Ring Bell for Service

 Let me tell you something about working night shift as a desk clerk.
It gets weird.
Sometimes it's just a drunk guest trying to lead the empty lobby in a rousing rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody” at 3 AM. Sometimes it's every other room losing power for no apparent reason.
And sometimes it gets scary.
This one time I'm working third shift. We weren't expecting any late guests, so aside from manning the phone in case a guest had an emergency I was expecting a quiet night. A chance to catch up on reading. I'm alone in the lobby, leaning back in my chair basking in the warm glow of my E-Reader. And just as I'm getting to the good part, I hear the distinctive 'ding' of a desk bell being slammed.
The problem was, the bell was broken.
Thinking Tommy, our maintenance guy, had just forgotten to tell me he'd fixed it, I looked up. To see the same empty lobby, and the same bell-free desk.
Probably just imagining things. You hear that bell every couple minutes every hour of your shift, you start hearing it in your sleep. I went back to my book.
It was quiet for about an hour.
Then the bell dinged again. And again. And again. Nonstop, like someone's kid was whacking the darn thing just to hear it make noise. Which happens all the time. But again, the lobby was empty. I was staring right at the empty desk. The desk where there was no bell. In the empty lobby.
Okay, so someone was playing a prank on me. Probably Tommy. He did stuff like that, hiding the maids' carts, changing the soap in the employee bathroom to kids' play slime, and taking the casters off the manager's office chair. That one was hilarious. I figured it was him, and went about searching under the desk for whatever he'd put there to make the sound.
I couldn't find anything by the time the ringing stopped. I considered calling Tommy on the in-house line but didn't want to give him the satisfaction. So I went back to my book and resolved to ignore any more bell ringing.
The next time the bell rang, I refused to even look up. I knew there was no guest. The lobby was empty. So, I turned my back on the sound and kept reading.
“Rude!”
I jumped to my feet and spun around at the sound of the voice.
Empty lobby.
“Hello?” I called out, ducking around the desk to see if for some unfathomable reason the guest had brought their own bell, rung it, declared me rude, and proceeded to hide behind the ficus.
Guests have done weirder things.
A thorough search of the lobby produced a discarded coffee cup, a ripped magazine, no bell, and no guest.
Okay, Tommy could get his laugh I had to know how he was doing this!
I hit the button on the in-house phone. It rang and rang, and rang. Okay, he must be out fixing something. I picked up the radio and activated it, only to hear it buzz behind me. I found his radio on the charger, next to a note apologizing for going home early.
Tommy wasn't even in the hotel.
That was weird. I didn't think Tommy would bother pulling a prank on me if he wasn't around to enjoy my reaction. I did another search of the desk, and again found nothing remotely capable of making the noise. With no answers, I went back to my book. I resolved to ignore the bell. Which I did. I had to answer the phone, though, even when it rang from a room that the computer system listed as empty.
I answered, to hear only heavy breathing on the line. I sighed and hung up on what I assumed was a prank caller, only to have the phone ring from yet another empty room. This time the heavy breathing was punctuated by an ear-piercing shriek.
I grabbed the master keycard and scrambled up the stairs, not wanting to wait on the elevator. It sounded like someone was in pain. I reached the room in question, only to find it utterly devoid of any guests. I checked every nook and cranny and found nothing. I checked the phone. It was unplugged, which was odd but also alarming. If the phone was unplugged, how had the desk phone registered a call from this room?
After a few minutes of consideration, I decided it had to have been a malfunction. Probably the scream I heard was some kind of dial tone. Yeah. The phone was on the fritz. I filled out a maintenance card so Tommy could fix it when he came in for his next shift and went back to my book.
It was just past midnight when I heard a sound like someone clearing their throat. It was very clear and distinct. I looked up, just as the lights went out.
“Hello?” I called, scrambling around the desk for a flashlight.
No one answered. I found the light and shone it around. The light caught a flicker of movement at the door to the manager's office. I followed it to find the door securely locked. I used the master key card to open the door, to find the room empty.
The bell rang again. I spun around, losing my grip on the flashlight. It went out, plunging me into pitch darkness.
I heard footsteps approach, and felt breath on my arm, as I scrambled around for the light. I froze, I was so scared I couldn't breathe. There was someone, or something, right there next to me.
I don't know how long I crouched there, shaking and frozen, waiting for something terrible to happen. I heard more breathing right by my ear, and the bell rang and rang.
“Phoebe?”
The lights came on and I jumped to my feet. The manager was standing next to the light switch, looking confused. The first hint of dawn leaked through the curtains. My shift was over.
I don't know what went on that night. It's not like the hotel is known to be haunted or anything, and if it was a prank it was sure an elaborate one.
All I know is, I refuse to work the night shift solo ever again.

*Cover Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/reception-desk-with-antique-hotel-bell-3771110/