Edmund and Greg were standing in front of a painting of Dorian Black. In the painting, he had white and blue eyes.
“The paintings, they’re just hidden doors,” said Edmund. He looked at Greg and thought that he looked horrible. Greg had cuts all over his face and his lips were oozing out blood. Edmund felt the pain in his face decreasing when he looked at Greg’s scratches.
Edmund grabbed a hold of the side of the painting and pulled on it. The painting opened up and revealed a cold and dark narrow hallway. Edmund entered the pathway and Greg followed him. They had to walk sideways so that they would not get stuck.
Edmund hoped that Greg would come with him, and that they would leave the hotel as soon as possible. He feared that if he were there much longer, he would die, perish in the dark hotel, and become another permanent resident. He feared he would be doomed to forever walk the hallways, forever feeling cold and forever feeling tired. Edmund had to admit that walking in a secret pathway was kind of exciting, but he would rather be on the beach, drinking something cold and watching girls play volleyball.
They heard someone shouting, “Oi, take this!”
Edmund and Greg hurried along the narrow pathway, they went passed other exits and mirrors. They came to an opening, a wider part of the pathway. They heard something shouting insults and curse words.
They gazed out of one of the windows like mirrors and saw Trent, he was throwing eggs on the walls and the paintings.
“Stop that!” said a girly voice, it was Mary. She was wearing a plum-coloured dress with a tiara and she did not look very friendly.
Trent made a few crude gestures towards her as he said, “Looking quite ugly, aren’t you? Bet your mouth is only good for one thing.” He laughed at her and threw an egg at her head knocking off her tiara and soaking her hair in egg.
Mary started walking towards him slowly. “You want more…I bet you do,” he said and threw an egg that smashed into her face.
Egg whites were dripping down her face and there were bits of shell on her nose and cheeks.
Trent continued to laugh at her and when she got even closer, he grabbed her hair and began pulling. Mary screamed in agony as Trent pulled her to the ground and climbed on top of her. He grabbed her hand and began hitting her with it. “Stop hitting yourself,” he said over and over again.
Without warning, Mary pulled a knife out from her pocket and shoved it into Trent’s gut. Blood started pouring out of his stomach. It poured out of him and onto Mary’s face, neck and hair.
Mary stabbed him again and again, there was no hesitation, no second thought.
Edmund felt like he was going to throw up, although a part of him was glad to see Trent get what he deserved, he was not too glad that he had to watch it.
Trent fell over as he screamed louder than Edmund had ever heard someone scream. Doctor Wrath, Logan, Bella and the twins came rushing to the entrance room. “MARY!” Bella screamed, she sounded angry and scared.
Mary looked up at them, Edmund could not see any remorse in her eyes. She got up on her knees and shoved the large kitchen knife in Trent’s neck before she ran off in a cheerful fashion.
There was a huge pool of blood on the floor. Logan rushed over to Trent to see if he was alive, but he wasn’t.
Greg pulled in Edmund’s arm and said that they should go out to them. Edmund swung open one of the paintings and the two of them stepped outside.
“My goodness, a secret pathway. How quaint?” said the doctor, he sounded more excited about the painting than he was sad over the fact that someone had died.
“There are secret doors all over the place,” said Edmund.
“For Christ’s sake boys, a man is dead – murdered by my daughter – and you are talking about secret doors!” shrieked Bella.
“We need to find Mary and we need to find her now,” said Logan with a frightened smile.
“Don’t be absurd, Mr Tanner. My son has discovered a secret door, plenty of secret doors. I need to see them for myself,” said the doctor with a frustrated and excited look.
Edmund did not know what to think, someone was dead…murdered. Ghosts had told him, they had warned him that someone was going to die. Had Dorian become strong? Had he grown strong enough to kill them all? They had to get out of the hotel before it was too late and they were all dead.
“How about the rest of you search for Mary and me and Edmund here will investigate more deeply,” said the doctor in a desperate attempted to please everyone.
“My daughter has murdered someone, and you want to explore the hotel…fine, do whatever you want!” shrieked Bella.
Logan sighed and chuckled mournfully. “Bella, you and the twins go together and I and Greg will go together.”
“Brilliant! That leaves me and Edmund to do some real working something that is actually important and not just a waste of time.”
Logan rolled his eyes but did not argue. “Greg come with me,” said Logan as he began moving towards the door Mary had gone through. Bella and the twins went the same way, leaving behind Edmund and the doctor.
“Come, Edmund. Let’s go.”
Edmund would rather want to get out of the hotel. Didn’t his father have any brains, could he not see that it was not safe?
“I know where we can go first, there is something I would like to see,” said the doctor.
“Where are we going?”
“The ballroom, my son. Something tells me to see there first…I have a good feeling about it, a great feeling in fact.”
The doctor began running through the hallways holding his flashlight as steady as he could. Edmund ran after him, he did not want to be alone in the dark hallway, not when Dorian could be lurking about.
The doctor went into the ballroom with Edmund right behind him. “There is something big here, I know it. All we have to do is find it,” said the doctor in a cheerful tone before he ran towards the stage.
Edmund had never seen his father do much running; he had always said that he did not wish to stain his suits with more sweat than needed.
The doctor was picking up instruments and carefully investigating them.
The door behind Edmund slammed shut and the wind started surrounding the ballroom. The doctor jumped down from the stage and started walking towards Edmund. “What nonsense is this?” he asked.
“It’s not nonsense at all, Doctor Wrath. It’s merely me having some fun,” a familiar voice said. Edmund knew who the voice belonged to but did not know where it came from.
“Show yourself!” shouted the doctor as the wind started picking up its pace.
Both their flashlights went off but, somehow, they could still see, it was as if they had developed night vision.
Dorian Black appeared on the stage and applauding sounds came from all around the room. “Who are you?” said the doctor.
“I am Mr Black, owner of the hotel.”
“That is impossible!”
“My dear doctor, have you not yet seen that in my hotel the impossible is truly possible…I mean did you not just see the spectacular show Mary did. It was more brutal than I had hoped for.”
Edmund gathered up the courage and shouted, “You wanted Mary to kill; you planned it all along!”
“Edmund, dear Edmund, are you truly that stupid…of course, I planned it. I made her see what I wanted her to see. I made her hear what I wanted her to hear and I made her believe what I wanted her to believe. She is under my spell. She had been since the moment she stepped into my hotel. She hated all of you, she was afraid of all of you from the start. All I had to do was amplify her feelings!”
Dorian laughed and did a small dance. “Gentlemen! Are you afraid of the dark?” said Dorian right before everything went pitch black.
The wind became colder and more powerful, Edmund could hear his father scream but did not know where the sound came from. Edmund shouted for his father but could barely hear his own voice.
It felt as if they were in the middle of a snowstorm, Edmund could feel bits of ice cutting his cheeks, arms and nose. Edmund felt himself being lifted from the ground and become blown from side to side. He screamed in fear, then he hit something hard but before he could feel what it was, the wind blew him somewhere else.
His heart was pounding heavily in his chest, he felt a floating sensation in his stomach as if he had a bunch of butterflies flying inside him. It felt like being on a roller-coaster that had lost all its safety. Edmund screamed. He expected to hit a wall any moment, he held his breath and had his fists clenched waiting for when he would collide with the wall.
He felt the wind throw him from side to side. The wind stopped, and he fell towards the ground. His knees hit the cold hard ground. First, it felt like he had fallen from an aeroplane. His legs felt like mush, he could not manage to get up.
He could see again; his father was on the other side of the room and Dorian was still on the stage looking very smug.
“Dear Edmund, do you understate that I can kill you with the snap of my fingers? If I were to murder you, well, then the curse will be broken, and I will be able to walk among the living. Feasting on them like a wolf feasting on sheep.”
Dorian laughed and said, “Look up, what do you see?” Edmund looked up and saw the chandelier. The chandelier started to shake vigorously. “You shall die like my dear brother. Helpless! You shall die like my Chef. Helpless! You shall die like Trent. Helpless!”
The chandelier shook more and more, candles started falling down hitting Edmund in the chest and stomach. Other candles broke as they hit the hard floor.
The doctor ran towards Edmund as the chandelier dropped down. The doctor shoved Edmund out of the way as the chandelier came down and crushed over half the doctor.
Tears started running down Edmund’s face as he saw his father laying under the massive lamp. The doctor nodded at him and said, “Run.” Edmund grabbed his father’s hand started squeezing it and his father squeezed back. “R – r – un,” his father said as his grip grew weaker and weaker. The doctor’s hand lost all its power; his eyes were wide open and his mouth was hanging with his tongue sticking out.
Edmund closed his father’s eyes but they opened right away and gave Edmund a haunting look.
“How touching?” Dorian laughed. “He is one of my playmates, but don’t worry my dear child, you will be too.” The wind came back and blew Edmund away from his father’s corpse. Edmund got slammed into the wall. All Edmund could think of now was killing the person in control but since he could not kill Dorian Black, he would have to kill Mary. If she had not been so stupid to believe Dorian, his father would still be alive, and Brutus would still be alive. She deserved to die, and she deserved to be trapped alongside Dorian for eternity. She dissevered to get tossed down with the skeletons and have Nails feast on her dead flesh and her bony fingerings.
The door opened, and Mary walked inside. Edmund could feel his blood boiling, his hands clenching with anger, his shoulders and back tensing. The moment Mary saw him, she began running. The wind stopped and Dorian said, “Run little puppy. RUN!” and that was what Edmund did, he began running after Mary, he ran as fast as he could.
Where had she gone? She did not use light and she just wandered in the dark making herself invisible. Edmund opened doors and flashed his light inside the different rooms hoping to catch her off guard. Was she still armed? Did she have the knife on her? Or had she thrown it away somewhere?
A door behind him opened, he quickly turned around and saw Mary peeking inside the room. She ran when she saw him, and he ran after her. She was scared of me and she should be, thought Edmund.
She was a monster. If he didn’t kill her then she would kill again, she would probably not stop until everyone in the hotel was dead. Would she wait for others to come? Would she lure unexpected people into the hotel where she stabs them until they take their final breath?
He was going to avenge his father, avenge Brutus and save the lives of everyone in the hotel.
He could see Mary, she was right in front of him. He tried to run faster but when he did, Mary picked up her own pace making it impossible to catch up with her.
Edmund recognised the path they were taking; they were running towards the game room. She would be trapped there, and she would die there. Mary stopped and turned around to face Edmund. He stopped as well, he clenched his fists and was about to count to three, when Mary pulled out a bloody knife as she smiled. She went back to running and without thinking, Edmund did as well.
Mary ran into the game room and Edmund followed her in but stopped in the doorframe as he saw Greg standing with his back turned. Mary smiled at Edmund and Edmund shouted, “GREG, RUN!” But before Greg had time to react, Mary had shoved her knife in his back.
Greg dropped to his knees as he screamed. Mary continued to shove her knife in his back, in and out, in and out. Blood poured out of his back running like a waterfall down his clothes and onto the floor.
Mary looked at Edmund with a look of insanity, it was as if she had lost all her humanity, that there was nothing, but a beast left. A beast in a human form. Mary went back to stabbing Greg she sliced his thigh. Greg waved with his arms in a desperate attempt to fend off Mary, but she grabbed his arm and sliced the back of his elbow.
Greg did not manage to stay on his knees, he plunged to the floor while he was screaming.
Edmund pressed his back against the wall, he wanted to help Greg but, how could he? Greg was as good as dead, there was no use in trying to fend Mary off. If he did, then he might get hurt as well.
Mary took the knife out of Greg’s back, she lifted his head up and sliced his throat open. Edmund was glad that he didn’t have a good view of Greg’s face or throat. He felt like he was going to vomit, he had to get out of there, but his body would not allow him to move because now the feeling of killing Mary was amplified.
Mary looked at Edmund, she smiled at him as she stood up straight and began running towards him in full speed with her knife pointing at his chest.