Demon's Protégé

Investigation

The clock on the dashboard showed me that it was already past five. I reduced the speed just as I have finally seen the curve heading directly to the empty driveway of the motel. It looked kind of different now that I was seeing the whole place under the day light. Compared to how I had found it last night, the motel looked just normal in the afternoon. It was not as spooky as I had first seen it.

Anyway.

I parked on the driveway with ease. After turning the engine off, I got out of the car immediately and went to the back trunk to get the luggage I had brought with me from the city. I had packed enough clothes to last me for a week, at least. Now, I just have to resettle things with the pending business reports that I still needed to review for the next days to come.

I was about to walked my way towards the entrance of the motel when a middle-aged man in a loose purple shirt and a ball cap in his hand suddenly appeared at a sidewalk nearby. We somehow ended up staring at each other as we caught each other’s sight. He quickly gave me a mean sneer from the distance. And even when I tried to give him a smile, he only glared harder and flipped a finger towards me. I blanched, feeling slightly threatened, as the man just strutted away without even bothering to explain what his sudden offensive gesture was all about. I did not even know what I did wrong for him to treat me the way he just did and it was obviously directed to me since there was no one else standing on the empty scene around us but just him and I. I felt quite bothered about it, deeply frowning, until I had finally reached the glass doors of the motel.

Henry was reading a thick paperback when I entered the place. He only gave me a quick glance underneath those glasses before returning back to what he was doing again without even a greeting or any word. I then approached the counter and casually put down a sandwich packed in a small bag in front of him and sighed. It somehow caught his attention and he finally set the book aside.

He took note of the food and glanced up to me with a raised brow.

“That is for you,” I said, answering his silent question. He still didn’t show any signs of human reaction. He just continued to blankly regard me with an unfazed look.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” he immediately asked.

“That’s for being the first and only person who was considerably nice to me so far,” I said to him, explaining the sandwich but still refusing to answer his question, “I’m starting to like your stoic attitude now, better than the offensive glare I’ve just received outside.”

“Hmn.”

It was all he uttered back. Not much of a word, it was, but I still took the noncommittal response as a sign of his friendly sympathy. I bowed my head down on the cold wooden top of the counter between us and sighed again.

“I didn’t know that I was actually signing myself up for an extreme animosity. And all because I just decided to stay for a while in this town.”

“Hmn.” Henry just hummed again, and I already assumed that the mere sound he kept making was his own way of saying, ‘I told you so’. I winced back, feeling even more discouraged.

 “So do you know where Nari lives?” I asked instead. I pulled my head up again and expectantly stared at him.

Henry just gazed back at me with a poker face, his eyes not merely moving an inch. I soon found myself getting distracted by the whole bravado. It was kind of amazing how his unwavering voided expression remained intact since the very first minute I had met him last night. It was impressive, I have to admit. I bet he could even play any gambling game without totally giving away anything and just easily win straight sets while still keeping up with that calm façade.

It was kind of funny yet still amazing at the same time. But I don’t even know why I was suddenly thinking to myself about the entire thing at all. Maybe the ridiculousness of the things that has been happening to me recently was really affecting me way harder than I had expected.

 “What’s funny?”

 I had not even realize that I was already chortling to myself until Henry gave me a displeased frown.

“Nothing,” I sighed, briefly cutting off my weak chuckles. I looked up and met his expressionless eyes, “I think the whole weirdness of this town was finally getting into me.”

“One thing you should really be worried of,” he languidly remarked with a roll of his eye. “I don’t really get what’s the intense need of meeting Miss Hiden will give you. But then I have been in this town my whole life, so I don’t find that remotely weird anymore,” he added with a shrug, looking completely bored and indifferent.

“I totally understand the whole demented gist of your obsession in a way,” he went on, “I guess, people are just inevitably driven by their irrational judgments sometimes. It’s kind of insane, if you actually think about it. Yet, to live and think is such an absurd analogy.”

I laughed upon hearing that immensely cynical opinion, which had just suddenly popped right in the middle of our conversation out of nowhere. But still, I have to give him a credit for that. It was weirdly agreeable because what he said was kind of accurate too. I admit, common sense is quite overrated, if you ask me. But what was really amusing about this whole ordeal, was to hear it all from this kid’s mouth. I would have never expected him to come up with such a wild understanding about the world when in fact he just looked like he had finished his high school not too long ago.

I let my laughter die down as I smirked back to his face.

“You think you’re so smart, huh?” I snidely retorted, teasing.

“Well, I’m just being honest, that’s all.”

“Fair enough,” I shrugged back and sighed again.

“So where does Nari live?”

Upon the raise of my repeated question, a spark of mischievousness passed over Henry’s eyes and he placidly crossed his arms over his chest with a ghost of a smile drawn on his lips. I raised a brow, taking note of his sudden gesture, and leaned back.

“What will you do if I tell you now?” he voiced out in a challenge.

“I’ll go after her.”

“Then it might not be a good idea at all,” he answered too quickly, shaking his head. My mouth hung open as I gaped back at him.

“Why not?”

“You can still go to the pub tonight to meet her,” he advised to me instead, not even making any sense now. “She’s a regular performer there, but only from Friday to Sunday nights. The rest of the week, she’s off. That’s all I can say, anyway.”

I felt a sudden rouse of annoyance and impatience as I was left dumbfounded after his blunt refusal to relieve me of my dilemma and I tried to push down the rush of urging violence that somehow sprung out of me.

“You can’t just leave me hanging like that, kid. You didn’t even answer the real question.” I demanded, fuming with anger across the counter. But the young guy just gave me a clever smirk and I felt even more triggered.

“Huh,” I huffed in obvious annoyance, “You’re enjoying this?”

“More than the boring plot of this book? Yeah,” Henry remarked with an innocent face, referring to the paperback he was just reading a while ago. “I just see your flawed character way more interesting than this classic novel. It actually makes me wonder a little and feel thrilled with what’s about to come for you, Mr. Takagi.”

My nose flared as I tried to control myself from grabbing the collar of this kid and shake the hell out of him.

“You think this is funny?” I grumbled back, stepping away from the counter. And the kid just laughed.

“Just be sure to make your next meeting as interesting as the first one.” He taunted back and I scowled even harder, shooting daggers his way.

“Alright,” I forced a smile back, replying in a displeased tone, yet my jaw hardened. A nerve ticked at the side of my head.

Henry laughed again and ignored my glare. I moved away and grudgingly picked up the sandwich that had been resting on the counter between us and brought it with me as I turned around. He stopped laughing and watched me with a startled look as I marched towards the stairs, leaving without a word.

“Hey,” he called out after a second, “You said that was for me.”

I stopped mid-step and turned to glare at him.

“Not anymore,” I replied and glowered, “I take back what I’d said. You’re not really nice at all, kid.”

Turning to finally walk my way up the stairs, I made one last attempt to salvage my ego and muttered an insult before finally leaving him behind without looking back.

“Selfish brat.”