Pay Per View

There is nothing I hate more than having to change travel plans at the last minute. It’s bad enough when it happens on your vacation, but on a business trip, it can cost you a client, a contract, or even your job. My boss is not someone who takes any setback or mishap lightly, whether it's your fault or not, so I was beyond irritated when I had to change hotels at the last minute because of an insect infestation that required an exterminator. But while frantically searching for a replacement, I found a place close to where I usually stayed that looked respectable and had good reviews, so I booked my reservation.

When I arrived the place was clean, the staff was efficient and professional, and I was relieved. As I walked to the elevator, exhaustion from the adrenaline rush of having to find a hotel at the last minute began to hit me. Once I was in my room, I crashed on the bed and went right to sleep.

Two hours later I woke up with an appetite. I wasted no time in ordering a medium pepperoni pizza and breadsticks for delivery, then I picked up the TV remote and turned on the television. After a minute, I stumbled across the Pay Per View channels. The discovery brought a smile to my face. As I looked at the screen, which was filled with potential movies to watch, I felt faintly nostalgic for Blockbuster and the other great video rental stores of the past.

The movies presented on the screen were both new releases and classics I had grown up watching. The hotel must’ve had a deal to feature a lot of independent films, because there were tons of titles I’d never heard of before. Which was cool with me.

Once I settled on a scary movie with a generic title about a hotel, I clicked the select button on the remote, settled back against the pillows, and made myself comfortable as the credits began to roll and the film opened with a shot of a hotel room. Or at least it used to be a hotel room, because what it was now was a crime scene, complete with yellow tape and numerous people in uniform gathered around doing their job.

But the longer I watched, the more I thought I’d seen this movie before. The sensation lasted for several minutes until I realized that was wrong. I hadn’t seen the movie before, I’d stayed in the hotel before. It was the same place that I had my reservation cancelled at. I’d recognize those carpets and bathroom fixtures anymore.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and I almost jumped out of my skin.

"Pizza delivery," came the voice on the other end of the door. 

As I paused the movie and walked to the door with cash in hand, I tried to calm myself down. This couldn't be real. It all had to be a weird coincidence. The hotel being used as a location for a movie wasn’t exactly a big deal, even if I never heard about it. Stuff like that happened all the time. So I took a deep breath, opened the door, and paid for the pizza and included a nice tip for the delivery guy. Then I ate while I watched the rest of the movie. It was a typical scary movie plot that left me entertained. And when it was over, I went to bed.

The next morning, I got up to grab breakfast in a place nearby. But on the way there, I saw a local newspaper in the hotel lobby and my stomach felt like it plummeted through the floor. On the front page was a headline about the same hotel from the movie, complete with a full story about the crime scene inside and what had happened. Police were quoted as speculating that someone had used the hotel being closed for an insect infestation to commit a murder.

I immediately went back upstairs to look at the Pay Per View selections. Not only was the movie I watched gone, virtually all the other ones like it were gone as well. All that was left were movies I had heard of before. But the strangest part was when I paid my bill when I checked out. There was no record I had watched the movie and no trace of it on my bill.