As I was driving home from Shady Heavens, I thought I saw Mary standing on the sidewalk. I did a double take and you guessed it, she was gone. I thought it was no big deal I was pretty damn tired and still getting adjusted to my new schedule. I got home, was going on about my morning routine, locking the doors and windows, sending my ships out on voyages, checking my newsfeed. As I was locking my front window i looked out there she was again. Her dark hair covered most of her face, long white dress gripping her womanly body.
"maybe she thinks we clicked or something." I thought to myself.
I stepped out and locked the front door and headed downstairs to see if she needed anything. When I got there, there was a big pile of nothing waiting for me. I don't know maybe she's just shy? But I live quite a bit a ways from Shady Heavens... Kind of creepy that she'd follow me home especially since I was in a car... and she was on foot.
"It probably wasn't even her, I just need some sleep" I said while making my way back upstairs to get a well deserved rest.
At 10pm on the dot I clock in, at 10:05pm I'm counting my drawer and printing my trace reports, at 10:10pm I'm checking in a walk-in guest, guest who have no reservation prior to arrival are wanting a ground floor room with 2 queen beds and are going to be paying with cash.
"Good Evening, welcome to the Shady Heavens Inn, My name's UnchosenSaviour how can I help you today?" I've got this spiel memorized to a T.
"G'everning my good man. Listen, My friend Benjamin Franklin and I were wondering if you had a room available for tonight." said the shorter man. He was about 6 foot tall, wore a thick brown leather jacket with a button up shirt. His friend was taller, I'd put him at 6'4 at least. He wore a flannel shirt and jeans, his hair was medium length and brown.
"Do you have a driver's license? Or an identification card?" I answered.
"I do, but it just so happens I left it in my other jacket" said the leather jacket man as he slid a 100$ bill over the counter.
"Mr. Franklin, and Mr. Franklin's friend, Welcome! I see here we have you staying for one night only." I said cheerfully..
The two guys looked at each other and wrinkled their brows while shaking their heads.
I hand them their keys code for room 301. Hand them the key packet and take my little tip.
"Here at Shady Heavens we try to be your home away from home. Please enjoy your stay." I said with a smile.
"Well home feels like shit, so I hope your hotel is a bit better than that." said the shorter guy.
Ben grabbed the key packet and then they both made their way back to their car. They opened the trunk to an all black dodge challenger. Black rims, Tinted windows I guess they really liked black. They pulled out two duffle bags then came back inside and headed towards the elevator. I made a note to myself that 301 was occupied then went back to browsing the web.
"Hey... Have you noticed anything weird lately? Odd people, cold spots? Anything shady?" asked Benjamin as he came back inside the hotel.
My thoughts went back to James the suit man and his fake smile, the silent phone calls, the chill spots from before and to Mary. What the hell could this guy be talking about? Why was he asking all of the sudden? How did he know about cold spots? Is it really butter? Was everyone on lost dead? Thousands of questions clouded my mind.
"uhh well, this IS Shady Heavens. We aren't really known for having the most normal of guests. But nothing extremely out of the ordinary" I answered.
"Alright, Thanks" Benjamin gave a chuckle then caught up to his brother and the two got on the elevator.
The night was young. I saw some pretty interesting post's on reddit that weren't work friendly so I pulled out my phone and checked them there. As I was browsing through the links, Ben and his brother walked by the front desk again, talking with each other. I didn't catch much of their conversation but apparently Benjamin's brother Thomas was headed to a bar while Benjamin was to use the business center to do some research. Ben tried to argue but Tom shut him down by playing the older brother card.
As the two argued my phone rang. I picked up the receiver and released my spiel.
"Hello UnchosenSavior, nice to hear you again. this is James Abaddon. Can you help me make a reservation?" said the toneless voice at the other end of the line.
"Of course! Mr. Abbadon, id love to he—"
I was cut off by Tom, who picked up my phone and ripped the cord out of its socket then threw it across the hall. He grabbed me by the collar of my suit jacket and pushed me against the wall. Without thinking I shoved my forearms between his and pushed out, releasing his grip. I grabbed his jacket with both hands, but he countered by pushing my elbows down then reaching for my suit collar again, before he did I pushed his hands to my right and pulled back my left arm for a punch, he swung his right arm forward going for a backhand smack.
"STOP!" yelled Ben
Ben and I both stopped inches away from each other's faces then looked at Tom.
"He started it" we said in unison then exchanged glares.
"Why the hell did you rip my phone off man? my manager's going to kill me!"
"Better your manager than Abaddon." Replied Tom sternly.
"Mr. James? I mean sure he's got a creepy as hell smile but there's no way he'd hurt anyone"
"You've seen him in person?" asked Ben
"Yeah he was here earlier in the week. Asked to check-in but he didn't have a reservation. Then he just disappeared." I said fixing my suit jacket.
Ben pulled tom away for a private conversation. I took the time to tuck in my shirt then stood there while they finished. By no means was I a karate machine, but I felt proud for holding my own for a few seconds. The brothers got on the elevator without a word. Minutes later they were back down carrying their duffle bags.
"Listen UnchosenSavior. We've had a change of plans. We're heading out now. But we will be back. For the time being take this." He handed me a little black bag tied with a rope and a flip phone.
"1998 called Ben, they want their phones back" I said jokingly.
"It has our numbers stored in there. Keep that bag with you at all times. Be careful, if you ever feel like there's something wrong, or you're in danger call us." said Ben as he went for the door.
The two brothers got in their car, revved their v8 engine and peeled out into the night road.
I was left behind to clean up the mess the phone had made when it crashed into the floor. I went to the engineering storage and picked up a brand new one to replace the broken phone. I spent the rest of the night thinking about what the hell just happened and who the hell were those brothers.
