You shift and sit up in the passenger seat, cradling your head in your hands. Calm down, please, everything is going to be okay. Stop beating so hard, heart. Remember that time your mom threw you out of the house because you wouldn’t stop trying to get her to buy Unway products? Look how far you’ve come since then!
You didn’t miss mom as much as you do now.
No, think positive. Think Unway. Every problem is a solution waiting to happen. You take out the road map and try to find somewhere to bunker down. The nearest place is the Bone Ridge Motor Hotel a few klicks down the highway. You’d prefer to go somewhere with a less spooky name, but the alternative is the Bates Motel, 17km the wrong way; it doesn’t even have cable.
You shiver. These broken windows let in the cold like… something that lets in cold. Besides, they’re the perfect excuse for a state trooper looking to fill out their arrest quota. There’s a roll of duct tape in the glove compartment, for mechanical troubles, but you don’t have any cardboard.
… But who needs cardboard when you’ve got improvisation! You stick the road map against the passenger window and duct-tape the corners to the door. You pull out a map of Arkansas (Because why would you even go there? Come on) and repeat the procedure on the back window. The kludge looks weird, but it’s more of a ‘huh, there goes a redneck’ weird and less of a ‘holy shit that person was just in a firefight’ kinda weird.
You get out of the car and go around it. Mr. Psychoattendent was memorizing your license plate, so let’s put the kibosh on that. You kick some snow over the plate, obscuring it. Cars pass you by, trailing thoughts behind them. The effect is not unlike scanning the frequencies on a radio. Oddly pleasant.
Stepping back into the car, you start up the engine and drive down the highway. The silence lets other’s idle thoughts slip into your brain
Where did Jamerson get those leads? You don’t get leads that good unless you were Ghandi in a previous life.so you turn on the radio to distract yourself.
There’s a pretty kicking song on the radio. You sing along until it gets all depressing.You pull up in the deserted parking lot of the Bone Ridge Motor Hotel, a classic motel complete with a ‘vacancy’ sign. The door sticks, so you give it a shove. The check-in is a shabby room coated in pictures of that rock star, Adeline Walsh. A man in a sweater vest looks over his buddy holly glasses at the desk.
”Now there’s a surprise. Hello and welcome to the Bone Ridge Motor Hotel, what can I do for you?””Hi! Great to meet you, I’m looking for a room, please?””Rooms are Forgot the rates again. Think of something. $10 dollars for the first night, $5 for every night after.”You scratch the back of your head.
”I don’t really know how long I’m going to be staying, so…” You slap down ten bucks.
”If I need to stay longer, I’ll say. Do you know where I could find any good gambling joints around here?”He frowns at the cash.
”Ten dollars in $1 bills? Forget it. It’s business, at least. If you want to try your luck, I’d suggest the Bone Ridge Indian Casino down near the quarry. It’d probably be closed tonight. Thank God.”””At 10:45? That’s a little early.””It’s closed for the day because a few gangsters burnt the manager alive.Just business as usual for the trucker mafia. Is this in on that? Nah, doesn’t seem the type. It should be open tomorrow, though. They don’t like letting their customers down.””Uhh, huh. Do you have a telephone?”The buddy holly type nods to a payphone on the wall.
”If you’re calling long-distance, keep it short.”As you smile and nod, the ‘STAFF ONLY’ door beside the payphone opens a crack. You see an amber-yellow eye peek out, before it widens and the door shuts.
Oh no.You point at the door and beam at the buddy holly type.
”Any other guests?”Buddy Holly jumps the counter and walks over to the staff door. He pulls it open, revealing who you initially think is Adeline Walsh, until you realize she would never ever go anywhere near Wisconsin. Plus, she’s about six inches shorter than she’s supposed to be.
Perfect time to stumble in, my love. How embarrassing.Please don’t hate me.”This, uh, this your wife?”Buddy Holly looks at you, then smirks.
”Sure.” He wraps an arm around the woman and holds her close.
I guess I’m okay.It would be really easy to read this as some weird fucked-up relationship, but considering that you might be hunted by a gang of truckers who burn people alive, you decide it can wait until you unpack and maybe try to find a book on playing poker.
”Well, don’t let me keep you.”You head out the door to get your things from the car.
Your Things
Ford Fiesta (Shattered Windows, Suspicious As Fuck, Fueled Up)
$.43
Jumper Cables
Tire Iron (Bloodstained)
Messenger Bag
Warm Coat
$20 in $1 dollar bills (grabbed in a panic)
Your Numbers
Charm (+1), Calm (0=), Rage (-1), Wise (+1), Creepy (+1) ]
-*-
You’re not his wife. You’re his son.
It started when you saw this weird red aurora thingy outside your bedroom. You always felt weird in your skin, so when you found yourself changing your skin into other people, it was a relief. But when dad found out, he wasn’t angry or sad like he usually is. He was interested, really interested. He told you to change your skin into that singer he loved. You kinda liked that. Then he told you to dress up like her, then he started breathing funny around you. It feels wrong – nothing like your books.
You got a feeling about the lady. She rumbled your attempt to leave, but you felt something off her that you haven’t felt since the aurora. This feeling of… endless space. It’s hard to explain. You’ve got a feeling she can help.
You’re in your bedroom on the top floor. Your dad moved out most of your toys and posters to make room for more Walsh stuff, so that you can imitate her better. There’s no-one in the motel except your dad, two doors down, and the lady, in the room directly below you.
One thing is certain, you have to get out of here. It’ll be like one of your books.
Your Things
Pretty Dress
Pack of Crayons
‘The Mystery of the Invisible Pipes’, a Chris Candle adventure.
Your Knack
Skinchanger (Change your body into a different person – the more familiar, the better)
Your Numbers
Charm (-1), Calm (+2), Rage (=0), Wise (-1), Creepy (+3)