Prologue
The bumps in the road send vibrations through my arm as the car travels toward our destination. The cool coastal air whistling through the window. The car leaps over one final hill and our destination was in sight, the Royal Palms Resort.
I opened the door and jumped out of the car, stretching my legs. It felt amazing after being couped up in the car so long. We were parked outside the front of the hotel. It had been three long years since our last holiday and I planned to make the most of this one. The air had a cool refreshing quality only the ocean could create. The island was a paradise. I looked around, there were fountains shooting water into the air, pools filled with happy children enjoying themselves. Over to my right I could see a restaurant. Kimmy, my little sister jumped out of the car. Her dark black hair reflecting in the glare of the sun.
"It's amazing, isn't it" she said, not taking her eyes away from the children in the pool as she walked toward me.
"I couldn't dream of a place more amazing then this" I replied
"Come on kids!" mum shouted out as she walked toward the reception area.
We ran after her and through the doors into the hotels reception area. The reception area was just as amazing as the island. A fountain is shooting out crystal clear water. To either side of the fountain are lifts. Above the fountain the hotels logo depicting a palm tree is proudly displayed. To the right there is a trolley full of suitcases belonging to guests staying at the hotel. We walked to the left towards the reception table and rang the bell. A young Asian woman came out through the door behind the reception desk.
"Hello, pleased to meet you. Do you have a reservation?" she said
"Yes, under Burkhardt" mum replied
As she bent over to look for our name in the reservation book I saw her name tag. The Asian woman was named Xian Mei. She was wearing a white shirt with a red tie around her neck. The tie matched her red dress which was rippling from the breeze travelling through the open door we came through.
"Ahh yes, room 82. Follow me" Xian said, walking out from behind her desk and towards the lift. The lift was cramped, a tight fit for four people. The speaker was playing the annoying music you might hear in a shopping mall. Xian pushed the button for level 13, it beeped and the button lit up. The elevator jolted slightly then shot up towards level 13.
I rushed out of the lift. Level 13 was towards the middle of the hotel, although it still had an amazing view of the island. I stared out the window looking for the different landmarks around Banoi. In the distance I could see a lighthouse atop of a hill. There was a large jungle behind the lighthouse, it looked dark an eerie. Completely out of place compared to the rest of the island. There was a man emerging from the jungle, he looked very peculiar. The jungle was a great distance from the window but I could still make out some of the man's features. He was hobbling, walking towards a group of people at the base of the lighthouse. There was something strange about the man. It looked like his arm was… "James!" I turned around, mum was looking at me. "Come and check out the room we are staying in". I looked back to the window; the man had vanished along with the group of people at the base of the lighthouse. I walked away from the window and into room number 82.
The room wasn't much to look at compared to the rest of the resort. To the left was a large LED TV, a double bed lay across the room from it. The logo of the hotel was hanging on the wall above the bed. At the far end of the room there was a table with four chairs. The room had a lot of artwork hanging on the walls. To the right there was a small walkway leading to the bathroom. While mum chatted with the receptionist I had a better look at the bathroom. The bathroom was quite large; there was a bath in the far corner of the room. Strangely there was no mirror. Confused I walked out of the room to ask the receptionist why but she had left. While the island looked very enticing to check out, tiredness swept over me, a couple of minutes later I was out like a light on top of the bed. Dreaming of the adventures I was about to have on the island of Banoi.
I woke up to the sound of silence. Nothing. No children screaming with joy in the pool which echoed throughout the resort, no shouting in the corridors, no footsteps. It was dark. There was no clock, another problem with this room. I pulled the blankets off of me and stood up looking around the room. Mum and Kimmy were nowhere to be seen. I slipped on some new clothes. I looked around the room searching for my bag, it had everything I needed. I finally found it, in the corner of the room, atop the table by the TV. I picked up my bag and headed out the door confused about what was going on. The corridor was deserted, I look left and right down the corridor before heading towards the window I had looked out of earlier in the day. The light in the lighthouse was off. I looked down towards the front door of the hotel; I saw a large light was glowing by the pool. It was too bright to see past. I called the lift. The lift arrived barely any time after I had called it, rocketing to the floor. I entered it and pushed the button for the ground floor, the lift shot downward.
The doors to the lift opened to a whole new world compared to the one I was faced with when we arrived. The air was not full of the sea breeze scent but of alcohol and smoke. Lights were flashing all around the pool area. Women in bikinis were walking around, men following their every step. A giant stage was setup on top of the parking lot by the pool. There was a man rapping into a microphone, people cheering his name.
"Sam B!" "Sam B!" "Sam B!"
The crowd was electric; the whole resort must have shown up. Writing was lit up above the stage with the words 'Who do you Voodoo', presumably the name of the song.
"I got a zombie army and you can't harm me
who do you voodoo, Bitch?
Drink blood like a vampire without warning
who do you voodoo, Bitch?"
The man on stage was shouting the lyrics into the microphone, people cheering and chanting. I looked around, searching for a sign of mum or Kimmy. It was no use, there were too many people, I can't even see three metres ahead.
Suddenly I hear an ear-piercing scream. Everyone goes silent, the rapper stops singing, the whole crowd is silent. A woman with short black hair bursts out of the front door leading to the hotel reception. She is wearing a flowery red dress. "
"My baby girl!" She shouts "My husband!"
There is a look of panic on her face. The crowd is silent, obviously confused. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore line of the beach can be heard. There is a bang from inside the hotel, then a sound of crashing glass. Glass shards land on the ground in front of the shocked crowd. I look up, in time to see a man hurtling towards the ground. He hits the ground in front of me with a 'crack'. His body is bent unnaturally. The crowd is thrown into pandemonium. People are screaming and shouting but no one moves, they are all in shock. The women in the red flowery dress begins crying,
"My husband" she mutters.
The doors to the front of the hotel burst open, a man groaning runs out of the doors, he is drenched in blood. He is the same man I saw by the lighthouse earlier in the day. He looked around, seemingly searching, and then jumped on top of the crying women and bites into her. This got the crowd moving even quicker, people run in every direction. I am motionless, unable to move, fear has stuck me to the core of my bones. The woman lies on the ground motionless as the man jumps off of her and runs toward a shrieking man cowering in a corner. Suddenly I am able to move again, the paralysis of the fear flowing through me gone as quickly as it seemingly came. Just as I'm about to run towards the beach away from the scene something attracts my attention. The women stands up, a huge gaping hole through her neck. She groans, it sounds like something you would hear from a George Romero film. It's impossible. She can't be alive. The women looks around, suddenly she sprints forward at an amazing pace and tackles a man beside me to the ground. He shrieks and pleads for help as the women lifts her head to let out a roar. She then looks back down towards her victim and plunges her teeth into his neck. More fear floods through me; I turn and run, as fast as I can towards the beach. The pool casting my reflection in the water as I run beside it, the water once crystal clear, is now blood red.