Note: Italics are thoughts

The moon shone brightly above creating pools of light that bathed the earth below. The stars glowed brightly in the night sky giving off dreams of hope and prosperity for those who believed that anything was possible and dreams could come true. Except for one. Walking down an empty highway was a seventeen year old girl named, Mallory. Mallory was a petite girl with tanish skin, black hair that drifted down to her shoulders and sharp, pale blue eyes. She wore a white button up shirt with a tyrian purple sweater vest, beige cargo shorts, brown hiking boots and she carried an old, scrappy blue backpack and a dark green duffel bag. Walking next to her was a cat and dog, Mayhem and Maniac. Her pets. They weren't really normal pets though, They were more like robots. Mallory had made them a few years ago, after she had lost her first cat and dog, and had programmed them with her memories of the original Mayhem and Maniac along with a few other things such as weapons, defensive protocols and a heating system so their joints wouldn't freeze over when they were in colder climates. Now Mallory wasn't your average girl as you could probably tell from the fact she had robotic pets but that's not what made her different from everyone else. She didn't believe in hope or dreams like some people, and agreed with those who had been struck by life in terrible ways and saw things how she did. Most of the time.

The road ahead of her was dark and sad looking in her opinion. A car or two would pass by every once in awhile, mostly ignoring them, but other than that it was just her, Maniac and Mayhem. She was fine with the fact that whoever passed by ignored them. She wasn't much for human contact unless she was in a town resting. It was the only time she ever put in the effort to communicate with another being that didn't rely on charging stations in order to live. Mallory's eyes wandered the road and landed on the forest surrounding them. The forest felt...off, to Mallory. She could tell it wasn't a normal place and her human instincts told her to stay away and never go in. But her non-human instincts told her that there was fun to have there. Of course that fun would have to wait until tomorrow because she needed to get to the next town soon. She was out of food and her pets needed to charge.

It took about two more hours of walking before the trio had made it to the next town, someplace in Ohio, she didn't bother to catch the name of. They started wandering around looking for a place to sleep when Mayhem had stopped, catching both Mallory's and Maniac's attention. "What is it kitty?" Mallory asked slightly annoyed by her delay of food and sleep. Mayhem lifted a paw and pointed at the Forest surrounding the town. Mallory looked in the direction her cat was pointing and saw them. A pair of dark, crazy eyes filled with blood lust that was watching them intently from a bush. Mallory just rolled her eyes and started walking again. "Who cares Mayhem let's just find a place to sleep." Mayhem completely ignored her and hunched down, stalking towards the eyes looking ready to pounce at any second. Mallory picked Mayhem up, the robotic cat squirming in her arms. "No put me down let me kill whatever it is!" Mayhem protested. Mallory only sighed and tucked him under her arm. "Seriously you're such a pain." Maniac watched the two of them, his tail wagging happily as he thought about a warm room and his charging outlet. Mayhem started biting Mallory's arm repeatedly. "Let go of me you impudent child! Just one bite out of the thing! I'm bored!"

"And I'm fucking tired after walking and camping for two weeks! I wanna find a motel or something and sleep in a bed, not to mention get some food! Not all of us run on electrical energy...AND STOP BITING ME!"

The eyes continued to watch, now sparking with interest.

Mallory had managed to find a motel but the place gave off a weird vibe. Like death happened here a lot. 'Then again it could just be the name.' Mallory thought glancing at the sign that read, BED AND DEAD MOTEL. Actually the DEAD was spray painted over the word breakfast. She scoffed and looked back at the place. 'This motel seems a little shady.' The outside of the motel was run down and scrappy looking. The roof was littered with trash, the parking lot had beer cans and cigarette studs everywhere and the brick walls were spray painted with all kinds of foul insults that would even get the president in trouble. Mallory snickered as she thought of the stupid, orange man that was their president, getting his mouth washed out with soap on national television. Maniac walked ahead of them and stood in front of a random room door. Mallory stared at him and knew exactly what he was about to say. "Maniac. The chances of us getting that room are slim. We literally just got here, there might not be any left." An old, raspy voice spoke up behind her with a deep chuckle. "Ah worry not child that room is empty." Mallory spun around and her fist was now inches away from an old mans face. The two stared at each other for a few moments when Mallory laughed nervously. "S-Sorry sir you just uh...you startled me." The old man let out another chuckle tipping an old baseball cap that sat atop his head rather loosely. "'It's alright good to know a pretty little lady like you knows some sort of defense. Your stance and posture were perfect and if you had hit me, I would have been knocked to the ground." Mallory rubbed her arm feeling a little embarrassed that she had almost hurt this defenseless yet seemingly kind old man. She noticed a small figure standing behind him and clutching his pant leg. It was a little boy, almost no older than nine. He had short blond hair and big sky blue eyes. He was a little pale and wore a green short-sleeved hoodie, brown shorts along with brown and white sneakers. When he locked eyes with Mallory, he immediately hid completely behind the old man who she noted was carrying a small plastic bag and had a walking cane. Mallory pointed at the little boy. " 'Scuse me for asking sir, but who's that?" The old man looked back at the boy. "Oh him? Why this is my adorable grandson Neil. He's eight about to turn nine in a couple of days. The name's Henry by the way. I'm the owner of this motel." Henry set down the plastic sack and held out a pale wrinkly hand. Mallory took it and gave a firm shake. "My name is Mallory. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Henry. Little Neil." Neil peeked his head out a bit and blushed when he heard her say his name. She gave him a kind smile and he hid back behind Henry once more. Henry picked up the plastic bag and started walking to a small house that was connected to the side of the motel. "Please come inside. We'll get you a room and maybe some food." Mallory's stomach growled at the word food making Henry chuckle once again. "Sounds like you're hungry." Mallory smiled a little and started to follow, Maniac and Mayhem at her heels. A sudden feeling washed over Mallory. It was the feeling of being watched. She looked around and once again she spotted those crazy eyes and a shadowy figure peeking out from behind a tree. Mallory stared at him then slowly raised her hand and flipped him the bird sticking out her tongue. Henry called for her from the door and the three of them scurried over to the house, unaware of the being that Mallory just thoroughly pissed off.