Motel From Hell

Teen Suicide

Blake's POV

"So, Blake is our new friend, ok?" I hear Chester explain me to Benny slowly.

"... Ok..." Benny mumbles incoherently. I sit frozen in my spot out in the hall where Chester dumped me when he saved me from Benny's ghost rage. My heart is still pounding, and I barely hear Chester's voice over the sound of the blood pounding in my ears.

"Blake's our new friend, she's here to help." Chester repeats for the billionth time, yet his voice still patient, tolerable, and understanding as the first time he uttered those words. "Blake is our friend, she's here to help. Blake won't hurt you or anyone. Blake is here to help." Chester states.

"Blake is our friend..." Benny says.

"Yeah, she's our friend, she's going to help by cleaning your room everyday. She's going to keep it nice and clean for you."

"Blake is our friend. Blake is my friend." Benny says.

"Yeah, she's nice." Chester says. "Now we're going to leave you alone in your room now, ok?" Chester asks.

"Ok, thanks." Benny says, and a moment later Chester walks out of room 201 dragging my cart behind him, looking emotionally exhausted. Our eyes lock, and immediately I see him try to hide that misery and pain but I saw it already.

"Are you ok?" He asks, leaning down to pull me up to my feet.

"Yeah, just a little unnerved." I say, trying to keep my face straight. I can't be horrified, because Chester will feel terrible, and his guilt and shame will weigh down on him so much he'll collapse.

"No, you're still shaking." Chester points out in a defeated tone. My eyes shut, and I suddenly feel every limb of my body shuddering like a leaf in the wind.

"I'll be fine, I was just scared." I insist, opening my eyes to look up at him.

"No you-" Chester starts but I cut him off.

"Are you ok?" I ask. My words immediately make his brave face rise but I wrap my arms around him, feeling myself stop shaking.

"Don't do that, just tell me how you're doing." I say, burying my face into his shirt. His arms engulf me, pulling me flush against him, and the warmth of it puts all fear racing in me at rest.

"I'm wasn't but knowing you're ok makes me better."

Later

"Chamomile tea relaxes." Chester says, pulling out a box of Chamomile tea from his kitchen cabinet. We should be opening the motel, Chester should be in the lobby and I should be cleaning rooms but we're not. Instead we're in his kitchen, and the motel isn't open for business right now.

"Yeah, but hot chocolate is everything right in the world in a warm mug." I joke but it comes out dry because I'm still reeling with just happened in room 201.

"Hot chocolate it is." Chester says, putting the tea box back. Just as Chester closes the cabinet the fridge behind him swings open, and a carton of milk floats out. Chester sighs tiredly, and watches as the milk pours itself into two mugs. I watch in amazement as coco mix leaves it's cub board like a person leaving their house, and floats over the mugs.

"That is incredible." I gawk as the mugs pop themselves into the microwave.

"Thanks." Chester says. "At least something I do isn't demonic." He sighs.

"You're not demonic, you'd have to be evil if you were demonic and you're not." I state, making him look at me. "And you're honestly the nicest person I've ever meet." I add.

"Real-"

"Yes, really. And I'm not just saying it. Look what you did for me, you gave me a roof over my head, me, just some dirty teenage runaway." I say.

"You're not just some dirty teenage runaway." Chester starts. "You showered, now you're a just teenage runaway." He jokes. I would have been put off by it but the genuine grin on his face, despite being mischievous, is to radiant to be mad at. Two steaming mugs float over, melted chocolate wafting heavenly into the air.

"So... How exactly did Benny become a permit resident?" I ask quietly. Chester is quite for a moment, absent mindlessly twirling his hot chocolate in his mug.

"He rented room 201 when I first bought the foreclosed." Chester finally speaks up. "He was my fourth customer." He states.

"This... This kid covered in bruises walked into my lobby. He had a busted lip, and a black eye, and I knew he wasn't ok... But I didn't think it was ok for me to ask." Chester explains.

"He rented his room for days, and never came out. I never saw him leave his room, I never saw again besides when he checked into my lobby." Chester states.

"And then after a week of music blasting from his room I finally got a noise complaint. When I opened the door I found him hanging from the ceiling fan." Chester chokes out.

I haven't seen one ceiling fan in any of the rooms here... He must have ripped out of every room after that incident.

"Benny actually wasn't the first suicide, but he was my first young kid suicide." He states. "But what disturbed me the most is when I turned around and saw him, completely bruise free staring up at his swaying corpse." Chester says.

"At first he was mute, maybe still in shock, but after a few weeks he wouldn't go away, he wouldn't disappear... He grew violent.... Full of angst and rage. And he just stayed in room 201 for the last five years."