
Free Sample
Preview from chapter one
The Dark Hotel
Chapter 1
Road trip.
"I didn't know you had a granddad,” My fiancée Eve said, as I was putting the coordinates in the car's navigation system.
"Well, he didn't like me," I replied. "Not at all. That's why I never mentioned him to you."
"But he left you a hotel?" Eve asked.
"I just don't know why. I was the only one not kissing his ass, no matter how rich he was."
"Well," my fiancée said, "everybody was very surprised as the executor told your entire family he left you an up-and-running hotel."
"Yes, nobody knew about it, not even me. He kept his secrets very well."
"So why would he bequeath you the hotel? It might be worth millions?"
"I just don't know, Eve. I sometimes thought he even hated me. Little things he did to me, you know?"
"So how long is the drive? I have never been in that area at all," Eve asked.
"Well, about four or five hours, depending on the amount of breaks we take," I replied.
"OK, let's do this!" She encouraged me.
...
Three hours later, we had covered a large part of our road trip. We were not far away from our destination. The darkness of the coming evening was announcing itself, and it was not even 4 PM. Winter was sure closing in fast, I thought.
"I need a break," I said to Eve. As I looked on the navigation display, a fork and knife was merely two miles away from us. "Look, in two miles we can eat."
As Eve looked on the display, she didn't see any Diner.
"What do you mean, there is no Diner on the display?" She asked.
"Right there." I said, lifting my hand to point it on the display. As I looked, it wasn't there. That's weird. Must be the satellite reception.
"I swear I just saw one," I replied.
After roughly two miles, the Diner did show up, on the other side of the road. "There it is." I said a bit too loud, overexcited. "Let's eat."
The place was completely empty but for one gypsy-looking customer and the woman working there. We sat in a booth, and I grabbed the menu. Eve left for the bathroom.
The gypsy guy kept looking at me. As I looked back, he was saying "no" to me with his index finger, moving it from left to right. As if he wanted me to leave. Leave from what? From the Diner? From the hotel? The town? Was there a town? I didn't check.