ROOM NO.703 PART 4

The three of them stood frozen in front of the bathroom mirror.

Nobody spoke.

The words were still there.

“YOU CAME BACK.”

R stared at them.

His mind was racing.

“How is this possible?” he whispered.

S pointed toward the mirror.

The letters were slowly disappearing.

Not being wiped away.

Not fading.

They were simply...

vanishing.

Within a few seconds, the mirror became completely clear.

D stepped backward.

S was looking at the bathroom floor.

There were wet footprints.

Small ones.

They started near the shower.

And continued toward the bedroom.

But there was something strange about them.

They were not coming into the bathroom.

They were coming out of it.

R looked at his father.

“Someone was here.”

S immediately said,

“Pack your bags.”

This time, nobody argued.

They began putting their things into their bags as quickly as possible.

R kept looking toward the bathroom.

Something didn’t feel right.

Then he noticed something beside the bed.

A small black object.

He bent down and picked it up.

It was an old hotel key.

Not a modern card.

An actual metal key.

There was a number engraved on it.

703.

R looked at S.

“Dad, look.”

S took the key from his hand.

His expression changed.

“Where did you find this?”

“Under the bed.”

S turned the key over.

There was another number engraved on the back.

17.

D asked,

“What does that mean?”

S didn’t answer.

He put the key inside his pocket.

“We’re leaving.”

They picked up their bags and walked toward the door.

From inside the bathroom.

KNOCK.

Everyone froze.

Another knock.

KNOCK.

Then a third.

KNOCK.

D whispered,

“Someone is inside.”

S slowly looked toward the bathroom.

The door was open.

There was nobody there.

Then the bathroom light turned on by itself.

And the mirror began fogging again.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

A new message appeared.

This time, there were only three words.

“ASK YOUR FATHER.”

R looked at S.

S’s face had gone completely pale.

R stepped closer.

“Dad…”

S didn’t look at him.

R asked,

“What does it mean?”

Silence.

“Dad, what happened here?”

S finally looked at his son.

And for the first time since they entered Room 703…

he looked genuinely afraid.

He slowly took the old key out of his pocket.

Then he said,

“I’ve seen this key before.”

R stared at him.

“Where?”

S looked toward the mirror.

“Twenty-two years ago.”

The room became silent.

D’s eyes widened.

“You’ve been here before?”

S didn’t answer.

R stepped closer.

“Dad…”

S finally whispered,

“I wasn’t supposed to tell you.”

Then suddenly—

the room door opened by itself.

All three of them turned.

The corridor outside was completely dark.

And from somewhere far down the corridor...

came the sound of a woman humming a song

TO BE CONTINUED…

Why had S been to Room 703 twenty-two years ago?

Who was the woman in the corridor?

And what happened to the person who owned the old key?

Follow for Part 5.