When no food or anything showed up and they’d eaten everything they had in the room John made another call. This time he wasn’t able to get ahold of anyone. Not knowing what else to do he popped open the door and left to go get them some food from the lobby. He spotted another man at the end of the hallway standing in front of the elevator and hurried to catch up.
They spoke briefly confirming that neither of them knew what the hell was going on. The lobby was deserted. They gathered some snacks and drinks from the sundries shop and began walking back for the elevator. A soldier walked into the building from the other side and yelled at them to put their hands up. The soldier started walking towards them then got distracted by the sounds of gunfire coming from a nearby street and ran off in that direction. The man John had ridden the elevator with pointed out a woman splayed out on one of the chairs in the lobby. She was moaning oddly while rocking back and forth.
Walking over to check on her they noticed the front of her shirt was covered in blood. When they got directly in front of her, she snapped. Letting out a low guttural growl she leapt straight out of the chair onto the guy next to John. She bit deeply into the side of his neck. John watched in horror for a second before turning and sprinting for the elevator. He pressed the button multiple times while staring across the lobby at the friendly receptionist who was now eating the guy who’d walked to the lobby with him.
Her neck snapped up and she suddenly focused in on John right as the elevator door opened. He jumped in and slammed the shut door button with his finger. The doors almost closed in time. The bloody woman tried to beat her way into the small elevator. She was halfway through the door when John punched her hard in the mouth. Her teeth cut deep into his knuckles. He swung at her face again with his other hand and knocked her out of the elevator. She tripped over her long skirt falling backwards on the cold marble floor. John frantically pressed the button on the door until it finally slid shut.
Walking down the hallway back to the room the lights in the sconces started to blend together into one long light. John stopped and looked at the carpeted hallway. It was gently rising and falling like a lake on a breezy day. A surge of energy jolted through him and he did a small hop. Shaking his head to try and clear it he looked down at his bloody knuckles. He couldn’t quite remember why they were bleeding. He’d forgotten his room number but was pretty sure he was in front of his door. He rapped on the door a few times until it opened. The sound of a woman’s voice sent him into a rage fueled attack on the door.
He rebounded off the door when he charged it. The lock had been engaged so that it would only open partially. Before he could attack the door again it was slammed in his face. Rational thought eluded John as he descended into madness. His heart sped up as adrenaline surged through his system. Rage and fear warred within him as he battered the door with his body to get at the prey he knew to be inside. The door flashed and pulsated hypnotically drawing him to it. He screamed in frustration as he kept smashing into it trying to force it open. All logical thought eradicated in a surge of rage and adrenaline and hunger.
Desiree took a few steps back from the door. She’d seen John in the hallway when she’d opened the door. She’d been about to close it and move the lock out of the way to let him in when he’d gone all insane berserker on the door. She’d gotten it closed and fearfully backed away from it. He was slamming into it hard. She didn’t know long it’d last. The whole frame around the door was vibrating every time John hit it.
She grabbed her phone off the bed and stared at it. She wanted to call for help but she didn’t know who to call. Something in the door frame made a loud cracking noise. She shuddered and grabbed a knife off the remains of the breakfast tray. The door made that cracking noise again the next two times John rammed it then finally flew open on the third strike. Desiree stood up with the knife in her hand wishing they’d stayed at a modern hotel with better doors. She wished they’d never come to Egypt. She wished she could talk to her mom. She saw her death in John’s red eyes.
There was no mercy in the beast bearing down on her. There was no recognition. It wasn’t John anymore. When he was close enough, she stabbed him. She kept stabbing him as he bore her down to the ground. He ignored the knife plunging repetitively into his stomach. His mind now that of an unfeeling predator. He ripped into his prey and drank the blood that flowed out. He was gnawing at her shoulder when something in her demeanor shifted. He recognized she was no longer prey.
John stood up dripping with blood. Pieces of her hair and skin stuck in his blood-stained teeth. Without sparing his blood covered bride another glance he turned and rushed out of the room in search of his next victim. On the ground Desiree writhed around like a double-jointed break dancer in the middle of a seizure. A massive surge of adrenaline flowed through her body. The room spun and light came at her from every direction. Her heart was pounding. She leapt
