[03:38]
Four hours and twenty-two minutes until eight a.m.
Eve stared at the numbers on her watch.
Four hours might sound like plenty of time, but she didn't feel the slightest bit of relief.
Because the creature downstairs was waiting too.
The moment eight o'clock arrived and the hotel's nighttime rules were lifted, the Name-Taker would be free to enter the guest floors.
By then, Room 101 wouldn't be safe either.
The old telephone sat quietly on the nightstand.
Eve looked at it, still unable to believe that voice had left her with nothing but "The Manager is responsible for its removal" and left the entire problem in her hands.
She'd only been in this hotel a few hours.
And now she was supposed to get rid of a monster that could steal someone else's identity before dawn.
"How am I supposed to deal with it?"
Eve turned to look at Udon.
"Find another planter and smash it again?"
Udon sat on the low cabinet, casually licking one front paw.
"If the planter worked, you would've killed it already."
Then why didn't you say something before I tried?"
"Because you swung it with such conviction."
Eve stared at him.
Udon slowly looked away.
Eve drew a deep breath, resisting the urge to throw him off the cabinet.
"If you recognize what it is, you must know something about how to deal with it."
"No."
Udon answered without hesitation.
Eve paused.
"You don't know?"
"Recognizing what something is doesn't mean I know how to kill it," Udon said. "All I know is that ordinary weapons won't work on it."
Udon jumped down from the cabinet and walked to the door.
"But there might be someone who does."
Eve blinked.
"There are other people here?"
Udon gave her a look reserved for idiots.
"What did you think all these rooms were for?"
Eve had no answer for that.
Since arriving at the Long Night Hotel, she hadn't seen a single other guest besides Vera.
Every guest room door had been shut tight.
The corridors had always been quiet, as if entirely empty.
She'd even started to assume, without quite realizing it, that Vera was the only guest here.
"Where does he live?"
"707."
"Seventh floor?"
"How reassuring, that you can recognize numbers."
"..."
Udon turned toward the door.
"Go find him."
Eve didn't move right away.
"Who is he?"
"A very troublesome person."
"Why can he deal with a Name-Taker?"
"Because this is the kind of thing he usually does."
"Will he help us?"
Udon fell silent for a moment.
"Depends on his mood."
That answer did absolutely nothing to reassure Eve.
She glanced at Vera, who was still sitting on the floor.
Vera's face was still pale, her soaked hair clinging to the side of her neck, her hands clasped tightly together.
"You stay here," Eve said.
"The door's locked. It can't get in tonight. Udon and I will go find whoever's in 707."
Vera's head snapped up.
"No."
Her answer came too fast, her voice almost sharp.
Realizing how she'd sounded, she caught her breath, and her voice dropped low again.
"Don't leave me here alone."
"But outside—"
"It's downstairs."
Vera looked toward the closed door, the fear in her eyes almost impossible to hide.
"I know it can't get in. But every time I close my eyes, I hear its voice."
She grabbed at Eve's sleeve.
Her cold fingers trembling slightly.
"I don't want to be alone again, waiting that monster to find me."
Eve looked down at her.
Vera had once escaped a Name-Taker entirely alone. She'd even stopped her own heart, just to shake it off — lain in a morgue's cold storage for two full days.
She had run for far too long.
Carried this alone for far too long.
In the end, Eve didn't pull her hand away.
She looked at Udon.
"Can she come with us?"
"Her legs work fine."
Udon said, unbothered.
"But I should warn you — bringing her means bringing the Name-Taker's target wandering through the hotel with us."
Vera's fingers stiffened.
Eve asked, "I thought it couldn't come up here?"
"Not tonight."
Udon put deliberate weight on the words not tonight.
"As long as you're not stupid enough to walk back into the lobby, it can't touch her for now."
Eve tightened her grip on the key to Room 101.
"Then we all go."
She helped Vera up and opened the door.
The corridor outside was quiet.
Wall sconces cast a dim yellow glow over the dark red carpet. Doors lined both sides, shut tight, with no sign of anyone behind them.
Stepping out of Room 101, Eve realized the corridor stretched much farther than she'd noticed while fleeing up here earlier.
The rooms began at 101 and continued on, deep into the corridor.
At the other end stood a pair of dark brown elevator doors.
Above the elevator doors was only a round brass dial.
A thin black needle sat still, pointed at "1."
Eve was a little surprised.
A hotel that looked as though it had stood for who-knew-how-many years, and it had an elevator
"Does it work?"
Udon walked ahead of them.
"What else would it be here for? Decoration?"
They stopped in front of the elevator.
There were no buttons on the wall — only a narrow keyhole.
Eve looked down at the key to Room 101 in her hand.
"Don't tell me this is the one."
"You're the manager now."
Udon lifted his chin.
"Most of the doors in this hotel recognize you."
Half-convinced, Eve slid the key in. The shapes didn't match at all — and yet the moment metal touched metal, the key slid smoothly into place on its own.
Click.
The elevator doors opened.
The inside was more spacious than she'd expected.
Three of the walls were paneled in dark red wood, and a long, narrow mirror hung dead center. Its surface was faintly blurred, as though coated in a layer of fog that couldn't be wiped away.
Eve stepped inside and glanced instinctively at the mirror.
It reflected her, Vera, and Udon.
Nothing else.
Udon glanced at her.
"No need to count. There are only three of us right now."
Eve stiffened.
"Could you please not emphasize right now?"
"No."
Vera stepped in after them, standing close beside Eve.
Seven round buttons lined the wall by the door.
Floors one through seven.
Below them was one additional black button with no number or symbol at all.
The moment Eve's gaze landed on it, Udon spoke.
"Don't touch that yet."
"Where does it go?"
"Somewhere only the manager can access."
Eve's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Aren't I the manager already?"
"The hotel has only temporarily recognized you as the Manager. It hasn't granted you full access yet."
Udon's tail tapped lightly against the floor.
"Once you truly qualify to enter, it'll light up on its own."
Eve didn't ask further. She reached out and pressed "7."
The elevator doors slid shut slowly.
A faint mechanical hum rose from somewhere overhead.
The brass needle began to move.
Second floor.
Third floor.
Fourth floor.
The elevator was so quiet that only their breathing could be heard.
Watching the needle climb steadily, Eve suddenly remembered something.
"The guest in Room 707 — can he really help us?"
Udon crouched by her feet.
"Don't know."
"You're taking us to find him and you don't know?"
"He spends most of his time out exploring. He knows more than I do," Udon said. "Even if he's not in his room, there might be something in there that could deal with a Name-Taker."
Ding.
The elevator doors opened.
The seventh floor looked almost identical to the first.
The same dim yellow sconces.
The same dark red carpet.
The same corridor stretching off into what looked like nothing.
But the moment Eve stepped out, she caught a faint smell lingering in the air.
Like burnt wood.
Mixed with something bitter, medicinal.
Room 707 stood at the far end of the corridor.
Along the way, they passed 701, 703, and 705.
Only odd numbers.
Eve couldn't help glancing at the wall on the other side.
There were no doors there at all.
Only window after window, shut tight.
Behind the curtains, nothing but darkness — no sign of what lay outside the hotel.
They reached Room 707.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Udon lifted a paw and knocked on the door three times.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
No response.
"He's not here?" Eve asked quietly.
Udon didn't answer.
He studied the door for a moment, then simply pushed it open with one paw.
The door opened.
Eve froze.
"He didn't lock it?"
"He did."
"Then why did it open?"
"Because it's me."
Udon walked in as though that explained everything.
Eve had no idea what that meant.
She hesitated outside for a moment before following him in with Vera.
Room 707 was nothing like Room 101.
There was no bed in sight.
Where a bed should have stood, a massive wooden table dominated the space instead. The walls were hung with strange tools of every kind — knives of varying lengths, iron nails wound with red thread, black bells with no clappers, and several metal instruments shaped vaguely like guns, their internal structures bafflingly complex.
Against one wall stood a tall wooden cabinet.
Behind its glass doors were rows upon rows of bottles in different sizes.
Each held liquid in a different color.
Dark red.
Ink black.
A cloudy grey-white.
One jar, without being touched or shaken at all, kept releasing a slow stream of tiny bubbles.
"What are all these?"
"Tools."
"I can see that they're tools."
Eve walked over to the wall.
A short knife, no longer than a palm, was fixed to the wooden board, its handle wrapped in faded white cloth. The blade caught no light at all — black enough to seem like it was pulling the surrounding light into itself.
Beside it sat a clear glass jar.
The liquid inside looked no different from ordinary water.
There was no label on the bottle, only a black symbol Eve couldn't understand.
"Don't touch that."
Udon's warning came suddenly.
Eve's hand stopped in midair.
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know, but you're telling me not to touch it?"
"That's exactly why I'm telling you not to touch it."
Udon paced between the papers and tools scattered across the table, looking increasingly irritated.
There was no sign of Room 707's occupant.
The wardrobe stood half-open, holding only a few dark-colored coats.
A cup of long-cold tea sat on the table.
Beside it lay several sheets of paper covered in intricate diagrams, along with an open notebook.
She recognized every word written inside.
But put together, they made absolutely no sense.
" Backbent... Shadeleech... Echovore..."
She reading a few of the phrases aloud and flipped the page.
There was a drawing of a human figure, limbs twisted at wrong angles, its face blotted out entirely with thick black ink.
The next page recorded several kinds of entities she'd never heard of before.
But nothing about Name-Takers.
And nothing explaining how any of the tools on the wall were meant to be used.
Eve put the notebook down.
"You said he specializes in dealing with these things?"
"Something like that."
Udon looked at the cold cup of tea.
"Don't know."
That was the third time it'd said it didn't know.
The small hope Eve had been holding onto began to sink, little by little.
Less than four hours until eight o'clock.
They had finally made it to Room 707, only to find that the one person who might have been able to help them wasn't here.
The room was packed with weapons and tools, and they had no idea which one might work against a Name-Taker — let alone how to use it.
Vera stood in front of the glass cabinet, looking at the rows of jars filled with different liquids.
"Could we just take all of these with us?"
"Are you planning to pour them over that thing downstairs one by one?"
"One of them has to work, right?"
"Or one of them might spill in your hands before you even reach the lobby," Udon said flatly. "The Name-Taker might not be dead yet, but you could already be dissolved."
Vera immediately took a step back.
Eve rubbed at her throbbing temple.
"Besides him, is there anyone else who knows how to deal with a Name-Taker?"
Udon went quiet.
His palm green eyes narrowed slightly, as though he were considering an answer he was deeply reluctant to give.
After several seconds, he finally spoke.
"Let's get out of here first."
"Where are we going?"
"To think."
"In the corridor?"
"At least we won't be surrounded by a room full of things we can't touch."
They left Room 707.
The door closed behind them on its own.
Click.
But the instant the door clicked shut, an unfamiliar voice drifted in from nearby.
"How rare."
The voice was soft.
A faint trace of amusement clinging to the end of it
"Someone bold enough to break into 707 while its owner's away."
Eve spun around.
By the window not far off, someone had appeared — she had no idea when.
He leaned casually against the window frame.
Long, silver-white hair fell past his waist, catching the dim yellow light with a cool, faint sheen.
He wore an old-fashioned kimono in deep crimson, with dense black patterns embroidered across the fabric; the collar hung loosely open, revealing a stretch of neck, fair and smooth as porcelain.
His face was beautiful, almost unbearably so.
Long, narrow eyes; irises a deep, smoky violet, as though a faint mist drifted somewhere behind them whenever the light shifted.
A refined, elegant nose.
Lips a vivid, deep red.
A few strands of silver hair fell across his cheek, lending a face already ambiguous in gender an almost otherworldly beauty.
Eve stared, stunned, for a full two seconds.
She had never seen a woman this beautiful.
Noticing her gaze, the corner of his mouth curled upward.
"Seen enough?"
Eve snapped out of it, looking away, a little embarrassed.
"Sorry — I just didn't expect there to be other guests here."
"He's not a woman."
Udon cut in, without warning.
The corridor fell silent for a moment.
Eve looked back at that flawlessly beautiful face.
"...What?"
"I said, he's a man."
Udon's tone was flat, almost deliberately so.
The smile on the silver-haired beauty's face didn't fade.
But his gaze slid slowly toward Udon.
"It's been so long, and the first thing you say is still just as unpleasant as ever."
"Didn't want her fooled by you."
"Whether she's fooled by me or not — what business is that of yours?"
"I just don't want her throwing up on the carpet once she learns the truth."
The man gave a soft laugh.
"Still as sharp-tongued as ever."
Udon's tail gave a flick.
"Your face is still just as fake."
Eve's gaze moved back and forth between the man and the cat.
"You two know each other?"
"No."
Udon answered without hesitation.
The man spoke almost at the same moment.
"Very well."
Udon looked up and glared at him.
The man's smile only deepened.
He stepped away from the window and started toward them slowly.
The hem of his kimono trailed over the dark red carpet, not making a single sound.
Vera instinctively edged closer to Eve.
But the man didn't look at her.
Since the moment he'd appeared, his eyes had stayed fixed on Eve.
As though he were examining some curious new object that had just been delivered to the hotel.
"So—"
He stopped a few steps away from her.
"—you're the new manager."
Eve blinked, caught off guard.
"How do you know?"
"The hotel hasn't had a living manager in a very long time."
His gaze dropped to the brass key in Eve's hand. Its end was clearly engraved with "101."
"A completely unfamiliar face suddenly appears, carrying a room key, leading a new guest through the hotel. Not exactly hard to guess."
He had a point.
But Eve still felt that the way he looked at her didn't seem like something he'd only just guessed.
It looked more like something he'd already known was coming.
"My name is Vesper."
The man bowed slightly.
His silver hair slipped over his shoulder with the motion.
The gesture was so graceful it looked as though he'd stepped straight out of some ancient painting.
Eve glanced instinctively at Udon.
Strangely, Udon didn't stop him from giving his name.
Vesper seemed to see right through her confusion, the corner of his mouth curling up.
"Don't worry. Whatever's downstairs isn't capable of taking my name. "
His tone was calm, as though a Name-Taker barely qualified as a threat to him at all.
"And you?"
Eve was just about to answer when Udon's tail struck hard against her calf.
Smack.
Eve sucked in a sharp breath.
She immediately remembered Udon's warning downstairs.
—Don't let it hear your name.
The man in front of her wasn't the Name-Taker.
But he clearly wasn't an ordinary guest either.
She swallowed the name that had been on the tip of her tongue.
"Don't you already know I'm the manager?"
Vesper glanced at Udon.
"You've taught her quickly."
"She's not as stupid as you assumed."
"That remains to be seen."
He looked back at Eve, a flicker of interest surfacing in his eyes.
"You went to 707 looking for someone?"
Eve didn't deny it.
"He's not there."
"I know."
"You know where he went?"
"I know a little."
Udon let out a cold laugh.
"Don't bother asking. He won't tell you for free."
Vesper smiled at him.
"You do know me well."
"It's hard not to, when you're this greedy."
Eve wasn't in the mood to listen to them trade barbs.
"There's a Name-Taker downstairs." She said it plainly. "It's taken her shape and it's been hunting us."
Only then did Vesper turn his gaze toward Vera.
His eyes lingered a moment on her pale face and disheveled clothes, as though confirming something.
"The original is still alive, yet the Name-Taker has already copied her appearance..."
Vesper's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So it hasn't fully taken her name yet."
Vera shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
"Do you know how to kill it?"
"I do."
This time, his answer came unusually quick.
Something stirred in Eve's chest.
"Tell me."
Vesper said nothing.
He simply looked at her, quietly.
The gentle smile still lingering on his lips.
Udon crouched between them, his voice cold.
"Like I said. He doesn't help for free."
Eve stared at Vesper.
"What do you want?"
"I haven't decided yet."
"Then how am I supposed to make a deal with you?"
"Simple."
Vesper took a slow step closer.
A faint scent drifted with him.
Not quite floral.
More like wood, burning somewhere in the dark.
"I'll tell you the Name-Taker's weakness."
He drew a folded black fan from the wide sleeve of his kimono, giving his wrist a gentle turn.
The silver tip of the fan's ribs came to rest just in front of Eve's chest, less than half an inch away.
Not quite touching her.
Yet it sent a chill through her all the same.
"In exchange, some day in the future, I'll ask you to do one thing for me."
Eve's eyes narrowed.
"What thing?"
"I can't tell you that now."
"Will it hurt anyone?"
"Don't know."
"Could it get me killed?"
Vesper considered this.
"Perhaps."
Eve's expression darkened.
"What kind of a deal is that?"
"A very fair one."
Vesper's tone remained gentle.
"The answer you need right now could save the young lady and prevent the Name-Taker from gaining unrestricted check-in privileges after eight."
"What I need from you, on the other hand, hasn't happened yet."
He leaned down slightly.
His unnaturally beautiful face drew closer to Eve's.
"An uncertain future in exchange for two lives right now."
"Isn't that worth it?"
Eve didn't answer.
She knew the condition was dangerous.
Someone even Udon refused to properly introduce.
Someone who'd known she was the new manager without showing the slightest surprise.
If she agreed, whatever he asked of her in the future was unlikely to be some small favor.
It might even require her to break the hotel's rules.
But she didn't have the luxury of time to think it through carefully.
Eve raised her wrist.
[04:07]
Nearly half an hour had slipped by without her noticing.
Three hours and fifty-three minutes left until eight o'clock.
Downstairs, the Name-Taker was still waiting for dawn.
The moment eight o'clock struck, it would be free to reach the guest floors.
By then, it wouldn't just be Vera in danger.
Every guest already checked into the hotel could be at risk.
Eve turned to Udon.
"Do you know the Name-Taker's weakness?"
"No."
"Do you know how to use the tools in Room 707?"
"No."
Udon answered, clearly reluctant.
"Then besides him, is there anyone else who could help?"
Udon said nothing.
Its silence was answer enough.
Vera stood behind Eve, not pressing her.
But her already bloodless face had gone paler still.
"You don't have to agree because of me," she said quietly.
Eve looked back at her.
"If I don't agree, what would you do?"
Vera managed a faint, forced smile.
"I've already outrun it once."
"Worst case, I'll do it again."
But her voice shook the entire time she said it.
She knew, better than anyone, that this time there was nowhere left to run.
Eve closed her eyes for a moment.
Ever since she'd stepped into the Long Night Hotel, everything had been forcing her to make choices.
Whether to open the door for Vera.
Whether to save her from the Name-Taker.
And now—
whether to owe an unknown price, payable at some unknown point in the future, for someone she'd only just met.
She had only wanted a place to wait out the rain.
Instead, she'd ended up the manager of this hotel.
Eve opened her eyes again.
"Fine."
Udon's head shot up, staring at her in disbelief.
Vesper's gaze settled on her face as well.
Eve looked him straight in the eye and said, word by word:
"I accept."
"Someday, you may ask me to do one thing for you."
"As long as it's within my power."
Vesper shook his head gently.
"No conditions."
"What?"
"Not 'as long as it's within your power.'"
His voice remained just as gentle.
"Whatever I ask of you, you must complete it. No matter what it is."
The corridor fell into a brief silence.
Eve curled her fingers tight.
A few seconds passed before she spoke again.
"Fine."
"I accept."
The instant the words left her mouth—
the wall sconces on either side of the corridor dimmed, all at once, for a heartbeat.
A faint, distant chime sounded from somewhere unseen.
As though something invisible, somewhere in the dark, had just recorded this promise.
Udon's tail went taut for a moment.
It looked at Eve — but in the end, it didn't try to stop her.
"The deal is made."
Vesper smiled.
The smile was still beautiful enough to make it difficult to look away.
But now it also resembled a net that had been spread long ago—
waiting only for its prey to step willingly inside.
As though from the very moment Eve had appeared on the seventh floor,
this was the answer he had been waiting for all along.