Quiet Haven Hotel
'Mathias, where are we going?'
Mathias looked over to the smaller blond seated beside him. He was looking forward with his face scrunched up in disgust. 'We're taking you to the doctor. His house is just a few towns over.' Mathias said, turning his attention back to the road. A storm was coming. It was only five in the afternoon and the sky was already pitch black, the rain started to grow heavy, making it difficult to make out details, and the wind was causing the car to sway.
After driving for half an hour, he saw a bright sign. It was the first one they have come across in the town. He slowed the car down, earning a puzzled look from the blond beside him, and squinted, trying to read the glowing blue letters. Quiet Haven Hotel. He turned the car and entered the hotel parking lot. After parking the car, he smiled broadly, unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car. He walked over to the passenger side and opened the door, holding a hand out to his companion. 'C'mon Lukas, we'll just stay overnight. Wait for the storm to pass, y'know?'
Lukas looked at the hotel and stiffened. 'I don't like this place; there's something wrong with it. I'd prefer we get back on the road.'
Mathias' hand slumped to his side and he looked up at the hotel. It seems pretty normal. He clicked his tongue. 'Just one night, I'm pretty sure it's more dangerous to be driving around in the middle of a storm than to stay overnight in a hotel.' he said, holding his hand out again.
Tearing his eyes away from the hotel, Lukas reluctantly took Mathias' hand and stepped out of the car, closing the door behind him. His eyes fluttered shut and the corner of his mouth twitched. 'Mathias, it's raining blood.'
'Let's get out of the rain.' He said, giving Lukas a gentle smile and kissing the top of his head.
'I need to clean myself up…' Lukas said under his breath, frowning at the sleeves of his coat and tugging at his scarf in distaste.
The pair made their way to the lobby where a man with platinum blond hair and red eyes was having an argument with the receptionist. They stood by the doorway and watched in silence as the receptionist placed the key on the counter and frowned at the guest, who snatched the key up and stomped off to the elevator. The receptionist, a slim strawberry blond with red eyes, went under the counter, and then the shuffling of papers could be heard.
Mathias walked up to the counter and rang the bell while Lukas went around the lobby, reading the different notices pasted on the wall. The receptionist stood up and dusted his pants. After renting a room, he held out two keys. Mathias took a hold of them, but the receptionist didn't let go. 'Please remember to keep your voice down. The person in the room next door hates noise.' With that being said, the receptionist let go of the key and smiled, revealing a bigger-than-normal left canine.
After thanking the receptionist, he called Lukas over, entered the elevator, and went up to the first floor. The moment the elevator door opened, they were hit by a vile odor. The corridor also looked as bad as it smelled; the lights were dim and kept flickering, the wallpaper was peeling off and the colour was a sickly green, in front of one of the doors was a tray of rotten food. Lukas moved his scarf to cover his nose. 'How nasty. Don't they clean up?'
Mathias pulled out the keys and handed one to Lukas. 'That's your copy.'
'I just want to get out of this corridor.' Lukas said, pushing past Mathias. He unlocked the door and held it open, impatiently gesturing Mathias to come in. When the taller blond entered the room, Lukas shut the door and stalked off to the window on the opposite side of the room.
Mathias walked past the bathroom door and sat down on the bed farther from the window. He looked around the room, which was in a much better condition than the corridor. Its wallpaper was a dull orange and there was a chandelier that covered the room in yellow light. He looked back and saw that Lukas was still watching the storm. A soft voice broke through the silence. 'What's wrong with me? Mathias, what do you see when you look out the window? Because all I see is a pit. An endless pit that can swallow us up at any moment and blood… there's blood falling from the sky, everything is drenched in blood. There's so much red.'
Lukas wasn't facing him. Mathias nervously tugged at his scarf and replied, 'Lukas, that doesn't matter, okay? You're probably just tired. Get some sleep, alright?'
The smaller blond turned around, his usual blank expression replaced with one of annoyance. 'That's it? I'm going nuts and you really think that sleep will fix me? That's the last thing I want to do! If reality is this bad, then how will my dreams be?'
Mathias stood up and took a few steps towards Lukas, who continued to glare at him. He stopped walking and said in a concerned voice: 'Lukas, you're acting really weird. You've never had outbursts as bad as this.'
'No, I think I'm okay now. I blacked out while I was dreaming.' Mathias raised an eyebrow at this. 'Someone wanted to commit suicide. It was during a celebration. He… or was it a she? Couldn't do it, they were calling out to me, then everything went black. I felt safe again.'
'Lukas, please try to get some sleep. We can have breakfast together when we wake up.'
The corner of Lukas' mouth quirked up, 'You mean if I wake up, right?'
Mathias frowned. 'Everything will be fine; don't say that. The doctor will examine you tomorrow, alright?'
Lukas snorted, crossing his arms. In a raised voice he said, 'I don't want a doctor. I don't need a doctor. I don't need you looking after me like I'm a child. After everything that has happened, there's a wall between us. All this—' he gestured around the room, 'these holidays and vacations are just your desperate attempts to save our relationship. Admit it, Mathias.'
Mathias tapped his foot, looking around the room, trying to avoid Lukas' eye contact. 'Lukas, we need to keep our voices down, remember?'
'I don't care about our neighbour! Just say it. Admit it.'
'Say what?' Mathias snapped. 'We don't have a problem!'
Lukas rolled his eyes. 'Unbelievable, you don't even have the guts to admit that there's no more love in this relationship. You won't even admit that you're glad that there are no double beds in this room!'
'What are you—ugh, you know what? Fine… I'll say it,' Mathias grinded this teeth and clenched his hands into fists, 'there is no love in this relationship; it has been dead for months.'
'So the feeling is mutual. As soon as we get back to town, I'm leaving the flat… it's the best for us.' Lukas said curtly, uncrossing his arms.
'I don't want to talk about this anymore, let's go to bed.' Mathias said, turning his back to Lukas and lying down on his bed. He heard Lukas walk over to the other bed and lie down.
'Don't miss breakfast.'
Mathias buried his face in one of the pillows. 'I don't care about breakfast.' he mumbled.
A snort. 'We might as well go together, put up that happy couple act one more time.'
Mathias found himself standing in the middle of a field. The plants around him were a vibrant green and swaying in the cool wind, and the sky was light blue and clear. In the distance, he could hear the crashing of waves and seagulls. The scent of the sea was being carried by the wind.
This is his sanctuary. Every time he'd close his eyes, he would find himself in this field. It reminded him of his childhood, back when he lived in Denmark. He can relax and remember all his memories. It was just him. No one can reach him, no one can touch him, and no one can harm him. It was a break from his life. Nothing bad can happen to him in his dreams.
This is his reality.
He sat up, groggily rubbing his eyes, and looked over to the other bed. Empty. All the pillows and blankets were neatly made. His eyes widened and he stood up and walked over to the bathroom door, looking for the sound of running water. 'Lukas? LUKAS?' he called out. There was no reply. He opened the bathroom door. No one. He closed the bathroom door and spotted something gleam on Lukas' nightstand. His eyes widened when he went to pick up the object: the golden cross hairpin that he gave Lukas back on their first date.'What happened? Lukas never goes out without wearing his pin! Then again, we had a pretty bad fight last night… but is he all right? Calm down, Mathias… he must have just gone down to get breakfast… but why didn't he wake me up? Oh geez, if that's the case, then I might as well catch up with him before he snaps.'
He went down to the diner and was immediately greeted by a cheery voice. 'Good morning Mister Køhler.' The young receptionist gave Mathias a small smile. 'Did you sleep well?'
The receptionist's greeting was ignored as Mathias wildly looked around the room. 'What the hell is happening? Why are there corpses everywhere?'
Seated around different tables were dead bodies, all dressed in black tuxedos and wearing white masks. Blood could be seen seeping under some of the masks. Several corpses were slumped over tables, as if drunk, while others had their hands placed deftly on the tabletops. One corpse had its head sliced in half horizontally, its brain exposed to the stuffy room.
The receptionist looked around coolly. 'They're guests who came down to enjoy breakfast.'
'They're all dead!'
The receptionist rolled his eyes, and then gave Mathias a jaunty grin. 'Aren't we all? It doesn't matter; they still come down to the diner. Every morning. Every night.'
Mathias felt a chill go up his spine when he caught sight of the canine again. 'What the hell… Whatever, I'm grabbing Lukas and getting out of here.'
'All right, Mister Køhler, but be quick, otherwise you'll be leaving by yourself.' he hummed. 'Or not at all?'
'Where is Lukas?' Mathias demanded.
'Did you not see him?' the strawberry blond cocked his head. 'He said he would bring breakfast up to you.'
'I haven't seen him since last night.'
'He met your neighbour earlier. I think they left the diner together. It seems they have gotten off to a good start. Hmm, maybe they're in the room next door? Chatting? I didn't want to say anything to him, but your neighbour isn't the best person to befriend.'
Mathias looked down at the receptionist, disturbed by the way he delivered all the information in a laid-back tone. 'Are you saying that this person can hurt Lukas?'
'I never said that.' he looked up thoughtfully. 'Although… your neighbour can be really weird at times, but who am I to judge?' he gave a sheepish grin before continuing. 'He had a pretty hard life, but he can actually be quite sweet! I don't think anything bad can happen, but…'
'But what?' Mathias pressed, his patience wearing thin.
'You probably don't want to know…'
'Tell me!' Mathias barked.
'Last time someone came over that room, I had to clean up the person's remains off the floor for three days. It was quite a pain. Do you know how hard it is to scrub blood off a carpet?'
'You should've told me that earlier!' Mathias shouted. 'Why didn't you step in? Why didn't you warn Lukas?'
'I don't like getting involved.' the receptionist shrugged.
'If anything happens to Lukas, I'll find you and I'll kill you.' Mathias growled, glowering down at the strawberry blond.
'I don't appreciate you being all in my face, but I'll ignore that for now. I have a letter for you.' He reached into one of his pockets, pulled out a piece of paper, and stuffed it into Mathias' hand. 'From Mister…?' he gestured around and looked at Mathias expectantly.
'Bondevik?'
'From Mister Bondevik, right! Well, see you around, Mister Køhler!' he walked past Mathias and stopped by the dining room door. 'Oh, and I heard you two arguing last night. Relationship problems? Hopefully it's nothing too serious?'
Mathias stiffened and chose not to reply. There was a silence before he heard a sigh. The footsteps continued and faded away into the lobby.
A/N: Okay, so this is based on the first part of a messed up game called Downfall. I doubt I'll be continuing this story; it wasn't something I planned out, I just wanted to get this out of my head. I also apologise if some of the characters (particularly Denmark and Norway) were OOC, it pained me writing the argument. Also, the receptionist was supposed to be Romania and the guy at the start was Prussia.
Hope you enjoyed the story!
