The last guest

A fictional hotel story written for this project. It does not report real people, places or events.

As I filled in the check-in card, the clerk looked behind me and said, ‘Two guests, then.’ I told him I was alone. He smiled and handed me another key card.

The room held two bottles of water and two pairs of slippers. I assumed it was a booking error. After my shower, one bottle was empty. Wet footprints stood beside my slippers.

I called the front desk. ‘I think someone else is here.’ The clerk fell silent, then asked softly, ‘Which bed are you using?’

There was only one bed. When I told him, he spoke to someone beyond the phone: ‘This one noticed early too.’ From the locked bathroom came my own voice, repeating the words from check-in: ‘Two guests, then.’