CHAPTER ONE ⚜ ROOM 626

[ Illustration 01] Overhead view. A long, narrow old-fashioned guest room, the red-brown velvet wallpaper printed with dark gold lilies. On the wall hangs a portrait of a woman in period dress, her painted eyes turned very slightly toward the bed. A brass lamp stands on the nightstand, its shade crooked; beside it, a Victorian corded telephone. A young man kneels at the foot of the bed, head down, shoving things into a suitcase. His movements are quick, his shoulders taut, the fear pressed flat into his face. There is no moon outside the window, only ink-black darkness — and, far back in it, what might be a pair of eyes. Beneath the door, a perfectly ordinary human-shaped shadow passes slowly by, then comes back. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCWSkAZYHD

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When Ryan Glenz woke, he was already packing. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡac9wksjlAk

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By the time his mind came back online, he was rolling a shirt into a lopsided ball and cramming it into a suitcase. His heart pounded as though he had just run three kilometres. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjS5Saqoqml

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Cold sweat beaded across his forehead. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8iTzuD7FSL

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He did not know why he was in such a hurry. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEH4KYUfGWn

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He knew only one thing: he had to be gone before they got in. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86Q4C5t4wu

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Who were they? Hell if he knew. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEk6WZYxl62

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Don't ask. Just keep packing. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVp9o5tSD6

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Ryan glanced down at the suitcase and stopped. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vDBbfSXJ7

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Inside it were two pairs of hotel slippers, three unopened bars of soap, a gilt-edged Bible, a shower cap, a decorative porcelain swan, and one shirt of his own. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXA97QJbhTy

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“…Am I running for my life, or restocking?” 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIadEHqZbik

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He took the swan out, reconsidered, and put it back. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjPCNUEMih

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You never knew. In horror films, the people who died first were always the ones holding nothing. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjAMy2cSTP

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The room was quiet in a way that was not normal. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwB1bcMTVLG

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The clock on the wall read 11:26. Its second hand ticked on, one beat at a time. The minute hand did not move at all. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJlN80FVub

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“The clock's broken,” Ryan told himself. “Old hotel. Perfectly normal.” 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGI2cEN0sBK

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Then he saw the gap under the door. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYhIqAxldd

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The dim yellow light of the corridor seeped in beneath it and lay across the carpet in a thin line. Something was cutting that line into pieces, section by section. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8RKFHtMNu

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A shadow went past. It paused. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKn5oO6lip

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Then another. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0yGOOpyCe

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There were no footsteps. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjVQXGkTcL

141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6L1UVEvKwd The third shadow stopped outside the door, and did not move on. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBsi3qtsr0

141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpFip0J13j As if it were listening. 141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMXTGuD8pT

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