The next day I got up bright and early, not by choice because I would much rather continue sleeping, but I had certain chores of my own to perform. The sun was seeping through the fabric of the duck egg blue curtains, its heavy beam twirling on the walls of my apartment. I yawned and stretched, trying to get awake for another day at work, something that I was kind of looking forward to because of the beautiful Sofia that I saw last night, and I hoped to see more of her quite soon, so I had a small grin thinking about it. Though I didn't have much time to think about today's events as I had to get dressed and get working. I got out of bed after fifteen minutes of being awake and opened the curtains, letting the light from the sun fully soak in my apartment. I felt warm as it radiated through me, the best of it staying inside me to keep me warm for the day.
The usual routine occurred on the weekdays, mostly the days when I was working, and as I thought about it, I had noticed that the routine had formed by itself, molding its way in to my life, and I had accepted it. I would get up, after a few minutes of lying in bed awake. I would have some cereal, or toast, depending on how hungry I was, because it usually depended on what I was in the mood for, I never really liked to have breakfast in the morning, but I tried to eat something, because I remember my grandma telling me it was important. Then, after dwelling in conversation with the half awake Riley, I went for a shower in the almost too clean bathroom. The hot water felt good on me, and I loved a shower in the morning, because it made me feel cleaner throughout the day, than having a shower at night, and plus by the time I got home from work I was too tired to even care what I looked or smelled like, I wanted to go to bed. I got dressed and ruffled my dark hair in to a casual look, also remembering to feed Riley as he gave me an adoring look that basically said 'feed me', and I knew that even if I forgot to feed him that he would remind me sure enough.
"Come on boy, we'll take you for a walk." Riley looked up from his food and barked loudly, panting madly, and I could tell he was getting excited about his walk, as he always did. He chomped down on his food even quicker, rearing to go. I put his lead on and led him in to the streets, which had now got busier from last night.
It was the morning rush, which I was a part of sometimes when I was late for work. Many men and woman in business suits and what not, walked at a steady but firm pace down the street sidewalks. They strutted with their suitcases in one hand, mobile phone in the other, looking too professional. Some used their cars to travel outside town, where there would be bigger businesses and firms. I walked down the street in the same confidence they had, but I soon felt very tired at trying to be as confident as they looked, and found myself soon shying away in to the pavement side. Riley barked at some people on their way past me, trying to get near them so he could give them a loving hug, but I soon pulled him back in a tight grip of his lead. They didn't take any notice to him, but he didn't seem to care (or notice). We went to the park that was not too far from my flat. Riley had great fun in chasing ducks and whenever he tried to roll in mud, I caught him quickly enough before he could make a mess, which would be later trailed in to the flat. I sat on one of the benches soon as I had played with Riley a bit. He came and sat on the bench too, jumping up beside me and panting, looking out over the small pond that was in the middle of the park. I looked up at the sky, and it looked a deep blue, looking as if it was going to be a warm day, though I wasn't feeling too warm right then. There were no clouds in the sky, so I couldn't gaze at them and trace the patterns with my finger as I usually did. Everything seemed much more peaceful in the morning. I heard a few birds chirp in the trees, their sounds ringing out to each other, trying to connect with each other. I could even hear the trickle of water running from somewhere over the other side of the park. There weren't many people in the park on that morning. I would usually see a couple of dog walkers or morning joggers with their protein drink in hand as they sauntered along the path. I wondered if any of them had noticed me there, sitting on the bench, as I had closely seen them walking or running by, but I guessed not, they never even seemed to look over at me. I was like an invisible man.
I ran around the corner and in to the hotel, looking a bit untidy as I did. This wasn't a usual occurrence in my agenda, but I was late. Extremely late. I wasn't normally someone who made it a regular thing to be over my arrival time for work, except for the odd occasion where I would forget to set my alarm, or just run out of time doing housework in the morning. But when I was late, Lara decided to call me aside for a five minute talk on why not to be late, most of it being about how I couldn't afford to lose the job, how it was important for me to cling on to it with my life. Lara knew my parents, Bart and Amanda Carter, since I had been about twelve, or maybe younger, but I wasn't too sure as I never seemed to listen in on my parents conversations on the phone, or their life in fact. I was very much just a child who was only interested in what they were doing, because I was never much interactive with other people growing up. My mother was an interior designer and she loved nothing more than making an old, dusty house in to a warm, colourful home with bright and bold colours that she helped her clients choose with the large catalogues in her possession. Although my mother was in her forties, she had hip and trendy styles that appealed to a wide range of ages, even to kids, which was a good thing if she was redesigning a home for a family. My mum had done my apartment when I moved in to it, and that's why it looked more like a showroom because she would of want people to marvel at her work, more than make it comfy when someone came in to my apartment.
Lara rung my mum up one day to ask her to design her living room after finding her number in a supermarket on one of the little business cards, and my mother was only too happy to help. When Lara had seen what a job my mum had done on her living room (which is still the same today, the last time she had told me anyway) she told my mother about her restaurant in The Silent Ice Hotel, and together they planned a new design for the restaurant. The high walls were a blood red, the colour stretching out to the four corners of the room, and the carpets matched as well, which led out of the arch in to the lobby. My mum had certainly made the restaurant look more modern and stylish than it was before.
I sighed as Lara finished her speech, that she had droned on about whilst I ignored her rudely, even though if she asked me to repeat what she said, I could because it was the same speech each time I was late. "Are you finished?" I said bluntly, and a little bit impertinent. I quickly looked down to the floor to distract me from Lara's glare, which I could feel burning in to me as I tried to focus on something else.
"You know I don't think you really take this seriously do you?"
"No, no!" I said in a rush, changing my attitude as soon as I heard those threatening words. "I do, it's just I feel sometimes like this job is blackmail to me." Lara rubbed my shoulder in calm, circular motions, the 'I understand' comforting, her mood now changing in to a more friendly kind, being the good boss I knew she was. I looked up at her. Her hair seemed to glisten in the early light but the stress was showing its effects as her face showed slight wrinkles, but with her stressed occupation, who wouldn't be?
"You've got tables to serve," she encouraged as she pointed to the tables in my area, and I put on a smile as I didn't want to complain about the job that we had just discussed, it would only fuel Lara's stress even more.
It was quiet on that wintery day, the cold air leaving most people to be at home with a nice cup of soup, but that was to be expected. It wasn't a usual waiter's job, as it was quieter than other restaurants, and by other restaurants I meant the restaurants that weren't attached to a hotel. Sure there were busy days, the days where I wouldn't even have time to think about what I was doing, who I was serving. Some people who didn't even stay here came to eat at this 4 star class restaurant. Some were just business men and women who came in to settle deals over lunch; others were romantic couples, especially on Valentines Day, where many would ask the proposal of their other half on that particular day, and the restaurant would go in to a crowd of cheers as they said yes, as there was almost never a no, and if there was, there was that gathering of silence as people continued to slurp delicately on their starters, main courses and desserts.
By the time it was lunch, I was almost shivering with the cold, feeling it especially in my feet and my hands. I had put two pairs of socks on that morning, hoping they would get warmer, with no luck, but I wasn't allowed to wear gloves in the restaurant, so the only way I was going to keep my hands warm were by rubbing them together. I put on a jumper that was black, to match my uniform to see if it would help me to gain heat, and I tried not to fluster whilst putting it on.
"Isn't there supposed to be heating in this building?" I asked sarcastically to the waitress that I worked with sometimes. She was called Lily. Her name matched her pale but bright face and her dainty smile. Her hair was pulled back in to a ponytail, the most common hairstyle for Lily and she laughed at me, her eyes shying away from my own.
"Oh, the heating is on. It's pretty warm in here. I don't think Lara would like it if her customers were freezing to death." I looked around the room steadily, my focus becoming more intent on the people around me. I noticed most people only wore a shirt or blouse in the restaurant, whilst I stood with a jumper that made me look like an Eskimo. I saw that some people looked at me, talking about how strange I looked, and I didn't really bother to do anything about it, because they were right, I did look weird. I shook my head trying to figure out why I was so cold, but I didn't ponder on it for too long, as I knew I had more work to be getting on with.
"I must be coming down with something," I said to Lily, shaking my head and laughing a bit. Before I could walk away, Lily grabbed me on my arm, only touching the edges of my jumper so she didn't grab me too hard. God bless her, she had the softest of clutches.
"Erm ... Lara said for me to tell you that you were wanted to take something up to room 504." She looked at me in the eyes, and I could tell that she was serious because her smile was no longer visible. I hesitated for a moment, wondering why I was asked to do a job that wasn't mine to do.
"Why have I to do it? It's not my job." I sounded a bit arrogant when I said that, but it wasn't usual that I was asked to do something specifically by the guests. I wasn't something special, or that I was aware of. Hey, maybe I was, but I didn't know of anyone who was staying at the hotel who knew me.
"I don't know. It's her that requested you," Lily spoke quietly, as though this person she was talking about was part of something dark. I suddenly realised by her she meant Sofia, the daughter of Mr and Mrs Smith, who were the new owners of this hotel. I laughed a bit at Lily's perception of Sofia, as last night I had been getting along fine with her. I straightened up and smiled, and Lily, gave a quick nervous smile and walked away quickly. I felt honoured but inquisitive at the same time. Why would Sofia want me to bring whatever she had ordered? Maybe she wanted to be friends after our talk last night. Or even more? I got too excited of that thought. Why would she want to be with someone like me? I was just ordinary, and although I might be in the same financial situation as her, I felt I wasn't exactly up to her standards. I went and found Lara at the bar, to inquire about my new task.
"Lara, why am I to take an order upstairs?" I asked as I rested my hands on the bar. Lara walked in behind the bar and shrugged her shoulders.
"We just aim to please."
What a lame explanation I thought, but refrained myself from saying it, as it would only get me in to more trouble than I had already been in to. Lara handed me a tray with something on it. It was covered by a big metal lid and the warm metal felt nice on my cool hands, I was about to take the lid off to see what it was, being the curious person that I was, but Lara quickly snapped the lid back down with both her hands. She looked so worried I almost didn't recognise her. "Whatever you do, you do not open the lid, ok?" she asked me breathless as she looked up at me, still crouched near the tray. Her eyes were wide and dangerous, and the moved quickly from side to side, looking at each of my eyes carefully. I was almost shocked by her behaviour. Although as I looked around, I saw that no one around had noticed it.
"Ok. Don't look at any of the Smith's orders." I was a bit scared by her attitude towards it, but I guessed that there must have been a good reason for her actions. She nodded her head scarily and I quickly snatched the tray and started towards the elevator in the lobby. I didn't like people acting strangely, especially Lara, but this was my job, and I did not question what I had been ordered to do.
The elevator was as cool as the restaurant, the air seeping in from the vents. I pressed a button on the side, and the doors closed gradually. With a steady bump, the elevator slowly went up. I looked at one of the mirrored walls whilst I was going up. I did look rather a mess. My hair was ruffled as though I had been dragged through bushes. My eyes had slight circles around them, making me look like one of the dead. I tried to sort my hair, but I had no success. Maybe I was getting ill.
When the doors opened, I quickly stepped out to the corridor. It was extremely quiet, only the faint sound of humming coming from the lights. I looked around for room 504. It was the first time I had done this, and I was completely lost. I didn't know my way around there because I had never really been asked to deliver for guests. I tried my luck and started to go right. The hall was slightly dark; the carpets were the same colour as the ones in the restaurant and the cleaners were good here, as not a bit of the carpet looked stained or worn. Suddenly, from around the corner, appeared a man. He was quite a tall man; he was wearing a business suit. His sandy blonde hair was combed to the side; his eyes looked very large and spaced out. Something was off about him. In fact, there was quite a lot off about him.
He looked dazed and hypnotized. He didn't even acknowledge me, but instead just kept looking straight forward in a trance. He covered his neck with his hand, and his skin was a pale pink, almost white. "Excuse me; do you know where room 504 is?" I asked uncertain that I should actually be asking someone who looked like a psychopath, but I continued to question, as he was the only one in the hall, and I honestly couldn't be bothered to search around for Sofia's room. He didn't look at me, but pointed a long bony finger towards the corner from which he just came from. I looked at the corner and then turned back to him as he walked slowly past me. "Are you alright?" I asked politely focusing on his pale skin on his face and his wide eye, "You look like you've seen a ghost or something?" The man grunted a mere groan and then nodded. I wasn't too sure whether he was nodding at the ghost part or the alright part. I watched him slowly stumble away and I didn't move until he was out of sight, then I continued towards Sofia's room, uncertain of what I had just witnessed. Things were getting strange. I didn't like how things were going at all.
When I reached her room I rapped my knuckles lightly on the door. I waited a few seconds as I heard a rumble from inside, as though someone had fell, and I raised my body, slightly alarmed. Then Sofia appeared at the door, only slightly opening the door and wiping something from her mouth with the sleeve of her jumper. She looked pleased to see me as she grinned instantly when she saw my face. It made me feel warm inside to see a nice familiar face after what had just happened as it was some reassurance of reality. I grinned back, trying to make it look as real as possible. She looked a bit of a mess, like she had had a lazy day sitting inside doing nothing. At least we didn't look too different.
"Got your mystery delivery," I said, holding the tray out towards her, trying to make a joke out of the scenario.
"Ah, thank you." She took the tray and sat it on a table beside the door in her room. The part of her room I could see was slightly messy. I could see a duvet laying on the floor and some pillows. I didn't even want to question. "So, how are you, Liam the waiter?" She leaned against the door casually, acting slightly odd, but I hadn't knowing her enough to tell whether it was a regular occurrence or something unusual. I stuttered and then froze, realising something I hadn't before. Had that man come from her room? I was frightened at how dazed and terrified he looked, and he had come from this direction. The thought did look bad and I gave a quick look at Sofia and suddenly saw how ravenous and demon-like she looked. I turned away quickly.
"I have to get back to work," I said as I walked away, trying not to sound like a scaredy-cat. As I stumbled down the hallway, I couldn't help but think I had been just a little bit rude.
I was freaked. In fact, I was more than freaked. The hall from which I came from was now empty. The man who I saw earlier, the dazed, zombie guy, was out of sight, but sadly not out of mind. I needed to get off of this floor. I desperately poked any button to get me to the ground floor, and before I knew it, I was back in the restaurant, looking pale and out of breath. Lara looked at me with a laugh, not knowing of how freaked I actually was of the situation.
"Oh, someone looks out of breath, been having a good time?" At least I knew now Lara was never ashamed to talk about sex in public, especially to teenagers. I gave her a daring look and then slumped on to a bar stool, my hands shaking wildly. Lara studied me closely, her smile fading away and replaced by a serious glare and then she put her hand over mine in an attempt to comfort me. "Are you okay? What happened?" I shook my head and tried to act normal as I knew eyes were starting to grow on me. Lara instantly became very serious and she pulled me in the direction of the door and I didn't have a choice whether I wanted to talk about it or not.
"What?"
"We're going outside for some fresh air, and by the looks of you, you need it." I didn't object, mainly because I didn't have the strength. When we got outside, Lara pulled out a cigarette and lit it. She offered me one, but I refused as I didn't smoke. This so far, wasn't helping me, because now I was even colder than before. Lara took a few puffs of her cigarette and then let out a small sigh. "The Smith's, their different from you or me," she began, looking about the partly littered alley. "I know it's a hard thing to live with, but we just have to accept who or what they are."
"And what are they exactly," I said that a bit too sharp, but Lara knew I wasn't angry at her. I was surprised that Lara knew anything about the Smith's, but after all she was one of the main people who were involved with the hotel, so I guessed she must have had some sort of meeting with them. She shrugged her shoulders and smoked some more and there was a long pause between us whilst she breathed in the smoke.
"Who knows? I've been trying to find that out for years. Even before they were here, many waiters and waitresses had to go up to that room, and some of them even quit after it. One day, for a laugh, I opened the lid off one of the trays to see what was in it." Her face went pale then and she shook her head. I didn't know if I wanted to ask the question that was on my mind, but it was just too tempting.
"What was in it?"
"A dead cat. It lay on the dish lying in its own blood." I almost vomited, and had to turn away and cover my mouth just in case. I was glad now that I hadn't opened the dish earlier.
"That's sick! Why would someone do that?"
"I have no idea. Psychopaths maybe? Whatever their reason I'm pretty sure it's not human."
"so do you think the previous owners were the same thing as the Smith's if people had to go up to that room before?" She just looked down and nodded silently. "Wait," I turned to her quickly, "why haven't you left this job yet then?"
"Because, I was too scared to. Plus, this job was my life. Would you give up on something you worked your whole life for, just because you saw a dead cat?" I was about to say yes, but Lara didn't want to be argued with, so I let it slip back. I shook my head in response.
"So what? Do you think they are something other than human, like some other life form?" I tried not to giggle at such a ridiculous question I had asked. Lara didn't laugh.
"Maybe." My face went serious, and I felt fear building up in my stomach. "Look, I've told you too much already. Just ignore the Smith's and do your job. That way, we might get through this nightmare we all live in." Lara stubbed her cigarette on the wall and started to walk back inside.
"Lara," I called her back. "I saw a man up their today. He was pale and covering his neck. He looked deranged." She didn't answer, but stopped and nodded her head to let me know she had acknowledged me. Maybe that was something to do with them too.
