It took me a minute to realize what the ringing bell signaled. The hotel had its first resident, well not first resident, just the first since I got there. I quickly closed the wardrobe and headed down the long halls to the staircase. From the top I could make out the outline of a man with his back to me. I assume he heard me coming because he turned just as I started descending the stairs, and it would be fair to say I was a little startled by his appearance. He must have been at least 6”4’, perhaps even a little taller than that, with a grayish blue pallor to his skin, dressed in a grey evening jacket and matching pants, shiny black leather dress shoes and despite the warm summer day oddly enough, black leather gloves. To complete the look he also had a grey bowler hat. His frame was that of a walking stick, bigger around his middle with only twigs for arms and legs. His face was gaunt and long, the bags under his eyes had their own shadow, he had a slight bowing to his frame as if the weight of his bones drug him down a little and he smelled strangely of soot and smoke. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought I was looking at someone who would have once belonged in Victorian times.
“Oh hello!” I said as I straitened my blouse and tucked a strand of my auburn hair behind my ear.
“Good day M’am” He replied as he tipped his hat. “Tis a fine afternoon for adventures isn’t it.”
“Well, yes I suppose. How may we serve you today here at the Hotel Bella Muerte?” I rattled off trying to remember the exact phrasing from the rules in the letter.
“Ah yes, well, if you would be so kind, I would like a room. My special room if you please.”
I was a little confused to say the least. This man had obviously been here before, but in the letter under the section that dealt with frequent residents, there was no one that seemed to match his description.
“Yes sir we would be happy to offer you a room for your stay with us.” I replied. “And what name would I be putting on your doorplate?”
“You can put down Mr. Elberton.” He stated as he straightened up to his full height.
Mr. Elberton…..Mr. Elberton………I searched my mind for the name. Then it hit me, Mr. Elberton! He was listed under rule number 78….or was it 73…..anyways, he was listed somewhere in the letter. His note said “be sure to always give Mr. Elberton room #8. And NEVER accept his proposal for an adventure.”
I walked behind the man and around the back end of the desk and wrote down his name on the doorplate and grabbed the key to his room. After accepting payment from the man, which was oddly entirely in quarters and all of them dated 1856 surprisingly. I walked him to his room which was thankfully at the end of the first hallway, and handed him the key after opening the door. He took the key from my outstretched hand, every bone in his hands and arms creaking and protesting as he took it.
“I thank you kindly M’am, and if you are ever up for an adventure come and see me you hear.” He said as he disappeared into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.
I was left in a state of what I could only call anxious bewilderment. There was nothing wrong with this man other than he could have stood to eat a few hamburgers and drink some fattening milkshakes, yet there was something about him that just seemed off. The whole situation since I first walked through the door seemed off for that matter, and I just kept getting more strange and unusual. I walked back down the hallway and as I just had almost gotten to the stairs I heard a door open behind me. Thinking it was Mr. Elberton I turned back around to see what he needed and was met with absolutely nothing. No Mr. Elberton. No open door. Just nothing.
It didn’t quite hit me till a few hours later, after having Mr. Elberton frequently and excitedly come out from his room to invite me to go on an adventure with him at least a dozen times, that I was the only employee, and in being the only employee that meant every duty in the hotel was mine to do. From the cooking and the cleaning, to general front desk duties to the entertaining and hospitality, every single duty was mine to do. If that was true, and I knew it was as outlined by the letter, then why did I smell the most amazing smell of food that I hadn’t smelled in a long time, perhaps not since I had left home and my mother’s good dinners. That’s when it hit me that in the letter of all the literal hundred some odd duties outlined, not a single one said anything about cooking meals. But if I was the only employee…..who made the food I was getting a whiff of. Maybe Mary or Martha was here?
I quickly made it up the steps and turned at the end of the hallway. And walked to the dining room where I found the source of the delicious smell. In the dining room on the side tables was laid a full, four course meal! This left me stunned. Who had made all this food without me knowing or hearing them? I quickly walked back to the kitchen at the back of the dining hall to see if maybe there was someone there, but much to my dismay there wasn’t. The kitchen wasn’t even dirty as you would have expected it to be. I walked over to the oven and felt the outside of the glass. No warmth radiated from the appliance. Now my anxious bewilderment turned into outright anxiety. How had someone gotten by me on the way to the dining hall and made this spread without my knowledge? Was it perhaps when I had been on my phone? That just didn’t seem right. It would have taken multiple trips to have brought everything in and no one had passed by my desk.
As I stood there floundering I heard a familiar voice behind me. “Good evening M’am.”
I startled a little bit and spun around to see Mr. Elberton behind me. “Oh, good evening Mr. Elberton.”
“And a fine evening it is too. I was chased from my room by this delicious smell and came to investigate. What do we have here?” He said as he walked over to the first side table.
That was the first time I truly bothered to look and actually see what was there. Before us was a salad bowl made on the finest crystal and in it was filled to the brim with what looked like a salad, to the right of that was a large baked chicken, baked to a golden brown perfection, then there were the sides. There was of course mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, potatoes au gratin….just about every kind of potato there is to be had as if the cook couldn’t decide on any one type of potato so he just chose all of them, a big plate of brussel sprouts, no thank you, and broccoli, green beans, and asparagus. Then there was that weird desert type ice creamy stuff that is meant to “cleanse the palate”, and then last but not least the desserts. Now I love deserts as much as the next person, but the amount of desert at the table was ridiculous. There were different types of cake, multiple pies, dozens of pastries, and at least 14, I stopped counting at 14, but more than 14 types of cookies. I was dumbstruck. Everything looked and smelled wonderful but who knows where any of this stuff came from, and did I want to risk it, I thought as my mouth watered with anticipation. I hadn’t eaten lunch that day so I was pretty hungry.
“Ladies first.” said Mr. Elberton as he motioned to the table.
“I think I’m good, not feeling very hungry at the moment. “ I lied.
“Suit yourself” Mr. Elberton replied as he began to dig into the salad.
I watched as he made sure to get a little of everything, which was quite impressive to watch. I would have thought his thin, boney arm would snap in two at the weight of the plate alone but he managed it without trouble and went to sit at the closest dining table. That’s when he spoke again.
“Would you like to go on an adventure with me?” he asked raising an eyebrow.
Now, this was easily the 16th time Mr. Elberton had asked me to go on an adventure with him. All the other times he asked I politely declined, and he disappointedly walked away. I was trying to keep the rules, and the rules clearly stated to never accept his proposal for an adventure. But in that moment I had forgotten the rules, I was still freaking out over the food when I half knowingly replied,
“Yes of course.”
That was when his face lit up, and it seemed that his face grew somehow longer, and a big toothy grin played on it, and he practically jumped up from his chair.
“At last!” he exclaimed,”We shall have an adventure!”
And with that he left his food on the table and reached out his big hand with those long spindly fingers and took mine in his, and with that we took off. Down the hallways and down the stairs, out of the hotel and down the street, to what I would have considered the end of town, and then, for some reason back again. Back down the street, into the hotel etc……….and then we went directly back into the dining room. Everything was as we had left it, except for the addition of at least 40 some odd people. All dressed similarly to Mr. Elberton, in Victorian dress, chatting and laughing and overall having a good time. I entered the room with him and the crowd all stopped and stared, looking me up and down, and I suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
As people began to lean over and whisper to one another, Mr. Elberton began to talk.
“Good evening everyone, as I’m sure you have noticed we have a new guest with us tonight. Her name is……Oh my dear I’m quite afraid I don’t know your name. Perhaps you can share it with us all?”
“Um….yes….My name is……my name is Autumn.” I very sheepishly said to the large crowd.
“Ah, Autumn, a lovely name. We are all so pleased to meet you Autumn. Especially considering she is our new caretaker!” and almost as soon as the words flowed to his mouth, everyone in unison began to look from each other to me, then back again, and to my surprise everyone began to clap.
Why they were clapping I did not know yet. As soon as the clapping died down one particular lady, dressed in a beautiful, deep red, crinoline evening gown stood and spoke.
“We are so very pleased to have a caretaker once again. It’s our pleasure to have you. Now please, come and sit, have a bite to eat with us.”
I, no longer petrified by embarrassment and fear walked over to the table where the lady in red sat and Mr. Elberton walked close behind. Sitting right where we left it, right where he had been sitting before was his exact plate of food, still hot from before. He sat in his place, and I slowly eased into the only empty chair left at the table. I still had no idea what had happened or how all these people suddenly showed up, but if nothing else I was about to find out.
“Just what exactly happened?” I asked the gaunt man sitting in front of me.
“We took a little trip, nothing more nothing less.”
“But how did all these people suddenly get here? It isn’t like they all were hiding in your suitcase or just popped out of thin air.” I said sarcastically.
“Oh but they did, we all do. That’s why life is an adventure.” He replied.
I rolled my eyes incredulously. What kind of game was this man playing and why did I agree to play along? That’s when the lady in red spoke.
“Tell me Autumn, do you like it here at our fine hotel?”
“I guess I like it, I haven’t been here but a day. “
“Well, I think you’ll come to like and maybe one day appreciate this place.” She said.
“I hope so too…..but tell me, what are you all doing here and how did you get here so fast?”
She looked at me puzzled, then looked from me to Mr. Elberton. “You didn’t tell her?”
“Well I - I just assumed she already knew.” He replied slowly.
“Know what?” I asked
The lady in red looked back at me and looked me straight in the eye as she put her hand on mine.”This is a very special place, that’s why we all are here. You see….when this place was made it was built on special land, by a special man, and everything that went into building it was special as well. This hotel exists in this world for sure, yet at the same time it is not bound by regular logic and rules.”
Now I was even more confused before. “What do you mean it’s not bound by regular logic and rules?”
“This place is not in any one timeline, nor is it in any one place for long. It is everywhere and nowhere at once, and it is exists only in memory of those who have knowledge of it.” She said.
“That makes no sense. Not a single part of…..any of that makes sense.”
“Oh but it does, in fact you’ve already seen it for yourself.” She replied as she gestured to the whole room. “You just don’t know it yet, but you soon will.”
I looked around the room. All the people were no longer staring and had gone back to whatever they had been doing previously. I found it hard to believe what the lady in red had said. None of it was what I’d call a normal thought pattern. “It’s not in any one timeline, nor is it in any one for long. It is everywhere and nowhere at once, and it exists only in memory of those who have knowledge of it.” That’s when it hit me harder than a ton of bricks. I surveyed the room once again, looking at each person, the way they dressed, the time period the room seemed to be set in, and then I looked between the lady in red and Mr. Elberton who both looked like they were awaiting the very question I was about to ask. “What year is it?”
They both laughed then, looking at each other as they did. Once the laughter had died down a bit, the lady in red responded. “Oh you poor thing, you look as if you are a deer caught in a spotlight. You my dear are currently in 1856.”
“And what a wonderful year it is too!” Mr. Elberton added.
I felt sick, I felt dizzy, my mind swimming with everything that had transpired in the last few moments. “What do you mean 1856? It’s not 1856 it is 2013! It’s June 25th 2013. I know. I had it circled in red on my calendar this morning. How could we have possibly gone back in time in a few short minutes just by walking down the street?” I directed towards Mr. Elberton.
“You said you wanted an adventure and an adventure is what I gave you. You don’t always get to pick the destination of course.”
I was dumbstruck. Here I was with a strange man, whose first name I didn’t even know, at least I didn’t think Elberton was his first name, but who really knows? He had somehow taken me back in time, to 1856 apparently, and I had no idea how, and I had no way of getting back to my era. What was I to do? I slowly rose from the table, still looking at Mr. Elberton. “I would like to go back home, back to June 25th at precisely the moment we left.”
Mr. Elberton looked at me blankly, then slowly said. “I can’t.”
I snorted. “What do you mean, you can’t or you won’t?”
“I can’t. I can take you back to a similar timeframe, perhaps even to the same week, but never an exact time. That’s not how it works.” He said.
“Well……then take me back then as close as possible. I want to go home.” Home…..strange that in the few short hours of working at the hotel I had come to consider it home.
“Very well then.” He said as he shook his head. “Very well.”
He rose from the table, and bid the lady in red goodbye and goodnight, and started to walk toward the door. As I rose to follow him, the lady in red called out to me. “Goodbye and goodnight, I look forward to seeing you again, and I have a feeling it will be sooner than later.”
I nodded in her general direction and then walked over to meet the gaunt man standing in the doorframe. He took my hand once again, colder than ice was his hand and I shuddered just feeling it. He then same as before dragged me from the room, down the hall and the staircase, past all the buildings in town and toward the very edge in town. This time I wasn’t stumbling behind him and I saw his reach out as if he was grabbing something, then he speedily ran us back to the hotel. Once we got back inside he let go of my hand and walked to the middle of the room. I looked around and to my surprise no one else was there, no loud clinking of plates coming from upstairs, no loud idle chattering, nothing. I looked back at Mr. Elberton, and asked. “So…that’s it? We’re back? Just like that?”
“Yes, just like that.” He said with a smile. “I think I’ll head up to my room for the night if you don’t mind. Perhaps another day we can go on another adventure that’s more satisfactory. In the meanwhile, I hope you rest well. Goodnight.” And with that he begun his trek up the stairs.
I looked at the grandfather clock in the lobby, it read 12:13pm. I didn’t know how long I had been gone or what time we had “left” but it was certainly late now. I decided to call it a night and head up to my room, but before I did I finished locking up and the other end of night duties. I had had enough surprises for the night. I headed up the stairs and went down the long halls. The place seemed unfamiliar still, that’s when I noticed, right there on the wall at the end of the second hall, a picture. To be more precise a picture of the dining hall during some large gathering. The photo spanned the entirety of the room. At first glance there was nothing remarkable in the photo, that’s when my eye caught a floor length, crimson red dress. I took a closer look at the photo, that’s when I felt my breath hitch. The photo was like any other black and white photo, with the exception of the lady in red. Her dress was the only thing of color in the whole picture. Next to her in the photo on her right side was Mr. Elberton, dressed all in grey, but on her left was, well, me. Complete with the out of style clothes for the time period and puzzled expression I’m sure I had had for most of the night on my face. Under the photo was a placard that read:
Midsummer’s Evening Soiree 1856
It took a couple of more moments before my breath returned to a normal rhythm. How, and when was my photo taken and by who? I didn’t remember anyone having taken my photo at the evening party. I tried to shake the violated feeling I now had and turned slowly away from the photo. Continuing down the hall I came to my door and I slowly opened the door. After shutting and locking it I fell in a slump onto the bed. I reached over and set the clock to go off in the morning at 7am, and laid there staring mindlessly at the ceiling. Before I knew it my eyelids began to droop. Not realizing how tired I had become, almost as if I had walked a hundred thousand miles that day, I quickly fell asleep, only to be startled awake by some loud THUMP.
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