Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I don’t want to go home,” I told him, hauling my weekend bag up on my shoulder.
“Yeah, get that,” he said. “Okay. How about I put you in the room closest to the office?” he said. “I’d see anyone who passes by.”
“Yeah, that would be great.”
I hated to admit it, but it did feel good to know that there would be a man keeping an eye for danger for me.
“The rooms are shitholes,” he told me in a sort of resigned way that implied there was nothing to be done about that. Even though Jack actually owned the place and was, therefore, totally able to change anything he wanted.
Jack had always just been… a bit of an underachiever. He’d worked at the motel as a teen. Doing the bare minimum. Then, when the opportunity appeared, he took over the place. And continued to do as little as he could. Hence not even bothering to clean out the paperwork from decades ago.
“No offense, but I think everyone assumes that from looking at the outside,” I told him, getting a little chuckle out of the man.
“But if it makes you feel better, we bleach the shit out of the bedding. And all the mattresses are in bug-proof bags. Dealt with a bed bug infestation when I first started working here. Didn’t feel like having to handle that shit again,” he explained.
And that was just so very… Jack.
He had to make it clear that the only reason he gave a shit about something was to prevent him from having to do any extra work in the future.
To be honest, my biggest concern had been bed bugs, so that was a bit of a relief.
“That does make me feel better,” I said, nodding.
“There are two ex-cons staying here right now. A drunk who got kicked out by his wife. A woman and her kid. And, for fuck knows what reason, a couple staying here while visiting family.”
“Their family must really hate them to make them stay here,” I said as he reached for a key.
“I know, right?” Jack asked, not offended in the least. He knew he ran a shithole. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your room,” he said.
Just for me.
I knew enough about how Jack operated his business to know he was pretty dedicated to his whole ‘not leaving the office’ gig.
“Can I make a suggestion?” he asked as he unlocked my room, then moved inside to glance around for me.
“Sure,” I agreed, looking at the horrific shag carpet and the drapes and bedding straight out of the seventies. The TV, at least, was newer, flatscreen, but small and bolted to the dresser.
“Don’t go wandering around the halls at night,” he said. “The vending machine is out of commission half the time anyway. Looks like you picked up some snacks. So just… stay in. Seems like you’ve had it rough enough already.”
“Yeah, I don’t plan on going anywhere. What are you doing?” I asked, voice hitching a little when he reached down to remove his belt.
“Come on, Nyx,” he said, looking and sounding hurt. “You don’t have to worry about that with me,” he said. “See this?” he went on, pointing to the hardware on the back of the door, the big triangle-shaped metal thing that made the door automatically close.
“Yeah.”
“When I leave, wrap this belt around that and pull it tight. No one could get in unless they break the door. And I’m relatively sure that might get my attention,” he said with a boyish smile.
“Jack, thank you. Really. I appreciate it.”
“And don’t worry about the windows,” he said, ignoring my gratitude. “They don’t open.”
“Not at all a fire hazard,” I said, shaking my head.
“Well, I’m pretty sure if you hauled that chair through it, that it will break. Get some rest, okay?” he asked, going toward the door and moving out into the hall. “I’m right over there,” he added, pointing toward the office.
He was gone before I could thank him again.
Alone, I inspected the room to make sure he was right about the bugs. And, as it turned out, the bedding almost reeked of bleach. So I took some of the nighttime migraine medicine, fell into the bed, and fell asleep trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do about the whole situation.
I had come to no conclusions by the time I finally passed out.
CHAPTER NINE
Nyx
I woke up in pain and fucking… furious.
Which, in my humble opinion, was far superior to confused and scared.
Anger, that I could work with.
It was motivating.
It got me off my ass, out of the lumpy motel bed, and into the bathroom.
Where I saw how much the bruises had settled in throughout the night.
They’d become dark blue and purple smatterings over my temple, my jaw, and under my eye.