A splash outside of Perry's window broke his concentration. He was cleaning the lenses for his camera when he realized his window was slightly open. The pool outside was shaped like an old hourglass and was surrounded by different trees of all shapes and sizes, giving the area an oasis feel in the otherwise dry and rocky canyon where the hotel was built. He gently opened his window wider, noting there was not a screen or stop hinge for additional safety. He began to wonder if the hotel's outdated features were something holding them back. Certainly things like this could lead to dangerous accidents. He leaned out, carefully, to see the water below. It looked clean and blue and the green leaves swayed lightly in a breeze with clouds now overcasting the sky. Perry breathed in deeply and could smell moisture in the air, anticipating some possible rainfall. In the pool, a man was swimming alone. He had dark hair and dark-rimmed glasses with an average build. He was just far enough away that Perry couldn't quite make out any specific details about the man, but he didn't recognize him and was confident he hadn't seen him earlier. Perry replaced the lens on his camera and snapped a few photos before noticing another smudge. He placed the camera back on the desk and went back to cleaning. Thinking about a potential place to convert into a dark room, Perry made his way to the bathroom. He ispected the area, envisioning a way to close off the light that peaked through the cracks around the door and imagining the tub, developing photos submerged, coming to life, ready to be hung to dry. Satisfied, he went back to reassembling the lense and camera, ready to get to work.

He looked out of the window again to see the same man practicing the backstroke. The man stopped in the middle of the pool, interrupted by something just out of Perry's view. The trees and leaves continued to rustle in the breeze and it was difficult to get a good look. It quickly became clear that the man in the pool looked concerned or possibly frustrated. Shifting further to the side of the window, Perry strained to see what the commotion was about. He noticed there was another person just on the edge of the pool now, but could only see parts of black shoes and dark pants. Whatever the conversation was, the man in the pool did not look happy as he made sharp motions with his hands, pointing and arguing. Perry looked back down at his camera and tried to quickly put a lense back in place. The exaggerated size of the wrapped fingers made everything difficult. As he looked back to the pool, it appeared there was a small scuffle of some sort that had ensued. Perry frantically raised the camera to take a photo, quickly trying to adjust the focus. The man in the pool looked as if he was beginning to struggle now, splashing and kicking is feet. In the panic of the moment, trying to hold the other lenses he was cleaning, juggling the Nikon, and trying to focus enough to get a decent photo, one of the lenses fumbled from Perry's grasp. It fell out of the window to the ground below, lost in the bushes and shrubs by the pool.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Shit! Son of a bitch." Perry muttered through gritted teeth as he saw the person outside the pool make a large, swinging motion. Quickly, Perry zoomed and snapped the shutter three times as he saw small specs of blood spray back into the pool. The man, now without his glasses, dropped against the edge of the pool with a heavy, wet thud and slipped back into the water. The edge of the pool began to slowly turn a deep, dark red as the man, now motionless, sank back into the water. Bubbles rose to the surface as the lifeless vessel and bleeding skull began the awful process of separating one's soul from their body.

Perry, in complete shock, was unable to speak. There, at that moment, he'd witnessed a murder for the first time in his life. He slowly placed his camera on the desk below his window and watched, still baffled at what he'd just seen. As the corpse now rose to the bloody surface, face-down, Perry's eyes remained wide as he watch it assume the infamous dead man's float. He sat there for only a moment, though it felt like hours until he finally snapped back to the present. His heart suddenly raced and sweat began to bead on his brow as he looked back toward the edge of the pool where the crime occurred. No one was there. The killer was gone. He jumped to his feet and made a mad dash out of his room and down the hall, sprinting at a neck-breaking pace. He pressed the elevator's call button repeatedly but noticed it was clearly stalled somewhere below. He took a few steps back and looked up and down the hall for a stairwell entrance. Finding one about twenty feet further down the way, he resumed his sprint, crashing through the door and descending the stairs, nearly three at a time. Once to the ground floor, he threw the door open and stepped out into the small hallway just around the corner to the lobby. Panting and sweating, his eyes darted back and forth, looking for a sign, any sign, of who the assailant might be. To his surprise, everything seemed normal. The handful of people in his immediate view appeared to be completely unaware. He ran to the glass doors at the entrance, still nothing out of the ordinary. He pushed through and down the stairs to the discarded fountain, looking all around for an escape vehicle. Perry was sure someone would be making a run for it right about now. There was no way someone could commit such a crime and make their escape that quickly. The gate he entered through was the only exit for the property. Unless they were on foot, out in the hills, hiding among rocks, dead trees, and cacti, the killer was still in the hotel. Perry turned on his heels, the small gravel rocks slipping under his feet, and ran back inside. Again, completely surprised, nobody seemed to know what he knew.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Stone?" The same, wide smile, was on approach to Perry's aid.

Perry, sweating and breathing heavy, feeling his lungs begin to burn, calling out for a cigarette, met the giant grin with an opposing frown. "No." His hand wiped sweat from his brow and scraped the thick stuble on his chin. "You need to call the police."