The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

One Last Call Before the End
by Melissa R. Mendelson

I was late arriving at the Ocean Park Motel.  I didn’t know what to pack, so I threw everything I could into one suitcase.  I put Fluffy in her carrying case, and I ran out the door.  But like I said, I was late.  I didn’t know if he would still be waiting for me.  When I walked into the lobby area, he wasn’t there.

“He said if he wasn’t here, to go to Room 103,” I said to myself, and Fluffy meowed in response.  “I know, Fluffy.  I know he said no animals, but I’m not leaving you behind.”

The man sitting behind the plate glass window at the reception desk did not look amused.  He did not look annoyed.  He seemed defeated.  “Room 103?”  He asked.  “All yours.”  He turned in his chair to grab the key.

“Is it available?”  I asked.  “Is anyone in there?”

“No one is here except for you and me.”  He slammed the key down onto the desk and slid it over to me.  “They’re either underground, home, or dead.”  His eyes cut into mine.  “It’s just you and me.”

I took my wallet out, but I saw the man shake his head.

“Money don’t matter anymore.  Nothing matters anymore.  Just don’t take the elevator.  You might never get out, but maybe, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

“Thanks.”  I grabbed the key, picked up my suitcase and carrying case.  I wanted to say something else, but the look in his eyes said it all.  I hurried to the room, hoping that the phone was ringing.  It wasn’t.

“It’s okay, Fluffy.  Everything’s okay.”  I opened the carrying case, but the cat remained where she was.  “He’ll call, and he’ll come get us.”  I glanced at the phone on top of the dresser.  “He’ll call,” I said.

I didn’t switch on the television set.  It probably wasn’t working anyway, and a sound echoed outside the window.  It sounded like a gunshot.  Those that weren’t underground, home or dead were outside, completely insane.  They weren’t going down without a fight.  But they were going down.

“He’ll call.”  I glanced outside the window.  The skies were dark brown, and even inside, I could feel the growing heat.  “Please.  Please call.”

Fluffy meowed.  She was no longer in the carrying case but under the bed.  Once she got under a bed or other furniture, it would be hard to get her out.  I wasn’t even going to try.

“Why did you have to be late?”  I moved away from the window and sat on the floor.  “Why didn’t you just believe him?”  But the truth was that no one knew what the truth was.  We believed what we wanted to believe, and the smart ones ran underground.  He was one of the smart ones.  I wasn’t.

The phone rang.  I jumped, my body lifted up into the air, a jolt running through me.  I grabbed the phone, ignoring how sticky it was, and put the handset to my ear.  “Hello,” I nearly cried.  “Hello?”

“I’m sorry,” he said.  “You were late, and I had to go.”

“But you’ll come back, right?  You’ll come back for me?”

“I’m sorry.  I really am.”  He ended the call.

“No.  Wait.  Please, wait.”  I looked at the phone in my hand.  “Why was I late?  Why couldn’t I have just believed you?”  I hung up the phone and heard my cat meow from underneath the bed.

I walked toward the window and looked outside.  The glass on the window reminded me of melted wax, even burning my fingers like wax would.

“Is this it?”  Fluffy surprised me by rubbing against my legs, and I picked up the cat, holding her against my chest.  “Is this how it ends?”

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Fiction © Copyright Melissa R. Mendelson
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

About Author Melissa R. Mendelson:

Melissa R. Mendelson is a horror, science-fiction, dystopian author.  She is also a poet and has a prose poetry collection called, This Will Remain With Us published by Wild Ink Publishing.  She plans on completing two novellas and two novels for 2024.

If you’d like to learn more about Melissa, you can visit her accounts here: www.MelissaMendelson.com