Room 15 (standard:horror, 1548 words)
Author: Lev821	Added: Oct 15 2009	Views/Reads: 3207/2039	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A metal detector finds the key to a room in an abandoned hotel. Should it be investigated?

As the wind carved its way swiftly across the sand and rocks of the
Wirral side of the River Dee, seagulls tried desperately to maintain 
some sort of stability as they circled in the air, and a few dogs that 
were out still played and jumped around as though not affected. One of 
those dogs, ‘Baron', a three-year old border-collie sniffed around the 
rocks and pebbles for nothing in particular, its owner near the 
shoreline, concentrating hard on the metal detector that he slowly 
swept over the ground. With his earphones on, he, like the dogs, barely 
noticed the wind, even though it tried to push him off balance. Jimmy 
Reynolds, was 52, and had been an avid user of metal detectors for 14 
years, travelling all over the country, and sometimes abroad in the 
pursuit of hidden treasures, of which he had found quite substantial 
amounts, from ancient roman coins, to gem-encrusted jewellery. He had 
walked this area many times, as he only lived just less than a mile 
away, his detector having swept over the sands time and again, hoping 
that perhaps he had missed something, or that maybe something had 
recently been buried, but he could spend hours wandering up and down, 
the dog enjoying it as it played and explored everytime as if it had 
never been there before. 

Jimmy was the type of man who had to buy the extra-large in clothing,
and sometimes even they would stretch at the seems and rip. He had 
attended many lose weight programmes, but usually gave up after around 
a week, the temptation of junk food simply too much for him. He was 
balding with uncontrollable dark hair above his ears and around the 
back of his head, and the wind tore at it with its intensity, but Jimmy 
simply continued sweeping the detector over the sand. 

After an hour and a half, with Baron sniffing around the shoreline, and
Jimmy deep in concentration on the dry sand where it was difficult to 
walk, near a pathway entrance, he heard the familiar beeping sound, 
indicating that there was something below. He always brought a trowel 
with him when he went detecting, and was soon on his knees digging 
away. 

After nearly a metre, and a few stares from passers-by, he found what it
was that the detector had discovered. It was a key, a rusty, three-inch 
key with a label attached. He picked it out and wiped the label clean. 
‘Room 15. The Dahlia hotel' it said, and familiarity began to grow in 
Jimmy's mind. The dahlia hotel, he thought. Where was that? Then he 
remembered. It was around two miles away, hardly noticed because it was 
just another empty building of no significance, its heyday long gone, 
its windows boarded-up, and decay and rot having set in soon after it 
had closed. Jimmy thought he knew where it was, and pocketed the key, 
whistled to Baron who looked up with concern on his face as if to say: 
‘What? We're not going already are we?'. 

As his home was enroute to the hotel, he dropped the gear off, except
his trowel, and set about trying to find the hotel. With Baron by his 
side, not needing a lead, they eventually reach the area where he 
thought it was, only to find himself staring at an estate agents. 
Another wander around the roads, and he found it along a quiet side 
road. It was a small place with only three floors, sandwiched between 
the rear of a bakers, and an apartment building. Its red doors were 
firmly locked, and he knew there was no way in that way. He wasn't sure 
why he wanted to try the key, as he was guessing that it would simply 
open into a normal hotel room with dusty furniture and a view of the 
backyard, yet, somebody was responsible for putting the key where he 
had found it. Was it somebody who had thrown it away in haste? Was it a 
tenant who had to bury the key so nobody could get inside? If so, why? 
Jimmy wanted to find out, so found himself around the rear of the 
place, surprised to find a backdoor open that led him to the hotel's 
yard . He was unsurprised to find a door locked, but it was however, 
rather loose on its hinges. Jimmy knew he had to work fast, as he 
guessed somebody from another back window could probably well be 
snooping at him, telephone in one hand. It took five minutes of him 
trying to be quiet, and Baron pacing around behind him as though he 
knew that this was illegal. With his strength, and nearly breaking his 
trowel, he wrested the door open, and soon found his way into the foyer 
next to the dust-laden reception counter. Through various uncovered 
parts of windows, and cracks in the boarding, minimal light pierced 
through, creating enough light for him to see the stairs, and basically 
to see where he was going. They creaked as he walked slowly up, the dog 
racing ahead of him. It seemed to get darker, but still, he walked 
along the soft carpet, trying to find room 15. 


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