thehotelbellamuerte2022
Autumn's Blog
Stories and experiences at The Hotel Bella Muerte
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Residential School (Part 1)
I walked across the lobby floor reluctantly and took the receiver and answered.
“Hello?”
“Oh hello my dear!” It was Mary.
“Yes hello love” echoed Martha.
“We heard from Lilly what happened last night. We want you to know it was no fault of your own what happened. Benny was……oh how can I put it?” Mary paused.
Then Martha chimed in. “Well to put it simply he was just a bit off. This we knew but we never dreamed he would do something like this and to family! The hotel has a way of making even the strongest people go mad and I’m afraid he was mad as a hatter!”
“Anyways,” Mary started, “Do your utmost best to put this behind you if you can. I know this has been a traumatic experience but we do very much need you and the hotel needs you as well dearest.”
“Yes, gather all your strength and dearest friends around you to get you through this! We’ll be in touch when we can, till then, goodbye!” Martha finished the call as Mary echoed a goodbye as well.
I put the receiver down and stared thoughtfully at the phone, lost in my own mind trying to think of all that had happened over the last few days. I decided then that Mary and Martha were right. I had to put all of this behind me and trudge on, even though it would be difficult, and make a new path forward. I quickly picked up the receiver of the black rotary phone and placed a call to the person that had become one of my dearest friends, Deb.
After a few rings the phone connected and I heard her ever cheerful and pleasant voice. “Hello Autumn! How are you?”
“Not good to be honest.” I told her as I gingerly sat down on the tall stool behind the counter. After explaining all that had happened the night before with Benny and the morning after with Jasper and Lilly, I asked her with soft desperation in my voice, “Do you think there is any way you can come down to the hotel? I’m very much in need of all my friends right now.”
Without a second of hesitation she responded, “Of course! I’ll ask Nathaniel if he might be able to come down as well. We can do a healing ceremony and just talk or…..or whatever you need. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thank you so much. It really means the world to me. I’ll look out for you and get your rooms ready. See you soon.” I said ending the conversation.
After finishing with the call I turned to see both Jasper and Lilly still standing near the doorway watching me with careful, steady glances. Both caught, they tried to pretend to be looking at some decoration or the wallpaper around the room instead of directly at me. I didn’t mind though. To be honest I was comforted by the fact that I had two amazing friends that cared enough about me to keep such a close eye on me. I stood from the wooden stool to head up the stairs and set about preparing the rooms for the two friends on the way.
On my way up the stairs I stopped halfway and turned to both of them to say, “Thank you both so much for all you have done for me. I truly, truly appreciate it. I hope y’all can go and get some rest now after all your labors.” Then I headed up the remainder of the stairs and left them in the lobby to do as they wished for the rest of the afternoon.
After the rooms were cleaned and straightened up, I headed back to my room to rest for a bit. As I entered the room I heard the light squawking of Jesus in the corner of the room. I sunk down into the high backed chair and settled in, getting comfortable in my seat. I looked over to where Jesus stood on my dresser staring back at me and decided to ask the ever wise bird a question.
“Do you think everything is going to be alright?” I began.
“That depends on what you mean by alright.” He said in his thin croaking voice. “If you want everything to be as it was then, no. You can move forward though and make the most of the situation and in that way everything will be alright.”
“I hope so. I’m sorry I forgot to feed you last night.” I told him as he flew from the dresser to land on the table just in front of me.
“That is ok, Lilly made sure to feed me.” He said tucking his wings in and straightening up, looking me in the eye. “You aren’t the only one that has dealt with great hardships. When Nathaniel gets here ask him about when he was young and how he found the courage to move on. I think it’ll help you in your present state.” With that, he nodded to me and flew back out the open window leaving me with my thoughts and to contemplate on his advice.
For the first time that day the adrenaline had finally worn off and I realized how tired and stretched thin I felt. I quickly went from quiet contemplation to deep, dreamless sleep. When I woke up, I looked about the room and noticed the fading light seeping through the window. The calm, soft, last rays of the sun spread around the room in brilliant colors of orange, pink, and purple. I felt so tranquil and at ease, the warm hues reaching my soul and chasing out the cold, dark shadows that had taken hold. I sat up in the chair and looked toward the clock. It read 6:47pm. I figured that surely Deb and Nathaniel would be here soon if not here already. I got up and stretched, straightened the wrinkles in my clothes, and headed down the hallways to the lobby downstairs.
I could hear the familiar sound of chatter in the background as I stepped down the stairs. The voices seemed happier this time around and less hushed and careful, more carefree and lively. I quickly descended and turned the corner to the sitting room to see all my friends gathered around. The immediately stopped their conversation and turned towards me. Deb jumped from her seat and came rushing over to greet me as I came in the room.
With a hearty and warm embrace she held me till I was the one who let go and then she looked me in the eyes and asked, “How are you now that you have had a good rest?”
“Much better, more calm and at peace.” I answered.
“I’m glad.” She said warmly and gently ushered me over to sit between her and Nathan on the couch in the center of the room.
After going over briefly the events of the day before we all sat silently in the room, contemplating various parts and things that troubled each one of us the most, my thoughts ever straying to the fear that I might get caught or thrown in jail for what happened. I pushed them aside in my mind and deemed them pointless since Benny hadn’t been a part of the world for years. There would be no one to miss him or come looking for him. He was just yet another victim of the curse and had at last been claimed by the town. Once I put those thoughts from my mind a new one came into my head. The words of Jesus came back to me and I ventured to ask Nathaniel the meaning of what Jesus had said.
“Nathaniel?” I began gingerly, not knowing quiet how to proceed. “Jesus told me today to ask you about what happened to you when you were young. He said you had been through a traumatic event and what you had to say may help me in some way. Do you know what he meant?”
“Yes I do.” He began slowly not looking up from where he had been staring at the floor. “It is a long story and one that few know, for it is hurtful still to talk about it. But if it can help you in any way I will tell it. But bear with me, for some parts are more difficult than others to speak of.”
“You don’t have to tell me if it will cause you grief. I don’t want that.” I told him.
“No, no. It is one that must be told and told in full. By telling our darkest fears and hurts we can begin to heal. When I saw the look in your eyes as you entered the room, I knew that look well, for I’ve seen it too many times in others and in my own reflection in the mirror.”
“As long as you are ok with it……please do. I can use any and all encouragement that I can get right now.” I said looking for approval from the others in the room who all nodded their approval.
“Well where to begin….” Nathan trailed off looking back in his mind to find the starting point of his story. “I suppose I should start by saying this isn’t just my story but the story of many survivors. It has a beginning, a middle, but for the people who experienced it firsthand they never truly reached the end of the story. You see, when you experience something traumatic and life changing, you carry it with you always, scars are permanent after all, they just fade with time and become easier to bear.”
Once he found where he wanted to start, he told me the following story and it was one of the most heartbreaking I’ve ever heard.
“In the spring of my seventh year on this earth, my mother came to me urgently with great hurry. The social workers had come to the reservation where we lived at the time. Everyone knew what it meant when they decided to come around. They were going to steal more children. They would come at whiles to take away children and place them in schools far away. They disguised the placement as being “a great learning opportunity” or “civilizing” or “modernizing” us so we stood a better chance at acclimating to the outside world. All these terms were just fancy talk for their earlier campaigns of “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” It was their attempt at assimilating us into their ways, taking our lands and homes away from us, and taking away our spiritual power. It was the modern genocide of peoples they deemed less worthy because we lived a simpler, deeper, more fulfilling life different from theirs. The government of the United States has always from the beginning tried to colonize us and take what was ours. This was just the latest greedy tactic of the government that they could gather the support of the people around. It was on this day that I was to become the latest casualty of an ever growing statistic.
My mother ran to me, fear contorting her pleasant features, as I sat playing in the front yard with my younger sister and brother. She gave a shout for us to hide, as the cars with the government emblems came to take away any children they deemed to be living in “unfit” circumstances. I stood immediately, my own fear racing down my limbs, compelling them to move with all speed. I snatched up my baby sister Ruth, who was only three at the time, and grabbed the hand of my brother David. As fast as I could I led them to the cellar behind the house, where we would hide when the social workers would come. Never before had they found us. They would come and go, and we were left alone. But on this day, I don’t know if I hadn’t been fast enough, or if someone else on the reservation had given us away, but they knew just where to look on that day. As we sat in the darkness in the cold cellar in the far corner under the house, I tried to hide my siblings behind barrels and boxes so they could not be seen. I could hear voices up above arguing and my mother’s voice pleading. Then soon after, I heard their footsteps approaching towards the doors. They were flung open in seconds, letting the now seeming blinding light in to pierce the dark. They told me to come out, and not seeing a reason to stay now that I had been found I came out of hiding alone. They stopped me as I crossed the bare, hard earth halfway between the door and where I had been crouching in the dark. They knew there was more than just me down there and told me to bring my siblings up with me. I looked at my mother not knowing what to do. She had tears streaming down her face now, and I knew then that I had to admit defeat. I took Ruth and David behind me in tow, and came up out of the cellar. From there it was a whirlwind of events where time seemed to both stand still and move all too fast at once. We were taken from our home, stolen from right under our family’s noses, shoved into the government vehicles, and driven away to where we knew not. I turned to look behind and to this day I wish I hadn’t, for what I saw still haunts me to this day. I watched as my mother ran as fast and as far as she could behind the cars, arms outstretched to take back her beloved children, yet knowing all too well that she would never see them again. No one ever saw their children again. The look of immense and hopeless sorrow that lined her face and the expression her eyes held, and the wailing that came from her…….it was all too much. That is the last vision I have of my kind mother.
After leaving the reservation, they took us to a train station where they placed us aboard and told us to stay put on the train till we came to the last stop. It seemed as if we rode for many long days, with no food or water given to us, even though it was only for two. We arrived at the last stop at night fall of the second day. The conductor ushered us off the train outside to where two, large busses stood to greet us. The doors of the busses opened and women dressed in habits came out from the first bus. They came over to where I stood and tore my little sister out from my arms and took her inside where she vanished from my sight in the ever darkening and crumbling world from which I stood. Then men in priest vestments came out and told my brother and I to follow them into the second bus. I asked where we were going and where they were taking my little sister to. The man who stood before me told me that she was going to the girl’s school up the road and we were going to the boy’s school next door. I looked down to my brother and in our native tongue told him everything was going to be ok as long as we stayed together. No sooner had the words come out of my mouth than the man who had come to retrieve us slapped me across the face and with a loud booming voice told me that it was a sin to speak in that language, for it was the language of heathens and devils. Never were we to speak in any language but English because this was America. My cheek burned and stung from the blow, and my tongue was silenced. I followed him afraid to receive another hit should I be too slow and hand in hand led my now quaking and crying younger brother behind me into the darkness of the bus.
From there we were taken to the school. It stood large and foreboding in the night. Even though I was every bit as afraid as my younger brother, I tried my best not to show it, and comforted him instead. We got out of the bus and were led inside. The lights of the building were bright and blinding when we first came in from the ever deepening night. I looked around and saw many other children, some older, some younger than myself, headed towards a large stairway at the back of the long hallway. We were told to follow them. Once on the second floor, we came to yet another stretching hallway that diverged into two points at the end. When we reached it they began to pull my brother from my grasp. I held on tight as he began to wail and cry but it was no use. They tore him away from me though it took three men to do so. Where they came from I didn’t know. But they ushered me quickly into a dimly lit room to the left hand side of the hall. I struggled against them but their grip ever tightened and soon they were holding me down in a chair. They told me if I didn’t stop struggling I would get cut as they proceeded to cut the hair off my head. In our culture, your hair symbolizes an extension of your spirit. We do not cut our hair except in ceremonies, nor do we let anyone touch our hair unless they have good intentions toward us. Yet there they were, hacking away at the long strands of my hair. I watched as I struggled and saw each raven black strand, both big and small, fall from my head to the floor beneath me. When they finished I felt bare, naked, exposed and violated. Looking around at all of my hair on the floor, the first thought that came to my mind was, how was my mother and father going to find me now if they couldn’t recognize me?
They let me go and for the moment, I was still, trying to grapple with what they had just done to me. I then became aware that I had begun to cry silently. They told me to stop, they told me that tears would not get me anywhere in this school, only obedience, faith, and hard work. They led me from the room and at last we came to the end of the left hallway. We entered through two large, wooden, double doors and came into what I could only guess was some sort of dormitory. Most of the boys there seemed to be my age or older. They all looked at me with pity, but remained silent and continued to go about their evening routines. The men that were with me told me to strip out of my clothes and change into the new clothes they were going to give me. They were pajamas that matched everyone else’s in that room. Together I’m sure we looked much like inmates in a prison, for that was exactly where we were, in the worst type of prison you could be in.
That night I didn’t sleep at all. The strange place I found myself in, being taken from my home and everything I knew, and being separated from my siblings, all took a great emotional toll on me and left me restless and scared. I knew not what the next day would hold, or when I was going to be permitted to go back home, but I knew, even then that I hated that place. Even today, the memories of that place swirl around in my mind. I remember it all. I remember the faded peeling blue paint on the walls of the dormitory, the coppery smell of my bloody nose when I would be struck for “not complying” or my “disobedience”, the taste of the slop that they fed us that wasn’t even fit for pigs, the feel of the stiff clothing of the uniforms they made us wear day in and day out, and the sound of the eternally, perpetual, strained silence that forever hung in the air of that place, it is etched in the deepest recesses of my mind and will be till the day I die or my memory fails me. I left that place long ago, but it never has left me.
The next morning I watched the other boys as they got up at the sound of the ringing bell. I followed their lead and dressed and fell into line as I was supposed to. Soon every day looked the same. We would wake up, get dressed, go to Mass on Sunday mornings, then go to breakfast afterwards, then to the study hall where we were taught proper English and other academics, and then to lunch at noon, then to the yard where we were allowed to “play” for an hour, then back to studies till evening, then dinner, followed by evening prayer, then to bed, and then lights out. Every moment of every day was filled to preoccupy our time and keep us busy and productive. Questions were frowned upon, we were expected to be quiet and somber and keep our heads down. When one of our fellow “inmates” disappeared, we were taught to never ask, we just assumed they went home. A few boys tried to escape and were beaten badly and dragged back if they were ever found. I was never allowed to interact with my brother or see my sister except once a month when they would allow a visit on Sunday afternoons after lunch and even then we were allowed only one hour to see each other. So things went on and on. Every day they tried to drill into our heads the things they wanted us to know and learn, even if it went against what we had been taught since childhood. Our ancient stories were just fairytales and lies, our spirituality was wrong and dismissed and in its place they taught us the ways of the Catholic Church, and the ways of our people were beaten out of us till you either turned eighteen, your spirit broke and you accepted their teachings, or you disappeared.
It was about a year and a half in at the school when I noticed during the visits that my sister’s health was failing and my brother gradually became more and more quiet. I didn’t know then, though I wish I had, even though it wouldn’t have made much of a difference, but my sister was accused of being defiant, even at the age of four, and often stood up to the teachers and fought against the teachings and was disobedient. For her troubles, she was beaten and food was often withheld from her as punishment. My younger brother was aloof and distant. Often I would see him at Mass. He had become one of the altar boys. He hated the role and begged to be released from the duty. I didn’t know why at the time but in later years I found out he was being sexually abused by the head priest of the school. Soon they stopped coming at all. My heart breaks for the two of them, and I wish that I could have taken on all their punishments and pain, for I was the eldest and wanted to protect them from the cruelty of that place. Soon I came to my own breaking point, where I would either choose to remain strong or I would submit to the teachings and the abuse. Then something happened that made the decision clear in my heart.
One summer day, when I was thirteen years old, the boys were allowed to play in the yard after lunchtime as always. The girl’s school was across the way and had the yard the hour before us and we after them. While we were outside there was no decent shade to be had except in the back corner of the yard close to the wooded forest, and the day was scorching hot and I hadn’t slept well the night before. I walked to the shady area and saw peeking out from the bushes that scattered the ground, a pair of feet. Thinking that one of the other boys had been tired like me and decided to fall asleep, I went to rouse him so he wouldn’t get in trouble. That was when I noticed it wasn’t a boy at all but one of the girls. I got closer and closer and noticed that I recognized this girl. She was often allowed to come and clean our church building. I tried to wake her, but she wouldn’t move or stir at all. I grew frightened and tried to rouse her more urgently, but still nothing. I turned her over from lying on her stomach to her back and looked at her face. It was pale, a sickly shade of grey and white mingled together. She was thin and frail, as if the slightest touch would break her. I hadn’t seen her in a while and she looked troubled and sad in her sleep. I touched her hand and it was icy cold. Tears began streaming down my face as I became aware of what I already knew to be true but desperately wished was not. She was dead. I stayed with her till the bell rung, signaling the end of the yard time. Then I folded her arms over her chest, and tried to make her look as peaceful as possible before going to fetch one of the priests to let him know what I had found.
He came over and quickly dragged me away. I fought him to stay. I didn’t want to leave her there, not like that. I didn’t know what happened to her, I still don’t but I was brought inside by strong hands that grabbed me from behind. I wasn’t permitted to go out again that day. They simply took me to the study hall and told me to attend to my studies, as if nothing had happened. I was in shock and so I did as I was told. I bent over my books and pretended to study as warm, wet tears spilled down my face. The girl had been sweet, kind, determined and steadfast. She knew her will and never faltered. She had been someone I loved dearly. She was my little sister and at the time of her death she was only nine years old.
The thread I was hanging on by was thin, but after her death, it became a single strand. The only thing that kept me going up to that point was knowing my siblings were ok. Now that she was gone, I great anger welled up in me. Her death wasn’t accidental, it wasn’t her fault either, it was that accursed school and those that ran it that took her life all too soon and in the name of God that they said was kind and loving. I grew angry thinking of all the things she would now no longer be able to experience in her lifetime. She would never grow up, marry, have beautiful children, or grow old alongside me and our brother. She would never see our family again. She would never fully traverse her “Invisible Road” and her body would not be prepared properly by her family. To this day I still do not know if her soul ever truly found rest. As I sat there all these thoughts ran through my mind. Soon my tears dried up, my jaw hardened, and I became filled with determination. I would do whatever I had to do to get my remaining sibling out of that horrible place and we would, despite all the things they tried to teach us and how they tried to brainwash us against returning to our families, we would return home. So on that day I made this silent promise to myself and brother, and I began to watch all that went on in that school, waiting for the day when we would escape.
The next day our sister was buried, against our traditions and very unceremoniously in a rather shallow, small, unmarked grave behind the school. My brother and I were allowed to be in attendance along with the priest. I had never been behind the school before, and there as we stood waiting for the priest to finish his hollow sounding prayer, I became all too sorrowfully aware that there were many, many more small mounds in the earth. There were too many to count and not a single one had a headstone, cross, or marker of any kind. It was as if we were not worthy enough in the eyes of the school attendants to deserve any recognition, ceremony, or even any basic, human decency. We were no better than the dirt they tread on beneath their feet. This only served to strengthen my resolve and push me even more to achieve my goals.
Finding a way out of that school was harder than it looked. For one thing just getting out of the building was hard enough, let alone the fact that the school had a great gate that ran around the main school property. There were boys I knew of in the past that tried to escape and couldn’t get out of the building, some couldn’t get past the gates, but there were a few that did. Those boys had the worst time of all for the school would contact the local police and they together would hunt down the boys with guns and dogs, and drag them back. Few were able to evade the dogs and make it far, far away. Past that we never knew if they had been “disappeared” or if they ever made it home. Strategizing and trying to account for all the schedules and possible hurdles we would encounter in our escape took up all my thought and time. It took me nearly three years to finally come up with a plan that I thought would work. Everything was falling into place when the most unexpected thing happened.
Every day, the girl’s school would send over a few girls that were a little older and more responsible to help a few of the boy’s clean the boy’s building. It was then, against all thought and imagination that I met Sarah. She was a sweet person. Kindness emanated out from her. She could make even the grumpiest and stern priest at that school smile. She was different from all the other girls and all the older boys in the school notice her, I not least of all. I was on the boy’s cleaning team so we were able to work together daily. I got to know her and soon our friendship grew and budded into a young romance. I came to truly love her and I believe she loved me as well. We spent every moment we could together and tried to hide our feelings for each other from the nuns and priests. We were as far as I know successful for the most part. We often would steal away to the church hall and together clean the pews and floors of the church alone to steal a kiss or more. I loved her, I still to this day do, but now I had a new problem on my hands. I was ready at last to escape with my brother, but that would mean leaving her behind in that evil place. I couldn’t take her with me, I was sixteen and running out of time at the school. It had taken me three years to finally prepare for all the things that my brother and I would have to do to escape. How long would it take me to get her out? I was torn in two. To stay was out of the question, to go meant I would be choosing my brother over her, and to take her with us would mean risking it all. It took me a long time to finally decide what to do. I finally decided I had to honor my promise, and save my brother. She was sixteen as well and had only a little time left at the school. My brother was not so lucky. I made the hardest decision of my life, and chose to take my brother away, and wait for her to get out, though not without great pain.
I told her of my plans and she, being ever kind and considerate, agreed that she should stay behind. We had both been watching my brother, who was now old enough to be in the same dormitory as me, and we both took note of his demeanor and countenance. His spirit was broken and he was losing his will to live. The years at the school had taken their toll and he looked pale, thin, exhausted, sad, and old beyond his years. So the plan now set in motion, and blessed by Sarah, was about to be fulfilled. All I had to do was pick the perfect day and I would save my brother, and await my love. The perfect day soon came and that night under the cover of darkness I woke my brother and we began our escape.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Morning After
The next morning I awoke suddenly in a panic. Thoughts raced through my head over what had happened the night before. I had killed someone. Someone had tried to kill me. I didn’t know what to do with this information and I didn’t know how to make things right. I quickly got out of bed, changed clothes, and rushed down the stairs to find Lilly. If anyone would know what to do it would be her. As I came down the stairs I became aware of not only one but two voices coming from the sitting room. I slowed down as I got closer. I tried to make out what was being said.
The first voice I heard was Lilly’s as she said, “It isn’t like she meant to kill him, it was self defense!”
“I’m not saying she did mean to, just that there had to surely be another way. You saw the body, she ripped his throat out!” Jasper retorted.
“We weren’t there; we have no idea what other options she had. Besides dead is dead and how he died is a mute point at this time. We just have to deal with the fallout from it. She is going to need a lot of support and reassurance that it wasn’t her fault. We should have warned her about him. I just never thought he’d try and kill someone.” Lilly responded with a serious tone in her voice.
At this time I decided to make my presence known. I backed up to the top of the stairs and coughed loudly as I made my way back down the stairs once more. I heard them both go silent and practically jump from their seats rushing towards the doorframe leading to the lobby. They both looked up the stairs at me where I stood, each with reassuring and kind expressions on their faces. I was about to say something when Jasper spoke first.
“How you feeling this morning?”
“I’m not sure. I’m ok I guess.” I answered nonchalantly.
“Well we’re glad you’re up and doing ok. You feel like eating breakfast?” He asked as he started to come up the stairs towards me.
“Not really. I’m not very hungry considering…….” I trailed off.
“Well, there is no need to force your body to eat if you aren’t hungry. We can always eat when you are ready.” Lilly said pulling Jasper back a few steps.
I didn’t want to broach the subject of what happened the night before but their quizzical and expectant glances told me I wasn’t going to have much of a choice. I made my way down the remainder of the stairs and walked past them into the sitting room and sat down on the couch as they followed close behind sitting across from me in the high backed chairs opposite me. We sat in silence for a while, no one daring to be the first to speak about the events of the night before. As we sat I became painfully aware of the ticking of the grandfather clock out in the lobby, each tick louder than the last till finally I blurted out all that had happened from the moment I left till the night before when I came bursting into the hotel. Thankfully they both listened to all I had to say, neither of them asking any questions as I spoke. They let me get it all out, with varied expressions, as I walked them through the play by play of everything that had occurred. Once I finally finished I began to cry once more, having relived the previous nights events in my story and realizing how messed up everything had been. Lilly placed a calm, steady, reassuring hand own my own shaky one and gave it a few pats. Jasper gave me a handkerchief from one of his pockets and I took it gladly. Once I had a few moments to calm back down, Lilly was the first to speak this time around.
“I am so sorry you went through all that. I feel responsible. I should have remembered to warn you that Benny was a little…..off kilter……especially at night. We just never thought you’d be able to leave the town let alone need a gas station again.”
“It isn’t your fault; you weren’t the one with the knife and homicidal tendencies.” I said half laughing as I dabbed at my eyes with the handkerchief.
We let the silence linger then in the room, the ticking of the grandfather clock not seeming so loud now, more soothing and calming, as the minutes went by. My tears subsided and my countenance returned to normal as I sat on the couch, fiddling with the loose fabric of my sleepwear. I stared down at the floor trying to separate all the thoughts that fought for dominance in my clouded mind. I suddenly looked up as a thought sprang into my head, leading me to begin to panic. Before I knew it, I began to grow more and more upset once again as the thought became larger and larger. The next thing I knew I blurted out the most obvious question.
“What are we going to do with the body and the gas station? Surely if someone came along they would see the blood and body!”
Lilly laid her reassuring hand on me once again and said, “We took care of that last night, so no need to worry.”
“What do you mean?” I asked my anxiety not lessening any.
That was when Jasper piped up. “As soon as she got you in bed last night she came to me and told me what happened and I came with her to the gas station. We saw the blood and trashed gas station and immediately began to clean up.”
“We finished only about an hour ago shortly before you woke up.” Lilly added.
“What about the body?” I asked sitting forward in my seat, half whispering as if someone would overhear us.
“We buried Benny at the edge of town, to the west. We even stamped down the earth and covered it with loose sandy dirt to make it look like nothing was there.” Jasper said standing.
I sat there a moment or two longer trying to digest all that they had just told me. I rose at the same time Lilly did. I was truly grateful to have two good friends such as them to help me out in my times of dire need. I just hoped they had gotten every spec of blood and no one would find the body of Benny. We all stood there awkwardly for a few more moments before I spoke up. If I was going to have any true peace of mind I would have to see the gas station and burial site for myself.
“Take me to the gas station. I have to see it for myself.” I asked.
As we made our way out of the hotel, I noticed my mustang was no longer parked at the pumps of the gas station. Instead it was parked directly outside. Yet another thing my friends had done to make the night before seem like nothing more than a bad dream. We made our way slowly through the town to the edge where the gas station lay. As we neared it, my heart began to pound, remembering the struggle of the night before. I never wanted to see that place again let alone go inside, but I needed to see for myself that there was no evidence left behind, then I could rest easy knowing no one would find out what happened.
We came to the door of the gas station and Jasper, being the gentleman he is, opened the door for us and we passed by him into the old building. The sun was shining directly in through the windows since it was around noon, making the room brighter than normal. Once my eyes had adjusted to the light, I took a look around, and to my surprise I saw…….well……nothing…..nothing out of the ordinary at all. It looked like the picturesque, little, old timey gas station that had always been and would always be. The place was pristine and sparkling clean, the faint smell of cleaners lingering in the air. I slowly walked in and stood in the center of the room, scanning it from top to bottom as Jasper and Lilly stood quietly behind me.
“What do you think?” Lilly asked after a few minutes.
“I think you did an amazing job. I can’t even tell anything happened here.” I responded wide eyed and amazed at all they had been able to accomplish in the few short hours.
“That was the hopeful point.” Jasper stated solemnly.
I began to trace my steps from the night before and found nothing to be amiss. Then yet another thought struck me that wouldn’t leave my head. “What about Benny’s family? Won’t they miss him?”
Jasper snorted. “I highly doubt that.”
Then Lilly was quick to explain. “There is one thing that I haven’t yet mentioned to you. I figured with all the information that has been hurled at you since you have gotten here you had plenty of time to learn about this later……but…….time doesn’t affect you here.”
I was confused by this new bit of information. “What do you mean?”
“Time stands still here. As long as you are here in the town, you don’t age. Benny has been here since the gas station opened in the 50’s. He never aged, I never aged….none of those who have been called to the town have. His family won’t be looking for him because most if not all of them are long gone. To my knowledge, he was an only child like you and his parents and aunts and uncles are all dead.”
“So…..I literally have nothing to worry about because no one will come looking for him?” I said hopefully.
“We are the only ones that knew he existed.” Jasper reassured me.
Now that my mind was at ease we left the gas station and walked all the way to the other side of town to see where Jasper and Lilly had buried Benny. As we neared the site I was shocked to see yet again, nothing. There was no sign of a grave like I thought there would be. There was no fresh mound or marker signaling the burial site; literally nothing but smooth, sandy earth, just like the rest of the open land that stretched before us. My mind was completely at ease and I could feel the anxiety leave my now weary frame. I was exhausted from all the worry and still a little sore from the fight the night before. Once I was completely satisfied, we headed back to the hotel. As we neared the door I could hear a ringing from the other side. It was the telephone. Lilly rushed past me to answer it. After saying hello into the receiver, she stood for a few moments listening to whoever was on the other end before holding it out to me.
“It’s for you.” She said.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: Benny
As I walked over to what was making the sound I passed into the back room that Benny had walked through. At first I didn’t have a clue what I was looking at, but after a few minutes I realized it was an old, scavenged radio that someone had built from various old parts and pieces. The knob had been turned towards the on position, and from the speakers came the strange sound I had been hearing. After standing and listening for a few moments, I began to make out a whispering in the background of the static like sound. I couldn’t make out any words in particular at first, but as I listened I became more aware that the whisperer was in fact speaking random words. The words were without context, yet somehow were unnerving. I couldn’t decide which one made me more worried, but they all made me uncomfortable nonetheless. It was saying words like “Death, dismember, fire, burn, catch, kill……” and so on. Soon, the random words turned into phrases. These made me more concerned than the singular words. Phrases like “With a knife, Under the floor, In the hole, In five hours……” I tried to remain calm as the unusual words and phrases poured forth from the old timey radio. Soon Benny came from behind me, startling me to attention.
“Can I help you?” He asked with a narrowed expression when he saw me looking at the radio.
“Umm no, I just heard a strange sound and came to see what it was.” I responded moving away from the radio.
He reached past me and turned the radio off, staring directly into my eyes as he did so. Then he walked back around to the other side of the desk the radio sat on, and sat down in a chair, next to an old microphone, never taking his eyes off of me. I felt very uncomfortable with the whole situation. Benny was giving me strange vibes since I just figured out he was the source of the mutterings coming from the radio. I didn’t know what to do but excuse myself from the situation. I turned towards the door I had just come from, and began to walk out when suddenly Benny asked me a question,
“Have you ever seen a dead body?”
“I’ve seen ghosts and disembodied spirits but no, never a dead body.” I responded cautiously to his question.
“Neither have I.” Then he added, “Unfortunately it’s the dead that keep us here, trapped in this place.”
“I guess…..Are you dead too, like the other townspeople?” I asked as I moved backwards toward the door, not liking the direction the conversation was heading.
“No, I’m like you, one of the prestigious members of the Bennett family.” He answered sarcastically.
“I see, well I should probably be going, they are going to miss me at the hotel if I don’t get back soon.” I said never taking my eyes off him as I went.
I didn’t know what it was exactly, but Benny had a sort of madness to his eyes. I also didn’t know what his plans were for me, but I didn’t plan on sticking around to find out. I began to turn towards the door to get out, but found the door locked. As fear began to well up inside me I spun quickly back around, only to find Benny directly behind me, leering at me with a sort of hatred in his eyes. Before I could speak he whipped out a knife the size of my forearm, now that I think of it, it was probably a machete, and held it up to my neck.
“What makes you so damn special, huh?” I’ve been here since 1953 and nothing has ever changed. No one was allowed to leave…..I wasn’t allowed to leave. Yet here you came waltzing into town on your high horse and within a month you get to come and go at will. I don’t think so.” He hissed through his teeth.
This conversation had taken more than a wrong turn. Right then I did the only thing I could think of to do. I kneed him in the groin and ran. Where I was running to I hadn’t a clue, but if I was going to survive the night, I needed to find some way out or somewhere to hide. The back room looked as if it connected to several others. So I picked the first one and ran into it. It looked like an old garage, filled to the brim with old antiques and car parts and even an old automobile or two. I, knowing that I had limited time and places to hide, picked the first place that seemed reasonable, under one of the cars.
As I flopped to the dirt and dust covered ground I could hear Benny recovering. I slid under the nasty, oily, rust covered car just in time as I heard his fast footsteps approaching ever nearer. I laid there on my stomach, holding my breath, lest it gave me away. Benny walked slowly through the room, pausing every now and again to more closely inspect a large, wooden box or a stack of tires to see if I was hidden there. All too soon he came close to where I was and in that moment I swear my heart stopped. The only thing I could see from my position was his feet as they paced to and fro around the room as he muttered incomprehensible words to himself.
In a few moments he flew into a rage, knocking down the stacks of tires, stabbing and slicing the air as the blade whistled through it, and throwing aside the old boxes of car parts in an attempt to lure me out. I knew it was now or never, if I was going to leave the room, I had to do it now. I slid like a snake to the other side of the car, opposite to where Benny was in the room, and quietly and stealthily as possible emerged from underneath and crouched where he couldn’t see me. Then, as soon as I could, I made a break for it, dashing from the car side to the door slamming it behind me and locking it behind me.
As soon as I was on the other side I could hear him fly into a shrieking incomprehensible rage. He slammed into the door, banging and stabbing at it from the other side. Luckily for me the door was thick and the lock held. Not knowing how much time I had, I ran to the door to the rest of the gas station. I tried the door once more to find it still locked. I hurriedly looked for something, anything, to either pry the door off its hinges or break the lock. I thought I had seen a crowbar near the desk where Benny had been sitting along with a tool chest of sorts.
The chest held many tools and gadgets, which one was going to be the best one for me to use to get the door was anyone’s guess. I was not and never have been tool handy. I chose the crowbar first to see if I could simply bust the door knob and lock off. I stood before the door and took a deep breath, readying myself to take a hard swing. Right as I was about to I heard Benny yell out.
“You think you’re so special, you get to go anywhere you want and the rest of us are trapped here never changing or growing old forever! Well as soon as I get out of here I’ll show you! You’ll be trapped here just like the rest of us.”
My adrenaline flow picked up even more then. I had no clue what was wrong with Benny but I wasn’t about to find out. I steadied myself and lined up the crowbar with the door lock. I raised it above my head and took a swing. With a loud bang it collided with the door’s knob. I had made a good dent into it but it held firm. I raised the crowbar once more and swung down with all my strength and with yet another bang, knocked it off kilter. I tried the door once more, still it was locked tight. I hoped the third time would be the charm. I backed up a step or two, and lined up with the doorknob, raised the crowbar up, and came down harder than I had the previous two times. As it made contact, I felt the lock and knob give way, and heard a clattering sound as they hit the floor, just in time as I heard a crashing and cracking sound from behind me.
I turned to look over my shoulder as I was running out. Benny had escaped his makeshift prison as well. With a fiery rage and madness in his eyes he looked directly at me and began to sprint forward as I ran to the entrance of the gas station. He was quick on my heels as I reached the entrance, grabbing my ponytail and yanking me backwards just as I had gotten to the front door. To have made it so far and be pulled back from all safety was a crushing blow. The only thing I could do now was fight my way out of the situation. The only thing I could think of to do was what I had been taught in a self defense class years prior. The first act of business was to get the machete out of his hand and away from us.
I turned then and grabbed the arm with the machete, twisting his arm as hard as possible in a spiraling motion till I heard the bones in his arm begin to crack and snap. He immediately let go of the machete and I kicked it as far away from us as possible. The next thing I knew he was dragging me to the floor, still holding on to my hair, one arm limp as the other was entangled in my hair. Once on the ground he let go of me and sprung towards the machete. I grabbed onto his legs, pulling him backwards towards me in an attempt to keep him from reaching it. He flung around and hit me hard, square in the face, hitting my already painful wounds. I saw black mixed with stars as it took me a second to recover. By the time I had, he had the machete back in his good hand and was holding it towards my neck. The fight was over, and I had lost.
“Ha! See there, you aren’t so special after all! No go to sleep and come back as a little doll you stupid bitch!” He said, as hatred and spittle flew from his mouth as he said the words.
As he set the blade against my neck, drawing the first small amount of blood, I only had one option left. I didn’t know what else to do, so I turned my head to face Benny’s neck and bit down as far and deep as I possibly could. The moment I did so blood and gore spewed forth coating my face and chest. He immediately let the blade go in an effort to grab his own neck to stop the free flowing blood. It was a pointless endeavor; I had bitten straight through to his jugular. He quickly began to collapse further onto the ground, blood pooling all around him and spewing in every direction he turned on his way down. In seconds, he was completely still, his eyes unmoving and lifeless.
I backed away from him, as he lay there bleeding out fully, sliding backwards towards the door. I stood then and for the first time noticed my blood stained hands as they shook from all that had just occurred. I didn’t even have to think then, I just ran. I ran away from that gas station and from what I had just done and made a break for the hotel. Things had happened too fast and I didn’t know what else to do. I just wanted to reach the safety of civilization.
I ran the span of the town to the hotel doors and began to pound on them wildly, begging to be let in. The door quickly swung open and Lilly stood on the other side, eyes wide and mouth agape at my current disheveled state. I raced into the hotel lobby and she quickly shut the door behind me. Now that she could see me in the well lit room, I heard her gasp and grab hold of me as I backed into the desk and slid down to the floor.
“Are you ok? What happened? Are you hurt?” She asked in her high pitched panicky voice.
“I…….The gas station……..Benny……” Those were the only words I could manage at the time.
I watched as her face went from concerned and scared to solemn and worried. “What did he do to you……what happened?” She said more calmly this time.
“He…..he tried to kill me……but I killed him first.” I said still shaking like a leaf.
Her face changed once again to complete shock and horror at my words. I didn’t care in that moment what she thought of me, I was just glad I was safe at last. She helped me up from where I sat and began to pull me towards the staircase. She didn’t say a word, and for that I was grateful, but part of me wished she’d say something, anything to help calm my nerves. She ushered me up the steps and into the upstairs hallway past the doll room and other rooms and into my own. She got me in the bathroom and helped me to take off my blood soaked clothes and get into the shower. I watched the blood wash off my body and hair into the drain, pooling at my feet. I scrubbed and scrubbed but no matter what I did I didn’t feel clean.
Once I was finished, she was there ready with a warm towel and new, fresh clothes. I put them on slowly and I could tell she was looking me over for fresh wounds, cuts, and bruises, which I’m sure after the scuffle between Benny and I there were more than a few. After I finished dressing she got me into bed. She left the room for a moment and came back with a cup of hot tea and more blankets which she wrapped around me securely. Before turning off the lights she looked back at me and said,
“Try and get some rest if you can. Well take care of all this in the morning. You’re safe now. Please know none of this was your fault. Benny was a very unhinged person. It always got worse after dark. I’m not surprised something happened; I just never thought he’d do something like this. Anyways, get some rest and we’ll revisit this in the morning.”
She turned the light off as she left and in the quiet dark I became aware that my breathing hadn’t slowed down any. I began to focus on slowing down my pounding heart and rapid breathing. I don’t know how long it took, but I noticed soon that my racing heartbeat had calmed and my breathing slowed, and my limbs began to grow heavy and weary from the struggle. Then all too soon the overall tiredness and exhaustion from all that had happened hit me like a ton of bricks, and I could feel myself relaxing from my previous rigidity to a comfortable lax position in the bed, my eyelids growing heavy fast and before I had time to think much about anything more, they drooped as I drifted off to dead, motionless sleep.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Visit
As I drove off down the road I made sure to let my convertible top down. I didn’t think I was ever going to feel the wind in my hair again. Now with my new found freedom, I planned on making the most of it. The drive took about 3 hours from the town to my parent’s home. As I pulled up to the home where I had done the better part of my teenage years growing up, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to call and let them know I was coming. I walked up to the door and knocked. It felt awkward to knock at my own front door, but I didn’t want to intrude since they didn’t know I was coming. My father was the one to answer the door. When He saw me, he quietly placed his finger over his lips and shushed me before I could say anything. Then he leaned back and over his shoulder called out to my mother,
“Honey, it’s for you! It’s Autumn.”
As I heard her rushing over, I readied myself for a big hug. “OH AUTUMN!!” she squealed. “What are you doing here sweetie? Oh I’m so happy to see you”
As we embraced my father smiled and said, “It’s good to see you kiddo! It’s been a minute.”
I exited the hug from my mother and then turned to my father and hugged him as well, “I know, I know. I’ve been so busy with my old job and now my new job that I haven’t had time for a visit. I’m sorry”
“It’s all good, you’re here now and that’s all that matters. But hun what in the world happened to your face?”
For the first time my mother noticed as well, “Oh honey, what happened? Please come on in. We can talk about it inside.”
I entered my old home I was ushered by my mother to our family living room where we all sat down. After chatting and catching up for a while my mother asked again how my face came to be so damaged. I refrained from telling her about all the supernatural things I had witnessed, knowing that she would never believe me, but told her I had been mugged by a stranger with a knife, barley escaping, instead. She bought the lie, and talked about how terrible it must have been for me, and how crime has just skyrocketed, the normal parent things. We must have talked for most of the afternoon and into the evening. I never saw a chance to casually bring up my heritage, the town, and hotel, so I simply just stuck with the regular flow of the conversation.
We must have talked for the better half of the afternoon and into the evening when my mother called out from the kitchen that dinner was ready. My father and I rose from our respective seats and headed to the well lit dining room. We all gathered around the table to enjoy a family meal, an event that hadn’t happened in some time. We all took our seats to enjoy the delicious meal that my mother made; garlic baked chicken, sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar, and roasted carrots with herbs. It was an amazing meal and one of my old favorites. The chicken was moist and tender, the potatoes sweet and savory, and the carrots crisp and flavorful. After we finished eating we pushed our plates aside to make room for desert, my mother’s famous apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. It was the perfect meal. Over dessert I finally saw my shot to casually as possible sneak my question into the conversation.
“So recently I’ve been mapping out our family tree. I started on your side, mom, and have gotten pretty far. Did you know we were once a part of an old and rich family that settled a town not too far from here?” I asked as smoothly as possible.
“No I didn’t, I mean, I know I came from a more well to do family than your father, but I didn’t know about any town or anything.” She said as she took another bite of her pie.
“The family name was Bennett. Does that ring any bells that you know of?” I pressed in hopes that she would recall some important detail.
“Oh, Bennett, yes! Your aunt and I found some old books and pictures in her attic at the family home. We thought nothing of it at the time. I don’t know what became of them though.” She replied.
“Well that’s more than what I know about my birth family.” My father said sitting back in his chair.
“I know. I wish I could find something out about your family.” I replied.
I need to break away from the conversation for a brief moment to explain something about my father. He was given up for adoption at birth by whoever his family was. Why, we never knew, as it was a closed adoption. He spent years in the foster care system until he aged out, at which point he joined the army and started his career there. He moved from place to place for years. That’s how he met my mom who was living at the time back east. They married soon after and then had me. We traveled from town to town and place to place for years until we finally came to settle in the house we were currently in, the reason being was that it was only a few miles from the hospital where he was born. He sought for years to find his birth family but was never able to.
“I did find an agency that will tell me where in the world my family came from though, whether they were European, African, Austrailian, Asian, etc.” He told me taking the last bite of his pie.
“That might be very helpful in narrowing things down.” I responded.
“The agency told your father they have results that they will be mailing out to him. We thought maybe it would come today but maybe it will be tomorrow.” My mother added to the conversation as she started gathering everyone’s plates.
“Well whenever it arrives I hope the results will give you peace of mind.” I said rising to help her.
We spent the rest of the evening cleaning up and idly chatting about my old job and why I took the new job, minus the paranormal details. When it was finally time for everyone to go to bed we all said our goodnights and headed upstairs to our respective rooms. Once inside mine I was flooded by the many memories that I had from my late childhood. From my bed to my stuffed animals, the lavender painted walls to my furniture that made the room warm and inviting, everything held such wonderful memories. I traced my hand along the bedposts that sat at the end of the bed, feeling the carven wood, lost in thought. I had had such a great childhood and growing up, it had been so much better than my father’s. I figured that was why my parents spoiled me so much. Between being the only child and daughter to boot, I always got what I needed and usually got what I wanted. I loved my old room, and the warmth and happy memories that exuded from it.
Now feeling very tired, I changed clothes and got ready for bed, entering my bathroom and brushing my teeth and gently cleaning my face. I put on my teddy bear pajama pants and a comfortable oversized t shirt and lay down in bed between the covers. I set my pocket watch that I had dug out of my pocket onto the nightstand and I fell asleep quickly and deeply as the ticking that came from the watch lulled me to sleep. I had a wonderful night of dreamless sleep and did not once awaken during the night. Here I was perfectly safe and sound and didn’t have to worry about a thing. I was home.
When I finally woke up the next morning, light trickled through the windows and across the floor of my bedroom. I felt refreshed and like I had truly slept well for the first time in a long time. I always slept at the hotel but never deeply in case of something happening, now I that I had the chance to be free of all the responsibilities of running the hotel; I slept peacefully through the night without a worry or a care. As I got up I could smell the wonderful scent of fresh coffee and cooking bacon. I quickly went downstairs to find my mother hard at work in the kitchen making a hearty breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs.
“Good Morning!” I said to my mother as I went up and hugged her from behind.
“Good morning to you! How did you sleep last night?” She asked turning and hugging me back.
“I slept better than I have in forever. My old bed is still every bit as comfortable as it has always been.” I replied as I went to grab a cup of the fresh brewed coffee.
My father entered the room and said, “Good morning to my two favorite ladies in the world!”
We both smiled and in unison said, “Good morning.” With a giggle.
My mother had just finishing cooking and we all grabbed our plates and food and went into the dining room for breakfast. We ate and conversed more about trivial things when suddenly, just as we were finishing up, we heard a knock at the door. My mother, being the closest to the door, went to answer it as my father and I finished our cups of coffee, talking about the changing of the weather and whatnot. She came back in a few minutes with a large, packaged envelope and an excited smile on her face. She hurried over to my father and handed him the package.
“It finally came honey! It’s your DNA test results!” She said as she ran back to her seat to anxiously await the opening of the package.
We both sat there as my father opened up the letter slowly and started to read it. It contained a lot of information and pages that he quickly glossed over to get to the results on the final page. We watched as his eyes grew wide and his mouth began to gape. Whatever he was reading must have stunned him to get that sort of reaction out of him. I had only ever seldom seen him in this type of state in my lifetime, since he was such a strong and even keel type of person. He sat silently for a few moments with the letter still in his hand staring into space as I’m sure his thoughts ran wildly with the new knowledge he had just acquired. After a few more minutes I broached the question we all had wanted to know for years.
“So, what did it say then?” I asked gingerly.
“It says…….It says I’m actually Native American.” He replied in disbelief.
For years we knew he wasn’t exactly Caucasian. He had dark earthen brown eyes, olive tan skin, and his eyes were a little almond shaped as well. We often thought perhaps that he had been Hispanic or perhaps Asian, but none of us even considered that he might be Native American. The thought was strange and foreign to me but the more I sat and looked at my father I could see it. I’m sure he knew it too as he sat there in disbelief. After a few more moments of silence he went on to add.
“The DNA results go on to state the general area my family came from was around here, which explains why I was born at the hospital in town.” He said still reading away at the letter.
“Does it say what Native American tribe you come from?” My mother asked with excitement for my father in her voice.
“It does. Right here it says that my DNA was compared with the local tribes of the area and it was found that it most resembled the Pueblo tribe.” He answered excitement growing in his voice as well.
In that moment, my heart did a flip flop in my chest. If the DNA results were true, and we had no reason to doubt that they were, this meant that I was not only a Bennett but a part of the Native peoples that inhabited the land the town was sitting on. If that was true it also meant that the very reason that I was able to leave the town was because I was a part of the tribe itself. I never would have guessed at my heritage because of the way I looked. To be part Native American, I was stunningly European looking. I always took after my mother. Growing up I remember always wanting to have my father’s tan skin rather than my alabaster white skin tone that burned every time I stepped into the sun. My hair had always been auburn in color and my eyes were deep ocean blue like my mother’s. I think I was just as stunned by it all as my mother and father were, but for similar yet different reasons altogether. I got up from the table and excused myself when the time was appropriate, to make a call to Deb to let her know what I had discovered. Perhaps she would also be able to give some insight into who perhaps my father’s family was as well.
After speaking with Deb, who was every bit as excited and surprised by this newest development as I was, told me that she would check with her tribal elders and Nathaniel to see if any of them knew of a child given up for adoption. Together we hoped that perhaps we could find my father’s birth family. I didn’t mention this conversation to my father in fear it would get his hopes up for nothing. I think, though, that just knowing the information from the DNA results was enough for him at the time. I was going to check back later with Deb to see if she had any leads. I planned on finding out, if possible, my whole family tree on both sides. It would take a lot of work, but I was up to the task.
It was soon afternoon and I had the 3 hour drive ahead of me to get back into the town. I told my mother that I planned on leaving around 3pm so I could get back before dusk to the tiny town and the hotel. I didn’t want a run in with any creature, even though supposedly they were now gone. I just wasn’t going to risk it. So my mother prepared a light lunch for us all and we sat down to BLT sandwiches and fresh cold iced tea. We enjoyed our meal and talked more of the test results. I hadn’t seen my father so excited in such a long time. I was happy for him and wished I could tell him of all I knew, but neither he nor my mother would understand the strange happenings that surrounded the town and hotel, so I let it be.
Once finished I helped my mother with the dishes and then went to my room to grab all my stuff together, and as I came down the stairs to leave, my parents were waiting for me at the bottom. It was then that I suddenly remembered that I had left the pocket watch on the bedside table. I told them I would be right back and went to retrieve it. I had it in hand when I came back downstairs. My father saw it and his eyes grew wide, and then he asked,
“Where in the world did you get that?”
“I found it recently. Why?” I asked in response not understanding why it mattered.
“I had one just like that. I think when I was abandoned at the hospital that was the only thing my family left behind with me. It was old and worn but it looked just like that one at one time.” He answered coming closer and taking it from my hand as I gave it to him to look at it.
“Are you sure? I think you gave it to me the same time mom gave me my locket, for when I got scared or worried when you were away, and it looked nothing like it.” I asked as I watched him carefully.
“I’m perfectly sure. I was the one who wore it down so badly. I used to rub it when I was feeling sad and anxious in the group homes and eventually it wore it down.” He replied as he stared at the watch in his hands, absentmindedly rubbing it between his fingers as he used to.
He handed it back to me reluctantly, and I took it. This was yet another mystery I was going to have to solve. I placed the watch in my pocket and went to hug each of my parents, embracing them each for an extended amount of time. Soon I was out the door and in my car. As I drove away from my childhood home, I waved at my parents and beeped my car horn as they both stood on the porch waving back. I heard my father call out,
“Don’t be a stranger!”
To which I called back through my rolled down window, “Don’t worry I won’t!” as I drove away.
My drive back to the town was a smooth one, the weather was crisp and clear, the first signs of summer ending and fall in the air. Autumn, my namesake, was always my favorite time of year. Yes, it signaled the ending of some things but it also was a bountiful season. Since I had the chance to grow up in various places, I got to see fall in many ways. I most enjoyed the falling of leaves and the fruits and vegetables that were popular of the season. Call me clique, but my favorite flavor was pumpkin spice. As I was driving I let the windows down and enjoyed the slight breeze in the air.
After about two hours, the town finally came into view. A part of me was happy to see the place, but part of me dreaded going back. I loved the friendships I had made in the town, and I looked forward to rebuilding it, but the darker side of the town always weighed heavy on my mind. I hoped with the rebuilding I could bring life back to the town, chasing away some of the ghosts of the past. I thought about these things as I neared the town, my mind finally giving way to the more positive things I had to look forward to.
Before long, I was almost to the town line when I realized I needed to fill up on gas. I pulled into the gas station and as I did I heard a ringing as I pulled up to the pump. Before I could get out to pump my gas, a young man dressed in an old uniform, came out to where I sat. He had a cheery disposition, and seemed to know exactly who I was. He walked around to the driver’s side of the car, and grabbing the pump, started a conversation.
“Good evening Miss Winters! How are you today? Would you like me to pump your gas for you?” He asked.
“Umm, sure, and thank you.” I replied as I still got out of the car to face him. “Not to sound rude, but who are you?”
“The name’s Benny! I work here at the gas station, have for a long time. I don’t believe we’ve met before but I’ve heard a lot about you.” He responded as he started pumping my gas. “If you want to you can go inside as I get your car a little spiffed up.”
I looked at my watch; it read 6:36pm. I then looked at the car and realized it could use a little washing up. The dirt roads had done a number on its last detail, and I always wanting the car to look its best, agreed. I walked into the gas station, as the sun was setting in the sky, and sat in the little booth by the window as Benny began to clean my car. He finished in record time, and came inside right as the sun set, and disappeared into a back room, presumably to wash his hands or use the bathroom.
Now that he was finished with my car I began to look around at my surroundings. The gas station was small and quaint. It reminded me of something you would see out of an old 50’s movie with everything being suspended in time. I guessed that this gas station had been built in that era. As I sat in the booth I became aware of a faint sound coming from the back. I got on my nerves after a few moments. It sounded like something reminiscent of running water mixed with static from a television. I got up from the booth and walked to where the sound was coming from and that was when I saw what had been making the sound…….
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Town Line
The next morning when I woke up my head was still pounding and sore. I slowly got up from my bed, and made my way to the bathroom. I figured a nice hot shower might relieve the tension in my neck and shoulders where the pain seemed to radiate. After I finished, I must admit that I felt a lot better, the headache subsiding till it was hardly noticeable. I put some fresh, new clothes on and headed downstairs.
As I went down the halls I could hear the clattering and clinking of plates and cups coming from the dining room. I stopped at the door before entering and right as I was about to open the door I heard a voice behind me say in a whisper,
“Oh good! You’re finally awake!”
I jumped, being startled by the sudden sound, and turned to see Lilly. “Would you people stop doing that! You’re going to give me a heart attack!”
“Sorry.” She said still whispering.
“Why are we whispering?” I asked perplexed.
“I don’t want them to hear me yet.” She answered gesturing with a slight nod in the direction of the dining room.
“Who? Do you mean Nathaniel, Deb, and the others?” I asked still confused.
“Yes of course, Who else would I be talking about?” She stated getting that haughty tone in her voice again.
“Oh my gosh, will you let the past be the past and let it go. They cursed the town yes, but they had just cause to. Furthermore it was our ancestor, Rosa, that cursed us, so if you gotta be mad about something be mad about that!” I stated as I opened the door huffily and entered with the gaping Lilly behind me, not saying a word, and following reluctantly behind.
As we entered the room, everyone fell silent and all heads turned to me. They stared for a moment and then went back to eating. I noticed some of the men had various wounds and scrapes on their faces, arms, and necks. I assumed that they had gotten these battle wounds while capturing and killing the various demons the night before. They stared at me for a few more moments before Nathaniel and Deb stood to greet me.
“You’re awake! Thank goodness we were starting to worry you weren’t ever going to show.” Deb said excitedly as she gathered me in a tight embrace. “I’m so glad you’re going to be ok.”
Nathaniel stood by and watched us as we hugged. Once we finished he said, “I’m glad to see that you are ok. We were very worried when we found you across the town line. Come and sit with us and we can discuss what happened last night.”
We made our way over to the dining room table and sat down and over a hearty breakfast discussed what had happened the night before. According to Nathaniel, after I had gotten separated from the group, they caught the second demon that came fast upon us. Deb led him single handedly to the alleyway, and the men that were there clubbed and pummeled that particular demon to death. The third cannibal demon that went after me can been right on my heels according to Deb. She only saw us for a brief second before she had to turn her full attention to her own demon. They both told me that an unlikely third party was the one who had saved my bacon.
Apparently just as I had fallen over the town line, Lilly had seen me and yelled out my name, and Jasper came busting out from the post office. He ran towards the demon and yelled at it till it turned its attention towards him. Right about then, the creature forsook me and went after Jasper, right as Deb was finishing with her own. She grabbed hold of Jasper and snatched him into the alleyway and they together trapped the third beast. Deb said the men in that alley must have shot and beaten the thing past all recognition before they truly stopped.
Once everything had died down and they got the three demons, they began to hear the voices from afar. Noticing I was gone, they came looking for me only to find Lilly, as close to the edge of the town line as possible, crying out for help. They saw me and immediately ran to my aid, only to discover I was just fine despite the knock I took to the head. Nathaniel and Deb were able to pull me back into the town, and Jasper took me to the hotel as Lilly unlocked the doors. Jasper carried me to the bedroom and set me down while Lilly, Nathaniel, and Deb began to care for me and look me over, looking for any unseen wounds or any lasting, permanent damage. They quickly discovered me to be fine and carefully bandaged my head wound while I was still unconscious. Jasper and Nathaniel went to try and help the other men while Lilly and Deb stayed by my side, watching over me. As for the nameless ones that everyone began to hear in the distance, they left them alone for the night and all returned to the hotel, just in time for me to wake up briefly.
Now that the account of the night before had been told to me, I wanted to ask the most obvious question.
“How did I fall over the town line and survive? Didn’t you say Lilly that others had done so before and actually died?” I began finishing the last of the scrambled eggs on my plate.
“Yes, there were several before. Some by accident and others by choice walked over the town line and died. Our family was cursed the night the Rosa enacted that spell, so that whoever comes in the town and is a family member, can’t ever leave. We are bound by blood to this place till the day we die. I figured out long ago how to jump through time and have been doing so ever since. So have two others, but, I haven’t shared with you how it’s done.” She told me as she sipped on some hot tea.
“How do you do that? Is it a secret or will share it with us?” Deb asked as Nathaniel nodded along in agreement.
Lilly sighed and refusing to look at them, turned once again towards me. “Long time ago, back when I was your age I figured out the dangers of this town and the hotel that sits in it. I decided I was safest when constantly on the move, so I traveled everywhere in the town. After a time, I grew to hate this prison I was trapped in and would walk close to the town line. I stood one day at the edge and wondering what would happen, and not caring what would occur, I stuck my arm out over the line. Nothing happened. I stood a little longer, and still nothing. So I pulled my arm back and headed home to the hotel only to discover that for whatever reason, I had traveled backwards in time. I went from my time in 1904 to 1832! I walked into a bustling hotel where dozens of people sat in the sitting room and a different caretaker was sitting at the lobby desk. I was so confused! However, long story short, I discovered the town wasn’t entirely bound by the rules of time. Somehow there is a wall that lines around the town, where, depending on how long you reach over it, determines how far forward or back in time you go. Why it’s this way I couldn’t tell you, but it has been since I first discovered it. I taught Mr. Elberton, our cousin, but he takes people with him, and the more people that do this…..there’s no telling what might happen. So I usually don’t speak of it anymore. I’m only telling you this because it for some reason doesn’t seem to affect you.”
“So how is it that I am a part of this family, yet am not bound by the curse? I just don’t understand?” I said to her.
“I truly don’t know. But I desperately want to find out in case there is a way to break the curse.” She replied rising from the table.
“I think we all want to get to the bottom of it.” Nathaniel said as Deb shook her head in agreement.
For the next couple of days the whole group stayed at the hotel, and while Nathaniel had said they could never truly take back the deeds of their forefathers regarding the town’s curse, they could bless it now along with the hotel to help ward off evil spirits. It took them many days, but they accomplished this task. At the end of the week, on a beautiful, warm, sunny morning they all packed up to leave. I gave them my thanks and appreciation, especially to Nathaniel and Deb, and saw them off as they got in their respective vehicles to leave. As Deb got in her yellow Volkswagan Beetle, she yelled out to me on the front stoop,
“Don’t be a stranger! Call me if you need anything or just want to talk!”
“Don’t worry I won’t!” I giggled, waving to her as she got in and pulled out.
Now that they were gone, I had to try and get to the bottom of things. The whole week all I could think was, why am I able to cross the line when others in my family can’t or was it all a fluke? I needed to know the answer to this question. The only way I could think to find out if it was a fluke or not was to go back to the town line and reach over and cross. In order to do this, I decided I was going need a little help, and I knew just the person. So off to the post office I went. Once there I opened the door and entered to see an all too familiar sight of Jasper sitting in his rocking chair by the front window, sipping on some coffee.
“Do you always drink coffee? I have never seen you drink water ever in the whole time I’ve been here.” I stated as I crossed the threshold.
“I like coffee, never cared much for straight water.” He replied without ever turning his gaze from the window.
“I know it’s been a few days, I’ve had my hands full, but I wanted to thank you for saving my life, again.” I told him coming over to where he sat.
“It is becoming a common occurrence isn’t it?” He teased.
“Apparently so, but don’t expect any favors in return.” I jokingly said right back. “I do have one favor to ask of you though.”
He sighed deeply and turned to look at me with one eyebrow raised, “Now what do you need? Was saving your life not enough heroics for the week?”
I rolled my eyes, “No, it wasn’t. I need help with a little project. I’m going to once again cross the town line and I need someone to help me do it!”
His face went from quizzical to concerned in a matter of seconds, “Oh no you’re not! You could’ve died last time, and you could die this time. I’m not gonna help you, you have no idea why it even worked the first time. What if it was because the tribe was in town? They are gone now and things may have changed. Sorry but no, I refuse.”
“I thought you might.” I said slowly turning and walking towards the door, “I guess I’ll have to just do it on my own!”
Jasper flew out of his chair and towards me, grabbing my arm in a vice grip. “I don’t think so!”
“Yes I am.” I said as I wrenched my arm from his grip. “I’m going to right now!”
With that, I opened the door and walked out, Jasper fast on my heels. The whole way to the edge of town he tried to talk me out of it and get me to come to my senses, but my mind was already made up. I was going to figure out this latest mystery, even if it killed me. Once we came to the edge of town we both stopped and stared at the strange line that ran across the ground. I had never seen the “town line” before. I wasn’t expecting it to be literal, but there it was, traveling from east to west in a perfect. straight line. I started to reach across when Jasper jerked me back once again.
“Just hold on a minute! Do you just want to die?”
“No! I don’t want to die, but I am going to figure out just what happened that night.” I retorted.
“Oh my good Lord you are one stubborn person! Fine you get what you want, I’ll help. Just let me grab a rope or something so if you die I can pull your body back across.” He said letting me go.
As he went to go grab the length of rope, I waited by the town line. I stared at the sandy, red earth beneath my feet and absent mindedly kicked at the various rocks and pebbles in the dirt. As I kicked on particular pebble over the line it disappeared into thin air, but it was not like the other things I saw disappear in the town. In the past I had seen the townspeople disappear into a fine mist, I had seen some things disappear into ash, But I had never seen anything just cease to exist. I picked up a couple of small rocks and threw them one at a time over the line. Just like the first one they disappeared altogether the moment they went completely over. I grabbed a slightly bigger stone and placed it half on the line, half off. The rock just sat there. Then I noticed something strange about the rock. It was ever so slightly hovering above the ground. I went to pick it back up and when I did, it disappeared in my hand altogether. It appeared that anything belonging to the town was subject to the space time continuum.
“I got the rope.” I heard Jasper say behind me.
He held out one end of the rope to me, I took it and asked, “What exactly is this for?”
“It’s to tie around your waist while I hold on to the other end. That way I can pull you back over should anything happen.” He answered.
I tied the rope securely around me and turned to face the town line. “Ready Jasper?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He responded.
“Well then, here goes nothing.” I said as I readied myself to cross the line.
I first cautiously moved my hand across the town line. Nothing happened. I moved my whole arm in, and still, nothing happened. So I carefully moved each body part one at a time a little closer and a little closer to the town’s edge and moved over the line, squeezing my eyes shut in anticipation. Finally, before I truly realized it, I was entirely on the other side. I opened my eyes and the first site that greeted me was the wide open dirt road leading into town. I followed it’s expanse as far as my eyes could see, then turned to look at Jasper who stood staring at me from the other side of the line. Like me we were both astonished! I had made it across the line without any damage, time hopping, or death occurring.
We stood there in silence for a few moments, just taking everything in. It was then I decided to remove the rope and see how far I could walk. I walked a fair distance then came back and crossed the line again. Nothing happened and I was just fine. I hopped over the line, back and forth for a minute, just to see if it was yet again a fluke, but it wasn’t. I was perfectly fine, safe and sound.
As Jasper watched me do this, he seemed more shocked than I did. I was the first person in the history of my family and in the town, to ever cross without any consequences. I was floored! Then my mind began to wonder at all the possibilities and just what this meant. At any time I could leave. Not just leave, I could go anywhere and come back unscathed. This opened a world of possibilities for me because it meant I was no longer trapped in the town.
I came back across and told Jasper, “I guess it wasn’t linked to the tribe being here.”
“I guess not. How do you feel?” He asked.
“I feel just fine.” I answered as I started absent mindedly walking back towards the hotel, lost in thought.
“Why do you think you can cross when no one can?” He asked walking with me.
“I don’t know. I just can’t figure it out. I don’t understand why I’m so special or different.” I responded as we both fell into silence.
We walked then back to the hotel as Lilly started to come back outside. She had been very quietly since I talked to her harshly that morning before breakfast. She came to sit on the front stoop in the sunshine that had begun to peak out behind the overcast sky. Jasper ran to tell her what we discovered. I couldn’t quiet hear what was said but I was able to watch their facial expressions. I watched Lilly’s go from wide eyed astonishment to thoughtful, to confusion, and finally to what I could only call jealousy. I understood though. She was only one of the four who were actually still alive in the town and had been trapped for countless years, watching her life fade from boredom and the long years of restless wandering. I wished I could find out a way to allow her to cross over the line, but I first would have to know why I could.
I walked up to the group just in time to hear Lilly say “So now that she knows she can leave do you honestly think she would stay now?”
To which Jasper replied in a saddened realization, “I……I don’t suppose she will now, will she?”
“I’m not planning on going anywhere.” I said walking up to them.
“Yet.” Lilly curtly replied.
“No, only maybe to visit family or friends, but I would come back.” I told them as I started walking up the steps to the hotel door. I had much to think about and find out.
I left them to sit and talk things out between themselves. I knew they both thought I was going to abandon all involvement with the town and the hotel. It was not my intention, because I had come to enjoy the company of the townspeople and the town’s queerness. I didn’t want to leave but I had to admit a visit to my mother and father would be very much appreciated. I figured that maybe that would be a good place to start my investigation as to why the “normal rules” of the town didn’t seem to apply to me. Maybe they had some information as to what made me different. So I began to pack a bag, and got ready to head out for an overnight visit to them.
I got my overnight bag packed and headed down the stairs, and for the first time I looked at the walls and pictures on my way with reverence and familiarity. I planned to return in the morning. As I walked down the front steps to the building, Jasper and Lilly both sat there. I explained where I was going and for how long, but neither seemed to believe my words. I knew they thought I was leaving for good, but I told them I was only going to be gone for a short overnight stay, lifting up my overnight bag as evidence of this. Lilly sat and said not a single word, and just stared at the ground. As I turned and got in my Mustang, I hear Jasper say solemnly,
“I guess this is goodbye then. We’ll see you when we see you I suppose.” As he turned and walked away, disappearing from my sight into a fine mist like I had seen the other townspeople do.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: Strange Happenings
We looked from each other to all around us as the room shook. The various pictures that dotted the walls began to fall off, causing them to crack and break. We held on for dear life to our chairs and pulled our feet inward to protect them. Then as suddenly as the earthquake began, it tapered off till nothing more could be felt. We cautiously set our feet back on the ground, feeling for any vibrations, and slowly stood.
“What in the world do you suppose that was?” I asked Deb, who looked as bewildered as I felt.
“I….I don’t know. You don’t think it has anything to do with the offerings to the Twins do you?” She asked me in return.
“I don’t know, it is possible though, it’s mid day after all. What exactly is the offering they gave? Do you know?” I asked in response as I walked over to the windows and looked out.
“The same offering the master chief gave in the story. They are to cast to the winds offerings of ground white corn, shells from the creatures of the water, pollen from our best flowers, and the war paint we used in older days.” Then she added, “Then they take decorated plume sticks up to the mountains and complete a ceremony, then they use them to mark the sacred sites and leave them there to appease the Twins.” She answered following me to the window.
“Once this is done, what happens then?” I asked her yet another question.
“They come back to us and we are to go from there.” Deb told me.
So we waited for their return, cleaning up the broken glass and pictures. I had never really taken the time to look at them, but now as we cleaned I began to take note of them. Hopefully I would be able to gradually decipher them in time based on things I would learn about the town and its residents. After a couple of hours, the men came back to the hotel and I ran to let them back in. Once inside I could see from the expressions on their faces and their wide eyes something had happened on those mountains, something extraordinary. I ushered them to sit in the now cleaned up sitting room. Deb and I sat on the couch opposite to Nathaniel, and eagerly awaited his story.
“What happened on the mountain?” I started. “We heard and felt a great earthquake!”
Trying to find the words Nathaniel sat there speechless for a moment, and then he said, “The Twin gods came to the mountain! We gave them our offerings and it appealed to their better nature. They came down in spirit, like a bright flame, and they told us what to do to kill the cannibal demons.”
Deb and I looked again to each other excited to hear more. Then Deb asked something in her native tongue that I did not understand, and Nathaniel nodded in response, causing Deb to become excited and exclaim, “The gods are truly generous!”
“What? What happened then?” I asked, Deb’s excitement rubbing off on me.
“They came to the peak of the mountain and breathed into the nostrils of us all, giving to us much wisdom and strength, hallowing our weapons and giving them power! We know now how to defeat the demons that walk this land, and they have lent us a bit of their strength to accomplish this task.” Nathaniel told me.
Now I was all ears, as if I hadn’t been before, but even more so now if that is even possible. “How do we kill them?
He looked at each of the men sitting in our semi circle around himself and said, “The men and I will wait till dark, when they decide to come around, and we will take the bows and arrows and clubs made for us by our people, the very same ones that the Twins hallowed, and we will attack them as they come! Then we are to bring their corpses to the mountains and leave them to the Twins to do with as they wish.”
Deb was in awe, and I must admit something within me was as well. I didn’t know the ancient stories that Deb did or of the power that the tribe yielded, but something within me understood and took great joy in the knowledge that some things, while not known, can be absolutely amazing and powerful far beyond comprehension. We all sat in silence for a moment, and contemplated what was needed to prepare for the coming of the demons and evil spirits, and no one said a word for a good long while. I finally broke the silence and asked quietly to Deb and Nathaniel,
“What can I do to help? I want to be able to help and support you in some way since it is my family’s and the town’s fault that all this was brought about.”
Nathaniel looked at me with kindness and understanding and said, “Do not worry, I haven’t forgotten you or Deb. We will need someone brave enough to be the bait in capturing the demons so we can kill them. Only, though, if you are up to the task.”
I sat up straighter in my seat and stiffened my jaw, holding my head up high, and with a deep sigh said, “I am more than up to the task. It would be my honor to be chosen to help you if I can.”
It was settled then. We decided that on that night, as the sun set and dusk came about, we would go through the town and wherever we saw the demons, we would trap them into the alleyways for slaughter. Deb’s and my job was to be the bait, and lure the demons and spirits to the alleys with sweet scented meats from various animals, and once on the alleyways, we would flee from them out the back and the men would lay siege upon them. At least 3 men were to be at the end of each alleyway and we were to double back and cut the demons off at the front, with bitter smelling herbs and sage, salting the earth in lines behind and in front of us as we went, since the evil spirits of the world cannot stand the purity of salt. The closer it became to dusk the more anxious I became. Soon it was time to leave the hotel. Locking the doors behind us, we set about our mission.
We all headed out into the night, ever vigilant and wary. We knew all it would take was once slip up and the whole thing could go awry. As our group split up into the different directions, Deb and I stayed close together, our arms clasped so as not to lose one another in the twilight, when shapes and shadows can look like any number of fearsome things. As we walked together, with sticks filled with gamey smelling meat, we traveled from the hotel to the edge of town. Once at the edge, we turned and stood for a moment, then slowly began our walk from one end to the other, watching for any sign of movement as we went. Soon we began to hear a rustling from behind us.
We turned sharply and glanced behind us, and for a moment I thought I could see a shadow move in the distance. The longer I stared the less movement I saw. After a few moments we turned and continued about our way. When we were in and around the center of town, the wind picked up, and on the wind we heard a loud bellowing, as if somebody was crying out for someone in the heavens to hear. We grew afraid then, of the fierce bellow and of the creature that made it. As the wind died down, there came yet again a rustling sound, but this time it was accompanied by the fast padding of feet. We turned yet again, this time to behold one of the demons, come from the shadows and as it neared us, it shifted from a black form into a fearsome giant before our eyes. In that moment, all I could think was how the entry from the red binder, didn’t do the beast justice. We turned and ran then for the nearest alleyway, hoping we could reach it in time.
The demon was terrible to behold. It was as the stories had said. A giant man with bulging, bloodshot eyes, covered in porcupine like quills and black and white scales, ugly as could be, his smile stretching from ear to ear, yellowed and sharp. My heart began to pound out of my chest as we ran to the ally. Holding hands with Deb we at last came to the entrance of the alleyway, and we dropped our sticks and fled around to the other side, but not before lining the exit with salt. We heard a loud cry come then from the night. We sprinted around the back of the post office to the front of the alley and laid salt down there. Then we lit the bundles of herbs and sage and waved at the demon, who was now trapped in between us and the tribesmen. Nathaniel stood tall and strong in the dark, as he pulled an arrow back in his bow, and loosed it before we could even blink.
The arrow sailed through the air, before piercing the chest of the demon, straight through to the heart. The great giant fell as his heart gave out, and with a great crash and thump hit the ground so hard it made the pebbles and stones tremble at our feet. Before we had time to cheer or congratulate one another, we heard another cannibal demon and another, one close by and one further away. Now was our time to catch more. We broke the line of salt in the sandy dirt and ran to through the streets to the next alley.
The next demon was on us before we had time to catch our breaths. The third was fast also and came towards us from the front and the second from the back. In the blink of an eye I ran forward and Deb ran back. We separated then, not by choice, rather by mistake, and headed in different directions. I ran fast as I could then to the next alley between the hotel and the pharmacy. I tried to get there in time but was cut off by the now chuckling demon. I ran in the opposite direction trying to get away from him. I paid too much attention to the speed of my steps rather than where they lead as I watched the demon over my shoulder. When I finally had the chance to turn around, I noticed that I was right on the town line, before I could stop, I tripped over my own two feet, as I have been frequently known to do, and fell whole bodied across the line. I heard a scream from behind me as well as other voices shouting and carrying on, and a feminine voice call out my name. I hit the ground with a hard knock, headfirst against a flat rock, a surge of pain exploding through my head.
When I came to, I was back at the hotel, in my room, my head pounding and my vision blurry. I tried to sit up but couldn’t from the pain. I heard a woman’s voice say,
“She’s awake! Go get Nathaniel!” As I heard footsteps leading down the hall to the lobby.
Before I could see straight, the same person leaned over me, and said, “Just hold on, be still, you’re alright, you’re safe now.”
I lay there for a few moments longer, rubbing my eyes to try and stimulate them to work again, my arms heavy and hard to lift. That’s when I heard two sets of footsteps out in the hall coming to my room. I heard the first voice speak again, which I now recognized to be Lilly’s.
“It’s ok Nathaniel has dressed your wounds and has made you comfortable.” She said.
“Autumn, Autumn can you hear us?” A second voice belonging to Nathaniel asked.
“Yes I can,” I uttered in response, still groggy and my mind unclear. “What happened?”
“You took a fall, and fell headfirst into a great rock. You have a nasty bump and scrape on your head, but otherwise are fine.” Nathaniel answered.
Then a third person added, “We got separated, and things went wrong, but we got them, we got all the demons. We didn’t find you till everything was over. We almost began to think you had been eaten.” It was Deb.
“When did you get here?” I asked turning my head in the direction of Lilly’s voice.
“I came back to let you know about rebuilding the hotel, but you weren’t inside and the doors were locked, that’s when I heard the yelling and shouting, I saw you fall and rushed as close as I could to the town line but I couldn’t reach you since you went over it. I thought you were dead.”
“Why would you think that?” I asked her, my vision beginning to return as the minutes passed.
“Once you enter the town, if you are a member of the townspeople or our family, you can never leave alive. Many of the caretakers have tried only to wind up dead as a result. I thought you were too. In fact, I truly don’t understand how you are still alive.”
“I don’t either. It is quite strange.” Added Nathaniel.
“Well let’s all just be happy she is alright. We can look into that another time, how about we just let her rest for now.” Deb said.
So they allowed me to rest and left the room, turning out the lights as they went. Now I was as perplexed as they were. I knew I could never leave the town, and even though I was liked by the native peoples, it didn’t change my heritage or my fate. So how was I able to fall over the town line and come back to it alive and without any lasting damage? I didn’t know the answer to this question, but it rattled in my mind till I was finally able to fall asleep. I would definitely be revisiting this incident in the morning for sure.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Story of Old and the Plan
The next day I woke bright and early, put on some of my nicer clothes, a blue paisley sun dress with purple and teal accents. I skipped the makeup, probably would be till my face completely healed up, and took my pills with a glass of water that was beside my bed. I went to the kitchen to grab a bite of something, and then headed downstairs. Right as I was about to unlock the door I heard a loud knock on the other side. It caused me to jump out of my skin. I guess Jasper wasn’t the only one to be a little paranoid. I quickly unlocked the door and opened it wide once I saw who was on the other side.
Deb was here and she brought many friends with her, elders from her village and other strong men as well. They were here to help me with the giant cannibal demons that stalked the town at night. I held the door open as they all piled in the lobby. When she saw my face she looked sorrowful, but instead of commenting on it, she quickly introduced me to every person, one at a time, for which once again I was grateful for her kindness and consideration towards me. Then she finally got to the last person. He was a tall man, middle aged with long black hair set in two braids along his shoulders, a few silver strands mixed in, and beautiful ruddy tan skin that had seen much sun in his lifetime. He seemed kind and jovial but serious when needed. Deb introduced him as one of the wisest elders, Nathaniel Elu. He held his hand out to me and I took it, we shook hands and he said,
“I’m happy to finally meet you Autumn, though I wish it was under better circumstances.”
“I’m pleased to meet you as well, I know I’ve asked you here on a dangerous mission, but I can’t tell you how happy I am to see all of you.” I said gesturing to the others in the room. “I hope you can enjoy your stay here at the hotel despite the task at hand and I look forward to being able to call you all friends.”
Once all the pleasantries were out of the way, I was able to check them into the hotel and led them all to their rooms to get comfortable. Once they had gotten settled we planned on meeting in the sitting room to discuss things. While waiting I made sure everything looked comfortable and cozy for each of them, and I ran up to the kitchen to grab a few finger foods and beverages out of our magical fridge. I took them downstairs and placed the various finger sandwiches, fruits and veggie platters on the coffee table in the center of the room and the various utensils and plates as well. Before long they came down one or a few at a time. Once they were all gathered in the room and we enjoyed the food and light chatter as we ate. I enjoyed the company for what seemed like the first time in a long time. I looked forward to rebuilding the town so hopefully I could gather many to the hotel just like they were now. After the food ran low and the talk died down we got down to business.
The first act of business was for me to tell my story, and explain all that I knew of the creatures. It was agreed based on my account as well as the various accounts in the binders from a number of the older caretakers that we were in fact talking about the same creature. They found it strange that they only revealed themselves once they knew a person’s name, and that they hid in the shadows, but they were able to agree that names were powerful and had some sort of hold on these creatures. We also discussed that we would have to use names against the creatures in some way. That was when Nathaniel asked me a question.
“What are all the names you’re known as Autumn?” He asked.
“My full name is Autumn Kathrine Winters, when I was young my parents nicknamed me Katie and it stuck. Most everyone called me Katie when I was young; as I got older I went by Autumn. From time to time they’d call me Katiebug, but that’s because in the summer of 1996, when I was four, I loved catching lady bugs and letting them crawl on my arms. Other than that I can’t think of any other names I’m known by.” I told him getting a little more settled in my chair.
“Always keep this information to yourself. I fear that even though we are dealing with the giant cannibal demons we are also dealing with the nameless ones as well.” He said taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Who are the nameless ones?” I asked my curiosity now awakened.
“The nameless ones are evil spirits that walk the earth where a lot of bloodshed and curses are often given. They are the ones that you hear speaking in the different voices of your loved ones and friends. They tend to stay hidden, even in the dark they often don’t like being seen, until they are ready to take your soul into the depths of the spirit realm. They are known by many tribes and peoples and they have many names besides what we call them. Like the giant cannibal demons you spoke of, they can shape shift into various forms. Once they have you, they take your soul of course but they also take other parts of you, and use them to take a physical form. I think your townspeople got the two confused long ago and melded them into one entity.” Nathanial said as he looked at all of us in the room.
“So if there are two different evil spirits, how do we get rid of them? Is there a way to make them go away and never come back? Can they be killed?” I asked now on the edge of my seat wanting to know more.
“The nameless ones can be driven away, but there always stands a chance they can come back, but I don’t think there is a way to outright kill them. The giant cannibals though, they can be killed, it is just a matter of how. In order for you to understand what you are up against I have to tell you the story of how the first one died at the hands of the twin war gods long ago.” He replied.
The story of Atahsaia, The Cannibal Demon was told to me as follows:
Long ago, when the forefathers of the tribe lived in The Town of the Cliffs, there also lived two fair maidens, who were sisters and daughters of the master chief of the tribe. One sunny morning, the two sisters were talking, and the eldest sister said to the other,
“What say you, the morning is bright and the water is warm. Let us go down to the water to wash our clothes to be made as new for the dance later on.”
The younger sister said to the elder “ Ah yes, But in these days they say the shadows of the rocks and even the sage bushes lodge unspeakable things, causing those who walk there to breathe hard with fear and terror.”
“Nonsense!” The elder sister exclaimed. “Younger sisters are always as timid as younger brothers are ill tempered.”
“Then as you say elder sister,” The younger one replied, “I will not quarrel with you, but I fear to go.”
“Hush then younger sister.” The elder said. “Come along then.”
They then gathered their cotton mantles and other clothes into bundles, and taking a bag of yucca root, or soap weed as it is also called, and started down together onto the steep, crooked path to where the water was at the foot of the great mesa.
Now, far above the town, among the rocks of reddish gray and yellow, red in the form of a boulder-like mountain that appears to look like a frozen sandbank, there was a deep and dark cave. If you have never seen it, to this day it is called the Cave of Atahsaia! There, in the times I speak of, lived Atahsaia himself. Oh what an ugly demon was he! His body was as large as an elks, and his breast was shaggy with hair liken to stiff porcupine quills. His legs and arms were long and muscular, covered with speckled scales both black and white. The hair on his head as coarse and ruffled as a buffalo’s mane. His eyes were big and glaring, so much so that they nearly popped from his head like skinned onions. His mouoth stretched from on cheek to the other and his mouth filled with crooked fangs, yellowed just as thrown away deer bones. His lips were red and puffy as peppers. And his face was wrinkled and rough as an expanse of burned buckskin.
That was who Atahsaia, who in the elder days devoured men and women alike for his meat, and the children of men as a sweetbread. His weapons were terrible to behold. His fingernails were as long as the claws of a bear. In his left hand he held a bow made of the sapling of a mountain oak, with two arrows already drawn for use. And he was never seen without his great flint knife, twice as long as a man’s leg and just as broad, he held this in his right hand and poked his hair back with, so his fore-locks were ever covered with the blood of those he slaughtered. He wore over his shoulder whole skins of mountain lion and bear, held together with buttons made of wood.
Though Atahsaia was ugly, he could not speak without chattering his teeth, or laugh without howling like a wolf, he was a very polite demon, but like many ugly and polite people of this world, he was also a great liar. He woke that morning and stuck his head out of his cave just as the two maidens went down to the waters. He saw them while he looked, and he laughed. Then he muttered as he gazed at them and saw how young and beautiful they were.
“Good lunch! Two for a munch!” and he howled his war cry, “Hoooothlaia!” till Teshaminkia, the echo god, shouted it to the fair maidens.
“Oh!” exclaimed the girl, as she clutched the arm of her elder sister. “Listen!”
“Hoooothlaia” roared the demon once more, and again Teshaminkia.
“Oh!Oh! Elder sister, what did I tell you? Why did we come out today!” Said the younger sister.
They both ran away, and then they stopped to listen. When heard nothing more, they returned to the water and set about washing their clothes on flat stones. But Atahsaia grabbed up his weapons, and began to climb down the mountainside, laughing as he went.
“Good lunch! Two for a munch!”
Around the corner of the great mesa, on the high shelves that stands The Town of the Cliffs, are two high towering buttes called Twin Mountian. Far up on the top of this mountain there dwelt Ahaiyuta and Matsailema. If you don’t know who those two were, I will tell you! They were the twin children of the Sun-father and the Mother Waters of the world. Before men were born into the light of the world, the Sun made love to the Waters of the world, and under his warm. Bright glances, there were hatched out of a foam-cup on the face of the Great Ocean, which then covered the earth. Two wonderful boys, whom men afterward named The Beloved Two who Fell.
The Sun dried away the waters from the earth and these two then delivered men forth from the bowels of our Earth Mother, and guided them eastward toward the home of their father, the Sun. The time came when alas, war and many strange beings arose to destroy the children of the earth. And then the eight Stern Beings changed the hearts of the twins to the medicine of war. Thenceforth they were known as Ahaiyuta and Matsailema, (Our Beloved, the Terrible Two, and the Boy-gods of War).
Even though they changed, they still guarded our forefathers and guided them to the Middle of the World, where we now live. Gifted with hearts of the medicine of war, and with wisdom almost as great as the Sun-father’s, they became the invincible guardians of the Corn-people of Earth, and with the rainbow for their weapons and thunderbolts for their arrows. They were swift arrows, lightning shafts pointed with turquoise. The twins were the greatest warriors of all in the days of yore.
When at last they had conquered most of the enemies of men, they taught to a few of their chosen followers the songs, prayers, and orders of a society of warriors who should be called their children. The Priests of the Bow, they were called, and selecting from among them the two wisest, and breathed into their nostrils (as they have breathed into the noses of their successors). Since then we make anew the semblance of their being and place them each year at “mid sun” on the top of the Mountain of Thunder, and on top of the Mountain of the Beloved, that they may know we remember them and that they may guard the Land of our People from sunrise to sunset and cut off the pathways of the enemy.
Well, Ahaiyuta who is called the elder brother, and Matsailema who is called the younger, were living on the top of Twin Mountain with their old grandmother.
The elder brother said to the younger on this same morning, “Brother, let us go out and hunt. It is a fine day, what say you?”
“My face is in front of me,” said the younger, “and under roof is no place for men” he said as he put on his helmet of elk hide and took a quiver of mountain lion skin from an antler near the ladder.
“Where are you two boys going now?” shrieked the grandmother through a trap door from below. “Don’t you ever intend to stop making me worry by going abroad when even the spaces breed fear like thick war?”
“Oh grandmother,” They chuckled as they tightened their bows and straightened their arrows before the fire,” Never mind us we are only going out to hunt!” Before the old woman could climb the ladder to stop them, they were skipping merrily down the rocks towards the cliffs below.
Suddenly the younger brother stopped. “Ah, listen brother! It is the cry of Atahsaia and the old demon is surely abroad and to cause tears.”
“Yes,” replied the elder brother, “it is Atahsaia, and we must stop him! Come on, come on quickly!’
“Hold on brother, hold! Stiffen your feet right here with patience. He is after the two maidens of the Town of the Cliffs. I saw them going to the spring as I came down. This day he must die. Is your face to the front?” Said the younger to the elder.
“It is; come on.” Replied the elder brother as he started forward.
“Stiffen your feet with patience I say,” Again exclaimed the younger brother. “Know you that the old demon comes up the pathway below here? He will not hurt them until he gets them home. You know him to be a great liar, and a great flatterer, that is the way the old beast catches people. If we wait here, surely we will see them come up.”
So after quarrelling a little, the elder brother consented to sit on a rock that overlooked the pathway and was within bow shot of the ancient demon’s cave. Now, while the girls we washing their clothes, Atahsaia ran as fast as his old joints would allow, until the two girls heard his muttering and rattling weapons.
“Something is coming sister!” cried the younger.
Both ran away towards the rocks to hide once more, but they were too late. The old demon strode around by another way and suddenly, at a turn, came face to face with them, glaring as he ever did with his bloodshot eyes and waving his great serrated flint knife. But as he neared them, he lowered the knife and smiled. He straightened himself up and approached the frightened ones as gently as a young man would.
The poor younger sister clung to the arm of the elder one, and sank moaning by her side, for the smile of the demon was as fearful as the scowl of a triumphant enemy, or the laugh of a rattlesnake when he hears any old man tell a lie and thinks he will poison him for it.
“Why do you run and why do you weep so?” Asked the ancient demon. “I know you. I am ugly and old, my fair maidens, but I am your grandfather and mean you no harm at all. I frightened you only because I felt certain you would run away from me if possible.”
“Ah,” faltered the elder sister, quickly getting over her fright. “We did not know you and were frightened by you. Come younger sister, come,” She told the younger. “Brighten your eyes and thoughts, for our grandfather will not hurt us. Don’t you see?”
But the younger sister only shook her head and cried. Then the demon got angry. “What are you sobbing about?” He roared, raising his knife and sweeping it wildly throughout the air. “Do you see this knife? This day I will cut off the light of your life with it if you do not quiet your whimpers!”
“Get up, oh do get up younger sister!” Said the elder sister, now frightened again herself. “Surely he will not cut us off just now if we obey him, and it is not well that even for a short time the light of life shine through fear and sadness than be cut off altogether? For who knows where the trails that lead through the darkness of the night of death?”
So you know, in the speech of the rulers of the world of our ancients, a man’s light was cut off when his life was taken, and when he died he came to the dividing place of life. The elder sister tried to rally the younger and rose to her feet, but still she trembled in fear.
“Now my beautiful maidens, my own granddaughters even,” Said the old demon once more, gently at first, “I am most glad I found you. How good are the gods! For I am a poor, lonely old man. All my people are gone.”He sighed like the hiss of a wildcat.”Yonder above is my home.” He said pointing over his shoulder. “As I am a great hunter, plenty of venison is baking in my rear room and more sweet bread than I can eat. Lo! It makes me homesick to eat alone and when I saw you and saw how pretty and gentle you were, I thought that it might be you would throw the light of your favor upon me and go up to my home to share of my abundance and drink from my vessels. Besides, I am so old that only now and again I can get a full jar of water up to my home. So I came as fast as I could to ask you to return and eat with me.”
Reassured by his kind speech, the elder sister quickly said. “Of course we will go with our grandfather, and if that is all he may want of us, we can soon fill his water jars, can’t we sister?
“You are a good girl,” Said the old demon to the one that had spoken, then glaring at the younger sister. “Bring that fool along with you and come up. She will not come by herself, she has more bashfulness than sense, and less sense than my knife, because that makes the world more wise by killing off fools.”
He led the way and the elder sister followed, dragging along the shrinking younger sister. The old demon kept talking in a loud voice as they went up the pathway, telling all sorts of entertaining stories, until as they neared the rocks where Ahaiyuta and Matsailema were waiting, the two heard him and said to one another.
“Ah, they come!”
Then the elder brother jumped up and began to tighten his bow, but the younger brother muttered, “Sit down, won’t you, you fool! Atahsaia’s ears are like bat ears only bigger. Wait now, til I say ready. You know he will not hurt the girls till he gets them out from his house. Look over there in front of his hole. Do you see the flat place that leads along to that deep chasm beyond?”
“Yes.” Replied the elder brother. “But what of that?”
“There he cuts the throats of his captives and casts their bones and heads into the depths of the chasm! Do you see the notch in the rock? That is where he lets their blood flow down, and for that reason no one ever discovers his tracks. Now, stiffen your feet with patience, I say to you, and we will see what to do when the time comes.”
Again they sat and waited. As the old demon and the two girls passed along below, the elder brother again started and would have shot had not the younger brother held him back.
“You fool of an elder brother, though not wiser, no! Do you not know that your arrow is lightning and will kill the maidens as well as the demon?”
Finally the demon reached the entrance of his cave and going in, asked the girls to follow him, laying out two slabs for them to sit on.
“Now sit, my pretty girls, and I will get something for you to eat soon. You must be hungry.”
Going to the rear of the cave, he broke open a stone oven, and the steam which arose, was certainly delicious and meaty. Soon he brought out two great bowls, big enough to feed a whole dance. One of the bowls contained meat, the other a mess resembling sweetbread pudding.
“Now let us eat!” Said the demon creature sitting himself opposite the maidens and at once diving his horny fingers and scaly hand half up to the wrist in the meat broth. The elder sister began to take bits of the food to eat it, when the younger made a motion to her, and showed her with terror the bones of a little hand. The sweetbread was the flesh and bones of little children. Then the two maidens only pretended to eat. Taking the food out and throwing it down by the side of the bowls.
“Why do you not eat?” The demon demanded while he crammed a huge mouthful of the meat, bones and all, into his wide mouth.
“We are eating,” Said one of the girls.
“Then why do you throw my food away?” the demon said.
“We are only throwing away the bones.” The girl answered.
“Well the bones are the better part,” Retorted the demon taking another huge bite, by way of example, big enough to make a grown man’s meal. “Oh yes!” He added, “I forgot that you had baby teeth.”
After the meal was finished, the old demon said, “Let us go out and sit down in the sun on my terrace. Perhaps, my beautiful maidens, you will comb an old man’s hair, for I have no one left to help me now.” He sighed pretending to be quite sad.
So in showing the girls where to sit down, without waiting for their assent he settled himself in front of them and leaned his head back to have it combed. The two girls dared not disobey, and now and then pulled at a long, coarse hair and snapped their fingers close to his scalp, which so deceived the old demon that he grunted with satisfaction every time. At last their knees were so tiered by his weight upon them that they said they were done, and the demon rising, pretended to be greatly pleased and thanked them over and over again. Then he told them to sit down in front of him and he would comb their hair as they had combed his, but not to mind if he hurt them a little because his fingers were old and stiff. The two maidens again dared not to disobey and sat down as he had told them. Uh! How the old beast grinned and glared and breathed softly between his teeth.
The two brothers had watched everything, the elder getting up every now and again and the younger remaining quiet. Suddenly, the elder sprang up. He caught the shield the Sun father had given him, the shield which though made only of nets and knotted cords, would ward off the weapons of the warrior and magic of a wizard alike. Holding it aloft, he cried to his brother,
“Stand ready, the time has come! If I miss him, pierce him with your arrow! Now, then….”
He hurled the shield through the air. Swiftly as a hawk and noiselessly as an owl, it sailed across the sky straight over the heads of the maidens and settled between them and the demons face. The Shield was invisible, and the old demon knew not that it was there. He leaned over as if to examine the maiden’s heads. He opened his great mouth, and bending ever nearer, made a vicious bite at the elder one.
“Ai. Ai! My poor little sister alas! With which both instantly fell sobbing and moaning, and crouched expecting to be immediately destroyed.
But the demons teeth caught in the meshes of the invisible shield and howling with vexation, he began to struggle to free himself of the shield. Ahaiyuta drew a shaft to the point and let it fly. With thunder that rent the rocks and a rush of strong wind, the shaft sailed therough the air and buried itself in the demons shoulders, piercing him through ere the thunder had half done pealing. Swift then as a mountain sheep were the bounding light steps of the twin brothers, who, leaping to the shelf rock drew their war clubs and soon softened the hard skull of the demon. The younger sister was unharmed aside of the fright, but the elder sister lay were she sat, insensible.
“Hold!” Cried Matsailema, “She was to blame but then” as he scooped up the maiden in his strong arms. He laid her apart from the others and breathing into her nostrils, revived her soon to wisdom.
“This day have we, through the powers, seen for our father an enemy of our children men? A beast that caused unto fatherless children, unto menless women, and unto womanless men (Who thus became though his evil will), tears and sad thoughts, has this day been looked upon the Two and laid low. May the favors of the gods thus meet us ever.” Thus said the two brothers as they stood over the gasping and struggling but dying old demon.
As they closed their little prayer, the maidens who now first saw whom they had to thank for their saving, where overwhelmed with happiness, yet also shame. They exclaimed in response to the prayer,
“May they, indeed, thus meet you and ourselves!” Then they breathed upon their hands.
The two brothers now turned to the sisters. “Look ye upon the last enemy of men, whom this day we have had of the powers given us to destroy. Whom this day the father of all, or father the Sun, has looked upon, whose light of life this day our weapons cut off. Whose path of life this day our father has divided. Not ourselves but our father has done this deed through us. Haste to your home in The Town of Cliffs, and tell your father these things, and tell him that he must assemble his priests and teach them these our words, for we divide our paths of life henceforth from one another and from the paths of men, no more to mingle save in spirit with the children of men. We shall depart for our everlasting home in the mountains, the one Mountain of Thunder, the other the Mount of the Beloved, to guard from the sunrise to the sunset the lands of the Corn priests of Earth, that the foolish among men break not into the Middle Country of Earth and lay it waste. Yet shall we require of our children the plumes therein we dress our thoughts, and the forms of our being, wherewith men may renew us each year at “Mid Sun” Henceforth two stars at morning and evening will be seen, the one going before and the other following, the Sun father, the one Ahaiyuta and his herald the other, Matsailema, his guardian. Warriors of both and fathers of men. May the trail of life be finished ere divided! Go ye, joyfully henceforth!”
The two maidens breathed for the hands of the Twins, and with bowed heads and a prayer of thanks, started down the pathway towards their home in the Town of Cliffs. When they came to their home, the old father asked from whence they came. They told the story of their adventure and repeated the words of the Beloved. The old man bowed his head and made a prayer of thanks, and cast abroad on the winds white meal of the seeds of the earth, the shells from the Great Waters of the World, the pollen of the beautiful flowers, and the paints of war.
“It is well!” He said. “Four days hence I will assemble my warriors, and we will cut the plume sticks, paint and feather them, and place them on the high mountains, that through their knowledge and power of medicine, our Beloved Two Warriors may take them unto themselves.”
This was most of the story as was told to me. The ending of the story basically went on to say how the twin brothers went on to destroy the corpse of the giant demon, and they hurled his decapitated head into the sky where it was made into a great red star, called the Great Lying Star. They also cast the demon’s entrails from one end of the earth two the other making the Milky Way. The twins then gave their grandmother a great scare with the remains of the demon, which they skinned, and she grew angry and left them. From that day henceforth the brothers became great stars of the morning and evening, traveling behind and in front of the Sun father himself, their spirits hovering forever above their shrines on the two mountains guiding and protecting the warriors of their people and their lands. As time moved on from the elder days, the shrines were not tended to as they should have, and they were forgotten almost entirely by the people.
According to Nathaniel, the only way he thought we could kill the giant cannibal demons that now walked the land was to give offerings to the Twin brothers upon their mountains, and in doing so may cause them to lend their aid once more to us in our pursuit to kill the other demons that were now inhabiting the land. These demons were similar to the one of old, where they came from no one knew, but these cloaked themselves in shadow, shape shifting when it suited them, and names ruled them.
We them devised a plan for the elders and the strong men that had come to the hotel, to go to the great mountains, and give offerings and prayers to the Twin gods at mid day, in hopes they would be able to help us deliver the town from the demons and the other evil entities. They also planned to bless the land and the hotel, the heart of the town so they called it, to ward off the evil spirits to hopefully never return. In the meanwhile I was to wait at the hotel, and keep a safe hold upon the hotel, locking the doors and warding off the spirits where I could with herbs to protect myself and Deb meanwhile as we awaited the men’s return. We then parted ways to do our respective tasks. That afternoon, around mid day, there was a rumbling felt throughout the town, liken to a great earthquake. Deb and I looked at each other in fear, wondering what was to come………
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Giant Cannibal Demon
The next morning I woke up with my face throbbing with every heartbeat. I must have been given something to make the pain bearable the day before. I rose from the bed begrudgingly and headed to the bathroom. As I stumbled in, I tried not to look at my face but was unsuccessful; it was the first thing I saw in the mirror this time. I took a closer look at it, but unlike before the cuts didn’t seem quite so deep. I imagined once they healed only the two middle ones would scar. Still, that was one too many for me. I never considered myself a vain person, but I found myself terribly upset at the thought of my beauty being marred and I felt guilty for feeling that way. The lost eyesight was only cursory.
I took a washcloth and began to slowly and carefully clean the wounds. It stung like fire and made the throbbing heartbeat stronger. I tried my best to clean up without causing it to bleed again. Thankfully I was able to finish quickly enough without causing myself any undue pain. I finished with my morning routine, minus the makeup, and continued to get dressed. I put on a regular old, baggy t-shirt and a pair of leggings, nothing fantastical or flashy, but certainly comfortable. Then I headed downstairs.
On the lobby’s front desk sat a note and two pill bottles, one blue the other red. The note read:
I am so sorry we couldn’t save your eye, but I’m glad to know you are feeling hopefully some better. have left you a blue bottle of pain medication to be taken every 8 hours and a daily antibiotic in the red bottle. Hopefully this will prevent infection and help with the pain. Hope to see you soon.
-Your Friend the Candyman
I quickly grabbed the half empty glass of water that sat on the front desk, and took one of the pills from the blue bottle and one from the red. I swallowed them down with the water and hoped they would kick in soon. I had decided that even though I wanted to rebuild the town, but that would have to take a backseat for now until Lilly came back, until then I planned on finding everything I could about the demon creatures that walked the earth at night. I decided the first person I’d talk to was Jasper. If nothing else he could help point me in the right direction to find out more about the creatures of the night.
I got to the post office in time to see Jasper with his back turned to me presumably locking the post office door. I supposed he didn’t want a repeat of what happened the few days prior. As he finished he turned around to see me standing at the foot of the stairs. I had startled him a little, he jumped and clutched his hand to his chest.
“Why so jumpy?” I asked.
“Well if you weren’t as quiet as a mouse I would have heard you coming.” He responded beginning to come down the stairs.
“You always know when I’m coming; you have like, a sixth sense or something.” I said eying him looking for any further signs of bewilderment.
“Well I guess things have gotten me a little on edge and not quite myself.” He said looking down to the ground, his mind elsewhere.
“I can to ask you a favor, well not a favor, more for information than anything. I’m gonna kill that thing that did this to my face.” I told him as I pointed to it, “I just need to figure out how.”
“That’s……that’s not possible, at least I don’t think it is. Plus it’s way too dangerous.” He answered.
“My mind is made up Jasper; you’re not going to change it. I just need you to tell me all you know about them or where I can find out.” I stated getting defensive. He wasn’t going to tell me what to do.
He sighed deeply and said to me, “I guess I can’t, can I? Well if I can’t change your mind then the least I can do is tell you all I do know so you don’t run off half cocked and get yourself killed. Come on in and let me get some coffee started for us.”
Once inside I walked over and sat down at the table where the tin still sat in the middle. My stomach churned with the thought of what I had seen and felt from eating that slice of pie. I waited for Jasper as he prepared the coffee for us. It only took a few moments and once it was done he poured two cups. Walking over he sat one of the cups before me. It was one of those old tin cups, the kind that actually kept the coffee warm for a bit. We sat there in silence for a while just staring at our cups, both of us lost in thought. After it had cooled some I took the first sip. Before I could even speak to ask my first question Jasper blurted out.
“I’m so sorry again Autumn for what happened. I made such a simple and stupid mistake and I almost got you killed and I……”
I stopped him right there. “Jasper. It’s ok. I know it was an accident. I don’t blame you and I certainly am not angry with you, so stop apologizing. I know you want to help and you have, but now I need to get rid of that……thing and keep it from hurting anyone else. I’m just hoping there is a way to.”
He sat there for a minute letting my words sink in. “I just want to make sure your ok first. I know it has to be hard, not just looking at yourself, but coming that close to death is enough to cause the bravest person to crumble and you’re so……so small and I thought, fragile. I guess I was wrong about you after all.” He ended with a slight chuckle.
I have to admit I had to laugh a little too. I had been so mad at him the first time we met when he unrightfully judged me without knowing me. I had to also admit that this was a new side of me that I hadn’t even seen. I was hoping, however, that it would dissipate once I could get rid of those spirits that walked around at night. Meanwhile I was going to do my best to find out all I could about them.
“So what do you know about those creatures? Lilly called them evil spirits that walk the earth due to all the atrocities that happened here. Is that true?” I began.
“As far as I know that’s what they are. There is no reason to believe otherwise. Where they came from is anyone’s guess. All I know is they showed up after the Natives cursed the land. They would only ever come at night, in the dark, never in the light. They hate the light, I don’t know if it does anything to them but they just stay clear of it.” He answered after taking a pretty hefty swig of coffee from his mug.
“Is there anything that stops them or makes them go away? Do they even have names? I know you said names were powerful to them or was that only in relation to people?” I further inquired hoping to learn of their weaknesses.
“To my knowledge, there is nothing that can kill them if that is what you’re asking. But……you can fend them off with light and burning sage. They hate the smell of it, it drives them away and they can only ever enter a room when it’s unlocked or you allow them in.” He took another gulp of coffee. “As far as what they are called…..that I don’t know. We only ever called them…..well them. I don’t know if they even have names, but the best person to probably ask would be your friend Deb.”
I took a sip from my mug and thought for a minute. “I think I may do that. Especially since Lilly and you both said they only ever appeared after the curse. It may very well have something to do with that.”
We both sat there a few moments longer finishing our coffee. Once we had finished, I got up to leave and he stood with me. “Autumn, I just want you to know if you ever need anything I’ll be here. Just don’t do anything stupid or too crazy alright?”
“I won’t. You’ll probably be the first person I tell if I decide to make a move on these things. I may need all the help you can give before it’s over.” I said seriously while trying to sound lighthearted towards the end.
I left then to head back to the hotel. I figured a call to Deb was in order. I knew she probably knew more about these things than Lilly, Jasper and I combined. Once back at the hotel, I walked over to the phone, picked it up, and dialed her number. It rang several times before it finally rolled over to voicemail. I left a brief message asking her to call me back on my cell. Then I put the phone back in its place before making the decision to head over to the library to see if there was anything about them there.
I got to the library pretty quickly, looking over my shoulder the whole way. I swore I had seen something lurking in the shadows in one of the alleyways, but I was sure those things wouldn’t be seen in the light since they waited till dark to come out. My mind was just playing tricks on me causing extreme paranoia, that’s all. At least I was hoping that was what it was. I entered the building and walked directly over to the librarian.
The librarian looked up from her newest stack of papers and records and gasped when she saw my face as her hand flew to her mouth. She quickly pulled it away to not offend me and she averted her eyes so as not to stare. I appreciated the gesture but understood this was probably going to be most people’s reaction to seeing my face. It was quite horrific, I couldn’t blame her. Once she had calmed down a little she asked me,
“How…..how can we…I mean I…..How can I help you today?”
“Can you tell me where I can maybe find information on the creatures that walk through the town at night?” I answered her.
“Umm….well that would be in the nonfiction section, probably upstairs with the town records.” Then she added, “Plus you may want to take a look at the old caretakers binders in the cases. They wrote about them all the time.” She handed me the key from the drawer and I took it from her hand. I started to walk away as she stood and said, “I’m so sorry about the pie…..”
I turned to look back at her and smiled so as not to offend her. “Don’t be. It was the best pie I’ve ever had….minus the paralysis.”
She smiled sheepishly as a warm blush began to creep up on her face and sat back down. I headed back up the now familiar steps to the records section. It seemed as if I was spending a lot of my time here as of late. I poked around at various town newspapers and found very little regarding the creatures there, at least nothing I didn’t already know, and so I started looking in the main town records. With no luck there either I began to open the cabinets and one by one look through the worn pages of each binder, scanning them as I went for any mention of the evil spirits. I hit the jackpot in the third binder, belonging to Annabelle Lee, about the middle of the way through. In its pages it documented a conversation between Annabelle and what I assumed had been one of the tribe’s members, possibly even one of Deb’s ancestors. Here is the section of the written log:
October 31st 1870
Saw another one of those creatures today. That makes 12 this week. They come at night and tap on the windows, calling out in the dark to be let in or muttering or talking in the voices of people we know. They even are becoming bolder, coming out at dusk and hiding in the alleyways. Jasper says to lay low for a few days. He installed locks on all the hotel room doors for added protection in case I forget to lock the front doors. I can hear them now as I write; they are coming closer to town with each minute that passes. I can’t stand the way they look. It took one guy last week when he went to take the trash out after dark and it got one of the travelers that came to town the other day. I saw the whole thing.
The man came to town the other day and he didn’t listen when I told him to stay in at night. He said something about stargazing and I assume he went outside to do this, that’s when I heard him scream. I ran from the desk to the window. He was there by the alleyway and one of the creatures had him by the throat. It demanded his name and he gave it. Then before my eyes I saw the creature change into a hideous being out from the shadow it had cloaked itself in. It was a giant man, with gnarled and withered old hands that bent and twisted turning into great horned hands. Prickles began to emerge from its chest just as hair would, sharp as porcupine quills and his arms began to grow and bulge, far more muscular than any living human I’d ever seen. Black and White scales began to grown from his arms as well, shimmering and glinting in the moonlight. Its mouth grew ever wider, till its smile ran from one ear to the other, nearly cutting its head in half. Its face began to swell, causing it to become reddened and puffy. His eye large and unblinking. Tusks began to sprout from him as well, becoming long and yellowed as an elephants would with age and it pulled out the largest flint knife I’d ever seen, positioning it towards the man, but deciding instead to devour him. He grabbed hold of the man, and yanked him up in the air. First he bit into the man’s legs up to his waist, chewing and smacking on the man. I could hear the bones crunch and break between the creature’s teeth as he ground them before swallowing. The next thing I knew the creature too another bite and another, the man screaming the whole time until he was completely gone. As I stood there watching, the creature turned then towards the window and looked me dead in the eye and rushed the window. I screamed and ran for my room, locking it securely behind me. When I went to the balcony doors I looked out but the creature was gone and the only evidence we had of it ever being there in the first place was a pool of blood that had stained the earth a crimson color. I added two new rules to the list, Never forget to lock the doors at night; you don’t want to let them in and only take the trash out during daylight hours. Hopefully this will prevent any more deaths at the hands of those things.
I was appalled by the account in Annabell’s red binder. The man didn’t even stand a chance against those things. I hoped that I would be better equipped when the time came to face these creatures and it sounded like there were quite a few of them. I closed the binder and kept looking but couldn’t find a more detailed account than the one from Annabell’s binder. As I was wrapping up and placing everything back where it belonged, my cell began to ring. I pulled it from my pocket, and answered it.
“Hello?” I began.
“Hey it’s Deb! How are things?” She said sounding chipper.
I didn’t want to blow the wind from her sails, but I also needed to let her know what happened. “I…….I had an accident. Long story short I got attacked by one of the creatures that walks at night or in the dark places where the light can’t touch it.”
“Oh my God are you ok?!?” She half yelled, “What happened and are you ok?!?”
I told her the story, leaving nothing out. Then I told her of what I found in the red binder. She was perplexed by what exactly the creature was. She agreed it was an evil spirit of some sort, but wasn’t sure exactly what it could be. She told me she’d call back after she spoke with her elders and found out what it was as well as any information that would help me get rid of them.
In the meanwhile it was late afternoon and the summer was coming to a close, the sun fading in the sky earlier than normal setting it afire, so I decided to head back to the hotel before it fully set. I got home quick as could be, wasting no time watching the birds as they flew into the horizon. As soon as I was inside, I locked the doors behind me. Nothing was going to get in behind me now or ever again if I could help it. I sat behind the desk, beginning to journal in my own red binder. I figured if things like this were going to happen in the town, I might as well write about them and catalog their happenings. I wrote about all that had passed in the days since my employment, leaving no detail out. Once I got up to date I promised myself to keep it that way. Around the time I finished, the sun had long set and the creatures were on the prowl. My phone began to ring once more and I picked it up and answered it.
“Hey it’s Deb again!” The voice rang out.
“Hey Deb, so what were you able to learn?” I asked closing the binder and getting up to put it away.
“You aren’t going to like it, but I have to tell you especially if you plan on going after one.” She said pausing.
“Go on.” I told her sitting back down in my seat.
She sighed deeply before she began. “The creatures are the descendants of the giant cannibal demon, Atahsaia.”
“Who is that?” I said my interest level growing.
“Atahsaia is in our old stories, he is exactly as you described. The only problem was he was only defeated by the twin war gods, but nothing is ever said about how a human could kill them. After talking with my elders they all agree that to name the creature is to hold power over him. Nothing more is said on how to kill them though. Their best advice is to burn sage and other herbs we’ll send to you, so look out for a package, but they recommend not doing anything about it till we can formulate a plan and maybe getting some people down there. We were the ones that caused the evil spirits to walk amongst the land, let us help to get rid of them.” She told me.
“Alright I’ll wait but burn sage like you said. I think Jasper has some. Then we’ll come up with a plan once you get here.” I said, shifting in my seat.
“It’s a plan then. We’ll head up tomorrow. See you soon and Autumn…..just be careful ok.” She said.
“I will. See you soon.” I told her as I hung up the phone, ending the conversation.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: Of Pie and the Creatures of the Night
When I awoke the next day, I tried to shake off the discovery of the previous day and get back to my original task, finding and recruiting members to help me restore the town. The only problem was I wasn’t sure just how many people I could recruit to build the town since I hadn’t even met half of the town’s ghostly inhabitants. I wanted to get everyone’s approval and help rebuilding the town so that I could get it back to its former glory. A part of me wanted to see the town restored the other part wanted to see it burned to the ground. After finding out my heritage I didn’t truly know what I wanted. Either way, if I was going to rebuild the town, it wouldn’t rebuild itself so I needed to get busy.
I walked down to the lobby and headed out the door. I had decided the best person to ask about rebuilding the town was Jasper. He had the skills to make the dream a reality and he knew everyone in the town. He was the ideal partner in crime I was looking for. So I headed down to the post office to talk with him.
When I first opened the door I expected to find him within, but unfortunately he wasn’t there. Where he was was anyone’s guess. I let myself in and figured I could wait till he got back. I walked across the old wooden floor as it creaked and protested beneath my weight and headed to the table and chairs in the middle of the room. I sat down in a chair while eying a tin that was on the table.
The tin was old and rusted in places on the lid. It had a painted scene of a Christmas winter in what looked like somewhere up north, full of snow, sleigh rides and other winter fun. I Picked it up and noticed the faded red border to the tin and how the paint even after all these years still stayed put. They really did make things better way back when. I opened the lid to reveal what was inside. In the tin box was an assortment of various deserts, ranging from cookies to candies. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have one while I was waiting for Jasper to get back. I picked a slice of what looked to be some sort of pie, I loved pie more than anything, and took the first bite. It was delicious. I guessed it was some sort of chess pie. It had to be the best one I had ever eaten, it was creamy and sweet but not too sweet and it had the best flakey crust you could possibly imagine. I enjoyed every last bite. After finishing the pie I sat back in the chair and waited. It was only a few moments before Jasper came walking through the door, tool belt in hand.
“Nice to see you made yourself at home.” Jasper said as he entered the room.
“Well I figured you would only be a moment or two.” I replied standing from my seat and losing my
balance. I felt like my legs weren’t working right, like they didn’t want to support my weight and Jasper noticed immediately.
“Please tell me while you were waiting you didn’t eat the pie.” He said rushing forward trying to keep me from falling.
“How did you know?” I asked anxiously after hearing the concern in his voice.
“That was given to me by the librarian for helping her fix a drawer in her desk.” He responded sitting me back down in the chair.
“So…what does that have to do with anything?” I asked now confused as to why he brought that up.
“The librarian is Miss Millie.” He stated looking serious.
“Oh my God…….Oh my God! Are you serious? I thought you were supposed to always accept the pie?” I said now beginning to become panicked and annoyed.
“Yes but you aren’t supposed to eat it.” He said defensively.
I once again had completely forgotten a rule. Rule #5. “So why are we not supposed to eat it?”
“Because if you do you’ll not be able to walk for a while because you’ll see things that aren’t there, and you’ll eventually won’t be able to move.” He added, “She puts a “Secret Ingredient” in her pies, heaven only knows what it is, but it acts as a paralytic and a hallucinogenic.”
“Well what do I do, will your elixir work or does she have one?” I asked trying to remain calm.
“No, you’ll just have to go through it. You can rest here, just try not to scream. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m hurting you or anything.” He said picking me up and moving me to the bed in the back of the room. “Just try and stay positive, think happy thoughts.”
I wanted to respond but found I couldn’t. All my limbs went limp and dead and to even hold my head up felt like it took all my strength. I wished he hadn’t said the last part. Try not to scream? What did that even mean? Why would I have cause to scream? All these thoughts fought for precedence in my mind. I hoped I would only see good things but Jasper seemed to know something I didn’t. One could only hope for the best outcome.
By the time Jasper set me down on the bed, I had gone completely limp. I could still feel everything, I just couldn’t move or speak. Hopefully whatever this was didn’t last long. As I lay there, I began to feel something crawling up my leg, no at least a dozen tiny things crawling. I looked down and saw what it was. They were bugs, hundreds of them, coming out of the mattress and skittering up my leg. I wanted to kick them off, to swat at them or something but couldn’t. I then wanted to yell out or scream, this must have been what Jasper meant, but I couldn’t find it in me to do that either. I just hoped the bugs didn’t start to bite. Right then a huge cockroach the size of my hand came up from underneath the mattress, it hissed once and the other bugs fled in its presence, then it slowly crawled up my body towards my face, ever so slowly, drawing out the terror I felt.
The cockroach made its way to my face, and stopped just before my eye. I could hear now every move it made as it looked at me trying to figure out where the best place would be. I swear I could hear it’s every thought as it made its way through my hair, over my mouth and towards my ears. Finally it came to rest just above my nose, its head pointing toward my eyes, staring into them relentlessly. It turned then, to face my mouth again and with its legs began to pry it open. I tried so hard to keep it shut but the bug was far stronger than I had realized. It achieved its task in a matter of seconds, and then slipped inside past my teeth, over my tongue and down my throat. How it fit I didn’t know, but I could feel every movement it made as it slithered down my throat into my stomach. It felt like butterflies in my stomach as it squirmed and wriggled around. After a few moments of this it came back up my esophagus to my mouth where I could taste the bile of my own stomach mixed with something else. It exited my mouth and went back down my body and back under the mattress. What it had done to me I had no idea, all I knew is I suddenly felt very full. I could only guess that it had laid eggs inside me that would hatch soon.
Soon as the cockroach left, I felt a squirming in my stomach again, the eggs were hatching. I was scared, wondering how long they would stay inside but I didn’t have to wait long to find out. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain begin in my stomach they were going to hatch out any way they could even if it meant going through me. I could feel them as they ate their way out, through my stomach lining then through muscles, and finally though my skin. As I looked down I could see hundreds of tiny protruding points just under my skin. With a searing pain they broke through, as blood flowed and coated my stomach in its sickly dark red color. Never had I liked the sight of blood, now to see so much had my head feeling light and dizzy.
Soon enough they had all escaped leaving me feeling raw, violated and in pain. I hoped that would be the extent of things but I quickly found out I was wrong. As I lay there I looked to the corner of the room out of the window. My vision was hazy and blurred, but I could see that it was now dark out. I was shocked that so much time had passed. But then out of the corner of my eye, in the corner of the room towards the ceiling I noticed a familiar sight, a dark, black figure, with a Cheshire cat grin and sharp, elongated, yellowed teeth. One of the evil spirits had entered the room somehow and was sitting right above me. I began to panic. I didn’t know what it planned on doing but I knew surely it couldn’t be good.
It crawled along the ceiling till it was directly below the edge of the bed. It then dropped down from the ceiling to the floor where I lost sight of it for a moment. Soon I saw its hands slowly creep up to the top of the wrought iron foot of the bed and grip the metal, carefully and thoughtfully one finger at a time. Then I watched as it began to rise from the foot of the bed, peering through the rungs of the iron frame. It pounced suddenly then as a beast would jump on its prey, on top of the frame, perching there like a bird. It stayed there, silently watching me as if it was waiting for something. It slowly cocked its head to the side, farther than any normal human could and its grin widened even more, reaching ear to ear. It grabbed my foot and started to crawl on top of me, the weight of it felt like an elephant, crushing me and causing me to lose my breath. It was right above me now, smiling as it ever did, and it leaned in real close.
“What is your name?” It asked staring holes through me straight to my soul.
I didn’t answer.
“What is your name?” It asked this time more menacingly and demandingly.
Still I did not answer it.
It began to cut my face with its long fingernails with each and every word. “What. Is. Your. Name?!?”
I still wouldn’t answer him thought I wanted to from fear and pain, but something in my gut was telling me not to.
It became angrier them and slammed the head of the bed crashing the bed against the wall. Far off I could hear the sound of someone yelling but I couldn’t see who it was. Then my vision blurred from the blood trailing down my eyes from the four long marks that ran down my face from my forehead to my cheek just below my eye, and I felt weary and worn thin. I gave in to the restful sleep that then threatened to take me, the last thing I saw was the creature spring off me as a bright light flashed in the distance, a voice yelling and the creature growling in response.
I woke up not the next day, nor the few days that followed. Instead I awoke five days later, dizzy and my limbs and head feeling heavy. I noticed then as I opened my eyes that I only had vision in my right eye. I couldn’t see a thing out of my left. I tried to move my arm to feel around my face at what it could possibly be that clouded my vision and to my surprise and delight I could once again move. I tried each limb one at a time, feeling each as I did so. All ten fingers and ten toes were accounted for. I then reached up to my face to feel my eye and to my shock there was nothing there except four long, painful, marks that the creature left behind. I shot up then in the bed sacred because I couldn’t see anything. Then I heard a familiar voice beside me.
“Autumn! Autumn! It’s alright, it’s ok. Your safe now, nothing can hurt you. Just try not to touch it.” It was Jasper.
“Why can’t I see?? What happened and why can’t I see out of my left eye??” I asked startled and scared as I felt the fear rush though my limbs.
“There was an accident. It is all my fault I wasn’t thinking. I watched you all day to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself. I don’t know what you were seeing but whatever it was had you bad. It slowed down after a while and I thought I could take the time to go lock up the hotel quickly so I could come back to watch over you. The only problem was I forgot to lock the post’s door behind me and one of those……those things got in. It was on you when I arrived. I yelled at it but it didn’t pay attention to me. I had to light up a bundle of sage to fight it off before it got you further, then you slipped into unconsciousness. I had to go get Mr. Herd to come tend to the wound on your face, he’s also the town’s only doctor, and by the time I got back with him he said there was little we could do for your eye. I’m afraid you’ve gone permanently blind in one eye. I’m so sorry Autumn.” He told me placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.
I sat there for a few minutes letting his words sink in. “So I won’t ever see again out of it?”
“I’m afraid not. You were extremely lucky though, it could have stolen your soul…….the only reason it didn���t was probably because you never gave it your name. Names give them power over you somehow. Usually they are very good at getting names out of people but you couldn’t speak. I think it saved your life.” He said backing up and looking me over. “You aren’t hurt anywhere I can’t see are you?
“No, I don’t think so.” I said feeling my stomach, but not feeling any pain there I looked back towards Jasper. “I want to see my face.”
“I don’t know if that is a good idea yet. Just sit still and rest a minute.” He told me but I got the feeling it wasn’t a request.
I stayed there a few more minutes as my heartbeat began to slow and I became calmer. Once I felt the strength return to my body, I slowly stood and made my way over to the only mirror in the building. It was a small mirror, more of an old looking glass than anything. Small though it was, it was just big enough to get a good glimpse of your face through the single broken line that ran through it. I walked over to it and closed my eyes as stood before it. I bowed my head for a minute, opening my eyes to look at the floor while I summoned the courage to look at myself in the mirror. After standing there for a moment or two I took a deep breath in and looked up, not ready for what I saw.
The first thing I noticed as always was my auburn red hair, it looked unkempt and all over the place. I tried to smooth it down a little before I brought my attention to my face. I could see Jasper standing just behind me waiting for me to see it. I turned my attention towards my face then, and that was when I saw it. My face was for the most part spared on the right side, but on the left I looked at four long gashes that spanned half of my face, starting at the edge of my eyebrow and going in four straight rows to the other edge of it. They were deep and red in color; I swear if they had been any deeper they would have exposed bone. I then saw my poor eye, once dark, chocolate brown, now a ghostly blue where my iris used to be, the rest all white. I took a sharp breath in when I saw it. Even though I had tried to prepare myself for it, it hadn’t worked, but then again nothing can truly prepare you for something like that.
I turned and looked back at Jasper with what I’m sure was an uncertain look on my face. He winced a little and took a step forward towards me. Before I could say a thing, he wrapped me in an embrace as tears began to fall down my now hideous face. He never let go of me till I was ready, and though he often teased me and could be a little curt sometimes, in that moment I was truly grateful to have him as a friend. After a few moments I calmed down enough to pull away from him. Feeling sad and defeated, and even though I had slept for five days straight, I just wanted to go back to my hotel and rest. So that’s what I did. I pulled away from Jasper and turned towards the door. I think he knew what I wanted and took my hand and escorted me home to the hotel. Only once we were there did he let go of me.
“I’m so sorry Autumn, I really am. If there is anything I can do, just let me know. I’m right next door if you need me. Don’t worry about the hotel I’ll take care of it till you can resume your duties.” He said standing there as he watched me closely.
“Thank you.” I croaked out of my now hoarse voice.
I turned then and went up to my room. Once there I closed the door behind me. I crawled into bed without worrying about my clothes. I laid there for a time, thinking about what had happened. Tears began to reform in my eyes as I thought of the image of my face in that mirror. I had hardly recognized myself. I cried myself to sleep in a matter of minutes. The last thought going through my head was how I was going to take revenge on the creature that did this to me, if that was even possible. All I knew for certain in that moment was that I was going to kill it if I ever got the chance.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Bennett Family Tree
I didn’t wake up for the rest of that day. I didn’t wake up that night either. I slept through and woke up the next day. Thankfully in my absence Lilly had taken care of things for me, cleaning up after the creatures and taking care of the nightly routine. When I finally awoke, the room was bright and sunny and I felt 100% better from the rest. I looked at the clock that read 12pm. I was shocked that I had slept for so long but I guess my body needed it. I got up from bed and dressed in a red t-shirt with a pair of ripped jeans and a faded jean jacket, along with my favorite red sneakers. I decided against applying makeup because I wanted to explore the town more, given that there was nothing better to do.
I headed downstairs, as I did so I happened to look at the picture just outside my room. The one that had always made me feel uneasy. I looked closer at it and for the first time noticed the two gold lockets hanging around the twins necks. I looked at how beautiful they were, and wondered if somehow I wound up with the other locket in the set. There was a third locket I noticed as well, that hung around Rosa’s neck. It looked eerily similar. So, there are three lockets I thought, very interesting. I pried myself away from the painting and walked downstairs to find Lilly in the sitting room.
“How are you sleepyhead? You get enough rest?” She teased.
“Only a little.” I played along.
“Well now that you are ready to face the day, what do you plan on doing? I do admit that it does get quite boring here, especially since this is a ghost town and hardly anyone knows of its existence.” She said turning the page of the old newspaper that she had found who knows where.
I was about to answer her when I noticed that on the front page of the paper was a picture of the town in its hay day. It was beautiful and there were so many buildings. I quickly got an idea that refused to leave my mind. I wanted to rebuild the town. I had all the time in the world, a whole near empty town at my disposal, and enough money from my own funds (my yearly salary had more than doubled remember) to support the rebuilding……it was a perfect idea! I quickly broached the subject with Lilly projecting my idea to her.
“Lillie?” I started. “What do you think of rebuilding the town?”
“What? Do you mean knocking everything down and starting over?” She asked confused.
“No, not knocking everything down. We could just add on to what’s already here and restore all the old buildings that still stand.” I answered her question.
“Well…..I don’t supposed that’s a bad idea but…..how do you plan on doing that? Everyone who comes to the town except the Natives gets stuck here. How will you get supplies in and all that?” She responded.”
“I hadn’t thought of that…….but……maybe I could call up Deb and ask her if someone from her people would be able to bring us the things we’d need.” Then I added. “And to ask permission to build on the land of course.”
“Why do you need permission from them? It’s our land!” She replied.
“Because despite what you may think of them, their opinion matters because this was their land to begin with!” I snapped at her. I ignored her comment from the other night but I wasn’t going to allow her to continue talking bad about the Pueblo people.
“There’s no need to get moody.” She retorted. “Besides the opinion you really need is Mary’s and Martha’s. “
I calmed down a little. “Well I suppose it wouldn’t be bad to get their opinion too, but I don’t have their number.”
“Just let me handle that. I’ll ask them in person.” She said with a wink.
“Do you think they’d be ok with it?” I asked.
“I’m sure they would be, given that they watched their home burn. To be honest I’m surprised they never rebuilt it themselves, but then again they probably ran into the supplies problem.” She said.
“Well it’s settled then! You talk to them and I’ll talk to Deb.”
So that’s what we did. I called up Deb and after the usual phone pleasantries, we got down to business. The call lasted far longer than I expected. She got all her elders on the phone and they made a few calls themselves. Long story short, after a lot of talking and debating, they agreed. I was so excited I could hardly contain it! All I needed was the approval of Mary and Martha and I could rebuild the town. I immediately ran to tell Lilly. She was shocked that they had agreed.
“So they actually said yes?” She asked putting the paper down.
“Yes! They agreed as long as the town is no bigger than it was originally.”
“Well, call me impressed. I don’t know how you reasoned with them.”
“It’s a little something called friendship and respecting boundaries and an entire culture.”I retorted trying not to sound too annoyed with her. As much as I hated the excuse, I did have to remember she grew up in a different time and it was going to take a lot to change her ignorance and the stigmas she grew up with.
“I guess I need to do my part then. I’ll head out and try and reach them but it may take a little time to do so. I would use the phone but it only goes one way with them. I’ll be back as shortly as possible. Till then just don’t forget to lock the doors.” She said as she headed out the door and to the edge of town.
I stood there a few more moments before deciding that I if I was to rebuild the town, I would need the proper blueprints and see who I could recruit. The best two people to help me were the librarian and Jasper. So off I went to seek out the help of the two. I decided I would go to the library first, and take a look at the blueprints and draw up some for myself. I had always been good at it in my old job, and rebuilding pre modern structures would be way simpler than post modern ones I thought.
Once at the library, I figured the best place to start would be the records section upstairs. I nodded in the direction of the librarian who merely just stared at me in return, and headed up the stairs. It took me a few moments of looking and digging around, but I finally found them near the maps section. I took the blueprints and spread one of them on one of the extra wide tables and the first one took up the entire length. It was your average blueprint, nothing overly special about it at first examination, but it helped me get a feel for the layout of the town. I wanted to put it in place so that the new town was exactly the same as the last one. I noticed that there were originally a grand total of 13 buildings including the ones still standing. Starting at the edge of town, was the gas station, how that had been built I didn’t know, and then there was the pharmacy, the library, the hotel, the post office. A carpenter’s shop, and a blacksmith/Ferrier. On the other side of the street that had been completely destroyed were the bank, a lawyer’s office, a saloon/brothel, a general store, a butcher, and the jail on the far edge of town. I assume farmers and ranchers lived on the outskirts of town but no houses were actually in the town.
I placed the next blueprint on the table. This one was the blueprint of the hotel itself. I looked at the various rooms and was surprised to find there was an old safe hidden behind an old painting in the lobby. I had never really taken much notice of the painting, it being hung behind the desk to the side of the letterboxes towards the cleaning closet. It was a painting of the town back in its glory days, in color made from oil paints. It was a beautiful painting, but like I said I had never taken much heed of it.
I took a closer look at the safe’s dimensions. It was a normal sized safe, 2 feet tall and 3 feet in width, its depth ranging from 3 ½ feet to 4 feet, and according to the blueprints was made of iron and steel. I was instantly curious. What was so special that it needed a safe? I figured the simple answer to that question was money from the various tenants and residents of the hotel, but nothing is ever really simple in this town and especially not in the hotel. I decided to put aside the blueprints for now and head back to the hotel to see if I could take a closer look at the safe.
Once back at the hotel, I walked around to the back of the desk and stood before the painting. I looked closer at it to see if I could make out who the painter was. After searching for a moment I couldn’t tell, but was amazed at the sheer skill of the painting itself. Whoever painted the scene was very good, their brush strokes were thin and precise, swooping and melding the colors where applicable, and they were light of hand and were able to properly capture the light and the true nature of a bustling town. I was impressed. I carefully took the painting down from the wall and set it against the desk behind me. Turning back around I was now face to face with the mysterious safe.
It was the size I thought it would be, yet somehow bigger than I imagined. It looked like your average safe, made of strong metal, a turnstile type mechanism popular back in the day, and a sturdy dial in the very center of the safe. I tried to open it, halfway hoping that maybe the last person to open it was careless and left it unlocked, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. I played with the dial hoping that maybe I could find the numbers to open it. I tried the date of the grand opening of the hotel, nothing, I tried the date of the first official soiree in 1856 that I had attended, nothing, then I tried the date the town first became an official town, and still nothing. I absent mindedly played with the numbers, trying different dates and such with no further luck, when for some reason I put my birthdate in, 0-9-0-1, then to my surprise it opened! I was excited that the safe opened, but a little upset that once again, it seemed like I had been pre chosen for this job long before I had ever been born. I stood there for a moment longer before I began to open the safe, floundering with my newest revelation. I tried to shake it off and after a few more seconds I did, then I opened the safe
The first thing I noticed was a note that sat in front addressed to me. I took it out and read it:
To our newest caretaker congratulations you found the safe! I hope you can use what’s inside to help you keep track of various day to day happenings and events at the hotel and in town. If any questions arise please feel free to make the most of the library and other buildings and people in the town to help you solve any issues that may arise. Hope you have a wonderful stay!
-Mary and Martha
A short but sweet note, piquing my curiosity even more about what the safe held. I looked inside to find a red binder, exactly like the ones in the library, blank inside, and a fountain pen sitting atop it. I pulled those out and examined them, my name etched on the inside cover of the binder. I supposed perhaps all the other binders were given to the various caretakers to log their adventures, mishaps, and day to day life at the hotel. Taking note of this I figured those binders would be worth a read sometime. Placing them on the desk I continued to look inside the safe.
The next thing I pulled out was an old map of the underground, beneath the town and its various tunnels and where all they led. I tucked that within my binder. It would be worth a visit someday as well. Under that was another piece of paper filled with names and lines connecting them, dates beside them as well noting what I assumed was the date of birth and death of each named person. It was hard to figure out what the paper meant, some names had notes beside them, others were circled and some had been underlined in red ink. My name was at the very bottom, circled multiple times and underlined in red ink with a note beside it saying “She’s the one!” written boldly. It felt a little ominous to be honest, especially not knowing the context or meaning behind it. I set that aside and continued to look around.
In the bottom of the safe were two things, a gold engraved pocket watch, and an old revolver. I have not nor will I ever be someone who feels comfortable around guns. I carefully picked it up and set it to the side, just in case it was loaded, and grabbed the pocket watch. It was beautiful, being made of the shiniest gold, engraved with a picture of a bird flying in midair, it looked old yet it still ran. I put it up to my ear to listen to it.
My mother had given me one that had been passed down in my family for generations when I was young. I had always kept it, even though it was rusty and worn down by time, it still worked. I remember sitting and putting it to my ear as a child, listening to all the intricate mechanisms that ran within. It often soothed me when I was frustrated or sad. I had loved it even though it was in as bad a shape as it was. Seeing this pocket watch made me want to fix up my own. I took the new watch away from my ear and placed it within my pocket. I figured it would come in use helping me keep track of time in the hotel where time seemed fluid and strange.
Since those were the last two things left in the safe, I left the gun behind and closed it back up. I took another look at the things I had on the desk and carefully looked through them landing on the paper of names. Now that I had finished going through the safe I could take a better look at the piece of paper. It was a long piece of parchment that I recognized. It was the same letter head and parchment as my offer letter and my survival guide, and every bit as long and lengthy. As I further unfolded it the paper seemed to go on forever. Every name was linked in some way. The top names started with Rosa and John Bennett. It took me a moment of looking to realize I wasn’t looking at random names but actually a family tree. The Bennett family tree. With this realization, and taking into account my own name was on it, made me wonder for the first time, why was I on this page? Not wanting to be interrupted I took the paper to my room where I could spread it out and look at it better.
Once I did this the page seemed to make more sense. It was a huge family tree, and it seemed no name went unnoticed by whoever made it. The paper was long and wide, I trailed my finger down it as I read the names. I recognized a few from the doll room, each one circled. I figured after having taken a closer look, the names that had been circled were the names of former caretakers, the ones underlined in red ink and notes beside them were still a mystery. Some of the notes were strange:
“This one is too contrary”
“He isn’t up to any good”
“She is a cripple”
“They can’t be separated”
“This one is too angry
The list goes on. None of the notes made any sense to me, but to whoever made the family tree; these notes must have helped them keep track of something. I followed the tree down, further and further till finally I began to recognize the names. Sandra Parker was my great grandmother, Eloise Williams and Sara Fulton her children, and finally Eloise’s daughters, Mable Moore and Helen Winters. Right under my mother’s name was my own, Autumn Winters. I was shocked to learn that I was descended from the Bennett family. I wanted to know if this was real or not. I figured the only way to find out was to go back to the library and find out. Hopefully there they would have some sort of documentation regarding the family lines of the townspeople.
I walked with hurried purpose to back to the library. As I entered the librarian gave me a, what the hell are you doing back again look, as I rushed past her to the records department. I must have spent a good 30 to 45 minutes looking through town documents and letters without any luck. That was when I decided to look through town newspapers. Somehow there was a town newspaper that had spanned the entirety of the town’s existence. Who or what kept it going was a mini mystery in itself, but not one I had time to look through right now. I was dedicated to my current task of finding proof of my heritage. After looking through the papers I finally found what I was looking for. Slowly but surely, I was able to match birth announcements in the newspaper to the dates listed on the family tree. Sure enough in each article it always read “Newest Addition to the Bennett Family” followed by the name and time of birth of each member of the family tree and who the said child was related too. I must have sat there for hours mapping out my own family tree to compare to the old one from the safe.
Once I completed the new family tree, I compared it with the old one. Apparently, of the original Bennett children, only the twin sons ever had children. Whereas Lilly Bennett hailed from Westley Bennett, I descended from William’s side. I sat there swimming in feelings of frustration, anger, and guilt. The very family that had caused so much heartbreak, pain, and suffering was not a stranger’s family but instead my own. I was every bit as responsible for the horrors of the past as they had been. As I sat there I made a decision, one that I wouldn’t back down from then or in the future. The past wasn’t going to stay buried and forgotten, it wasn’t going to be spoken with disgust or indifference, it wasn’t going to be talked about in hushed whispers, and it certainly wasn’t going to be perpetuated. Instead the past was going to be laid bare, spoken of in reverence, and brought to light.
I wrapped up what I was doing and headed back to the hotel to finish up my nightly duties and try to come to grips with my new found heritage. Once back in my room I pulled out the pocket watch from my pocket. I played with it between my hands and felt the smoothness and coolness of the metal, and I placed it by my ear. I let the slow ticking soothe my nerves as I lay down on the sofa. I began to slowly drift off while the clock steadily moved its hands unseen, putting me to restful sleep.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Lady in Red and THEM
Standing in the lobby was the Lady in Red. She turned to look at me as I stood there, a smile emerging on her face. Here in the bright light of day as it strewn in from the windows, illuminating her dress and sending a warm red glow around the room, she looked more beautiful than ever. Before, in the dimly lit dining room the first night I saw her, her dress seemed to match the year 1856, but now that I could see her fully, it looked more akin to a dress set in the early 1900’s. This confused me further about her, not knowing where or rather when she came from. All I knew at the time was that she was somehow linked to the town.
“Miss Winters, it is good to see you. I told you it would be sooner than later.” She giggled.
“It is good to see you as well. How may I help you today at the Hotel Bella Muerte?”
“I’d like a room please, any one will do.” She said.
I crossed the floor and went behind the desk. “What name should I put on your doorplate”
“Just put Lilly Bennett dear.” She responded.
My eyes shot up from where I had begun to write her name down in the log book. “Excuse me? Did…..did you just say Lilly Bennett?”
“I certainly did. Lilly Bennett.” She repeated.
I was curious at this point and decided to push my luck. “You aren’t by any chance related to the Bennetts who built and owned the hotel are you?”
“Yes I am, I’m the great granddaughter of Rosa and John Bennett.” She answered proudly.
“I don’t understand, if you are the great granddaughter of the original Bennetts how do you have their last name? They only had 2 daughters.”
“How do you know they only had 2 children?” She said with a mischievous smile.
“Well the picture upstairs only had Mary and Martha in it. Are you saying that they had more children after them?” I asked now very confused.
“I didn’t say that. They had 2 children before them. Another set of twins named William and Westley Bennett.” She replied.
“Where were they then? I have never seen a picture of them.” I asked hoping I wasn’t wrong.
“They were already grown by the time their parents and younger sisters decided to come out west. They stayed back East and continued to run their father’s business.” She responded.
“I see, and you are which ones granddaughter?” I asked her.
“I’m Westley’s granddaughter. My father was his son.”
“That’s very interesting, I didn’t know that!” I said as I continued to fill out her name card. “Did you ever have any children?”
She let out a loud laugh that rang out through the entire hotel, melodious in sound. “Heavens no! I was too busy being the caretaker of the hotel.”
I paused a moment thinking I hadn’t heard her right. “You were a caretaker of the hotel?”
“Yes, I took care of the hotel for years before I figured out how to time hop. I never had time to have children after that.” She said.
“How were you the caretaker if the brothers stayed back East?” I questioned her.
“Well I came out west, silly.” She answered “Listen we have a lot to talk about and a lot to catch up on, but for right now I am tired from my journey and would like to rest.”
“Well then follow me and I’ll get you settled in room #12. There is no longer any pipe ghosts in that room currently, so don’t worry.” I told her.
We then went up the stairs as I took her to her room. I had picked up her luggage on the way up and was surprised by how heavy it was. It felt like she was carrying a ton of rocks in them. I tried to handle them carefully as we went down the hallways. I was grateful when we finally reached her room. I unlocked her door and set her luggage just inside. She thanked me and I headed down to the lobby as she got settled.
I was still confused from all the thoughts fighting to take precedence in my mind. Not only did I just find out the lady in red was a Bennett but that she was also a former caretaker of the hotel that knew how to time jump. It made me wonder how many other former caretakers there were like this. I also had a lot to think about with the letter I had just gotten translated. What did the curse truly mean? And was there a way to break it if so. As I walked down the hallways on my way to the lobby, I reflected on these things, hardly being able to wait for Miss Lilly to wake up to ask her all my questions.
Once in the lobby, I noticed something that Lilly had dropped. It was a small, engraved locket. At first I thought it was mine because they looked just alike. I opened hers to reveal an old black and white photo of two people, arguably a husband and wife, standing in front of a building. In the other side of the locket was another photo, black and white as well, of another couple. If it wasn’t for the photos, I would have certainly thought it was mine, as I held up mine that I was wearing for comparison. Both were solid, polished gold lockets, with roses engraved on the front and a saying on the back reading “I Love You” on hers, and “To the Moon and Back” on mine. This became a conundrum for me. If this locket wasn’t mine, and if the locket was hers, why were they so similar?
I suddenly looked up from the lockets when I heard a loud sound from outside. I ran to check it out wondering what could possibly have made such a loud noise. Once at the window I could see exactly what. It was Mr. Wilkens. Now Mr. Wilkens was a strange character. He always toted a gun on this shoulder, and a bottle of booze in the other hand. He was perpetually drunk and smelled like a distillery, and he looked like he hadn’t bathed once in the entire 2 plus centuries since the towns founding. He was hard to look at and harder to understand because he was constantly slurring his words.
The first time I had met him he was drunk off his ass sitting in a water trough at the edge of town near the gas station. It was the closest thing to a bath as he ever got. The next time I saw him he was passed out on top of the post office roof, snoring the shingles off and Jasper tying to poke him with a broom handle to “get him the hell off his roof.” The last time I’d seen him he had decided to eat a lot of candy from the pharmacy, which I now know makes you hallucinate, and chase fake butterflies while stumbling around town, running into buildings and such. This time it appeared that he was shooting a rifle into the center of town, at something, what I didn’t know, and yelling profanities and harbingers of great doom. I was about to go outside when he shot again, this time the bullet going through the library window. I watched on as the librarian come outside, squawking and shrieking at him and chasing him all over the street. It was quite comedic to see.
After a while of sitting and relaxing in the lobby I heard someone come down the stairs. I turned to see who it was, and saw Lilly coming down. She had changed her dress, though still red in color, to a floral print that suited her well. I couldn’t imagine her in anything but red. She smiled at me as she came down the stairs. I retrieved the locket and handed it out to her.
“I think you may have lost this.” I told her.
“Oh my stars! I’m so glad you found it! I looked everywhere for it in my room. I’m surprised I didn’t feel it slip off.” She said to me.
“Can I ask you a question? About the locket I mean.” I began.
“Of course. Do you like it?” She asked.
“I love it. Where did you get it from?” I replied, having hidden my own under my shirt.
“It was given to me as a present by my Great Aunt Mary. Their father had a locket set made for the twins when they were little. When I knew them they were quite old, but they loved to give presents.” She said as she placed the locket back around her neck.
Before I could ask her any further questions about the locket, we heard a door slam from upstairs. We both looked at each other and moved towards the stairs to see what had caused the sound. Right about the time we both reached the stairs, more doors began to open and slam shut, one at a time starting from one end of the hall to the other. This had become a nearly regular occurrence. It was as if a ghost didn’t like my being here at the hotel and wanted to make their frustrations known. I looked back at Miss Lilly, her facial expression said she was somewhere between knowing what had made the sound but yet not knowing why.
“What is that? What keeps doing that? It happens frequently especially over the last two and a half weeks.” I asked her.
“I’m not sure.” She said hesitantly.
“Did this ever happen with you?” I continued hoping she’d reveal more.
“A couple of times yes, but never like this.” She told me as she turned from the staircase back towards the lobby as she continued on to the sitting room.
I followed her and thought to ask, “What can you tell me about this hotel? There is so much that I already know but at the same time so many things I don’t.”
“It’s simple for the most part depending on the situation. The normal duties are easy to learn, it’s the supernatural things that make the job unpredictable. I found though, that there are many loop holes and ways to get around much of it. I could write you a list of things that detail what all to do in certain situations if you like.”
I wasn’t about to pass up on this offer, “Yes please! I would love that, especially since I lost the first one.”
I ran to grab some paper from the desk in the lobby and came back to where she sat. Over the next few hours we sat and talked and she shared much of her firsthand knowledge for the hotel as she wrote for me a new list of rules and tips to keep the hotel running. Turns out there were a lot of things that could be changed about the town and hotel. I had the power and the finances to change the décor of the hotel as I wished and erect new buildings in the town. The only catch was I had to have everything built from materials placed just inside the town line without sucking a new person into the town. It was a difficult task but not an impossible one. Knowing this, I got excited because the town had been in such disrepair, but knowing I could improve it gave me great satisfaction.
She also told me that the dolls in the doll room were made in likeness of the past caretakers. When the caretakers died, their souls were bound to the town, and instead of having too many at any given time their souls were chased into the dolls to keep them safe and sound and from tripping over one another. I thought that made sense, it also explained why there were no other caretakers around except for me and Lilly. The doll I found outside my door was actually one of the more “practical jokers” of the crowd. That made me feel a little better about them but saddened as well. They meant no harm to me or the tenants of the hotel but they were also trapped in that room day in and day out. It just wasn’t fair. I decided that I would no longer, unless I had a resident at the hotel, face them to the walls at night, but instead give them free reign over the hotel at night, even if the thought of walking talking dolls still gave me the heebie jeebies.
I leaned too that Mr. Elberton was also a former caretaker like Lilly who gave up the caretaking life to time travel. I thought that was fitting, as he seemed the type of person never able to sit still in one place for too long. I asked Lilly how they were able to time jump but she refused to tell me. Her reason being that once you start you can’t stop since you could never go back to the exact same time as you left. Only Mr. Elberton knew how to come close. I got lucky and only wound up being a few minutes shy of the time I left when I returned.
The sun began to set in the distance and we both decided to retire for the night. I wasn’t yet ready to go to bed, so I decided that I would read my new list of rules. The first 10 rules were as follows:
1. The unborn ghosts can be caught with a net. Just catch them and release them outside.
2. Don’t ever accept a drink from Mr. Wilkens.
3. Leave the spiders in the cellar out back alone.
4. Never plant beans on a full moon.
5. Always accept the pie from Miss Millie, just be sure to never eat it.
6. Do go to the Gas Station at night, weird things happen there at night.
7. If you meet someone named William Walker, don’t take him up on the offer of a horseback ride.
8. Don’t ever fall into Mr. Bells traps.
9. Never walk outside after dusk.
10. And above all things, never insult the librarian.
There were several other rules these were just the first 10.
The rules were simple enough and this time they were given to me by someone I trusted even though I only met her twice. She seemed trustworthy enough; I at least had no reason to distrust her. I tried to keep in mind what she had told me that day, making my way to the bathroom to do my nightly routine, trying to keep everything straight. Once finished I jumped into bed and snuggled in. I fell fast asleep in minutes, only to be rudely awakened by a knocking on my door. I got up to investigate and see who was at my door.
At my door was the strangest thing by far, something I think I’ll never truly get used to. Nothing. Whenever there was nothing present to have made a sound or bump in the night it always freaked me out more than if there had been something there. I leaned out my door and looked down the hall. Nothing. I stepped out into the hall and that’s when I saw it, a dark figure perched between the corner of the ceiling and the wall to my right at the end of the hall. Entirely black, it sat there, with only the whites of its eyes showing, a cheshire cat grin growing on its face with sharpened white teeth, as it turned its head to the side to get a better look at me. I screamed out, completely petrified by the sight before me, being in the very presence of the entity felt oppressive and dark, like great evil exuded from it.
I heard a door swing open and out of the corner of my eye, saw Miss Lilly come running down the hall. She grabbed my arm and drug me down the hall with her. Almost on cue the phantom being leaped from its perch following after, coming after us almost faster than we could run. As we came to her door she slammed it shut as the entity bashed against it. She cried out “Help me!” and I ran to her aid. Between the two of us we were just barely able to shut the door and lock it. Out of breath we sank to the floor as the banging and scratching continued on the other side of the door.
“What was that! I asked, my chest still heaving.
“Did you forget to lock the front doors?” She asked
I paused to think, “Yes, yes I think I did.”
“It’s one of the evil spirits that lives on the land. It was called when the Native people placed the curse on the town. Anywhere there is a lot of pain or suffering, they come at night, in the dark, where the sun can’t touch them.”
So that was what They and Them referred to I thought. Then I thought to ask, “What do we do? Is there a way to get rid of them?”
Right then there was a second one at the window. It looked the same as the first one, only this one had an even wider smile. It tapped at the window as Lilly spoke, “There is nothing we can do but wait it out till the morning. They leave then.”
“Won’t they get inside before then?” I asked
“No, they have to be invited in threw words or an open door. They can’t reach us in here, but they will try everything they can to enter. They can speak with voices not their own, voices that sound like friends and family members. They can even shape shift into more pleasant forms. That’s why the door to the hotel is locked for the night and not opened till morning.” She said moving from the floor to the window, closing the curtains on the now furious beast.
“Let us in, let us in little piggies.” The voice hissed from the other side of the door. “We want to come in.”
Neither of us were about to let the creature in. We stood our ground on our side of the door, not moving or talking. Then we heard a voice we recognized from outside just down below the hotel.
“Help me! Dear God someone please help me!” The voice yelled in fear mixed with pain. It was Jasper.
I hurried to the window to open it, but Lilly stopped me just in time before I had the chance to undo the latch.
“No! Don’t do that! It will get inside.” She whispered.
“But Jasper needs help.” I whispered back, urgency growing in my voice.
“That isn’t Jasper. That’s them. They speak with voices of others remember.” She replied pulling me to the center of the room. “The best thing we can do is stay put, no matter what we think we hear.”
“Why are they doing this?” I asked
“They always have, it’s just part of the stupid curse those horrible Indians placed on us. I wish they had shot them all then none of this would have ever happened!” She replied as I tried to ignore the her blatant racism towards the people of the land.
I plopped down then on the couch in the room, sighing deeply. This was going to be a long night and I wasn’t sure I was prepared for it. We continued to sit there till dawn, listening to the creatures that now had to number at least 8, take on voices of the people we knew and had known, trying to get us to open the door or windows. We could hear them pacing the halls and growling and mumbling, practicing their words with different inflections, tearing apart the hotel and breaking things. Come dawn we were exhausted and our nerves were shot. We sat there till we were sure that they were gone before we opened the door. We looked into the halls and up to the ceiling and saw nothing. We had made it. I thanked her for saving me and headed back to my room. I decided to go back to bed to finally get some rest. I could pick up and clean the hotel later. Right now all I needed was a good, long sleep.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Letter
After about 2 weeks of cleaning, restoration, and some minor repairs, we finally got the hotel back in order. I was thankful for Deb’s help and company; it helped ease the workload and kept me from being lonely. I hadn’t noticed until then, how lonely I had been at the hotel and in the town, mainly for friendly company. I loved my old job for its ever present companionship from coworkers, and I wondered why the owners, Mary and Martha, had only ever hired one caretaker at a time, especially given that at any one time the job would easily capture the attention of three of four people. At any rate, I came to look forward to the various guests that would drop by, or the visits I would get from the townspeople.
The morning after everything was finished Deb came down the stairs, luggage in tow, and a cheerful looking Wally on her shoulder. At last it came time for her to leave us at the Hotel Bella Muerte, and to be honest, despite our differences and all that had transpired between us, I was sad to see her go. In the 2 weeks after the yearly night raid, we had become quite close. We spoke often of times long past and she shared all the information on the town and the hotel that she knew. It gave me clarity and a new focus. If I was going to be stuck for the rest of my life in a haunted and mysterious town, I was going to make the best of it. She and I said our goodbyes and she left, closing the door behind her, making the ever silent hotel seem even more daunting.
As I stood there just past the threshold, staring towards the recently closed door, I heard a sound coming from upstairs. The sound of someone or something muttering began to tumble down the stairs from up above. I was curious to see what it was, thinking it could maybe be our residential Jesus, but wanted to check just to make sure. As I walked up the steps it seemed the sound kept moving away from me rather than coming closer, strange I thought that I hadn’t found the source of the sound yet. I was hoping to find it soon because it was repetitive and slightly annoying. But as soon as I would come close to where I thought the sound was it would flee before me unseen and go into another part of the hotel. At last I thought I had it cornered in room #11, but it quickly jumped to room #12 across the hall. Not to be one outdone by a phantom sound, I dashed across the hall and thrust open the door in a flash only to see something I had never seen before.
In the room was of course the normal things you would hope to see in a hotel room, a bed, a small sitting area, and a bathroom. As I entered the room I walked in to see nothing. Not a single solitary soul. That was when the sound started up again, except this time it was in the bathroom. I quickly proceeded to enter the bathroom and that’s when I found the source of the sound. There in the bathtub, at the very bottom was an orb, a shiny, glowing, floating, bluish orb. I wasn’t sure what it was so I didn’t touch it in case it could bite or something. After standing there a minute I was able to distinguish the sound as a small child, perhaps even an infant’s babbling, cooing, and crying.
After a few more moments I grabbed the plunger from beside the toilet and gave it a quick poke. It was a solid mass that moved as I pushed it, about half a foot in diameter and equally round, wavering and wobbling like a bubble would. At my touch it seemed offended, just as I’m sure I would have been if someone had pushed into me with a toilet plunger, and it fled from me down the drain, crying out as it went. I could then hear its mumbled and muttered sound going through the hotel once again. Great I thought, now we a have bathtub pipe ghost. Just when I think everything is getting back to normal I’m hit with this. Not knowing anything about plumbing I decided to seek out the help of our residential handyman, Jasper Moon, hoping he could do something about the bathtub ghost.
Over the past two weeks Jasper had been almost indispensible. After the raid happened, He helped fix up most of the town. As it turned out he was very handy with a wrench, a screwdriver, and a hammer. I got to know him a little better during that time and honestly, he was almost likable, almost. He had a certain way about him that made you feel safe and protected, even if he could be a jerk sometimes. I didn’t mind though when I saw the quick progress he made in the restoration of the hotel.
I made my way down to the first floor, and out the front door, headed for the post office. Once there I knocked on the door before entering, and heard Jasper call out, “Its open!” I walked in, taking note of how good the new door looked, especially in comparison to the rest of the place and entered.
“Hi Jasper. How are you today?” I asked.
“Doing just fine, and you?” He answered.
“Well, I got a problem.” I told him coming closer to where he was in the back of the room sitting in the rocking chair.
“You always seem to, don’t you?” He retorted with a chuckle.
“Not always…..well…maybe some of the time. Anyways I got a pipe ghost.” I explained
“A what?” He asked raising an eyebrow.
“A…pipe ghost……in the bathtub in room #12?” I said now fully aware how strange what I had just told him sounded.
“Ah, and what did this pipe ghost do? Did it yell boo at you?” He teased.
“No! It just cried and babbled like a baby or small child.” I said as I crossed my arms defensively.
“Ah. I know what you mean now. What you just described is actually the spirit of an unborn baby. Since it never had a body at the time of the raid, it can’t take a form other than an orb. I’ve seen a few before, never stuck in a bathtub pipe before though.” He continued, “I’ll take care of it. Just give me a few.”
“Great thank you.” I replied before I realized what I said.
“Was that a thank you I heard? He began.
“No!” I said turning on my heel walking away before he could tease me further, leaving the key to room #12 on the table as I went.
I decided to walk around the town then, thinking of visiting the only buildings left in the town that I hadn’t already seen. I came to the pharmacy, and as I stood before it, I became curious as to what the building held. I entered with a ding above me; apparently all the buildings in town had a bell, and walked inside. There on the side of the room, spanning the entire length, was a counter with hundreds of jars lining the shelves behind it containing various herbs and roots of plants. I had never seen an old timey pharmacy before and it piqued my interest. On the other side of the store were all types of candies, anything from mints, to licorice, to chocolates and hard candies. I loved the look of the place, it was very inviting. On the counter sat a bell, interested to meet who ran the place I rang it.
In seconds an older man, probably around the age of 70 if I didn’t know any better, came from a back room. He had a cheery, wrinkled smile that was very charming, long white and gray hair, and a creamy complexion that was dotted with liver spots. He wore the appropriate time period clothing, a pair of slacks and a plaid shirt with an apron sitting over it. He looked kind and as he came up he walked with a slight limp. I stood at the counter as he came slowly up, waiting to greet him. That’s when I recognized him as one of the townspeople that had stood with us in the line during the raid.
“Good Day M’am. How can I help you today?” He asked politely.
“I’m wonderful. I just came to say hi and introduce myself to you now that things are settled at the hotel. My name’s Autumn Winters.” I replied.
“Nice to finally properly meet you Miss Winters, I’m Mr. Joseph Herd. I was hoping you would stop by my shop one day.” He said with a cheery voice.
“I’m sorry it’s taken so long. I would have been by sooner to return a few pill bottles, but I’m afraid they got lost during the raid.” Then I added, “I wish I still had them to give you.”
“It’s of no consequence. I can make more for whoever they belonged to. I’m just happy to finally meet the new caretaker.” He said
“Well I’m happy to meet you as well. I always wanted to see what an old pharmacy looked like and I must say it doesn’t disappoint.” I told him.
“I’m glad you like it, but I’m afraid I have a lot to do at the moment and I have to get back to my work. I hope you don’t mind, otherwise I would invite you in for some tea to talk and chat further.” He said as he looked at me with a sorry look on his face.
“Oh that’s perfectly fine, I should probably be getting back to the hotel myself. I will hopefully be able to stop by when we both aren’t so busy one day and I’ll take you up on that tea offer.” I said smiling.
He smiled back and told me “You have a good day Miss Winters, and be sure to get a piece of candy on the way out. All the kids used to call me the candyman!”
With that he turned to go back into the back room, leaving me alone once again in the store. I walked the various aisles looking at the different types of candy before making my selection. I finally decided on a peppermint stick the length of my hand and took it from the jar it sat in. It had been so long since I had had any candy, I began to suck on it immediately, enjoying the sweet flavor and the minty after taste. I loved peppermint; it had to be my favorite candy over all others, simple but good nonetheless.
I continued to suck on the hard candy as I left the pharmacy on my way back to the hotel. As I stood before the hotel, I became aware that suddenly I felt, funny. Not bad just funny. I began to walk a little slower, trying to determine what it was making me feel so strange, that’s when I spat the candy out onto the sandy earth. The candy! I had forgotten the rules once again. Rule #130 Never take candy from the pharmacist. I was instantly worried, especially after the stamp incident.
I quickly made my way back into the hotel in case I needed to lie down. Once inside I heard a banging noise coming from upstairs. I walked up the steps, still feeling strange, and made my way towards the newest sound. I found Jasper in room #12 banging on the pipes underneath the sink with a wrench.
“I think I’ve almost got it to come out.” He stated as he continued banging.
“Jasper…..” I started.
“What now” He asked looking at the worried look on my face.
“So I may or may not have taken and started eating candy from the pharmacist.” I continued “What happens now.
“Oh my God! You didn’t. I don’t think you’re gonna like what happens next.” He said
“What, what happens?” I asked, fear creeping up in my voice.
He took a deep breath in and started, “You’re not going to like it, but unfortunately you’re going to grow a tail and antlers.”
As he said that a mischievous smile played on his face and I knew he was just kidding me. I swatted at him, and said, “Not as big as the bump on your head that you’re going to get from me!”
He chuckled and went on to say, “Nothing bad is going to happen, you’ll just see things that aren’t there for a little while.”
I looked at him long and hard to see if I could tell if he was kidding or not, but I couldn’t see any evidence that he was. “Great, I’m going to be seeing pink elephants.”
“Not quite. The things you’ll see are real, or at least were, you just see events that happened unfold.” He told me.
“Well at any rate I think I’ll go to my room for a while and just wait for things to happen then.” I responded, turning from the doorway of the bathroom and heading to my room.
I sat down on the edge of my bed, kicking my shoes off. I figured if I was going to be seeing things I might as well get comfortable so I laid down on the bed and got settled. I made a mental note to rewrite all the rules I could remember later, since the original letter I had got destroyed in the raid. I figured I could even add a few of my own. In only a few moments, I had closed my eyes and right about the time I started to drift off to sleep, I heard a woman scream.
My eyes shot open, and I glanced around the room to see if I could see where the scream had come from, but I saw nothing. After a few moments of not hearing anything, I started to settle back down into the bed. I once again closed my eyes, when suddenly, I heard the scream once again. I shot up in the bed again just in time to see someone run into the room. It was a woman dressed in a flowing, white night gown. I stared for a few moments at her before I recognized her. Her black hair was down and fell just below her waist, her brown eyes were filled with fear, and her tan hands were shaking. The raid had begun on the hotel. She came hurriedly over to the edge of the bed, standing at the foot of it as I watched two identical twin girls run towards her into her arms. It was Rosa Bennett.
She quickly hurried the girls from the room and I got up from the bed and followed. They hurried down the hall, passing by the open door to room #15, and headed to the dining room with Mr. Bennett not far behind. Mr. Bennett and Rosa both quickly blocked off the door to the dining room using whatever they could, tables, chairs, and dinner carts. Once the door was blocked, they huddled in the far corner of the room, the whole family together, behind a tipped over table. Mr. Bennett had a riffle ready to go, propped atop the corner of the table. Rosa held the little girls as tears streamed down the three of their faces. That was when I saw a sudden change in Rosa’s face, like an idea had hit her harder than a freight train.
She jumped up from the floor and ran to the kitchen and came back with jars and jars of spices and herbs. She sat on the floor making a ring of salt around her. She burned various herbs and spices in the center and spread the ashes on the salt as she began to speak phrases in Latin. The room began to shake and the walls grumbled under the strain of the overwhelming pressure that settled in the room. Her voice began to echo and grow louder with every passing second. Finally she slit her hand, blood pouring out into the middle of the circle. Then as soon as the rumbling began it stopped. In its place, a sudden yellow glow illuminated the room from the center of the circle and expanded ever outward, through the walls and out of the hotel, throughout the entire town and surrounding land before petering out and disappearing. Whatever she did, stopped the raid from continuing upon the hotel. The dead could no longer enter.
My hallucination faded then and I blinked a couple of times before I was seeing things as they were currently. The tables and chairs had all gone back to what they had before, and the dinner carts were once again lined against the walls. Everything looked normal. I tried to shake off what I had just seen, though I was very curious to find out what the spell she had cast was. I figured if anyone knew it might be the librarian. I made up my mind to go to the library, feeling much better now, and find out if she knew what Rosa had done that night.
Once at the library I entered into the room. I loved the smell of books and the way their pages bent and crinkled. Libraries always felt like home to me, even if the librarians scared the crap out of me. I walked up to the librarian’s desk and waited for her to look up. It took a few moments before she did so, and when she finally did she had a look of annoyance on her face.
“Can I help you?” She asked incredulously.
“Hi, I’m looking for a letter that was sent to Miss Rosa Bennett by her grandmother. Can you please tell me if there is a record or copy of the letter here?” I asked politely.
“You’re looking for her letter?” She asked questioningly.
“Well, yes. I was hoping I could read it to find out some information on the hotel.” I told her.
She continued to look at me for a few minutes before answering. “If you go upstairs, right hand side, in the town records section, you can find the letter in a locked glass cabinet in the binder of hotel records. Here’s the key.” She said as she opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a shiny skeleton key. “I have to warn you though, no one has ever been able to read it, it’s entirely in Spanish and Latin.”
“Thanks.” I said taking the key from her outstretched hand.
I started up the right staircase. Entering the records section of the library, I saw the glass case the librarian had talked about. I hurried over and put the key in the lock. Turning it, the door to the case wouldn’t budge for a moment, but quickly gave way. I opened it with a squeak, peering inside at the giant binder. I carefully pulled it out, and walked over to one of the tables and pulled out a chair as I laid the binder on the table. As I opened it, it made that crinkling sound I loved, and it smelled old. Being made of leather, red in color, with ornate patterning on the front; it looked beautiful.
The records the red binder held were all types. Everything from records of the people that stayed at the hotel, to little warning notes about the hotel and even daily logs about the happenings of the hotel, the binder held so much. In the very front of the binder, was the letter, just as the librarian said, written all in Spanish. Thankfully I had become quite proficient in Spanish in high school and living where I did there was able to stay fluent in the language. I began to read the letter.
The first half of the letter was just Rosa’s grandmother writing and sharing all that had happened in her last correspondence. Towards the middle, however, was where she started detailing the various spells and curses that Rosa could use. They ranged from the mundane to the extraordinary, most in Spanish and a few in Latin. I read through all of them that I could, but none of them were like the protection spell Rosa told me she used in the vision I had. I flipped through the various pages, there were quite a few, and on the last page toward the bottom, was one particular spell written in Latin.
It was long and had many ingredients used in it. Being as long as it was and recognizing some of the words as being the ones Rosa had spoken in my hallucination, I was sure this spell was the one. After sitting for a moment and thinking of anybody in the town that could translate, I finally settled on Mr. Herd. Being the pharmacist I was sure he had to know some Latin. I closed the door to the cabinet, noticing then that there were over a dozen other cabinets with binders in them all around the room, and walked downstairs with the binder. I stopped by the desk to ask the librarian if I could borrow the binder but she was gone to lunch a note sitting on the top counter. It read:
Gone to lunch, be back in a few. If you need to borrow the binder go ahead. Just make sure to bring it back in 2 weeks.
-The librarian
After I left the library I headed straight for the pharmacy, hoping the pharmacist would be able to help me. I entered the store and saw Mr. Herd standing at the counter, mixing what I assumed was drugs together.
“Mr. Herd?” I began. “I do you have a moment? I need to ask you something.”
He turned around and smiled. “Of course! Of course! Please come on over. What can I help you with?”
I walked up to the counter and asked, “Do you by any chance speak Latin?”
He looked at me as his face lit up. “Ah yes, yes I do. I had to learn it in school long ago. I’m a little rusty though, I have to warn you.”
“Rusty is better than nothing!” I joked. “Can you translate this last page for me, or at least tell me the jist of what it says?”
“Of course, it would be my honor.” He replied.
I handed over the letter and he flipped to the back page. As he stood there a moment trying to decipher the words, he suddenly got a funny expression on his face. “What sort of letter is this?”
“It’s a letter between Rosa Bennett and her grandmother. She cast a spell the night of the first night raid by the villagers. I need to know what it says. Can you tell me?” I asked.
“Well yes but…..” He started.
“But what?” I said as I tried to draw it out of him.
“You aren’t going to like what it says.” He finished.
“So you can read it?” I asked excitedly.
“Yes. It basically is a protection spell, but, it has its drawbacks. The spell itself offers the ultimate protection over the ones it is cast over. However, there’s a catch.” He said.
“What do you mean catch?” I asked trying to push him to get to the point.
“The catch is that once enacted you have to sacrifice your future generations. At least one person per generation, to forever be bound to the place you cast the “safety net” over. Whether that be a house, a business……” He trailed off.
“A hotel?” I said
“Yes, even a hotel, and it seems that was what she did.” He finished telling me.
I had a lot to think about, what the spell meant, what had bound Rosa’s descendants to the hotel, and what all that had to do with the town. “Thank you Mr. Herd. I really appreciate your time and translating the letter. I hope that you have a good day.”
He handed the letter back to me and I placed it into the binder. “I hope that helps you. You have a wonderful day as well.” He said.
I walked out of the pharmacy and headed back to the hotel. Once I walked into the lobby I was greeted by an unfamiliar sight. Standing there in the lobby, dressed all in red, was a new visitor.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: A New Day Dawning
The sounds were coming closer, a deep guttural chanting from within the tunnels. With every heartbeat my pulse quickened with the fear of the unknown. I had the gun clutched to my chest, fully loaded and ready to shoot, if only I had the courage to fight. I took a few steps forward and stood in the line of the townspeople. As I stood there I looked down the line at Jasper who stood there looking back at me, he gave me a nod and resumed his stance.
All too soon, the band of warriors and Kachinas came through the mouth of the tunnel. The warriors were large and frightening to behold, armed with bows and arrows, spears, and knives, they came at us, charging into the line. The Kachinas weren’t too far behind. As they came closer they began to transform into what they represented. Some were great warriors, others were giant animals with barred teeth, and some were gods come to life, all here to avenge their people from long ago. The townspeople charged then as I lagged behind. Never before had I fought in a battle, I wasn’t prepared for what I watched before me.
The townspeople charged the warriors and Kachinas as the ground began to rumble and shake. There was blood and gore, as the warriors mauled and shot arrows into the group. Everyone was yelling and screaming out, some in pain and others in a battle cry. The warriors themselves were mere shadows of what they had probably once been, their bodies charred and broken. The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air wherever they stood. The Kachinas were fearsome to behold. They came in all shapes and sizes, some small and some large. They were terrible in their wrath and were ten times stronger than a normal human. They looked as if they could lift a person up, break their bodies, and throw the corpse against the walls. I dodged and weaved where I could avoiding the scuffle and staying out of the fray, until I came face to face with the largest Kachina of them all, and I recognized him as the first doll that had fallen off the shelf in the hotel.
He was huge, standing at least 7 foot 3 inches, wide and broad shoulders that spanned the length of my small frame. I felt like a dwarf in comparison to the mighty warrior. He held a spear in his right hand, long and straight, with the tip made of the hardest stone, sharp and pointed. He wore a terrible mask, painted red, yellow, and white with black accents that drove terror deep into my heart. I knew I wouldn’t last in a fight with him; I didn’t even stand a chance. I couldn’t fight and I couldn’t run. So I did the next best thing I could possibly think of. I surrendered. I laid down the gun at my feet and held my hands up in surrender. I then said the words that probably saved my life that night.
“I’m sorry.” I said maintaining my stance. “I wish I could undo what has been done to your people, but I can’t. It is not within my power to do so, but I promise as long as I live, I will pay my respects to those that were lost, and continue to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
With that, the Kachina paused, and looked at me for a long moment, lowering its spear, no longer waiting to drive it deep within my heart. He backed up and as he did so he grew smaller, and smaller, till he was no bigger than the doll that fell from the shelf, and stopped moving. At that time, I began to notice all around me that the other Kachinas did the same. The warriors stopped fighting also and stood back as a strong wind coursed through the tunnels, blowing away the warriors like ash till there was nothing left. The battle was over, with nothing left behind but the Kachina dolls that sat on the floor.
A confused muttering began amongst the townspeople, as they looked confused back and forth from one another. I saw Jasper come forward from where he had been fighting, looking every bit as confused as the others.
“Well that’s never happened before.” He said looking at the ground where the Kachina dolls sat.
In the back of the room I heard Deb chime in. “That’s because no one ever apologized before, ever.”
“What do you mean, apologized?” Jasper asked.
“Everyone has always fought against my people and for over two hundred years on the anniversary of the night raid, no one has ever done anything but fight. She just apologized for all those years and everything that had been done. No one has ever done that before. The spirits accepted her apology and her humility.”
“Well if your people didn’t come to curse the town again and again every year we would have never had to fight!” Jasper said as he raised his voice.
“And If your people hadn’t always kept repeating the same mistakes we wouldn’t have to keep teaching you the same lesson!” Deb responded in kind.
“Enough you two!” I yelled. “It doesn’t matter who did what, the only thing that matters is coming to an agreement and making a better way forward.”
They both looked solemn yet stern, staring at the ground, but both had to admit I was right. The night of the raid on the native peoples the white settlers were in the wrong. The night of the raid on the townspeople when they cursed the town, the Pueblo peoples had been in the wrong. While one side took what didn’t belong to them, and the other understandably sought retribution for what had been done, both sides had caused permanent damage that couldn’t be undone, and that led to both sides becoming the bitterest of foes. No one side was in the right, but they could set aside their differences and reach a parlay. Why no one had thought of this sooner seemed ridiculous to me.
After everyone had regained their bearings, we began to take count of those left. To my surprise despite the obvious bloodshed, everyone was still alive only a little worse for wear. We gathered up the injured and helped them walk out of the tunnels, while the rest of the townspeople stayed behind to clean up and place the guns back where they belonged. As we came to the second fork where all three tunnels divulged together, we met up with the other townspeople. They were as bloodied and disheveled as I’m sure the rest of us were, looking pretty rough I imagined. We all walked to where we all first came through and climbed the ladder up to the post office.
Once inside I could see the light of dawn shining through the front windows, drowning out the artificial light of the bulbs that dangled from the ceiling. Once we were all inside we proceeded to the front of the building and turned behind to assess the damage. The door in the front had been completely torn off its hinges, scattered shards of wood lay everywhere within. It looked as though a large battering ram had come through the door. The place was a mess, the windows were broken and every item lay strewn about the room. Nothing was in its place and by the looks of it, it would take a good while to clean and repair all the damage.
Exhausted and weary I sought to leave the post office to return to the hotel to assess the damage that had been done there. I silently, just as everyone else, stepped over the threshold and the shattered door, into the light of the morning sunrise. We had all lived to see another day, and for that I was grateful. As I stepped into the dawn I took a deep breath of fresh air as I turned to look at the others. They came one by one into the light and before my eyes vanished into a fine mist as if they had never been there at all. I was shocked to say the least. The only one who didn’t disappear before my eyes was Jasper. He remained on the front porch leaned up against the poles that held it up.
“New day dawning. You ladies get back to the hotel you hear.” Jasper said as he cocked his hat back a little with a flick. “Get some rest now.”
As we headed back to the hotel we saw the many footprints in the earth where the dead and the Kachinas had walked. Deb and I walked silently side by side as we went, neither of us speaking a word. Once we reached the door of the hotel, I was shocked by the damage. The windows looked as if they had exploded outward into the street. The door, much like the one at the post office, was barely hanging from its hinges, shattered and shredded. Inside there were shards of broken vases strewn all over the floor, there were chairs flung into the walls, broken and battered, and there were items from the counter flung haphazardly all over the place.
“Oh my God.” I said as I looked at the wreckage. “What did they do to the hotel? It’s ruined!”
The hotel had been but a casualty in the rampage of the night before. It was going to take me a century to clean and refurbish the place. I felt responsible for the hotels marring because everything happened on my watch. What was I going to do? I didn’t even have the number of the owners, Mary and Martha. So many questions without answers ran through my head, until finally a question popped up to the surface that I had to have answered. As I turned around in the lobby to face Deb who was solemnly looking around the room, I finally found the words to ask my question.
“Deb?” I started.
She looked up at me. “Yes Autumn.”
“In the tunnels, you and Jasper both said this had been a yearly occurrence for over 200 years. Why?”
“Well……” Deb began as she walked to the stairs and sat down on them.”Long time ago, after the town and hotel had been built, when the night raid by my people had happened, there was so much that went on that night. The townspeople were fast asleep and my people saw the opportune time to strike, so they did.”
“Yes I saw that in a dream I had, they came and attacked the town, but they cursed it as well. What even was the curse?” I asked sitting beside her on the stairs.
Deb looked surprised for a moment when I told her that I had seen something in a dream, but she quickly shook her head as if she had shaken off a thought and continued. “The curse that my people placed on the town wasn’t complete, it had two parts. They intended to enact a curse that would keep the townspeople trapped in the town and on the land they stole for all of eternity, damming their souls to reside in a permanent limbo of sorts. They could die, but their spirits could never leave the town. The second half of the curse was to keep them trapped for all of time in a certain time period, but before they could finish casting the curse, they were interrupted. By who or what I don’t know but for some reason things went awry. The town is tied to the land, but if you can figure out how, you can travel backwards or forwards in time, because time is relative within the town.”
“Like how I did with Mr. Elberton?” I surmised.
“Yes, just like that. But you have to be careful because you can never come back to the same moment in time as when you left.” Deb told me.
“That explains a lot.” I said when suddenly a thought hit me so hard. “The townspeople, are they……..are they all…..dead?”
“Yes, they died long ago, on the night of the raid. No one survived except those living in the hotel.” She said. “After that night, the hotel began to have a series of caretakers, all of which weren’t apart of the town originally, but had entered into it at some point. Every year a member of my tribe would come to the hotel around the anniversary of the night raid, to see if the hearts of the townspeople had changed or if the caretaker cared about what had been done, but until you, no one did.”
“So that’s what you meant about me.” I said
“Yes.” Deb replied.
As we sat there I understood more of why things had gone down the way they had. I was grateful for the mercy of the ancient spirits and the warriors, as well as from Deb. Maybe now, we could move forward and begin to heal the wounds of the past. I hoped we could at least. Either way, I decided the best place to start would be to clean up the hotel. We were going to have more visitors soon, and we needed to be ready. So as I stood up from the stairs and walked over to the cleaning closet behind the desk, Deb rose as well. I came back with two brooms and handed her one. Maybe we could begin by cleaning the hotel together I thought, and clean we did.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Things That Go Bump in the Night
The door opened with a loud creaking sound and then a bump as it hit the wall. As I stood there staring into the room I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. It was a room just like the doll room, lined with shelves and a singular window on in the back of the room. But this one was filled with something else. They looked like dolls in nature, but were very different from what normal dolls look like. I recognized them right away. They were the same type of dolls as what the native peoples had. They were carved from wood, small in nature, some bigger than others, yet all roughly the same size. They were simple yet beautiful, being made with scraps of hand woven cloth and pieces of leather, and painted with bright colors.
As I stood staring at them I heard a voice excitedly say from behind me. “Those are Kachina dolls!”
I whipped around to see Deb standing there. In the dark she looked different, almost pale in the moonlight. “They’re what?” I asked.
“They’re Kachina dolls, my people made these ones long ago by the look of it.” She passed by me and entered into the room to get a closer look at them. “They were made in likeness of the spirits they embody. They can embody anything from an element to a cosmic being, an ancestor or the spirit of just about anything. You see my people believed that everything held a spirit, and they used these dolls to educate the children of the tribes of their heritage.”
“Wait, if they embody spirits does that mean….” Before I could finish my statement one of the dolls fell from its shelf.
Great, just great I thought. I survived the demon dolls in the other room and as far as I knew those didn’t embody actual spirits, or did they? Either way I didn’t want to find out if these did. I looked at the doll on the floor. Deb looked at the doll on the floor. We looked at each other, then at back at the doll. Then, almost as if I had jinxed the situation by just thinking about it, the doll began to roll back and forth, and then it stood upright and stayed still as a rock. Nothing in the room moved for half a second, then suddenly, all at once and the dolls began to one by one fall from their shelves, hitting the floor. We hopped over them as they did the exact same thing as the first doll had, and Deb moved closer to me. We both stood there gazing at the fallen dolls as they rolled, then sat up, then stayed still.
“What are they doing?” I whispered to Deb, afraid that if I spoke to loud they would attack us.
“I have no idea, but they don’t seem very happy.” She whisper spoke.
“Well what do we do? Do we put them back on the shelves and turn them to the wall like the other dolls?” I asked.
“I don’t think that will work, these aren’t like those dolls, those dolls are…….they’re just different.” She replied.
Right then as Deb finished speaking the dolls all began to wobble, waddle, and walk towards us slowly. We backed up and before I could figure out what to do next, Deb grabbed my hand and jerked me from the room, slamming and locking the door behind us as she grabbed the set of keys from my hand. She then ran down the hall, dragging me behind her as we went, and when we finally reached the bottom step of the grand staircase, we heard a loud banging from above and behind us. The dolls were trying to escape, and something told me they would be successful. We then ran from the hotel, locking those doors behind us as well, and out into the street.
Deb paused for a moment trying to figure out where the best place to go was. In the distance we saw a bright light coming from the post office. We saw it right about the same time and with and understanding look between us we ran for it. We stumbled up the stairs as we went, out of breath more from fear than anything, and tried to open the door. It was locked. We started banging on the door calling out to see if someone would open the door. The door then swung open, and I could see that it was Jasper on the other side.
“Hurry up and come in before they get you.” He whispered loudly. I didn’t think twice before skirting past him and into the brightly lit room.
Once inside I could see we weren’t the only ones there. There were dozens of people, all ranging from young to old, men and women alike. I recognized the librarian as one of the group. As soon as we were inside the door slammed shut behind us and in the not so far distance a crack of thunder pealed, the first of many to come on that night. I turned to look at Jasper who had walked from the door over to the window. Looking out, he stared for many minutes.
“What in the hell is going on?” I asked, now becoming even more fretful.
Jasper didn’t even turn from looking out the window and replied, “It’s the anniversary of the night the natives attacked the town. It happened on this night long ago.”
“What does that mean?” I asked as Deb stayed dead silent behind me.
“It means that she,” He said pointing a finger at Deb, “came to call on the spirits of her dead ancestors to attack us yet again. It happens every year like clockwork.”
I looked back at Deb, who was now looking at the floor trying not to make eye contact with any of us in the room. “You did what?” I questioned her. “I thought you said you come to pay homage to the dead in remembrance of the ones who were lost? Is that not true?”
“Yes it is!” She quickly responded. “I just…..also call on the spirits to rise from the dead to walk the earth once again.”
I was flabbergasted, the phone entity had tried to warn me of her and I didn’t listen. Why didn’t I listen? Now what lay in store for us all tonight? I assumed that the other people in the room were the other townspeople that I had yet to meet. Now we all were trapped in this dingy, small building with no weapons to speak of and an army of the dead and evil dolls coming for us. Just my luck, why had I taken this job again?
“If I had known how kind you were I would have never called upon them.” Deb added.
“Was that what you were doing this morning? Did you lie about that too and what do you mean, if you had known how kind I was? Why does that make a difference and what about all the other people here? Don’t they matter too?” I replied growing angry.
Deb fell silent and looked once again to the floor.
“It doesn’t matter now, what’s done is done; we need to prepare for their coming.” Jasper stated seriously.
“What can I do to help?” I asked as I straightened up and squared my jaw. If there was going to be a fight I was going to be ready.
Jasper stared at me for a long minute, and then he said, “Follow me. We’re all here now.”
With that he walked to the back of the room in a few short strides, and grabbed the end of the bed that sat in the corner of the room.
“Help me move this.” He grunted as he attempted to move it on his own. I hurried over and grabbed the other end. Together we pushed it aside revealing a hidden trap door in the floor. Once the bed was fully pushed aside he commanded, “Everyone inside, hurry!”
Everyone began, one at a time, to pile inside. I was one of the last to go in, with only Deb and Jasper behind me. Once inside Jasper followed Deb down, and he closed the door shut and locked it behind him. Now we were in complete and utter darkness. I could hear Jasper feeling around in the dark for something, what I wasn’t sure. I hadn’t seen anything when I first dropped down but I wasn’t really looking though. At last he found what he was looking for. The familiar sound of a match being struck against the wood of the ladder that led down into the hole filled the air along with a bright light. He lit a lamp that stood on the far end of the wall away from me, illuminating the entire space. There were two other lamps besides that were also lit and given to the people at the beginning and middle of the group of people that had come down with us. Deb, Jasper and I took up the rear.
The group began to move almost in tandem with each other, as if this had been rehearsed time and time again. We followed the group through the dark, wet, cavern until we came to a fork in the path.
“Turn right” Jasper yelled out quietly as he could.
As the group began to turn to the right and follow that path down I looked at Jasper and asked him, “What is this place?”
“After we drove the native people from the land, we knew there would probably be retribution at some point. So we tried to create a safe place away from the main town where we could hide and hold up a defense.” He replied.
“So you picked an underground cavern as your last stand?” Then I added. “Well…..at least you wouldn’t have to bury your dead.”
Jasper looked at me a little hurt, but quickly regained his composure. “What would you suggest as a safe place……the same land they lived and breathed and worked on for hundreds of years?”
I got the point. “But surely there was some place better, I mean you all had guns and ammo. Why didn’t you just defend yourselves from the hotel?”
“That was the original plan but the hotel got overrun. We had nowhere else to go but here.” He told me.
“Did it work?” I asked him “The underground caverns I mean.”
“They served their purpose, saved the lives of many of the townspeople. We stayed here for several days after the attack before we came up for air. We stored rations and bedding down here just in case they were ever needed, so we had plenty of canned food to last us a few days and warm places to sleep.” He replied as we came to another fork in the path where it split into three different ways.
Then almost on cue as if they had prepared for this a hundred times before, the group split in three smaller groups and each entered into one of the three tunnels. The front third of the group stayed straight and went into the middle tunnel, the middle of the group went to the far left, and the back of the group went into the far right tunnel. We traveled along for what seemed like half a mile before we came to a more open cavern that had been hewn to make it a larger space. In the room towards the back was the aforementioned food crates and bedding. The cavern was so large and damp, it gave me chills.
No sooner had we entered the underground room did we hear a loud banging and crashing noise echoing throughout the halls and tunnels. It appeared that they had gotten in and were coming our way. As I stood there gazing through the dark as if I had x-ray vision and could see them long before they appeared, I heard scuffling behind me and the shucking of a shotgun. I quickly whirled around to see Jasper holding out said shotgun to me.
“I don’t know how to use a gun; I’ve never used one in my life.” I told him, whispering lower than we previously had been.
“Doesn’t matter, look I’ll show you.” He said as he turned me around to face the mouth of the tunnel. Placing his arms over me and the gun in my hands, he showed me how to load, aim, and shoot the gun. “If you think it’s too far away to hit, just wait till it comes a little closer, this gun will knock a huge hole in whatever you’re shooting at.”
“What if I don’t want to shoot anyone? What if I can’t?” I asked as I pointed the gun at the floor.
“Either you shoot, or you die, simple as that.” He stated while walking away to help the others.
I stood there for a minute just staring at the gun; I didn’t want to use it. I didn’t want to end someone’s life. I didn’t want to fight…..but I also didn’t want to die that night in some underground tomb. I made the decision only to shoot if necessary, and only if there was no other way out. I turned to look behind me at the others, all preparing for a fight to the death. They had no qualms about fighting so why did I?
Soon we could hear a chanting in the distance, they had entered the tunnels. In a panic I ran to the back wall of the room, while the others preparing for the battle, stood in a line towards the middle of the room. Deb stood with me, a strange calm to her. She didn’t have a gun; I guessed the others hadn’t given her one.
“Stay with me and I’ll keep you safe.” She told me.
“Oh please, you’re the one that caused this to happen, why do you care now?” I said with a sarcastic tone in my voice.
“I didn’t realize the kind of person you were. You are different than all the others, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but you are nonetheless.” She answered. “I’m sorry; once this is over I’ll leave and never return. This won’t ever happen again.”
I stayed silent mulling her words over in my mind. Before I could speak to ask her the most obvious question, why had she done this to seemingly me specifically, we heard screams and yelling from down the way. With every second that passed we could hear them approaching closer and closer. I clutched the gun to my chest and tried to prepare for what was to come next.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Library
“Hello?” I said as I awaited a response.
I only heard slight crackling and static over the phone. “Hello, who is this?” I asked again a little louder this time.
“This is your conscious speaking………” The voice on the other end of the line replied.
“Oh great. What can I do for you jiminy cricket?” I responded sarcastically.
“I…..I need to speak to you about the hotel. Not everything is what is seems.” The phone entity said.
“Yeah, I kinda figured that out already.” I said getting annoyed. “So what’s your take on the hotel?”
“Don’t trust the girl in room #1.” The voice hissed.
“You mean Deborah? She seems so nice.” I said as I looked around the room trying to see if I was still alone. I didn’t want Deb coming in if the phone entity and I were going to be talking about her.
“Just beware, she may seem nice but she is the reason for your suffering.” The phone entity said.
“Well thank you for the advice, but unless you can be less cryptic about things, I think I’ll go now. It’s getting late and I need to get up early in the morning.” I said as I began to move the receiver from my ear.
On the other side of the line I heard, “Just listen to me!” as I hung up the phone and placed it back on the desk.
I sat there a moment longer, contemplating what the phone entity had said. What was so bad about Deb and why was she “The reason for my suffering”? The last couple of days were strange sure, but I was hardly suffering. I got up from the stool behind the desk and headed for my room. Before I went inside I looked once more at the picture just outside my door. The picture unnerved me for a reason I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Maybe it was the fact that everyone in the picture had been dead or gone for over 200 years, maybe it was the man who built the town and his arrogant, self righteous stare, or maybe it was simply a secret that the picture hadn’t divulged yet. Either way, I moved away from the painting quickly and headed inside my room.
Once I had shut my door I changed into my night clothes, a pink pajama set with red hearts that I had bought as a Valentine’s Day present to myself a few years back when I didn’t have a Valentine. Once done I removed my makeup and washed my face. I looked at myself in the mirror. The glue from the stamps and the elixir did a number on me; I had a sickly hue to my skin that made me pale as a ghost, a look that didn’t exactly scream health and vigor. I decided all that I needed was a good night’s sleep and a good healthy breakfast in the morning. I climbed into bed and for the first night since arriving, I slept peacefully and dream free.
In the morning I woke up feeling refreshed and like I could take on the day. As I dressed I thought about all that had happened over the last few days and made a silent vow to make the most of each day, regardless of what that particular day held. Once I finished, I walked down to the kitchen area past the dining hall, thought of a wonderful full breakfast, and opened the oven to find it waiting for me. I had always loved fresh biscuits. I opened the fridge to find the rest of my meal, a tropical fruit bowl and two hard boiled eggs. I took my meal out to the dining room table, sat down, and enjoyed my meal. As I sat there absent mindedly poking at the mango with my fork and staring out the window out to the alleyway, I saw Deb go through. I quickly got up from my seat and dashed to the window to see where she could possibly be going. To my knowledge there was nothing but barren land behind the town. Being the nosey person I was I decided to follow her.
By the time I got down to the first floor and out the door, all I saw was the sleeve of her dress as she darted behind the hotel. I walked/trotted along as fast as I could without being heard. Maybe it had been the warning from the phone entity from last night, but I was feeling a little suspicious of her. The voice on the phone had told me to beware because she wasn’t all she seemed. I began to wonder if the voice had been right, now that I followed her. As I began to wonder about my safety, I heard a slow singing start. It started out slow and gradually sped up as the volume increased. When I rounded the corner I was surprised by what I found.
There in the clearing of the wasteland behind the town was Deb, singing as though in prayer and worship as she danced. What she said I couldn’t understand and who she prayed to I didn’t know, but the words flowed through the air with a blissful, melodic sound. As I stood there watching her I hoped whoever she sang to could hear her and granted her whatever she wished. All too soon the song ended and the only sound left to hear was the wind that swept through the land, whistling as it went. She turned then and saw me standing there peeking out from the back corner of the building. I tried to quickly hide myself but it was in vain; I had been caught.
“You don’t have to hide, you can come out.” She said to me.
As I came out from around the corner feeling as if I was a toddler busted for drawing with crayons on the wall. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to spy. I just saw you from the window and came to see what you were doing behind the hotel.”
“I was singing a song to the Sun Mother. The song is called “Hymn To The Sun”. Did you like it?” Deb asked
“I thought it was beautiful. What was the song about?” I asked her as I came closer to where she stood.
“It’s a song where we give thanks to The Sun Mother and all she does for us and we listen to the sounds of nature as they call out to us. “She told me. Then she added “It’s a song of my people and it is even more beautiful when sung as a group.”
“Your people? Who are your people?” I asked.
“My people lived on this land long ago for hundreds of years, long before there was ever a town here.” She answered.
“But…..if you are…..how can you be….I mean….” I struggled to find the right words that wouldn’t offend her.
She giggled as she turned to look towards the sun. “You mean how is it that I’m a Native Puebloan if I’m black?”
“Well….yes.” I answered honestly.
“Many of the first cowboys in the west were the people native to the land and people of color, those who fled slavery for a better life and later on, after the civil war, ex-slaves who were in search of a way to make a living. My ancestors descended from both. My mother is pueblo and my father was black. But it doesn’t take away or dilute my ancestry. I’m proud and honored to be descended from both.”
“That’s amazing.” I said now in awe of her. “What brought you to this town? Was it the place where your ancestors lived?”
“Yes, it was. This was once sacred land to my people, but unfortunately like many Native peoples all over the world, others stole their land and sought to colonize it to their benefit and purpose, driving them out. I come here every year in the summer to visit the land of my people and to pay homage to those that were lost to us.” She replied.
“I….I’m so sorry. I know I can’t give the land back to your people, but if there is anything I can do to help you or make your stay better I will certainly try.” I told her.
“Thank you, that means a lot coming from one of the care takers. You’re different, I like that.” Deb said.
After we finished our conversation, we parted ways. She went to walk on the outskirts of town, and I headed back to the hotel. The voice that had warned me on the phone had been wrong. She was merely one of the people who belonged to the land, and a kind person at that. What was the voice so sure of that it felt the need to warn me of her? As I re-entered the hotel I saw sitting on the desk a stack of books, a couple of pill bottles, and a note. The note read:
Glad to see you are up walking around and being nosey. You left these at my place. Hope you can return them on time!
-Jasper Moon
I quickly opened the first book in the stack, looking at the checkout dates and return times listed on the inside, front cover. I began to panic when I saw that they were due that day at noon. I looked at the grandfather clock which read 11:56am. I scooped up the remaining items I had to finish returning from Mr. Elberton’s room, and ran out the door. I didn’t know what would happen if I was late to return the books but I didn’t want to find out. I nearly tripped over the front steps on my way down them; my mother had always called me Grace in jest growing up because of my clumsiness. As I sprinted toward the library I heard a laugh in the distance and someone call out, “Run girl run!” followed by even more obnoxious laughter. I thought, God how I couldn’t stand Jasper.
I reached the front door of the library in record time. I was out of breath as I started up the stairs, I needed to work out more I guess. The library, like the post office, was similar in size and depth. I didn’t think there was too many books that could possibly be inside, but I was sure the ones I was carrying would be greatly missed if I didn’t hurry. I passed under the metal pole that extended past the building’s first few steps and looked up at it as I went. I became aware all too suddenly that even though this town held quite a few buildings, none of them had the town name printed on their signs. Come to think of it I didn’t even know what the town name was. It had never been mentioned in any letter, conversation, or even in the childhood stories I grew up with, it had simply always been nameless. I shrugged off this newest revelation and turned the knob of the door, opening it.
The library inside was not what I had expected at all. I had expected a mostly barren and desolate place with only a few dozen books and half of those with moth eaten pages, a few overhanging light bulbs like in the post office, and an old man or woman who would shush you if you spoke too loud. What I saw in front of me was nothing of the sort. It was a grand library that looked to be the size of at least 10 buildings wide and twice as many deep. Not at all the size I had expected given the outside of the building. I backed up out the door and shut it in front of me, turned to walk down the stairs and to the side of the building. Just like I had thought I had seen, a small building the size of the post office. I quickly dashed up the stairs once again, taking them two at a time, and went back inside. Once again I was greeted with the same, larger inside than out, room. I was beyond shocked at its sheer size and elegance. There were, not one, but two grand staircases that wound around, swirling up towards the second floor; one on each side of the room. There were books upon books upon books inside. Books that looked old and new, some in languages I recognized and others I didn’t, and some small and thick alike. The woodwork inside was fashioned in similar make as the hotel, alluring and beautiful. I stood there admiring the place when I heard a voice up ahead.
“Excuse me, may I help you?”
I looked from the second floor that seemed to span ever onward, right ahead of me to see a young woman, about my height, small in stature and dressed in the same period clothes as all the other people I had met so far, not including Deb. I walked up the wooden desk in the center of the room where it sat between the stair cases. Getting a closer look at the woman who sat at the desk, she looked quite plain. She almost seemed out of place in that library. She had long dark brown hair in plaited braids that she piled atop her head in a bun, a floral patterned soft yellow dress that came down to the floor, and a facial expression that read “try me.” All in all she seemed almost stoic in nature and hardened by some event that had happened sometime in her life. She was pretty, with dark blue eyes the color of the night sky at dusk and a fair complexion, but plain nonetheless. I approached her with a shy smile and placed my books on the counter space on top of the desk.
“Hello, my name is Autumn, I work at the hotel next door. I was hoping to return these. A client of ours left them in his room. I hope they aren’t late, I came as soon as I was able.” I said still smiling. After a few minutes of standing there with no reply and a beady look from the librarian, my smile dropped.
“Your late. They were due at noon today and it is,” As she checked her pocket watch, “ 12:02pm.”
“Thank goodness, they are only a two minutes late.” I stated as I let out a slight giggle. The librarian continued to stare at me with that same disapproving look as I began to look elsewhere due to the harsh stare.
“Late is late. You’ll have to pay a fee.” She said, finally taking her eyes off me, looking down to her record book.
“Well, I’m sure I can do that. How much is the fee?” I asked her.
“It’s not your ordinary fee. We don’t take cash here.” She told me never looking up from the book she now started writing in.
“Okay….What do you except as payment then?” I asked her as she looked up from her book.
“We accept time as payment. Nothing more nothing less, 1 hour per late book and it looks like you have 9. You can begin immediately.” She said.
“Wait, 9 hours of what?” I asked thoroughly confused.
“9 hours of work.” She replied as if I had just asked the stupidest question possible.
“Oh, I can do that no problem! I always thought about working in a library when I was little.” I told her.
She looked very unimpressed. “You can start by organizing the books in the fiction wing upstairs. Take these and put them in the right places.” She said as she handed me an armful of books. “Just take the staircase to the left you can’t miss it.”
With that, I made my way with the armful of books to the left staircase and made the twirling climb. Once on the second floor I saw what she meant. Right in front of me was a beautifully, hand painted sign that read fiction. I looked at the first book on the top of the stack, entitled Journey out West by some author I had never heard of before. Out of curiosity I opened the book, but was quickly regretful for having done so. In a second I blacked out and was transported through time and space to the setting the book was in. I was out west, probably somewhere on the plains, and there was a herd of buffalo in front of me, snorting and grunting at my presence. I found myself going along with the story of the book, experiencing the journey of a rugged man, who worked for the railroad, headed out west towards California. I was chased by buffalo, shot by a fellow railway worker, and hunted as an outlaw after I stole from the railroad company. I felt everything the main character experienced and it was terrible. Only when the book ended did I snap back to reality. It felt like an eternity that I had been in the book, but I looked at my watch and only 2 hours had past. I tried to shake the weird feeling off, and continue with my work.
The second book had the title printed on the inside cover. In order for me to properly place it I would have to open it, so I did. The title read 500 Feet Under the Sea, and just like that, I was transported into the tale. It was a story about a marine biologist who would often dive under the sea with dolphins and other aquatic life, surveying the ocean and recording her findings. It was a pleasant book, one that I didn’t mind being in. When it was over I was a little sad to leave. I once again snapped back to reality in a fraction of a second.
I moved on to the next book and the next one after that, opening the covers and emerging myself in each story. I felt everything the main characters felt and saw all that they did. To be so fully immersed in each story was extraordinary and wonderful. Once I finished there was only about two hrs left on my clock left to work. So I went back downstairs to the librarian to let her know I finished. There she sat in her chair reading and writing in the same record book.
“I’ve finished returning all the books you gave me!” I said triumphantly.
“So you have.” She replied in a monotone voice. “Here, one last book for you. This one is nonfiction.”
The book she handed me was quite old and worn. The cover looked like it held on by a thread, and the pages looked torn and frayed. I opened the book only to realize it wasn’t a book at all but a personal diary, who the author was it didn’t say, but I had my suspicions. I was transported into this book as well but it was different than all the others. In this book, I was once again a part of the book, but everything was in the first person narrative of the writer themselves. Everything felt more real, more raw somehow. I felt myself being jostled on a train headed to a land unknown. I experienced firsthand the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of the writer. They wanted a fresh start in the new land, a place to call home and simply be more than they had always been. They wanted so many things, but as the story progressed things began to look more and more disheartening.
In this book the writer chronicled their day to day life as they began their fresh start. The land was everything they had hoped it to be. Everything was perfect, until the native people began to push back. In the daily logs, it was said how the people would come to their camps late at night and steal everything that they could if it was left out. The people began to guard their territory and become menacing, causing great fear for the writer. Everything came to a head the night the townspeople left their camps to drive out the native people. The writer knew it was wrong but desperately wanted a new life so much that they turned a blind eye to what had been done. They knew in their hearts that some sort of retribution would take place, but had no idea when. The story then went on to show me the happenings of that night, when everything changed.
Fire engulfed much of the town and people were heard screaming in the distance. The writer knew there was nothing they could do but write, so write they did, cataloging moment by moment the events that unfolded. The chanting and singing grew loud in the night, as the screams rang out, and they seldom stopped unless by force. The room the writer was in was somewhere in the town, and heat filled it, pouring in from the streets. The door broke open and a dark figure loomed in the doorway, threatening and large. It held a bow in one hand and an arrow in another, as the figure pulled back on the bow with the arrow pointing at the writer, I felt their fear and heard them scream. Then before the arrow could loose from its bow, a man came then to the rescue striking the figure down with one heavy blow. Gunshots began to ring out in the night and the chanting ceased, fleeing for the hills outside the town, the damage the people had come to do had been done. As the writer stayed huddled up in the corner the man who had rescued them came closer, and took their hand, leading them out of the hot home and into the street. In the light of the fires I could see for the first time who the writers savior had been. It was Jasper, Jasper Moon. I was shocked by this, but before I could find out what happened for the rest of the night the book ended all too soon. I snapped back, disappointed that I didn’t get to find out what happened to the town after that.
As I stood there the librarian never looked up at me from her work. All she did was point me in the right direction to the nonfiction section. I placed the book on the shelf, not knowing what to think of the experience. I noticed that there were several more diaries on the shelf and resolved to read them one day. I looked at my watch, as the timer went off signaling the end of my time here at the library. I walked silently out of the library, being sure not to bother the librarian on the way out. As I headed back to the hotel, I thought of all I had just experienced, the hope, those hopes being dashed, the fear, and the relief at the end of that night. As I entered the hotel I felt tired, as if I had run a marathon. That’s when I hear the phone ring once again.
“Hello?” I said as I answered it.
“I tried to warn you.” The voice spoke.
“Ah if it isn’t jiminy cricket. What can I do for you this time?” I said sarcastically.
“I tried to warn you about Deborah. She will curse you and…….” But before the voice could even finish I butted in.
“Listen here, Deb is a nice person, she hasn’t cursed me and not that it is any of your cricket business but I don’t trust you or your judgment. Unless you identify yourself I don’t much care what you have to say.” I said with anger rising in my voice.
Right then I heard the line click, then a thump sounded from upstairs. Thinking it couldn’t be a coincidence I rushed upstairs to where a now scraping sound seemed to originate. Room #9. I unlocked the door and thrusted it open. What I saw on the other side I wasn’t prepared for………
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: Rosa Bennett
Once again in the span of only 24 hours, I dreamt of years long passed. My dreamed started in a crowded town, one where there more people than it seemed possible for a town that size to hold. There were all different kinds of folks, most of them looked like they came from poor backgrounds, some looked middle waged, and none looked as if they were rich. They walked swiftly through the town all headed in the same direction. I tried to see where they were headed, but I couldn’t, however, in this dream I had the power to walk. I walked shoulder to shoulder with the large group of people through the dirty, dusty streets and past all the many buildings far too close together.
The town itself was old. It looked very similar to what I imagine New York might have looked like during its industrial age, when people of all nations and backgrounds flocked to it for the promise of a better life. The Georgian era buildings stood tall and close together, many dilapidated and seemingly crudely built, all as old as the town itself which I guessed to be around the early 1700’s to 1800’s. Many of the buildings seemed to have more than one family living in them. How they supported the weight of the people inside I couldn’t figure out because some of the buildings looked like they would buckle any minute. Despite their condition they were all painted beautifully almost in an attempt to cover up their run down nature.
When we reached the end of town, I could see where a clearing opened up and I understood where we were. We were in an old textile mill town. The giant mill houses spanned acres; there must have been a dozen of them. Each had its own purpose in the production of the various types of fabric they produced, and the people who worked there appeared to be divided into status groups based on where they worked. There was definitely a hierarchy amongst the people. The upper classed people worked in the buildings that got the fabrics ready for shipment, the middle classed people worked in the weaving and making of the fabrics, and the lowest and poorest class of people worked in the gin houses. As I walked with the people it was if my feet took on a life of their own. I could no longer choose the direction I wanted to go. I went along with it and made my way into the clearing with the higher class of people on their way to the packing and shipment building.
This building was the smallest of the 12, with wide open loading docks and doors, and a loud whistle signifying the changing of the shifts. People entered as others exited the place and we went through the doors and entered therein. Once inside, I was shocked at the amount of fabrics there were. There were all kinds. There were many different shades of warm wool, exquisite silks, sturdy cotton, and comfortable linen. Some had floral prints and others paisley, all in different colors and patterns. The sheer number of the different fabrics was astonishing, despite the size of the building, it held so much.
As I looked around I became aware of a person I had known I had seen before. I couldn’t place my finger on it at first, but the longer I stood, the more convinced I became. It was the woman from the picture outside my door, the picture of the Bennett family, Rosa Bennett. Dressed in a fine navy blue and black, silk, floor length dress, she stood on the second floor of the building towards the back where the smarter and more learned workers had their desks. As I watched her I noticed she stared ahead, hands on the banister, looking down to where I was. Then it hit me. She wasn’t watching the workers or caught in a daydream, she was looking straight at me. I tried looking behind me to see if she was merely looking through me at something since no one else could see me, but when I turned back around I saw her smile, then she walked with one hand still on the banister, guiding her down the stairs. As she descended, she kept her eyes locked on me, never looking elsewhere. I began to become a little intimidated by her stare. It was constant and purposeful just as her walk was. I knew she had something to say before she even opened her mouth.
“Hello. I’m glad we can finally meet, face to face. I’ve heard about you and your arrival and have wanted to meet you, though I didn’t realize it would be so soon.” She said with a slight giggle. Before I had found the words to reply she continued. “Do you know where you are?”
“No I don’t believe I do. I can tell it’s a much bigger and older town than where the hotel is though.” I replied.
“Yes it is, it’s a town back East where I came to when I was young, after I was married to my husband. I wasn’t prepared for this life and hated it here. It was too uptight and I didn’t like the people whose company my husband kept.” She said with distain.
“If you didn’t like it why did you stay?” I asked her.
“Things were different then, a woman couldn’t really divorce her husband, even if she had good reason, and I didn’t. I hated being married to him, I hated being so far away from my family and friends, but he was always kind and civil to me. When I had my daughters it sealed my fate. I certainly couldn’t leave then even if I wanted too, I had no means of making a living or going back home, and I couldn’t take my daughters away from their father, even if I had been able to make a living for myself I couldn’t feed three hungry mouths.” She replied a little mournfully.
I knew she was right. It can be hard enough today for a woman to leave her husband, let alone in the early 1800’s. I noticed too, now that she was up close, she wasn’t a white woman either. Her copper tan skin wasn’t just from too much sun. She looked much older than I was sure she was. Wrinkles and lines traced the outlines of her face and grey streaks flowed through her jet black hair. Her dark brown eyes looked weary from the many years of being shackled to a life she never wanted or felt she needed. As I looked at her I could sense her pain, sorrow, and regret. She had lived a life not meant for her and it had broken her spirit. I could not tell you how sorry I felt for her in that moment, yet she looked more sorrowful still when she spoke these next words.
“You see, I grew up on a ranch in Mexico. My father was well known to be one of the best cattleman in the region. We weren’t wealthy by any means, but we were comfortable. I loved the life I lived, the wide open spaces, my horses that could run freely where they wished, and my family that was so very close knit. It was a simple life, but a life well lived.” She paused a moment before continuing to speak. “When I was almost 15, a man from America came. He was from the East and wanted to establish a business near where I lived. He came to the ranch because he had heard my father spoke English, and he needed a translator. I even remember the day he came. I was getting ready for my quinceanera. It was only a few weeks away and my mother and grandmother were making my dress as I stood on a stool so they could hem it. He saw me and got a strange look on his face. He told my father I was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. I saw him many times after that; he met with my father often. After he had conducted his business he came back to the ranch and asked my father for my hand in marriage. At first my father said no, but when he offered him a large sum of money, or as he put it, for his troubles, my father agreed. The ranch hadn’t been doing well that year and in order to keep it running my father could use the money. So he sold me, and traded my life for the sake of the whole family’s wellbeing. We married a few weeks after my 15th birthday. I wasn’t the beaming bride everyone expected me to be. My friends tried to calm my spirit by telling me what a wonderful life and opportunities I would have being married to a rich man, but it did nothing for me and the day after the wedding I had to say goodbye to my friends, family, and home. I never saw them after that nor did I ever walk again in the land of my birth.”
My eyes filled with tears hearing her story. I understood her a little more then and it made more sense what she had to tell me later on. After she had told me her life’s tale she looked from the ground where her eyes had fallen back at me.
“Come with me, I need to show you something.” She said as she grabbed my hand and led me back out of the building.
When we went through the door we were no longer in the clearing outside packing and shipping building. It was as if we had simply walked through a portal to the entryway of someone’s house. I notice quickly though that it wasn’t a house at all, it was actually a railway car. Decorated elegantly, the car held everything a person would need to live in comfort, to the left side chairs, a couch, and a small table with a vase of dried flowers on it, a small love seat on the opposite side between two end tables, beautiful stained glass lamps and hanging lights that gave a colored glow to the room, and the carpet on the floor looked new and expensive. It looked almost too beautiful to live in by my own standards.
She let go of my hand then and we stood there as a scene played out before us. I could see her there sitting on the loveseat, even though she also stood next to me, wearing a far less expensive dress, more common and designed for a simpler life. She was sipping tea from fine china, a book on her lap. All looked peaceful and calm in the room, I halfheartedly wanted to join her, but as we stood there her husband entered and the tranquil quality of the room fled before him. He looked angry, furious even, filled with indignant rage he bellowed.
“These savages refuse to leave, they are hindering our plans and setting us back months!”
“They aren’t savages dear,” the woman in the railcar said as she took another sip from her cup, “They have lived here on this land far longer than we; they merely don’t want to leave their homes. Perhaps they wouldn’t have too if we built the town a little further over to the east or up north a little?”
“But then what would the problem be hmm? Would they then complain that we take too much water from them? Or perhaps they might change their minds about us and attack us in the night, scalping us and our children!” He continued to yell as he paced the room. “No, the best course of action is to force them out once and for all. They’re a dirty and simple minded people. If they can find the ability to live here in the middle of this God forsaken land they can live just about anywhere! You just aren’t capable of understanding this; you came from a simple minded community as well. You are lucky I saved you from it and gave you a better life.”
I was astonished by what I was hearing from the man. Savages? Dirty and simple minded people? They were anything but. How could someone be so ignorant and close minded? Surely this man could hear himself and how ridiculous he sounded….and what of her? Wasn’t she compassionate, having come from a simpler community herself? All these thoughts surged through my mind as I continued to watch them speak before me.
“Well, being so simple minded, explain to me just what you had in mind to rectify the situation then?” She replied haughtily.
“I plan on having some of my men go to their village tonight and force them from the land.” He said as he poured himself a cup of tea, taking the first sip.
“You can’t do that! They are a community that relies on one another. If you force them from their homes in the dead of night where will they go and what will they do?”
“I don’t much give a damn my dear quite frankly.” He replied taking another sip, pretending to be a gentleman.
“But they have women and children. What would you do if I and our girls were suddenly forced from our homes in the middle of the night? What would we do then?”
“Ha! Like that would ever happen.” He said placing his cup on the table in front of him where he sat on the sofa. “I imagine though if we were, we’d put up one hell of a fight. That’s why my men are going fully armed.”
“I thought you only said you were going to remove them from the land. Do you plan on killing them all as well?” She said, panic rising in her voice.
“I plan on any and all contingencies. If they leave quietly then there will be no bloodshed but if they don’t…….” He trailed off.
“If they don’t?” She continued.
“Then we’ll just have to wait and see.” He said rising from the couch and leaving the room.
I saw her sitting there silent now, a look of horror on her face. Had she heard him correctly? Did he really plan on forcefully removing and killing an entire village of people just so he could build a town? Did he not foresee what his actions could ensue? Was this really the type of man he was? I could hear all these thoughts run through her mind as she sat uncomfortably on the loveseat, the fabric of it clenched between her hands as her heartbeat ran wild. After a few moments you could see her calm a little, a thought had popped in her mind. Once her husband had made up his mind to do something he never stopped till he got what he wanted. This she knew. Perhaps though, there was something surely that she could do to prevent what she knew in her heart was about to happen. I saw her get up from her seat then, raise her head and straighten and smooth her dress, and walked with purpose from the car. She only had a short time to prepare for what would happen next, and prepare she would. She walked over to a roll top desk that sat if the corner of the room and began to pen a letter to her family back in Mexico. What she wrote I couldn’t see, but she wrote with passion and fury, as if she didn’t have enough time to get it all down. She placed the letter in an envelope and put a stamp on it, then almost sprinted out of the room, letter in hand. The woman who was with me then took my hand and led me after her old self, out of the railway car.
Once we were safely on the ground we followed her, through an encampment, filled with tents and crude buildings meant to serve as temporary housing and storage. There were many men there, hundreds even, and only a few women here and there. I supposed they were the wives of some of the men that had been brave enough to venture west far from their old homes and comforts they knew there. We went past a group of women then, they scarcely wore a thing, and these women I guessed were the men’s only source of entertainment in that near desolate place. She walked up to a man who had his back to her. He was wearing a white long john undershirt, a pair of light brown slacks with suspenders, and a beige, cowboy hat.
“Jasper!” She called out. “Jasper I need you to run a letter for me. It’s urgent.”
He turned around to face her then that’s when I saw him, the postman. He looked less tired, more unburdened and whole, if that makes any sense.
“Mrs. Bennett.” He said as he tipped his hat to her.”What letter do you have for me today then?”
“It’s a letter to my family in Mexico; it has to get there as soon as possible. Like I said it’s urgent. I need you to run it out today.” She said in response to his question.
“No can do Mrs. Bennett. I can’t be doing that. Your husband has got all the men ready to go tonight to remove the Indians from the land, and I’m to go with them. No mail will be going out today I’m afraid.”
“But it has too, surely you can run it to the nearest posting, my husband could do without one man surely.” She begged.
“I’m afraid not M’am. I have my orders and I can’t lose my job. You aren’t the one that pays me after all.” He replied with a chuckle.
“Well……well how soon can you have it out?” She asked then after a few moments.
“Best I can do is Friday next week M’am.” He said.
“But that’s over a week from now when you make your usual run!” She said as panic crept once again in her voice. “Surely you can take it sooner? Please! I’ll pay extra for your troubles, triple your normal rate.”
He thought about it then before settling on a decision. “I’ll take it from you then and have it out by this Friday. Best I can do.”
She stood there a moment, contemplating what to do. “If that’s the best you can do……here then.” She said handing over the letter.
He took it from her and nodded towards her direction as she turned, making her way back to the railway car, disappointed that she couldn’t get the letter to her family sooner. It was then that the scene went black and we were left standing, the woman and I in the dark, nothing around us. She turned toward me then as I asked her,
“What was so important about that letter? Why did you want need delivered so badly?”
“Growing up, my grandmother was a bruja. She knew every spell and cleansing ritual there was. When I was little, a Catholic mission church settled in the town and they sought to convert the locals. Being one of the better known and established families, the priest believed that if my father and our family went to the church the other locals would also. So he paid my father, a side agreement they had, and we went to the church every day for mass and every Sunday for church. I grew up in the church and its beliefs. My family eventually did truly convert, but my grandmother also incorporated her beliefs as well. When I heard what my husband planned to do, I wanted to reach out to her for advice and help. I knew she would know what to do, she always did. I also asked her to reach out to the newest priest, Father Michael, and ask him his advice also. I needed that letter to go out as soon as possible, just in case my gut was right, and what I thought would happen, would come true.” She explained.
“So you knew…..you knew what your husband planned to do and all you did was write a letter?” I said growing frustrated and angry with her.
“I did. I had lived with him for long enough to know what kind of man he was, even if I didn’t want to believe it. But I was powerless to stop it. I only had enough money saved back for petty things. I couldn’t pay off every man in town, nor could I stop my husband once he got on the war path, he was a force to be reckoned with then. All I could do was write that letter.” She responded.
“But what would that do? Your grandmother and Father Michael were thousands of miles away and the letter wouldn’t go out for days. What could they have done to stop what happened?” I asked.
“I knew nothing could stop what was about to happen. That was completely out of my hands, but what I could do was prepare, prepare for what was to come from the blowback of my husband’s actions. All I knew was that I had to protect my daughters and I at all costs, never mind him.” She stated a look of absent minded determination playing about her face.
“So what did you do, once the night was over and the bloodshed had occurred?” I asked her, halfway not wanting to know the answer because I suddenly sensed she had done something horrible.
“I did something horrible.” She said.
“What did you do, surely it can’t be as bad as what your husband did.” I questioned her.
“When everything had happened that night, Jasper set out that Friday to deliver the mail. It took several weeks to arrive and several more for a response to come back. Almost a month and a half later the return letter came. I took it eagerly from Jasper and tore it open once I got back from his tent. Construction had already begun on the town and things were going up quickly. In the envelope, there were two separate letters, one from Father Michael, the second larger one from my grandmother. I quickly read Father Michael’s letter first. It mainly said to just pray that God would forgive our sins, and make the town prosperous so the Natives didn’t die in vain. I thought that was preposterous. I didn’t want God to forgive our sins, I wanted him to collect payment for them and avenge the deaths of the innocent, not in turn make the town prosperous!” She said with a snort. “Not finding what I was looking for in that letter, I began to read my grandmothers. Finally I found what I was waiting to hear. My grandmother told me of many different spells I could cast over my wicked husband, his men, and the town. In the letter the spells were laid out, word for word, describing what items I would need to complete them. Some were in Spanish, others surprisingly in Latin. I decided to follow each and cast them all, but unfortunately, it was not easy to get all the things I needed for the spells. We only had so many resources out in the middle of nowhere. For some of the spells I had to make do with what I had and hope for the best, other more important spells I secretly sent out for the things I’d need. As for the Latin spells……I did not know Latin, but I practiced them, trying to correctly pronounce them, all in secret and never in their entirety; only in pieces and parts.”
“Did they work?” I asked her then.
“Some did, and others didn’t. I was able to gather all the supplies needed by the time that night occurred.” She said now facing away from me for a moment. “The night the villagers came into the town, it had been mostly built. My husband and children and I were fast asleep in the hotel. I wasn’t prepared for what came next…..none of us were. When the chanting of the peoples rang out in the night, I grew afraid. I did not care what happened to me or my husband, but my girls……my sweet, sweet girls. I couldn’t let anything happen to them. So I jumped out of bed when the screams began, and ran to their room. I held them close to me as they cried, tears streaming down their cheeks. That was when I knew, I had to do something. So I ran to the old roll top desk, where I had hidden the letter from my grandmother in a secret compartment, and took it out. There was one spell I could cast, a protection spell, over the hotel, protecting all within. While the native people cast their spells so did I.” She said now turning back to face me.
“The spells, did they work? I asked.
“They did, perhaps they were stronger that the ones the native peoples cast, or maybe perhaps it was for the reason I cast them, either way we lived to see another dawn.” She replied.
I saw then a light, almost as if it was at the end of a tunnel, shining in the distance. It was a bright, white light, which illuminated the dark around us. As I stood there I looked back at Rosa, and I asked her one final question.
“Your daughters, what became of them?”
Unfortunately before she could answer the question the light began to increase with a loud humming. It made it impossible to hear her over it, drowning out whatever words she had to tell me, and with that I awoke.
As I opened my heavy eyes, I could see I was on a bed, an old quilt upon me to keep me warm, and the bright unfiltered light of a light bulb shone overhead. It was night wherever I was. I could tell from the chirping of crickets and the other night noises that sounded in the distance. I rolled over onto my back, sore and stiff muscles and joints groaning in protest. I slowly remembered where I was as I laid there for a few moments just staring into space at the ceiling. Once I had gathered my bearings I sat up and took a look around the now dimly lit room full of shadows only held at bay with the light of the singular bulb that hung from the ceiling and the lamp that sat on the bedside table beside me. My eyes scanned the room only to settle on the figure sitting next to the bed in the rocking chair, reading the same book as before.
“What time is it?” I barely choked out due to the dry mouth and throat I had received from hours of no fluids.
“I believe it’s about 9pm on a Wednesday.” He replied never looking up from his book. My eyes grew wide and I began to start from the bed. “I know what you’re thinking, and yes you’ve been asleep for about a day and a half, but don’t worry, I took care of all the nightly duties for you while you were out cold.”
I settled back down knowing things had been taken care of in my absence. “You take care of a lot of things don’t you?” I said with an accusatory tone.
He still didn’t look up from his book and turned a page as he answered. “I don’t know what that is supposed to mean, but yes, yes I do.”
“You were one of the men that murdered the villagers who lived on this land long ago.” I said realizing a little too late what that implied.
He looked up from his book then a questioning look on his face. “How could you possibly……..You know what never mind. You can’t possibly know what happened that night. You weren’t there.”
“But I was, or at least, I had a dream about it.” I said still upset at him for what he had done.
“A dream, oh sweetheart, if you saw what happened that night it wasn’t a dream. What I can’t figure out is why, out of all the caretakers, you seem to be the chosen one for a vision. That doesn’t happen often. Who showed you this so called dream?” He asked me resting the book on his lap.
“I don’t have to tell you that, it’s none of your business.” Then I added, “And don’t call me sweetheart!”
“Keep your secrets then and I’ll keep mine.”
We stared at each other then, for quite awhile. The silence in the room was deafening. You could have heard a pin drop. After a few more moments of intense staring, I got up off the bed. If he wasn’t going to explain himself and what he did, and I wasn’t willing to share what I knew, then there was no reason for me to stay. I looked around for my shoes that he had apparently taken off me, first under the bed, and then towards the door. After not seeing them there I heard him speak behind me.
“Looking for these?” He said twirling one of the shoes on his finger. “You know, I never saw how women walked on these.”
I grabbed the shoes huffily out of his hands and put them on as I moved simultaneously toward the door. Once I had them on, I looked back to where Jasper sat, my hand on the doorknob and said, “Thank you Mr. Moon for all your help but I think I’ll be going now.”
“I imagined you would be.” He said as he looked from me to the door, then back at me, implying once again that I had stated the obvious.
This just made me even angrier at him once again. I swung the door open swiftly and headed out into the cool, crisp night air. Once outside I breathed deeply in, the fresh air doing wonders for my clouded and jumbled thoughts. As I walked back to the hotel, I thought of all that I had seen in my visions. It worried me knowing now that somehow, after over 200 years at least one of the men who assisted in the night raid still lived. What exactly was the curse that the Pueblo people put on the town, what spells did Rosa Bennett put on the place as well, and how did the two coincide? I had too many things to sort through but I made up my mind that night to get to the bottom of whatever had happened to the town and the hotel that resided within it.
I got to the hotel in no time at all, and entered the front door. Locking it behind me, I came through the entryway and up to the doll room, turned the dolls to the walls, and went about feeding Jesus. Once I completed all my nightly duties I found myself wide awake. I sat down behind the desk to think about things. Like how I had found myself caught in a haunted, time jumping, animal talking, hotel in a town where the dead rise and people never age had me reeling. While lost in thought I became startled at the sound of a telephone suddenly ringing. As I turned to grab the phone off the desk and into my lap to answer it, I accidently pulled the cord too far. That’s when I noticed the phone wasn’t even plugged in at all. I looked now back at the rotary phone in my lap, still ringing, and I slowly picked up the receiver.
“Hello?” I said as I awaited a response.
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The Hotel Bella Muerte: The Post Office
Ding! The bell rang aloud from downstairs, my attention now being torn from the photo and my thought to the ringing from below. I took one last look at the picture before heading downstairs to see who our newest guest could be. Once I rounded the bend and came down the staircase, I became aware of a smell that began wafting from the lobby. It wasn’t a terrible smell, it was quite pleasant actually. It had a soft floral scent and undertones of citrus. It was a woman’s perfume. As I reached the last step I could see the woman in question. She was a young woman, not much older than myself, and she had long dark brown hair with notes of caramel and red placed in afro puffs on top of her head. When she turned to look at me, she smiled brightly. Her eyes were similarly brown as her hair only they contained flecks of green and hazel. Her skin was a dark, creamy brown that radiated a sun kissed warmth; she was as tall as a year old sapling and every bit as lean and willowy, wearing a leaf green halter top and blue jean bellbottoms with flowery, yellow and red stitching near the pockets. She was very beautiful.
As I made my way behind the counter, I began to say “Good morning and welcome to the Hotel Bella Muerte, how may we serve you today?” But all I got out was “Good morning and welcome to-” before I noticed something strange. In her bag which sat on the floor was something moving. At first glance all I saw was a swishing, black and white striped tail. I did a double take, and that’s what I saw that the tail was attached to a full grown lemur that now popped its head from the bag. She giggled when she saw the look on my face.
“Isn’t he the cutest!” she beamed. “I’ve had him since he was a baby.”
I had never seen a live lemur before other than at the zoo my family used to visit when I was child or in nature documentaries. I looked from the lemur back the lady and replied. “Yes he is. What is his name?”
“His name is Wally.” She replied.
“Wally,” I echoed, “Wally is a wonderful name for him, may I pet him?”
“Of course, he is so sweet and soft.” She responded.
I bent down to pet the lemur, in awe of having the privilege to touch such a wild and exotic creature. As I reached out my hand slowly the lemur gave it a quick sniff before it nuzzled into my hand. The lady was right; it was very soft and sweet.
“Aww, Wally likes you.” She giggled.
After petting the lemur I returned to my clerkly duties. “How may I help you today Miss……”
“Deborah but you can just call me Deb if you’d like.” She finished my sentence. “I’m just traveling through and I saw this gorgeous hotel and town and thought I’d stay and explore for a little and stay the night.”
“Of course Miss Deborah, any room preferences?” I asked.
“If you have a room with a view of the town that would be nice.” She responded.
“Of course, room #1 has an excellent view.” I said.
I accepted her payment, walked to the name cards, wrote her name down, and grabbed the room key. “You can follow me.”
I took her to room #1, once I opened the door the room almost seemed made for her. I had forgotten the theme of the room; the jungle theme. She squealed with delight when she saw the room and I noticed even Wally perked up at the sight of the various plants and small trees that decorated the room, he would have some place to hide and climb now.
“What a lovely room!” She exclaimed. “I think Wally and I will be right at home here.”
“Wonderful, I’m glad you like it.” I said. “Is there anything more I can do for you?”
“No not at all. I think Wally and I will settle in before leaving to explore the town.” She replied.
“Awesome, well let me know if you need anything, I’ll be around. Till then I’ll let you two settle in and get comfortable.”
“Thanks!” She responded and with that I turned and headed back to my room.
Once there I was able to look at myself in the full length mirror next to the wardrobe. I looked….rough. I had the same clothes on that I had worn the day before, my short sleeved, red checked shirt and skinny jeans were all wrinkled and bunched up in some places. My hair no longer in ponytail, now hung in more of a half ponytail than anything and many strands of hair flowed freely about my face. My makeup had rubbed off and my lipstick smeared, my eyes looked tired and bloodshot and I had raccoon eyes from rubbing my teary eyes the night before. It was anyone’s guess how Deborah didn’t notice and if she did she said nothing for which I was grateful. Now that I had gotten her settled in I decided to take a quick shower, redo my makeup, and put some clean, fresh new clothes on. I chose to wear a bright, happy, navy blue sunflower dress that came to my knees, a yellow short sleeved cardigan to go with it, and my ruby red pumps. To complete the look I added a few articles of jewelry, small, gold hoop earrings and a gold, rose engraved locket that had been passed down in my family for generations.
Once I had finished getting dolled up, I made my way to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat before I too, like Deborah began to explore the town. I got to the fridge and looked inside once again, nothing, it was completely empty. I closed it and thought about what I wanted to eat that morning and decided to check the cabinets. The cabinets held exactly what I wanted and nothing more; just a granola bar and an apple. I found this unusual like all the other things at the hotel, but this was one of the more exciting things to be discovered. I took my breakfast items and left the room. As I went down the hallway on my way back downstairs, I decided to check on Mr. Elberton to see if there was anything I could do for him but when I got to room #8, his name card was gone and when I opened the door, so was he. Not a suitcase or hair left behind. I shut the door and went on downstairs. Once downstairs I wrote a note explaining where I was and what cell phone number I could be reached at should I be needed and placed it on the front desk. I then exited the building.
As I stood on the steps leading from the hotel, the late summer’s sun shown bright and hot in the sky, the warmth was penetrating my body, touching my soul. I had needed this, the fresh air and the light of day to wash away all my troubles of the night before. I stepped into the street and began to explore the town. There were only a few buildings left standing of what I’m sure was the original town, many of them damaged by the weather and time, some had been burned and charred in places. The signs on the buildings had faded and were hardly legible, but some I could still read. There were five buildings all total, including the hotel. The one I stood before now was the post office.
The post office was a simple building. Made from the same maple wood that grew here in the woodlands of the east mountain regions of the nearby area, it sat directly next to the hotel in the line of buildings with only an alleyway between them. It looked small and squatty compared to the hotel, only about a third of the size and a fourth of the depth. The sign was inlaid in the wooden front of the building at the highest point just below the sheet metal roof. Out of curiosity I decided to go inside and check the place out.
As I walked into the building, I heard the ringing of a small bell just above my head, signaling my entrance into the building. Walking in, I wasn’t greeted with the normal post office look I had come to know, instead it looked rather bare. There were no modern necessities other than the light bulbs that hung overhead, just a small wood burning stove with a percolator sitting on the only range, a rocking chair that sat next to the back left hand corner of the room near the stove, as well as a few other chairs that sat around a table in the center of the room. I noticed quickly that there was also a wrought iron bed in the other back corner of the room, with an old quilt for a blanket. Other than that there was nothing very spectacular or worth mentioning. Standing in the corner of the room, just beginning to pour himself a cup of coffee from the percolator, was a man of normal height and muscular build.
Without even turning around he asked in a gruff, gravelly voice, “Cup of coffee miss? I have an extra cup.”
He turned after as he said this to look at me directly. I felt my cheeks grow hot and hurried to look away from the man. He was very handsome and looked only a little older than I did. His hair was a sandy blonde and his eyes were candy apple green, very vibrant in color. He had a natural tan and was broad shouldered, giving him an athletic look. He wore a dusty looking, white long john undershirt that had the sleeves rolled halfway up his forearm, a pair of equally dusty and dirty light brown slacks with suspenders, and an old, beige, cowboy hat that looked well worn and weathered.
“N-no thank you.” I stuttered out.
As he walked towards me I could hear the heel of his boots hit the floor. “What can I do for you M’am.”
I forced myself to look up then, my cheeks still blushing. I hoped to God he hadn’t noticed or thought I had simply been out in the hot sun for too long. “I work at the hotel next door to you. I’ve only been here a day and I had some free time, so I decided to check out the town. You were the first stop.”
He looked me up and down then, giving me the once over. I felt so embarrassed, why would my cheeks not stop burning? I decided to cover the one that faced him while I pretended to look at a single hanging mirror on the wall. He came closer still, until he was right in front of me. I looked at him then, for the first time longer than a few seconds, and noticed now that he was up close he also had light freckles on his cheeks and nose. My breath hitched. I didn’t even know this man; he was a stranger to me. So why was I being so shy? Never in my life had I experienced this and I was hoping the feeling would go away quickly. I liked being in control of my own emotions and body.
After looking at me for what seemed like a really long time to me, he spoke again. “So you’re the newest caretaker of the hotel; and what would your name be?”
“Autumn…..Autumn Winters.” I replied still lacking confidence. “And who might you be?”
“My name is Jasper Moon. I’m the postman here in town, but I’m sure you already gleaned that.”
I looked at the place once more and asked “Do you live here in the post office?”
He laughed softly in response. “Yes M’am I do, but I wouldn’t exactly call this place an office. It’s a post and a place to call home, nothing more.”
“Oh…..but you are in charge of delivering the mail and packages, are you not?” I said gaining more confidence by the minute, the redness of my face slowly dwindling.
“Of course.” He snorted then. “That is what I was paid to do after all.”
I felt embarrassed for the second time in his presence; my confidence dashed no sooner than I had gained it. I had just asked such a stupid question, of course he worked there. Why would I think otherwise? I must have stood there a little too long searching for a reply to his sarcasm that had taken me off guard, because he began to laugh again as he turned to walk over to the table. He took one of the chairs and slid it out from under the wooden frame of the table, turned the chair around now to face me, and sat down.
“Well Miss Winters, I must say, my first impression is that you’re not gonna last long here in this town.” He said once he had seated himself comfortably.
“What does that mean?” I retorted growing a little upset.
“Your too…..everything you shouldn’t be; too meek, too timid, too dainty, too young, too small, not too bright, and clearly not equipped to deal with the sort of things you’ll be facing in this town on a daily basis.” He replied taking the first sip of his coffee.
I felt my face growing hot once again, this time not in shy embarrassment but rather in anger. Who was he to judge me? How could he tell I wouldn’t “last long” when he had literally only just met me. What sort of energy was I giving off that read stupid failure to him? Yes I was small, but what did that have to do with anything? Yes I was young, but I was a fully fledged adult who legally could do just about anything under the law. Yes, as I had well figured out, I was inexperienced in dealing with the norms of daily hotel life. I learned that in my first 24 hours. I normally wasn’t shy, I just got flustered over how handsome he was and stumbled over my words a little and asked one obvious question not wanting to just assume things, though the thing that got me most worked up in that moment was that he called me stupid. I was many things, but I was not and never had been stupid.
“Now wait just a minute,” I said moving a little closer to where he sat, “Who are you to tell me what I am and am not? You don’t even know me!”
“I don’t know you, but I know your type. I’ve seen caretaker after caretaker pass through this town and only 3 have lasted longer than a few days or at most a few weeks. Every single one of them, with the exception of the 3, weren’t prepared for and never adapted to this life. It’s just how things have always been and how they always will be till this town no longer stands.” He replied draining his cup in a few large gulps.
“You don’t know that. No one can know that. It’s something time will have to tell.” I said as I crossed my arms in my defense.
“We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we then?” He stood now from his seat placing his empty cup on the table.
“Yes. I guess we will and you’ll see you’re wrong about me.” I said sarcastically as I spun on my heels and headed for the door.
“Have a good day then M’am.” He said as I walked out the door, ignoring him and his goodbye.
I no longer felt like exploring the town after that encounter. It left me frustrated and huffy. I decided to go back to the hotel and just try and work out my frustration by cleaning the place. When I got back to the hotel, I figured that the first thing that would need cleaning was room #8. Since Mr. Elberton had stayed the night, though he left the room in good order, it still needed going over. It took me a moment to gather the cleaning supplies in the closet behind the front desk, but once I had everything I was ready to get started. While walking out from the closet, I accidentally knocked the letter to the ground, and its contents slipped out. When I reached down to pick up the letter, it had opened to the specific rules outlining the cleaning of the various rooms. I took a closer look at it, not remembering having read this part. Why the owners felt the need to write exactly how to clean everything, down to polishing chess pieces I didn’t know, so I continued to read the letter. My eyes scanned the notes and landed the rule for room #8.
Rule # 67 – Make sure to return all items Mr. Elberton takes to the various other rooms in the hotel and buildings in the town.
I was a little confused to say the least. In all the time I had spent with Mr. Elberton the night before, I never seen him take anything. I suppose though he could have hidden any number of items in his pockets or his bag while he was left unattended. Seemed like a simple enough task though, I thought, but things are never simple or easy in the hotel. So I went up to his room with the cleaning supplies and got to work.
In the process of cleaning the room I was shocked by the amount of things Mr. Elberton had taken. There were a number of items, ranging anywhere from as small as a quarter to as large as a baby elephant. Here is a list of the items he had taken:
7 spoons from the dining room.
5 chess pieces from the chess set in the lobby sitting room.
2 dozen boiled eggs from what I could only think would have been the fridge, all of them hidden throughout the room like some sort of poor man’s Easter egg hunt.
4 dolls from the doll room, how he got in there is anyone’s guess, the door is locked during the day and at night after the dolls have been moved to face the wall.
9 some odd books from the library down the way, at least I think they were the library’s books.
12 potted plants from the jungle room where Deborah was now staying, most in the smallest of pots and one young tree.
3 bottles of pills, none of which was in his name but thankfully also not missing pills (yes I counted them all)
And lastly
1 stack of letters with a note attached asking for me to mail the letters.
After hunting down all the eggs and throwing them away, I returned the chess pieces to the sitting room, the dolls to the doll room, placed all the dolls back in their places, and all the spoons to the dining room. The last thing I did was drag the little tree to Deborah’s room as I balanced all the rest of the potted plants on various parts of my body and knocked on the door with my foot. She opened the door and gasped when she saw all the plants that probably looked like they were sprouting from me. Thankfully she didn’t mind my intrusion and asked no questions or even seemed phased when I placed the plants in her room. My last order of business was to return all the items taken from around town.
After gathering all the items together I got ready to take them back to the various places in town, but before I left I needed to put stamps on the stack of letters. I grabbed a booklet of stamps from the front desk drawer. I flipped through letters licking the stamps and placing them on the envelopes as I went along. They were all addressed to people whose names I didn’t recognize but I absent mindedly read through them anyway. Three quarters of the way through the stack I dropped the mail on the floor as my eyes grew wide. Oh. My. God. What had I just done? I began to freak out, wondering what fresh hell I was about to go through all because I licked the damn stamps. I remembered there was something about licking stamps in what I had come to consider my survival manual. I reached behind me and grabbed hold of the letter of rules given to me by the owners and anxiously flipped through the rules. As my eyes scanned the pages, I finally settled on rule #132: Always lick the stamps in the presence of the postman.
What the hell kind of rule was that? Even though I knew the rules were in place for a reason, because so far not following them led me astray, I didn’t want to go back to the same place I had just been and have to talk to the postman. I probably would have knowingly ignored the rule if it hadn’t have been for the sudden and inexplicable dizziness that had suddenly washed over me. I waited for a few minutes to see if the dizziness would pass but it didn’t. That’s when I knew I fucked up for sure. Knowing I was going to have to go back to the “post office” made me angry at myself, knowing I had forgotten the rule made it worse, and knowing I was going to have to basically admit to the postman that he had been right about me made is so, so much worse.
I decided after a few more minutes of debating, when the dizziness only got worse, that I would take the plunge and go next door. As I made my way down the front steps I almost tripped and fell. I felt as if I had had one drink too many, causing me to stumble. Once down the steps I made the trek next door. The distance was probably only about 200 feet, but it seemed almost as if the ground shifted and stretched, becoming longer than what I had previously remembered. The drunken feeling only got worse the further I stepped and my muscles began to weaken. I didn’t know what was wrong with those stamps but, damn if it wasn’t messing me up.
I opened the door this time to find the postman sitting at the table. At least, that was what I thought he might be doing. I couldn’t tell as my mind began to become cloudy and my vision blurred; nothing seemed to make sense. I stumbled inside straight to the center of the room where the table was. I had to hold on to something as the room spun around me. The postman looked up from where he was sitting reading a book when he saw me.
He looked at me, now getting sloppy and droopy, and only shook his head. “Now I know I made you upset when you left here earlier today but I didn’t take you for a drunk. Guess you were right, I did have you pegged wrong.”
“I’m…..I’m not a drunk,” I stammered, “I just licked the….the stamps.”
He let out a belly laugh, deep and long. “Tell me, did you even read the letter given to you by Miss Mary and Miss Martha, or did you just want to see me again so soon?” He teased.
“No!” I said a little too loudly without meaning too.”I just forgot.”
“Well I don’t know what to tell you. You should have those memorized by now. Those rules are the keys to your survival. If you wanna last here I s’pose you better get to it.” He said with a non-empathetic look on his face.
I slumped in the chair nearest to me and to the side of him. “Isn’t there something you can do to make it stop, the spinning I mean.”
“Yes M’am I can,” He said rising from his seat, “but it won’t work nearly as well since you didn’t take it before you licked the stamps.”
“What won’t work as well?” I asked, laying my now pounding head on the table.
“The elixir I make to counter affect the stamps effect.” He answered over his shoulder walking toward a set of cabinets in the back of the room. Pulling out a small, blue glass bottle he walked back and sat down next to me. “How many stamps did you lick?”
“I….I don’t know, maybe 6 or 7. There were a lot of letters to post.” I said in response to his question.
“Well I reckon you better drink that whole bottle then.” He said chuckling.
Why he found this funny I didn’t know, I didn’t know a lot of things at that time. But I did as he said. I pulled the cork out of the top of the bottle and smelled the contents. It smelled disgusting but if it would make the dizziness, splitting headache, weak muscles, and overall terrible feeling I was experiencing, I would have drunk a gallon of the stuff. I tipped the bottle back and gulped the whole thing down before I had a chance to truly taste whatever was in the bottle. I’m glad I did because it was all I could do to hold the liquid down. After a few moments the dizzying effects of the stamps lessened and the headache got better. I still felt weak and worn thin though.
“What did you put on those stamps?” I asked after I had regained my composure a little.
“I didn’t put anything on those stamps. I wasn’t the one who made them but to answer your question, the people who did make them made the glue on the stamps from the sticky resin that comes out of some of the mushrooms that used to grow here.”
“Great, I’m not drunk I’m stoned.” I said as I tried to stand, only to find I couldn’t feel my legs as they gave out from underneath me.
“Whoa there!” he replied jumping up and catching me before I fell. “How about you just lie down and sleep it off. It’s the only thing you can do now. Just know you may have some interesting dreams.”
At this point my whole body went limp and I suddenly found I could no longer talk. Whatever type of mushroom the stamps had been made from or the liquid from the blue bottle must have had a tranquilizing effect. The postman then carried me over to where the bed lay in the corner of the room. He gently placed me on my back, turning me on my side; he placed a pillow behind my back. I had never done drugs in my life up to this point, I hadn’t even smoked weed, but I knew from watching certain TV shows and movies he had placed me on my side to prevent me from choking on my own vomit. I now grew a little afraid. If I had just licked one stamp and drank the liquid from the bottle I probably would have been fine, but I licked multiple stamps and drank the blue bottle elixir. Was I going to be alright? I didn’t have time to even ask the question before I passed out.
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