~The Kobold~

"Lost time is never found again"

Chapter 2.

Time had gone by. Or has it?

The man awoke. Rain still beating above him. He decided to keep his eyes remaining shut even though he no longer felt tired.

Voices echoed from in front of him. Ghostly hushed whispers that he decided to better off ignore. The room was cold. Like the walls were made of chiseled ice. He began to shiver so he reached for his blankets but there was nothing but his bare leg.

Now the voices begin to gradually elevate in volume from all around him. Chants. Laughter. Then screams. Agonizing screams. 

The walls sounded off rattling in powerful vibration. He felt pressure beside him on the mattress. Someone was in the room.

He shot up opening his eyes. But there was nothing. His room was empty. Just him, the walls, the door, and complimentary furniture fitting the rustic room setting.

His lamp on the left side of the small room was on. So the area was dimly lit yet everything still completely visible.

His heart was racing and he could feel his pulse rushing just by sitting up on the bed. He was hot. Feverish. It was difficult to breath. Humidity. He noticed to his amazement once again that he did in fact actually have blankets on him. In reality, six sheets of them he was bundled up in.

He pulled them off to notice his clothing to no longer be damp.

He observed his room. The wallpaper was peeling. It was a bland gray with a natural wall color of brown hiding behind it. He had a small desk in the room with no chair, along with the bed he was in, a closet, a lamp that clearly needed a new bulb, and a ceiling fan which made an awful howling sound after every blade turn.

There was no window, and no television. There wasn't even a bathroom. It must have been located in some other section to be shared publicly by unlucky guest like himself. No clock; which was unfortunate because it appeared his watch had stopped running.

He didn't even know what he had walked into considering how he hadn't even paid for his nights stay. But the cost to him was more of a side note regarding he had no other alternative then to stop here or face possibly drifting off on the road during the horrific storm.

His room was beginning to feel claustrophobic. As if the more his eyes adjusted the more the walls felt to continuously closed in.

“Perhaps its the lack of window..” he uttered as he re-positioned himself leaning over on the bed.

The dim light gave the room a slight tinted orange hue. The fan above him continued to make its bizarre humming noise as it gradually spun at a gentle speed. It was if it had a part loose or similar status scenario.   

He stood up. His bare feet meeting the dirty cold hardwood floor. He lifted his foot to see the bottoms. They were already covered in the collection of dust and dirt.

He walked to the center of the room. The floorboards creaked above him on every step he made. Mimicking him.  

The lights had gone out in the lobby. Perhaps it was a loss of power or the facilities nightly routine to conserve energy and their personal economy.

Reluctantly the foyer remained partially lit due in part from the the recurring lightning outside and equally in part from the bright stars in the dark night sky all reflecting in from the glass entry door illuminating the room with a slight tinted blue hue.

He approached the front desk. Thunder crackled in the background. He noticed the silver call bell placed in front of him. His reached out to tap it with his hand.

The halls echoed with the sound of the ring. He stood there in dark subordinate silence. But nobody came to his summons. He had never felt more alone..

Author's Note

Chapter 2

Any criticism is helpful (both good or bad). If you see grammatical errors please let me know of at least one. This will help my editing go much faster and accurate.

Reviews

[David Jae]

Very powerful and emotive. The sense of mystery and unreality adds to the energy of the peace. Your use of description is simple and powerful.

I'd like to know what ends.

Keep it up.

[Gabriel B. Burns]

Thank you for taking the time to both read and review. Unfortunately however, future work towards this story will be on a short delay. I'm currently in the process of moving and they (the movers) accidently packed my outline folder. Therefore I refuse to touch this until I get these papers (one of which is the outline for this entire story) back in fear of messing up in depth details of the original plot, and symbolism. I appreciate your enthusiasm. It is very inspiring; making the many hours of my day spent keying away on here worth it.

[David Jae]

Yeah. Writing involves a lot of legwork and drudgery, but the end result is worth it. I always need to refer back to my outlines and plans to keep me on track.