Chasing Shadows

Part One ~ Chapter Sixteen

            “Alright, spill.” I slammed my good hand down on the floor.

            “It’s nothing, really.” Johnny muttered. “There was just this…movie.” Amy shuffled in closer to her brother to hear better and looked at him expectantly. “Ethan and I received a little package, and in it was a movie.”

            “What was the movie about?” I questioned.

            “I…I don’t really remember all of the details.” Ethan started. “But it had to do with a truck driver and some violence and thrill. The ending is pretty fuzzy….but I think the girl gets kidnapped?”

            “He was sending clues! He’s playing with our minds!” Julia cried. “What happened to the girl?”

            “As I said, I don’t really remember, but I think he takes her to a…motel?”

            “All right! That’s it; we will check all of the motels in town. We only have two days to check the three motels we have, so we must be quick.” I hurried down the steps, the feet of the other’s pounding behind me.

            “Are you guys ready” Tim stood up from his seat on the couch and stuffed his hands in his jean pockets.

            “You’re going to have to drive, none of us do.” I paused, waiting for him to nod in confirmation. When he did I continued on, explaining that we would be checking each of the motels in town. Tim didn’t ask any questions because he didn’t seem to really care, and that was fine by me.

            The drive to the first motel was entirely silent. I was consumed by thoughts of Ethan and Johnny keeping a secret in the way that they did. Sure, I was pissed that my brother would keep a secret in the first place, but one of that magnitude? Why couldn’t he just tell me when it happened?

            I knew the answer to this, of course. Ethan had started to feel like he had to protect me from things like this. It was obvious from the way he acted around me, suddenly hesitant if something about Mr. Grey was brought up that he might provoke something in me. He was walking on eggshells around me, trying to protect his older brother. And that was what made me angry, the fact that he had kept it a secret to protect me.

            “Here’s the first one.” Tim pulled the car into a parking lot and cut the engine. A sign reading ‘Hershell’s Motel’ was standing upright in the lot on a pole, three of the letters burnt out.

            “How are we going to go about this?” Amy asked. “Let’s come up with a plan.”

            Tired of sitting around as if answers would just come to us, I decided to just go into the motel and start looking for some answers. Slamming the car door behind me, I stalked inside the building and went right up to the desk.

            “Matt!” Amy cried behind me. “Don’t just wander into this blindly!” I waved her off.

            “I’m sorry, sir,” A man was reading the newspaper at the desk, but he placed it down when he noticed me standing in front of him. “But if you are looking for a room we are up to our capacity right now. Nothing is available.”

            “That’s not exactly what I’m here for.” The man raised his eyebrow at me. “Has anybody…come in within the last five days?”

            “No. We have been full for at least a week now. You will have to look somewhere else for a place to stay, as I explained before.”