The Business of Time Travel Tourism

Chapter 27: The Return of The King

"Two will be more than enough," said George.

"Would you like some of the following luxuries?" The manager picked up a list from the table and read it, "Hot water, cold water. Please note that with no water you won't be able to flush the toilet. Shower head, clean bedding, light, electricity, air conditioning, breakfast, dinner, supper, radio, refrigerator,.." the list went on and on.

At some point George interrupted the listing with a loud yawn, then said, "Most of those things were free the first time. What's with the long list? Just give us some water and light, add a radio to each room too."

"The first time was free, sir, a demo version. Do you want five, ten, or twenty liters of water? And if you take hot, may I suggest taking cold too? Hot alone will be too hot I'm sure."

"Fine, give us ten of both. How much will it be for the two rooms?"

The manager picked up a calculator and tapped it. George understood that the host was not doing so well with the math, but being the patient man that he was, he waited for five minutes and then some more.

"You might check this out." The manager pointed his hairy hand at a pack of brochures while he was working with the calculator.

George picked a few of them and gave out to his friends. Sally shrugged after reading the title page that said, 'Join The Followers Of The Vilest Demon'. Down below in smaller letters was written 'With this leaflet you are legible for a discount of thirty percent.' All tense, she put the leaflet back on the reception table.

"Do you know anything about them, Sally?" asked George as he scrolled to the next page. There was written, 'Wear a cape and a mask and do many fun and evil rituals. Bring your friends to have fun with you. With each friend you bring you get loyalty points, which you can trade for a sacred book of dark magic or a cultist badge. As a member of our club, you will get free entrance to our new scary attractions park. '

Sally replied, "Yeah, kind of. Gonna tell you later about it."

"Cool," George turned the page. There was a picture of a crossed smiley face with the words below, 'Plot against The (un)Cool Church, our vicious enemies. Fight them in variety of places, ranging from an abandoned factory to a kitchen of a fancy restaurant.' A photograph of two crowds running into one another was printed below the text. One fighting side had white pajamas on; another wore black capes and animal masks.

"I learned about them in the future," said Max. "They did some positive influence in the region."

"Is this some kind of role playing game for a fee?" George asked the manager, who was still tapping his calculator.

"Yes, only more real." The host glanced at George with the spookiest eyes he could manage.

The baldy wrote the sum for the rooms on a paper then slid it towards George as if he was ashamed to say the number. George shook his head and put one hundred dollars on the table. The manager gave him the keys and the four heroes went to separate rooms, Zoop and Sally went to one while the two Bottlemores went to another.

That night was one of the most terrible nights George had in his life. One of the reasons was Max's advanced sleeping skills. The cop slept with his eyes open, dead silent, not moving a muscle, hand on his gun. Whenever George stood up in the middle of the night and walked to the bathroom or to the window, Max would lift his armed hand and trace him without moving any other muscle of his body. Only when George returned to the bed, the gun holding hand would fall down.

The other aggravation for George's rest was the laugh coming from behind the wall. Sally and Zoop giggled till the late night. He heard only small bits from their conversation. They talked about Alfonso, about the dissapperator, about George.