Every Room Has a View: The Grapeton Lodge Investigation
By Sarah Tonin, Special Investigative Reporter
Summary
Creative use of an otherwise common prefab motel build
Endless fun details to discover in the space; it feels like there's a story here
Great jumping-off point for a roleplay/speculative landing place for a meet-cute
Conveniently located near a seedy alley
Free as in "first month"
Recommended
From the Paranormal Investigation Files of Sarah Tonin
The thing about cars is that they're remarkably similar to relationships--they tend to break down at the worst possible moment, leaving you stranded somewhere on the wrong side of the tracks. In this case, that somewhere was Grapeton Lodge Motel, where the vacancy sign flickers with all the reliability of my ex's texting habits.
My car, having the impeccable timing of an atomic clock with a curse, decided to give up the ghost somewhere between the Cryptid's Choice Awards and civilization.
Violet was still clutching her trophy for "Lifetime Achievement in Red String Misuse" when the engine made a sound like Bigfoot gargling nails.
"No signal," I announced, my phone held toward the sky like a modern-day divining rod. "Wait! One bar." I managed to fire off a text to Dirk: "Stranded. Need shelter, pizza."
A few minutes passed, but his response was typical: prompt and cryptic. "Nearest motel's Grapeton Lodge, but careful: several hotel inspectors went missing reviewing it. One guy's post ended mid-sentence."
I held up my phone to Violet, expression fully skeptical. "Sounds dangerous. And nothing about pizza?"
"Good thing we're not hotel inspectors," Violet mused, already adding another red string to the pegboard hanging from the rear window. One lazy Sunday between assignments, she'd converted the back seat into a mobile research station. Newspaper clippings spread on the cushions, cup holders filled with pins and safety scissors. It's a small miracle I haven't had to explain anything to some nosy traffic cop. She continued, "We're paranormal investigators. We'll just go undercover."
"You can't be serious." I was still dreamscrolling for pizza places willing to deliver on the wrong side of the tracks.
She eyed our formal wear--hers, a not-so-admittedly questionable choice, this backless number in "cryptid-hunting crimson"--with growing excitement. "It'll just take a few strategic modifications..."
Turns out those scissors come in handy for more than just snipping red string.
Investigation Note: Grapeton Lodge is a free motel that doesn't accept reservations or bookings. It's the anchor tenant for a seedy urban build that includes various establishments catering to different fetishes, most of which involve some amount of voyeurism.
Twenty minutes and two sacrificed evening gowns later, I looked like I was ready to work some corner while Violet had transformed her award show ensemble into something more "pimp chic" than "paranormal investigator." If you ask her? That's not a cane, it's an EMF meter.
The Scene of Some Crimes Against Hospitality
The front desk bell had a layer of dust thick enough to suggest evolutionary processes were underway. I rang it anyway. Nothing. Rang it again, only harder. Still nothing.
"Maybe they're busy serving other guests?" I suggested, even though we hadn't seen a single car in the parking lot.
"Or maybe," Violet whispered in her typical conspiratorial husk, "they've all been taken by something supernatural. Ethereal. Not of this realm."
I rang the bell again, hoping to distract her before she could drone on about different kinds of ghosts.
Investigation Note: Check-in is self-service in that there is none. Grapeton is essentially a place to explore and poke around or a way to find out if your new crush's sense of humour is any good.
After ten minutes of increasingly aggressive bell-ringing, it became clear that either the front desk was genuinely understaffed, or we were dealing with hotel management that had patience to burn.
"Hello?" I called out, leaning over the counter. "Anyone back there?"
"There's a door," Violet pointed out, "Maybe that's the back office? Maybe they're doing important motel... things?"
I vaulted the counter smoothly and knocked. Nothing. Another knock, slightly louder. Violet was about to start in about ectoplasm, so I hammered on the door with my fist as if my life depended on it.
"It's unlocked," Violet noted, after testing the handle. "Better to beg forgiveness than explain why you're dressed like a couple of street walkers." I wasn't sure what that had to do with it.
I tapped the wall, searching for a light switch. Nothing doing, but a paranormal investigator knows what a promisingly hollow wall tap sounds like. (It sounds like the wall's hollow.) Our eyes lit up.
Twenty minutes of increasingly elaborate wall-tapping later, we discovered it: a one-way mirror looking directly into the adjacent room. What's more, I almost tripped over an impressive array of camera equipment, the feed streaming live to a bank of monitors on above a desk.
In other words, the office looked exactly like what you'd expect to find in a motel manager's workspace.
"This explains everything," Violet declared, practically vibrating with investigative excitement, her voice coming at a clip. "Classic ghost hunting setup." She gestured at the wall of screens. "They're just documenting evidence of paranormal activity!"
"But what about the missing reviewers?" I ventured, careful not to burst her bubble. You wouldn't believe how she gets. "Besides, those cameras are pointed at the bed."
She ignored the first part in favour of her hypothesis. "Spirits are notorious exhibitionists. Haven't you seen those orb pictures?"
Investigation Note: The manager's room is not to be missed; much of the character of the motel comes from imagining the motel manager living and working here.
The Missing Persons Investigation
After our discovery in the manager's office, we decided to check the rooms for guests. Or anything else. Ectoplasm. EMF readings. We were hot on the trail of spirits, earthly or otherwise.
The first room we checked had an odd print on the wall--something about a shower scene that seemed too familiar. It seemed like it was straight out of a movie. "Hey, what's this from?" I asked, but Violet was too busy setting up ring lights around the bed.
"Why would a motel have art about other motels?" I wondered aloud, examining another print showing a car on a winding alpine road, grand hotel in silhouette. "Pretty meta."
Violet seemed preoccupied with her pimp cane as EMF reader. "Can you focus? We need to thoroughly document this room. Multiple angles. Maybe some mood lighting."
Investigation Note: There are a handful of rooms and many easter eggs to discover, notice / be horrified by. Cheap motel furnishing in the best way possible. Beds were equipped with what seemed to be modified Ruckus engines. Crucially, no WORLDSTAR. This feels make-or-break, depending on you.
Our investigation took an abrupt turn when we checked Room 5. The occupant appeared to be taking an intense nap, complete with a bag over their head. Such a creative sleep mask. More creative still: their body art. But it wasn't ectoplasm, so why would we care?
"Well..." Violet was already backing away to the room with the one-way mirror and the ring lights. "I think we should focus our investigation on the room with actual paranormal activity."
"What do you mean?"
"See, historically, intense emotional or physical experiences tend to attract..."
"Violet."
"And we're already dressed for..."
"Violet."
"Plus, think about it--nobody's ever caught actual footage of ghosts watching humans before. Our audience would--"
I sighed. "This is about starting an OnlyFans again, isn't it."
"OnlyPhantoms," she corrected. "Niche fetishes are so hot these days."
Bustin' Makes Me Feel Good
As we marched back to the guest room ringed with ring lights, I tried to remember just what the ethical requirements were for a Cryptid's Choice Awards Lifetime Award winner. Meanwhile, Violet insisted on multiple camera angles "for picking up EMF readings." Come to think of it, we were just maintaining our cover story (and developing our nascent subscriber base.)
Like so many of our investigations, there were more questions left than answers. Do all voyeurs go to heaven, or do they just keep the afterlife hauntings industry afloat? Are those stains on the carpet really ectoplasm? Will the awards show people accuse me of misusing my runner-up sash?
Needless to say, we've chosen to file this case as "Conclusively Inconclusive." It's not even clear anyone went missing. We wrapped up filming cont--investigating the paranormal, and were walking back to my broken-down car. Once again, one of us was moving a little funny.
"Just think of it as an innovative fundings stream for our investigations," Violet offered, catching my expression. Or the stutter in my step.
"Now that you mention it, We've always been a loss leader for Dirk."
Finally, thank you to Sam Rogefeu for suggesting that we investigate this unique and unusual destination. Sam curates and features lots of great destination content as an admin of the excellent Second Life Destinations group on Facebook, which you can find here. Also, check out Sam’s own destination blog.
