The Forgotten Child

Chapter 22

Alyson had been on the road now for almost ten hours. She'd heard countless songs and had a good number of bathroom breaks for both her and Kai.

Alyson had just pulled over to stay in a hotel that allowed pets and was pulling up into the parking lot to get a room. She turned to Kai.

"Okay all I have to do is book a single night in this hotel room it should be hard right? If we were back home I wouldn't even bother! I'd sleep in a cave somewhere! But it's too freaking cold here to even think about sleeping outside! I like the cold but this kind of cold is ridiculous! It's so cold I feel like I'm freezing to death in the car!" Alyson grumbled as she looked through her bag for her wallet.  Kai huffed lazily at her as if agreeing with her.

"I'll be back in a second, then I'll grab the leash and we'll go to the room," Alyson said scratching between his ears softly. He huffed at the word leash.

"I know you hate it, but since you're acting as my dog you gotta wear a leash," Alyson said leaving no room for arguments. 

Alyson went into the check-in area and saw a middle-aged woman sitting at the desk. She looked nice enough.

"Hi! I called about ten minutes ago to make a room reservation! My name's Alyson Archerson," Alyson said nervously stuttering lightly.

"Okay, you're room number 113, and that'll be 98.25," The lady says. Alyson huffed lightly but it was a pet-friendly hotel. 

She handed the women the money and in return got her key. It was a metal key, not a key card. Alyson gave the women a quick smile and hurried out.

Alyson let out a breath and relaxed why was that so scary? Social interactions are scary, the forest was much more relaxing.

Alyson pulled up her car into the space in front of her room. She opened the back seat and looped the leash around Kai's neck.

"You wanna go to the bathroom before we go to bed?" Alyson asked Kai. He barked lightly his tail wagging. 

"Yeah stretching my legs does sound good," Alyson said laughing lightly. "keep close there's a lot of cars in hotel parking lots." He walked so his fur was touching her legs.

"The grass is across the parking lot," Alyson said talking kai through the area. He whined softly, scared by the new environment.  Alyson petted him gently trying to ease his nerves.

"It's alright boy, I won't let anything happen to you."

"What could happen to him?" Someone asked from behind her making her jump and her heart rate peak, thus making Kai growl.

"He's blind," Alyson said running a hand over his bristled fur.

The person nodded softly.

"What's his name?" they asked meekly stepping out of the dark into the light. It was a boy her age with sandy red hair, soft green eyes, and tan skin an odd combination but Alyson wasn't able to judge she had weird golden eyes.

"Kai," Alyson said still trying to calm him down.

"Is he alright?" The boy asked peering down.

"Yeah, you just spooked him when you came over," Alyson said, "If you're okay with it could you let him sniff your hand? I promise he won't bite you," 

"No, it's okay. I did scare him after all," the boy said getting closer to Kai.

"Kai, sniff. He's not gonna hurt us. It's okay," Alyson said still gently petting Kai. Kai hesitates but sniffs the hand in front of him. He licks the boy's hand softly.