The Man with the Dragon Tattoo

In the chilly Sicily air with the night sky looming, Cathy makes her way to the hotel. Her heart pounds and her mind fills to the brink with thoughts.

She knows that Nathan had not been gone for long and she could be overreacting but she cannot rid herself of the feeling that something has gone horribly wrong as the knots in her stomach grow tighter.

The chilly air stings into her knees and she clasps her hands on them trying to create some warmth. It's going to be okay, she tells herself. She places her hands on her stomach and gently rubs them on the velvet fabric of the swimsuit she's wearing. It's going to be okay.

She reaches the rock paved stairwell of the hotel with her feet muddied with sand. She wipes them as she escalates up the rocky stairwell.

Inside the hotel foyer are two giant marble roman pillars imposingly sat on either side exposing the coffee brown tiled floor containing 17th-century art.

The walls are beaming a shiny white, being enclosed by high round ceilings with a recurring sky blue artistic pattern.

Cathy makes a beeline towards the reception desk. She is greeted by the warm smile of an older woman in a navy blue matron uniform with trimmings of gold on either side.

She has gray hair with vanishing patches of black hair.

"Salve signora" She greets with a smooth voice

"Hello, uhm... Mam" says Cathy in panic, desperately trying to find her words "Have you seen my husband? He must have come by earlier to organize a bonfire on the beach"

"What does he look like" she enquires calmly

"Four foot seven, black hair... He was wearing sky blue trunks and a white plaid shirt"

"Black hair, plaid white shirt..." she thinks to herself as fiddles with her glasses and rubs a side of them against her temple "Scusa signore, ze memory is a little exhausted, but ohh, yes, I remember. He said his name was Nathan and wanted to set a bonfire up on the beach for him and his wife"

"Yes, Nathan! That's him" exclaims Cathy as her eyes widen "He said he'd be back in fifteen minutes when he left and it's been two hours now, do you have any idea where he's gone?"

"We were talking about setting the bonfire up then suddenly he got a very important phone call and Luigi, our technician helped transfer his call to his room. Have you looked for him in your hotel room?"

"No" she answers "Nathan left with the access card and I left mine in our room before we went to the beach"

The woman behind the counter sighs "Ah, signora, I just call his room huh? Problem solved eh?" She picks up the phone. 'Trr trr', goes the phone. 'Trr trr' the phone rings again but to no answer. "Okay, no worry. I call Allesandro, our facilities manager to escort you to your room, maybe you find him there but first I'm going to have to ask you to confirm your' eh credentials"

"Sure, yes," Says an eager but simultaneously worried Cathy while tucking away a wet strand of her hair behind her ears

"May I please have your uh, name, surname, room number, and package number"

"Uhm, my name is Cathy Miller, I'm in room 330 and my package number is.." she scratches the top of her head as she tries to remember it. "Oh, shoot!" "Can you just check my ID picture, please mam, I am who I say I am and I badly want to find my husband"

The woman behind the counter types "According to our eh, system, the information you gave me is correct and I just located your ID picture... " she says as she scans Cathy's face "Everything checks signora" She confirms as she picks up the phone and calls Allessandro. "Would you like some coffee while you wait Cathy?"

"Yes, uhm," she says as she scans her chest, looking for a name tag "Thank you, Maria"

After a few moments of waiting in the lobby and sipping on the coffee that Maria offered her, Allessandro arrives. Like Maria, he is wearing white matron gloves along with the identical matron uniform. His thick black locks cover most of his stern but reassuring face.

"Hello, I'm Allessandro, the hotel facilities manager" He introduces as he puts out his hand to shake Cathy's "What room are you in Miss?"

"330," she says

Allessandro walks with her side to side and motions for Cathy to enter the elevator as they reach it. While on the elevator, Cathy feels scared. She wonders why Nathan did not answer the phone. She wonders if something had happened to him. What if it's Cincinnati three years ago all over again.

Her heart pounds faster and she stops herself from spiraling further by talking to Allessandro about Sicily and architecture. Somehow, his deep learned Italian accent soothes her and puts her at ease.

The elevator finally opens. Cathy, alongside Allessandro, walks into the corridors. They are sparsely populated. Containing couples, dressed smartly heading to different places as well as more hotel staff who were dressed identically. She wishes that she'd swap places with any of those couples, heading to a lovely bonfire on the beach with none of this trouble.

They finally reach the corridor in which her hotel room is located. It is dimly lit and empty. Suddenly, something catches her eye. It is a man walking in the opposite direction, dressed in the same uniform as the other hotel staff. For Cathy, it does not seem like this man should be someone to pique her interest but somehow, he does. There is something about him that she finds contrasting. Something about him she finds cold and dark. His face is grim and unkind, unlike the other hotel staff she had encountered in the lobby and the corridors. He looks elderly like he's in his mid-fifties. He has a receding hairline with thick strands of black hair falling to the side and back. The man glances at Cathy with a forced smile and she looks down in guilt. However, something she notices that sends slight shivers of terror down her back. It is something on his hand she sees as he walks past. It is a tattoo of a dragon sticking its fiery red tongue out.

"Everything okay," asks Allessandro.

"Yes, I'm just thinking about finding my husband," She says as she suddenly shakes off that wickedly dark feeling and chooses to dwell in the hope that she has for finding Nathan.

"I'm sure you'll find him Miss" he assures.

Cathy and Allessandro both get to the end of the corridor where Cathy's room is located. Cathy's heart starts pounding faster as Allessandro reaches out of his pocket to take out the master access card. Her mind brims with thoughts. What could possibly be on the other side? An injured Nathan? A gruesome scene? Or worse yet, a dead body? 'Bzz' buzzes the door. Allessandro surprisingly encounters some difficulty in opening it but succeeds at doing so as the door swings open.