25.
~ Rebecca had thought the food would last longer. When she first came here, what felt like years now, it had seemed so much. Stock piled bags of rice and beans. Cans of tuna, powdered milk, oatmeal, beef jerky, canned fruits and vegetables that seemed made to feed an army. An entire hallway of the cabin was overflowing with canned goods in fact and the bags of rice had to be stored under the bed.
It had seemed like so much and she had rationed it carefully when she first arrived. The man who built the cabin had designed it as some kind of off the grid safe haven. A place to lay low until the worst was over. He'd planned for an entire family to be here and told Bob there was food enough to last a year for a family of four.
Rebecca had assumed he was telling the truth based on the canned goods and two freezers full of frozen meats and other perishables. She quickly learned, even on a two meal a day diet, a single person would run out of food long before four years was up.
There were other matters to she'd never thought about. Things like the comfort of toilet paper and other sanitary items she'd taken for granted before.
Remembering something she'd seen on the History Channel, she managed to advert any major disaster with some quick sewing and learning to appreciate how easy modern women had it with disposable sanitation wear.
Soap was another thing. Something to be saved only for the body and for when absolutely needed when she had to wash clothes. She only had the clothes she arrived in and some oversized men's clothes that must have belonged to Bob. Soap would run out sooner than the food would and then what would she do?
Power and lights were another concern. The solar panels on the roof were another promise that were not as advertised by the builder. They charged all day and Rebecca was very frugal about having lights on after dark. She didn't want anyone to see the cabin and wonder. Thankfully the stove ran on a propane tank and so did the heat, but the power that charged the lights and her radio was weak at best.
Her radio was her only real comfort. She listened to news about herself for the first few days here. About the mystery surrounding her disappearance and how she was suspected in Bob Paris' disappearance as well.
'If they only knew.' she thought bitterly. No new ideas had come to her and she wished her brain would stop worrying about the day to day and focus on the bigger picture.
Unless her ears fooled her, the local news DJ suddenly stopped talking about Sheriff Romero and started talking about someone named Sheriff Greene. It was as if Alex had vanished without a trace and she'd somehow missed it.
Had he left town? Been fired? Arrested? Killed?
The thought of Alex dying had upset Rebecca so much she'd been physically ill over it. She didn't want him dead, but she was still angry at him. For reasons that went deeper than just marrying some other woman. It felt like he'd condemned her to live in this wretched cabin in the woods all alone. Maybe prison was better. Maybe if she came forward, she would be out in a few years and could sell her story. A woman living alone in a cabin for a year and a half was sure to be a best seller.
The thought made her happy. Made her remember that she was a clever girl again. A survivor. She wasn't destined to live in this place forever. If she turned herself in, maybe she could get a good lawyer and plead out. Maybe prison wouldn't be so bad. A white collar prison. She hadn't committed murder after all.
It was almost 18 months since Rebecca hid herself away in the cabin. Her food stores nearly gone. Her soap almost depleted and she'd finally come up with a plan.
~ Norman Bates had walked to the village and bought only the bare essentials. He'd missed walking. Missed the outdoors, but he longed for a car of his own. He couldn't possibly do this every other day and he could forget about refrigerated goods that might spoil on the long walk back. It was nearly two miles after all.
No, he would be reasonable. Practical.
He'd buy peanut butter and jelly. Bread, crackers, canned soup and some apples.
Enough to last a few days, and then he would see. He had the five thousand dollars in cash, it wasn't unreasonable to think he could buy a decent used car for that amount. It would be easier and the seller might not even ask for a license. Norman had never gotten his driver's license.
Mother wouldn't let him.
He stopped by a very fancy looking hardware store first. Just too look at the paint. It hardly looked like a hardware store at all. More like a general store that was found in the thirties. Classical and filled with useful and beautiful things.
Mother would love this place. If Mother owned a store, she'd own one like this. Full of things that were really new and just made to look old. Even the countertop was chipped and worn with a brilliant luster that only came from decades of use.
'I'll have to tell Mother all about this place.' Norman thought to himself happily looking over the paint that was artfully made to look like something bought almost a century ago.
Norman was looking appreciatively around the store when he saw her. Saw the delightful figure up on the ladder. Her sweeping A line skirt and cashmere sweater seemed to place her in another era.
"Mother?" Norman whimpered frightfully. The woman had short blond hair and wore it almost exactly like Mother. Her figure was the same to. It made Norman's heart skip a beat to see her. He hardly ever saw Mother in such vivid detail as this. Mother was always shadowy. On the edges of his vision.
Then, the figure turned and he saw it wasn't Mother at all but someone else. A younger woman with a cute, angelic, innocent face who looked at him curiously.
"Oh, I didn't see you there." she said brightly and started to climb down the ladder. Norman thought about doing the gentlemanly thing and step closer but he was somehow rooted to the spot. He couldn't move.
Why did she look so much like Mother? Did they know each other? Had they conspired to look the same? Was this a trick?
"I wanted to see some paint." Norman said without thinking.
~ For the next twenty minutes, the girl, Madeline, was having him select paint samples in a variety of yellows for the motel. The prices of her vintage looking yellow was shocking compared to the cost of the paint the first time. Norman wanted to ask why it was so expensive, but thought better of it. Clearly, Madeline didn't think the paint was too pricy. Indeed, nothing in her shop was less than twenty dollars. Not even a box of reclaimed nails.
"So you own the motel?" she asked brightly. "Is this for the house on the hill? I love that house. Its' just so amazing." she said.
"Yes." Norman nodded bashfully. He wasn't used to talking to women.
"It's a big house. You live there with your family?" she asked.
"My mother and I." Norman said without thinking again. He looked away awkwardly. "She's… very ill."
"Oh." Madeline looked sympathetic. "Well, she's very lucky to have you to look after her."
~ Norman left the hardware store with a card sample and planned to come back next week. He wouldn't commit to anything without Mother's approval first.
He stopped by the store and got everything on his list. He even bought a local newspaper and walked home. It would be nice to see the news again.
When he came up to the motel parking lot, he saw the strange looking woman was sitting in one of the outdoor chairs by the office.
He could tell right away she was one of the unseemly people from last night. She was wearing men's clothes and looked unkept. Her red hair pulled into a tight ponytail and her face was slightly sunburnt. A few cans of soda were around her feet and she was finishing off a bag of chips from the vending machine when he arrived.
"Are you the manager?" she asked standing up to meet him. Her expression was insistent and at first he was worried he might be in trouble. Was she related to the horrible Earnest man? Was she wondering where he was?
Norman didn't know where he was. Only Mother did.
Norman unlocked the office and put his meager groceries inside. The office still smelled bad. Still stank of that awful man. He would have to keep the door open for days to get the smell out.
"Welcome to the Bates Motel." Norman said looking her over. She must be a hunter or something. A nice woman who wanted a room for the week while she went fishing. She'd be no trouble.
"Is Sheriff Romero here?" she asked harshly. "Does he still live at the house? I tried there first, but no one answered."
Norman looked up at the house. Mother's figure was still ghostly silhouetted in the upstairs window. She was watching them.
"Sheriff Romero?" Norma said with a shaky voice. The name feeling like poison in his mouth.
"Yes. Alex Romero. He's married to Norma Bates." the woman said hopefully. "Do you know where I can find him? I know he's not sheriff anymore."
"No, he's not here." Norman said. "He hasn't been here in a long time."
The woman looked sad. Like she had the breath stolen out of her.
"I just wanted to talk to him." she said. "Explain… things."
"Why do you want to talk to Romero?" Norman asked suspiciously. "He's not very nice."
The woman smiled at that. It was a soft smile, gone as soon as it started, but it had been there.
"Do you know… by any chance, where I could find him?" she asked.
"No." Norman said simply. His voice becoming sharp and defensive. Like a child who was denying he did something wrong. "He married my mother and then he left, that's all I know."
The woman frowned at him.
"You're Norma's son?" she asked.
"Yes." Norman nodded.
~ It was nice to be inside a real house again. Norma admittedly didn't fix a fancy table but he'd promised she was welcome to eat with him. She'd been so hungry and tired she could hardly refuse an invitation to eat.
"I know it sounds insane." she sighed. "I should have just turned myself in after the raid. I didn't want to give Alex the satisfaction though. He did it to spite me. He did it to hurt me."
Norman seemed delighted to hear her tale. Especially the part that depicted Alex Romero in an unsavory light.
"I wish my mother had known all this before she married him." Norman said offering her more bread and jelly. "He fooled her. I had no idea he could be so deceitful."
Rebecca laughed.
In truth, Alex wasn't anymore dishonest than anyone else, but it had been so long since she talked to someone about it, it felt good to blame everything on Alex.
"He married your mother right behind my back." she told Norman spitefully. She breathed in the smell of the bread and rejoiced. "Told me how he was never going to get married and then…"
She snapped her fingers and shook her head.
"Pig." she huffed. Her previous plans to apologize to Alex and Norma about breaking into their home and turning herself in had gone out the window when she met this lanky young man who seemed to hate Alex Romero as much as she did. The two of them gossiping like old friends.
"Awful." Norman agreed.
He shook his head.
"I warned Mother about him. Warned her he was just like the others. She wouldn't listen. Now, he's taken her off somewhere. I worry about her. I worry all the time. I'm scared he's left her someplace. My poor mother in some awful place. Abandoned and I cant get to her." he said in a voice that was rising with anger.
"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked quickly. Something about Norman Bates told her he would allow it. That he was harmless and wouldn't hurt a fly. He seemed like a nice young man and she was sorry that he was living here all alone.
She could tell the old house was empty. The air was stale and it had a hollow feel to it that felt very lonely.
Norman smiled bashfully. He was a very attractive young man, but Rebecca didn't like to think of him like that. They both seemed so lost and maybe they wouldn't be so lost if they were together.
"You can stay in my brother's old room." Norman offered.
"Thank you." she nodded.
"I'll have to go down to the motel now. Open it up." Norman said. He took her plate to the kitchen sink and gently placed them there.
"Rebecca?" he said thoughtfully.
She looked up hopefully.
"You can take a shower and I think I can find some clothes in the lost and found for you. You shouldn't have to wear men's clothing. I'll start a wash so they'll be clean." he said.
~ It was heaven to finally have a pipping hot shower and real soap. To wash her hair and brush her teeth with real toothpaste and not baking soda. Norman had placed a robe outside the bathroom door for her and it fit well enough for a man's robe. It was most likely his own.
Norman had left her a note he had started a load of laundry for her. Some clothing he thought might work for her he'd found at the motel, and she wanted to explore the house. See how different it looked and felt without Alex and Norma there.
Norma's pristine bedroom wasn't so pristine anymore. There was plastic covering the furniture and the only thing that seemed to be missing from the room was the large antique vanity.
Rebecca looked in the wardrobe and saw all those nice vintage style dresses and shoes were gone. Gone as if it she'd died.
Pictures were missing to. Family pictures off of dressers and nightstands.
Rebecca wandered into the other room and discovered it was Norman's. The taxidermy from the basement had to be his hobby since there was an odd little white dog standing on his bookcase. The poor creature made to stand guard over its' master's room. No rest or respect. Not even in death.
Rebecca shuttered at the poor animal. What kind of monster would do that to another living thing? Eating an animal was one thing, but to peel off its' skin and reshape it to make it look alive again? She hated the very idea.
It occurred to her then that Norman hadn't called the police. Hadn't said a word about it in fact. He seemed comfortable with her staying here because they shared a mutual enemy and that had been enough.
How long could she make this arrangement last? Norman was a little off, she could tell. There was something not quite right about him. He was shy, very withdrawn and sensitive. It was unlikely he would tell people she was here. Or even make an effort to talk to people at all.
He didn't seem to have friends or, if he did, he didn't entertain them here. The way he made it sound, his world began and ended here. This house, that motel. It seemed to be all he cared about. A terribly lonely existence. An island of one.
It wasn't unthinkable that she could stay here. That they could look after one another. Was it? There have been odder arrangements. She could convince Norman to let her stay. Maybe he wasn't into women, that was possible. And that was fine. Maybe she could convince him he needed her. Especially since his mother had left him all alone.
Such a cruel thing to do.
He could earn the money and go into town for the things they needed. She could stay here. Sure it was a prison still, but it was a far better prison than the one she'd come from.
Rebecca decided not to think about it anymore today. It was growing late and Norman Bates might ask her to leave tomorrow.
Something told her he wouldn't though. They had enjoyed each other's company over lunch. Enjoyed taking about their shared woes. It wasn't crazy to think they could make this work. That she could stay here, in Norma's house, forever.
I'm so happy you guys dug the late chapter update with Norman. I WILL update 'The Same Color Blue (Remake) when this story is done which will be soon.