Midnight at the Spectral Motel

CHAPTER ONE Mayas hands were shaking really badly. The eviction notice fell to the floor. It made a noise. This was the sound in her apartment in weeks. Maya had been alone in her apartment for a time. The only thing she had was silence. Her podcast, The Quiet Truth did not do well. It did not end with a lot of people listening. It just ended when her last listener stopped listening. Mayas podcast only had forty-two plays. This was very sad, for Maya. She felt like she had failed at everything. The Quiet Truth was a true-crime podcast that Maya had put her heart into.. It seemed like nobody wanted to listen to The Quiet Truth. The lawyers letter was her hope. It was, about the Neon Mirage Motel. This was her inheritance. They told her to sell the Neon Mirage Motel. It was a business deal it would not save her. She put one suitcase in her car and drove to the desert. The realtors phone number was something she kept saying to herself over. The motel looked really weird against the purple sky. Its big sign had a picture of a palm tree holding a moon that glowed. The sign made a noise like a bug that is dying. For a moment it said NO VACANCY, in a pink color that looked like blood. Then it started to flicker. It said VACANCY. Her heart was beating fast like a small bird that is very scared and trying to get out of her chest. She just needed to get the keys and take a look around then she would call the realtor in the morning to figure out what to do with the house and the keys and everything else. The lobby door was not locked. The door. Swung open, making a loud noise that seemed to go on forever in the big dark space. She walked into the lobby. It was like she was in a completely different place, another world the lobby was so different, from outside. The place was frozen in time back in 1947. The dustless terrazzo floors were really shiny, under a crystal chandelier. There was a front desk made of blond wood that stood there like a guard. The place was perfect quiet. Just did not feel right. The air was cold. It smelled like old cigarettes and gardenias. A key was waiting for her on the desk. It was, for Room 1. The door behind her slammed shut. Maya jumped. A gasp came out of Maya. The sound echoed. Maya thought it was the wind.. The air was not moving at all. She was about to leave when the cold air hit her. It was a deep and painful kind of cold that went right to her bones. The cold filled the lobby. She could see her breath when she exhaled. The big light on the ceiling the chandelier started to dim. Then she heard a weird whispery sound, like when you're trying to find a station, on the radio and you get that static noise. This sound started to sound like a voice. The voice sounded like it belonged to a person and it sounded like they were crying. I am completely. I have no idea where I am. It is really dark. The car is not working. He told me that he would fix the tire of the car. Maya was completely frozen. She had a podcast where she talked about voices like this one. She would record them. Save them then pick them apart from a safe place.. Now this voice was right there with Maya, in the room. The door to Room 7 which is down a corridor that is pretty dark started to shake really hard. This was not because of the wind. It was shaking like Room 7s door was being banged on by someone who was on the side. The brass plate with the number, on it fell to the floor. THUD. THUD. THUD. Maya stumbled back. Her hip hit the hard edge of the front desk. She was breathing in gasps. This is not happening to Maya. The situation, with Maya is a breakdown "Miss Reed." The voice was really calm and smooth. It came from beside her. The voice was so calm and smooth that it was a little scary. The voice was still coming from, beside her. She turned around fast. A man stood with his back against the wall in the lobby, where nobody was standing a moment before. This man was really tall. He was wearing a very old suit that fit him perfectly. His dark hair was combed back. The man looked very real. If you looked closely it seemed like the light, around him was not quite right. He was watching her. He did not look scared or surprised. The man looked tired like he had been waiting for a time and he was watching her with a calm and patient expression. The man watched her. "I am sorry for all the drama " he said, his voice was loud and clear, over the whispers and the banging door. Silas Thorne is my name. We do not have a lot of time to help new people get used to things. I think you are the owner of this place. Maya just stood there she could not think of anything. Her mind was completely empty because she was so scared of Maya. The fear was so strong that Maya was frozen in place. The pounding from Room 7 got really loud. A big crack appeared in the painted wood. Silas said "He is agitated". Silas pushed off the wall. Silas moved with an confident way of walking. Sometimes people get confused. That turns into anger when they are in a place, like this. The man does not remember the car crash. The man just knows that he is trapped. Maya was able to whisper this. She said who. Maya really wanted to know who it was. She asked again saying who. Maya was waiting to hear the answer. The man said "Guest in Seven. A drummer named Jimmy. 1988." Silass eyes, which were a sharp grey color looked right at hers. "Jimmy has been waiting for someone, like you." I am not really sure what I am doing here. I am here to sell some things. The motel is not for sale Miss Reed. It is a place where people wait for things to happen. The man took a step closer to her. He did not really walk he just seemed to be all of a sudden. "You are the person in charge " he said to Miss Reed. "Your great uncle was in charge, before you. Now it is your turn Miss Reed." A loud metallic shriek came from the corridor. The doorknob of Room 7 was spinning around wildly. Silas said that he will break through soon. There was no fear, in his voice a sense of urgency. When a soul breaks out of its room the pieces are really hard to pick up. The pieces of his story will be lost forever if that happens. And this will make things even worse it will attract worse things the imbalance will draw worse things to him Silas said that the imbalance will make things worse. Maya shook her head. Tears of panic made it hard for her to see the man standing in front of her. He was too much to deal with. "I just can't do it " Maya said. "I really do not know how to handle this kind of situation with the man." Silas said to me "You made a living by listening to people." His voice got softer which was weird because everything around us was getting crazy. "You found out what was really going on by being quiet and paying attention. That is all you need to be able to do. We can just stand here. Watch him fall apart and let the bad things take over.. You can take the key unlock the door and do the job that you got stuck with. The job you inherited is waiting for you. You have to decide what to do with it with the key and, with the door. He held out his hand. He did not want to touch her. He just wanted to point. There was something on the desk beside her. It was next to the Room 1 key. Now there was a key there. This key was old. It was made of silver. It was tarnished. The key had a tag on it. The tag said "7". The writing was faded. The second key was really old. It looked like it had been around for a time like the Room 1 key was not the only key. The second key was, for Room 7. The door at the end of the hall gave a big crack. It was the sound the door made a final crack that was very loud. The door, at the end of the hall had given a crack. Silas did not flinch. His gaze was steady, on her. "This man is scared. This man needs a guide. Will you let this man be lost?" There was something about the way he was so calm that made her feel safe. Her shaking stopped for a moment. She thought about the letter, from the lawyer and what it said about the " conditions of inheritance." This had to be what it was talking about the conditions of inheritance. The pounding stopped. Then this weird silence came. It was like the silence was waiting for something to happen. Maya moved slowly like she was in a daze. She reached out. Her cold fingers wrapped around the silver key. The silver key was really cold. It had a weird feeling to it like it was vibrating with some kind of strange energy. The silver key felt unnatural, to Maya. Silas nodded. "That is good. You should speak calmly to him. Ask the man what his name is. Ask him to tell you about the thing he remembers and also ask him about the music. "The… music?" "Always start with what they loved " Silas. He gestured for her to go first. "It is the thing that helps them remember who Music Artists are music artists are not the focus the focus is what they loved. That is the thread back to themselves, to what they loved." Maya took a step forward. Then she took another step. The key was digging into her palm. The phone, in the lobby started ringing. It was one of those black rotary phones. The sound of the phone ringing was really loud and annoying. Maya could hear it ringing over and again. The lobby phone just kept on ringing. Silass head turned quickly towards it. For the first time he lost his cool. "Do not answer that " Silas said, his voice was sharp. Something just felt right. Mayas hand went up. She picked up the phone putting the receiver to her ear. A voice that was as dry as the bones you find in the desert and as quiet as a grave spoke right, to her mind. The voice said "Maya you sound like your mother. She always wanted to know everything she asked many questions." The line went dead. Maya dropped the phone. It made a loud noise, on the desk. She looked at Silas. Maya felt really scared all of a sudden. Maya thought she was being strong. Now Maya is not so sure. "The story starts now. Are you ready to listen?"