The Lights Inside the Resort
The sound followed them through the forest.
Not loudly.
Not fast.
Just enough.
A slow scraping noise from somewhere behind the trees, like something dragging itself uphill through the mud while the storm raged above the island.
Nobody looked back anymore.
Nobody wanted to.
Nora Vale could barely feel her legs now after climbing through the endless forest path. Rainwater soaked completely through her clothes while freezing wind slipped constantly between the trees.
And still—
the resort remained far above them.
God.
The building looked worse the closer they got.
Broken towers rose through thick fog while sections of the structure leaned unnaturally sideways against the cliffs. Several windows glowed faintly orange through the darkness, but half the hotel remained completely black.
Like the island itself swallowed parts of it.
Another crack of thunder exploded overhead.
Then suddenly—
the scraping noise behind them stopped.
The silence afterward felt worse.
Kai noticed too.
“That’s bad.”
“What is?” Selene whispered.
“It stopped following us.”
Nobody responded.
Because somehow they all understood what he meant immediately.
Predators stopped making noise when they got close enough already.
The thought sent fresh panic through the group.
Jace tightened his grip around the flashlight while scanning the trees beside the trail carefully.
“We stay together.”
Another child’s laugh echoed through the woods.
Closer this time.
God.
Selene physically flinched.
“No no no.”
The laughter moved again somewhere behind the group.
Then suddenly from the left.
Then the right.
Like something circled them through the fog.
Nora’s heartbeat pounded painfully.
Because whatever made that sound wanted them afraid.
And it was working.
Then Rowan stopped walking abruptly.
Everyone nearly crashed into him.
“What?” Kai whispered sharply.
Rowan slowly pointed ahead through the trees.
The resort entrance stood directly above them now.
Massive iron gates stretched across the cliffside path leading toward the hotel courtyard. Rust covered most of the metal while dead vines twisted around the bars like veins.
And carved directly into the stone arch above the gates were four words:
NO ONE LEAVES THE ISLAND
Silence swallowed the group instantly.
Rain hammered softly around them.
Selene stared upward in horror.
“That’s not normal.”
Kai looked deeply offended by the understatement.
“Wow really?”
Nora stepped slowly toward the gates.
One side already hung partially open.
Like somebody entered recently.
Or never left.
Another gust of wind moved through the courtyard beyond the gate carrying the faint smell of smoke and seawater.
Then came something else.
Music.
Soft piano music echoing faintly from somewhere inside the resort.
Everyone froze again.
Jace frowned.
“Do you hear that?”
Yes.
God.
Somebody was playing piano inside the hotel.
A slow melody drifted through the storm from one of the upper floors, quiet and distorted beneath the rain.
Which meant somebody was alive in there.
Hopefully alive.
Kai looked toward the others carefully.
“Okay, statistically speaking, creepy piano music has never led to anything positive.”
“We don’t have another option,” Nora whispered.
She hated that she was right.
The group slowly pushed through the gates together.
The courtyard beyond looked abandoned for decades.
Broken fountains overflowed with black rainwater while cracked statues stood half-buried beneath dead vines and moss. Several old cars rusted silently near the entrance staircase, their windows shattered inward like something broke its way inside from outside.
Or tried to get out.
God.
Everything here carried the feeling of a place people escaped from.
Not somewhere people vacationed.
Lightning flashed overhead.
And for one horrifying second—
Nora saw figures standing motionless behind several upper windows of the resort.
Watching them.
Then darkness returned.
The windows looked empty again.
Kai noticed too.
“Please tell me I imagined that.”
Nobody answered.
Because they didn’t.
The giant entrance doors stood partially open beneath the broken hotel sign overhead.
AZURE COVE RESORT.
Or at least it used to say that.
Now most letters had fallen away.
Only these remained visible through rust and age:
…URE C…VE RES…T
Like the island itself slowly erased the place from existence.
The piano music grew louder as they climbed the front staircase.
Slow.
Beautiful.
Wrong somehow.
Then suddenly it stopped.
Complete silence followed.
God.
The timing felt intentional.
Jace stepped toward the entrance first and pushed one of the heavy doors open wider.
The inside of the resort looked frozen in time.
Dust covered everything.
Broken chandeliers hung crooked above a massive lobby while old luggage remained abandoned beside rotting furniture and collapsed walls.
Yet somehow—
electricity still worked.
Dim orange lights flickered weakly throughout the hotel like dying candles.
And the strangest part?
The front desk clock still ticked softly.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Like time never fully stopped here.
Selene stared around the lobby carefully.
“This place looks abandoned.”
“It IS abandoned,” Kai whispered.
Then softly, almost to himself:
“I think.”
Thunder rumbled above the building again while the front doors slowly creaked shut behind them.
Everyone turned instantly.
Nobody touched them.
God.
Nora’s chest tightened painfully.
“Tell me wind did that.”
No one answered.
Because there was no wind inside the hotel.
The silence afterward felt enormous.
Then suddenly—
a voice echoed somewhere above them.
A woman singing softly.
The melody drifted down from the upper floors of the resort, gentle and distant beneath the storm outside.
Kai stared upward slowly.
“Nope.”
The singing stopped.
Then footsteps echoed overhead.
Slow footsteps.
One person walking across the second floor balcony above the lobby.
The group instinctively stepped backward together.
Another flash of lightning illuminated the upper level briefly through the cracked skylight overhead.
And for one terrible second—
they saw her.
A woman standing on the balcony.
Long dark hair.
Pale skin.
Wearing an old white resort uniform stained black near the chest.
She stared silently down at them from above.
Then smiled.
And God—
her mouth opened far too wide.