They Are Watching

Chapter Three

Adam shut the door to his room and stood for a few moments as his brain spun. 

What was going on? 

His stomach growling was what shook him from his stupor. He moved to the phone, picking it up and following the instructions to contact room service.

“The number you have dialed is invalid. Please try again.”

He looked at the phone, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He was sure he dialed the right set of numbers, but he hung up and tried again.

“The number you have dialed is invalid. Please try again.”

He hung up once more, taking a deep breath before trying again. Maybe he was so hungry he couldn’t think?

“The number you have dialed is invalid. Please try again.”

He wouldn't. He was not going to try again.

Slowly, he laid back against his bed and threw his hands over his face. Whatever was going on was not something he was prepared to deal with. He just wanted to relax and eat. Those were his only expectations for this vacation.

He accepted he wouldn’t be isolated, that he would probably have to socialize with strangers, and that he was leaving his comfort zone.

But he knew two things would be true if he decided to go and that was that he would be fed and he would sleep well.

So far, only one of those things was happening. 

Even though he was still hungry, he could feel the tiredness behind his eyes pulling on him. Everything on his mind told him to just rest, despite him not being able to eat just yet. That, by itself, was possibly the strangest thing of this experience.

He shot up off the bed, deciding that he should splash his face with water and go look for food elsewhere. As soon as he made it to the faucet, he leaned against the counter to look into his face. 

His eyes were in the same spot. Ever expressive, as many people have called them before. A true window into his soul.

His nose sat center like it always did.

And his mouth, the same mouth that didn’t get to taste any food yet, was looking the way it always did. 

He decided from the lack of tell-tale signs that he wasn’t hallucinating.

His hands reached for the faucet to turn the knob but a banging on his door disrupted him. He almost jumped out of his skin at the persistent sound before he moved to answer the door. 

The knocks stopped right as he made his move, twisting the handle and pulling the door open only to find no one on the opposite side.

“Hello?” He leaned out the door and looked down the hallway, but there wasn’t anyone in sight. He lingered a while longer, waiting to see if anyone would come out of their room, but after a few seconds of silence, he retreated, mumbling to himself.

His legs brought him back to the faucet when he began to feel thirsty, turning it on only for nothing to happen.

He twisted the knobs backward and forth but not an ounce of water dropped out. Quickly he moved to the shower, flicking the handle to achieve the same results. No water.

“What is going on?” he muttered, moving toward the toilet to give it a flush. He watched as the water swirled down, but it didn’t refill.

“Is the water turned off to the resort?”

He walked back to the phone, dialing the number to the front desk that time, “The number you have dialed is invalid, please try again.”

“No way,” he couldn’t be dialing that number incorrectly. “There is no way.”

He tried the number one more time only to hear the same automatic message. 

Determining that he had to visit the front desk in person, he made to stand, but once he reached his full height he immediately felt dizzy.

“Why am I so sleepy?” he growled, running his fingers through the length of his hair. “Why is this vacation so off?”

He leaned back, resting on the bed as he stared up at the white ceiling. Maybe if he took another nap, he’ll feel more equipped to deal with the people at the front desk.

~

Adam groaned as he turned over. His whole body hurt from falling asleep in the position he had, “what is that noise?”

He moved slowly, pushing his upper half up with his hands as he focused his ears. The noise was so loud, there was no need to strain to hear it, but he couldn’t make out exactly what it was.

It sounded like a song blasting through the speaker system he could now see in the ceiling. But whatever song it was, was being played in reverse and never-ending.

“Ugh,” he moaned, forcing his body up and into his flip-flops. He stormed into the bathroom, turning on the faucet and flushing the toilet but nothing happened like before. He looked down at his watch only to see the time was still set at the last time he glanced at it.

And that was hours ago in the dining hall.

He squinted his eyes, braining running a mile a minute to make sense of what was happening. It was so hard to think with that loud music blasting through the speakers though.

It couldn’t have been any later than midnight, so he didn’t expect the front desk to have very many people working, but someone had to know what was going on. So he left his room and made his way to the elevator. He was apprehensive about the ride, but he could confidently say he felt it move downwards that time.

Once the doors opened, he was greeted with an even louder but empty lobby, save for one person at the front desk. 

Even though her outfit was different, her short hair was a dead giveaway, “Terrie? What’s going on?”

He watched as she jumped upon hearing him shout her name before she turned around to see him, “Adam, right?”

He nodded at her before glancing behind the desk to see no one there, “I’ve been waiting at this desk since that music started blaring,” she yelled so he could hear. “No one has come out. I don’t think anyone is here.”

“How long have you been down here? Has no one else come to complain?” he questioned.

“That’s what’s making me think no one is here,” she answered. “The clock on my phone froze, I can’t make any calls, and nothing is working in my room. But I’ve been down here for longer than an hour and you’re the first person I am seeing.”

“Nothing is working in my room either,” he replied, looking directly into her eyes as if they would have the answer. “My wristwatch has even stopped working,” he showed her his arm, all the hands-on the watch completely frozen in place.

“I think we should leave,” her hand was reaching for his wrist, but not touching him. The way her hand lingered but never made contact with him spiked his nerves and it made his heart beat faster, “I was hesitant to go outside alone, but now that you’re here, maybe you can come with me? We should leave this place.”

“You’re scared,” he said, too low for her to hear, but she read his lips.

“Aren’t you?” Her brown eyes widened as she looked up at him. “They haven’t fed us, the water doesn’t work, there isn’t a soul here and there is creepy music blasting from speakers I hadn’t even noticed before.”

Of course, she was right. That was a given. But he hadn’t felt scared yet, nor had he listed everything that was wrong with the vacation since he’d arrived. Every time he thought something, he would pass out in sleep.

“Let’s go see if we can catch a ride back to the airport. Maybe they have a shuttle schedule and we can pack our bags and go back home,” he yelled to her as he led her towards the automatic doors only for them not to open once they were standing directly in front of them.

“What’s wrong with these doors,” he muttered, backing up and walking towards them again to get the same results. “Why won’t they open?”

Terrie walked away from him to move towards another door that was supposed to be pushed open, but it wouldn’t open either.

“I don’t like this!” She shouted. “Why won’t these doors open?”

She shoved her body against the door over and over again without the door opening. She was so thin, Adam thought that maybe he should try since he had way more mass about him.

“I’m gonna run into it,” he yelled, waving his hand for her to move out of the way. Once she did, he jogged to the door, using his hands to push the handle in before his whole body met the door and bounced off. 

“This can’t be right,” he groaned, shoving against the door again. He moved back towards the automatic doors, “This isn't right,” he muttered, trying to pry the two sliding doors apart to no avail. He was beginning to sweat with his efforts but not achieving any results.

He turned around, eyes searching for Terrie who looked completely engulfed in fear as she stood with tears in her eyes.

His heart only beat faster at the sight, that inkling feeling of fear being pumped through his veins as the music raged on. His vigor was renewed as he attacked both doors again. He eventually resorted to picking up one of the chairs in the lobby and hurling it at both doors repeatedly. Not even a scratch was made in the glass.

It was like the doors were more than locked. 

They were sealed.