A Place To Stay

Ch 3

-XXX-

Stern

-XXX-

“Scarlett! Do we really have to be out so early in the morning?”

Bringing her along was a mistake.

“We can’t waste a single second.”

“And where would we even search?”

“The tavern.”

“I think she’d be anywhere but the tavern after yesterday!”

“I’M GOING THERE TO FIND CLUES TO WHERE SHE COULD BE!”

She blinked.

“Oh.”

Our feet hit the gravel. There was barely anyone on the streets yet.

The sun was halfway sunk in the horizon, casting a golden light on the town.

My eyes caught the half-torn sign pointing towards the tavern.

Doors slammed open.

I stepped inside.

Eyes instantly landed on a sight.

That’s one big dent on that wall—

Laurel tugged on my arm.

“There!”

The angry man from last night.

I squinted.

Why does he have a cast on his arm?

Whatever. This was a way better lead than I’d hoped for.

“Scarlett, maybe we should look for something el—”

I strode towards him.

“You, you’re the ones from last night.”

He scoffed. Glaring at us.

“And you’re the man who threw a lady on our table.”

“That witch deserved every bit of it.”

The chair beside me shifted.

“Uh, hi!” Laurel came through.

The man sat with his eyebrows wrinkled. He didn’t seem to be in a mood to talk to anyone.

I sighed. “Let’s cut to the chase. You happen to know where that lady could be?”

“The hell would I know? I’d wish I never knew.”

The med student scuttled over to his arm. “How’d this happen?”

He pinched his eyebrows. “That witch…”

She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. “She broke your arm?”

“NO.”

The two of us stared at him.

He coughed.

“What I meant was. I broke my own arm. On accident.”

“Last night?”

“Yes. By punching a wall.”

My eyes turned to the large dent I saw earlier.

I see.

“She stole my damn wallet and took off.”

Oh, she’s a thief too. Just amazing.

“Psst!”

I glanced towards Laurel.

“Scarlett, should we really try to find this person?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“I see many reasons why not.”

Her head spun, facing the man.

“If you don’t mind, could you tell us why you were fighting?”

He muttered something under his breath.

“Why should I?”

“Well…” Her words trailed off.

A groan escaped my lips.

“Listen, we’ll help you get your wallet back.”

He raised his eyebrows. Might actually be considering the offer.

A bit of silence…

“Fine."

He muttered under his breath.

“It was a few days ago, and I needed some help with my flower shop.

She was a customer. Asked specifically for those rare blue dalacians but they’re impossible to grow without those potions. And it's even harder to find one in the wild.

That lady offered me a lot of money for one. A natural one.

Now it is a gorgeous flower, but searching for it was way out of my league. I declined the offer. The woman then asked for a few normal Dalacians instead.

So I did. It was an easy task.

But last night, I had the town’s guards knocking at the door asking me whether I sold blue painted dalacians.

Turns out that witch was painting my flowers blue and selling ‘em.”

My hand reached my chin.

Potions? Suppose I have heard of them. Though they seem to be pretty expensive.

Also… she’s worse than a thief.

I looked at Laurel.

Her face said she was thinking the exact same thing.

“So that’s why that fight happened?”

“Yeah.”

“How is this gonna help us find her?” Laurel whispered into my ears.

I turned towards the man, expecting more info.

“Her name’s Eyara Feigns. I could tell she wasn't from here.”

Figures.

“Laurel, let’s go.” My foot pivoted, walking to the door.

“Scarlett! His address!”

“I live a street down from this place. Just look for a bunch of flowers.”

“See you soon… uhh!”

“Kair Nuvas.”

“Bye, Mr. Kair!” She waved goodbye.

With a tone a bit too optimistic. Finding this lady isn't gonna be easy.

-XXX-

We were walking down the same street as last night.

“Can you track her down using your power?”

“Well, I had to at least touch something she had.”

I muttered a curse under my breath.

How in the world were we supposed to find her?

Turning a corner, Laurel stopped halfway.

“Scarlett! I got an idea.”

“Which is?”

“What if we also painted those flowers blue? It might draw her out.”

“And get us arrested.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Ask around. Better than nothing.”

We went around the town, asking locals that passed by.

But this Eyara Feigns covered her tracks well.

No one seemed to know her.

Neither did we know if that was even her real name.

The streetlights started to glow again, and the sky was fading to black.

And we were nowhere close.

“Hi, sir, do you know someone named Eyara Feigns?

Laurel asked the passerby.

He nodded his head right to left, and walked away.

I scoffed. “Another dead end.”

“I’m tired.” She groggily made her way to the bench beside mine.

“All we’ve done is walk around.”

“Well, what are we even gonna do if we do find her?”

“I don’t know. She just seems to know more about this shit world than us.”

“It’s not like she’s the only person from Earth here.”

“What are the chances then? That we just randomly run into another one?”

I got up from the bench, already walking to the next guy.

“Low, but running around asking isn’t giving us high odds either.”

I stopped mid way. She wasn’t wrong.

“Where do we stay?” Looked at her face, expecting an answer.

“Where we stayed last night?”

“How much money do you have?”

Hands reached her wallet.

ZZZZ—!

She stared at its insides.

Her face soured.

“There’s only 3 coins in here.”

…

“Ooh! Oooh! I got an idea.”

-XXX-

A knock to the door.

Objects shuffled a bit in the background.

Click.

“Who’s there?”

The man opened the door, just a tiny gap. He held a crystal in his hand that gave off a warm light.

Right, I’d seen those things before. In the streetlights.

Actually, every man made light I’ve seen here.

They’re listals. Crystals that glow in the dark.

Loulin gave me one. I don’t have it anymore.

His eyes peered through the gap.

“Oh, it’s just you two.”

“Hey, Mister!” Laurel smiled, sweat dripping.

“I suppose you found my wallet?”

“About that…”

“We didn’t.”

The man was about to slam the door. Laurel dove her foot in between, hand gripping the handle.

“Wait! No, we do have something else!”

“Which is?” His eyes narrowed.

“Hey, so it's a bit difficult to run a shop on an injured arm, right?”

“Cut to it already.”

She took a deep breath.

…

“IWASHOPINGYOU’DLETUSWORKFORYOU!”

He stared at her, blankly.

“What?”

“We’re kinda very broke on money right now so…”

“Are you expecting me to pay you guys?”

Guess it’s my turn to speak.

“You’d probably refuse if we did. So, we just want a place to stay overnight.”

He glared at us. Perhaps he was suspicious of our offer.

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

Laurel, was this really going to work?

Creak.

The door opened, entirely this time.

“I could use some extra help.”

Wait, seriously?

“Thank you so much!” She immediately grabbed his hand and shaked it like crazy.

“I’d like to keep both my hands.”

“Oh! Sorry.”

He turned around, pointed inside.

“Work starts tomorrow, I’ll show you the room.”

-XXX-

The door shut behind us.

I didn’t care how the room was. Too tired.

Laurel, however…

“The bed’s so big!”

She plopped onto it.

“And comfy! Way better than yesterday.”

I walked towards the bed. Sitting down on the fabric.

It felt like my eyes would just drift asleep.

“Scarlett! Don’t sleep now!” A pair of hands held my shoulders, then started jerking me back and forth.

My soul left my body for a bit.

“We can’t sleep in the clothes we were wandering around in all day!”

“I know…”

She nudged me off the bed.

“Maybe you should change first.”

“With what clothes?”

…

“Guess it can’t be helped!” She laid down.

“I’m using the bathroom.”

Her arm raised and gave a thumbs up.

-XXX-

The door shut.

The bathroom was pretty clean, made of marble and all.

Speaking of cleanliness, even the room was well kept.

I turned the faucet of the sink. Cold water poured out.

Washed my face with it.

-XXX-

I came out, dabbing the towel on my face.

Just to see her already asleep.

I hardly spent 5 minutes in there. Jeez.

-XXX-

Light poked through the window blinds. Falling on my face.

Morning came by, I woke up first.

My head turned left.

The person beside me was still fast asleep.

I stretched a bit, then got off the bed.

Foot grazed the floor.

“Oof. Cold.”

-XXX-

Last night, it was pretty dark so I couldn’t make out how the house looked.

I glanced around.

The walls were painted a light red. Had white finishes too. And the wooden floor sparkled with every step.

There were a lot of flower pots, though I couldn’t recognize a good portion of the species.

And at the end of the corridor. A painting. Cleaned more carefully than the rest.

A family portrait?

It was a pretty house. If I’d ever buy one, I’d like it to be like this.

I found my way downstairs.

“You’re awake?”

“Yes. It’s my first day at work now.”

“And the other?”

“Laurel’s still sleeping.”

“The shop's opening in an hour.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

He brought a plate with scrambled eggs.

“You made that, with one hand?”

“The world doesn’t stop for an injured arm, y’know.”

I took the fork beside the plate.

Stabbed the food with it, then put it in my mouth.

“Scarlett!”

My eyes darted up.

“Ooh! Food.”

She ran down, almost tumbling on the stairs.

“And a good morning to you, Mr. Kair!”

She sat on the chair beside mine.

“Why are you still so lively?”

“ ‘Cause, we’ve finally got a semblance of stability in our lives here!”

“Good point.”

The man came back to the table, and placed a fresh plate of scrambled eggs again, this time for Laurel.

“Thanks!”

“There’s no need.”

My gaze fell back to my plate.

To the food I’d taken a bite out of.

…

“It’s so tasty!”

“You haven’t even tasted it ye—”

The eggs on her plate were gone…

“Nevermind.”

I took another bite out of mine.

She put the fork down.

“Mister! Do you have more?”

Her appetite never ceases to surprise me.

The clock on the wall struck seven.

I’d usually wake up an hour earlier.

The windows were already open. Golden light covered the room.

It’s been a while since my morning’s started in an actual house.

…

A small smile formed on my lips.

“If you want more, come to the kitchen.”

“Okayyy!”

One I didn’t even realize till a few seconds later.

I stabbed my food with the fork again. And then put it in my mouth.

She would’ve loved it here.

Far more than me.

~A Place To Stay~

Characters:

Scarlett Ernest (MC, and the POV)

Laurel Ains (The fake med student)

Kair Nuvas (The flowershop guy)

Link to the official site for this series :D --> https://sites.google.com/view/seas-the-site