Theodore dropped to the floor. The pounding continued. He stared over at Eollx. Her face looked nearly dead. He hoped his quick action had not killed her. Holding his breath, he moved slowly to her body, grabbing her shoulders, he tried to lift her into the bathroom. He was halfway there when yelling was added to the pounding.
“Open this damn door! I will be coming in and if there is even one goddamn carpet fiber out of place, I will make sure you never see daylight again!”
The voice was unmistakable as the innkeeper who had made it clear he was not welcome. He began dragging Eollx quicker.
“Fine! You better hope you can run fast boy…Excuse me? This ain’t any of your damn business.”
Theodore barely heard the muffled sounds of voices chatting back and forth. He dragged Eollx fully into the bathroom. Slowly he slid her into the tub doing his best to pull the curtain over her. He couldn’t make out the voice, but the innkeeper seemed to have changed her very angry tone to a more of a whisper. Fully covering Eollx, he rushed back to the to main room and began dragging the bed to where it was, poorly tearing the carpet as he did. Another knock rang out on the door. This one was softer. His heart sang when he heard the voice.
“Theodore, it’s me. Let me in.”
He rushed to the door, opening it ever so slightly. There she was, dressed from head to toe in black. Her long heels were black, as was her pantyhose and her dres. She wore black silk opera-length gloves. They traveled past her elbow almost to the top of her shoulder. On her head was a large black hat. The brim reached nearly four inches from her face. A thick black veil cascaded down in front of her face. Hiding all her facial features save for the shimmer of a black pearl necklace gripping her neck tightly. In her left hand she held a silk clutch purse which was uniformly black. Theodore scanned the horizon. The innkeeper was nowhere in sight. He opened the door just enough to let her in. She stared at the mess.
“What happened?” She asked.
“I think they put a sensor on her skull. While I was cutting her hair, I tried to remove it-” Theodore stuttered trying to catch each word.
“Why were you cutting her hair?” She interrupted coldly.
“She said she wanted to look like Marilyn Monroe. I figured it would help her trust us more.”
“Sure, we can have her perform with the next USO tour,” she snapped.
Theodore lowered his head and nodded. She crossed her arms.
“Help me understand what you would have done if I hadn’t arrived? It is not like you can keep her secret with this mess?”
“I wanted her to not feel like a prisoner. She reminded me of my daughter so I…I just wanted her to feel better. I wasn’t expecting the sensor.”
“It’s not a sensor it is behavior incentive. The boys created it to make sure she understood pain. It is currently attached to her brain. Any change to its location could cause her to snap completely.”
“I could have really used that information. When I collected her.”
“I didn’t know you were going to cut her hair!”
The woman coughed hard. Her coughing was mixing with gurgling as if her mouth quickly filled with liquid. She darted over to her purse. Cracking it open she produced a white handkerchief. She stuffed it under her veil, coughing twice more and pulling it out again. The handkerchief turned a dark muddy color. She tossed the cloth in the trash without a second thought. She snapped her lips together and made her way toward the bathroom. Theodore, slightly worried by this, quickly followed her.
“Are you-”
“Don’t bother yourself with me,” she coughed.
She walked into the bathroom. Carefully lifting her heels over the glass as she made her way to the tub. Pulling back the curtain she looked down at Eollx. She sighed, bending down and running her silk glove against Eollx’s forehead. She lifted her head and stared at the small wire growing out of her cranium. She swung back to Theodore.
“She’s breathing but it seems as if you put her in trance. What did you do?”
“Nothing! I mean I just shouted 39 and she collapsed.”
“39…,” she mumbled trailing off.
She carefully set Eollx’s head back on the porcelain, brushing her gloves on her dress as she pushed past Theodore and back into the main room, Theodore hurrying behind her like a puppy. She bent down, lifting the rotary phone off the ground, she set it back on the dresser. Silently she clicked the rotary. The slow clicks made Theodore concerned. She never called anyone good. The rotary finished its spinning. She reached the phone under her veil, coughing slightly as she did. The loud ringing from the other end of the phone made Theodore hold his breath. The ringing stopped.
“Billy boy, I have special work for you. Follow the sound.”
She reached over to her clutch purse and produced a small black flute. She placed it under the veil. No sound came from it, but a loud screech pierced the other end of the phone. She carelessly dropped it back on the receiver. She reached into her purse and pulled out another handkerchief. Pulling the flute from under her veil she cleaned the mouthpiece which had been stained red at the tip. Theodore lifted the armchair up off the ground, slumping down, he threw his head back wishing he had just stayed asleep. He would have figured something out in the morning. She closed her the flute back into her purse and turned back to him.
“You met Bill, right?”
“I don’t believe so.”
“Charming little reptile. Found him in Arizona. He still needs a little guidance.”
“Is that so.”
“He is coming to make your mistake go away.”
She moved over to the bed. She straightened it, sitting on it with a quick cross of her legs. Her heels glimmered with very sharp point. Theodore stared at them. They were brighter than he expected, shinning even in the poor light of the hotel. As he continued to stare, he knew what they were, they were diamonds. Large synthetic diamonds honed down to an extremely sharp point. They both sat in silence. Theodore felt she was looking into his soul under her veil. He realized that even though she had been the caveat to the road he was currently on he had not seen her face. What was worse was that didn’t bother him.
“Still in mourning?” He said hoarsely.
“Yes, I will be mourning for a very long time.”
Theodore nodded as she coughed.
“Which one came to see you? One of the fat twins or that timid little fellow?”
“Neither, it was Chester.”
“Chester?” She said, with surprise in her voice. “That could be a problem, he was always too curious for his own good.”
She coughed again, a slow gurgling cough.
“But he arrived. The man with the cane,” Theodore said meekly
She uncrossed her legs and dug the diamond studs deep into the carpet.
“What did you do!”
“Nothing!” Theodore squeaked, “I followed the plan to the letter. Meet with Chester and head towards Texas. That is all I did. But he was here. Right here in this room and he demanded that I go to Casper.”
“How did you explain your actions?”
“I told him I was lost he didn’t really seem to believe me.”
She stood up, frantically pacing throughout the room. Her diamond heels ripping the carpet with every turn.
“That means he likely knows you have her.”
Theodore felt his life was over. He felt like running out the door, jumping into his car and driving away. Leaving it all, hoping they wouldn’t find him. Even as the thoughts entered his head, he knew they weren’t an option. He would be killed before he even made it to Colorado. He thought back to his daughter. Her loving face he would never see again. She stopped pacing and faced him.
“What’s in Casper?”
“I don’t know. Chester just said to be there.”
She coughed again.
“You picked her up where I said, correct?”
“Yes, ten miles from the road in the small bobcat cave,” Theodore said with fear in his voice.
She began pacing again. He could hear the gurgle in her throat trying not to cough. She stopped and struck the wall with such violence that Theodore nearly fell out of his chair.
“The Casper airstrip,” she said with an angry gargle.
“What?”
“The Casper airstrip is the closest airstrip to Idaho Falls”
She tore the carpet again sprinting back to the dresser that held her clutch purse. Snatching it up, she began fiddling through the bag frantically. Pulling out a small letter she unfolded it, scanning the letters carefully over before quickly folding up again and stuffing it back in her purse.
“In your report of the wasteland, what was the radiation level?”
“Higher than I liked. I mentioned it to Chester, but he shrugged it off as if it was nothing.”
“I was told of an increase in radiation outside Idaho Falls. I thought they were going to send someone closer, like that rat in Boise.”
She clapped her purse shut and sat back on the bed, hanging her head while growling and coughing at the same time.
“Perhaps you could take her to Texas. Two women riding together creates less questions than a man and women especially someone of my…background.”
She shook her head.
“Trust me I thought about that for a long time. But they know me and let’s just say they wouldn’t think twice about searching my car. That’s why I picked you. Your loyalty is your greatest cover.”
Theodore was slightly offended by her callous description of his values. It wasn’t for a lack of loyalty he was doing this, but an extreme loyalty to another set of ethics that he was not about to discuss with her. He stood up and marched into the bathroom, doing his best to conceal his anger. Eollx was still in the tub. The slick porcelain had bent her into a crumpled mess. Her face was pinned against the faucet creating a small divot in her cheek. He felt bad to leave her in such a poor state even unconscious. He knelt and lifted her head slowly, setting her head back on the floor of the tub. Her eyes twitched as if she was dreaming. The lids flicking back and as her eyes pendulum swung under them. He gripped her long fingers tightly. Each one was covered with a small scar around the nail bed. Her wrist and elbow also bore the signs of long scars running down the arm. He set the arm down gently and returned to the main room, leaning on the door jamb as he stared at the woman in black.
“I will find a way. Whether that means taking her with me to Idaho Falls or not I will not let her go back.”
“Alright, but if you get into another situation like this, I can’t promise I will be able to bail you out again.”
Theodore nodded. Spotting his watch on the floor he grabbed it and again fastened it to his wrist. The time flickered past his eyes. Seven thirty in the morning. He knew Chester would be calling on him if he did not get on the road soon. He grabbed his coat and hat and was about to head back into the bathroom when a slow knock at the door echoed as if it was far away. Theodore froze but the woman did not. She pulled herself up and made her way to the door. Not even looking out she twisted the handle and opened it.
Outside stood a very tall man reaching about seven feet but likely only weighing a hundred and ten pounds. He was pale and sickly in color, his skin seeming more yellow than anything else. His eyes were milky as if he was blind but seemed to see clearly. His hair was light brown, short and disheveled. He wore a plain white undershirt that only covered half his bicep. Faded black overalls that hung on his shoulders like a coat hanger. His shoes were tattered, covered in dust as if he had walked across the entire wasteland to the motel. He ducked under the door moving limply as he did, bending up and down like a human walking stick. He peered around the room. His head rolling from side to side on his shoulder as if his neck could not support its weight. He looked down at the woman. Opening his mouth, he revealed his tongue, dark grey, with the right side completely seared off.
“Ui mayd et hur es quiclay es Ui cood mumm,” he said incoherently, taking large gulps with every world.
“That’s good Bill. Make sure you clean up the entire room, but first help us lift this woman into the car.”
“Yass mumm,” he mumbled again.
Striding past Theodore, he made his way towards the bathroom. Theodore was dumbfounded, this ogre-ish looking man had quite startled him and in his current fatigued state made him a little worried. Bill returned from the bathroom, clutching Eollx in his arms. Even with her long physique she seemed almost normal sized compared to the giant. Bill gingerly carried her out the door, slowly making his way to the car. He opened the door and set her down in the back making sure that he didn’t hit her head. Theodore felt bad in his stomach for judging the man so quickly, he seemed to honestly care for the girl’s wellbeing. The woman handed him a piece of paper.
“I will meet you in Idaho Falls. If you can’t make it, call this number. Don’t say anything but the location you want to meet, and I will find you. Be more careful out- “
“What in hell is all this!!!” The familiar voice rang out.
The woman and Theodore stared out the door to the parking lot. The innkeeper had returned, and she was yelling at Bill who was blocking her from approaching the car. She ran into the hotel room, dumbfounded by the mess in the room.
“I should have beat your ass the moment you stepped on my property you- “
She rushed Theodore; the woman stepped in between the two of them.
“Miss as I told in the parking lot, I am handl-,” she started.
“You ain’t handle nuthin bitch!”
She knocked the woman to the floor with one swing. Rushing Theodore, she tackled him to the floor, continually punching him in the face. Theodore did his best to block her blows but her boarish arms kept pushing his hands back to the floor. She struck the side of his temple, knocking his glasses off. The woman picked herself up, slowly walked over to her purse. She clicked it open and retrieved the small flute, slipping it again under her veil. Bill gripped his cranium letting out a loud scream that sounded like a mixture of a bat and a person. The sound cracked the window and caused Theodore and the innkeeper to both clutch their ears in pain. Bill swiftly ran back into the room, gripping the innkeeper by the back of her neck, he tossed her into the air, crushing her skull against the ceiling. The blood rushed from her forehead, dripping slowly down onto Theodore. Bill brought her down before lifting her again for a second strike against the ceiling. Upon this second strike, Bill released his grip and let her fall to the floor. Her body landed hard on floor and slumped forward next to Theodore, who was just able to grab his glasses before her husk nearly crushed them. She let out weak moans, barely holding onto life. The woman helped Theodore to his feet and handed him his coat and hat.
“You should get going we’ll take care of this.”
She ushered him out the door. As the door closed, he caught a glimpse of the widow sticking her diamond heel into the woman’s back.
“Think I’m still a bitch?” she mocked.
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