The Eldritch Arms by Barry K Gregory EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Barry K Gregory
- Language: English
- Genre: Humorous Fantasy
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
“CHECKING IN?”
The man behind the hotel desk may have had a face that bordered on the
grotesque — gray, pallid flesh, pocked and scarred, with an elongated forehead
and steep widow’s peaks — but his voice was pleasantly resonant, almost
melodious.
“Umm, yes. Yes, we are,” said the young man on the opposite side of the
desk. Bespectacled, with sandy hair and a handsome if nondescript face, he
stood a head shorter than the pallid-faced hotelier. The young man wore a dark
suit that he would — of financial necessity — be returning for a refund next
week to the men’s shop where he had purchased it, with a blood-red rose
boutonniere pinned to his lapel. Standing next to him, her arm wrapped around
his, hand nestled in the crook of his elbow, was his new bride. Mousy, but
attractive, with eyes that sparkled like sunlight dancing on moving waters. She
wore a corsage of white lilies over the breast of a department store dress that
failed to disguise an upbringing of old money, etiquette training, and years of
boarding school.
“Your name?” asked the gray man behind the desk.
“Parsons. William and Daphne Parsons.”
“Ah, yes. The newlyweds.” The gray man smiled, displaying a mouth full
of large yellow teeth. “We have you in our honeymoon suite.”
A small envelope with ornate gold foil edging appeared in the gray man’s
enormous hand. He placed the envelope on the counter and slid it slowly
across.
“Your room keys,” he said. “Room 1414. That’s the fourteenth floor. The
elevator is across the lobby. The bellhop will be up with your luggage
shortly.”
“Um, no luggage,” said William Parsons, head lowered, eyes looking
away.
“Ah, I see.” The gray man consulted an ancient-looking computer monitor
on the desk. “Today is the thirteenth day of the month and I show you
checking out… tomorrow? Is that correct?”
“Yes. On the fourteenth.”
“Very good,” said the gray man. “Enjoy your stay. And congratulations on
your nuptials.”
“Thank you,” said William Parsons. His hand shook with nervous energy
as he lifted the envelope containing the room keys, fumbling and almost
dropping it before managing to slip it into his coat pocket.
“He seemed nice,” said the young woman as they walked away from the
desk. If there was irony in her voice, she hid it well.
Her husband didn’t respond.
“Are you okay, Will?” She asked.
Daphne’s voice jarred him from his thoughts. “What?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry, I just… I got such a weird vibe from that guy.”
“Me, too,” she said. “Don’t worry about it. Write it off as a Friday-the-13th
thing.”
“I’m not superstitious.”
“I know. I’m not either.”
Walking across the lobby to the elevator, Daphne still clinging to him, Will
looked at all the people sitting and reading newspapers or checking their
phones. All of them as pale and gray as the man behind the front desk. Will
had the distinct impression that behind every raised newspaper there were eyes
following their progress, as if everyone with their head down was just biding
time until they could swing their eyes around to track Daphne and him across
the lobby.
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