A Tale of Masks

It was supposed to be fun. Fun was the main objective. Fun is all that I wanted to have. But boy were we off. My parents booked a hotel for the Halloween weekend to see my cousins. My family is very large, my grandfather has 4 brothers who all had kids. We were going to see my uncle who has three kids. All of them are older than me, which is just like all my brothers. My oldest brother is the C.O.O of a tech company. His name is Owen.  My second brother is in college and he is a major in emerging at Stanford. His name is James. My older brother is the person I have the strongest bond with. His name is Micheal. He is in 10th grade and two years older than me. 

When my parents were talking about going on a trip to a hotel tell that was very old. They said they wanted to go because the history probably behind it. They said this hotel was over 100 years old and it hadn’t changed a bit since those hundred years ago. 

We loaded our stuff into our Honda Odyssey and packed up to head on the road. The Victorian Hotel was about 230 miles away in Boston, Massuchsetes. Most of my cousins live there so that is why we decided to go. You ever get that feeling like something isn’t going to go well. Well in my case it is like my sixth sense. I have a superpower for knowing if something bad was about to happen. I unforntally got that feeling as soon as I stepped into our car. I mostly kept to myself the car ride thinking about how much fun it would be to see my cousins. As soon as I stepped out of the car good old Uncle Bob was there to greet me. 

“Liam how’s it going,” asked Uncle Bob.

“Good,” I replied. 

“Well that is great to here, and also welcome to The Marshall Hotel.” said Uncle Bob

“So this is the famous Victorian Hotel that everyone has been talking about,” I asked.

“Yup, it’s a real beaut,” said Uncle Bob

After I spoke with Uncle Bob I helped unload the bags and bring them inside to the Concierge. 

I thought to myself, “Hmmmm, no one is here. That is odd.

I walked around for a bit longer and realized. Man this place is really run down. It looks like this place hasn’t seen any renovations in decades. The Concierge told my family that the room wasn’t ready yet so we then went out into town. As we were about to walk out we passed someone who looked like they had some sort of weird masks. I thought to myself, “Wait those look like Jason masks, eh they are probably hear for  a costume party.” My parents told me that we were going to see the Boston Celtics play. My favorite basketball team is the New York Knicks who at the moment are a pretty bad team. They were supposed to get superstar players in the last offseason but nope they got no one. They all went to the rival team the Brooklyn Nets. 

After we came home from the game which by the way the Celtics won. Know surprise there, we had just eaten and I swear that I saw another Jason mask walking around in a dark black mask. He was in an alleyway right by our hotel. I thought it seemed suspicious but everyone else brushed it off. Know one believes me in this family so I expected that to happen. But if some goes missing then I told you them so. 

After dinner we arrived at the hotel and Micheal said to me, “What a game.”

I replied with, “Yeah heck off a game, but did you notice any people with Jason masks on, I thought I had seen some.” 

Micheal says, “No I don’t think so, why are you scared that they are going to kill you.”

I said, “No knock it off, I am just excited that Halloween is right around the corner.”

With both parted ways, Micheal went to the basement were the ping pong table is and I went back to our room to rest. Time passes and it is 8:00. Micheal still hasn’t returned since he went down at 7:00. My parents just got back from a bar and all of my cousins are in there rooms safe and sound.

My father asks, “Hey Liam you seen Micheal around.”

I replied, “Yeah he went down to the basement an hour ago but he hasn’t come back.”

My father says, “Alright just keep an eye out for him your curfew is 9:30. By the way don’t go outside I heard something is about to go down on the streets.”

I acknowledge and say, “I got you pops see you soon.”

 I doze off for a while and wake to the sound of laughter. My parents are watching a movie and Micheal is back. It is 9:00 and he is back. 

I wonder, “What is down there that took him so long to come back, Tomorrow I shall investigate.” 

I ask James, “Hey do you want to come investigate what is down in the basement tomorrow.”  

He replies, “Yeah sure what is down ther-”.

Micheal interrupts, “Nothing, nothing is down there oh you don’t need to go down there, nope nothing.”

Micheal is just acting more suspicious by the minute. He is not his usual self, there is something off about him. He is usually very rowdy and all happy but he seems reserved and quiet somewhat like me. But we will figure this out tomorrow. 

The next day is Halloween my favorite time of year. I get so much candy and I eat all of it in a week.  My favorite candy is hershey’s chocolate. It has such a rich taste and it grabs a lot of attention to its name. My family and I decided to head down to the local supermarket to get some breakfast. For some odd reason they don’t serve a buffet at the hotel. I had a bagel for breakfast as well as my family. We headed into down to do some window shopping and see what is around. We stopped at this odd shop that had a body bag in the window but my family went in anyway.

 I tried to stop them and said, “Wait did you guys not see what was in the window. It was a body bag for crying out loud. I flippin body bag.” 

My mother said, “Oh don’t worry so much Liam, I bet this shop is fine.”

I agree but silently protest as I walk into the store. 

I say aloud, “Maybe I was wrong this store seems fine.”

As soon as I say this bam a creepy clown jumps out from behind the shelves. I ran so fast Usain Bolt couldn’t even catch me. Turns out it was just my brother Owen trying to scare me. He did successful but I told my mom and she scolded him. We left the store and decided to go elsewhere. 

When we arrived back at the hotel from our afternoon of shopping it was about 7:45. I asked Owen if he and I could go to the basement and he said sure. I had to go grab a flashlight from the room just to be safe. My family went back up to the room and I grabbed my flashlight and headed back down the stairs. When I was walking down to the basement with Owen everything at first seemed normal but that was soon to change. Everything went pitch black and soundly the floor started to shake and we were thrown into a room. 

Owen screams, “What the hell is happening.”

I yell back, “I have no freaking idea.”

The lights turn on and we are in a confined room, with a door that is locked. I saw a lock box with a keyhole so I believe that is how we will get out. I start to think about all the things that could have happened to. 

I say in a panic, “Who would do this to us, we are both innocent, I didn’t steal anything I swear.”

My brother calms me down and says, “Don’t worry we will figure this out.”

I nodded my head in agreement. I start to think about all the ways that we could get maybe If we start to bang on the walls we will be able to get out. I do that, nothing happens. I try to find a paperclip to pick the lock. That doesn’t work.

One hour passes and we are still stuck in here. My brother seems very calm and collected. He has just been findinling with his thumbs the entire time while I have been freaking out. 

I ask him, “Do you think we will be stuck down here.”

He responds, “No, just try to think about in a simple way, try opening the lock box.”

I had never thought of that and go to open the lock box. It worked! I was so overjoyed and ran to the door and opened it. My family was waiting out there.

They all yell, “Great job Liam.”

Uncle Bob says, “You finally realized that you have to think about life in a simpler matter.”

I am overjoyed at my achievement and we all go out for pizza. After we have our pizza and return home I realize the Jason masks I was seeing was for a hockey convention. And the man in the alley wearing one was smoking. I go to bed tonight knowing that I should think about life in a more simpler matter.