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stupidrottencat · 5 months

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The church's bells tolled as a woman in a nun's habit ambled passed the wailing and grieving family of yet another unfortunate victim with an air of aggrievance for the families whose loved ones have been taken at a much earlier time than God intended. A man in a cassock looked upon the weeping crowd with despair, “Sister Perdita, this is the fifth murder this week. The police can’t find even a trace! It’s as if this evil is not of man.” The priest had uttered, turning his attention to the woman.

Perdita’s eyes widened in realization and she whipped around to look at the priest with shock, “You don’t mean that there is satanic influence, right? These victims are people who come and worship God twice every week! How would Satan get his claws around their souls that easily, Father Williams?” Perdita spoke as she trembled at the mere thought of Satan waiting outside the church to claim these people of God. “Perdita, I need you to examine and purify the old Inn in the woods. I believe there is a connection between the dead found near there and the inn itself.” Father Williams spoke with quiet confidence, “ The inn has a fitting name as well, the Demonic Inn. It can be found past the rundown mall a few miles south of the abandoned Wardens house.”

Perdita with a sense of righteous justice and hope for the end of the murders, left for the Inn. Past the rundown mall, down the trail by the Wardens house, and continuing south through the woods. The woods were quiet except for the occasional chirp or song from the birds. It was unnerving of how desolate the woods appeared. Perdita was exhausted from walking miles in steep, unstable, and muggy terrain. The birds stopped chirping. They stayed deathly silent, seeming to shudder in fear of something she couldn’t sense. Two thuds sounded to her side before stopping behind the large blueberry bushes. Through her muddled mind she finally registered the sounds. ‘Footsteps’. The word rang through her mind like the death toll she heard at the church. Perdita turned and looked at what had made the steps, only to watch as a tall shadow walked out of sight away from the now barren bush.

Thudding and panting, Perdita ran as hard as she could deeper into the woods. She caught sight of a cream and vibrant red building through the trees. Through her exhaustion she pushed herself to make it to the building. An inn with cream walls, red highlights and beautiful flowers and bushes as decorations. Upon the wall the words written in gold read, ‘Demonic Inn’. “No, no, no. This can’t be it can it? It must be an illusion or deception of evil to lure people into a false sense of security.” Perdita muttered to herself. As she collected herself and prepared to walk in she took note of a familiar smell, it was difficult to put a name to, yet it was eerily familiar.

As she pushed open the door a ring sounded out, announcing her entrance. The lobby had sturdy red fabric chairs, a dark brown wooden table carved with amazing craftsmanship, books laying upon its shining finish, and potted plants scattered here and there. Ahem. The obviously faked clearing of the throat sounded masculine in origin. She went to politely apologize for the gawking but as her mouth opened to begin the sentence caught in her throat. The desk had a gold nameplate with ‘James’ written on it and what can only be described as a demon behind it. He had ebony fur covering his heavy set body, glowing eyes that seemed to pierce the soul of anyone looking, two large horns, one snapped half way off and the other with a gold ring around it, tusks that looked like ivory and clawed hands with no arms attaching them.

“So, do you want a room or not?” James spoke with a tired and sarcastic tone. Perdita pulled out a vial of holy water and ran to the desk causing James to stand up and take a quick step back with surprise. “Return to the hell you came from, satan spawn! Let you never harm anyone again!” Perdita splashed the water onto the now much taller demon.

“I don’t get paid enough to deal with this.” James said absolutely drenched in the holy water, “You do know holy water only works on demons and devils, yeah? Well I’m not either of those so unless you want to actually get a room and stop being rude to employees just doing their job, leave.” Perdita stood in shock. “I'll take a room.” She was barely able to force it out of her own mouth. “Alright then,” James wiped his face off with a black handkerchief with gold embroidery and sat back down, “here is your key, you’ll be staying in room 123. Not to be confused with G123 which is on ground level.” James said using a slightly louder voice than normal, before flipping the nameplate face first into the desk and leaving through the ‘employee’s only’ door behind him. Near the door was a picture that read ‘E.O.M Phil’. Phil wore a black tophat with a red lace and spider lily on it, he seemed to cover his face with a white mask that only had eyeholes. ‘Employee of the month, huh? Maybe he has something to do with the murders.’ Perdita let thoughts rush through her mind as she ascended up to her room.

‘117, 119, 121, 123… 123!’ Perdita turned back around to open the door she had just past. Inside it was illuminated by the opened window next to the door and a few lamps, the bed looked newly made and held a tv as well as plenty of decorations.There was a bathroom off to the side with a shower and bath combo, mirror, sink, and toilet. She flopped on the bed after locking the door then she realized the sheets were nice and toasty, as if they had just been dried. As the hours ticked by she could not sleep, no matter the position, how sleepy she was, or how comforting the bed and feather soft blankets were. The sound of a sheet rubbing against the floor caught her attention, thinking she was just imagining things from lack of sleep, she tried to go to sleep. There it was again, much clearer now. It came from outside her room, right next to the window. Perdita slowly got up to look out the window when a large crash rang through the halls. She dashed out her room to see a dark cloaked figure dart to the stairs.

Chasing the figure down stairs and through a winding maze of halls, she finally caught up with them. Grabbing their cloak, the figure let out a horrified scream, “Please don’t kill me! I’m just the janitor!” The cloaked figure turned to her to reveal nothing but glowing eyes in the pitch black opening of, what she now realized was, a black blanket. “What? You’re just a janitor? Was that why I heard noises in the room beside me?” She said with confusion very evident on her face. “Yeah? Can you let go of me now, please?” The figure said, looking at her with teary eyes. “Oh, of course! I’m terribly sorry. May I ask your name?” “It’s Atticus. Nice to meet you, bye!” Atticus then turned around and shuffled over to the counter.

Perdita then realized she was in a cafeteria of sorts. The walls were still the cream color and it had highlights of red and gold. The chairs looked as if you could sink into them and never want to climb out, the tables had red cloths draped over them, and she saw the unmistakable face, or mask, of Employee of the Month, Phil. Phil’s photo showed one very unsettling thing though. He walked on his hands and feet, if you could call them that. They seemed more like if he had put his hands and feet in cups and covered them in a black full bodysuit. He didn’t appear to have clothes other than a bowtie, tophat, and a nametag that read ‘Phil’. His body was an inky black that seemed to be a fabric of sorts, however.

She walked over with careful steps toward Phil when she noticed he seemed to be in a conversation with someone in the kitchen. The chef who went quiet and stared at her was thin, much too thin. She could see his ribs and wore an animal skin cloak that only covered his collarbone in the front and mid back on the tail end. The cloak let no light touch his face and he had very thin, long limbs that allowed him to stand almost as tall as the ceiling itself. As he stared at her quietly, Phil turned his head to look at her then trot over. Perdita tenses in fear yet keeps a confident face. “Sir, are you the manager of this hotel?” She questions Phil, only receiving a blank look. “He doesn’t speak ma’am. But yes, he is the assistant manager.” A deep, raspy voice echoes through the kitchen's opening. The tall man Phil was ‘chatting with’ came out with smooth long strides. “My name is Annex, I’m the chef of this establishment. A pleasure to meet you.” He spoke eloquently despite his scratchy voice, “Oh. I was wondering if you know about any murders nearby.” When she said this both seemed to flinch back as if struck. Annex swiftly turned and went back to the kitchen, while Phil walked out of the cafeteria on trembling limbs. “You should try to get some sleep, ma’am. You’re welcome to breakfast in the morning.” Was all Annex said before continuing to cook. Perdita went back up to her room, not without getting lost here and there.

She got very little sleep. Walking to the bathroom like a zombie, Perdita flinches at the sorry sight of herself. The bags under her eyes reached a new color of dark blue, her hair was a rat's nest, and she seemed much paler. ‘Wow, I better fix myself up before going to investigate why Annex and Phil reacted like that. Wait, Annex said I could go to breakfast. Maybe I could find information there.’ As she started cleaning herself up, she caught a whiff of the familiar scent she had smelt at the entrance of the inn. Once again she couldn’t put a name on it, only this time she felt a sense of dread with it. As if a once comforting smell turned sour and rotten. Finishing up as quickly as she could, she rushed out to get away from the smell.

“Glad to see you miss.” Annex was the first to notice her at the cafeteria door. James, Phil, and Atticus were all there with their breakfasts. Atticus looked as nervous as a man with only eyes on his face could look, wringing his hands while chewing, his plate was almost polished. Phil’s and James’ plates looked untouched, and if looks could kill, Phil would be dead 5 times over. “Y’know Phil, you are the sorriest assistant manager I’ve ever worked for. Not only are you a pain for all of us, but you give everyone more work than you do!” James kept digging into Phil when Annex spoke up, “Will you shut up already? We have a guest and this feud you have on each other needs to stop. It’s annoying and pointless.” James and Phil whipped their heads to Perdita and Atticus gave a small wave before quickly and quietly leaving. “You look dead.” James called to her when she went to grab a plate. “Well isn’t that a way to treat a lady!” She refuted, “Oh sorry, didn’t know I was talking to a lady.” He said before resuming eating. Perdita gaped at him and Annex came out of the kitchen at a swift speed. When he got in James' space, he smacked him in the back of the head, “Be nice! She is our first customer in months!” Annex spat out. ‘If they haven’t had anyone come in here in months, then they couldn’t have been part of the murders.’ Perdita clears her plate and returns to her room after saying her goodbyes.

‘I have enough information to return to Father Williams.’ Perdita packs her things and goes down stairs to give James the room key. “Thank you for this time, James.” “Have a good one.” James replied without looking up from filing his claws. “Miss.” Annex’s voice called out before she opened the door, “Annex? What is it?” “Please watch your back, there is someone after you.” He said before turning and leaving. James had paused his filing and he and Perdita watched as Annex left, “As vague as ever.” James then continued his filing.

‘What did he mean?’ Was all Perdita could think about while trudging through the cold woods again. In an instant, a cloth covered her mouth. Perdita gasped in surprise, breathing in the chemical. Then it all went black.

She heard a voice, distorted and the words were unintelligible, and the smell was back. She then recognised what the smell was. It was a combination of frankincense, myrrh, and flowers. The same smell Father Williams always had permeating around him. The voice cleared up before her blurred vision did, a much too familiar voice dripped with venom, “Annex did try to warn you, Sister. Yet, you left without so much as a pocket knife.” Her vision cleared to reveal Father Williams standing over her in a dim, cold, and moist room. The floor was concrete with what smelled and looked like blood in a summoning circle with sigils and 5 skulls at each point of the pentacle. Each one was human. Only one was missing. “You will be the last one needed for the ritual to be completed! I will finally be released from this hell!” Father Williams spoke in a manic and almost insane manner, “Why are you doing this?” Perdita’s voice came out slurred and slow. “I have been stuck here for years! These excruciating reminders of what I’ve lost being replayed over and over! They get to live the life I want! One I deserve! All they did was do my work! I had done everything and they just played it out! Yet they reap the benefits? No more. No more, no more, no more. No more!” Father William had slowly descended into even more mania and hysterics.

He picked up a curved and twisted red stained dagger, “This is my freedom!” Right as he raised the blade to plunge it within her heart, thudding footsteps pounded closer. As if a herd of raging cattle thundered toward them, Father Williams whipped his head to look in panic, “No! No! They will ruin my freedom! I want to be free! Why do they want to save you? You are nothing but another sacrifice!” He cried out, keeping his attention to the door. The footsteps rumbled closer before stopping behind the door. A jingling of keys and murmuring resounding before a sharp, rage filled roar shook through the room, “Just bust the door down!” The door flew off its hinges with a deafening crash. Father Williams looked like a ghost as 4 familiar employees walked through the doorway. No words were spoken as James darted towards Father Williams and started ripping shreds out of him. Annex and Atticus hurried to her side to help her up and hide her eyes from seeing the absolute carnage that James was wreaking.She still heard the ear piercing screams. She heard the sickening sound of bones splintering and hooves clacking against a wet, concrete floor. As Annex and Atticus led her out of the room, Phil and James stayed behind to finish him off.

“I’m sorry it had to come to this.” Annex whispered to her, “We never wanted this to happen. He drove this place to ruin.” They sat in the lobby. Atticus put a soft blanket over her while they waited on the two others to join. Two sets of hoof-steps echoed through the main hall. Phil and James were soaked in blood and slumped in fatigue, “We want to send you off, Ma’am. Will you let us?” Annex’s voice was soft in worry, “It’s only fair isn’t it?” Perdita’s shaking voice showed just how shaken she was.

“You can keep the blanket miss.” Atticus then retreated behind James. Annex handed her a silver necklace with a cross on it, “Hopefully this will help you.” He looked down, then backed up a few steps. She immediately clipped it around her neck. Phil raised his hoof, on it was a blue, dried flower. “It’s an amsonia.” James spoke for him. She gently took the flower and looked it over before putting it in her bag. James then held out a folded newspaper. “Whatever you do, don’t read this until you’re out of the woods.” His tone was deadly serious. She looked into his eyes with slight fear. “Okay.” She nodded before getting up, “Thank you all so much. I owe my life to you all.” She walked out after hearing various ‘Goodbyes.’

She stumbled her way out of the woods. Her heart dropped. The newspaper held the words, ‘Inn burned to the ground with employees and owner inside! March 13, 2006.’

The inn wasn’t there. It was burned in 2006. They all died in 2006.

Hope y'all enjoyed this! 🙂 I intend to continue with these characters and more!

#Demonic Inn #Phil #Annex #James #Atticus #monsters

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