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It was that summer, the one that can never fade from my memories. This is a story of my nightmare come to life on the highway of Seldana, a naturalistic town which attracted tourists from all over the country. This was the place my parents’ car had to breakdown leading us to spend an evening at an inn. Thus began my tale…..
The wide roads amidst the green trees adorned with orange flowers that looked like ornaments, this was a truly relaxing town to be in to beat the blues. As the sun began to set, the roads looked more than inviting with the faint moonlight that began to set in. While traveling on this splendid road, was when my parents’ car broke down and we spotted the inn. The inn that was strikingly visible even in the middle of the dull moonlight. It was a rather old place, consisting of three floors. It had a broken sign board which read inn, with the first or how many ever words prior missing. My dad managed to push the car off the road into the open space in front of the inn with the help of mom. I was extremely depressed that I wouldn't be spending the night with my cousins, like planned.
The three of us walked into the inn only to be greeted by a strange looking old man with tawny hair and beady eyes. “Welcome…..” greeted the inn keeper flashing a toothy smile (most teeth missing). He led us up to his desk where there was a shelf with all the keys in them. “A room for the family I suppose….” He said looking at my father. “No… we need two rooms if available, one for the boy”, replied my father.
“Well I suppose you got lucky little boy coz two rooms were all that was spare”, said the inn keeper smirking at me. He then handed over the two keys to my father. One of the rooms was on the last floor and the other was on the first floor. Undoubtedly, I was asked to go to the room on the third floor.
While my father was checking in, I moved around the inn a bit. It looked sort of creepy. It was as though it had not been cleaned for many months. There were two cupboards next to the inn keeper’s counter which consisted of books. I wondered who would ever stay long enough in this creepy place to read books! Just then my father pulled me along and gave me the keys to my room. I looked up at my father with pleading eyes. Did I really have to go upstairs and stay there all by myself?! That one piercing frosty look from my father said it all. Yes, I had to budge myself with my backpack up the stairs.
I took my bag and held on to keys firmly as if it were the holy cross and began walking up the stairs. ‘Man!! When was the last time anyone even stepped a firm foot on these stairs’, thought I to myself.
‘Goodnight Jason, I expect you to wake up early and get down here for breakfast, alright?’ called out dad. I nodded before turning around and walking up the stairs.
With every step I took, ‘squeak’, a noise. It didn’t take long before I reached the third floor, in front of the room I was going to have to use. I inserted one of the keys which looked like the main key and unlocked the door.
“Whoosh!!!!” a gust of wind from within the door as if something had been released after a long slumber! It smelled of stale rotten mixture of blood, flesh and saliva. I moved away from the door for a while waiting for the pungent smell to die out. Was it just me or was the temperature around actually dipping ever so slightly!
Ignoring the cold and the sour taste of the humid air, I stepped into the room which again not surprisingly had squeaky floor. There was a large window on the left hand side through which entered the rich moonlight, which was the lone source of light for the room at the moment. The first thing I noticed in this room was a pair of ruby eyes staring right through me!! I dropped the keys right away and stepped back a couple of steps in horror.
It was just a statue! A large hideous statue of a Gargoyole which had ruby studded eyes. It was placed on a table next to the bed next to a lamp. Creepy was an understatement. I put my bag next to the bed and tried to turn on the lamp. To my surprise, it actually worked. I looked around to find some more switches around the room, finding none. Moonlight, creaking floors, gargoyle with red shining eyes and one pathetic excuse for a lamp, I was going to sleep so well. As I climbed on to the bed I went back to thinking how I would have been playing and having so much fun right now with my cousins if it weren’t for the stupid car to breakdown just a couple of miles before their house.
I kicked off my shoes and lay back into the bed. It smelled so bad, like rotten almost. Since I couldn’t look at the ugly statue next to me I turned around towards the window and stared the moon. I closed my eyes for a bit hoping to fall asleep. Every sound around me felt so eerily real. I could hear the wind gushing through the half broken window panes and the crickets screeching outside.
Just as I had closed my eyes for longer than five minutes, I heard some cracking sound from behind. Like wooden panels cracking. My eyes shot open in panic and I waited for the sound to stop since I was too afraid to turn around and look. It persisted for a while before pausing. I slowly turned around to catch a glimpse of what was making that noise. Was it just me or the gargoyle’ wings had actually just opened up. I was sure its wings weren’t flapped open when I stepped into this room. I immediately got out of bed and walked up to the door, my eyes fixated on the gargoyle statue. Something was very wrong about this place. I unlocked the door and twisted the door knob. To my horror the door didn’t budge even a little bit! I tried again but in vain. I began to panic and started banging the door with all my strength.
“Hahaha…oh you poor thing”, chuckled a creepy shrill voice from behind me. I stopped turning the knob to turn around, afraid of what I might see now.
There it he was or it was, a blue skinned man wearing an off-white silk shirt and red pajamas with a green skull. He had the red ruby eyes of the gargoyle and teeth line of a piranha. I moved back gluing myself to the door.
“Who…are you??”, I asked with a trembling voice.
“Who – am – I”?, drawled the creature moving his legs off the bed and setting them down. He slowly walked towards me with a big evil grin plastered across his face. I tried to move but my legs were numb with fear.
He crouched in front of me his head just a couple of inches away from mine and said, “Most of you might know me as the Boogeyman. I wonder why you didn’t recognize me. Hmmm?”
I could smell his rotten breath all over my face and those eyes were almost hypnotic, I was literally shaking.
“No….this isn’t real…I must have dozed off and this is a nightmare”, I said trying hard to convince myself.
He moved away from me and walked back to the bed. “Either way boy, you are stuck with me for the night. Now I get to decide if I want to let you see the day or… Not?” he said with the grin spreading wider, if it were possible.
“No, please open the door. Please! I want to go to my parents’ room. Let me go!!!”, I wailed hoping he might listen to me.
“Parents’ room eh? Why not? off you go”, he snapped his fingers and there was a wave of bright white light spread across my face. And when it went off I found myself in my parents’ room, back at home!
I think I hit myself on the head, pretty hard when I landed in their room. Rubbing against the wound I slowly got up and looked around. How was it even possible to get teleported in some godforsaken motel room in Sedana back to castle rock?! There was pin drop silence in the house as well. “Mom!.........Dad!!”, I called out hoping to get some answer. I walked out of their room into the living area. The house was just as we had left this morning.
I went over to the couch and sat down. If it was creepy to stay alone in that inn it was creepier stay alone in my own house now since I was sure boogeyman or his stupid gargoyle would pop out of somewhere. I tried pinching myself hard in order to wake up, but in vain. Looked like boogeyman was telling the truth, this wasn’t a
dream, it was real.
Since I was home alone anyway, I went up to the fridge to have some chocolates my mom hid away from me. I opened the fridge and started to move away some boxes to reach behind them. All of a sudden there was a ray of light directed to the center of my forehead from somewhere between the boxes in the fridge. I looked away for a bit and turned around to find the ray had become a beam of light. I stumbled back looking into the light.
Oh boy was I hallucinating or what?! There was a whole new world behind those racks of the refrigerator filled with the most colorful flowers I’ve ever laid my eyes on. I was so sure Narnia, star wars and lord of the rings wasn’t real, but I guess am having second thoughts already. I crawled over one of the racks and walked into this breathtaking flower garden that even had trees with ripe fruits. I ran into the wild and inhaled the scented air before turning around. There was no door or fridge behind me. It was like I came out of nowhere. I ran over to the spot where there was a fridge expecting some other portal to open up. Of course nothing happened and I just realized how brightly the sun was shining down on me. Just the realization made me feel thirsty