A hallway paneled in rich, dark wood and red carpet extended from the open elevator doors. A single lightbulb halfway down stuttered erratically which gave just enough light to illuminate the bricked up wall. ‘Abandon hope, all ye who enter here,' was painted across the surface in fresh blood. For a pregnant, uncomfortable moment no one moved. As if to prove himself, the bald man walked out first followed nervously by the others. Almost everyone picked a random door along the hallway and pressed inside. Destiny's friend, the un-named blond was sitting at the back of the elevator with her knees against her chest.

"You're not going?" Max asked, and the girl shook her head refusing to look up. "If the elevator goes back to the garage, the monsters will be there." He waited for a few seconds then stepped out into the hallway, and the doors closed behind him. The elevator dinged again, and Max could hear it descend below. He seriously doubted the girl would continue to play after tonight.

He was startled by a scream, and the door on his right side smashed open. A man—the bald bastard—sprinted into the hallway and across the hall. The door refused to open for him, and he turned to face his attacker. Hot on his heels was a short woman covered in nothing but fresh blood and carrying a kitchen knife in one hand.

"What's my name?" She asked.

"How the fuck should I—" his words cut off as the knife drove into his chest. He grabbed the girl's arm in an attempt to wrest the weapon away, but the fresh blood covering her skin made it impossible to find purchase. Fat fingers scrambling, the bald man gasped and grunted in pain but couldn't stop her. He resorted to punching her, but his fists sailed through her head as if she were a phantom. Inch by inch the steel knife sank in while the girl continued to ask, "What's my name?"

The sight paralyzed Even Max as blood gurgled for working lips. Finally, she yanked the blade free and stood over the corpse as it slid to the floor. When the girl turned toward him, he backed into the closed elevator doors. Her smile was childlike as she glided forward across the red carpet.

"What's my name?" She asked holding the knife up.

The girl repeated the question moving closer and raised the knife up to eye level. Fresh blood dripped onto the carpet in fat sticky blobs. Any second now she'd grow bored, and all his training wouldn't do him a damn bit of good if he couldn't touch the ghost. The third time she asked it clicked, and he knew who this was.

"Mm… Mary," he stuttered—just a little.

"Aww, you've heard of me?" she asked in obvious disappointment. The knife lowered and the blood covered girl pouted in annoyance. Max slowly relaxed from the fighting stance he'd unconsciously taken.

"I think every child over the age of six has heard about Bloody Mary. Some of us were even brave enough to try it."

"I suppose it is a bit obvious," she said glancing down at her naked, blood-drenched torso. "You wanna register with me?"

"Sorry, blood's a big turn off, but the others went in that direction," he said waving in the general direction of the several doors. Mary smiled and used the tip of her knife to salute him, then stepped into the second door on the left.

Max decided to avoid Bloody Mary, in case she changed her mind, and the right-hand door was still open slightly. Just inside was a massive bathroom. A male body lay half in the shower and covered with the torn curtain. Near the door, blood leaked from a dozen cracks in the mirror and into an overfilled sink. Crimson lipstick was used to write, ‘Redrum' three times across the surface. Max pushed open the bathroom door and stepped out into an empty studio apartment. It was a single large space filled with leather furniture. Static filled the air from a television hissing and popping in one corner.

He was halfway across the room when a noise distracted him. A thin female face looked out at him from within the digital snow. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as pale hands pressed on the inside like the ghost was tearing out of melting glass.

Nope, nope, nope, he thought dashing for the closest landing and hit the door at a dead run. Max had no intention of waiting for that to crawl free. The new corridor quickly ended in two doors and an open stairwell. Behind him, a female scream tore through the air, as the ghost passed through the intermediate wall. Her white hair danced on a non-existent wind as she advanced flew toward him with claws raised. Max bounded through the stairwell door, slamming it—for the little good it would do. Then sprinted down the stairs three at a time. Something crashed above, and another blood-curdling scream filled the stairwell. A ghostly woman with long snow-white hair crawl over the railing and along the ceiling towards him.

Max made three or four random turns, and the ghost chased him directly through the walls. Eventually, he noticed the spirit had stopped following him, and he found himself all alone. He watched the walls and corridor behind him, but no apparition appeared.

"You have passed the deadly maze, and avoided the banshee's gaze," A low female voice said from behind him. Max just managed not to scream as he spun around. Twenty away was an enormous monster perched upon a flat pedestal. He'd taken the thing for one of many statues sprinkled around.

The creature had black fur and a set of middle-eastern facial features. Her pupils were an odd, but arresting mix of light green and purple. A mass of dark freckles dotted her cheeks and nose. The creature's torso was cast with caramel skin covered in a collection of golden necklaces providing some modesty for her bare chest. Black eagle wings stuck out her back, and a long tail swished behind her. Thick, silky fur covered her enormous paws and hind feet, and it perched on a pillar overlooking a rope bridge. Max saw that the elevator doors had been lodged open, but the monster bared his passage across.

The monster, a sphinx if his guess was right, crouched and place her narrow, noble chin on both paws. Those piercing eyes tracked him as she spoke in rhyme with a low, lilting middle-eastern accent.

"Answer me the riddles three,

so pass the bridge hazard free.

Three questions you may ask,

but answer wrong and the pit be cast."

There was no way he'd be able to head back through that maze of corridors. He'd been lucky to lose the ghost the first time. Besides, it had given him the creeps. His only way forward was through this monster, so he stepped closer. She moved her head tracking him with her bi-colored eyes.

"What walks on four legs in the morning,

Two in the afternoon,

And three in the evening."

Too easy, he thought. That riddle was so classic it might as well be a freebie.

"It's Man. He crawls on four legs as a baby, two as an adult, and uses a cane as an old man." Max said quickly. The sphinx's tail swished behind her, but she only asked her next riddle in response.

"Always wax, yet always wane: I melt, succumbed to the flame.

Lighting darkness, with fate unblest, I soon devolve to shapeless mess."

"A candle," he said feeling his sense of optimism growing. This was way easier than he expected, especially since the ghost maze had almost gotten him.

"Two riddles you have answered, three questions unasked. Let us hope that your luck remains steadfast." The dark-skinned Sphinx said in a low growl.

"My owner hates the sight of me and keeps me locked inside. Kind men give me away, but evil men take me from others. What am I?" She asked.

Hmmm, Ok this one was much harder. He thought as the riddle stumped him. An answer didn't immediately present itself. The sphinx noticed his hesitation and rose onto it's haunches, expecting violence.

"Is it bigger than a dog?"

"It is much smaller than you think and unsatisfying to drink." The Sphinx said, and Max put one hand over his mouth. Now he had a better inkling about what this was, but he had to make sure. One more question would guarantee his answer.

"What color is it?"

"It is red, unless dead."

"It’s blood, has to be," he answered confidently, and the Sphinx growled. Then lowered itself to the plinth and stared at him with those glowing eyes.

"The test you have bested, now pass the bridge unmolested." The dark Sphinx complained and shifted her bulk to allow him access.

"You said I had three questions, so I want to ask one more thing." He said still keeping out of easy reach. The sphinx turned those piercing eyes on him again, and her tail thrashed an intense few seconds.

"Cheeky man you speak true, ask your question, and I'll answer you."

"Where is the closest golden egg?"

"Right and down you should go, do not dally or walk too slow." The creature said, and Max trotted past the Sphinx and toward the bridge. Two ropes ran across an open elevator shaft along with a handful of rotting blanks. A couple of floors down razor-sharp spikes and broken bodies filled the small space. Before he could cross, a black-furred paw struck his chest, and he was forced to halt abruptly. Thick fuzzy knuckles slid up his chest making him look up into the sphinx's eyes.

"Many say that I have much pride,

but I chose my master when satisfied.

Brave of heart and quick of mind,

I sense in you a man great in time,

bow to me and I'll mark you mine."

Usually, he was fan of ditsy blonds and easy girls. However, the sphinx's Arabic features—especially her luminous eyes—were genuinely arresting. Plus it was also the first creature that hadn't tried to kill him outright. For that, he would at least indulge her. It took him more than a minute to cobbled the rhyme together in his mind, and no one would ever accuse of him being a poet, but he decided to play her word game.

"My fate, it seems, is not my own, the path I walk is strangely sown.If you and I were to meet, and my deeds of fame are replete, then our bargain here be complete." He said somehow keeping himself from laughing at the end.

Enormous mismatched eyes danced, and he saw them flashing with an inner light. The massive black furred sphinx lowered its muzzle toward him. Its mouth opened revealing a long row of razor sharp teeth, and he was half sure his attempt at poetic commentary would backfire. The Sphinx could probably bite his head clean off if it wanted. Instead, her nose pressed to side of his neck and she drank in the aroma of his scent. Marking him in her memories to find at a later time. Then she leaned back settling on her back paws.

Max trotted past the Sphinx and toward the bridge. Two ropes ran across an open elevator shaft along with a handful of rotting blanks. A couple of floors down razor-sharp spikes and broken bodies filled the small space. At the intersection, he turned right and found the stairwell. This one was smaller and made of poured concrete and covered in spider webs. Cocoons suspiciously shaped like human figures hung in open space.

Just… great, spiders were his one major phobia. The legs, they just too many legs, and they squirmed down on their thread. He couldn't see any, yet, but this didn't bode well. Max chastised himself for losing focus and rechecked the stairwell. One human bundle was spinning slowly as it wiggled and warbled. The boyish face and dark hair of the man came into view. He recognized the player who'd held the elevator door for him. He'd managed to get ahead of Max on his quest for a golden egg.

"Any hints?" Max asked from the doorway, but the man only glared him as he slowly spun. Shrugging, Max stepped back a few paces, then jumped the two feet across the landing to the steel railing. Something stirred in the darkness above and Max glanced up.

A woman with black hair, and skin the color of light granite descended toward him. An intricate black lace cloth covering her eyes, mouth and throat. In her hands was a single gossamer thread which she used to guide her fall. Connected to that smooth-skinned torso was a bulbous spider's body. Six long black legs maneuvered the bulk of her form past the dozens of players cocooned higher up. Crawling along the web behind her were hundreds of basketball sized spiders. As they neared, he could hear them quietly chittering to each other.

The first-floor landing was about twenty feet, but a mass of interlocking webs prevented him from just jumping down. Elevator man spun towards him again, but this time with a smile on his face.

"You fucked now, homie!" The man shouted with vengeful relish.

"Thanks for the assist," Max replied, and the man looked at him like he was stupid. Leveraging his bulk over the rail, Max jumped for the hanging man and just managed to grab the guy by the torso. Max swung across the web strewn space, then fell hard to the concrete stairs, and rolled about five steps down before gaining his feet. He carried that momentum down.

Above him, the spider-woman passes his cocooned friend. The exit was covered in the same sticky spider webs, and it took all his strength to drag it open. Long black legs curl over his shoulder and into view as the steel threads snap. Pale fingers grab at his uniform, which tore as he pushed forward, and more-or-less, fell through the partially open doorway. Eight crimson eyes stare at him from behind black lace as pale hands claw at the remains of his jacket. Max scrambled back across the carpet, and thankfully, the creature couldn't squeeze her bulbous abdomen through the doorway. Five or six spiders crawled after him, but they were slow without the webbing.

Gathering himself Max climbed to his feet and quickly put some distance between himself, the spiders, and the stairwell. Max's heart rate had finally throttled down to an excited jackrabbit's.

"Damn spiders," he spat throwing his torn jacket at the closest one. They jumped on it, wrapping the bundle in the sticky thread and dragged it to their mother. He hated them with a passion, with there long legs, and unblinking eyes. He shuttered, glancing back down the corridor if only to check it was indeed empty. In the stairwell or maybe on a floor above, someone screamed.

Good, if most of the others were on the upper floors that would keep the prowling creatures occupied. He walked quickly along an outside hall. To his left were boarded up doors and passages cluttered with junk. On his right were windows overlooking a garden and pool. Heavy clouds made a patchwork of moonlight and shadow. That though is what made him notice the glowing object, like a burning ember against the darkness of night. Max paused, looking through the windows to examine outside pool more closely.

Swathes of yellow moonlight revealed three Olympic sized pools. The statues of Greek gods and heroes surrounded the water's edge. In the middle, was a central fountain, and it was here the golden egg floated. Max was suspicious. There had to be at least one monster because a dozen corpses bobbed in the bloody water like candied apples.

Max paused, and a small smile played over his face. Surprisingly, or maybe not, he was enjoying himself, and for the last two hours, he'd forgotten about his problems. Instead of wallowing in self-doubt and uncertainty Max was running for his life in a genuinely frightening haunted house. Now he just had to get whatever that mysterious prize was. He forced his breathing to slow as he crept down the corridor until he reached a set of glass double doors which opened onto a tiled veranda. Small tables, stools, and plastic chairs littered the poolside like a hurricane's aftermath. Dark blood splatters showed a pattern of places where other players had died. He instinctively walked around the pool in the opposite direction.

Something in shadows moved on the other side of the pool, and Max turned toward the motion, but it was like looking for a black shape against the night. His trained eyes sought out the signs of another presence. There… A shadow moved around a patch of moonlight like smoke on the wind. It crept toward fountain and the golden egg floating above it. Max blinked losing sight of it in the evening mist, but now he knew something was here.

Max back-peddled toward the open veranda doors trying to put distance between himself and the creature. A stray beam of light caught the figure in the open, and he saw it entirely for the first time. He thought the creature was human but quickly remembered how easily it had blended with the shadows.

She was six feet tall with skin as pale as the marble statues. Purple and black hair made from the night sky fell partly across her face and shoulders. Through those locks of hair, silver eyes like pools of dancing mercury glared him with feral intensity. Black eyeshadow and those long lashes only heightened the effect her gaze had on him. More alabaster skin showed from a low-cut black leather corset. Down her right arm was a collection of skull tattoos amid a swirl of purple smoke. More skulls leered at Max from her right hip and down the outside of her thigh. Her long legs were cover by ripped and torn black stockings, which in turn disappeared into a pair of black knee-high combat boots.

Pale skin, black hair, and preference for the stalking men from the shadows, Max thought bitterly. Of all the things that went bump in the night, it was this monster that humanity feared most.

A vampire…

It took him scant seconds to conclude he was properly fucked, especially since she was standing still and allowing him to see her. As if to demonstrate her utter confidence, the monster closed it's piercing silver eyes. Shadows stretched and pooled around her body as she transformed into a small horde of bats. They flew across the pool toward him, and Max ran for the veranda doors, but they quickly outpaced him. He skidded to a stop as the woman reappeared between him and the exit. No time to admire how hauntingly beautiful she was as Max spun in the opposite direction. However, when he turned to the pool she was once more standing directly in front of him.

Her black lips parted displaying a set of perfect teeth and an enormous pair fangs. She grinned at him like a predator smiles at prey. Trained instinct made him kick out at her forward leg. Her pale hand slapped his foot aside, and he was thrown off balance. Slender elven fingers grabbed his leg—and damned if he didn't notice her purple painted nails. Her other hand snatched a fistful of his undershirt, and casually tossed Max fifty feet across the pool and into the statue of a water nymph.

He grunted from momentary pain as his back collided with the statue. Both he and unfortunate statue crashed to the ground in a broken heap. Water sprayed over him as he lay stunned next to the pool. Moonlight glittered off shiny boot buckles as they appeared nearby. The vampire reached down to grab him again but yanked her pale hand away as it touched the thin spray of water. Max noticed her reaction and gathered himself under the shower. With a groaned and pushed himself into a seated position and looked up. Her bright eyes glared down at him as she stalked back and forth just out of reach.

Running water, he thought.

So far, all the monsters had followed some rule. The sphinx had asked three riddles, and the bathroom phantom had murdered anyone who couldn't name her. Running water was one of the dozen weaknesses a vampire had. Sunlight was another, but dawn was still hours away. Said vampire slowly prowled around his watery prison like an impatient cat. He forced himself to look around for crosses, but the only thing is sight were ancient Greek statues. Max doubted he'd find any Christian holy symbols among the gods and heroes of Olympus. No garlic or wooden stakes were handy either. What else was there?

Wait a second, he thought with a rueful smile. Wulfe and her unhealthy obsession with urban romance might be useful. She'd gushed enough about werewolves and other supernatural creatures any time someone would listen. Running water was ancient lore. Long before vampires created a genre of dark romance, they were the stuff of nightmares. Pagan farmers would carry a pocket full for rice to toss at the vampire because they were magically compelled to count the grains.

Knots were a lesser known rule, and a string was something he did have. Well, Max had no way to test if the old wives tale were right, but it was the best option he had. He didn't want to tip his hand, and the vampire was watching him far too closely for his liking. He needed to distract her long enough to pull out one of his laces.

"If this water stays on all night, I can hang out here. Other players will come by, and you'll have to decide which one to hunt." He said gesturing to the pool filled with the corpses of her previous victims. Her silver eyes shifted in the moonlight as she paused her stalking. They tracked over his face as if she was studying his expression. "If anything, I could wait till dawn." He added quickly.

"I could also call another weapon out here, and they will drag you from under there."

"You strike me as the kind of woman who hunts alone," Max suggested, and fangs flashed as the vampire grinned at him.

"Then we're at an impasse because I'll just hold you here and let the next player take the egg."

"You could grab one of those chairs and throw it at me. I'll be forced to move or be knocked into the water," he suggested pointing at the distant pool furniture. Suspicion colored her face. They stared at one another for a long minute, and he couldn't help but admire the intelligence behind those eyes. One could almost see the risk/reward calculations taking place within her mind. Heck, If he'd ever encountered a thorny rose like this in the real world he'd have questioned his penchant for slutty blonds. She glanced at the golden egg floating above the fountain measuring the distance. "It's not as if I can run a hundred feet faster than you. You've already demonstrated that."

Almost a minute passed before her patience snapped and she turned away from him. Better still, she sauntered in the direction of the pool furniture, confident in her ability to catch him. Max tore at the laces on his right boot and yanked the string free. He quickly tied the ends together in an old seaman's knot and just barely finished when the vampire reached the first pool chair. Max looked up to see a metal frame sailing towards his head, and he dove from the spot.

The vampire was atop of him in a flash. Max tossed the shoelace at her, and the vampire caught it reflexively. To both of their surprises, she began tugging on the string. Then her fingers fought with the compacted knot, and Max scrambled backward. Rolling over, he gained his feet and sprinted for the golden egg. Behind him, the vampire was snarling in frustration.

The fountain was a perfect circle with three statues standing together in the center. Poseidon stood with his trident in one hand and a conch shell in the other. Beside him was Zeus holding a bolt of lighting between his godlike fingers. The third statue faced away from Max, and he could only assume it was Aphrodite standing in an open oyster. Between them was a cloud which the golden egg floated on.

Max leaped into the knee-high water and splashed toward the three gods. Poseidon was closest, and he grabbed onto the trident to pull himself up. The egg up close was only about the size of a golf ball and glowed from inside like a firebug. He found it was warm to the touch and soft like a marshmallow when he grabbed it. Odder still was the fact it tasted like honey and sunshine, or maybe cotton candy and hugs. It was weird, and it made his entire mouth tingle with power.

Something landed in the fountain just behind Max and powerful hands grabbed him from behind. He was plucked from the statue like a troublesome child. Another set of talons dug into his hair and yanked his head back and to the side. Pain exploded across his neck as two needle-sharp fangs sank into his jugular. The bumps and bruises he'd taken until now were like pale shadows of this agony. Max could feel his blood being sucked out like he was the Gas-Station Slurpy. He gritted his teeth against the pain and grabbed the wrist holding his hair. With his other hand, he returned the favor by seizing a fistful of hers. Then Max bent forward using all his strength, weight, and leverage to haul the vampire into a judo toss.

The fangs pulled free of his neck as the woman sailed forward into the statue of Poseidon. She let out a sharp cry of pain as the trident pierced her back. Max reached up feeling the puncture marks still bleeding bright red fluid. He stumbled backward fighting the weakness in his knees. The vampire and Greek Gods grew momentarily blurry, and he turned to put as much distance between himself and the monster. Max had his prize, and despite the pain in his neck, was going to check out of this strange hotel.