Unsolved Deceptions Chapter 2 Monkey See Monkey kill

Passing through the portal I was met with a long dark hallway with a doorway in the center, but in place of an actual door was just a pitch black void, and a glowing crimson along the rim coating this dark hall in glowing red. The moment I stepped inside an intense chill ran up my spine not a chill of cold though, a surge of darkness. 

Then came that bad feeling in your gut when you know something is wrong. My instincts screamed of a negative energy that lingered here and I could hear muffled demonic whispers saying things I couldn’t understand, I didn’t know if it was all in my head or not. Every atom in my body screamed at me to turn back but I had to keep going, there was no where to turn back to.

 I straightened up and passed through the void like door. I flinched and tensed up, bracing for whatever nightmare I would find myself in but what greeted me was a very dimly lit reception room of a hotel? Thinking about it, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but this certainly wasn’t it. The only sources of light were two lamps on either side of me. 

My flashlight could prove useful right now but I wasn’t ready to cast a straight beacon on myself in case I wasn’t alone here, since I had a strong feeling I wasn’t. “Place feel familiar to you at all?” I jumped as I heard the sound of Bierce’s voice, I looked around but she wasn’t there, but I heard her chuckling. “I’m not here, Evans.”

 She laughed, “oh so you’re in my head too, how lucky am I?” I quietly said bitterly, I thought that I would have a break from her attitude outside of the ballroom but apparently that was too much to ask, but part of me was relieved knowing that at least I wasn’t completely alone here, at least in a way. But to answer the question, I suppose this place was kinda familiar.

 Not this hotel specifically but with my job as a detective you’d be surprised how many gruesome murder scenes take place in run down hotels like this, you get used to those sort of things. I slowly approached the desk, no one was there accept for a small little bell in the center, along with a sign, “WELCOME, BREAKFAST AND MURDER, FREE EVERYDAY UNTL 10:00AM” it read.

That stupid cheeky little threat made a small shiver run down my spine but I let out a bitter chuckle despite myself. “Why I do love a side of bloodshed with my eggs and bacon.” I uttered sarcastically. I figured it was time to stop standing around like a fool and look for that ring piece Bierce told me about, who I figured was silently watching me through my eyes right now. 

So I made way through the dimly lit hall that loomed in front of me, daring me to move forward with its ominous dim glow. The place was dead silent apart from the clacking on my shoes on the polished floor. While still in the hallway my eyes locked on an ominous cardboard cutout of a hotel employee pointing me towards the end of the hallway. It wore those old school hotel uniforms that was red as blood. 

Along with a hat of the same shade. But it didn’t have a human face, but that same demonic monkey face back from the symbol of the portal, wide crazy eyes and razor sharp teeth. I proceeded to just walk past the stupid thing but it suddenly fell flat on the ground by itself making me jump before I rolled my eyes. I’m in a demon hotel and I get scared by cardboard? I just wanted to punch myself in the face.

 I’m finally out of that stupid hallway only to be met with what looked like a lounging room, fancy chairs, couches and tables. And a long hall that faded in the dark along the walls were all elevators, which was kinda weird, not sure why one room needed so many elevators, but I already had a hunch this wasn’t a normal hotel so what could I expect? My thoughts were interrupted by an ominous ding. 

It was from a single elevator in the center of that dark hallway, the old doors slowly opened revealing a dim flickering light illuminating a dark figure hunched over inside the small space. It certainly wasn’t human the head was too large and the body was too small. I stood there frozen not knowing what to do before the doors closed again and I heard the muffled sounds of the elevator going up. 

Soon after it dinged and the doors opened once again, only there was nothing in there. It was like that shadowy figure was never there. “You’re supposed to go in there.” Bierce told me. “Great, you want me to go where the monster just was, do you want me dead or something?” I retorted bitterly, “oh please, you have no use to me as a corpse.” She responded like I was no more than a tool for her. 

I swallowed before stepping inside as the doors closed in front of me. As the distorted jazz elevator music played which did nothing to put my nerves at ease I spotted a piece of paper tucked away in the handlebar. I picked it up and saw it was a handwritten note. I began to read it of course

It is done. Now my faith, lies in darkness. I’m writing this in case I don’t make it out I figured if I fail the least I can do is help out whatever poor soul ends up on this suicide mission as my replacement. If you’re reading this then I guess I must be dead, figures. I won’t tell you my name or give my sad little backstory I feel like that’s not important in terms of helping you survive right now so I’ll tell you what I know. There are a few dozens of monsters that lerk in these halls, it’s at least three, they’re Murder Monkeys. Not super fast but very persistent, violent and don’t stop at anything. There’s nothing to reason with, murder is all they care about. Just run as fast as you can and stay away from them. But be extra cautious if there’s two chasing you at once since they like to corner you at both ends of a hall. They can be very frightening and scary but the best thing you can do is keep running and don’t look back.

-D. H.

Guess that answered my question about what happened to the people who did this before me, I wasn’t sure if the person who wrote this was the “quiet” person Bierce told me about, or some other person who died here, how many people have died here? They shared nothing about themselves apart from the initials D. H. It did sound oddly faintly familiar. 

I couldn’t place a specific name though. My suspicions seemed to be correct about not being alone here, Murder Monkeys? What were those things? Some sort of demon? I had no idea. The thought of mindless killers hunting me through the dark maze of these hotel halls obviously wasn’t a pleasant thought. I scanned the handwriting, words this person used, the way they spoke.

My mind was running a blank, maybe the initials were just from a random person and I was looking too deep into this, but I pocketed the note just in case. Even though I didn’t know this person, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity for them, it also felt a bit unsettling to be reading the words left by a dead person, just then, the doors of the elevator opened. 

This place started to make me even more nervous than before after I had read that note but I tried my best to just remember their advice and move forward, this was what I had to do. Once the doors parted the first thing I noticed was that same golden statue that was in the ballroom was in the center of this small run down room. 

The once golden orb it was holding was now what looked to be a crystal glowing a bright violet. The lights were dim, an old carpet in the center of the floor with old paintings and dirty old green wallpaper. There were two archways that led to a maze like hall but they were both boarded up, there was a message on the wall next to me in old faded white paint.

 “Break the Boards” that’s when Bierce spoke up again. “This is important so listen up carefully, those floating crystal bits behind the boards, those are soul shards.” I looked through the gaps of the boards and saw sharp floating bits of purple crystal trailing down the door halls, the soul shards she was talking about.

 “Each shard is a fragment of a soul of one who has met their fate here, once all are collected, together they form into the first piece of the ring, so your job is to gather them all, and which you can find them with this.” Suddenly a purple glow formed in front of me revealing a small tablet device, revealing a maze like outline with a dot at the center, which I assumed was me.

I noticed that when I turned or moved the maze on the screen would do the same. The maze had purple dots surrounding the halls, many, many purple dots. A number at the top of the screen gave me the total count 289. I felt my blood run cold, 289 soul shards? That meant 289 shards I would need to collect.

What was beyond worse meant that 289 people had died here. I knew that people have fallen here but that number was beyond any estimate I could make, no wonder Bierce had no care for me, at this point I was basically a number, but the question is would I soon become a number on this tablet? I started off feeling somewhat hopeful about this.

But now reality was crushing its weight on me, what chances did I have at survival when 289 people have died at this portal alone? And god knows how many people died here in total. “Well? Go on then, you’re not going to collect the shards by standing there like a fool!” Her sharp words slapped me back to reality. 

I took a deep breath, whatever happened was gonna happen, and losing hope wouldn’t make this any better. I slowly approached the boarded archway, the wood old and rotten, wouldn’t take much to break. I raised my foot and gave it a hard kick, the flimsy old wood gave out rather easily. I looked ahead at the dark hall where the shards trailed.

The shards were rather large and going by the trail of them down the hall I wondered how I would be able to carry all of them, but the moment my fingers grazed the crystal it seemed to evaporate into a glowing purple mist adsorbing right into my soul making an ice cold shiver run down my spine like a spirit passing through me. 

I went still for a moment unnerved by the sensation but at least I didn’t have to worry about how I was gonna carry them. I turned on my flashlight to light up the dark hall and made my move, I cautiously walked with each soul shard absorbing into a mist and seeping into my soul every time I passed through it. I’d say this went on for about a minute. 

I was just slowly and cautiously walking through the dark halls shining the way with my flashlight and collecting the shards, but then I froze as I heard the sound of fast heavy footsteps quickly getting louder. I didn’t need to stand there and wonder what it was, the note already told me. Without wasting a single moment I took off running as fast as I could.

I remembered the words of that note “keep running and don’t look back” and so I didn’t dare stop or look to see what was pursuing me I just kept running, but I could hear this thing’s footsteps getting louder, and fast approaching, and so was my heartbeat in my ears with fear and adrenaline. As I dashed down the hall of this dark maze I saw it.

For the briefest moment my light shined on a large monkey with big wide insane eyes, sharp bloody teeth and bloody knives for hands. It was for just a split second, but that second was terrifying. I immediately turned a corner and ran as fast as I could to get away from the horrid sight. I could feel my legs burning as the adrenaline wore off. 

There was a stark feeling of dread that came along with it, I knew I couldn’t keep running forever but these monkey’s footsteps remained a fast and relentless pace that never seemed to slow for a second. Doubt and dread began to fill my chest like acid. These things were gonna chase me to exhaustion and then tear me to shreds.

 I knew I would eventually be forced slow down and stop and they would catch me, my chances of survival started to look very bleak. That’s when I spotted an odd glowing yellow orb in the middle of the line of soul shards I was gathering. I wasn’t sure what it did but without thinking I touched it and a burst of a light erupted for just a split moment.

When I turned back I saw the monkey that was once chasing me now hunched over seemingly out of breath, I quickly realized that this orb must have stunned the monkeys in some way. With a new flicker of hope I continued to collect the shards while slightly slowing my pace taking advantage of the stunned monkeys and giving my legs an opportunity to recharge.

 I’d say this lasted for about a minute before I could hear the fast heavy footsteps of the monkeys starting up again. I took off into a sprint once again, the panic that had left me for the briefest moment came flooding back. I looked down at the tablet and saw that I was halfway there, a small part of me started to think that maybe I could make it.

 I could survive this nightmare at the very least. Eventually I obtained the last shard, but the briefest moment relief I had was wiped away as I heard the horrifying sounds of the monkeys screaming in fury in the distance. “That’s all of the shards the ring piece has been formed, the monsters are now in a frenzy, get to the ring barrier, take it and get out of here now!”

 Bierce demanded, she didn’t have to tell me twice I looked at the tablet following the dot of where the ring barrier was and it led me back to where I started with that statue. The once glowing crystal orb it held was now a single floating purple crystal, it must’ve been the ring piece. I quickly snatched it, shoved it in my pocket.

I quickly ran towards back to the elevator door like my life depended on it, which it did. The metal doors shut just shy before the murder monkey could reach in and grab me. I stood there shaking and sweating. The distorted casual jazz elevator music was now an unsettling clash with the noises of the monkeys screaming.

I could still hear it clear as day even inside the elevator. When the doors opened I could hear the screams of the monkeys in the distance but the hall was empty, just the many elevators surrounding me, but then I heard a low voice, “what mortal parasite has crawled here now?” The intimidating voice gave me an ice cold chill. “It’s Malak, run!”

 Bierce’s normally very controlled teasing voice sounded almost frantic herself. Before I could even process those words all the surrounding elevators opened at once and monkeys with eyes now glowing red poured out like a flood. Adrenaline like I never had before shot through me like an electric current and I dashed, running as fast as my legs could possibly carry.

 I could hear dozens of heavy feet right behind me, along with an odd sound of a wind up toy. I practically dived for the portal, one of the money’s knifes just inches away from my back. I collapsed onto the polished floor of the ballroom, completely out of breath, drenched in sweat and legs aching. I just sat there like an idiot trying grasp what had just happened.

I had never felt such an adrenaline in my life. I put down my flashlight and pulled the ring piece from out of my pocket just to make sure I got it. “Well surprise, surprise you’ve made it out in one piece.” Bierce chuckled with an almost twisted amusement as she plucked the ring piece from my hand without a single care for me, who was sitting on the ground in shock. 

I watched as she brought the ring to the statue and watched as the crystal turned into a soft purple glow and was absorbed within the glowing orb the statue held. I finally managed to lift myself up by my shaky legs still shaken up from what happened. Suddenly from the crimson door up the stairs a sharp red glow emerge.

The once smooth black sphere shifted into a single creepy veiny eye with a piercing stare. “Ah, what a rather bold action you have taken Bierce, I figured loosing your little puppet humbled you a bit. Still as annoying as ever, you don’t seem to learn your lesson very well.” A slight twinge of discomfort prickled the back of my neck at the word “puppet.” 

While the voice was laced with annoyance there was this ever smug presence that came from it, as if it was sure that it had already won. I immediately recognized it as the voice that spoke during my escape, so I guess that meant this was Malak. I could see the slightest crack in Bierce’s unbothered presence, her face scowled with pure hatred as she stared the demonic eye down.

Malak seemed to have struck a nerve. This was becoming a pattern I was starting to notice, every time there was a crack in Bierce’s composure it was often related to the person who came before me. Which felt odd since dozens of people have come and gone, why would the last person’s death bother her so much?

 “You truly have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into mortal, Bierce doesn’t care about you, she’s just using you, helping her will only lead to your doom,” his tone turned sharp. I wasn’t phased by him saying that she didn’t care about me, that was made very obvious by now I was only tolerating her to gain my end of the deal and also because I didn’t have any other options.

What really got my attention was him saying she was just using me, I wasn’t exactly pleased at the thought that Bierce was going to possibly stab me in the back and not grant my promised wish. “Take this as your one and only warning, going along with Bierce’s little game is a path you do not want to go down.” 

Malak continued, I shot Bierce a glare but she waved her hand dismissively. 

“Oh ignore him, that filthy demon is only trying to mess with you, he just wants to turn you against me for his own benefit.” She dismissed as she continued, “Malak can do nothing to you while you’re here, no demon or monster can step foot into this ballroom, the barriers I set make sure of it,” she explained. “Right,” I responded dryly, I didn’t fully believe Malak’s words.

 I didn’t exactly fully believe hers either, I felt torn. “Is this the person responsible for the nightmares? Why exactly is he after us?” I pressed, she let out a sigh of annoyance, “the reason is because what’s powering this ring is his power Evans, which is why he’s going to throw his little tantrum each time you get another one, that is if you get another one,” she explained. 

“Ok…” I responded cautiously I wasn’t one to trust a demon, but I had to admit that his taunting words left me with a hard time trusting this woman. Just then, the next portal once again shifted from a grey to that sharp glowing crimson. “1 down, 8 more to go…” Bierce said.