CASTLES CRUMBLING | R. ROTH, G. LOGAN

𝐒𝐈𝐗 ᴄᴏɴғᴜsᴇᴅ

"I still can't believe you traded in the Porsche for a minivan." Gar complained.

Dick knew that his car was too small for all of them to fit in, resulting in him switching vehicles. It was also good because that weird family won't know what car they're in if they looked for them.

"This, we can all fit in." Dick reasoned.

"I like the van." Kory admits.

"Same." Daniel agreed.

"We're not actually staying here, are we?" Rachel asks, eyeing the weird looking motel they had pulled up too. The whole parking lot was empty. There was only, like, one car in the entire parking lot.

"You know, there's probably a nicer place down the road." Kory points out.

"We're being hunted by sociopaths. Nicer places draw attention." Julie chimes in, now sitting between her brother and Rachel.

"Yeah. Well, they also make it easier to sleep." Kory says, looking towards her. Julie shrugged, her arm having healed already.

"One road in. Same road out. Only one point of access we have to watch." Julie states, pointing towards the way they entered as she leaned into the front, taking the lead on this whole conversation.

"And also.. it's quiet. Trouble comes our way, we should hear it first." Dick adds, glad his sister was paying attention as he unbuckled his seatbelt, looking over at Kory.

"And, who said anything about sleeping?" Daniel questions with an arched brow. Dick nodded in agreement before opening his door to get out

Juliet and Daniel gave them all sarcastic smiles, knowing they badly wanted sleep, but sometimes you can't get what you want, can you? The Grayson twins moved in the front, climbing out of the van as they followed Dick.

Julie lifted her arms up, pulling her hoodie over her head. Kory watched her, wondering if she should ask about it. But Julie being a copy of Dick made her realize, she wouldn't get an answer. Daniel caught her hoodie when she tossed it over at him while she pulled her shirt down. It was a normal thing for him to always hold her sweaters every time she took it off.

"Here we go. Six rooms, all close to each other." The lady said, handing Dick the five room keys making him grab them as he gave them to Julie and Daniel so they could pick out their rooms.

"Glad you had availability." Dick appreciated.

"Yeah, I guess we're a little slow. It's the off-season."

"Huh. There's an on-season?" Dick questions with confusion. Julie picked her room, it being on the second floor and kind of away from everyone else. Daniel chose the closest room to her, but it was actually, like, five doors down.

"About five years ago." The woman informed with a chuckle. "That is when my shitty ex-husband left me this shitty motel that I do not know how to run." The woman joked slightly as she chuckled. Julie and Daniel looked at each other, their backs facing her so she didn't see their expressions.

"Sounds shitty." Dick agreed making her hum.

"Siblings?" The woman asks, pointing to the teens, causing him to smile and nod his head.

"Hey. Where's the closest place to eat around here?" Juliet finally spoke, turning around to see her response.

"Oh, uh, liquor store across the street has snacks. Other than that, there's a pizza place nearby. It's, uh, Etter's. It's actually pretty good." The woman answered.

"Okay. Appreciate it." Dick turned around, going to leave with the twins, but the woman just wanted to keep.. talking with Dick the best she could. It was actually pretty disgusting.