The Mocha Music TV Challenge

Lars unlocked the door and turning the handle, went into his and Kirk’s room. Kirk followed him, gasping in surprise at what was within.

Luxurious was an understatement. Panelled walls made from dark wood, a wide bay window with flowered silk curtains and a glittering chandelier met Lars and Kirks’ eyes. The carpet was thick and sumptuous and felt plushy soft to walk on. More oil paintings and delicate watercolours hung on the walls. A tall wardrobe stood at the far end of the room. Most of all, the lads were impressed with the bed. It was a huge four poster, made from polished oak wood with gorgeous red silk curtains surrounding it.

“Ohhh, wow!” Kirk cried, clasping his hands together in delight. “It’s amazing. I shall feel like a prince, sleeping here”.

Lars smiled and ruffled Kirk’s hair. “I asked Mr Terrys for the best room for us” he said. “If we’re gonna be haunted by ghosts all night, the least we can do is do it in style”.

“Hahah, do WHAT in style?” a familiar voice echoed from the doorway. “You’ll look well if you start shagging and a ghost comes in. They can walk through walls, ya know”.

“James!” Lars exclaimed. “Me and Kirk were going to be romantic and you interrupted“.

“Were we?” said Kirk hopefully.

“Dude, they won’t shag in a place like this, that’s not classy” said Cliff, who was hovering behind James. “They’ll make sweet love, in the moonlight”.

“Go away you guys” huffed Lars. “We’re going to unpack“.

James waved the Polaroid under Lars’ nose. “Photos, Larsie, remember”.

“Ohh, yeah”. Lars cast one last, longing look at the four poster, then assumed a businesslike expression. “Alright, we’re all ready. Where are the other guys?”

“Jason’s looking at the paintings on the gallery and I think the others are in their rooms, either unpacking or making sweet love in the moonlight” said Cliff.

“Oh darn it, we need them here for the photos” Lars grumbled. “James, go and round them up, will ya?”

“What am I, a fucking shepherd” snorted James. He left the room and headed down the corridor yelling “COME ON ASSHOLES! IT’S PHOTO TIME!”

“Such a gentleman” said Lars. Five minutes later, all the lads were assembled out on the gallery. Eric was standing against the railings, holding the Polaroid up.

“OK, I’ll take a couple of shots then James can take some. That way, we’ll all be in the photos” he said.

“Meh” said James.

“Shush James, you sound like a sheep” said Lars.

“Bah!” said James, stuffing his hands in his jeans’ pockets.

Eric grinned and held the camera up. There was a loud click! “OK, there we go” he said. The camera whirred as the photo emerged. “Let’s see if it came out OK”.

The guys crowded round, curious to see the photo.

“It’s nice and clear” said Kirk.

“It’s not blurred” said Eric.

“Jason’s making a weird face on it” said James. “Oh, I forgot. That’s his usual face”.

“OK James, you take one now” said Lars, before Jason could call James a rude name. James snorted and went to stand by the gallery railings. The other guys jostled about, getting into their preferred positions.

“Ready?” James asked. “Fuck cheese, you lot gimme faces like you’ve all got radioactive cactuses stuffed up your asses”.

“Cacti” said Kirk.

“Shut up dickwad!” James pressed the button, taking the photo just before Kirk and Jason laughed. The camera whirred again and a new photo appeared.

“Yeah, it’s come out OK” said James and he held up the photo for everyone to see.

“My hair looks untidy on it” Kirk said dismally.

“No it doesn’t. That’s just the light from the lamps” said James. “Anyway, I’m not taking it again. I wanna go and chill now and drink some beer”.

“Fair enough buddy” said Lars, who was longing to get back to his room with Kirk. “We’ll go and unpack”.

“I’ll unpack in a bit” said Jason. “I just have to look at some more paintings. There are so many and some are really old”.

The guys are dissipated, heading for their different destinations. Once Kirk and Lars were back in their room, Lars closed the door behind them and turned the key in the lock.

“Ha! Now we can have some privacy for a while” he said.

“Privacy for what?” Kirk asked coyly.

Lars slid his arms round Kirk’s waist and kissed his neck. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

Kirk giggled and embraced Lars back. They kissed for a few minutes, enjoying their time alone. Kirk moved one hand around Lars’ front and began undoing the button on his jeans.

“Naughty Kirk” Lars said. “If you’re in the mood to get my clothes off, shall we check out the bathroom?”

“Huh?” said Kirk, sounding a little dazed. “Oh, you mean…have a bath?”

“Of course” said Lars, smiling sweetly. He took Kirk’s hand in his. “Come on, let’s find out how fancy our en suite is”.

Kirk followed Lars through a wooden panelled door, into their bathroom. It was indeed fancy. The bath, sink and toilet were all made from porcelain and the bath had four feet, shaped like lions’ paws. The floor was marble tiled with soft rugs by the bath and sink. The walls were finished in blue and white tiles and a cast iron radiator on the wall adjacent to the bath provided extra heat.

“What a lovely bath” said Kirk, running his hand along the enamelled interior. “It’s just big enough for two”.

“I hope there is lots of hot water” said Lars.

“Hehehe, if there isn’t, I’ll keep you warm” said Kirk, stroking Lars ass and he bent over the bath to put the plug in.

“You’re so horny” Lars chuckled.

“I’m not surprised” said Kirk, pouting a little. “Every time we try to be alone just lately, James or Cliff interrupt us. I totally don’t feel safe with James having that Polaroid. I keep expecting him to come in and try and snap us making out of something”.

“Don’t worry babe, I locked the door, remember” said Lars. “Beside, I bet James is too busy larking about with Cliff to bug us”.

“As long as he’s not bugging Jason” said Kirk. “Poor kid, James winds him up something awful”.

“Hey, c’mon Kirky, don’t get all worried on me” said Lars, running a hand through Kirk’s dark curls. “I’m sure Jase is fine, looking at those paintings”. Kirk smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right” Kirk said. “And I bet that…”…

Kirk’s word were suddenly cut off by a strange noise.

A hollow, knocking sound.

Coming from the bedroom.

“Shit!” Lars gasped. Both him and Kirk had completely forgotten that Walter Towers was rumoured to be haunted.

****************************

“W-what was that?” Kirk stammered, glancing towards the bathroom door.

“I dunno” Lars muttered, plug still in hand. He carefully lowered it into the bath, ears pricked for more noises.

“Maybe it‘s…just James, pretending to be a ghost to scare us” Kirk suggested.

“Nah, James wouldn’t do anything like that” Lars said. “We’re all Metallica guys, we gotta stick together”. He tried to sound confident but there was a tiny sliver of nervousness in his voice.

“Y-yeah, I guess you’re right” said Kirk with a nervous laugh.

Tap tap tap echoed the strange noise again. Kirk jumped and Lars nearly fell backwards into the bath.

“Shit! Fuck, I don’t like this” Lars gasped.

Kirk went over to the bathroom door, which was slightly ajar. Trembling, he peered round it. Lars hurried behind him, scared but ready to protect Kirk from any supernatural enemies, should the need arise.

Kirks’ eyes scanned the bedroom, paying special attention to the shadowy corners. There was nobody to be seen. Everything looked exactly the same as when the lads had entered the bathroom.

“I can’t see anybody” Kirk whispered to Lars.

“Maybe it’s an invisible ghost?” Lars whispered back.

“Ah, this is silly” Kirk tried (and failed) to scoff. “We’re giving ourselves the heebie jeebies! There’s got to be a sensible explanation for the noise“.

Tap, tap was heard again. Swivelling round towards the source of the noise, Kirk realised that it was coming form the window. He tiptoed across the soft carpet, all senses wide awake. Lars gulped, then followed. Reaching the window, Kirk took a deep breath and yanked the heavy curtains back, to reveal…

“Shit!” Kirk cried in relief. “It’s a tree branch”.

There outside the window was a tall oak tree, branches partially bare of leaves. The wind was blowing outside and the ends of the branch were reaching the glass, tapping against it. Lars and Kirk stared, transfixed as the twigs tapped against the glass once more.

Tap tap tap.

“Motherfucking tree!” Lars said, relief washing over him. “That scared me half to fucking death”.

“Me too!” breathed Kirk. He let go of the curtain and watched as it flumped back into place. “What a fright!”

“Let’s NOT tell the other guys about that, huh?” Lars said firmly.

“Agreed” said Kirk, much more confident now that the source of the noise had been identified. “They’ll laugh their asses off”.

Lars nodded in agreement. “Fuck, I need to sit down a minute” he said, heading over to the four poster. “My heart is going like the fucking clappers”. He pushed the bed curtains back and sat down on the eiderdown.

“What a stupid dumb fucking place to have a tree though!” Now that Lars felt better, he was determined to talk his nerves away. “I mean, why the fuck doesn’t Mr Terry or a fucking gardener trim the branches back?”

Kirk looked thoughtful. “Maybe it’s left that way on purpose. To scare guests and make them think the hotel is haunted”.

Lars frowned. “You mean, like a scam?”

“Yeah, exactly. You know, people wanna stay at a haunted hotel…they’re thrill seeking. But if the place isn’t really haunted, then Mr Terrys and his wife may do things like that to try and trick their guests”.

“I dunno” said Lars, stroking the soft fabric of the eiderdown absently. “If they were in this room in the daytime, they’d see the tree straightaway. Also, that’s assuming that this place is popular”.

“Isn’t it?”

“I don’t think so. When I signed the guestbook, there were no other names except ours. We’re the only guys staying here”.

“Hmm” said Kirk, deep in thought. He leaned against one of the bed posts. Both guys were silent for a few minutes. Then Lars stood up.

“Now that our scare is over, we need something to relax us” he said. “Shall we resume where we left off?”

Kirk glanced towards the bathroom door and smiled. “Sounds good to me!”

Yet, even as they headed for the bathroom, with thoughts of having sexy fun in the bathtub, Kirk couldn’t help but wonder if their scares were over for the night.