Room 4

It happened on the night I was driving back home.
I was coming back from London, where I had attended a business meeting. I’d left at half past eight in the evening, and I’d get home by half past eight the next morning, if you include the many times I‘d have to stop at a service station. By midnight though, tiredness had overcome me, and I stopped off at a Bed And Breakfast for the night.
The friendly woman who owned the B&B gave me the key for Room 4, and led me upstairs and along the corridor to the room. It was quite a big room, with a double bed in the corner, plus a portable TV in the opposite corner. Next to the TV, was a door that led off into a bathroom, which was just as big as the bedroom, with a large blue matching bath, sink, and toilet. The woman asked if I wanted breakfast in the morning. “No thanks,” I replied.
I was planning on getting up at half past six in the morning to re-start the trek home, and I wouldn’t be hungry until at least half past eight. There was a kettle next to the TV, with a few cups, and a box of teabags, so I’d be able to have a quick cup of tea before I left.
The friendly woman said goodnight, then left me to it.
I hadn’t brought any pyjamas with me, I didn’t think I’d needed to. I would have to sleep naked tonight. It would be cold, but what else could I do?
I stripped off, and got beneath the flowery bed covers. I set the alarm on my phone for 6:30 AM, then snuggled right under for a good night’s sleep.
At 2:30, I was woken up by a noise. It sounded like footsteps in the room. It started over by the window, then got closer until it stopped by the bed. I could feel breathing on my face. I wondered if perhaps I was half asleep, and still dreaming. I switched on the lamp by the bed. A bright light appeared, revealing that there was no-one in the room. I decided that I was still half asleep after all, I went to switch off my lamp, and that was when I noticed my window was open, the breeze making its way into my room. I thought was really weird. I was sure it wasn’t open earlier, when I was shown the bedroom, I was sure it was closed, but I couldn’t really remember. I got out of bed, shut the window, then got back into bed, turned my lamp off, and went back to sleep.
An hour later, I awoke again. This time, because of a dream in which I had fallen to the floor with a bump. I lay there in the dark for a few minutes, trying to get back to sleep. Then I heard another noise. It sounded like something was moving around under my bed. In fact, the more I listened, the more it sounded like a person shuffling around. At one point, I thought I could hear a man’s voice sighing. My heart started pounding faster. Was this room, Room 4, haunted?

At 6:30, my alarm went off. Because it was winter, it was still dark. I was still feeling asleep. I wished I could ignore my alarm, roll over, and go back to sleep for another couple of hours. I steeled myself out of bed, knowing that I would be okay once I’d had a wash, got dressed, and had my first cup of tea of the morning. I gathered up my clothes, which I’d thrown on the floor the night before, took them into the bathroom, and started running the hot water in the sink for my wash.
As I came back into the bedroom, I got the fright of my life. Someone was climbing out from underneath my bed. As the figure stood, I saw it was a man. A tall man, who was wearing men’s pyjamas. As he turned to look at me, I couldn’t really do anything but just stand there and stare at him. He put a finger to his lips, went over to the window, pushed it up, and climbed out.
I remembered that the window was open last night, and wondered if that was the reason. After a couple of minutes, I looked outside. There was no sign of the man, he’d completely disappeared by this point. I wondered if he was a tramp, just wanting to spend the night in a warm room instead of the cold outside for a change.
I had my cup of tea and then went downstairs to check out. The friendly woman asked if I’d had a good night. I replied that no, I hadn’t. I’d had a couple of frights in the night, and then this morning, a man had climbed out from underneath my bed, and opened my window, and left out that way. I then asked her if she regularly gets tramps sneaking in the place to get a decent night’s sleep. She looked bewildered and embarrassed for a few minutes. Then she laughed, nervously, and told me that it was her husband, he often sleepwalks. He leaves through the front door and climbs up the side of the building. It’s always Room 4, she said, because it’s directly up above the front door.
I was so thankful that I didn’t have a ghost in my room last night, that I started laughing as well. I turned toward the front door to leave, forgetting my manners for a few seconds. Then I stopped, and turned to say goodbye to the friendly woman, but she had disappeared. I wondered where she’d gone, thinking she’d gone to one of the other rooms. But all the rooms were halfway down the corridor from the front door, it was at least a half minute walk. I’d only turned for a few seconds…
As I walked towards my car, the friendly woman’s husband was stood next to it. He opened the driver’s door for me, apologised for his behaviour last night, and walked off in the opposite direction. Before I started up the car, I watched him for a few seconds in my mirror. I could see him walking off, clear as daylight, but then, without warning, he completely vanished, into thin air…