The hallway leading toward the end of the first floor was colder than the rest of Blackthorn Hotel, although none of the broken windows nearby were open and there was no obvious reason for the sudden drop in temperature. The seven friends had spent the last few hours exploring the abandoned building, slowly becoming used to the dust-covered furniture, the cracked paintings, and the feeling that every room carried a forgotten memory. At first, the hotel had seemed like nothing more than an old building filled with rumours created by people who enjoyed telling frightening stories. But the deeper they went, the more they realized that Blackthorn Hotel was not like other abandoned places. There was something about it that made them feel as though they were not discovering the hotel’s secrets, but rather the hotel was slowly revealing itself to them. They stood in front of the wall where Room 13 was supposed to be located, staring at the empty space that had confused every person who had ever searched for the legendary room. According to the records Lily had collected before their journey, Room 12 was supposed to be the final room on that floor. There should have been nothing after it. No extra hallway. No hidden space. No mysterious door. Yet all the stories surrounding Blackthorn Hotel mentioned the same thing — a room that existed but should not have existed. For years, people had searched for it. For years, nobody had been able to find it. Now the seven friends were standing directly in front of the place where it was supposed to be. At first, Noah tried to convince everyone that the mystery was probably exaggerated. He walked closer to the wall, examining it carefully and searching for any possible explanation. He believed that old buildings often had strange designs, hidden storage spaces, or areas that were changed during renovations. He wanted to believe that Room 13 was simply a forgotten part of the hotel’s history and that the legends had grown larger over time. But even Noah could not ignore the strange feeling that surrounded the wall. The surface looked different from the rest of the hallway. The wallpaper had a slightly different colour, and the edges around the wall were not perfectly connected. It looked like something had been placed there later, hiding whatever was behind it. Mia noticed it too. She stepped closer and ran her fingers lightly along the edge of the wall, feeling the uneven surface beneath the old wallpaper. She looked back at the others with a worried expression. “This wasn’t always here,” she said quietly. Everyone moved closer. Lily immediately opened the documents on her phone, comparing the hotel plans with what they were seeing. The original drawings showed the hallway ending exactly where they were standing. There was no hidden room, no extra space, and no explanation for what they had found. Then, without warning, they heard something. A sound so quiet that at first they thought they imagined it. A whisper. The entire group stopped. The voice came from behind the wall. “Help me…” Nobody spoke. The hallway suddenly felt much smaller, as if the darkness around them had moved closer. Ryan looked at the others, waiting for someone to laugh or explain it away, but nobody did. Everyone had heard it clearly. A girl’s voice. A voice coming from somewhere that should have been impossible. They began searching the area more carefully, moving old furniture away from the wall and clearing away years of dust that had gathered around the corners. Behind a large wooden cabinet, they discovered strange markings carved into the surface. The symbols covered part of the wall, hidden away from anyone who was not specifically looking for them. Lily’s expression changed the moment she saw them. She had read about those symbols before. Not in a ghost story. Not in some random article. In the old documents about Blackthorn Hotel. “What is it?” Emma asked when she noticed Lily had gone quiet. Lily slowly looked away from the markings. “These were found in some of the old reports about the hotel,” she explained. “Nobody knew what they meant. Some people thought they were just decorations, but the reports mentioned that they always appeared near places connected to Room 13.” Alex looked at the symbols. “And what are they supposed to mean?” Lily hesitated before answering. “They’re a warning.” The word immediately changed the mood. A warning meant someone had known something dangerous existed. A warning meant someone had tried to stop it. Mia looked at the hidden wall. “If someone wanted to keep this hidden…” She paused. “Maybe we shouldn’t be finding it.” Before anyone could respond, a loud cracking sound echoed through the hallway. The old wallpaper began tearing away from the wall by itself. Dust fell onto the floor as the surface underneath slowly became visible. Everyone stepped backward as the hidden structure behind the wallpaper was revealed. A wooden door. An old, untouched wooden door. And carved into the centre of it was the number they had spent the entire night searching for. 13. For several moments, nobody moved. The discovery that should have filled them with excitement instead left them feeling uneasy. They had imagined finding Room 13 countless times. They had imagined opening the door and discovering the truth behind Elena Voss’s disappearance. They thought they would feel victorious, like explorers finally uncovering a forgotten secret. But standing there in front of the door, they felt something completely different. They felt like they had interrupted something. The markings surrounding the door suddenly made more sense. They were not placed there to hide a room from curious people. They were placed there because someone wanted the room to stay closed. Daniel lifted his camera and started recording again, even though his hands were slightly shaking. “This is it,” he whispered. “The real Room 13.” Nobody answered. Alex slowly reached toward the handle. The metal was freezing cold against his hand. For a moment, he wondered if they should stop. Every instinct inside him was telling him that opening this door would change everything. But they had already come too far. They had spent weeks searching for answers, and now the truth was directly in front of them. With a slow movement, he turned the handle. The door opened. The room behind it looked impossible. The rest of Blackthorn Hotel had been destroyed by years of abandonment. The walls were cracked, the furniture was covered in dust, and nature had slowly taken over the building. But Room 13 looked untouched. The furniture was arranged neatly, the bookshelves were still filled with old books, and a small table near the window held objects that looked as though someone had placed them there only yesterday. It felt like time had stopped inside that room. Daniel stepped inside first, recording everything with his camera. The others followed carefully, looking around in disbelief. There was no obvious sign of what had happened to Elena. No clue explaining her disappearance. No evidence of the people who had entered before them. Then Lily noticed something sitting on the table. An old diary. The cover was worn and damaged, but a name was still visible. Elena Voss. The seven friends gathered around as Lily opened it. At first, the diary seemed ordinary. Elena wrote about her work at the hotel, the guests she met, and her life before everything changed. But as they reached the final pages, the writing became different. The letters became messy and rushed, as if Elena had been writing while she was afraid. The final pages contained a warning. A warning that would change everything they thought they knew about Blackthorn Hotel. Because Elena had not written about a ghost. She had written about a voice.

Chapter 5: The Door Hidden Behind The Wall