The Demon's Little Wolf

CHAPTER 25

Analise's POV

"If bald people worked in a restaurant," I let out a small yawn. "Would they need to wear a hairnet?" I completed the question.

Alexander laughed beside me in his seat. "Maybe you should sleep Princess."

He looked at me, amused. My eye lids felt heavy as I struggled to keep them open. For the past few hours, we have been driving and it was already night. Throughout the entire way, the questions never stopped. If I ran out of questions, Alexander would ask me. We asked so many questions that I lost count. The best part was that none of us asked each other questions about their family, clearly understanding that it was a sore topic for both of us and despite the previous question about his family, Alexander was still in a good mood for the rest of the drive.

But apparently, the tiredness was messing with my brain as I have been asking random and weird questions to him.

If you have described something as indescribable, haven't you already described it?

Why is it called "beauty sleep" even though you wake up looking like a hot mess?

Do you think if anything is possible, it's still possible for anything to be impossible?

If you punch yourself in the face and it hurts, are you weak or strong?

If you had the chance to invent a country, what would you name it?

Are you gay?

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

If you could be King for one day, what would you do?

Despite the weird and illogical questions, he actually answered all of them, joking around and laughing at times as the absurdity of my questions kept increasing.

I just hummed in response at his words and closed my eyes, feeling exhausted. Just as I felt like I was about to fall asleep, the car came to an abrupt stop. Was it not for Alexander's hand holding me back, I would have gone straight through the windshield.

"What happened?" I asked as I rubbed the sleep off my eyes, yawning at the same time.

"I have to check." He said as he removed his seatbelt and got out of the car. I stretched my arms above me before reaching for my bag from the backseat. I fished out Amelia's diary and the map from my bag.

We were still pretty far away and it would take an entire day to finally reach the place we were assigned.

I folded the map and got out of the car to join Alexander. "What's the problem?"

"I am not sure but I don't think it will start anytime soon." He said, closing the hood.

"What should we do now?" I unfolded the map and laid it on the hood. "If we go by car, it will take us another day to reach it." I motioned to the mark. "By foot it will be even longer and more painful."

He traced the different places on the map, deep in thought before he stopped on a small dot. "It looks like there is a town here. If we continue down this road, we should reach it." He motioned to the road. "We can find shelter and get someone to fix the car."

I nodded, folding the map again as we rounded the car. He opened the backseat and took his bag while I took mine from my seat. I went to stand in front of the hood again, waiting for him to roll up the windows and lock the car. "Your bag." He extended his hand as he came next to me.

"It's fine." I dismissed him but he kept his hand extended in front of me, an eyebrow raised. I sighed before giving him the bag.

A small sign board on the side of the road, indicated that we reached the town that was shown on the map. Soon small, run down buildings appeared on both sides on the road as street lights flickered. Garbage cans had been tipped over with pools of garbage on the road. Small groups of men- drunk men- loitered in the dark alleys. A putrefying smell emanated from the surrounding and I scrunched my nose while Alexander remained unaffected though he seemed alert, his eyes scanning our surrounding.

After a walk of ten minutes we stood in front of a two story building. 'Motel Shine', read the old, flickering neon sign in the dark that hung on the entrance only by a single cable, causing it to tilt on one side. The name completely contrasted the rusty and old appearance of the building. The light streaming from the windows on the different floor told me we were not the only ones here today.

Having no other choice, we entered the shabby building. When we opened the door, a bell hanging over it chimed, signalling our presence. A pungent smell- cigarettes, liquor mixed with something stale and rotten- filled my nostrils and I felt bile rise in my throat. With Alexander behind me, I walked towards the reception.

The man who I assumed was the owner shifted his attention to us. "Welcome to Motel Shine. How can I help you?" Despite the bright smile on his face, he sounded and looked creepy. The look in his eyes made me wary of him.

"Could we get two rooms for the night please?" I said politely, ignoring the weird feeling. Groups of people stood in the corners. While some looked normal and decent, others were wasted as they smoked and laughed loudly. The interior was decent except for the paint peeling off, spider webs, roaches and drunk people.

My gaze returned back to the man behind the counter. I frowned as I found his eyes fixed my body as he eyes me up and down. The menacing look- a predator eyeing his prey- did not do unnoticed by me. He lifted his gaze and met mine. I raised an eyebrow at him and was about to speak up when I felt a presence behind me and an arm wrapped around my waist.

Definitely the wrong day to wear a cropped top.

Alexander tightened his hold around my waist and pulled to his side. "Actually we would take only one room." He stared down at the man, his eyes conveying what he did not put in words. I saw the men visibly shudder under his heated glare. The man quickly took a key from a drawer and handed it to us. He showed us the way and we asked him to find someone to take care of our car.

Our room was on the second floor. So, we had to take the steps which would not stop creaking with every step. "Why did you take one room? I can take care of myself." I asked

"I don't doubt that." He replied. "But I do not want to take any chance."

He opened the room and motioned me to get inside first. The room was small with minimal furniture. A small bed was pushed against the wall in the far right corner and a nightstand on it side. A small wardrobe was place a few feet away from the nightstand. On the left side there was the bathroom and a small seating area. We took off our shoes near the door as we walked further in the room.

I was still taking in the room when I let out a squeal, taking a few steps back as I felt something run over my feet. Alexander placed his hand on my shoulder, preventing me from falling as he stood behind me. "Eww." I said as I look at the small rat running around the room as if it was in a playground. My hands were placed over my heart, trying to calm it down. "It's not funny." I said once I saw Alexander smirking down at me when I turned around.

He shook his head slightly, walking past me into the bathroom to get changed. While he was in the bathroom, I took the time and went through a few more pages of Amelia's diary. I found out a little more about her, especially about her love for gardening- Strongylodon Macrobotrys also known as Jade Vine was her favourite. I caught glimpse of her gardening in the old photos stuck on the pages.

As Alexander left the bathroom, I closed the diary and placed it on the nightstand as I took my bag with me in the bathroom. I took a quick shower and changed into some sweatpants and an oversized shirt I was considerate enough to bring.

As I exited the bathroom, I found Alexander sitting on the edge of the bed, going through Amelia's diary. "Where did you get this?" He asked as he sense my presence.

"I accidentally came across this room in the palace where I found out about the war and about Amelia." I said nonchalantly. He hummed in response as he kept the diary back in its original position. I kept my bag on the armchair along with his nags when I heard him speak.

"I'll sleep on the floor and you can take the bed." I was about to say something when he beat me to it. "Except if you want to sleep on the floor with the rats." He added in a teasing voice.

I scoffed. "Whatever." He took a pillow from the bed and placed it on the floor. I honestly felt bad for him but I was not interested in having rats run over me or feast on me while I was asleep. A shudder went through my body at the idea. I turned off the lights and took my place on the bed.

I closed my eyes, letting sleep engulf me.