Novel Jumper

Chapter Seven

 The room before them was disgusting. Lilia suppressed shudders as she took it all in.

There were two twin beds. Each of them had sheets that Lilia knew from the look of them would feel stiff and scratchy. One of the headboards had a suspicious red stain and the other bed's blankets had all sorts of foul marks. The walls were bumpy and rough, and several oddly placed hangings made Lilia suspect either water damage, holes, or other blemishes were hidden behind them. The floor was sticky and rough, even though the wood looked like it had once been smooth. Lilia's shoes stuck to it slightly as she walked a few steps into the room to allow Connor to enter. The ceiling was heavily water damaged and the one window in the room, opposite the door and showing the wall of the building next door, was covered with grime and cobwebs.

This is a half star room at best, Lilia thought, and a disease-infested rat hole at worst.

Connor did not seem at all put out by any of the room's issues as he dropped his bag onto the bed farthest from the window, the one with all of the strange stains on the sheets. Lilia uneasily followed his lead.

"Gross," she muttered as she saw a bit of dried food stuck to one of the pillowcases.

"This is fine," Connor said dismissively. "I've stayed in worse."

Lilia's eyes widened as she turned to stare at him disbelievingly.

"No, it's the truth. One room I was in was infested with bugs. So badly the other rebels and I couldn't sleep in it. We stayed up the entire night in the bar, drinking to forget our exhaustion."

Lilia shivered at the thought. "Ew, ew, ew."

Connor shot her a look as he rifled through his duffel bag. "You're really going to have to toughen up if you want to survive this trip."

"Are you suggesting that we might have to stay in a bug-infested room?" Lilia demanded in horror.

"We'll try to avoid those," Connor assured her, smiling gently. "I know that a bad way to condition someone is to just throw them into uncomfortable situations."

Lilia imagined that type of therapy - overcoming her fear of insects by being trapped in a room swarming with them. The thought was chilling. She shuddered yet again.

"What do you say about going down to the bar, grabbing a drink?" Connor asked.

It sounds awful. Did you see the people down there? Deciding to try and remain non judgemental - after all, the patrons downstairs were going through a war - Lilia simply said, "I don't drink."

"You drank pretty heavily back at my house," Connor pointed out.

"I don't drink alcohol."

"That was alcohol, a special kind of it. How do you think it worked so well?"

This paused Lilia. "Well," she said finally, "that was different."

Connor shrugged after a moment, giving up. "Suit yourself." He started toward the still-open door.

"Wait," Lilia blurted. She didn't want to be left alone in this disgusting inn room, especially not with all of the shifty patrons downstairs and possibly sharing walls with them. "I'll come with you. I just won't drink."

"You'll be out of place without a beer," Connor warned her.

Lilia took a deep breath. "You know what, if you want to waste your money getting me alcohol I won't drink, so be it. I'm coming with you either way."

Connor raised his eyebrows and gestured toward the door. "You're more spirited than I thought. You're welcome to join me, of course."

"Thank you." Lilia led the way out of the door but then waited for Connor to start descending the stairs out of pure nervousness.