Guest Who Never Actually Died (A2 English Short Story)
Updated: 5 days ago
Part 1: A Face from the Past
On a quiet road, far from the city, there was an old hotel.
It was called The Black Rose Hotel.
The hotel was large and beautiful, but it was also a little strange. Its walls were made of dark gray stone. Red flowers grew around the front door. Inside, candles burned day and night.
Most people thought the hotel was about one hundred years old.
They were wrong.
The hotel was much older.
And so was its owner.
His name was Lucian Vale.
Lucian was tall and thin, with black hair and very pale skin. He always wore dark clothes, and he was always polite to his guests.
There was one more important thing about Lucian.
He was dead.
Well... mostly dead.
Lucian was a vampire.
He did not need to eat normal food. He did not sleep at night. And he never grew old.
For more than three hundred years, Lucian had lived at the Black Rose Hotel.
Every evening, he walked through its long halls. He spoke to his guests. He checked every room. Then, late at night, he sat alone in his office.
On his desk was an old painting of a young woman.
Her name was Elena.
Lucian had loved Elena hundreds of years ago.
They met when Lucian was still a young man. They walked through gardens together. They danced at parties. Sometimes, they sat near the river and talked until the sun began to rise.
Lucian thought they would always be together.
Then, one day, Elena disappeared.
She left no letter.
She said no goodbye.
Lucian searched for her for years, but he never found her.
As the years passed, Lucian became sure that Elena was dead.
Humans did not live for hundreds of years.
But he never forgot her.
One rainy evening, Lucian was standing behind the front desk of the hotel.
Outside, the wind was strong. Rain hit the windows.
There were no new guests that night, so Lucian was preparing to close the front doors.
Then he heard a knock.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Lucian looked toward the door.
“Who would travel in this weather?” he said quietly.
He opened it.
A woman stood outside. She wore a long black coat, and her dark hair was wet from the rain.
“Good evening,” she said. “Do you have a room?”
Lucian did not answer.
He could not move.
The woman looked confused.
“Sir?”
Lucian stared at her.
He knew that face.
He knew those eyes.
He had looked at them in a painting every night for hundreds of years.
“Elena?”
The woman’s face changed.
She stared at him.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then she whispered a name she had not said in hundreds of years.
“Lucian?”
The old vampire felt something he thought he would never feel again.
Hope.
“Elena...” he said. “You're alive.”
Elena stepped backward.
Her face was full of surprise.
“So are you.”
Lucian brought Elena inside.
He had a thousand questions, but he did not know which one to ask first.
“Where have you been?”
Elena looked around the hotel.
“It is a long story.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“I thought you were dead.”
Lucian smiled.
For the first time in many years, he felt young again.
Then he noticed something.
Elena had not changed.
Her face looked exactly the same as it did hundreds of years ago.
“How?” he asked.
Elena looked at him carefully.
“You first.”
Lucian laughed.
“I suppose there is no reason to hide it now.”
He opened his mouth and showed her his long, sharp teeth.
“I am a vampire.”
Elena stared at him.
Then, slowly, she smiled.
Two sharp teeth appeared under her upper lip.
Lucian's eyes grew wide.
“You too?”
Elena nodded.
For a moment, Lucian did not know what to say.
Then he began to laugh.
Elena laughed too.
It was impossible.
After hundreds of years, they had found each other again.
Lucian looked at the woman he had loved for so long.
Maybe this was not an accident.
Maybe fate had brought Elena back to him.
Maybe they could have a second chance.
But Elena was not thinking the same thing.
She looked at Lucian's happy face and felt nervous.
There was something he did not know.
Something she had never told him.
Lucian believed she had disappeared because something terrible had happened to her.
But Elena knew the truth.
And she hoped he would never ask the one question she did not want to answer.
Why did you leave me?
To Be Continued...
Vocabulary
1. Pale (adjective) - Having very light-colored skin.
Example: The vampire had pale skin.
2. Guest (noun) - A person who stays at a hotel or visits someone's home.
Example: The hotel had five guests that night.
3. Vampire (noun) - A magical or imaginary person who drinks blood and does not grow old.
Example: Lucian had been a vampire for hundreds of years.
4. Disappear (verb) - To go away and not be seen or found.
Example: Elena disappeared without saying goodbye.
5. Search (verb) - To look carefully for someone or something.
Example: Lucian searched for Elena for many years.
6. Alive (adjective) - Living; not dead.
Example: Lucian was shocked to learn that Elena was still alive.
7. Sharp (adjective) - Having a thin edge or point that can cut or hurt you.
Example: The vampire had two sharp teeth.
8. Hide (verb) - To keep something where other people cannot see or find it. It can also mean keeping information secret.
Example: Elena wanted to hide the truth from Lucian.
9. Fate (noun) - The idea that some things happen because they are meant to happen.
Example: Lucian thought fate brought Elena back to him.
10. Second chance (noun phrase) - Another opportunity to try something again.
Example: Lucian hoped they could have a second chance at love.
11. Nervous (adjective) - Worried or a little afraid about what might happen.
Example: Elena became nervous when Lucian talked about their past.
12. Truth (noun) - What really happened or what is actually true.
Example: Lucian did not know the truth about Elena.
Comprehension Questions
Understanding the Story
What is the name of Lucian's hotel?
Why is Lucian different from a normal hotel owner?
Who is the woman in the painting on Lucian's desk?
What happened to Elena hundreds of years ago?
Why did Lucian believe Elena was dead?
What was the weather like when Elena arrived at the hotel?
Why was Lucian shocked when he opened the door?
How did Elena react when Lucian told her he was a vampire?
What did Lucian discover about Elena?
What does Lucian hope will happen now that Elena has returned?
Think About the Story
Why do you think Lucian kept Elena's painting for hundreds of years?
Lucian thinks Elena's return may be fate. What does this tell us about his feelings for her?
Elena feels nervous when Lucian talks about their past. Why do you think she feels nervous?
At the end of Part 1, what question does Elena hope Lucian will not ask?
What do you think happened hundreds of years ago? Why did Elena leave?
True or False?
Lucian has owned the Black Rose Hotel for more than three hundred years.
True / False
Lucian knew that Elena was a vampire when they were young.
True / False
Elena sent Lucian a letter before she disappeared.
True / False
Lucian believes Elena may still love him.
True / False
Elena is happy that Lucian wants to know why she left.
True / False
Answer Key
Comprehension
The Black Rose Hotel.
He is a vampire and has lived for hundreds of years.
Elena, a woman Lucian loved hundreds of years ago.
She suddenly disappeared without saying goodbye.
He thought she was human, and humans do not normally live for hundreds of years.
It was rainy and windy.
The woman at the door was Elena, whom he thought had died hundreds of years ago.
She was surprised. Then she showed Lucian her own vampire teeth.
Elena is also a vampire.
He hopes they can have a second chance at love.
Possible answer: Because he still loved her and never forgot her.
Possible answer: He still loves Elena and believes their meeting is special.
Possible answer: She knows something about their past that Lucian does not know.
“Why did you leave me?”
Student's own answer. The real reason has not been revealed yet.
True or False
True
False
False
True
False
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