The Flames that Engulfed Us

Chapter 3: Welcome to Hell

We were standing in front of a rundown motel. Lincoln locked his jaw, looking furiously around him. His eyes seemed to survey everything, always carefully glazing over me. His hand was still clamped in mine. He didn't seem like he was going to let go.

I pulled him towards the motel. He resisted my pull, but I was still able to force him in my direction. He was grudgingly coming on his own. I pushed the door open, trusting Lincoln would follow me. He did. Our fingers were still interlocked, which was sweet, but my hands were starting to get sweaty. He let go. I tried to discreetly wipe my hands off on my pants, which were unfortunately still dirty from the fire, staining my hands an ashen gray.

"What can I do for you two today?"

The receptionist greeted us with a bored expression, not seeming as though she cared what we wanted. Rude.

If we'd showed up here, there was probably a reason.

"Is there a room reserved for Skylar and Lincoln?" I asked, thinking I sounded amiable enough. Apparently, I didn't because the woman just handed me a card with a number on it. I stared at it for a moment.  It was a room key. That made sense.

I turned to go up a set of stairs. I heard Lincoln's heavy footsteps following, always a couple of steps behind. I glanced at the room key. 214. What I thought. I found the room, a plain white door with the paint already beginning to peel. Welcome to Hell.

The door didn't open on the first try. It didn't open at all when I gently put the key into the slot. Lincoln had caught up to me, and he silently took it from me, making the door slide open with apparent ease.

"Thanks."

No response. Was he really mad at me for choosing to spend eternity with him? I guessed so. Maybe I'd have to revisit my sorry not sorry feelings on that. But first I had my priorities. The room needed to have a working shower. I hated feeling that grimy.

A singular bed occupied the room I stepped into. One window, barely succeeding in its purpose as it was hindered by layers of funge and grime, took up one of the walls. A door leading to what I presumed was a bathroom was on the other wall. Everything looked so dirty.

The door banged shut, and Lincoln was sitting on the bed. Suddenly, he didn't look angry, just tired. The shower would still be there later. Right now I needed to be next to him. I needed to lean my head on his shoulder and just be near him. Maybe I would say something in the way of an apology. And that's what I did. He didn't really seem to notice I was there. Not until he spoke, his voice cracked as it filled the room.

"Why would you do that?"

I leaned further into him. I whispered. "Do I really need to say it?"

He didn't really do anything. He didn't say anything which was so much worse. My voice, barely ascertaining my consent, squeaked out to fill the looming silence.

"I love you. Do I need more reason than that? You're the person I want to be with. I don't care what the place is called. As long as you are in it, it's my heaven."

I could feel his breathing. He was thinking. Maybe he was thinking about how stupid we both were. Maybe he was just deciding whether or not to voice his disagreement.

"Do you want to get a shower first?"

Yes, Lincoln I really did want that, but we were not talking about that. But a shower did sound really nice. Darn, he knew me too well.

"Are you mad at me?"

He looked up. I'd taken us both by surprise.

"No. Sky I could never be mad at you. I'm mad at this situation. I'm mad at how glad I am that you're here with me. I'm mad in general, but I'm not mad at you."

I smiled. He was definitely telling the truth.

"In that case, I would like to get a shower first."

I spun on my heel and marched into the bathroom. I turned the water on before I got fully committed. You could never be too safe in a place like this. The sound of running water was amazing. The way it tinkled onto the bottom of the tub. I didn't even look at it for a few seconds, just listened. A quick look revealed leaves swirled around in a circle or brownish water. I took a deep breath. It wasn't like I'd been using this as a motivation to climb the steps to get to this room. It wasn't like I'd just wasted physical activity for this disappointment.

I turned the water off and walked back out to the bed. In a worst case scenario, you can always flop dramatically onto a bed. The springs all groaned in protest. This was definitely hell.

"Please tell me there's a working shower."

I've got some bad news for you there.

"The water is brown with leaves," I explained curtly, "but other than that it works."

He sighed. Eternity was looking very long just then.

The ceiling wasn't that interesting, but I still found myself staring at it. Somehow, I thought about it, and I didn't regret my choice. I could deal with this crappy little room if Lincoln was there with me. If my job here was just to be with him, it was going to be the easiest job I'd ever had.