Mr. Taylor got off the car and handed the keys to the bell-boy, saying, “Park it away from the sun, please.”
The bell-boy nodded and took the wheel. He waited until every family member of the Taylors got off the car before starting the car and driving off. The Taylor kids cheered with glee.
“Yippee! Holidays at last!” Tony cheered as he flung his cap up with triumph. His brother, Clement, did the same.
“I can’t wait to try out the swimming pool!” Zoë, the eldest daughter declared. “I heard that the decors at the indoor swimming pool are simply exotic!”
“I want to try the playground! I want to try the playground!” The twins Clara and Clarice chided in, giggling like a pair of naughty hyenas.
“Now, now, children. One at a time,” Mrs. Taylor tried to quiet down her 5 bickering children. The bell-boy came back with their suitcases and placed them on the trolley. Mr. Taylor went to check in while the children feasted their eyes at the beautiful hotel.
It was a 5-star hotel, very new in the industry and pretty high-classed. It had decors and the architecture of various country cultures; from the bodacious Swedish to the suave French to the courteous Spain and even to the poetic Athens and Greek. It even has the splash of Asian, Russian and even their local English air. It was all in one, and yet they did not clash with each other. Each culture seemed to have peace with each other and blended in with their surroundings. It was so grand that even the king’s castle seemed like a squatter’s area. It opened a few months ago and Mr. Taylor thought it would be OK to spend the holidays with his family here.
“Enchanted Nite Hotel. Not a bad name for a high-classed hotel,” Mr. Taylor commented after taking the room keys, “I feel enchanted already!”
“What room are we, dear?” Mrs. Taylor enquired.
“Room 5012.”
“There are so many portraits, Dad!” Clement exclaimed, astonished. “What are they for?”
“It’s just decors, kid,” the bell-boy explained as he led the Taylor family to their room. “The manager is quite eccentric, you see. He hates leaving the walls bare. Even his own room is filled with frames of pictures.”
The five siblings watched from left to right. Every wall has at least one portrait or a beautiful exotic painting. There were even replica paintings of famous artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent van Gogh. There’s even a replica painting of Mona Lisa on the wall next to the Taylors’ room.
“It’s kinda creepy,” Zoë shuddered as she stared at the smiling Mona Lisa. “It’s like being watched wherever you go.”
“Well, we’ll be here for a week’s stay,” Tony replied nonchalantly, “so I guess we’ll just have to get used to it.”
“Alright, kids,” Mr. Taylor voiced out, “put your suitcases into the cupboard and take out whatever you need. You can go and enjoy yourselves silly. Your mom and I will be right here if you need us.”
The 5 children cheered with glee as they grabbed their swimsuits and stuff before leaving Room 5012.
--:--
Tony and Clement couldn’t sleep. They tossed and turned and tried many sleeping positions to get comfortable but in vain. Tony was also beginning to get a headache. He cursed himself for being so nosy with the 3-in-1 instant coffee.
Zoë, Clara and Clarice had dared Tony and Clement to drink coffee. As their parents went down to the lounge to enjoy a little happy hour, the children decided to fool around with the facilities of the room. They’ve tried the bathtub, the mini-fridge, the satellite TV, everything. Once they’ve come across the 3-in-1 instant coffee packets, all hell broke loose. The children knew that their parents have strictly forbidden them to drink coffee until they’re old enough, and the ‘taboo’ seemed tempting. The sisters dared the brothers to drink the instant coffee since they’re not ready to take the risk themselves.
“Why don’t you drink it, since you’re eager enough?” Tony asked suspiciously.
“Because we are girls and you’re not!” Zoë insisted.
“So what if you’re girls? Mom drinks coffee too!” Clement complained.
“That’s because she’s a grown up, and she’s older,” Clara and Clarice said together. They always say things at the right timing. “Besides, you both are much older than us put together! So you drink it!”
And so they did. Without realizing it, the boys have gulped down 5 tall glasses of instant coffee (added sugar), and now they couldn’t sleep, with Tony having a headache due to the caffeine.
“I can’t sleep, Tony,” Clement whined, rubbing his eyes.
“Neither can I. and I’m getting a splitting headache. Blast that coffee!” Tony hissed and massaged his temples.
“Let’s take a walk. It might tire us out and wear off the coffee.”
“Alright. I need some ice for my head anyway.”
Slowly and silently, Tony and Clement climbed out of bed. Clement took the keys while Tony got a thin towel from the bathroom. They tiptoed across the room, opened the door and crept out silently. No one stirred. So far, so good.
They took the lift and went down to the 2nd floor, where the ice-vending machine was. Tony held out the towel while Clement pushed the button. A silent humming sounded and the ice-cubes clattered out into Tony’s towel. Tony gratefully wrapped the ice-cubes and held it on his throbbing head with a sigh of relief.
“You know,” Clement said, his voice echoing down the empty corridors. “Zoë’s right. It is kinda creepy with all these portraits and pictures. It’s like those portraits’ eyes are following you wherever you go.”
“Hush!” Tony hissed, rubbing the ice on his forehead. “You’re being paranoid! They’re just paintings, what more can they do to us?”
“I don’t know. I mean, it’s pretty scary, really. It kinda feels like Hauntsville, with all those paintings. I, for one wouldn’t be walking around here if you weren’t coming with me.”
“Come on! Don’t be such a scaredy-cat! It’s supposed to be weird like this. After all, it is a new hotel with its own new style!”
“Well…I suppose you’re right then. It does have its own—shh! You hear something?”
Tony tilted his head, trying to hear whatever it is Clement had heard. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“I don’t hear anything. Now stop being paranoid…”
“Shh!! Be quiet! Try to listen harder!” Clement hissed insistently, a solemn look running across his face.
Tony decided to humour Clement and pretended to pay attention. He didn’t have to pretend for long—he actually heard someone whispering to another in an urgent tone, like some sort of argument. Tony took Clement’s hand and tried to find the source of the sound, completely forgetting his throbbing headache. The voices led them to an empty lobby at the end of the guest rooms’ corridor. The lobby was really empty—no chairs and tables, no sofas, nothing. The bell-boy did tell them that the lobby was under renovation, but it looked perfectly fine. In fact, it was so fine that Tony and Clement was beginning to wonder why it needed any renovations at all.
Tony felt the walls for the source of the voices. Tony was pretty good at this—it’s as if his hands were doing the listening. It led him to a portrait of the famous writer Mary Shelley (who wrote the book ‘Frankenstein’). The portrait was beautiful—a flawless, young woman dressed in clothes of the 18th century. Tony stuck his ear onto the wall and listened, and as expected, the voices were quite clear, although still a little bit of a mumbling sort. Clement was prying the portrait with curious hands when all of a sudden, it opened, like a miniature door. Tony was quite taken aback but regained his composure quite quickly. Taking Clement’s hand, he stepped into the dark secret passageway.
The passageway was pretty cold and dim. All the walls were made of cold steel and the floor was of solid metal. At this part of the place, there were neither portraits nor paintings. Everything was bare. It was so contradicting with the way the hotel walls were decorated.
“What is this place?” Clement’s whispers echoed through the passageway.
“Shh! Don’t even whisper!” Tony hissed urgently. “Look! There’s a little bit of light! My goodness, this is a laboratory!”
So it was. In fact, it was a very, very high-tech lab—the whole place was filled with weird-looking gadgets and astonishing machinery, and there were lab instruments of all kinds everywhere. There was an incubator at the end of the lab and there were a few more phials and cone glasses filled with bubbling concoctions. Test-tubes, syringes and even complicated medical instruments like scalpels and surgery scissors were also there.
“Woah! This is way cool!” Clement started but was stopped by Tony from getting too near the lab stuff.
“Stay low to the ground, you idiot! I think I hear the voice owners now!”
Tony was right; there were people in the lab, somewhere at the far corner. Clement was lucky that they didn’t notice him when he was advancing towards the lab table. It was a couple—scientists wearing clean white robes which had a distant disinfectant smell on them. The man was clean-shaven and was quite young, and surprisingly, he turned out to the bell-boy who carried their luggage that afternoon! The woman, on the other hand, was a stranger to them. A blonde and very solemn-looking at that.
“Have the Rangers being dispatched?” the woman asked in a serious, no-nonsense tone, without even a trace of joy on her face.
“Yes, Shenna, they have. They should be back here with Project No.69 now,” the bell-boy answered, not looking at her directly in the eye.
“Now? NOW?! Yeah, right! You call 5 hours ago ‘now’? I’m beginning to doubt your Rangers. I should’ve used my Rangers instead! They’re more capable!” Shenna snorted haughtily.
“They maybe slow, but they’re the best in my team!” the bell-boy rebutted her. “Or do you want me to dispatch the Predators?”
“No, no! Absolutely not! I will not hear of it! The Predators kill without a cause and kill without mercy. They’ll ruin Project No.69!”
“What’s so important about Project No.69? We have plenty of other Projects to deal with and you only care about him!”
“You don’t understand, Roger,” Shenna replied, pretending to be interested with her laptop. “Project No.69 is very valuable.”
“Yeah, right,” Roger, the bell-boy, snorted back. “And I suppose it’s because he’s finally turned out be better than the former Projects?”
“Yes. He’s perfect in every way. Both physically and mentally.”
“No shit!”
“Yes. He’s the only Super Human ever successfully created.”
“Only that you made a simple glitch,” Roger folded his arms and stared at her mockingly.
“What glitch?” Shenna was taken aback.
“You messed up his chromosomes. You turned him into a gay.”
“It wasn’t my fault! It just happened! I can’t exactly control everything that’s growing in his body, you know!”
“Then he’s not perfect. He’s a casualty.”
“Of course he’s perfect! OK, so maybe he’s turned into a homosexual, but he’s perfect in every way! Unlike those failed mutants, he excelled! He’s everything we’ve wished to create on him! He’s the one, the Super Human we’ve been wanting for!”
Tony and Clement have heard everything. Although it was still quite vague, the boys got the basics: they created a creature, a very powerful creature, they’ve accidentally lost him, and now they want the creature back.
“It’s just like a sci-fi movie, Tony! This is so cool! We’re in the middle of a high-tech conspiracy!” Clement was so excited, he almost wanted to shout it out loud.
“This is so unreal!” Tony could hardly believe his eyes and ears. “This exotic hotel is actually a cover-up for a high-class secret government project! My goodness, it’s like we’re acting in the X-Files! I don’t believe it!”
“Believe it, Tony. That’s exactly what these scientists are saying.”
“We’ll need more blood samples,” the boys hushed when they heard Shenna talking. “Have we got anymore new guests?”
“Quite a few. I must say the Taylor family is the best candidate…”
That was the last straw. Tony and Clement have heard enough to warn their parents and sisters. They knew that they wouldn’t believe them, but one way or another, they have to take their family out of the hotel before Roger and Shenna take them as their next project. Slowly, they crept out of the lab, hurried down the cold passageway, climbed as silent as possible out from behind the portrait and dashed back to the lift, wishing with all their might that they’ll be in time before it’s too late.
--:--
Zoë noticed Tony and Clement’s absence. She didn’t drink coffee, but she was quite a light sleeper and pretty sensitive. Any silent movement would stir her up in no time.
She heard her brothers saying something about getting ice for Tony’s head and about taking a walk to wear out the coffee effect. She grinned secretly—she felt darn lucky for not touching the coffee. She peeped quietly as the boys crept out of the room before going back to sleep.
Now she was awakened by a silent jingling of bells. Slowly, she sat up and listened again. Yes, there it was, that jingling again. She got off her bed to find out where the jingling came from. The twins Clara and Clarice stirred. Either they have also heard the jingling or that Zoë’s movement woke them up, it didn’t matter to Zoë. She just wanted to find the source of the sound.
She found herself standing in front of the huge bathroom mirror. A crystal bell hanging from a silver string was stuck on the rim of the mirror. It jingled like wind chimes, constantly knocking against the mirror. Weirdly, it did not make any tapping noises when it hit the mirror. Instead, it made ripples on it, like the ripples made on water when a stone was thrown into it. Zoë was utterly fascinated.
“Wow! What is that?” Obviously the twins have also seen the same thing as Zoë did.
“I don’t know…but I got a feeling…The mirror is calling me,” Zoë gazed in wonder, advancing slowly towards the mirror. “It’s calling me…I have a mission to do…”
Almost suddenly, Tony and Clement barged into the room, panting like dogs. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor stirred a little before they turned and dozed off again. Zoë broke her eye contact from the mirror and stared at her brothers in astonishment.
“We-We have to get out of here! Wake-Mom and Dad up, we’ll explain-everything!” Tony panted, gasping for breath.
“You might not believe it at first, but it’s true!” Clement agreed. “Hurry up! Why the dilly-dally?”
The twins pointed at the rippling mirror and the bell. It took Tony and Clement 10 seconds to absorb everything that they were witnessing before their eyes. The atmosphere was pretty tense—with only the bells and no other noises about. Come to think of it, it was pretty unreal.
“What…What is going on here?” Tony broke the silence at last. “What the hell is going on here? Why is this happening to us?”
“I don’t know, Tony. But I got a feeling that it is meant for us to find out,” Zoë replied, reaching for the bell. “It’s our destiny. We are chosen to do this task.”
“What task? Why so mysterious all of a sudden?” Clement was quite surprised at how calm Zoë was about all the strange happenings.
“The task will be revealed if we search it, Clement. We have to do this. Come with me.”
Tony and Clement hesitated. Part of them felt unbelievable about all this, yet another part of them felt that they should embrace this destiny, only that the mirror wasn’t their destiny but something else. As if answering the boys’ question, Tony’s foot kicked on another crystal bell tied with a silver string. He bent down to pick it up, and immediately the bell was pointing the opposite direction, towards the main door.
“Come with me, Tony, Clement. Our destiny awaits,” Zoë was clutching her bell and moving backwards to the mirror.
Tony stared at his bell for a few moments, then said, “No. We can’t. This is our destiny, not that one. Clara, Clarice, you go with Zoë. You’re meant for that.”
The twins were only too eager to follow. They took Zoë’s hand and waved goodbye to the boys. The thought of saying farewell to their parents didn’t even cross their minds; as if the urging of the bell and the call of the mirror was more important to them. Slowly, Zoë and the twins disappeared into the mirror, making a large ripple on it. Then, silence.
Tony and Clement crept slowly towards the bed where their parents slept and gave them each a kiss. Then, Tony took Clement’s hand and followed wherever the bell was pointing. They found themselves being led to the Mary Shelley portrait again. This time, they were ready.
All was quiet after they stepped into the passageway behind the portrait.
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