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Soft, afternoon sunlight shined off glass and metal as the sun made its slow decent through the light purple and orange sky. Dark orange and red leaves drifted on the brisk wind, flying through spread out buildings and over countless people. Echoes of greetings and bits of conversations could be heard throughout this small city but not loud enough to be heard through the miles of trees and mountains that surrounded the area.
On top of one those mountains and among the tall trees with fading leaves, a young woman stood with her bark-colored skin to the warm sun while leaning to the left against a hand-carved black walnut cane. Her black curly hair was currently tied tightly in a bun but strands had escapes and whipped the sides of her face. A thick dark green cloak settled behind her as it was tied loosely around her neck and contracted against her bright yellow tank top and light blue jean shorts that reached about mid-thigh. Her bare feet were covered in dirt, making them even darker and blending into the rich soil. Scars dotted her skin like comets and a galaxy had settled on her left knee, which was currently throbbing in pain.
“It hasn’t changed.” A small smile rested on her lips, her forest green eyes staring down at the metal cluster that gathered in the middle of the forest and outlined by ageless mountains. Moving away from the ledge, she leaned most of her weight against her cane, her left knee throbbing with step she took. Sighing, she took one last look at the growing city and started the long walk back to it.
“Did you have a lovely walk, Ms. Candor? It is the perfect weather for it!” The receptionist, an older lady with graying hair, spoke out to the young woman as she walked through the sliding glass doors.
“Yes, I did. Thank you for recommending the trail.” The hotel was small but big enough for it to be a popular tourist stop and even had a decent size pool and twenty-four hour bar. The Forest Hotel was easily one of Ayana Candor’s favorite places to stay at when she had the itch to travel somewhere. She had been here so many times; every staff member knew her name and the hotel always gave her the same room any time she visited. Walking past a young man with blinding white hair, she walked into her room, one of the few that were on the ground floor and was at the end of the hall near the exit. Instead of finding comfort in the familiar room and relaxing, she found a corpse bleeding from the countless cuts made on their body onto the light brown carpet.
“Aw, poor carpet. I guess I should tell Mindy.” Ayana walked back to the front desk with her phone in hand and even though the walk was short, her knee sill throbbed in protest. Back at the front desk, Ayana calmly told the receptionist, Mindy, that “there is currently a bleeding corpse in my room so could you please get someone to remove it and the blood stains as soon as possible?” Needless to say, that did not go over well as Mindy paled and called the police without giving a response. The very tired and sore woman only sighed as she watched the panic-filled phone call and spent the next ten minutes waiting for the police.
One the police finally did arrive, Ayana’s knee hurt even more and she was getting more impatient by the minute. She just wanted to lie down and relax as she read one of the many books she brought along.
Instead of heading straight to her room and asking her questions later, the police hounded her question after question before she finally broke. She was leaning heavily against her cane, her knee swelling with each passing minute, and her answers become strained and short.
“Just go to my room yourself and stop asking me useless questions.” Her comment had silence the entire room without the need to raise her voice. The police did as she commanded with brief instructions on where her room was while she handed them her key. However, they came back a few minutes later with confusion and slight annoyance clear on their faces.
“There is no body, ma’am.” This was followed by a flare of anger on her part and even more questioning on her mental well-being. They even had the gall to ask if she was on any medication. Ayana barely withheld her anger to respond with a curt no. Finally getting the hint that their presence was no longer wanted nor needed, the police left a shaky receptionist and a furious African.
“Is- Is there anything I could do to help, Ms. Candor?” Mindy stuttered, still shaking from the last nerve racking thirty minutes. Ayana responded with a slight shake of her head and started the walk to her room, the grip on her cane tight and slide her phone back into her back pocket. She stopped in front of her room, taking a deep breathe before unlocking the door and walking in.
Just like the police said, there was no body. Even the blood stains had mysteriously disappeared. She circled around the room, the carpet squishing under her feet that made her slightly grimace at the feeling. Sighing, she decided it wasn’t worth ruining her knee even more when there was more evidence against her than for the truth. A night’s rest would do her good in order to figure out what exactly happened. Tomorrow. This was a vacation after all.
The next day was spent relaxing at the pool side, laying in a chair while being warmed by the bright autumn sun and getting a chance to read through over half her book. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t paying attention to the people around her. Oh, no. She knew everyone that stayed at the hotel and who went where during the day. One person she was keeping her dark green eyes on was a pale skinned man that kept appearing at the swimming pool and bar, rotating every couple hours. Those were the only places he visited besides his room, where is which she was now trying to find out.
Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long before he left the pool around three in the afternoon and walked right past the bar. Closing her book, Ayana grabbed her cane from beside her seat and started to calmly follow the white haired man. Rubbing an acorn in her jean pocket, she followed her target to the same hall her room is on and ended up at the room right across her room. Eyes narrowed, she decided today was not the day to deal with this and turned to walk into her room. Next thing she knew, pain rang through her head and everything went dark.
Ayana woke up to a sharp pain in the back of her head and a bright light searing into her eyes. Blinking, she tried to move her arms or any limb really, but found herself tied up to a chair. Very tightly. The rope didn’t budge at all when she attempted to at least loosen her bonds but nothing worked.
Sighing, she looked up and found the man was following for the entire day sitting in a chair about a foot in front of her. Ayana looked up at the ceiling as if to plead for strength and patience before speaking.
“Are you going to threaten me now? Question me why I was following you? Please do go right ahead but do know that none of your imitation tactics will work.” She would have continued on to a rant but was stopped short by a knife suddenly being put to her throat. Ayana rose one dark eyebrow and looked up at the now very angry face of the ghost like man.
“How?” The man’s voice was gravelly from what Ayana assumed was under-use and rolled her eyes in response.
“It was fairly simple to be honest. The white hair on the body and the very familiar cut marks all over the very familiar body. Along with your habit of being near the top two places with the most places, it wasn’t that difficult to figure out who murdered the man who you left in my room. Yes. I know who you are and you who killed. Feel lucky I didn’t show the police the pictures I took with my phone because I know you don’t even exist in any government system. I wonder why. Oh, that’s right. Me! Now, take your awful knife away from me. I will not be killed by such poor quality craftsmanship.” At the end of her very long rant, the man even sighed and moved the knife away from her neck.
“Why, thank you. Now, I have some questions-” She was cut short when she felt a shearing pain down her right arm, nearly blacking out from the sudden pain. Tears gathered in her eyes as she heard two words before her consciousness faded.
“Stop. Talking” The man garbled out before slicing her other arm. He said something else but the darkness already creeped at the edges and swallowed her whole.
Ayana woke up with a gasp. Glancing around frantically, her breathing slowed down a bit as she realized she was back in her own bedroom in her own house in the middle of nowhere. Clutching at her arm, the scar scratched her palm and the memories weighed heavy on her chest. Taking in deep breaths, she looked up at the vine covered ceiling and listened to every plant in her house breathe. The feeling of blood on her hands didn’t go away, however, and she grimaced.
“Never again.”