This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/MadienMotherCrone on 2026-07-29 00:24:24+00:00.

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Part One

Hilda hadn’t been there the next morning. It bothered me a little bit, that same feeling from the airport surfaced about no one knowing me, but I shoved it down. After getting dressed, I managed to retrace my steps and arrived back at the front reception area of the Motel. It looked less eerie in the morning light, the windows that were in the room had been opened, and there was a man that was standing behind the desk. He was an older gentleman, his hair was shock white but he was sporting a full head of it. It was manicured and he looked excited to see me.

He stood greeting me with a full wide smile encompassing his face. He was handsome, more handsome than I excepted him to be. It was a little disconcerting, but I mustered up my own smile. The Hawaiian shirt that he was wearing had a tiki pattern with big yellow flowers and he had blue jeans and flip flops on. It felt so out of place in the cold environment, I nearly tripped over my own feet. Even with his age, I could see that he has well maintained his skin, although wrinkled, looks vibrant and he walked with ease.

“Welcome Ms.Wallacott,” his tone was jovial, and I knew that voice it was the same one that had interviewed me over the phone only a few weeks earlier. Walking forward quicker, I stretched out my hand as I neared him. Praying that my misstep hadn’t been noticed and that I was making a good first impression.

“Mr.Neman it’s a pleasure to meet you in person,” I said. His hand closed around mine and I released a breath that I hadn’t even realized that I’d been holding. It was a warm handshake that greeted me, his eyes twinkled as the frosty blue orbs did a once over of me. They felt searching much the same as Hilda but it was far less invasive. Though I attribute that to him being conventional handsome, even if he was older.

“I see, Hilda got you here in one piece.”

“Thank you for sending her to pick me up. I didn’t see any taxi’s.” I paused at that, I really hadn’t  seen a single Taxi. Even if it was a small airport normally there would have been some sort of transportation service to get people where they were going.

He nodded, and gave a small whistle. I heard the yawn and then the great big head of a dog appeared. My heart gave a slight jump as from behind the counter a massive creature appeared. She was probably came to about my mid waist, this had to be Graham Cracker the mascot that was mentioned in the welcome package.

“Graham, come here girl.” Mr.Neman called. The big beast took only a second to get here, its massive legs and body easily covering the distance. She had the most enchanting eyes I think I’d ever seen on a dog. They were a warm grey and had fleck of gold in them. Her coat was a grey and speckled with white and black spots. She had a collar around her neck that looked expensive, it was a white chain that seemed to sparkle when the light caught it just right. There was no tag on it, just the image of a Graham Cracker as a charm.

“Good girl,” he cooed. He had produced a small treat and the dog had lapped it up without me so much as catching a glance. She then turned her head towards me to take me in. I held myself still and held out my hand to her, I knew that you weren’t supposed to look dogs in the eyes. It was a sign of challenge, but I couldn’t pry my eyes away from hers. She stepped forward again, her massive head bent to smell my hand.

Then she gave a sniff and rubbed her face against it. The pattering beats of my heart finally slowed down, I don’t know why I felt relieved. If she was the Motel’s Mascot that must have meant she was friendly, maybe, it was the sheer size of her that did it. After a little ear scratching, she laid down at our feet. Still about the same height as a small toddler, even while not standing on all fours.

“I’m glad to see that she approves of you. Now I know that you probably have some questions for me. Think of today as your introduction, tomorrow will be your first official day accepting in guest,” he said with a wink.

You’re probably thinking, ask him about the people last night! I wanted to ask him, I really did, but the rules kept ringing at the back of my head. Should I even bother him with a question about something that was already covered in the rules? They had to be there for a reason, and did I really want to question the rules that he’d explicitly outlined in the welcome package?

Not really.

For the rest of the day, I followed him around and learned about my responsibilities and met some of the housekeeping staff. It was a skeleton crew, as it wasn’t during the week, when we’d actively accepting guest and turning over rooms. Graham Cracker hadn’t left my side after that first interaction, and I found the presence of the dog to be comforting.

By the end of the day, I was handed my keyring, and told to keep them on my person as stipulated in rule number three.

Rules 3 : Always keep the key ring on your person as you move about the motel. It’s best if they are kept on silver chain and either tucked into your pocket and fastened to a belt loop. If you’ve chose to wear a skirt or a dress for the day, they should be attached to a silver ring that can be worn as a bracelet.

The bracelet had been provided for me. It was cute with a bow, and before I knew it the time had reached eight in the evening. I hadn’t seen a single guest in my time wandering the Motel with Mr.Neman. Graham Cracker had taken up residence in my room, I’d found a dog bed that I don’t remember being there from the other day, but I was tired and might have missed it.

In the end, I never did ask about the couple that had been outside the previous night, and no one made mention of them either. Thus, the following days passed in a blur, the job was easy and there weren’t that many check ins.

I had started to think that I’d completely imagined the people from my first night. Making all sort of excuses as to why my brain might have conjured them up. All and all I had assumed that it hadn’t happened in the first place and that I must have been so sleep deprived and stressed out.

Then, on Friday afternoon at 3 pm they arrived. My heart nearly jumped out of my throat, my foot had accidentally caught Graham and she let out a little huff of annoyance. I reached down and patted her head, my own form of a quick sorry. I’d make sure to give her a treat as a full apology, but for now my eyes were trained on the guest that had just walked through the doors. The gust of frigid air was warmer than the chill that ran down my spine. It was them… the couple from the first night was standing in my lobby.

They looked almost exactly the same as I the last time I’d seen them. Biggest difference was that they were standing in the lobby, I stood up willing a customer service smile to appear on my face. He was taller now that he was approaching me, my stomach did a small flip when he arrived in front of me. He had his sunglasses on still, and he didn’t seem keen on removing them anytime soon. My throat was dry all of the sudden, faced with the people that I thought had been figment of my imagination was a sobering experience.

“Hello Welcome to the Motel ****. Do you have a reservation?” I asked, all while mustering the best customer service voice I could. I needed to sound calm and in control, even though I felt that at any moment I might break into uncontrollable nervous laughter.

“Yes, our reservations are under Atwood,” his voice was low. The girl had arrived at his side, and she was still on her phone. She was in a slightly different outfit than the one that I had previously seen her in. But it was still to light to suit the weather that was developing outside, it was starting to snow and the weather report for the area had called for heavy snow.

Turning my attention to the archaic computer that ran all the reservations for the Motel. I input Atwood, and there it was a reservation for three adults. I glanced upwards and looked around to see if there was a third person that I had missed, but it was just them, Graham Cracker and me. I bite my lip before taking a breath.

“It says here that there are three adults on the reservation?”

I couldn’t tell if he blinked as his eyes were still behind sunglasses. His body language read ‘boredom’ as if he just wanted to move on from the situation.

“They’ll be coming by later,” he supplied after a long moment.

“I see. Do you have a card that I can keep on file for any damages or surcharges to the room?”

“Here,” the girl inserted. She held up a black card, and slide it forward across the counter towards me. Her fingernails were long, and they were painted black, but I noticed that underneath her nails it looked like there was something stuck there. I reached out and took the card, my hand brushing hers, and I felt a chill where our skin connected. Quick as I could I pulled my hand back and quickly began to run the card.

It was only after I had swiped the card and slid it back across towards the couple that I noted there was dirt on the counter. It was a dark rich black, if I focused I could actually smell the wet earth. She reached out and swiped the card back up and in the process removed the dirt. Or at least what I assumed was dirt, I was still shaken up over them actually being real.

“Thank you, Mr...

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