Overlook Hotel: Neverending Curse

(C) inspired by The Shining & Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

~WARNING~ Don't read this story if you haven't read the books mentioned above. 

By Elodie Kohler-Andrianos 

This story is located in Boulder,Colorado, United States. High up in the mountains,an enormous hotel is fronting a big forest. Near the building stands a labyrinth created with trees (three-foot meters high), a kids playground and a field for sports. Near the park,some trees were trimmed in animals shapes. The hotel and its surroundings were destroyed on the 80's by the caretaker named Jack Torrance. It stayed that way many years,the town became a ghost town... Until now.

February 2030. It was a rather "hot" day for February,sunny with small white clouds 

-that looked like coton candy-.

After some years,the ghost town began to regain its life again little by little. That day,a couple arrived. They were quite tall: he was blond and had blue eyes,she was a brunette with grey/green eyes. They came a long way from Minnesota. They were architects and wanted to rebuild a building with history. They read -to the last detail- articles about buildings in ruins and that had a colorful history. They were disappointed by their fruitless research until one day they came across articles about a certain hotel that was built between 1907 and 1909. It was exactly what they were looking for. 

They packed everything up and started their long journey for Boulder,Colorado.

During their long trip,they stopped at motels and ate in fastfoods. Some motels they stopped at were in such miserable conditions:cheap doors and furniture, bathroom was common and dirty,no breakfast,no roomservice. When some others were the exact opposite:each room had bathroom and comfort of good hotels and the reception was great. The fastfoods were just the same everywhere they stopped,only the names -and sometimes the menu- changed.

No problems occurred on the road, sometimes it had more traffic and sometimes not at all. They stopped a few times for gas. No one asked them where they were heading and it was just fine with them. They enjoyed the landscapes:they passed sometimes through beautiful forests and typical west style little towns. 

When they arrived close to Boulder,it was time again to fill the tank. They found a small gas station,small but friendly -at first.

The owner,an old black man,chatted with them and asked what they were looking for up there in the mountains. The old man's name was Terry Hallorann,he was wearing an overall and a pullover and boots.

- "We're going to Boulder." answered the young man. "With my wife we're going to reopen the Overlook hotel,with the help of local workers.".

His wife nodded,with a big smile. The friendly attitude of the old man vanished as fast as the smiles on Tim's and Barbara's faces. 

- "You mustn't go there! This place is surely haunted,terrible things happened there." said Hallorann in a soft,shaking voice.

Tim and Barbara exchanged a disturbed look. 

- "We know its history,we checked articles on the Overlook. In libraries and on Internet." answered Barbara. "Your name,Hallorann,sounds familiar. An African American cook had the same name.".

Terry swallowed with difficulty and nodded: 

- "Yes,Dick Hallorann was my grandfather.".

He told the Tim and Barbara some stories that his father learned from his own father,about the strange happenings/ accidents that took place in the hotel and about the Shine that many people had and didn't know about it or tried to ignore. 

- "This hotel is an abomination. In the 80's, the last caretaker destroyed the hotel,he blew it up... ." Terry said. 

- "No one tried to repair or rebuild it?".

- "That's the problem,you see... After some years,when the people came back little by little,they wanted to give it back its prime look..." Hallorann said,hesitating to continue. 

- "What happened then? What did they see?" asked Tim,anxious to learn more.

Terry sighed in resignation and continued: - "You traveled that far,you deserve to know the truth... Here it goes: they came to the location,certains to find ruins. But they didn't! The hotel and its surroundings were as good as new. Like nothing ever happened.".

- "Don't tell me that they actually entered the hotel?" asked Tim,afraid of already knowing the answer. 

Terry nodded and continued: - "They came inside and what they saw and heard was unforgettable. They heard voices,laughter and music coming from the big living room -the one with the big fireplace-. As soon as they entered the room,everything stopped. The air was very cold even though a fire was lit and the radiators were working. Then the lights flickered on and off. They saw many ghosts dressed from the 20's, 30's and 80's fashion. Then a ghost,with blood trickling down his neck,raised his glass of wine and said "Nice party,isn't it?"."

Hallorann's voice broke down as he finished the story. His audience was shocked. After a little while,they decided that they wanted to see if all these were true and not a tourist attraction. 

He tried to change their minds,how dangerous it was to go up there. But they didn't listen to him... They made it this far,it would be foolish to to give up just now. As the Johnsons were ready to leave,he told them something that was quite shocking.  

- "If you enter the hotel,maybe you could try to find the bodies of my unfortunate friends and bring them back to their families,so they can at last rest in peace? If you make it out of there,that is.".

Tim and Barbara agreed but they froze when they heard the last sentence.

They left the gas station and for a long time they didn't speak,lost in their thoughts. After a while,Tim showed her something: - "Look Babs,here it is. The Overlook! What a beautiful building!".

She nodded and soon added : - " I can't wait to visit it!".

After a few minutes,they finally arrived. They stared at it in admiration. 

- "We'll start with the hotel. The surroundings can wait,don't you agree?" Tim said. 

His wife agreed and they pushed the doors to enter. As soon as they stepped inside,the lights were turned on,as well as the chimney. They looked around and called out,to see who was there... They didn't get no answer. They decided to go to explore and to find out by themselves. 

They started by the big living room. The lights were lit everywhere they went. They saw a long rectangular table and on it was standing a typewriter machine. A piece of paper was still in the machine,as if someone left in a hurry what he/she was writing... They took a look at the big pile of papers next to the machine. The same words were written on every page. They looked at each other,puzzled. Tim shrugged his shoulders,indifferent. As Martha was putting the paper down,she heard a voice. A male voice that didn't sound at all like her husband's... They turned around slowly to face... Jack Torrance! He was holding a mallet,blood was dripping little by little.. He had an evil smile and told them: - "Come here and take your medicine silly pup!".

They didn't waste time,they turned around and ran as fast as they could. Jack,of course,was running after them,laughing and menacing them with his bloody weapon. 

They ran up the stairs,tried to hide in a room but bo door was unlocked... They ran, ran and ran,tried to find their way in the labyrinth of corridors. At one turn,they were face to face with two little girls... They were too small to stop them but they managed to slow them down. The Johnsons heard the old elevator... Soon they heard the soft noise,indicating that the lift had reached its destination,and to their horror,they heard Jack's voice! They were paralyzed with fear but when Jack hit the wall close to Barbara with his mallet,it was the signal to move. They started to run,with Jack hot on their heels.

Soon enough,they arrived to the second floor. They tried to open doors to hide in one of the rooms. Fruitless effort...until they arrived to the room 237! They heard Jack's voice,knocking doors and demanding to be let in... They held their breath in and were relieved to hear him move away. 

- "Phew! We barely made it! Let's leave this place." Tim said,slowly. 

He tried to open the door but it didn't budge an inch.

- "Why don't you open the door? We must leave at once! Forget the promise we made to this Hallorann guy!" Barbara said,almost hysterical with fear.

Tim,who was having troubles opening the door,had to deal with his wife who was having some kind of hysterical shock. He tried to reason with her but it was useless. So he did the next best thing:he slapped her,to make her snap out of the state of hysteria she was stuck in. It seemed to have worked:her mouth was opened in shock,and she closed and opened her eyes, as if to clear up her mind. As he turned his back again to try again,he felt a cold,wet hand on his shoulder. 

Thinking it was his wife,he took it off his shoulder and turned towards her to comfort her. But to his surprise -and freight- that hand didn't belong to his wife. The skin was a kind of blue -like it has spent many years in water-,many spots on her naked body were marked with rot. The hair on his neck and forearm rose all at once. It was a vision of horror! He looked at the spot where his wife was standing and found her on the floor,unconcious. She had blue marks on her neck,as if somebody tried to strangle her. It took him a lot of courage but he managed to kick her with his right leg:he pressed his back to the door and gave her a good kick to the stomach. It threw her against the opposite wall,she hit it so hard that some rotten flesh was left on the wall,as she was slowly sliding down. He took the opportunity to try again the door,he managed to open it and he carefully looked out to check. No sign of Jack or any ghost- he quickly grabbed his wife and tried to find the stairs.

They passed the first floor and were about to reach the main floor,when they heard voices and laughter coming towards them! The ghosts were haunting them. Tim,in a state of panic,looked at his wife:she was still recovering from the shock but too slowly...

They turned around and ran as fast as they could. They tried helplessly to open a door. Fruitless,no door was opened. Barbara was, emotionally,a wreck:she was having a breakdown,she let herself slide down against the wall and began to cry. Tim was trying to keep it together and found an open door. She got up,followed him inside and little did they notice that a piece of on the right side up was broken! They were in the appartment that was given to the caretakers! They only noticed it when Barbara,who wanted to put some water on her face to calm herself down,let out a shriek of terror. 

- "Oh God,no! No,no,no,no!!".

He was sitting on a comfortable bed,trying to find a way to escape this nightmare, when he heard her shriek. He got up,went out of the sleeping room and,when he tried to speak,he saw what scared her:the broken door! He started to panic "Could they be in the appartment where the Terrances were?!?" he thought. He ran towards the entrance to check the door but he was stopped by an evil laughter. Jack positioned himself so that he could see from the hole he made decades ago...

Tom turned back and ran towards the bathroom to hide. Barbara was still in shock,unable to move. Jack came more and more close... Everything happened so fast: as Tim reached out to grab his wife's arm, Jack was faster and he threw his mallet;it hit Barbara between the eyes,killing her instantly. Tim put his hand over his mouth for not screaming. Jack took his mallet and as he lifted it,it made a disgusting sound of flesh being torn apart.. He locked the door and tried to escape from the window. In the meantime,Jack was hitting the dead body with his mallet like a madman: blood,flesh and bones were flying everywhere. He was laughing and hitting even harder the body -or what was left of it-. Tim,in the bathroom,made it out of the room and was running as fast as he could. He was going towards the animal shaped trees. 

Jack went out of the room and headed down to the lobby. They knew -felt- where Tim was going and they just had to wait. Tim just arrived to the garden where the big trees were. He thought that it would have been a great idea,but he would soon understand why it wasn't... As he was trying to process the fact that his wife was dead and never coming back -killed in front of him- it made him want to scream...

Suddenly,he felt like a heavy weight just fell on him and was now resting on his shoulders. He looked up and what he saw gave him grey hair: giant trees shapped like lions,dogs...

They tried to grab him with their claws or to bite him. Luckily for him,he was still fast and the trees were too big -and sometimes too slow at reacting-.

They followed him,ran after him,played with him like a cat plays with a mouse before killing it...

"They're playing with me,they want to exhaust me and then,they'll attack me." Tim thought. He had to think fast,to get away from that place. He hid behind a garage and saw them pass. He thought he had made it,he leaned to the corner of the wall to check if the coast was clear. He jumped when he felt something tickling his neck. He turned around and saw an eagle shapped tree. The eagle leaned over and took him in his beak. The distance was so small,flying wasn't needed. Most of the ghosts were waiting there,on the porch. In the small welcoming party,he recognized: Jack;a handsome middle aged man 

-probably his son,Daniel Anthony Torrance- and the most beautiful woman he ever saw,standing next to the previous owners of the hotel and some bar personnel. 

He couldn't escape: the other animal-trees blocked the back way,on either side not to think about it,they would jump on him before he could scream for help... He couldn't count on any help,except on this gas station worker,but very unlikely... He was alone. He didn't have nothing left -he was an orphan and none of his parents had any siblings,and he didn't have any child. Of course he and Barbara discussed about it but no more than that...-. 

In the nearest town,life was continuing it's way. Terry Hallorann was back home to his loving family but he couldn't help thinking about the couple. He felt that something went terribly wrong,he should have told them about his power... He felt that he had to do something to help them. He told his kids he was going for a walk,that he needed some fresh air but his wife knew the real reason. He was heading towards the hotel,the hideous haunted hotel,and he prayed that he wasn't too late.

Back at the Overlook. The ghosts and the animal-trees had a feeling of danger. They grabbed Tim and went inside. After all these years,they were hungry. This Tim was all they needed,he seemed to have the shine they needed. The beautiful woman was called Rose the Hat and she explained that they needed to make him suffer,it'll make the shine more pure,more tasty. 

Two ghosts held Tim down while the rest took some weapons (knives,axes,their own teeth,their nails...),anything that could hurt him badly.

He was full of shine and didn't know about it...

They jumped on him all at once,they cut him open. Tim screamed in pain,unbearable pain. They didn't stop,they cut so deep that stains of blood were everywhere. Soon enough,it was a bloodbath. The ghosts were so hungry,they sniffed the shine like they never sniffed before. They enjoyed hearing the screams of pain,the pleads.

In the woods,near the hotel,Terry's blood froze when he heard the screams of pain. He ran faster,he hoped and begged he was right on time,even though he knew deep in his guts that he was too late.

The animal-trees tried to catch him but he dodged them. He was faster than them and he reached the porch. He opened the door and saw Tim's lifeless body in a pool of blood. He looked around to see if the ghosts were still there. He too had in inherited the gift his grandfather had. He felt them,they were near. He knew he had to be fast. He went to the small office and found out some gas,he always carried matches on him. He had to set on fire the hotel,to purify -once again- the grounds. He poured gas all over the lobby and as he was ready to throw the lit match,ghosts dressed like in the 20's and 30's jumped from nowhere. They tackled him and they were rolling on the floor,fighting.

They didn't see that the match was already lit,the fire started immediately.

Soon,all the lobby was on fire. Terry was going to die but he hoped that the curse would be ended. Fast enough,the whole hotel was on fire. Everything was burning, without mercy:even the trees -they let out scary screams and growls,just like the ghosts,as they were burning.

On the wall,in the lobby,there were many framed pictures. In one of them,we could see Jack and his son Danny dressed in costumes and hugging each other. All around them people were dressed in 20's fashion. New Year's Eve 1925.

The fire burnt all night and everything was destroyed. When the fire brigade came to extinguish the fire,they only found three bodies:the Johnsons' and Terry's. They were so much destroyed that only with their teeth they could understand -more or less- who they were. It was Terry's wife who called them -as well as the police- when she saw that her husband didn't come back home and because of the note she had found.

*My love,I have to go to the hotel. I fear that something might have happened to the couple I told you about these past two weeks. I tried to ignore my power,tried ro be normal when I saw them... I told you how in the family we have this power of sending things for generations. I should never have let them go up there,it's my fault!! May God forgive me... I love you,

Terry.*