Chapter 13: Reasons to Quit II

Everett looked to Gavin who was squinting his eyes at the leaving gentleman, but decided to shrug and patted a hand on his shoulder, guiding him over to Roman and Noemie who was staring pensively off into the distance.

"That was odd, but convenient!" He said as he handed the room to keys to the others. 

"This place is so strange." Roman said as he took a random one, holding it up and flipping the key around in his hand. "There's a fancy kitchen and dining area underground, but they have traditional metal keys for the rooms?"

"What's wrong? You don't like the 1900s style?" Gavin asked him, looking at the room number on his key. 

'106'

Noemie quietly thanked Everett as she took a key, reading the tag on it. 

'113'. It matched with the tag number on Roman's key. 

"Oh, thank goodness." He noticed her room number. "Goodluck with that guy Everett."

The said man tossed him a weird lock as he ushered for her attention, showing her a number on his phone screen for her to copy onto hers before they split into pairs to their respective rooms. She wished both of them goodnight, subtly nodding to Gavin

Roman took a hold of her hand as they went down the hall opposite from Gavin and Everett's room to theirs. 

"Does he still disturb you?" She questioned him. 

"He's always reacted to our situation more calmly then others, it bothers me."

She hummed, staring down at their entwined hands. 

"How do you keep your hands so warm?"

He shrugged.

"I've always been this way." 

The hall ways on both ends was almost hypnotic; stand in the middle of the lobby and look back and forth between the identical hallways and it could make you dizzy or panic. At least that's how some people acted, but it most likely something they ate that made them react that way.

The second floor was more hallucination-inducing, you go up the stairs all the way at the end of one of the hallways, stair down the long hallway, and try not to get dizzy. There's a corner, all you have to do is walk down and turn that corner and realize the hallways not one way, it'll help prevent tunnel vision.

The motel room was identical to all the others and probably the only normal aspect of any other motel; two beds, a washroom, and a chair that is always placed near the corner of one of the beds, like it was made for someone to sit and watch the other person sleep. Nothing else to watch really, there was no tv, unlike other motel rooms.

"This place more and more makes me think we're in the 1920s." Roman muttered, looking at all the interiors. 

"The 1920s had very nice interiors back in the day, if this place wasn't a murder motel, it would be a successful tourist motel." Noemie gave a soft smile, looking at the curtains and the designs of the bedding. 

For sure, this motel probably was designed in the early 1900s, maybe even considered a hotel before it was deemed too small or short since it certainly wasn't built like a regular motel floor plan. The red dining room down below could've previously been a speakeasy, the interior certainly made it look the part just without the furniture and bar. It's deep in the woods, difficult to find, and there's not many records of it on the maps Noemie searched through, physical or online.

The radios that each room likely used to have would've been taken away or stolen over the years when it was abandoned, the same fate could be said for some of the antique furniture, why else would most of it be modern?

Roman, ever the wary and cautious person he was, investigated the room thoroughly, testing the mirrors and inspecting the washroom.

She slung her bag onto one of the beds, and then made an alarmed expression, whipping her head around and patting her body, acting frantic.

"What's wrong?" Roman came out the washroom after hearing her worry, knitting his brows in concern.  

"I think I left something behind." she turned and rushed out the door after grabbing her key, leaving her items behind. "I'll be back!"

"Wait!" Roman followed after her, looking back at the room before shutting the door behind him. 

"What did you leave behind?" He asked from behind her. 

It was her camera which she purposefully left in the locker room but pretended to forget that as she walked with intention down the hallway, turning her head side to side at each of the rooms. 

"My camera, I need it for work, and I don't exactly have a replacement, along with some other items I may need for the night." 

That part was a lie, she did have an extra, but it was at work and not her favorite. 

They ended up finding the staircase leading to the second floor, all the way at the end.

"I don't think your camera would be here." Roman attempted to ease the worried face she put on, planting a hand on her shoulder. "It might be back in the locker room, but what other items would you need?"

There was a door underneath the staircase, it was built for storage, but there were rarely any western staircases built for this.

Noemie boldly went up and turned the knob on it, opening it to reveal nothing but cleaning products inside, she searched the shelves. 

"I just remembered I can't sleep unless I have some sort of sleep aid or medicine, I'm hoping there would be a storage room somewhere." She sighed as she closed the stair case door. 

"Nothing in there will help." 

Roman hummed behind her, looking around. 

"We could ask the guy at the front desk, or I could help you?" 

She shook her head. 

"I don't want to burden you." She gave him a grin. 

Her eyes climbed up the stairs, pondering whether she should go up and see the rooms there, if they were all shut like the ones downstairs, or if they were different. Roman could see where her eyes went and took her hand, grabbing a hold of her attention and gently tugged her away from it. 

Around the corner and down the hall to the lobby, they could see Gavin conversing with the guy behind the desk. Hand in his pocket as the other arm laid down on the top of the wood surface. Roman frowned in suspicion as he held Noemie's hand tighter, the lady waved at them as they walked closer. 

"Hmm? Can't sleep?" He asked both of them, shifting his body to face the two as they got closer, the guy at the desk also turning to see them, greeting with his usual smile. 

"Yes, I was actually looking for a storage room with something to help my insomnia." 

The polite guy behind the desk stood up. 

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that, I have some melatonin but it's in a restricted office, if you could wait just one moment while I go get it?" He pointed to somewhere down the other hall, stepping outside of his desk. 

"That would be nice, thank you."

He quickly walked down the hall with his keys jingling in his hand. Such a 90s feeling this place gave off sometimes, oh if only I could properly describe the interior and exterior to you, it really was such a lovely place. 

"Where's Everett?"

"He went to go check out the locker room, to look for something." Gavin answered. "What are you two doing." He eyed them together. 

She glanced between the two men, sighing. 

"He was helping me look, I have to go and get my camera from the locker room anyhow." She let go of Roman's hand, going over to the heavy door.  

"Roman, would you be alright waiting here for me? I'll be back soon." She glanced over at Gavin, nodding her head to him, he seemed to understand. 

"Maybe you can also express to Gavin the issues you have with him? I promise you it would be helpful." 

The redheaded man groaned, not really arguing with the lady as she went through the door, but also clearly not enjoying the tall man's company.

"So..." Gavin turned his head to him, still resting a hand on the top of the desk, looking Roman in the eye. "What issues do you have with me exactly?" He asked him, this time not really giving his usual sarcastic grin, something Roman clearly noticed. 

"... Something about you, is not normal." 

"What? Like you?" He teased. 

Down in the locker room, Noemie found Everett looking through the locker room, aimlessly, not sure what to find. 

"Are you alright?" She softly said to him, closing the door behind her silently. 

He whipped his head around to see her standing there, almost jumping in his own skin. He heaved a sigh of relief. 

"Christ you almost scared me." He put his hands on his hips as he calmed himself. 

"Forgive me, but you looked lost, so I had to ask." 

The European man looked around the room as she went over to her locker, opening it to search inside, looking underneath her coat. 

"Gavin told me to look down here for something, but the only thing I can find is no cameras." He shrugged. "So, I don't know why he made me come down here. This room isn't any different from the servers' locker room." 

"Hmm, well maybe-" She stopped, and an actual feeling of worry overwhelmed her as she looked up and down her locker, closing the metal door and searching around the room, on the benches, the top of the lockers, and searching inside the women's washroom. 

"What's wrong?" 

"My camera, it's not here, I know I left it here." She told him, looking around the place. 

"Why would you bring a camera here?" He asked as he began to follow her around, helping her search anyway. 

"I kept forgetting it at work, and the one time I finally remember to take it home with me, I forget it again." 

She groaned in frustration. He wrapped his arms around her to stop her from moving, she fought to pry herself from his arms as he spoke. 

"Settle down, settle down. Is this why you're still up and out of your room?" 

"Yes, that and-" She stopped fussing, hearing something in the kitchen, slowly turning her head to it. 

Everett also heard it, glancing at the kitchen door from the corner of his eye as he let her slip out of his arms. It was a click clacking noise, just a few steps.

"Have you, by chance, checked the kitchen?" 

She shook her head, they both walked towards it, she pushed the door open to reveal an elegant looking lady, sitting on the kitchen island, holding the woman's camera. 

A body whose silhouette was shown only through a trench coat that wrapped around her more loosely than a chef coat would, brown hair like Noemie's, except it was more vibrant in color and shine, put up in a neat bun, her red lips that accentuated her wide smile, sharper at the corners than a cheshire cat's. 

The thing that made the noise: Her black heeled boots, the heels were very sharp, one wrong misstep and the poor wearer could snap their ankle in the completely wrong way, oh but she walked in them with such ease as she hopped off the kitchen counter, noticing their presence. 

"Oh, hello Noe!" She said in that velvety bold voice of hers. 

Noemie pointed her eyes at the camera held in the lady's palm, her sharp nails tapping against the lens. 

"Good evening."

The lady clacked her sharp heels against the floor, walking towards Noemie as Everett tried to pull her back, she stayed still. 

"This is some fancy item you brought, you do realize I don't allow items like these in this building, right?" The lady held up the camera to her with one hand, the other laced through the sling that was intended to go around a neck. Her British accent made her sound cheery; it confused a lot of people to hear her tone, Noemie knew better. 

"It wasn't for use; I was planning to bring it home with me after work. There are no pictures of this place, I'm sure you've already looked through it." She reasoned with her. Her French accent along with her quiet tone made her talking sound softer, cautious, firm.

The woman stepped forward out of Everett's grasp, fear in his eyes at the smiling lady, the woman made the lady turn her body to her as the woman walked around her, looking her up and down, just stopping to make the lady's back face the kitchen island table, 

"You've always had a good reason for everything." She kept the camera away from the woman, holding it up to the light. "But this is still against the rules."

"I'm aware, but you must forgive me for this, I have to bring my camera home from work." 

The lady, likely the manager, lifted up the neck sling, her nails fiddling with the plastic ring on it. Noemie was stiff, unmoving as the lady took the sling and slipped it over her head, letting it fall around her neck, and moving the plastic ring, sliding it up until it almost tightened around her neck. 

The plastic ring was originally to help tighten the sling around a hand or arm to make it less likely to drop or lose, but here, the lady made it out to be a leash, walking behind Noemie with that same sharp red smile.

"What are you doing?" Everett frowned, stepping closer before the lady made a movement with one of her boots. 

She pressed a foot down the front side and slid it back, Everett could see something sharp glinting underneath and froze. He wanted to reach out, but that thing glistening underneath her shoe, he couldn't. 

Noemie also mouthed the word 'no' to him as she kept a blank face, letting the lady do as she pleased. The lady only wanted to do one simple thing: lift up the camera she held behind Noemie and take a photo of the back of the woman's head, with the neck sling tightened around her like a leash, her hand, with those nails, in the frame, pawing at the tips of her hair. She then reached over her shoulder and plopped the camera into Noemie's hands. 

"Don't you dare lose that." The lady leaned her head over Noemie's shoulder, speaking into her ear. 

"I'll keep it close."

The lady chuckled, her eyes curved crescent in joy, like something about the woman brought her great entertainment, she stepped back away, giving the woman space, her hands folded behind her back like an innocent child. The lady was always as happy to see the woman as an average child would be in seeing the amusement park. 

"Are you alright?" Everett rushed to pull her close, looking her up and down whilst also keeping an eye on the lady. 

The lady put a finger to her lips, a shushing gesture as she stared him down, before going through the door that led into the red room, the clacking of her boots disappearing soon after. The man and woman both let out a breath neither knew they were holding. 

The woman held up the camera, cupping it like an injured bird as she checked the buttons and functions. 

"I'm sorry for that, are you alright?" 

"That's what I asked you." 

The two stared at each other, and then both turned their heads to the door leading to the red room, perhaps waiting to see the lady's face in the window. 

"We should go back up before she decides to surprise us." 

She took his arm, and they swiftly left the room, passing through the locker room, he looked behind them as they opened the door to the stairs going up. 

"You never answered my question." 

The woman hummed, wondering what he meant.

"Are you alright?"