“With the 37th pick in the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft the New York Mets select, Ryan Smith, from Indiana University,” stated Rob Manfred, the commissioner of the MLB. 

“That’s amazing!” exclaimed Ryan’s family.  

Ryan dedicated his entire childhood to improving his baseball skills. He poured his blood, sweat, and tears into training, with the hope that one day, this dream of his would become a reality. Little did Ryan know, his career path was not going to be as perfect as it was in his dreams unless his dreams included an eerie night in a haunted hotel.   

 Ryan and his life-long best friend, Nick Anderson, were both drafted by the New York Mets in the 2016 MLB draft. From the first time they played on the same Little League baseball team at age ten, the boys were inseparable.  They spent many days talking and dreaming about one day making it to the professionals.  They could envision what their teams would look like, they could envision the positions they would play, and they could even envision their very first Major League home runs.  What they could not envision was that the hours after their first professional game would be some of the eeriest and horrifying hours of their life. 

May 26 was the first game of the season for Ryan and the New York Mets.  It was also a story, gloomy, and dark night; the type of night that you read about in horror stories.  Despite the terrible weather, the game went on as planned.  Nick was on the mound for the Mets, debuting in his first-ever Major League appearance and Ryan was staring at his favorite position on the field, shortstop. The game was uneventful through the first 8 innings—just a few hits here and there, but the gleaming scoreboard showed a score of 0-0.    

Then, the Mets got in an awful position, runner on first and second no outs. “No pressure Nick, you got this!” Ryan was positive that Nick didn’t hear him due to the roar of the Atlanta Braves obnoxious fans. Nick, after a few seconds of just standing there, took the mound. Ryan crossed his fingers that he would get an easy ground ball that he would just be able to field, step on second base, and throw it to first to get an easy double play. That was exactly what happened.  

Everything was going exactly as planned until things took a sudden turn. It was the top of the ninth, runners, on second and third with two outs. A simple ground ball was hit directly towards Ryan, and it went right through his legs. Two runs scored and the Mets ended up losing their home opener due to an error by Ryan. “What happened out there?” questioned Nick. 

“I have no idea; my head just wasn’t in the game,” stated Ryan. 

“What were you thinking about when that ball was hit towards you because it looked like you were daydreaming or something?” asked Nick. 

“I wasn’t daydreaming, but something definitely did not feel right on that field,” explained Nick. “I feel like something was about to happen to me. Something completely terrifying.”  

“That is not normal for you Ryan, those plays are automatic for you and you know that.” Nick was angry about the whole situation.  

An hour passed while everyone on the Mets was taking a shower and packing up their stuff after their devastating loss. The only positive thing that Ryan could think about was how nice the clubhouse was. It smelled like a mixture of brand-new paint and the fresh smell of a new car.  It was a short-lived moment of enjoying the little things because just then, the team bus pulled up to transport the team to the hotel, and it was at that moment that things started to spiral out of control.  

Ryan knew this was going to be an eerie night as soon as he looked out the window and realized there were no people outside, no lights on, and not a sound to be heard except for the old bus wheels on the perfectly paved street. “Why is everything so dead around here?” asked Ryan in a timid voice.  

“It’s probably just because it’s nearly 11 at night and the game ended a while ago,” said Josh.   

When the team pulled into the hotel, the whole team froze. It was one of the darkest, most frightening, creepiest buildings they have ever seen. Goosebumps hit Ryan as soon as he stepped foot on the ground. “This has to be a joke,” said Ryan. The team walked into the building just to be greeted by a very tall, lengthy man.   

“How may I help you?” questioned the man in a very monotonic voice.   

“Hello, we have a reservation under, The New York Mets.” said our coach.  

15 seconds of awkward silence passed until the man finally started to speak again. “Oh, very well.” stated the man. He walked over to what looked to be his ancient computer and typed something in, but Ryan couldn’t quite catch what it said. “You guys are the first customers since the tragedy that a little while back,” said the man.  

The team couldn’t believe what they just heard. “What did you just say?” asked Nick.  

“You guys haven’t heard about what happened?” questioned the man.  

“No!” the whole team yelled at the same time.   

“Well, a few years back, our hotel was filled to the brim with families and businessman. Then, in walked this good-looking family that walked in with a little girl. Little did everyone know, but that girl was not normal. She is said to haunt the hotel, because that night many people were injured, had scratches or wounds, and were mentally unstable when they woke up. They then realized that all these effects came directly from that weird child. A few years passed, and we opened the hotel back up. Everything was going so smoothly, until 2 months ago when her spirit came back and did the same thing to the people staying in the hotel that night. We have been open ever since, but no one has been here until you guys.” explained the tall man.  

“You have to be kidding me. I think I’m going to be sick,” said Nick. He was deathly afraid of any kind of spirits.

“There is nothing to be afraid of, though. We have many workers that will make sure you’re 100% safe.” 

“At least that’s good to know,” said Ryan with a sigh of relief. 

“You guys will be in room 510-520. Make sure there are 2 teammates to a room and coaches must go 4 to a room.” stated the man. 

“Thanks for your help.” said coach. 

The team started walking towards the elevator, while no one made a peep. The inside of the hotel smelled like a dirty dumpster. Are we going to be okay?  Wondered Ryan.  The elevator took what felt like forever to reach level 1. After a long wait, the elevator finally reached level 1 and took them to the 5th floor. Everyone split up with their roommates into their own rooms. It wasn’t a huge shocker that Nick and Ryan were rooming together, just like back in the travel ball days.   

Ryan and Nick both got ready for bed, still not talking to each other after hearing what the man had to say about the demon that haunts the hotel.   

“Let’s just go to bed,” suggested Ryan. 

“Sounds like a plan to me,” said Nick 

They both got into their comfy beds and fell asleep right away. Ryan dreamed about how well he was going to do the next day to make up for his mistakes in the game he lost.  Nick, on the other hand, was sleeping very lightly because of how terrified he was. Just when Nick fell asleep for good there was a loud, strong knock on the door that woke up not only Ryan but Nick too.  

“What was that!?” asked Nick. 

“It sounds like someone is at the door, do you think I should go open it?” Ryan asked curiously. 

“Yes.” 

Ryan tiptoed over to the door and opened it very quietly. He looked right and then left just to see nothing at all. “Do you think it was the demon?" questioned Ryan. 

“It couldn’t have been, let’s just go back to bed.” proposed Nick.  

“No, I’m going to go explore I have to see what it was,” said Ryan. 

“Please be careful,” said Nick.

“Trust me, I will.”  

Ryan walked out the door, took a right, and sprinted down the hallway, where he saw a pair of glowing eyeballs. As he got closer, the eyes got bigger, until something snapped in his wrist out of nowhere. Ryan sprinted back from where he came from, straight into his hotel room. "What happened out there?” asked Nick. 

“I saw a glowing pair of eyes, and then all the sudden I heard a snapping noise, and felt a sharp pain in my wrist” explained Ryan.  

Nick called 911 to tell them about the emergency and about what happened. They took Ryan to the hospital in an ambulance, while Ryan told them about what happened to him. Nick and Ryan ended up staying the night at the hospital, instead of the hotel.  

The next morning, the team all went out to breakfast at the best pancake house around.  They were all perfectly fine and they explained to Nick and Ryan about how perfect their night of sleep and how they experienced nothing as awful as Ryan did. 

Ryan leaned over and whispered to Nick, “Who did this to me, and why was I the only one who experienced this horrific thing?”