the window and ending at the bed. And then the noise that sounded like someone moving around underneath the bed, and a man’s sighing. And then Andy told her about the man climbing out from under the bed, and out the window.
“Oh, my God, I’m ever so sorry,” Mrs Samprey gushed. “It’s my husband. He sleepwalks occasionally. He sleepwalks out the front door, and then climbs up the guttering. It’s always Room 4 he climbs into, because it’s directly up above the front door. I don’t usually warn people, because he doesn’t do it that often. I’m really, ever so sorry.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Andy said. “We understand.”
“Anyway, thanks for having us, Mrs Samprey,” I said. “But we’ll be off now.”
“You’re welcome, my dears,” Mrs Samprey answered.
As we took the suitcases out to the car, we noticed that an oldish man with long white hair was stood next to the boot.
“That’s the chap,” Andy nudged me.
Mr Samprey waited until we got to the car, and Andy had unlocked the boot. Then he helped us load the suitcases into the boot.
“Thanks,” I said.
Mr Samprey nodded. “Sorry about last night,” he said. “I don’t always do it.” Then he turned, and walked back towards the B&B.
Andy and I didn’t notice that Mrs Samprey had disappeared as soon as we turned our backs to the desk. Nor did we notice that Mr Samprey vanished into thin air, as we drove away…

We stopped off at the same café as before for lunch. The waiter that served us before served us again this time.
“So, where did you guys end up staying last night?” He asked, making polite conversation.
“This nice place. Samprey’s Bed And Breakfast,” I replied.
The waiter stared at me. “I’m sorry, did you say Samprey’s B&B?”
“Yes, why?”
“That place doesn’t exist anymore. Well, it does. But it’s falling apart. Dilapidated.”
I was confused. “But we saw the sign for it, just before the driveway it’s at the end of. And we stayed there last night.”
“Yes. The sign’s still there for some reason. I don’t know why they haven’t taken it down. But the place isn’t in business anymore. The husband, Mr Samprey, he had a nasty habit of sleepwalking. He’d walk out the front door and climb up the guttering. He always climbed into the room up above the front door. Room 4, I think it was. Well, one night, he was climbing the guttering in his sleep as usual, when the piece of guttering he was climbing broke off, and he fell down to the ground. He died instantly, as a result of a head injury. His wife, Mrs Samprey, was behind the desk, when she suffered and died of a heart attack some time later. It was more likely a broken heart, I always say. The B&B went out of business after her death. No-body wanted to run or stay at a place where two people died. So it eventually fell into disrepair and ruins.”
“H-How long ago does this happen?” I stammered.
“Twenty years ago. Mr and Mrs Samprey both died, and the B&B closed down, twenty years ago.”

A blue Vectra pulled up to the B&B. A young couple in their twenties, newlyweds, were driving back from staying the weekend with her parents, and needed a room for the night.
Mrs Samprey looked out the window.
‘Get ready, Mr Samprey!’ She called out. ‘Two more victims to terrorise tonight…’