Chapter 3
He had been driving for three hours now, trying as best as possible to get as much distance between himself and his home. The rain was beginning to slow to a stop and a low fog was starting to set in. There was no sign of anyone. The roads were completely dead. 'No one's bothering to drive this early on a Saturday.' He mused. Despite his thoughts, Danny was fighting fatigue. He was trying his best to keep his eyes clear and focused on the road. But he was running on little to no sleep. And the lull of the soft music on the radio was making him drowsy. 'Never was anything good on in the morning.' He thought bitterly as he turned off the radio and then glanced at the time. It was 4:45 AM and he desperately needed a place to sleep. Seeing an exit coming up, he turned off onto it and drove to the nearest establishment where sleep could be had.
Soon he was checking in to a motel 8. While he was busy renting the room the receptionist, a middle-aged man, kept sending him suspicious looks. Apparently he didn't seem too keen on having a 17 year-old rent a motel room. He kept glancing at Danny suspiciously while typing on his computer. While Danny being in the current mood he was in, with his lack of sleep, was not happy with the looks being sent his way. It had only helped to further sour his mood. All he wanted was sleep, damn it. What was wrong with that? Did everything have to be so damn hard? When Danny was given his key he turned and without a second glance at the man, left for his room.
He walked past many doors, stopping at most and then moved on to the next searching for his number. The sun was just starting to rise on the horizon. Danny paused to admire the oranges, pinks, and purples of the early morning light that were cast on the parting clouds. After his slight pause of contemplation and momentary peacefulness he continued his walk until he reached his motel room. He put the key in the lock and opened the door. After shutting the door behind him he flung his bags onto the ground. Danny then moved to the shades pulling them down, warding out the invading rays of sunlight. Then proceeded to the bed tearing off the top comforter and letting it fall to the ground.
He had always been told to never sleep with a hotel comforter. You never knew how often they washed them or what the previous users of the room had done on it. And he'd rather not think of how dirty a motel one could be. He then collapsed upon the uncomfortably, stiff bed. Danny kicked off his shoes and covered himself with the sheets that were always tucked in so tight you had to wrestle with them. Finally somewhat comfortable he began breathing in deeply in a slow pattern to calm himself, getting his body ready for sleep.
Fragments of memories from the night before taunted him, slowly coming into view then disappearing at the last second. Then finally, after much frustration of pushing away the thoughts that kept unsettling him, Danny gave into the darkness that was slowly taking over his mind. Leaving it defenseless to the uncontrolled dreams that would soon fill his head. And leave him with restless sleep.
ob0do
He had slept for the rest of the morning and through out part of the day, it was now mid afternoon. Feeling drowsy, he sat up slowly and looked around. He hadn't bothered to look at his motel room when he had first entered it. But now his mind was functioning to a point of comprehension. The walls were a dirty white and the shades were a mixture of brown and dark red, as were the covers that were thrown on the ground only a few hours before. The floor was covered with light brown colored carpeting. There were two beds in the room and a small wooden table between them with a lamp fixated on top, seated next to it was a digital clock, which at the current moment read 2:43 P.M., in red glowing numbers.
He looked further to his left and saw what looked to be a door half way open, which indicated that there was a separate room apart from this one, which could only be the bathroom. He then turned his gaze to look straight ahead of himself. There was another wooden dresser, though bigger in size from the one sitting next to him. It held on it a small T.V, a mirror, another bigger lamp than the one on the table beside him, and a bucket for ice. Other then that he noticed the room was pretty much plain.
Danny threw the sheets off of himself and stood up. He stretched away the aches and pains that he had accumulated from the unconvertible bed, and then rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Finally feeling awake enough he stood and moved to the shades, opening them to reveal the blinding light of mid afternoon. After blinking rapidly to regain his vision, he moved slowly to his bag, picking it up and placing it upon the bed.
He rummaged through it until he found what clothes appealed to him at the moment. Danny also pulled out his own bar of soap, and a brush, and carried them to the bathroom. He shut the door behind himself and set the supplies on the counter. Soon he was fiddling with the water knobs in the shower until he found a comfortable temperature. He stepped into the shower and relaxed in the heat of the water running over him, then began to wash away the dirt that had clung to him for the past day.
Danny, taking a minute to let his mind wander, looked down at the drain watching as the water swirled down. He took a long deep breath and held it for a minute then let the air pass back through his lips. It was a release. Even if small, the action did help to calm his nerves about the whole situation. And leave his mind more open to thoughts. But the loneliness was starting to set in and homesickness was soon behind it.
ob0do
Danny dressed in a deep red tee shirt, with a black tribal tiger on the back. Its black lines and unique design simply crafted into a tiger in all of its fierce glory. While the pants he dawned were a dark shade of blue and baggy.
Turning to the mirror he grabbed his toothbrush and brushed his teeth, then brushed his black messy hair. He heard a growl and looked to his stomach. Realizing he hadn't eaten in almost 10 hours. He left the bathroom and grabbed his wallet and keys, then was out the door.
Danny headed for his car, an older looking Taurus that was dark blue. He stopped just short of his door, and looked around. He hadn't considered the fact that he had no idea where he was and therefore had no idea where you could get food. As if dazed, he swiveled his head around looking in all directions, considering which would be the best path to take to find food. Finally deciding to head back the way he had come. He could vaguely remember passing some small restaurants and fast food places as he came into the small town looking for a motel.
ob0do
The time was going on 3:30 when Sam finally decided pull into a small town to grab some food and stretch her legs. After a few minutes of driving around the little town, she decided upon a modest diner. Sam steered her car into one of the many open parking spaces then stepped out. She breathed a sigh of relief to finally be out of her car. She stretched reaching her arms high in the air, then after a moment let them drop back at her sides.
Twisting her head around to observe her surroundings, she wanted to take a quick look at what was around her before she went in to get food. In a small way the town looked like home. Small shops were littered everywhere and there were tall buildings mixed into the jumble.
Sam smiled to herself, it may have looked a little like home, but it didn't have the same feeling to it. Nor did she feel the same while in this town. She felt excited and happy to be far from her home. Gaining control of her smile she dropped it adopting a look of boredom as she turned back around and headed inside the diner.
Upon entering the dinner she took immediate notice as to how emptied it looked. 'duh Sam its 3:40. most people don't go out to eat at that hour. The people that are here are probably just out for a late lunch… a really late lunch… or maybe an early dinner…?' A waitress came toward her stopping her rambling thoughts, then showed her to her seat. It was when she was seated at a booth that she truly took notice of the people around her. For the most part it was all older couples. And everyone was fairly quiet, despite the fact that there were so few people.
Her waitress came back over and greeted her, asking her what she wanted for the evening. Sam just ordered a house salad. After her waitress walked away Sam continued to take in the peoples appearances around her, not sure what else to do with herself. It was then that she took notice to the boy that was seated in the booth across from her. He was the only one here that looked about the same age as her. He had messy black hair and a red tee shirt on.
She cocked her head to the side, continuing to study the boy, finding that he was far more interesting than the older couples. He was pale, but not an unhealthy pale. He looked skinny from where she was seated but in no way was he a wimpy skinny, he was lean, and he had an air about him of someone that could 'kick ass' if needed be.
She quickly averted her eyes when she saw him turning his head to look at her. Their eyes locked for a brief second before she completely looked away. Deciding that watching the outside people would be far safer, then facing the owner of those eyes. 'His eyes…' They were a shocking blue that felt like they had looked right through her. She could still hear her heart beating rapidly in her head. And a faint blush crossed her cheeks at the realization that she had been caught staring.
Thankfully the waitress had come to save her, she set down her salad and asked if she wanted anything else. Sam replied with a quiet 'no thank you' and looked down at her food. Feeling silly for turning her head so fast and making it seem obvious that she had been staring, when he turned to look at her. She couldn't help but look at him one more time from the corner of her eye, only to see that he was still looking at her. Her blush came back full force and she looked back to her food to start eating.
The rest of her meal was uneventful. The guy next to her didn't seem all that interested in her so he had returned to his meal without a word, while she opted to stare off into space. Letting her mind wonder as it often did. The boy had left before her, which was enough to get her to relax again.
After she finished her meal with a contempt sigh, she paid then left. She headed back to her car and drove around looking for interesting shops to visit, after deciding that this would be a good town to stay in for the night and to 'see the sights'.
She ended up parking her car on the side of the road and putting money in a parking meter. Sam then walked off in the direction of her choosing, stopping only minutes later to walk into a store that had a wide assortment of things. She spotted a shelf of books in the back and started to head back there until she caught site of the same guy she had seen in the diner. She stopped in her tracks and took a long look at him, sizing him up. He apparently hadn't seen her yet, or had, but just didn't show interest. So she continued down the isle not giving him a second glance.
The books were all older. But there was a poetry one that caught her eye. She pulled it down and looked through it. If she didn't need to save her money she would have bought it. She sighed looking down at the book the returned it to its rightful place. Sam left soon after. Not finding anything more interesting.
She continued her walk down the street, but then paused when she heard noise. Curiosity getting the better of her she headed toward it.