The Man In Room 403

Claire's heart was pounding like crazy as she could feel the touch of his hand on her lips. He was so close to her that she could even smell his fresh forest scent and felt as if she had been given an anaesthesia.

They both stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds without speaking a word. She almost forgot that the person who was standing in front of her had killed three people unhesitatingly.

Suddenly someone knocked at the door making her snap out of her fantasies. He removed his hand from her mouth and signalled her to stay silent by gesturing again. She didn't say anything and stepped aside, as that was the only wise thing she could do. He took a key out of the drawer beside the bed.

He opened the door forgetting that he was not wearing anything but a towel around his waist. As soon as he opened the door, the lady staff who came with a tray of food had her mouth hung open after looking at him. His perfectly hot macho figure and chiselled face were perfect to court in any woman he liked.

She was also feeling a bit embarrassed as he was only in a towel. She tilted her head down and stared at the ground.

She calmed herself and the loudly beating heart when the staff lady spoke, "Sir, your ordered breakfast."

"Hm..." He took the tray from her hands. Her heart rate increased again as his fingers touched her fingers in the process. He closed the door from his foot as his hands were full.

Claire was standing there, mute. He didn't even look at her and put the tray on the table. There were two plates in the tray, he picked up one and offered it to her. She took it while hesitating a bit. It was surprising that he didn't even speak a word until then.

He sat on the chair with the plate and picked up the sandwich. As he was about to take a bite Claire spoke making him stop midway, "Alex? You are Alex, right?"

He first froze in the same pose for a few seconds and then took a bite from the sandwich. He didn't show any reaction while chewing the food.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" She spoke again. He swallowed the food and looked at her while the man stayed silent. The killer ignored her bickering and took another bite carelessly.

Claire had an opening. The door was unlocked and he was busy eating. It was the perfect chance for her to just take a run straight to the police station.

She threw the plate on the ground, opened the door and left in a flash. She ran away at the full speed. If she had been there longer, her brain would have burst because of the questions barging into her mind.

At the reception desk, the female staff who brought the food to their room was talking with her fellow female staff.

"Have you seen the guy in Room 403? He is super hot. I wish if someone like him was my life partner," She said as she slowly entered into her world of fantasies.

"403? Do you mean that moustache guy? What was his name?" The other staff put her finger on her chin to remember the name. "Ah, it's 'Harvey Scooter'."

"But the person didn't have a moustache. He was a hot and handsome hunk," The first staff said, remembering the features of the guy she saw.

"You must be mistaken. He has a moustache, his hair is curly and black and has a wart on his cheek right below his eyes," The other staff said. "He also has very dense dark circles. I didn't know what you find so attractive about him."

The first staff was finding it weird. She thought that her friend must be mistaken about the room numbers. While they were talking, Claire walked past them in a hurry and left through the large glass door.

"I think you are mistaken," The first staff said but her colleague denied it and said that she remembers it clearly. Harvey Scooter is the man who is staying in Room 403.

Claire started running as soon as she got out of the hotel. She knew where she was, it was a well-known hotel in Kanugo city. She was crossing the street and was continuously looking behind to see if he was following her.

"Oh, miss! What are you doing? Can't you see?" A man shouted as she came in front of a car while crossing the street. She didn't even reply and went away in a hurry.

The female staff at the reception desk got into an argument and placed a bet with each other. They went up to see whose description of the man was correct. When one of them knocked on the door, the door got opened.

They both got startled at first, but the first staff frowned after looking at the man who came out while the other staff smiled and gave her a side glance.

The guy's features perfectly matched the description the second staff gave - moustache dark circles, wart, and curly black hair. The first staff was looking confused but she wasn't trying to show it.

"Yes? Do you need anything?" The man asked as he found it weird to have two staff out of his room.

"Ah, yes," The first woman spoke, awkwardly. "I mean, no! We were on a check to another room as the person staying in is having some kind of trouble."

The man gave them a side-glance and walked away after locking the door.

"I told you, you were mistaken. He is the Harvey Scooter I told you about," The second woman said.

The first woman was still looking confused. She was sure that she saw some other dude a while ago.

Claire was panting as she was running non-stop for a while. She was breathing heavily when a person recognized her as the woman whom the police were searching for.

They publicized her photo a while ago and she was already in front of his eyes. He walked to her and tried to take a better look at her face and match it with the picture on his phone. After looking multiple times, he was sure that she was the girl whom the police were searching for.

[AFTER A WHILE]

Sam entered the police station in a hurry as an officer told him that someone brought Claire with him. Claire didn't tell the police anything.

"Where is she?" Sam asked as soon as he arrived.

"Sir, she is in the other chamber," The police officer answered while signalling to the door at the front. Sam walked in without wasting time as he had many questions to ask her.

When he entered, his steps got slower as he looked at her face, his lips immediately formed a slight smile.

He found her sitting on the chair drinking water from the glass. "Hello, miss Claire," He greeted upon entering. She kept the glass on the table and nodded. Sam noticed that she was looking scared of something.

"Do you want to have something? Tea? Coffee?" Sam asked. Claire nodded sideways and denied. "Okay, without wasting any time, I will come to the point." He put his arms on the top rail of the empty chair in front of her and leaned ahead. "Where were you until now?"

He could see the fear as well as sadness in her eyes. She first stayed silent staring at the half-empty glass of water on the table. When she was about to speak, Sam spoke.

"I know you went on a date with a man named James yesterday evening. You two had an argument and you left in a hurry," He paused, walked around the table, and stood beside her. "You were supposed to reach home after that. Why didn't you? Did you see something you were not supposed to?"

Her eyes widened as she again remembered the events of the last night. But there was one question popping into her mind every time she thought about those murders. Why didn't the killer kill her?

"Miss Claire?"

"Ah... yeah," She said, awkwardly.

"You don't need to fear anybody. You can tell me everything you saw. We will give you full protection," Sam said.

Suddenly, they started hearing weird noises from outside the chamber. Someone was shouting and was arguing with the police officer.

"Why won't you search for my lost underwear!? Isn't your job to solve the problems of the common people!?" A man with a moustache and curly hair said, almost shouting voice. He had a wart on his left cheek.

Claire found the voice a bit familiar. Of course, how could she forget it? It was the voice of a person close to her.

"One second," Sam excused himself and went outside to check on whatever was happening.

The police officer was irritated, "Why do you think we are here? We are here to solve bigger problems. We are not here to find lost underwear."

"So my problem is not big. What do you think a big problem is?" The man responded.

"Murders, rapes, burglaries. These are big problems. Do you even know that a serial killer is roaming free on the streets? What if he targets you?" The police officer said. "We are here to protect and help you in these cases."

The man got silent and his expression got blank and cold. He suddenly stopped speaking.

"What happened?" The police officer found it weird at this sudden change.

Claire walked up to the door to see what was happening and checked on the man who was speaking. Her eyes suddenly got filled with terror and she held her mouth from her hands. The man looked at her from the corner of his eyes making her take a step back into the chamber.