WICK

☆10☆

The sun had set on the Jersey skyline, and for a while the horizons were decorated with wisps of pinks and blues- yet, much like anything good; it didn't last long.

The sky was a beautiful portrait for all of an hour before the clouds descended, showering the town in a fresh layer of moisture; the sounds of the city and smell of garbage ridden waters mixed in with the forecast, sending waves of stench traveling down the streets like the world's smelliest tourists.

On the corner of twelfth and Grand street sat the ratty, old motel- which looked as beaten down as its keeper; smelling heavily of booze, cigarettes and regret. Right across from it sat a well-known, and often packed strip club -which is why business never stopped; despite the fact that renovations had sometime in the early nineties.

The mint green carpet had long since muted to a dull gray, and even on the brightest of days the inside remained

ill-lit; the soft bulbs casted a yellow hue over the area- leaving the already dusty interior looking sickeningly neglected.

Behind the desk was a large fish tank which was long past overdue for cleaning; in fact the keeper could hardly remember the last time he'd even fed the fish, let alone cleaned its tank.

On the desk was a mess of old paperwork that hadn't yet been tossed out with the rest of the garbage, the keeper's eyes scanned the items for a brief moment before allowing his attention to focus back on the mobile game he had been playing.

The entrance to the building opened suddenly, allowing two finely dressed gentlemen to stumble their way in- in their wake were a few scantily dressed women; all hanging over them as if they were gods among us mortals. Quickly the innkeeper moved his phone below to the keyboard tray.

A group, smelling harshly of smoke and sweat, drunkenly made their way across the dingy reception area to where the innkeeper stood- skeptically eyeing a few of the more inebriated women of the group.

However, the familiar platinum card that slid across the desk was enough to pry his gaze away and back to the patrons with the means of payment.

These were the best this town could offer; drunk and disheveled but still rich enough to buy anyone's indifference, and such was easiest to buy within the motel; especially when the guests came in decked out in designer suits and desperately attempting to conceal their personal affairs.

The innkeeper couldn't recall the last time he'd actually cared about who came and went from the place; in fact- so long as the rooms were paid for and vacated by the next morning, he saw no need to pry into the lives of his patrons.

The best customers usually came in this late in the night, between midnight and three in the morning; these types would usually bring in the stench of body odor and booze, they'd stay in the room until mid afternoon when their respective families would begin to worry before disappearing back into their mundane existence- until they decided that they had gone long enough without their fun nights.

In the years he had worked at the motel he'd seen countless men flocked by women who couldn't have even known where they were, with how much they'd drank, he'd been through countless patrons-each with their own individual vices.

For a moment he shuffled the contents of the desk around- searching for the key cards that usually sat precariously stacked in their little holders; however the longer he looked, the more irritated his male guests were becoming until one was just about bouncing in tandem with his tapping foot.

With a sigh of resignation, the group was instructed to wait at the desk as the keeper ran towards the back to find another stack of the plastic keys.

Without an audience, the small group began to circle the small lounge area, making sure not to touch anything in the grimy room- they each began poking fun at the outdated and soot-smelling interior, the dingy walls and peeling wallpaper; from the back the innkeeper could hear the incessant giggling and loud words that came from the party, as they took turns joking about the interior of the lobby.

He could also hear the loud clunking sound of their heels as they stumbled across the wood paneled floors, suddenly he heard the sound of something crash, followed by a long stream of loud profanities that were accompanied by a chorus of laughter.

With a muffled curse, the keeper finally spotted the cards underneath a stack of unfiled paperwork that was bound to be due soon or later- as he was walking back towards the front desk, he heard the door to the lobby opening once more before the room fell silent.

The sudden hush made the keeper hesitate for a moment, who could have come in that could shut that group up? He wondered to himself, for a beat his mind conjured up a multitude of situations that could have cause the abrupt silence; maybe there was another raid happening across the street, it wasn't impossible considering the less than legal activities that tended to happen in the establishment- or maybe they had decided that the motel was no longer to their liking and they had decided to go elsewhere.

However the closer he got to the lobby, the more he could hear the various soft voices of the party, alerting him that his previous thought was simply wishful thinking; yet the fact that they were indeed here piqued his interest. If they hadn't left, then why'd they go quiet?

As he rounded the corner he noted the barren wall that had once donned a photo of the motel in its prime; the black and white photo had been on that wall for generations, however now it lay on the floor surrounded by shards of its broken glass frame. He could already feel a migraine growing at the center of his head, he hoped that the transaction would go smoothly so he could find something to relieve the pain before it spread.

Instinctively the innkeeper's eyes began to wander around the room, the initial group of people had separated into a couple smaller clusters with a few members standing together in their own little huddle.

Their loud whispers could be easily heard as they continued discussing their plans for tonight; he also noticed that a few of the more sober women had branched off and now stood quietly conversing to themselves in the corner of the room, their inexplicable silence had suddenly made sense to him as he turned to see the new arrival.

She stood patiently at the desk, her eyes turned down and away from the group that had previously been loudly chattering around the establishment, instead her eyes drifted towards the wrecked frame that continued to pitifully lay face down on the ground.

Before he even had the chance to greet the newcomer or make an attempt at cleaning the hazardous mess, the men from before stepped forward once more; one of them had his gaze locked on the girl, who remained looking away- she almost looked annoyed at where she was, for which he could not blame her.

Some days he wanted to lock the doors and shut the Pluta inn down for good- however, that was not plausible so instead he listened to the gentleman who had begun asking questions about his room- answering every one that came from the paying gentleman whilst also ignoring the various complaints about the fee that was charged to his card, the innkeeper waited semi-patiently as the system processed the request.

Just as the man asked his final question, the loading screen popped up, letting him know that the computer was running slow once again- with little else to do but wait he began paying more attention to the crowd of people in the place; the new person particularly.

It wasn't unusual for a guy or two to bring in a few girls here or there- hell, that's what kept the business afloat, but something about the girl in front of him was different; she didn't seem like she came in from across the street.

She looked young, her face had a softness that didn't quite reach her eyes- which would occasionally flitter around the room.

Her small nose seemed to wrinkle at the sight of the two gentlemen; one of which still had his eyes on her.

She stood up straighter as the group began making their way out of the area- her striking gray eyes met the innkeeper's as she began speaking to him.

"I need a room for tonight, two beds plea-" her words were cut off by an arm wrapping around her waist; the soft expression- that had greeted the keeper- turned hostile in that instant.

The innkeeper couldn't help but watch the girl's face as several emotions crossed her expression; everything from astonishment to complete rage flashed across her face though, the girl kept her head facing the innkeeper.

For a moment he actually found himself concerned; not for the girl but rather for the man- the look that had flashed in her eyes was one of pure malice, he believed that she was capable of getting a few good hits in before he was able to stop her.

With a drawn out sigh the man found himself thinking of a God and whether he would truly send him so much crap in one night or if this was just a sick karmic justice for wrongdoings he had done in his past life, either way the innkeeper couldn't help but beg whoever was listening to not let the two confront each other.

°•°•°•°

"Instead of getting a room for yourself, why don't you just join my party?" The husky voice of the gentleman started as if he were trying to gently coax a 'yes' from the girl.

He waited for a bit, hoping his words would sink in and he'd have yet another guest for his night of fun; however this girl remained silent. She was frozen, so much so that even the slight movements of her breathing had halted.

His smooth voice may have had an effect on the women of his party, but this girl just seemed to get stiffer as time passed; it was as if she had looked into the eyes of a gorgon and was slowly turning to stone the longer his hands remained on her body.

However, she soon released a breath that she'd seemed to be holding in and her body began to tremble; the palm of his hands suddenly felt hot.

It was a slight heat that quickly turned into a horrible burning sensation; with a yelp he pulled his hand away, flailing his arms around in an attempt to alleviate the intense sensation.

In his panic he felt his hand connect with the girl's body, which seemingly caused his hands to burn hotter.

He let out a high pitched shriek, causing the members of his party to pause their respective conversations in favor of watching the spectacle that was their party member.

His movements resembled a bird during its mating season; yet that didn't faze him for the unwavering heat had begun traveling up his arms, making its way to the tops of his shoulders and slowly moving down his body.

Finally the girl's head swiveled around to meet the man, her icy glare shot daggers at the man as he continued his wild dance.

"Don't. Touch. Me." She snarled through gritted teeth.

As she spoke the heat amplified until it was nearly unbearable, the man's legs finally gave way as he began rolling around the lobby floor, attempting to put out the invisible flames that had engulfed his entire upper body; though he soon realized it was to no avail, the burning was slowly making its way down his waist and he was sure that the pain would only get worse once the heat reached his private area.

In one last desperate attempt the man launched himself around the desk, heading straight towards the fish tank.

In one swift move he reached his arms into the green tinted tank and began splashing himself with the awful smelling contents.

The group he came in with could only stare in bewilderment as their party member drenched himself thoroughly; making sure to splash his bottom half, just in case the heat decided to continue its venture downward.

Eventually the heat began gradually seeping out of his body, leaving a slight tingle in its wake. A satisfied sigh escaped him as he once more joined the other man by the desk, who had been staring at the scene before him with a look of pure disgust and confusion.

Meeting his eyes, the burning man quickly turned; his eyes scanned the lobby, filled with his party members who each wore a look of shock and repulsion.

When he looked back to the innkeeper he caught the ends of a sly smirk, causing his ears to redden in both anger and embarrassment.

"Anyway, can I get a room with two beds please?" She asked turning back to face the innkeeper once more, as if the disturbance had already gone away rather than him still standing in front of the both of them.

This made the man's embarrassment shift to anger as he angrily paced back around the desk, bypassing his entire group and making his way to the elevator, disregarding the fact that he still had not received his key cards.

For a minute he waited for the busted car to arrive so that he could get away from the scene he'd created- however the doors never opened; in fact the bell had chimed quite a while ago, yet the doors remained shut.

With an indignant huff he made a B-line for a door labeled staircases and stormed through, leaving his party members in bewilderment.

°•°•°•°

Her eyes watched as he ran out of the lobby, slamming his body full force against the door causing it to emit a nasty bang.

The party that was left could only watch as their acquaintance hightailed it to whichever floor he found acceptable, the gentleman that remained wore a look of utter humiliation mixed with a tinge of fear as he continued to stare at the place his friend had been previously.

Even from the corner of her eye, the girl could see the red that was creeping up his neck; the girls of his party could be heard whispering loudly on the other side of the room and it didn't take much to guess what- or rather who- the topic of their conversation was.

Finally, as if having sensed that the drama had died down, the computer's loading screen cut off- allowing the innkeeper to finish the current transaction whilst also attempting to suppress the laugh that had been bubbling up since the fool decided to roll around the floor.

Pulling his gaze back from the spot, he swiped the key cards once more before placing them in the sleeve. "Sir," he said politely, sliding the two cards over the counter.

As soon as the card was in the man's grasp he turned on his heels and booked it for the elevator, which seemed to miraculously work again, with his group stumbling after him in tandem.

The lobby was eerily quiet without the constant chatter, usually the sounds of the pipes and the noise of traffic would create a nonstop cacophony throughout the establishment; nonetheless tonight it seemed that the rowdy city had been calmed.

The girl remained in her spot, no longer wearing her mask of scorn but rather a look of boredom and something else, possibly annoyance?

Whatever it was, it wasn't his concern; his only job was to check in the guests, not babysit them or try and uncover their dark truths. Hell, he had seen enough in this place to seal away whatever curiosities or worries that had once plagued him.

"Would it be alright if I cleaned that up real quick?" He asked her, nodding his head in the direction of the smashed frame, hoping that he wouldn't have to wait on the computer to load before taking on the tedious task. She still looked just as annoyed as when she was grabbed, the heat of her glare was barely contained as she met his eyes.

To his surprise she gave a gentle nod in response before quietly taking her phone out of her pocket, for a moment he could only watch as she typed something into the device; the small screen's illumination almost seemed to cause her strange eyes to glow.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he quickly excused himself to the back office in search of a broom and dustpan; which he quickly found thrown lazily at the back of the storage room that was tucked against the far wall, as he stumbled his way through the cluttered closet he let out a string of mumbled profanities. The harsh smell of chemicals didn't help his irritation with the situation, in fact it seemed to have added to his ever-growing migraine.

After a bit of a hassle his hands wrapped around the handle of the broom along with the dustpan, before he began making his way back to the front.

In a few strides he was standing above the mess, the frame itself seemed to still be intact though the glass was a goner; the thought of replacing it almost had him ready to walk out, however bills needed to be paid so he instead took his anger out on the mess.

The frantic movement of the broom sent shards of glass scraping across the floor, way farther than he had intended but in his eyes- it was better than him simply ignoring it so he continued his mad sweeping until a majority of the shards had piled up.

In one sloppy motion he bent down and gathered the debris into the metal pan then dumped the contents into the trash can that sat under the desk.

At last he once again stood in front of the girl; who upon hearing his approach dropped her phone into her back pocket before facing him fully.

"How can I help you?" He asked gingerly, she didn't seem to have had a problem with the wait but with the people that came in and out, it was a fifty-fifty chance that she'd take offense to it.

"One room, please?" She repeated once more with an air of boredom, though thankfully she didn't seem as annoyed as before; however the slight tremors that had continued to run through her body was evidence enough that she wasn't quite as unfazed as her blase tone seemed to imply though he truly didn't care so long as it remained directed towards anyone besides himself.

He gave her a muttered 'yeah' before beginning to process the key cards that she would need; to his astonishment the computer immediately finished the request and in no time he was handing over the sleeve that contained her key.

She gave him a nod in gratitude before turning on her heels and walking back out the entrance, leaving the innkeeper to once again laze around on his phone until the next patron passed through.