Ah-ah-ah-ah
Hushed is the little one
Tip-toe, tick, tock
The ox's ties have come undone
Ah-ah-ah-ah
The bogeyman shall have the fun
Knock, knock, drip, drop
The light is gone lest they began-
"Gwah! Eh? What could that be?" The lightning displayed a hunched figure on the bed. Its head slightly hung and tilts, back crouched over, and its limbs slumped without a hint of energy. Red orbs glinted with dullness as bloodshot eyes pierced within the darkness. A voice cut through the muffled storm, along the room's silence, groggily muttering to the window, "Oh. It's only me."
Phew.
Nene stretched her body out of bed with a yawn. Her hand wiped a portion of the fogged window, only to witness the endless powerful storm. Although it is unfortunate, I did have a great night's sleep! Ah, why do I reckon I haven't had one in a long while? And, that fountain would have been lovely in daylight.
Her thoughts were meddled by another voice outside her room. Sharing no similarities from what awoken her, curiosity persists following the broken tune nonetheless.
Going around the bed, she takes notice of her nightstand with a folded paper, an unlit lamp, and a flower vase adorning the fixture. Beside it was a tall rack, diligently carrying a thick cloth and her hat. With only the moon's faint light guide, Nene carefully treaded in the shadows for a matchstick. Another strike of lightning occurred, creating a glow on a key she never recognized before. Her brows furrowed when she notices a keyhole on the lamp. She inserted the golden fish key with a cyan gemstone depicting the number 22 and gave herself a pat on the back when the lamp lit a beautiful hue.
Ah, it's getting farther! Nene hastens to the door, late in noticing she's only wearing her nightgown. I don't remember changing! But I'll be quick, anyway.
A bellboy hums another of those strangely familiar melodies in his disoriented tune. He pushes a dolly with her luggage, looking at each door he passes. I am sure that is mine. And there is...something stuck in his head! H-How should I approach him?
"Ah, what a lovely customer! Perhaps this meeting is fate!" The bellboy pranced towards her with stiffness in his gracious demeanor. Wondering how normal could the lad be, she watched with red cheeks as he fell into one knee and held her hand. "Oh, welcome, lovely guest. Since when were you standing there?"
Nene would have been in awe if he let her answer. She almost pouted when he continued. Meanwhile, the one-eyed Mokke accuses him of tardiness.
"Let me bring your luggage to your room." For a split second, his face momentarily blanked. Nene could only blink as he recovers his charming smile. "Ah, I'm carrying it already, aren't I?"
"A-Are you alright? Perhaps you require a re-?"
"Ah," He flings away his bangs, revealing a green band around his forehead before he put a hand on it with a glint in his eyes. "I am only captivated by such a cute guest."
"T-Thank-"
"But alas!" Will you ever let me finish, kind gentleman? He clutches on his heart and looks beyond the intricate carvings on the ceilings with a sense of dread. Nene could only register his sense of absurdity. Not that she is one to speak. "There's already someone decided in my heart. My dear guest within room 309!"
Were you not flirting a while ago? But having to misunderstand his intentions...How embarrassing! "It is fine. I, um, do not mean to impose-"
"I have made compromises with that lady: to meet her here and see the ocean, only because she said that she has never gone to before!"
"Y-Yes, I understand already! I solely wish to retrieve my...Mister?" Regaining her composure, Nene notices it happening. The bellboy's eyes engulfed in black, whole body pausing still, and not an ounce of life could be detected in his form. Such a strange occurrence creates a shiver on her spine. In that condition, how could he afford to move? "...Mister, if you are in such a state, then why have you decided to work here?"
"Then," He tilts his head back where shadows hide his face. A dislocated hand caresses the object stuck on his head. He slowly turns to her with empty eyes, seemingly mocking her being. "Why am I working here, you ask?"
Before he could continue, the Mokke erupted and flung itself to the bellboy's face, spitting a myriad of insults and a winded lecture. In contrast to his earlier chivalric demeanor, the bellboy brashly retaliates back to the Mokke. Seeing they started to move towards the hallway, Nene abruptly but hesitantly retrieved her luggage into her room. She went back to the hallway when she hears a loud crash. Nene could only view with dead eyes the scene on the elevator. The beaten bellboy is now upside down, with the Mokke posing as the winner on his butt. Upon seeing her, a crooked finger pointed towards her. The words that reached her before the doors closed were, "Young lady, do you think that will be enough to protect you?"
The manager's coat! Before she could question the manager's whereabouts, they were gone. Nene pursed her lips and stared at his coat she doesn't remember wearing. That manager may not care for me, but he should at least come to reclaim his clothing! Hmph. I could explore the place instead of waiting. Should I go to him, then? But to protect me...The cold never bothered me anyway! Except last time...
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Hushed is the little one
"Ah, it's that song again." The elevators are already closed, no one is around, and the other rooms do not seem occupied. Speaking of the rooms, aren't they moving?
Tip-toe, tick, tock
The ox's ties have come undone
The small chandeliers danced and spun with their lights flickering on and off in a match to the rhythm. Blurry figures emerge from the wall paintings as statues make a crunching noise within them. The doors would depict strange symbols, incoherent characters that Nene has surmised were on the map. Surrounding her were distinctive voices, whispering unintelligible nothings, causing tremors on her heart, blowing death on her mind. Footsteps were coming, getting louder, getting heavier. She backs away, hands clasping air where there should have been a door handle.
Ah-ah-ah-ah
The bogeyman shall have the fun
Vision dimming, she barely realizes standing in a particular door whose number changes from 87 to a roughly scratched plate. A familiar face appears before her as she searches for a reprieve in something, someone, anything. "M-Manager...Hanako-san?"
Knock, knock, drip, drop
The light is gone lest they began
Deja vu, she ponders as a snicker, brimming with wickedness, ended her thoughts.
Come now and vow
You cannot run till you have won
/-*-\
I am restricted. Nene grimaces in her current ordeal. With her body tied in an uncomfortable position, she would like to take careful measures to be released. Am I kidnapped? Wah, I do not hope so! If only I am as nimble as the rodents, I could bring myself out of this in one piece!
"Ah." In trying to wriggle out of her constraints, Nene successfully got out with little effort than expected. "H-Have I been mummified? Why bandages? Did I- Did I turn into Cleopa-"
A small waist apron fell from her lap. She felt the winter breeze on her legs in return. Quickly, she puts it back on her lap. A string of bandages with bite marks and an apron with a small dried stain on the back...What could the reason be?
The sweet fragrance of pastries, sweets, and chocolates sparked a realization. Nene got up to see a vacant lounge with a Christmas tree at the corner, stumbled and broken with its decors laying around the floor. She could feel her jaw slacken at the assumption she was in the kitchen. Wishing she could at least change clothes in case guests see her, Nene searches for the coat. "Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling, Nene-chan? Here, I have completed laundering your clothes."
Aoi stood still and waited for their guest to face her. She debated whether a frown or a pout is on Nene's lips. "Have you perchance the whereabouts of my coat? It has to be here with me somewhere..."
"Oh, I laundered it a while ago." Folding her wings, Aoi delivered the clean set of clothes to Nene's lap to the latter's blatant joy. She then urged their guest to eat the food prepared by the hotel chef. At her redness, Aoi explained it is only natural to receive a welcoming treat from the chef. Until Nene offered for her to eat as well, Aoi noticed something. "There are added snacks, as well! How surprising, but I reckon it has something to do with when he picked you up earlier. Hmm, definitely interesting!"
Paused slicing the cake, the previous events rushed through Nene's brain. Watching Aoi eat a portion of each menu, Nene let out a string of questions. "What-What happened to me, Aoi-chan? Did I develop a sickness from the storm? I remember feeling great from the nap, so that lack of immunity surprised me! How come? Is there a hospital nearby? Where's the manager? I saw Hanako-san but-"
With a flutter of her wings, Aoi's giggles calmed Nene. Momentarily in a daze, Nene blinked when Aoi's hands held hers. "There is no need to worry, Nene-chan. You are perfectly fine! Soon you'll adjust to the hotel. As for the hospital, a chapel-"
Nene followed Aoi's gaze. The redhead demon was going out, careful, into the graveyard. She turns to Aoi, whose eyes sharply focuses on her. Nene smiled, not without a sweat running behind her neck.
"As for the hospital, there is no need for such thing. You are safe here, Nene-chan. Now, I have to do my chores. Please call my name if you need help. Until then."
"Wait!" Nene shouts in the air with sparkling entities fading away. Everyone disappears as if I am alright with validating their existence. Her shoulders slumped, whispering, "Hanako-san..."
She shakes her head and slaps her cheeks. Finishing her snacks, she quickly followed suit to the graveyard. Holding her clothes within the coat, Nene deftly passes the still-busy reception area, into the hallway where various entities mingle, though paid no heed to her, and into the underground graveyard. Through another lengthy hallway, she arrives at the main cemetery. More nameless tombstones scattered around the area, still surviving in the flood of the storm. Gritting her teeth, Nene uses the coat to protect her from the rain, but to no avail. No one is here. From a distance, she could make out two or three different pathways. One was to a structure with a cross, and another deeper in the woods. There was a gazebo of some sort, but the lightning barely confirms any assumptions. She had to make a choice, one that could create the least regrets for the better outcome. Crossing the footsteps, she gingerly walked towards it when she hears a voice behind her.
"Oh dear guest with the fat ankles, have you found this place into your liking?"
Her gasp blew the raindrops from her lips, but not the guilt piercing her heart. "M-Manager! I was s-s-searching for you."
"Don't tell me you want to go home already? If you say such a thing, I'd be sad, very sad... So much that I may end up sucking your blood." Hanako did not make any move, yet his gaze was enough for her dwindling legs to understand. No, we couldn't.
"No," Nene kept her smile on, mirroring Hanako, albeit different in motive. She takes a step towards him, out of the rain, and gathers the coat from her shoulders. "Did Aoi-chan not tell you of my fondness here in this hotel? I was searching for you to experience your manager skills first-hand! And, silly manager, you did not retrieve your forgotten coat!"
It was only then that Hanako moved. His steps were the same as before, dreadful to hear, yet his appearance deceives the fear into excitement. He tilts his head with a toothy grin on his face. "Oh, really? That is good to hear! Enjoy your stay here."
Forever and ever.
Nene froze in a second. "Hanako-kun."
Hanako felt a rush of electricity in his body. "What?"
With a smile to last a lifetime, Nene boldly declares, "I'll call you Hanako-kun! In that way, I could assert my fondness throughout the place! And by liking the manager means I like everything he manages as well! Did that reassure you?"
"I see," For once, Hanako could feel the corners of his lips turn up in their accord. For once, he could feel colors on his face, on his mind, on his vision. For once, he could actually feel. "Then, I should let you know that you are great being in this hotel when I suck your blood! That way, you'll see that I approve of your existence in the presence of my management!"
...It rebounded! What a failure!
"I particularly love the blood of cute girls, but it'd be a pity if I dried you up completely. So just a tiny bit is enough."
"No thanks for your ungracious offer. Please stay away from me. If you want to talk to me, just write letters. Aoi-chan could deliver them."
"Eh~ That's too boring! Come on, Yashiro, with your fat ankles, just a drop-"
"I would not let you taint me for my prince charming!"
"And where is he? Planning to go out in search of your fantasy?"
"..."
Thus, the two have come to an agreement. A measly form of medium to maintain peace, one might say. But a vow, a contract, a promise within their world is bound by life itself, as powerful as one's existence, as punishing as humanity's accumulated suffering. In light of the shadows' darkness, she counters his cunningness with boldness. Will someone aid her in her grand escape from the Ghost Hotel?