Vampires, Eh?

Chapter 12

 Anna shifted her weight in the seat for what felt like the thousandth time. They had been on the road for almost fourteen hours. Huxley spent most of that time either singing along to the radio or commenting on what he saw out of the window. She rested her elbow on the car door and held her head in her hand. Her eyes were heavy. She had fallen into pockets of sleep, but listening to Rhys and Huxley bicker kept her awake.

"Did you see that tree?" Huxley asked. "Its branches were much more whispy than the other trees we've seen. It's almost whimsical. It's like mother nature is trying to send us a message. It's like she's trying to say-"

"For fucks sake!" Rhys cut him off. "Hux, it's dark outside. We're in Northern British Columbia. All there are is mountains and trees."

"Forgive me for trying to share something beautiful."

Anna bit down on her lip to stop herself from giggling. Rhys was gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were turning white. Every time Huxley spoke more than two words, Rhys would snap at him. Anna turned in her seat so that she could see Huxley. He was sprawled across the backseat.

"I saw it," Anna said. "It was pretty."

"Don't humour him," Rhys said.

"She's not humouring me," Huxley said. "Anna is a writer. She understands what I am talking about."

Rhys rolled his eyes and shook his head. There was a high-pitched ring, and Huxley pulled a cellphone out of his pocket, placing it up to his ear. Anna listened to one side of the conversation. It mostly consisted of Huxley nodding his head and saying "okay". He pulled the phone away from his ear, tapped the screen, and then held it in between the front seats.

"You're on speaker," Huxley said.

"Rhys, can we finally stop?" Calvin's voice said through the phone. "We're exhausted."

"It's not even midnight yet," Rhys said. "We can't stop yet."

"We're almost halfway there," Calvin said. "Drew looked online. There's a little motel in the next town."

Rhys let go of the steering wheel with one hand and ran his fingers through his dark hair.

"Fine," he said. "What's the town?"

"Hudson's Hope," Calvin said. "There's a motel on their main street called Tranquil Tavern."

"Alright."

Rhys reached back and hung up the phone. Huxley sunk back into his seat. Rhys took the next exit off of the highway and followed the road. Anna looked around the quaint town in the dark. It was full of tiny homes that were spaced out from each other. It seemed so quiet. She looked into the rearview window to see the other car driving close behind them.

The small lit-up sign indicated that they made it to the motel. Anna chuckled when she noticed that they advertised that they had coloured television. When was the last time they updated the sign?

Rhys pulled into the parking lot and Calvin pulled in beside them. Anna was quick to get out of the car and stretch out her sore muscles. She rubbed her back and looked around to see a small gas station and a fast-food restaurant across the street.

Huxley got out of the car. He stretched his lanky arms up over his head. He yawned as he looked around.

"I'll get us a few rooms," Rhys said. "Drew, come with me."

"Two guys getting a room together," Drew said. "That doesn't look weird at all."

"We're getting three rooms," Rhys said. "We're not going to look like lovers."