Unsuspecting Chapter 2

2.Inevitable
Bright sunshine fills the whole room when the man wakes; he sits up and looks over at his companion who is snoring loudly. He gets up; washes in the hidden bathroom and dresses in his clothes that are slightly drier now but the musty damp smell that they emit make him wrinkle his nose as he leaves his room to explore the rest of the hotel. He marvels again at the expensive furnishings and the strange beauty that the place has as he walks back down the dusty corridor and into the open living room with the sunlight making it look warm and lived in. “breakfast” says a small croaky voice behind him, making him jump. He turns and sees the small woman setting a silver tray on the table, it holds a pot of steaming tea and a small plate with just one crumbling biscuit on it, she walks back down the creaking stairs without a backwards glance and takes no notice when the man mumbles “um, thanks... sleep well?” She slowly disappears down the staircase leaving the man to look out of the large arching windows with keen interest. But another disturbance is apparent, he turns and looks in all directions, not quite able to place it, it was a soft whirring noise and it sounded sinisterly, mechanical.

He walks towards the stairs where the noise is slightly louder and looks over the rotting banister, but all he sees is the empty entrance room, it looks different now without being only shown by sudden flashes of lightening. It is larger that he previously thought and at the far end next to the staircase is a sweeping desk that curves around from the wall to the stairs; it holds many filing cabinets and stained, loose papers.

The noise turns out to be coming from the corridor that he has just come from; he looks down it quizzically still not able to see the whole way down without the light of the rusty oil lamps, slowly and cautiously he walks up the corridor. The sound gets steadily louder and before he reaches it he comes back to his room which throws light out into the corridor, after a moment of indecision he ventures into his room and sees that both beds are now empty, trying to stay calm he calls for his brother, “James!?”. There is no answer and he starts to walk briskly towards the hidden bathroom, “James?” He says again,
“Yeah” Comes an answering call through the wardrobe door,
“Never mind” The man calls back, relief flooding through him.

The relief lingers as he sits down on the creaking bed and buries his face in his hands. After a couple of minutes he hears the patter of rain in the window again and looks up to see the most terrifying sight of his life. The rain has started again but no water falls from the sky, blood streams down the window and the red sky throws the entire town in an eary red glow. Puddles and small rivers of blood run through the street and then sharp forks of red lightening erupt from the clouds, coupled with ear splitting rumbles of thunder. He stumbles backwards and then feels something wet seeping through his sock, looking down the last bit of colour drains from his face, a line of thick blood leads from him to the other side of the room, where the bathroom door stands ajar. No breath left in him to call for his brother he slowly walks towards the disguised bathroom door, his heart thumping in his throat.

He reaches the door and breathing hard, as if he has just run a marathon opens it, finally a sound escapes his dry throat. His petrified scream echoes off the wooden walls as he falls backwards from the horrifying scene in front of him. The bathroom is no longer there, instead there is a wardrobe behind the wardrobe door, James is hanging on a hanger by his neck from the clothes rail, blood dripping down his throat and coming out of his dead shocked looking eyes. At a loss of all control Sean hugs his knees tears pouring down his face wailing hopelessly. The blood is now falling at an immense rate, as if it is coming from a tap, the street is starting to flood and fill up like a bath. The blood comes level with the bottom of the window and Sean screams again, shuffling backwards towards the door but the blood is already filling up the window and when all he can see is flowing blood, the window smashes with a great crash. All Sean sees before he in engulfed by the thick mass of choking blood is his brother figure limp and turning into nothing, they are both lost forever and only one last scream escapes him as he drowns,unsuspecting.