Vacancy

by B. Groves

  She placed the car in park and turned off the engine. She shrugged thinking she didn’t really have a choice now; she had to stay. The snow was too thick and heavy to drive through and she wasn’t about to drive back to the rest stop.

  Lacey exited her car and turned her gaze to the front door. A neon vacancy sign flashed in the bay window.

  Lacey grabbed her bag from the back seat and carefully made her way to the front door. She passed one room with a car sitting in front of the door, but mostly covered in snow.

  The curtains to the room were pulled back slightly with the lamps casting a soft glow onto the gathering snow near the door.

  Lacey couldn’t control her curiosity as she passed the room.

  She did a quick glance and saw heads turned towards the older television that looked off, but Lacey didn’t stop to look closer. It was none of her business what these people were doing in their room.

  Lacey moved onto the front door that had the blinking vacancy sign on the left.

  This must be the lobby.

  Lacey frowned, noticed some kind of scratch marks going halfway down the door. She put her hand out and traced the marks, thinking it might have been a bear, but they seemed too small. They almost looked like human nails.

  Lacey tried to peer closer to the scratch marks when a voice made her jump and quickly turn around.

  “Can I help ya?”

  Standing near one of the outside lights was a woman holding an ax.

  Chapter 4

  Lacey’s eyes went from the ax to the woman carrying it and her heart sank into her stomach. She didn’t know what to reply to the woman.

  Snow fell on an older woman, perhaps early sixties, with silvery hair peeking out from a flannel cap.

  A large flannel jacket hung off a small frame, and Lacey thought how strange it was that her blue eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. She wore gloves and in one hand held the ax, and in the other held two pieces of firewood.

  Lacey relaxed when she spotted the firewood.

  The woman eyed her and Lacey found her voice. “Yes. My husband made a reservation for me. Lacey Marshall.”

  The woman grunted something and walked past Lacey to open the door to the house.

  “Come in,” she said, waiting for Lacey to follow her inside.

  She held the door open the rest of the way for the woman to slip inside.

  Lacey stepped inside behind her to what looked like a small office area.

  Lacey closed the door behind her and turned to around to gaze around the reception area.

  Without the fireplace lit in the corner, the reception area might have stayed dark.

  The woman maneuvered around a table and a set of chairs.

  Lacey also noticed the outline of an old sofa, and a grandfather clock sat in the corner of the room, ticking away.

  The woman dropped the wood and the ax by the fireplace and walked over to a large wooden desk.

  Lacey waited as she mumbled about hating snow and turned on a dim lamp to illuminate the room.

  The woman pulled a book out of from under the desk, opened it, and turned it towards Lacey. She then brought out one of those old-fashioned credit card machines and scribbled on a notebook.

  Lacey almost laughed at the imprint machine. She tried to find a computer but none were around.

  “Name, address, phone number,” The woman said pointing to the book while holding out her hand for Lacey’s payment.

  Her curtness surprised Lacey, but she said nothing, it was only one night and she was too tired to care as she fumbled around for her credit card and then handed it to the woman.

  Lacey had to squint to sign her name and all her other information in the dim light. She wondered if the other guests had the same situation.

  Lacey found an empty line and filled in the information. She placed the pen back on the notebook when something caught her eye.

  She placed her finger on the line above hers and noticed the date.

  Even in the dim light, the last date of a guest read a year ago. Exactly one year ago. Same day.

  How odd.

  Lacey looked up from the book and said, “It seems your current guests forgot to sign their names.”

  The woman looked up from the old-fashioned credit card machine and peered at Lacey.

  “What do you mean?”

  The question surprised her. “I was just… saying.. that there are other guests here, and it looks like they didn’t sign in as you told me too.”

  Lacey wasn’t one to tell anyone how to run their business, but she thought it was odd that the other people in the room she passed by hadn’t signed the book as she did.

  “Oh,” the woman said.

  She glanced at the book and shrugged. “I’ll get ‘em in the morning.”

  Why was she the only one forced to sign the guestbook?

  Lacey shrugged it off.

  Not her business, not her problem.

  Lacey signed the credit card receipt as the woman instructed and the woman placed a key into her hand.

  “You’re in room two,” she said. “Breakfast is 7 AM sharp. Checkout is 11 AM.”

  Lacey shifted around and peered out the window. The snow still blew around outside. “What if I need an extra night? Can you accommodate me from the weather conditions?”

  The woman followed Lacey’s gaze. “Sure, but we only serve breakfast.”

  Lacey turned back to the woman and nodded. “How about vending machines? An ice machine?”

  The woman pointed to her right. “All the way down at the edge of the rooms.”

  Lacey nodded as the woman handed her a gold key.

  She picked up her overnight bag looking forward to a hot shower and bed. She would call Scott to tell him she’s fine once she got into her room.

  Lacey was about to exit through the door when the woman spoke up. “We have a curfew here. Don’t want no trouble.”

  Lacey bit her lip. Okay, they have a curfew. Maybe they had trouble in the past with guests.

  “What’s the curfew?”

  “Ten.”

  Lacey scoffed. “I’ll be sound asleep by ten, so no worries.”

  Lacey turned and walked towards the door. She hadn’t been sure, but she thought she heard the woman mumble, “Good, you’ll stay safe.”

  Chapter 5

  Lacey ignored the woman’s mumbling and walked over to her room, careful not to spy on her neighbors. A quick glance told Lacey they hadn’t moved from the table.

  They haven’t moved? That’s weird.

  Scott had sent her two text messages while she was filling out the paperwork for the room and she unlocked the door room number two so she could call him.

  Lacey’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she fiddled around the wall until she found the light switch.

  The light hissed for a few seconds before settling into a dull glow over the room.

  Lacey dropped her bag on the older table and shut the door behind her and made sure it was locked.

  She hit Scott’s name to call him back.

  “Glad you made it,” he said with relief.

  Lacey shrugged out of her jacket while switching ears to talk to her husband. “I’m fine, but the way it’s snowing, I’m not sure I’ll get out tomorrow.”

  “I checked on that, it’s supposed to end in about an hour, but we’ll check again in the morning to make sure the roads are decent,” Scott answered.

  Lacey smiled and asked, “Did they finally go to bed?”

  “Oh, they went to bed, but are they going to sleep? That’s the question.”

  Lacey chuckled but realized she was shivering. She walked over to the window and found a small heater. She realized it was off and turned the switch to on.

  The heater made some kind of weird grinding noise, sputtered, and warm air blasted her in the face.

  At least it worked, she thought.

  “How’s Foxworth House?” Scott asked.

  Lacey looked around. The room
was small. Even smaller than she first thought as she ran a finger over the table she set her bag on and found a thin layer of dust.

  She walked over to the bed and checked under the blanket. The sheets seemed clean but needed a wash to freshen them up. There was a weird stain on the wall near the headboard and Lacey ignored it.

  There weren’t the usual motel freebies sitting in a basket near the bathroom sink. Only a lonely bar of soap. The towels looked yellowed and old and another coat of dust decorated the bathroom sink.

  Lacey sighed. It was only for one night.

  “It’ll do for tonight,” she answered.

  Scott chuckled. “That rough, huh?”

  Lacey walked back over to her bag to grab her own supplies and grinned. “Remember that place we stayed at in Seattle?”

  “Worse?”

  “Same.”

  Scott laughed and then turned serious.

  “Please be careful.”

  “I will but I think I’m good because the owner or the clerk or whatever she was said there’s a curfew.”

  “A curfew?” Scott sounded incredulous at first but the phone went silent. “She might have a good reason, though. She might have had problems with other guests.”

  “True,” Lacey said. “I told her I’d be in bed by then, anyway.”

  “Call me in the morning when you wake up and we’ll check on the roads,” Scott said.

  “Okay. I love you,” Lacey said.

  “I love you, too.”

  Scott hung up and Lacey placed the phone on the table. She turned around and sighed debating whether she wanted to test the shower.

  Lacey walked into the bathroom and turned on the water. She cringed when she heard the pipes shake and the water sputter from the nozzle before it sprayed onto her hand.

  She turned the rusty knob until she found the warm water.

  It works. The water’s clear and hot, so it looked like she would get a shower after all.

  Lacey left the water running while she undressed to make sure the water stayed clear and hot.

  Lacey stepped into the shower and let the hot water wash away the stress of driving home. She cringed when she saw the mold growing in the corners of the shower, but decided not to complain because it was only one night and she would never stay at this place again.

  She thought maybe it was time to face her fear of flying head on to avoid these kinds of situations in the future.

  Lacey exited the shower and grabbed the towel. It was old, stiff, and covered in dust.

  She sighed and threw the towel into the tub, and walked out of the bathroom. Thankfully, she was always prepared and grabbed a towel out of her overnight bag to dry off.

  As she dried off her gaze drifted around the room. She realized the TV looked like it came from the 1980s and she couldn’t locate a remote. She stood up, still wrapped in her towel, and tried to turn it on. The TV came on but the only thing she watched was the static dancing across the screen.

  She turned the huge knob but was met with more static.

  That explained why those people in the next room weren’t watching the TV when she checked in.

  Lacey turned the TV off and decided to go to bed.

  Lacey dressed in her usual t-shirt and sweats and pulled back the covers on the bed.

  She breathed a sigh of relief when pulling back the covers only revealed stiff white sheets and nothing jumped out at her.

  Laughing off her paranoia, Lacey walked over to the window and pulled back the curtain slightly.

  Her eyes drifted around the property. The snow had stopped much to Lacey’s relief, and the moon was now shining down on it casting an ethereal glow around the area.

  Her car wasn’t too bad. It must have stopped right when she checked in, so it would be easy cleaning in the morning.

  Her gaze settled on the car next to hers, the one she assumed belonged to her quiet neighbors.

  She hadn’t noticed before, but the car looked like it sat at an awkward angle.

  It looked like… Lacey’s eyes drifted to the bottom of the car, but couldn’t see much with her car blocking the view, but she thought those people had flat tires.

  Maybe she would offer them some help in the morning if they needed it.

  Wait. Another thing caught her eye. A headlight looked broken.

  Again, Lacey couldn’t get a decent view because of the snow blanketing the car.

  Lacey cringed. She would panic if she had that kind of situation without Scott with her.

  Lacey shifted her gaze out to the property, she observed a building in the distance. Perhaps a shed or some small barn on the opposite side of the house.

  It would make sense since they would need to store supplies for guests.

  Lacey was about to turn away when she saw someone approaching the house from the other building.

  Lacey backed away from the curtain a bit and watched the figure move closer to the house. The moonlight reflected off a head and shoulders, but Lacey couldn’t tell if it was the woman running the place or someone else.

  The figure passed near the floodlights and Lacey only caught a glimpse of a tall figure wearing a hat and jacket.

  It looked male, but she wasn’t sure.

  She tried to squint her eyes as she watched the person make their way past the front door and into the darkness.

  She wondered if that person was another worker or the owner? Who knew?

  Lacey let the curtain fall into place.

  She yawned and decided to go to bed. She climbed in and turned on her phone, catching up on the news and anxious to leave to this place tomorrow. She was missing Scott and the kids so bad. She couldn’t bear to be another day away from them.

  She swiped to her pictures and smiled at her family. She was determined to drive home the next day.

  Lacey hadn’t realized she fell asleep until she heard a noise outside her door.

  Chapter 6

  Lacey sat up in bed, her phone slipping from her palm and hit the floor with a dull thud.

  She blinked and rubbed her eyes trying to place where the noise came from.

  She set her gaze on the window and thought she saw a figure move past the curtains.

  Lacey sat up and trying to shake away her sleep.

  Had someone been at her door?

  Lacey threw back the covers and sat up on the side of the bed. She leaned over and picked up her phone and placed it on the bedside table.

  Lacey stood up and inched her way over to the window.

  She frowned when she pulled it back the curtain. No one seemed like they were around.

  Lacey turned away from the window and shrugged. It might have been another customer checking in or her neighbors getting something.

  She didn’t know why she was so paranoid about this place. The lady was rude but never seemed threatening.

  Lacey looked at the clock on the table. It was 10:30 PM. Past the so-called curfew.

  Damn. She’d forgotten to get water out of the vending machine.

  Lacey checked the parking lot again. She licked her dry lips. She needed water.

  What was the owner going to do? Kick out a paying customer for breaking curfew and getting a drink? Lacey reasoned.

  Lacey decided she would get her drink of water. She slipped on her boots, jacket, and grabbed her keys and some cash from her handbag.

  She’d placed the room key on her keyring when she checked in earlier, so she wouldn’t misplace it.

  Lacey opened the door to her room and slipped outside. She locked the room behind her and walked briskly past her neighbors and past the door to the main office.

  She turned her head slightly and didn’t see the older woman open the door. She maneuvered around snow patches and some ice on the concrete.

  She strolled past the other room and noticed someone lounging on the bed, but she didn’t stop long enough to greet them.

  Lacey reached the edge of the rooms and rounded the corner.

  When she t
urned, she was swallowed in darkness except for the dim fluorescent lights of the older Pepsi machine sitting against the wall, half-covered in snow.