Carrying the leftovers of her belongings she walked into the hotel through the old mahogany door. The minute she opened it, a smell of mold and closure filled her nostrils. It was pitch black and she couldn't see beyond her nose. She flicked her eyes many times to get them adjusted to the dark but it made no difference. Suddenly, she jumped when she heard snoring coming from her right. She immediately reached into her pocket and pulled out a lighter which was kept in there for emergencies, (f.e. lighting the candles on a birthday cake) and looked in the direction of the sound. A fairly young man dressed in blue and wearing a matching hat was sprawled on the reception desk, fast asleep, snoring loudly. Mika didn't know if she should wake him up or not. She was hesitant since it could be a very awkward situation, but "what the hell", she thought. She reached her hand out to shake him awake, but just before she even touched him, he woke up. Once he noticed Mika's presence, he immediately sat up straight and put on his business face.

-Welcome to Strangetown Hotel, the best accommodation in…..oh never mind, it's not like I'm getting paid anyway, said the strange man with a clear British accent.

-What?

-Yup, you heard right! The hotel manager died last week and left the hotel in chaos. In addition to that, we don't have burial ground to bury the corpse!

Mika just stared at the receptionist speechless, trying to understand all that she had just heard. Hotel manager, died, hotel in chaos, nowhere to bury him.

-So you have no hotel manager?

-No, but it doesn't make much of a difference. The place was a mess even before he was killed.

If Mika thought things were strange before, she now realized she had seen nothing.

-Ok, so you're telling me the hotel manager was killed, right? Was it in here, here were you host many people everyday? Here were people come to seek safety…

-Oh, I see your point, you're worried that if the manager was killed in the hotel it's not safe! You may worry not, my dear, I don't think the killer will be striking anytime soon. You see, Mr. Specter was a very depressed man, unsatisfied with life, so he committed suicide.

Suddenly, the hotel appeared to be about 10 times spookier. The knowledge that someone had willingly ended their life in here was creepy to say the least and even worse, she had to stay there.

-Seriously?

The receptionist gave her a puzzled look.

-Yes, why? Oh, by the way, what's your name?

-Mika Ishida.

-What a name! How do you pronounce that?

-Well first, "mi" as in "meet" and "ka" as in….. oh forget it.

The man opened a small cabinet on the wall and pulled out a key with a tag on it to hand it on to Mika.

-Here you go. Room 127. It's on the first floor, second door on the right. It's got the number 127 on it. I still don't understand why the rooms have names consisting of three-digit numbers when in fact we only have 5 of them. Oh well, I guess it's one of those things.

Mika took the key and was ready to head for the room when she realized that she couldn't see were they were in the dark. The receptionist seemed to notice this and advised her likewise.

-As you see….or don't see I should say, we've been experiencing problems with the electricity. I think there may be a problem with the…um…the...you know electrical stuff! Call Trishtan Legend if you need the light, he'll know what to do. I'm going to take a nap now. Feel free to wake me up if you need anything. At Strangetown Hotel our service is the best….we take care of everything…zzZZZzzz..for….zz you…zZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzz…

-Wait, who's Christian...or whatever the name, what's the number?

-zZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz…

The receptionist was already in a deep sleep and paid no attention to his surroundings. Mika stood in front of the desk, all her belongings in her hands and a key to a hotel room she couldn't get to and only information a name of a person that could help which she couldn't pronounce nor did remember that moment. She carefully, placed everything she was holding on the floor and gently shook the receptionists shoulder. All she got in response was a grunt. She shook harder. This time the man seemed to move but Mika couldn't be sure he had woken up since it was too dark to see. Once again she reached into her pocket to retrieve to lighter, but before she managed to, she was interrupted by the now wide-awake receptionist.

-Hh uh ...oh welcome to Strangetown Ho…oh it's you… How may I help you?

-Um, what is Trish... uh Mr. Legends phone number?

-Oh that! It's in the phone book; here you go check on the letter L and…ohh oops! I think I knocked something, some papers…

Mika finally pulled out the lighter and crouched over to see what had been knocked while the man was on all fours trying to tidy the mess up. A pile of white envelopes was scattered all over the floor. Mika hesitantly picked one up to see who had sent the letters.

-SunsetValley Electrical Company..?

The receptionist looked at Mika with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He glanced at the letter she was holding and laughed nervously.

-Ha ha, I hadn't thought of that... I just assumed the electrical um stuff, was damaged. I can't believe we forgot to pay the bills!

-Seems like your boss left a lot of unfinished business behind.

-Yeah, so, what do we do?

-I don't know…

The hotel door opened wide and a fairly tall man appeared.

-Did anyone ask for Trishtan Legend?