Fatal Flaws

chapter 19

After the longest and most awkward car ride ever, we reached our destination. Hayden was silent for most of the ride, keeping his eyes trained on the road ahead. Hope and Sky sat in the back, laughing and gossiping amongst themselves. Ben fell asleep not long after we left. Leaving me and Jessica to make random small talk. I mostly tried to avoid it by fake reading a book I had brought.

The motel we pulled into after driving for what seemed like forever was on the smaller side. It's an older reddish brick one-story building. A single row of about twenty dusty-looking windows line the front of it.

A shabby white archway leads from the parking lot up to the main doors. Above the archway is a shabby glowing yellow sign that should say "Paiges". Only the ai and es are lit up. Looking up at the sign, my body instantly breaks out in cold chills. The hairs on my neck stand on end. The universe is playing some sick kind of joke on me. I have to force my eyes away from it before the flashbacks have time to start.

The temperature outside has dropped significantly since earlier in the day. The few leaves from the single tree beside the parking lot scurry around in circles. Each time a gust of wind blows through they spin faster. While making a small sound as they clash against each other.

This place is even creepier with the howling autumn wind picking up. A few stray scattered leaves roll by as we climb out of the car. There are only a handful of other vehicles parked in the lot aside from ours.

Huddling close together, we approach the shabby archway. Our bodies almost touch as we try to preserve some sort of body heat. None of us had dressed properly for the change in weather.

Upon closer inspection, the red bricks have several chips and cracks all along the walls. An entire chunk of brick is missing entirely from the ceiling above us. We can see the bare concrete beams through the massive hole above us.

The old rickety glass doors moan and groan as we gently push them open. The wobbly brass handles might snap if we apply too much pressure on them.

The cold air from outside attempts to follow us in. Small gusts of chilly air seep in through the sizeable gaps around the doors.

The inside is not much better. It's the same red brick color from the outside. They had painted the bottom half of the walls, with beige trim all around the bottom. Faded, dark green wallpaper covers the top portion of the walls. The top of it is slowly peeling away from the ceiling, which also reveals a dirty tan color.

There's a musty smell hanging in the air. It almost reminds me of when the pipes had burst in our bathroom. The moisture in the walls had caused mold to take over. It had taken my dad weeks to get rid of it.

Two long hallways are on either side of the main lobby. Each one is lined with different room doors. They have all been painted a darker beige. With small emerald green numbers nailed to each of them. The dark beige walls match the dirty brown colored carpets. Which also have dark forest green swirls running through them.

"Welcome to Paiges. How many rooms and for how many nights" the older man behind the counter asks us as we cautiously approach.

From what I can see, he's a shorter, plump man with a balding head. He appears to be in his late fifties or early sixties. Thick circular black glasses adorn his face. Hiding his steely grey eyes. A small but thick white mustache covers his upper lip.

"Umm, three rooms, I guess, and each of them for two nights," Skylar pipes up from behind me, stepping towards the desk.

We all stand quietly, watching him tirelessly type several things out on his computer. Which, like its owner, is an ancient, old box-style monitor. I doubt they even make them anymore. I'm only half listening to him as he tells us the total. Without a second thought, Sky digs through her purse for several minutes. Finally, she retrieved a small black credit card. Which she hands over to him.