The Leviathan Hotel

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VivianRosalinder
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The Leviathan Hotel

Post by VivianRosalinder »

The horribly shrill voice of the hotel general manager came shrieking through the many halls until it tore through LeAnn’s ears. Ceasing her moping, she paused to make sure she had heard her correctly. Hearing her name fill the air, her suspicions were confirmed; she was the one the general manager was calling. With a huff, she set her mop and bucket aside and headed in the direction of the commanding call.
“Hello, LeAnn. You know Miss Koel is looking for you,” The hotel’s bellhop, Humberto, said to her as she passed by him while he carried a man’s bags to his room.
Humberto was, in LeAnn’s eyes, the perfect bellhop. A lumbering man of at least 7 feet, he filled the elevator door as he stepped through, a large bag in each hand. By society’s standards he was in no way handsome; his skin was an unsightly shade of gray, the few strands of hair he had left barely held on to the brilliant shade of black they had once been, and his slightly lemon colored eyes were sunken deep into his skull, but he was the nicest man in the building.
“Thank you, Humberto. I’m on my way now. Keep up the good work,” LeAnn said, giving him a one-handed salute.
The elevator door closed and LeAnn pressed on towards her goal once again. Between the many guests who wandered about in the lobby, she bobbed and weaved, trying her hardest to be as respectful as possible. On the other side of the lobby, the large doors that led to the greenhouse stood menacingly guarding its vegetation residents. With a bold push, she threw the doors open to a cacophony of groans given in protest by the old piece of oak.
Plants in all shapes and hues filled the expansive greenhouse up to its domed roof in their attempts to reach the sun. Bird calls and the sounds of flapping wings were the only noise that permeated the air in this peaceful slice of Eden. As much as LeAnn wanted to stay and admire the beautiful greenery, she knew she had a place to be, so she ignored her desires and returned to her path. A particularly large looking snapdragon stood next to the worn down path, but she did not move to avoid it, thinking that the plant would likely not take any interest in her. This proved to be an error in judgment as the snapdragon shot out and grabbed the back of her leg with its petal jaws.
Screaming, she fell to the ground with a heavy thud. She went to kick at the plant with her free leg, but the hotel’s groundskeeper, Adam, came rushing to her rescue.
“Let go of her! That’s not food,” He yelled to the plant assailant.
He held a pair of garden shears in his hand, poised and ready to slice should the plant refuse to give up on its newfound meal. Begrudgingly, the plant released LeAnn from its grasp.
“I thought you said you had those things trained?” LeAnn questioned Adam as she got up, wiping the dirt off her body along the way.
“They were, till you showed up apparently,” He teased.
LeAnn rolled her eyes. She gave herself a final once over before making the final treck to Miss Koel’s office. The door to her office was much quieter than the one to the greenhouse; granted it wasn’t nearly as old and heavy. When LeAnn opened it there wasn’t a noise nearly as loud as the ones made by the greenhouse door. Between the door and frame, she waited until she heard Miss Koel’s shrill voice command her to come in.
“Miss Koel,”LeAnn greeted her with a curtsy.
“Quiet LeAnn, I’ve no time for pleasantries,” Miss Koel snapped.
To LeAnn, it appeared as if Miss Koel was always speaking in an old-fashioned manner, perhaps to make others think that she knows more than she truly does. That didn’t work on LeAnn who saw straight through her high society facade.
“Yes ma’am,” She replied.
Adjusting her thin glasses that sat upon her monstrous beak of a nose, Miss Koel continued speaking.
“LeAnn, the owner is in town for the next few days.”
“How does that involve me?” LeAnn interrupted.
“Quiet girl,” Miss Koel snapped, the thin gray plumage on her neck ruffling in anger.
“Don’t get your feathers in a twist,” LeAnn muttered.
Miss Koel opened her mouth, ready to give LeAnn the scolding of a lifetime, but behind her, the bell labeled “Penthouse” began to ring. The sudden loud noise scared Miss Koel, causing her feathers to puff up in a display of fear, giving her the appearance of an overripe orange. LeAnn had to cover her mouth to stop herself from bursting into a fit of laughter. Flustered, Miss Koel straightened herself out before reaching into the top drawer of her desk.
“The owner has asked to meet with you for something important. I don’t know what it is exactly that he wants, but that doesn’t matter. Take this key, it will allow you to take the elevator up to his room,” Miss Koel blabbered, handing over the key and dismissing her.
Despite its importance, the little key looked rather plain. It was made of bronze and had a very plain design on its bow. Even its bit seemed to be missing pieces with it having such a plain square shape. She made her way back to the elevator using a different path than before that cut through a long hallway rather than the greenhouse, turning the key in her hand along the way.
The door to the elevator opened with a ding revealing Humberto in his little bellhop hat. When he saw her he gave her a bright smile before stepping aside to allow her in. He tipped his hat and held his hand out toward the buttons awaiting her orders.
“I’m supposed to be going to see the owner. Miss Koel gave me this key,” LeAnn explained, flashing the small piece of bronze.
“The owner? Must be something important,” Humberto said as he took the key and put it into a special keyhole on the control panel.
Slowly, the elevator began to move upward after having received the command relayed by the key being turned. A small arrow moved along the floor indicator, telling LeAnn just how high it was they going.
“It is, from what I’ve been told. He probably needs me for something,” LeAnn continued.
“Perhaps he needs someone to clean his room. Only the feather duster queen herself could fill that role,” Humberto teased.
“Or maybe it’s something important, something so important that the fate of the hotel depends on it.”
Laughter filled the small space in the elevator in response to the silly joke LeAnn told. She knew the owner wouldn’t give her a job of that importance. When they heard the elevator beep again as it stopped at their destination they stifled their laughter and straightened themselves up. The door opened to reveal a large room with a desk at the far end. There sat the owner with a pen in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. His dark hair fell in front of his eyes, obscuring their shape and color. In front of his desk, he had a couch where a woman with flowing white hair sat with her head down, her face covered by a lace veil.
“Please come in,” The owner said, acknowledging their presence.
LeAnn stepped out of the elevator, which then descended back toward the lobby, then walked up toward the desk with her hands folded in front of her.
“Nice to see you, sir,” She said, bowing deeply.
“Please, call me Vincent. Have you met my wife before LeAnn?” He asked, gesturing to the woman on the couch who turned her head toward the two of them.
“I haven’t.”
“Myriam, come here please.”
At the sound of her name, Myriam got up from her place on the couch and approached her husband’s desk. She went behind to stand at her husband’s side with her arm around his shoulder. He gave her an approving look before returning to his conversation with LeAnn.
“This is my wife, Myriam. I need you to help entertain her today. You see she gets a bit lonely when she’s cooped up in here while I work. Could you please take her out for a bit? Just for an hour, then I’ll be done.” Vincent explained.
LeAnn thought it over for a moment, realizing she had nothing else to do she nodded. Vincent’s and Myriam’s faces lit up, or at least it looked like they did since their faces were partially obscured. Myriam ran back to where she had been on the couch to grab her purse before running back to LeAnn’s said.
“Shall we go Miss LeAnn?” She asked, excitedly.
“Yes ma’am,” LeAnn replied.
The two of them turned back to the elevator. Behind them Vincent called out to his wife, telling her to have a good time.
Of all the places in the hotel LeAnn could think of, the garden seemed to her to be the best place to bring Myriam. As long as they stayed with Adam they could wander the garden, enjoying all the sights it had to offer until their hour was up. The first spot Adam took them to was a small clearing in the brush that was full of beautiful flowers and birds.
Myriam immediately ran forward and lied down on the soft patch of grass in the center, turning her head up to look up at the sky through the greenhouse glass roof. To LeAnn, the sky was no more beautiful than any other sight, but Myriam starred up as if she were beholding one of the seven wonders. Birds crossed her line of sight, their beautiful feathers shining in all shades of the rainbow, adding to the mysticism of the place.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Adam asked.
“It’s amazing.” Myriam breathed.
LeAnn sat down beside her to join in the sky watching. After only a few minutes she was tired of it, but Myriam was content to sit there for the rest of her hour. While she enjoyed the view, LeAnn stood and talked to Adam until the time finally ran out.
“Myriam I’m finished,” Vincent said, breaking through the foliage mere seconds after the hour ran out.
With a pep in his step, he walked over to happily lie on the grass by his wife who was at this point sleeping. A light breeze ruffled her veil and the mess of white that covered her face, allowing LeAnn to get a glimpse of the small fangs that protruded slightly from her mouth. Just as quickly as the breeze started it disappeared leaving Myriam’s face covered once again.
“Thank you, LeAnn. I can handle her from here,” Vincent ordered without taking his eyes off his wife’s sleeping face.
“It was no problem, sir. Feel free to call on me again. Myriam was nothing, but an absolute delight,” LeAnn chirped, giving him a bow and a smile before walking back towards her abandoned mop and bucket.
When Adam had left and the two of them were alone, Vincent reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes, revealing his deep red irises.
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ccranston
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Post by ccranston »

Well the story took an unexpected turn at the end. I was definitely not expecting that. I'm a little confused as to why Vincent would ask LeAnn to hang out with his wife since they are "different," scary even. I almost would have liked for it to be a trick, so his wife could "feed" on LeAnn. That would make a little more sense to me lol. Other than that, good job on a very suspenseful story!
“You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend." –Paul Sweeney
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