The Abandoned Hotel
The sun was setting behind the dense trees, casting elongated shadows on the overgrown path that led to the dilapidated structure of Thornwood Hotel. The place was a ghost of its former self, its walls draped in layers of peeling paint and layers of time. Stories of its dark past echoed in the whispers of the wind, warning the curious and the brave alike. But for James, Kevin, Calaby, Brantley, Aasia, and Sparrow, it was the perfect adventure.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” James asked, squinting at the crumbling facade of the hotel.
“Definitely,” Kevin replied, his voice tinged with excitement. “I read about it online. They say it’s haunted!”
“Yeah, haunted by a guest who vanished mysteriously,” Calaby chimed in, her eyes gleaming with a mix of fear and intrigue.
“Come on, guys! This is just an old building,” Brantley scoffed, striding toward the entrance. “Nothing is going to happen.”
“Aren’t you the least bit scared?” Aasia teased, her dark hair swaying as she moved closer to him.
“Please. I’m more worried about what we’ll find in here than ghosts,” he laughed nervously, pushing open the creaking double doors.
The group stepped inside, their flashlights illuminating the dusty foyer. A shroud of silence enveloped them, broken only by the distant sound of water dripping from the ceiling. The air was stale, tinged with mildew and lost memories. Photographs faded with time hung crookedly on the walls—smiling families captured in sepia tones of long ago.
“Let’s look for the diary,” Sparrow suggested, her voice a hushed whisper. “If it’s true, it could tell us what happened.”
The six friends split up, their flashlights slicing through the darkness as they moved cautiously through the dismal corridors. Each room they entered told a different story, the furniture covered in sheets like ghosts of their own.
In one of the rooms, Calaby stumbled upon a small wooden box. “Guys! Check this out!” she exclaimed, brushing off the dust.
Inside was an tattered leather-bound diary, its pages yellowed and brittle. She opened it carefully, revealing scrawled handwriting that told a tale of a young woman named Elara who had checked into the hotel decades ago but never checked out. “Look at this,” she said, reading aloud, “’The moment I stepped inside, I felt a presence watch me… at first, I thought it was my imagination.’”
Intrigued, the rest of the group gathered around, their interest piqued. As Calaby continued to read, the entries grew increasingly disturbing. Elara’s words became frantic, filled with accounts of whispers in the night and shadows that danced just out of sight. She detailed a final entry that ended abruptly: “I can feel them closing in. If you find this, please—”
A loud crash echoed down the hallway, causing everyone to jump. A shiver ran down their spines as the flickering of their flashlights cast erratic shadows on the walls.
“Okay, maybe this was a bad idea,” Aasia admitted, her voice trembling.
“We should stick together,” Brantley urged, his bravado beginning to fade. “We can’t let fear take over. Let’s just finish reading.”
“Yeah, let’s find out what else happened!” Kevin said, attempting to mask his unease with excitement.
But as they delved deeper into the diary, strange things began to happen. The air seemed to grow colder, the shadows stretching longer, and a feeling of being watched became unbearable. As they read the last entry, a loud bang reverberated through the hotel, causing the group to scream.
“Did you hear that?” Sparrow shrieked, gripping Calaby’s arm tightly.
“Yeah, we need to leave. Now!” James said, his heart racing as anxiety hit him.
Suddenly, the lights flickered, and just like that, the group found themselves standing in eerie darkness, their flashlights flickering out one by one.
“Great, does anyone have extra batteries?” Kevin joked nervously, but his voice wavered.
The darkness enveloped them, and one by one, things became surreal. All at once, Aasia was yanked backward into the inky shadows of a nearby room. A scream escaped her lips as she vanished without a trace.
“No!” Brantley shouted, lunging forward but met with an unseen force that knocked him off his feet.
Panic set in, and chaos erupted as the remaining friends scrambled to escape the hotel, adrenaline pushing them forward. They were being picked off one by one, and as the realization dawned on them, their only hope was to find a way to unravel the mystery of Elara before it was too late.
“Keep moving!” James yelled, panic tightening his throat as they dashed through the rooms, desperate to escape the grip of Thornwood Hotel and the dark secrets it held.
As the echoes of Elara's diary haunted their thoughts, they came to a chilling conclusion: finding a way out meant confronting the very darkness that lurked in the abandoned hotel.
And whatever was behind it was waiting.
To be continued…
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