"Knock, knock, knock!”
When he heard the noise, he was lying flat in the bed. Mold stains, as though eyes on the rugged ceiling, were staring at him.
Strange place！ He murmured.
Rubbing his eyes, he got out of the bed, and looked around, only to find it a simple room, in which there was a cabinet against the foot of the bed, and the bed facing a wooden door.
All the signs showed that he was staying in a hotel.
Why was I here? He recalled nothing other than having been surrounded by three or four doctors. And Asher Duncan might be his name.
Asher, in a white T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, fumbled in each pocket of the trousers with one hand, only to pull out a credit card and a key, no hint of his experiences.
But he had no time to explore what had happened now. The knock became increasingly intense and seemed to crash the teak veneer.
“Coming!”Asher -full of puzzles-stepped forward to get close to the door, then suddenly realized something was wrong. The noise came from his back, perhaps under the bed, not the door.
Reluctantly, he turned around and watched a rotted arm stretching out beneath the bed. Next, a note was thrown away in a puddle of secretion from the arm. The bloody bold word “Grape Hotel ” hardly could be discernible in the dim room.
Scary! Snapping out of his torpor, Asher jerked the doorknob hastily and took a quick step away from the room, with no desire to explore more.
Outside the door, a young woman passed by. When the door opened, she stopped to give a curious look. But as she doing so, she suddenly dragged Asher fiercely, fleeing to the elevator set at the left end of the corridor.
Looking at her scared face, Asher knew what occurred in his room must be horrible. Maybe it could just be a dead body, he consoled himself.
But he was wrong.
The elevator, unexpectedly, was waiting for guests on the fourth floor. They rushed into it and breathed a sigh of relief.
After clicking the Hall button, Asher observed the outside - he lived in Room 404 - the door had been closed by wind, or something else? He swayed a little. But he also realized that the thing in his room was confined probably, unable to come out.
Then, he reached out a hand to the lady with a pale face, “Asher Duncan.”
“Olivia Turner.” She held it to shake.
“It was a corpse.”
Noticing Asher’s ignorant look, as if saying he was a fresher, she explained immediately, “We are in a game now.”
Then, “Ding.” She was interrupted.
As the elevator opened, a nice-looking waitress was awaited, “Dear guests, what would you like for your breakfast?”
She displayed a false smile, eyeing them up and down in a weird manner as if speculating their occupations.
"Coffee, please,” Olivia answered casually.
The waitress nodded and turned to Asher.
“The same.” Without hesitation, he made a query, “Please tell me what happened in Room 404?”
At once, a complicated expression appeared on the waitress’ face. Angry. Fear. And a little distorted excitement.
She replied, with arms crossed over the chest, “Sir, the journalist is not welcomed after that thing. I am sorry but no more questions or I will call a guard.”
Judging by her words, Asher knew there must be something unusual here, and her affectation seemed to offer a clue deliberately.
But he planned to consult Oliver at first, who was more reliable obviously.
Then he shook his head, saying, “No, I am not a journalist, just a traveler. Well, had the roof of my room leaked? You know, dirty water was spreading on the floor.” he gave a sly smile, “Could you ask someone to clean it？Hanna？” He read her name tag.
Hanna’s warm-false smile arose again, she surveyed the guests with a glance of speculation. However, the man looked back at her nonchalantly, while the woman looked through a window, spotting something.
After a while of silence, the waitress responded, “Of course, we will handle it.”
“By the way, we are not allowed to knock on the door. Because that will frighten guests. And we will ask your permission before entering the room.” she added.
Asher noticed the words “knock” and “frighten”, but he did not say anything, with a nod to show his understanding. Then he turned to Oliver, waiting for her arrangement.
Oliver, without any word, led him to get out of the building.
