The Hotel

Assignment: Write  the opening chapter of a novel called 'The Hotel'. Introduce the reader to three different characters who do not know each other as yet but will do so later. In your writing you should try and establish differences between them and possible reasons why they might meet. 

By Lamia Fahim

 "I know how your parents died."

  This was the last thing Tyra expected to read when she collected her letters from the New York Post Office that morning. Shock forced her down onto the plush leather couch. Her long-fingered, white hands shook as she reopened her eyes and continued to read.

  Sophia had fainted.

  She unattached her rosy cheek from the linoleum table, where it was plastered a few moments ago. She rubbed the moisture out of her eyes and picked up the letter again, her oval-shaped face turning pale as she read onto the next sentence, and tried to ignore the first one which kept attempting to rearrest her attention. She tuned out the Melbourne traffic and continued:

  "It does not matter who I am. All that matters is that you finally find out the truth, which I am going to reveal to you at the time address listed below. It is a matter of great urgency and I urge you to trust me..."

  "...although I know it is difficult, almost impossible for you to trust a complete stranger, but think about it. This is the only hope you've got," Elizabeth's pale-blue eyes widened as she read; when she read the first sentence she dismissed it as a hoax, but, unable to curb her curiosity, she continued to read only to face the unbelievable. 
London was just waking up, she could hear its impatience; the cars honking, the men shouting, the women trotting on their stilettos.

  "Meet me at Le Grand Hotel, Room 333, Milano, Spain at a week from today," the letter continued, "At four in the morning, Spanish time. Don't be late."

  Elizabeth flipped the letter upside-down, eyes scanning for a return address, but to her dismay, did not find anything. Incredulous though she was, she knew she was going to land on Spanish soil, very, very soon...

  Nathaniel stepped out of the limousine into the cold, bitter wind onto the pavement leading upto a massive, spectacular establishment, a sign flashing the hotel's name in a phosphorescent display of neon lights. He gathered his winter cloak about him and sighed heavily, his breath blowing out in a gust, forming a mist before his face. He wished he had chosen something more inconspicuous. Oh well, it was too late now. He hurried inside to the receptionist and conversed quickly in Spanish. He paid her lavishly and she slipped him a key. He scurried off, leaving the receptionist with a gleeful expression on her face as she quietly pocketed the money. Before slipping the key into his pocket, he rechecked the three-digit, gold-engraved numbers on it religiously. The key read "333." He continued pursuing his way to the elevator...

  As he shut and bolted the door behind him, Nathaniel exhaled in relief. He hoped nobody had followed him. It was not his safety he was concerned about, he knew he was as sure as dead; he broke the bond, after all. He turned around to be stunned by the sight of his own reflection in the jewel-encrusted mirror that stood opposite the room: he looked pale and anxious, like a rabbit frightened out of it's hole, sweat beaded his forehead and his bushy, black mustache and hands twitched; he could not stop fidgeting.

  Twenty-two years, he thought, it had been twenty-two long years that he kept quiet, but no more.
The room was cold and forbidding. He cranked up the heater and sat down to wait. He checked his watch: "2:52 a.m.." Nathaniel's eyes drifted shut, casting shadows on the bags beneath them as he re-witnessed a seen that had taken many, many years ago and that haunted him ever since...

  A piercing scream had been heard. It was a voice he would have recognized anywhere. He ran along the length of the corridor to "Room 333" but he could not touch the door for it was  ablaze. he tried kicking it down but it still held strong, the fire had not melted its iron mechanism as yet.

  "Nathaniel!" the woman called out. "333! Take care of them! 22! Keep them safe! i bind you!"
  The words were meaningless then, but he memorized them all the same. by the time the firemen reached and forced the door down, the room had been charred and covered with soot, black smoke everywhere, with the unmistakable scent of death and the sound of three babies wailing in a far-off corner...

  He snapped back to the present as an owl hooted at the window. He got up quickly and slammed it shut, letting in a cold draft that sent chills up and down his spine. He locked the window. He checked the time again as he sat down; it was now "3:43 a.m.." They would be here soon now. He got up again and started pacing. There would be no more lies.

  Not anymore.


  They have to meet each other. They need to help each other. It is far too late to help me now, but I will not let them meet the same fate...


  They have to be bound. There is no going back now. They have to know the truth, before...

  He whirled around to face the door as someone knocked on it.