The sky was pitch black littered with the billions of stars, as the moon looked over the ocean and cast hundreds of reflections back towards itself. The pace of the waves was slow, creeping in every ten seconds or so with low, ambient noise. A girl stood atop her balcony and gazed out into the blackened sea. Her light golden hair shimmered in the night reflecting the light from the moon.

“Sarah?” her dad said. He walked up the steps leading to the balcony and waited patiently for her.

“Is it time to go already? It’s barely been five minutes!”

“It’s already dark and it’s getting darker, we have to go now. We could go to the local pizza parlor.”

“Then could we go sightseeing? You promised to take me to some places around town so I could take pictures.”

“Really? I don’t remember saying anything.”

“You always say that, I think your memory is getting worse by the day old man. You promised we could go to parts around town right after we eat!”

“Fine, we can go. I’m only taking you to one place in town, and it’ll be my choice.” They walked down the stairs and into her dad’s car. It was rusted and old, the fabric seats inside were tattered as well as the stick shift. They both plopped down into their seats and sighed as her dad started the engine.

Sarah’s dad pulled into an open parking space and turned off the engine.

“C’mon let’s head in,” he said. The Polaroid camera in Sarah’s red coat pocket weighed her down, her posture poor and slumped. She looked up to the sky as her dad walked with her to the front of the pizza parlor, then down to her feet when she walked in. Her dad got in line and sent her off to go and find some seats for the both of them. Sarah walked up to the second level and settled on a small booth with a window seat overlooking the nearby harbor water. Her gaze was solid and locked onto the water, her eyes sparkling from the reflections of the moon in the flow. She pulled out her camera from her pocket and snapped a photo, quickly processing the photo and stuffing it into her pocket as she spotted her dad walking up the stairs with their food. He sat down directly across from her and passed the pizza over. They dug into their food, her dad pacing himself while she scarfed down her food as fast as she could.

“Slow down there, it’s not healthy to eat that fast.”

“I didn’t notice that I was eating fast, I’m just so hungry.” Her eyes wandered around the room. “Say, where are you planning to take me? You should have something in mind.”

“Worry about that later, for now, focus on your food.”

They dropped into the seats of the car and started driving. Sarah took one last look behind her at the water flowing through the harbor before whipping back around.

“So…”

“So…”

“Where are you taking me?”

“That’s still a secret. You’ll see when we get there, and trust me you won’t be disappointed.”

“You better live up to your word old man.” He chuckled. Sarah looked around the blurry scenery that passed by.

“Well, we’re here,” her dad said. It was an old dilapidated building that stretched wide, with doors labeled by a number on bronze plates going up to 500. Sarah’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped as she quickly got out of the car and ran into the parking lot.

“Be careful not to make any noise, apparently this is still private property even though it’s been abandoned for years now.”

“Abandoned? What even is this place, why was it abandoned?”

“It was an old hotel. It used to be the only one in all of Oxnard until that other Marriott opened up a couple miles away. It got bested and ran out of business.” Sarah didn’t ask any more questions and walked up to the building. She pulled out her camera and took any pictures she could take. She was attracted to the building’s tattered walls and how deformed it was. She took one last picture before moving on past the first floor. She hastily shook her Polaroid photo as the picture appeared. It showed one of the hotel rooms, but it was missing its number plate. The window in the picture had little doodles in it out of dust and scratch marks all over. She walked up a wooden flight of stairs up to the row of the “320-350” labeled rooms. She took pictures of the old faded glass and the wooden doors that seemed to be scraped away at.

“Hey, we gotta go!” her dad said. He was on the level below her waiting.

“Really? Already? Please… please please please can we stay a bit longer!”

“It’s getting late let’s go.” Sarah walked down the hall and to the stairs, shoving the photos she took into her coat pockets. A quiet creak came from one of the upstairs rooms and caught her attention. She looked up and waited, nothing appeared. She walked down to her dad’s car and got in, fanning out her photos and showing them off to her dad like a gallery.

Sarah jolted awake as her mom jostled her. Layers of sheets like sediment were flung off her as she squirmed in bed, letting out a large grunt as she stretched. She started off with her right foot on the ground and paced her way over to the sliding door that leads to her balcony. She let out a sigh and fell onto one of the chairs outside, her head was buttressed by her arm as she began to nod off. Her eyes sprung open as the nearby screeches of seagulls ran throughout the neighborhood, sending her out of her chair and onto her feet.

“You seem out of it today,” her mother said. She gingerly placed a pile of clothes down on Sarah’s bed. “Can you hang these for me?”

“Sure, I’ll get to it soon.” As her mom walked out of the room, Sarah came back inside and took the photos from the previous night out from her drawer and inspected them. Her eyes were wide as she had a grin on her face, filing through each one as if she was picking out new clothes. She shoved them back into her drawer and slammed it shut, shaking the lamp on top of her desk. Her posture was tall and proper as she strode through her houses hallways, impassioned by her love for photography. She picked up her Polaroid camera and headed for the door.

“Did you finish hanging the clo—” The door shut.

Sarah pushed down on the pedal harder each cycle, her legs accelerating in an endless loop. The hotel was just visible as she turned a corner, her eyes widening, she pedaled as fast as she possibly could. Her biked swayed up and down as she passed over the corrugated sidewalk, coming to a stop as she parked her bike near the driveway into the hotel parking lot. A tall man was exiting the parking lot of the hotel when Sarah spotted him. He sported a violet suit mad made out of velvet, and he wore a matching purple fedora. His hair was long and black, ties into a ponytail hanging out of his hat. By his side was a groomed black dog. He slowly walked towards Sarah with his dog by his side and came to a stop ten feet away from her.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.”

“This is private property. What’re you doing here?” His smirk widened.

“I was just biking in the area and stopped to catch a breath.” She was still panting from the trip to the hotel, and she was hunched over in an attempt to fool the man.

“Well, I’ll be going now. Do not step onto the property.” His voice was firm and asserting, like a parent lecturing a child. He continued walking forward and as he passed her chills were sent down her spine. Her posture became rigid and frozen. She looked behind her and waited until he turned around the corner. Her structure became relaxed and she pulled the camera out of her pocket. Sarah aimed it towards the hotel and snapped a picture. Quickly, she shook the Polaroid photo until it was well developed. The photo showed a grey, dull sky hovering over the roof of the building. Crows were perched on the edge of the roof where the rain gutters were, all lined up and packed in.

She walked around the parking lot and first floor of the hotel, taking pictures of anything that she could. She took pictures of the individual room doors, the windows, the dilapidated railings, the reserved parking spots, the overgrown plants and trees, and the long stretches of hallway.

She walked up the old brown stairs that she had stepped on the previous night. The stairs lead to a long stretch of hallway that also acted as a balcony. To the right of her were doors labeled in the lower 300 range, from 320 to 350. To the left of her was the ending half of the 300 range. It went from 351 all the way to 400. Sarah made a right turn and walked down the balcony. She faced back towards the parking lot and whipped out her Polaroid. She took pictures of the parking lot from an aerial view, and once again the bleak silver sky. She leaned over the railing cautiously, knowing the guard could precariously fall apart. Suddenly, a creaking noise rumbled behind her. She whipped around and tried to locate the source of the noise. The room labeled “324” slowly opened. It continued to creak subtly, like a snake hissing. She stood there. The dusty window of the room had been carved out spelling “FORBIDDEN.” She slowly walked towards the door as it slowly creaked more and more, the small slit of opening grew more and more before Sarah firmly grasped the golden doorknob. She flung the door open. The man dressed in violet emerged from the room.

“Hey there,” he said proudly. He grinned. “I thought I told you to not step on the property, yet you did!” Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but it was no use. She was too startled to make out any noise. “Well, you did want to see what’s inside, didn’t you? Here you go.” He grabbed her and shoved her into the room.

Her eyes were widened as she looked ahead of her. The room was large and blank like a new canvas, devoid of anything else but her. Suddenly, the scenery around her changed. The walls, roof, and floor all around her painted a picture. Everything in the world all at once, flashing before her. The room kept changing and changing at an alarming speed. All of it was being absorbed into Sarah’s mind, and she felt like her head was about to implode from the amount of information she was taking in.

She was quickly pulled back into reality by the man in purple.

“Well, how was it?”

“It was everything. So vividly portrayed, it was so beautiful!” She smiled, but her eyes were scrunched in confusion.

“You have to go home now. I’ve already let you see everything you could find at this hotel.” He escorted her to her bike and they parted ways.

Sarah woke up once again to her mom vigorously shaking her. Her body refused to let her into reality, it longed for more rest.

“Hey c’mon get up you never hung those clothes from yesterday!” her mom said.

“Yeah sorry. I forgot.” Sarah’s eyes were still closed as she laid in bed, cocooned in her blankets. She kicked them off but retained her position in bed, still refusing to get up.

“O.K., seriously, it’s time to get up Sarah. You look like an absolute mess.”

“Fine, I’m getting up.” Her eyes opened. “Although I’m not sure how you can see my condition when it’s so dark in here.” She reached around looking for her lamp and flicked on the dial, filling the room with even more light. “Is this thing plugged in?” she asked. Her dad walked into the room.

“Sarah what’s with you, get up already,” her dad said. Sarah struggled to get up; carefully she stood tried to get up, landing on her left foot first. She tried to track the voices of her loved ones, looking to their direction whenever they made any noise. Her breathing became heavy as her heartbeat went into full speed, audible when she listened closely. Her legs were shaking, jittering and caving in every few seconds, making her feel like she could fall at any moment. Her arms were invaded by goosebumps and the little hairs on them stood tall.

“I—” There was a lump in her throat. “I can’t see you guys. Everything is black.” All Sarah could see was the “everything” the room at the hotel showed her, exchanged for her vision.