And Back

“What the hell…” The goat man wore a silky black suit, the kind I always saw when heading to some rich client’s stupidly big mansion. His white button-up shirt did nothing to hide the massive muscles underneath, the kind that specialized in running through brick walls.

“Welcome to the Furniture Hotel. Do you have a reservation with us?”

His fur was midnight black, with two jet black horns sticking out from his head, and red eyes that matched his tie.

“Reservation? Where the hell are we?” I took a cautious step forward. I can’t sense any traps, and nothing here feels like an illusion…

“He looks like a challenge,” Violet whispered from beside me.

“You think?” It was obvious from a glance. Even combined, we didn’t stand a chance against him.

“To answer your question again, this is the Furniture Hotel. May I assume you don’t have a reservation with us?”

“Sure.” I walked up to the desk. “What should we call you?”

“Asmodai. Would you like to reserve a room? There are no fees for those here to take my master’s core.”

“How kind…” I quietly took a step back. I should have figured the real challenge would start now.

There were more stories about trying to steal god’s cores than stars in the night sky, each more insane than the last. Sure, the vast majority were probably fake, but just the verifiable ones were enough to make me wary.

“Give us a room for two, Asmodai,” Violet said.

“Absolutely. We have no guests at the moment, so you may choose whichever floor you desire.”

“Second, please,” I said, throwing out a random number. “How many floors are there?”

“Hmm…” Asmodai thought for a second. “I am not sure, truthfully. Please wait a second as I grab your key.”

“Thanks.”

Asmodai disappeared into the back.

“What now?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” Violet admitted. ”We can’t take him in a fight, and I didn’t get the sense that he’s leading us directly into a trap either.”

“Directly.” I paused for a second. “What kind of god puts a hotel right in front of their core?”

“A reckless one, and they are known for that.”

“True…” But that doesn’t feel right. We have to think about what kind of god we’re dealing with. Reckless sure, but they also love throwing things at a wall and seeing what sticks. “Or, one who is testing how well their defenses work.”

“You’re saying we’re guinea pigs? I doubt it,” Violet said. “No matter the reason, we’re here to give it a shot.”

“Well, it doesn't hurt to ask,” I said, right as Asmodai reemerged, gold key in hand. “Why did your master make this place?”

“A fine question, Ms. Mika, one I am not permitted to answer.”

“Well it was worth a shot,” I said. Wait, I don’t remember telling him my name.

“Please, follow me.”

Asmodai led us up a set of marble stairs and down the leftmost hall. It wasn’t particularly different from any other luxury hotel, almost too normal if anything, with the rows of identical wooden doors on either side of us.

“How many guests do you have?” Violet broke the silence. Her hand still rested against her sword.

“At the moment, just you both. We had two others, but they were… forcefully checked out not too long ago. Two girls just like you actually.”

Well that confirms it. Clearly, our fedora wearing man stopped at multiple tables that night.

But that just made me more concerned. There weren't any amateurs at our guild.

“Here we go, room forty.” Asmodai stopped at a seemingly random door. “Food and any supplies you need will be delivered to your room overnight.”

“Room forty?” Violet ran her hand across the smooth wood. “I thought this was the second floor?”

“That it is.” Without further explanation, Asmodai handed over two identical keys. “Make sure to keep these close. I don’t have any spares if you were to lose a key.”

“T-Thanks.” The key felt abnormally cold to the touch.

“Ensure you stay in your room overnight; things can get a little… strange once the clock passes twelve.”

Asmodai took a few steps back, then paused. “Also, Ms. Violet, I would recommend not being so overt about keeping your blade at the ready. Violence won't help you from here on.”

Before we had a chance to respond, Asmodai swiftly turned back and walked away.

“Things can get strange, how helpful," I sighed and stuck my key in the door.

The smell of black licorice, again…

Inside, the eggshell white room was filled with more of the same luxury decor. A white king-sized bed sat in the middle, with a simple dark oak desk and office chair right beside. If it wasn't for the complete lack of windows, there wouldn’t be a single thing out of place.

“What time is it?” He did say not to leave our rooms past twelve, just… how much do I trust that not to be a trap?

“Ten, at least according to the clock,” Violet pointed toward the bedframe. Sure enough, a generic silver clock was hung right above the pillows.

“But do we trust that clock?”

“My phone says the same thing.” Violet tossed her bag on the soft bed. “Good enough for you?”

“For now.” We have two hours till then.

As much as it hurt to admit, after our long trek through the jungle, a quick rest sounded amazing.

“Screw it, nap time,” I collapsed on the bed. There's nothing dangerous in the room, even my eyes can tell that. “We’ll do better tackling the core while rested.”

“If you say so.” Violet sat down at the desk as I collapsed onto the soft, fluffy bed. For now at least, the core was a later problem.

                                                                                 * * *

“Wah!” I jolted awake to near absolute darkness.

My hands brushed across the same, familiar soft bed. “Where the hell…” I eventually was able to fumble my way to the bedside lamp. Click

The room lights jolted on.

It was the exact same room, with the same luxury furnishings and complete lack of windows. My bag was still in the exact same place I’d tossed it.

“What time is it?” I muttered, turning toward the clock above my head.

Four in the morning…

Asmodai never bothered to specify when it was safe to go into the halls after midnight passed, but I had a pretty strong feeling four a.m. was a bit before that time.

“Violet? You up?”

Nothing.

I frowned, looking around the room. “Violet?”

Yet there wasn’t a single sign of her in the entire room. The desk was empty, the bed only had me, and her bag had completely disappeared. “You have got to be kidding me?
There wasn’t that much of a question about where she went. The only question is how long has it been since she left.

I leaped up from the bed and rummaged through my bag. One gun, phone, and digital compass later, I stood next to the door.

My heart beat against my chest. I had a rough feeling that the second I stepped through the door, there wasn’t any going back. “Here goes nothing…”

I opened the door.

When I peeked my head outside, nothing looked particularly strange. “Same hallway, same carpet, same lights… It should be fine.”

I took a step outside, letting the door close behind me. “Still nothing…” There weren’t any shifting halls, no weird aberrations. Maybe Asmodai had overexaggerated?
Whatever, let me go back and grab the map. Can’t hu–

I twisted back around.

Only to see a blank wall.

“What the hell?” I felt the wall where our room’s door had just been. “Nothing…”

“Whatever, what's a little missing door?” I turned back toward the hall, casually pulling out my pistol.

The hall was dead silent as I slowly walked toward the lobby. Absent was the soft creaking of my footsteps against the marble, the shuffling of anything living. Or dead.

“Violet?” I called as I reached the end of the hall.

No response.

A shiver started to creep up my spine. There's something about the ambiance that feels off, like whoever built this place got ninety-nine percent of the way there then had no idea how to finish.

It was little things: the hall lights felt the slightest bit too high, the marble was ever so misaligned on the ground.

“Violet, this isn’t funny anymore!” Who was I kidding? This was Violet I was talking about; she didn't know what a sense of humor was.

Creek

I froze. From my left, a door that hadn’t been there seconds before opened.

That damn smell again… black licorice

There was no way in hell Violet was anywhere near that room. She hadn’t been there! She didn’t even know about that night.

But… that same force from the cave seemed to draw me toward the room. That same shimmering, almost holy force that I just couldn’t shake.

Something tells me the source of that putrid smell is in there…

With one last deep breath, I gently opened the plain wooden door and stepped inside.

“I…”

...

I ran out, slamming the door shut.

What is this place… I need to leave, I need to go, I need to get out of here! I–

BOOM

The building shook as I locked my hands around the nearest doorknob. The door I’d just left had disappeared, leaving a gaping, oozing crack in the wall.

Black licorice, again…

“Screw this,” I dashed back out of the hall in a blind rush. “I am not doing this today! Not now, not–”

The floor disappeared, no, rotated below my feet.

“Help! What the hell–” Rows upon rows of identical doors flashed by as I accelerated downward toward another oozing pile of that same black acid.

I don’t have my grappling hook. I just have my gun and a compass. What the hell am I supposed to do with a compass!?

The walls were too far away to kick off of, and the marble that at one point was the floor had cracked and crinkled like torn up paper mache.

I pointed toward the marble floor and unloaded my gun.

BANG BANG BANG

The marble shattered, revealing more of the gross, slimy, black goop behind it.

Please please please please please please

I closed my eyes and braced for impact.

And then the clock struck five.

“W-what?” I gingerly opened my eyes after said impact never came.

The hotel hall stretched out in both directions, with the same, boring wooden doors and solid marble floors.

I brushed my hand against the walls. Solid as a rock.

“That was…” I didn’t really have words to describe it. I’d been on weird missions before, dangerous ones, but nothing that could ever come close to describing this place.

Maybe those stories about stealing god’s cores weren’t so far-fetched after all.

“M-Mika?”

“Violet?” Hearing her familiar voice shocked me back to reality. “Where were you?”

She leaned against the end of the hall, with her black hair in an absolute mess and soaked in sweat. Tears covered her jacket from head to toe.

“I… Went to explore the entrance a few hours ago. Asmodai never told us the halls were filled with fucking monsters at night?”

“Monsters?” I asked. But I haven’t seen a soul other than you.

“What do you mean? They’ve been all over!”

“Where are they now?”

“I don’t know,” she scowled. “They all disappeared once it turned five.”

“That’s probably when the hotel ‘opens,’ at least that’s my guess.” Asmodai hadn’t given us an opening time, but everything locked into place if I was right. 

But still, I didn't see a soul. Something is seriously wrong with this place. “Did you end up making it to the entrance?”

Violet scoffed. “Barely, couldn’t get a good look.”

“Let’s go back to the room for now, clean ourselves up a bit. I don’t trust Asmodai, but I don’t think he has directly lied to us yet."

“Like you said earlier, directly.” Violet stumbled forward, grabbing onto a doorknob to steady herself. “Fine. But we are not taking another break.”

“Works for me,” I shrugged, still barely able to smell that horrific scent. “I’ll do whatever it takes to not come back here.”

And I have a feeling that win or lose, we won’t be entering room forty again.