Motel From Hell

Room 201

My eyes painfully crack open, and every part of my body aches; my spine, my head, everything. I sit up, feeling Chester's leather couch scratch against me, at least that explains why every muscle hurts, I slept upright on a couch. I don't even remember falling asleep.

"...Good morning." Chester sleepily mumbles from my lap. His brown hair is sticking out in all directions, and there are bags under his green eyes. One of his long arms is loosely wounded around my waist, and his other hand is locked with mine.

"Good morning," I mutter, wanting nothing more but to fall back asleep.

"What time is it?" Chester asks, I glance at the cable box under the flat screen.

"5:30," I answer.

"Ugh, I have to open up the motel at six." Chester groans, sitting up from my lap. For a moment I'm monition less, feeling emotionally exhausted, and drained. I feel a pounding headache drumming in my head, and the images from last night starts playing behind my eyelids.

"I should probably go ready the rooms then." I mumble. I would go back to sleep but now that I'm awake, and remembering everything from last night, there is not a chance I'm going to peacefully drift back to sleep.

"What?" Chester asks, his head turning to me. "No, go back to sleep." He says.

"I'm not going to catch a wink of sleep." I shrug, standing up on legs so weak they feel like jello.

"But..." Chester starts, but I bend down, and engulf him in a tight hug.

"Look, we didn't do anything to those people. And today is a new day, so let's just do our best to get through it, and make the most of it, okay?" I say.

"I don't understand," Chester say, pulling his head back far enough to see my face, making us so close our noses can brush each others'.

"Don't understand, what?" I ask.

"How you didn't go running, and screaming. How you're still here, how you're not afraid." Chester breathes.

"Because it wasn't our fault, and you're my friend." I state, my brown eyes burning into his.

"Or maybe you're just nuts." Chester jokes.

"Maybe." I respond with a shrug, and a weak grin.

"There's a way to tell, do you like the smell of bleach?" Chester asks.

"Are you really asking your head of housekeeping if they like the smell of bleach?"

Later

Wheels squeak faintly as I push the housekeeping cart down the second floor hall. The rising sun glows in one far corner of sky, hiding behind pine trees. It's chilly, the cold seeping through my coral sweater, and leggings.

Pulling up to a closed door, my cold fingers fumble with the keys to room 201. I pull some supplies off the cart- rolls of toilet paper, a bundle of clean sheets, a sponge, but my hand shakes before it wraps around the bleach.

Each room as I have learned the hard way needs more than a quick cleaning, but on the bright side I've only needed to move two queen size beds to clean up Chester's slack. Hopefully the second floor is cleaner than the first. Just like the many doors that house in the motel, this door creaks as it opens. I'm getting use to the creepy noises that sounds off when you open a door on this prosperity, I should ask Chester later for oil for the hinges.

Walking into the motel room I find two full size beds filling up most of the space. Dropping my full arm load of cleaning supplies on the maroon carpeted floor, I quickly strip off the faded lavender comforters, and yellowing bedsheets. I turn for the clean bedsheets on the carpet, but when I do a pair of bloodshot eyes meet mine. My breath catches in my throat, and my heart flatlines in fear. A tall, sickly pale boy glares me down with furious icy blue eyes.

My heart painfully hammers with fear, as I continue to get stared down by the pale boy. He has a head full of platinum blonde locks, he's shirtless, barefoot, and completely covered with blood.

Is that all his? Or is it....

Chester! I think as loudly as I can. Chester help me! I scream in my head.

"Who are you?" The boy seethes.

"I... I..." I stutter dumbly, to terrified to form a sentence.

"Get out!" The boy suddenly screams, lunging at me. I clumsy reel back, but suddenly arms wound around me, and with a burst of air I'm out of the room. The protective arms vanish like they were never there, the metal railing painfully probing my back. In a messy heap I'm on the ground of the hallway, watching through the ajar door the bloody boy glaring up at Chester.

"Who is she?!" The boy screams, a sudden nosebleed gushing down his mouth, and purple bruises forming over his skin.

"Stop letting people into my room!" The boy screams, tears of blood leak from his bloodshot eyes, and the bruises start to cover every inch of his pale skin, it looks like they're eating him alive.

"Benny, calm down!" Chester pleads. "Benny, you're hurting yourself! Calm down!" Chester shouts, panic on his face. Taking a deep breath Benny starts to calm down, the bruises fade away, and the blood evaporates, not a drop on his skin.

"Better?" Chester asks, his hands up in surrender.

"... Better." Benny breathes.

"Benny, meet the new head of housekeeping, our new maid, Blake."