After the incident in the old office, nobody wanted to continue exploring. The voice outside the door had sounded exactly like Daniel, carrying the same tone, the same emotion, and the same desperation that made them want to believe it was really him. That was what terrified them the most. The thing inside Blackthorn Hotel did not simply create random sounds to scare them. It understood what would make them hesitate. It knew that hearing the voice of a missing friend would be enough to make someone forget every warning they had discovered. They returned to the main living room because they needed somewhere familiar, somewhere they could gather their thoughts. Even though the room was still old and damaged, it felt safer than wandering through the endless hallways. The seven friends had entered the hotel together full of excitement and curiosity, believing they were about to uncover a forgotten mystery. Now only six of them remained, sitting around a broken table while the weight of everything that had happened slowly became impossible to ignore. Nobody talked about leaving anymore. Not because they had given up. Because they knew the hotel would not allow it. The missing entrance, the changing hallways, and Daniel’s disappearance had proven that they were no longer simply exploring Blackthorn Hotel. They were trapped inside it. Mia placed Elena’s diary on the table and carefully looked through the pages again. She searched for anything they might have missed, any hidden message that could explain what they were supposed to do next. The more she read, the more she noticed how afraid Elena had been when writing the final pages. Her handwriting changed completely. The person who wrote the beginning of the diary sounded calm and ordinary, but the person who wrote the ending sounded like someone who had discovered something impossible and had no way to escape from it. “She knew this would happen,” Mia whispered. Alex looked at her. “What?” Mia pointed at the diary. “She knew someone would eventually open the room again.” Everyone became quiet. Because that meant Elena had not only been recording what happened. She had been warning whoever came after her. The group decided they needed to rest before continuing. They were exhausted, both physically and mentally. They had been walking through the hotel for hours, constantly searching, constantly afraid, and constantly trying to understand something that seemed impossible to understand. They sat together in the living room, leaning against old furniture while the sound of the wind outside moved through the broken windows. For the first time that night, everything seemed quiet. Almost too quiet. The silence made them uncomfortable because they had learned that silence inside Blackthorn Hotel never meant safety. It usually meant something was waiting. Hours passed slowly. Nobody truly slept. Every small sound made them look up. Every shadow moving across the wall made them wonder if something was standing nearby. They stayed close together, believing that as long as they remained as a group, the hotel would not be able to separate them. But the hotel was patient. It did not rush. It waited. Eventually, the exhaustion became too much. Everyone began feeling the effects of the long night. Their eyes became heavy, their thoughts became slower, and their fear was mixed with tiredness. They knew they needed to move again soon, but for a short moment, they allowed themselves to relax. That was when Ryan stood up. “I’m going to the washroom,” he said quietly. Everyone looked at him. After everything that happened with Daniel, nobody liked the idea of anyone leaving alone. “I’ll come with you,” Noah offered. Ryan shook his head. “It’s fine. I’ll only be a minute.” Nobody noticed anything unusual about his expression. Nobody realized that Ryan was not actually going to the washroom. Because while everyone was resting, Ryan had been thinking about something else. Room 13. Ever since Daniel disappeared, Ryan could not stop thinking about the photograph he found. The image of someone who looked exactly like Daniel standing inside Blackthorn Hotel decades ago had been impossible to explain. He believed there was a connection between the hotel, Room 13, and the people who disappeared. He thought if he found the room again, he might find answers. Maybe even Daniel. So while the others rested, Ryan quietly walked away from the living room. He followed the same hallway that had led them to Room 13 before. But this time… The hotel was waiting for him. Ryan walked deeper into the darkness, holding his flashlight tightly. He kept telling himself that he was doing this for his friends. He was not being reckless. He was not ignoring the warnings. He simply needed to find the truth before the hotel took anyone else. But as he moved through the hallway, he noticed something strange. The hotel was silent. No whispers. No footsteps. No strange noises. Nothing. And somehow, that frightened him more. Because he realized the hotel was not trying to scare him. It was letting him come closer. When he finally reached the hallway where Room 13 was supposed to be, he stopped. The door was there. Waiting. But this time, something was different. The number on the door was no longer carved into the wood. It looked freshly written. As if someone had just placed it there. Ryan slowly reached toward the handle. Then he heard a voice behind him. “Ryan…” He froze. Because the voice was not Daniel’s anymore. It was his own. The hotel had learned him. Back in the living room, Mia woke up suddenly. She did not know why. She just felt that something was wrong. She looked around. Ryan was gone. At first, she thought he had simply returned late. But minutes passed. Then more. And Ryan never came back. The group immediately stood up, fear returning stronger than before. They searched the nearby rooms. They called his name. They checked every hallway. But there was no answer. Until they reached the corridor near Room 13. On the floor was Ryan’s flashlight. Still turned on. Beside it was a piece of paper. A message written in unfamiliar handwriting. Mia picked it up slowly. Her face changed as she read it. “TWO HAVE HEARD THE VOICE.” And underneath… “FIVE REMAIN.”

Chapter 10: The Night The Hotel Chose Them