Your Stay at The Vermillion

Allow me to pose a hypothetical. Suppose you wake up, same as any other morning, except it isn’t, because as you open your eyes you see a room you don’t recognize. A hotel room, by the looks of things. You get up and out of bed, quite confused as to how you got here, and as you look out the window all you see is fog. You continue your search of the room and eventually find a pamphlet with some information about the hotel. The Vermillion, a luxury hotel that you’ve never heard of before in your life. You’re certain of that, and you’re certain you have no reason to be here or to wake up here randomly. You take a moment, consider the situation, and come to a decision: You may as well order some room service. So you call the number listed on the pamphlet and order breakfast. Soon you hear a knock on the door, look through the peep hole, and see a man with what appears to be your breakfast, so you open the door, and before he leaves, you ask him where exactly you are. 

“The Vermillion of course.” he says politely. 

When you ask for more or try to get him to be any more specific he acts confused, and eventually you get tired of trying to pry information from him when the only thing he’s willing to say is that this is, as you’ve previously figured out, The Vermillion, and how he’s so happy to have a guest staying here, as the off season is always so lonely. You send him on his way, but as the door closes behind him you feel a spike of… something. He was the only person you’d seen so far, and when you opened the door to let him in you didn’t see anyone else in the hallways. You could turn around, open the door, and call out to him. Why don’t you? Perhaps you know, deep down, that if you opened that door you’d find the same barren hallway no matter how quickly you rushed to it. Perhaps it’s that bit of worry because you realize you can’t name a single detail about him. What color was his uniform? How tall was he? Can you name a single thing he brought to you for breakfast?

You decide not to call for room service again. And after making that decision you come to another. You’re getting out of here. So you open your door and start walking down the hallway, leaving that room behind as quickly as you can without running away. It’s just a hotel, after all. Your mind is playing tricks on you. Perhaps you spent all last night drinking and this will all be a crazy story you can tell your friends later. Do you drink? Can you name any of your friends? Let’s focus on something else. You walk down the hallway searching for an elevator or some stairs or something, even a dead end would be nice so that you could know you went the wrong way and turn around, but it just keeps going, sometimes with only one turn, sometimes with a choice. Left or right? Or do you keep going straight? You don’t like it when that's a choice, the hallway seems to go on for too long. Focus on something else. 

You notice the pattern of the carpet changed. The color is the same, vermillion, on brand for the hotel, but the pattern was hexagonal at first and now it’s sweeping lines that curl further and further down the hallway. You follow them with your eyes and soon the pattern changes again. You don’t notice a difference until the old one is long gone, as if you were lost in thought and only now coming back to yourself, though you know that it was that pattern on the carpet that had your attention. When did the switch happen? You keep walking, wondering about it, when you realize it’s different again. This time the pattern is more abstract, and you can’t quite find a word for its angles and curves, but as you continue down the hallway you notice it changing this time, or rather growing more complex, more lines, more angles, more curves, until it almost seems like the pattern is changing and moving in front of your eyes, alive and flowing, moving further and further down the hall, pushing and pulling you towards something faster and faster. Is it? What was that? The carpet is a vermillion hexagonal pattern. You could’ve sworn it was something else but as far back as you can see, it’s the same. It’s just a carpet. What did you think was happening? Your eyes hurt. Focus on something else.

How long have you been walking for? Breakfast feels like ten minutes ago but it feels like the longest ten minutes of your life, and there’s no way you walked as far as you have in just ten minutes . But you don’t feel hungry. Why is that? Who knows, but that just gives you another reason to get out of this hotel. Why aren’t you tired either? You aren’t out of shape by any means, but you aren’t a hiker and it feels like you’ve been walking for a long time. Ten minutes, was it? Are you sure? These hallways have stretched on and on for who knows how long. How big do you think this hotel is? Bigger than any hotel you’ve been to before, probably bigger than any building you’ve been in, too. It does get to a point where you start to treat it like a maze, doing the old trick of sticking to one wall so that eventually, even if it takes a while, you’ll make it to some sort of exit. And it has been a while. How long again? You don’t focus on that, you just focus on finding your way out. Keep going, stick to one wall. Was it the left one or the right one? The left one for sure. Have you been here before? That would be impossible without a dead end, which you’re certain you haven't seen yet. You would notice. You’ve been paying attention, making sure that you don’t get more lost than you already are. Are you lost? You know exactly where you are, The Vermillion, of that much at least, you’re certain. How are you certain of that? Where did you see or hear that? Stay focused, don’t lose track of where you’re going. Just focus on the hallway as it twists and bends and turns and writhes and – 

Apologies, I sometimes get ahead of myself. You’re alright. You can keep going, searching, turning corners, catching glimpses of something just out of sight. What was that? Another person? No, it can’t be. It’s the off season, nobody else is staying here. You’re so certain of that. Why are you so certain? It doesn’t matter just keep going, eyes forward, you’ll get there eventually. Where were you headed again? An exit? But you just got here, didn’t you? Perhaps you should find your way back to your room and stay a bit longer. What was your room number again? I’m sure you’ll remember it when you see it. You just passed room   . And right there, that was room   , yes, you’ll find your way eventually. As you search you find another mirror on the wall. Had you seen one earlier? Well regardless, here's another. It’s strange though, you can see the hallway in it, but you can’t quite see yourself. What did you look like again? What was your name? That isn’t all that important, is it? Just keep moving, keep going forward back to your room, you’ll get there eventually.

I began this as a hypothetical didn’t I? Apologies for the deception, that was just a way to get all this started, to get your attention and help you realize that The Vermillion is right for you. I hope you enjoy your stay.