The Room That Answered Back

The Room That Answered Back
No one in Greyford talked about Room 417 anymore.
Not because it was locked, or dangerous, or haunted in the usual way—but because it responded.
The hotel itself was old, built in the 1930s, standing near a highway that most travelers avoided after sunset. Guests often complained about strange echoes in the corridors, but only a few ever stayed in Room 417. Those who did never complained twice.
The first recorded incident happened in 1998. A travel journalist named Mark Holloway checked into the hotel for a single night. At 2:17 a.m., the front desk received a call from his room. The clerk picked up.
“Hello?”
A pause.
Then Mark’s voice replied, whispering, “Why is someone answering me from inside the walls?”
Police found Mark dead the next morning, sitting upright on the bed. No injuries. No signs of struggle. His phone was still in his hand, the call log showing outgoing call to front desk — unanswered.
Over the years, similar incidents followed. Guests would report hearing their own voices answering them from places they weren’t standing—bathroom mirrors, air vents, even from behind closed doors. Some fled in the middle of the night. Others stayed, curious.
None of those who stayed longer than one night were ever seen alive again.
In 2011, the hotel installed security cameras in the hallway outside Room 417. The footage revealed something disturbing. Guests entering the room appeared normal—but when they exited, even briefly, their reflections lagged behind them in the hallway mirror. Sometimes the reflection didn’t follow at all. It just stood there, watching.
The hotel was finally shut down in 2015 after a maintenance worker disappeared. His last radio transmission was calm:
“It’s fine. The room says it knows me.”
Today, the building is abandoned. Yet emergency services still receive calls from its address—calls where the caller says nothing, but breathes softly, as if listening.
When authorities traced one of the calls last year, they heard a familiar voice on the line.
It was the dispatcher’s own.
Room 417 remains sealed.
No bodies inside.
No clear cause.
Only one unanswered question remains:
If the room answers back…
who is it answering now?