The Swiss Murder

December 21st

Emma watched as the moonlight played shadows across the curtains. How long had she been lying like this? Watching, staring between the cracks through her curtains. Maybe she was hoping to catch a glimpse of a wild animal? After all, the hotel she was staying at was tucked away into the swiss alps. So it wasn’t such a far fetched idea, right? Animals must roam around here all the time.

‘Be realistic, Emma’, she thought.

‘Why would any animal wander off in the middle of the night, with nothing but heaps of snow everywhere?’

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she turned over to her right side.

‘I wonder what the others must be doing.’

Emma stole a quick glance at the huge clock perched over one corner of her hotel room.

3:26 am, the clock stared back at her. The only sound in her room was the rhythm of the clock’s pendulum swaying side to side, over and over again. It almost drove her mad.

‘I need a walk’, Emma thought.

As if a walk in the deserted hallways would chase away her insomnia. Ever since stepping foot in this hotel, Emma barely got a wink of sleep in. But to be fair, it had only been a little over one day.

She got out of the bed with conviction, securing a thick robe around her, compliments of the hotel. The plush thick carpet swallowed the sound of her footsteps as she made her way to the door.

The contrast between the brightness in her room and hallway was too much and it took her a while to adjust to the dim lighting in the hallway. Emma had always hated the dark. But she had to admit, the dim lights gave the corridor a fairytale-like, eerie look. It stretched out in front of her, parting in the middle to accommodate more corridors on the left and right side. It was like a cross-section, only more luxurious.

The sides of the hallway adorned huge, vertical windows, making anyone appreciate the height of the corridor. But most importantly, they highlighted the beautiful mural painted on the ceiling. The windows were frosted around the borders, only contributing to the eerie look. Overall, it really looked like something out of a movie.

At the end of each hallway, there was a terrace so the tourists could enjoy a perfect, unhindered view of the swiss mountains, stretching on and on as far as the eye could see.

The only light illuminating the corridor was coming from the giant Christmas tree which stood proudly in the middle of the cross-section. A ring of presents around it, most probably empty. Emma was torn between going to the terrace or the tree.

The Christmas tree won in the end as she had a hard time resisting sparkling things. And right now, the whole tree was glowing like a huge star. She started walking towards the tree at a leisurely pace, appreciating all the ornaments that adorned it. As she got closer, she started noticing the little details as well. Coming from a background of luxury herself, Emma was still quite impressed with the whole setting.

She started walking around the tree to look at the other sides, touching the ornaments as she did so. She was admiring a piece of decoration when her eye caught something and her walking slowed down with each step.

She squinted hard and took one step towards the object before completely halting as a surprised gasp escaped her lips. Her heart thumped wildly against her ribs, so much so that she could hear the heartbeats. She blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Then an ear-splitting scream disturbed the peace and serenity of the entire floor. A few seconds later, light illuminated the hallway and she could hear a few people rushing towards her. She could see so much clearer now. She knew she hadn’t been wrong. Couldn’t be wrong.

Lying just a few feet in front of her, was a lifeless body, twisted at a gruesome angle. A face that once conveyed so much mirth and laughter only conveyed death now. Emma hunched over, covering her mouth, trying to stop her tears show and cries echo in the hallway.

And suddenly, just like that, the dead of the winter had just gotten deadlier.