The Host's Judgement

1. The Price of the Soul

The cracked screen of my phone lit up once again in the dimness of the room, casting a cold bluish light against the peeling walls. It was the fourth notification in less than an hour. I didn’t need to open the banking app to know what it said.

Balance: - $ 1,432.10.

Power cutoff warning in 48 hours.

Imminent eviction notice.

I picked up the nearly inkless ballpoint pen and crossed out another line in the notebook where I was futilely trying to make the math of my survival add up. The numbers didn’t balance. I was thirty-two years old, with a literary talent the market had chewed up and spat back out, and exactly fourteen reais in my wallet enough for two cartons of milk and a package of instant noodles that would have to last until the end of the week.

I glanced to the side, where an old photo, still in a cracked glass frame, showed better times. An era when deadlines were about manuscript deliveries, not about when I’d be thrown out onto the street with my boxes of books and my illusions. A heavy sigh escaped my chest, mixing with the sound of rain beginning to lash against the window of the thirty-square-meter apartment. My hands trembled slightly, a reflex of both the cold rising from the wooden floor and the three cups of black coffee I’d used to trick my stomach at lunch.

When you reach this level of desperation, silence becomes your worst enemy. It’s in that silence that the whispers of the past grow stronger. It’s in that silence that the guilt for choices made ten years ago comes back to collect the overdue rent.

It was in this atmosphere of ruin that the envelope rested on the worn Formica table, right next to the pile of notices with bold red letters. It was an intruder in that scene of misery the paper had a heavy texture, a deep matte black that seemed to absorb the weak light from the ceiling bulb. In the center, sealed with red wax, a stylized crest gleamed and my name was written in silver calligraphic letters.

I shook my head, letting out a dry, humorless laugh. I broke the wax seal. The soft aroma of sandalwood and expensive paper rose, contrasting terribly with the musty smell of the room. Inside, a single card read:

“Dear Kurt Hayes,

Your genius has been suffocated by circumstances, and your secrets have become an anchor too heavy to carry alone. We know what you owe. We know what you hide.

A unique opportunity for a fresh start awaits you. Ten million dollars. Tax-free, no questions asked.

Transportation will be waiting for you at the base of the mountain tomorrow at 6 p.m. Silence is your only guarantee of entry.”

Ten million dollars.

It had to be a bad joke. A trap, maybe a scam. But when I looked out the window, a black sedan with completely tinted windows was already parked at the curb, its engine humming low in the night’s gloom. They knew I had no choice. When you’re at the bottom of the pit, any rope thrown your way looks like salvation even if it comes with a hangman’s noose.

I grabbed my notebook, stuffed it into my worn backpack along with the broken photo, and left without looking back. I wasn’t just going after the money I was running from the ghost I had become.

The trip was a blur of winding roads and steep climbs. As civilization disappeared, the mountain pines swallowed the road, and a thick fog began to beat against the car’s windshield. The driver didn’t utter a single word during the four-hour journey.

When the car finally stopped, the imposing sight of the place took my breath away.

The Grand Hotel Summit rose against the dark sky like a modern gothic castle. Dark stone architecture, huge windows reflecting the fog, and an opulence that exuded old money. It was the kind of place where billionaires hid from the world.

The driver opened the door for me, pointing to the enormous oak entrance. As soon as my feet touched the stone ground, the car reversed and disappeared into the darkness, leaving me completely isolated.

Pushing open the double doors, the warmth of the lobby hit me, along with the murmured sound of tense voices.

The lobby was circular, decorated with Persian rugs and a monumental crystal chandelier hanging from a four-story ceiling. In the center of the hall, scattered across leather sofas and expensive armchairs, were the others. I counted quickly. Nineteen people, including me.

None of us seemed to belong to that luxury. A woman in a faux fur coat chewed her nails obsessively in the corner, a man in a tailored but visibly wrinkled and worn suit paced back and forth, a young woman in a hoodie stared fixedly at her own boots.

Strangers. All carrying the same cornered-animal look I saw in the mirror every morning. The look of someone who had sold their soul for a lottery ticket.

“Another one for the club of the desperate,” a male voice murmured behind me.

I turned and came face to face with an athletic man with a square jaw and an arrogant smile that didn’t match the cold sweat glistening on his forehead. He extended his hand, but not with courtesy, it felt like he was sizing up the competition.

“Marcus,” he introduced himself, shaking my hand with excessive strength. “Looks like our host has a peculiar taste in guests. Did you also get the promise of ten million?”

“Kurt. I did,” I replied, keeping my voice steady even though my stomach was churning. “Do you know who’s behind all this?”

Before Marcus could answer, a loud crash echoed through the lobby, making several people scream.

The massive oak doors I had entered through closed on their own. The sound of heavy mechanical locks sliding inside the walls rang out like gunshots. Clack. Clack. Clack.

Someone ran to the door, pounding on the wood. Bulletproof shutters began descending over the windows, completely blocking the view of the forest and the night. We were locked in.

Then, the lights of the crystal chandelier dimmed until only slits of red, theatrical lighting remained. Above us, the sound of static tore through the silence, coming from hidden speakers.

A digitally modified voice cold, measured, and devoid of any humanity echoed throughout the hotel:

“Welcome to the Grand Hotel Summit. The twenty of you here were handpicked. You are the indebted, the liars, the survivors of your own ruins. The ten-million-dollar prize is real and awaits only one of you.”

A murmur of panic and greed swept through the room. Only one? The invitation had said something else.

“Enjoy the banquet awaiting you in the dining room. You have exactly thirty minutes to get to know each other before the first round begins. Remember the fundamental rule that will govern your stay:”

The voice paused dramatically, and I felt a chill run up my spine as the final words filled the void:

“For one to win, the others must lose. Let the judgment begin.”