project.utopia

Chapter 8 - The Journey Begins(The Inn)

Nera chuckled and said, "Yeah I guess so...I would know, both my parents are dead as well."

From the back of the carriage, Aditya widened his eyes in worry, but, before he could say anything, Ben whispered, "Oh...Twins I guess."

Nera chuckled slightly, and responded by saying, "Yeah I guess so."

Neither of them said anything for a moment, as Aditya watched them closely, until, finally, Ben broke the silence by saying, "So...how did you and Aditya meet?"

Immediately, Nera tensed up as Aditya thought to himself, "Please don't tell him too much. Please don't tell him too much," over and over again in his mind.

Finally, Nera hesitantly said, "We became friends because...he...his...parents wanted him to help out the orphanage which I, coincidentally, live in..."

"Yeah!" Aditya quickly added. "For volunteer hours obviously."
Ben nodded slowly and suspiciously as he said, "Yeah...okay," but he didn't question either of them anymore.

Quickly, Nera changed the subject to Ben's life and his uncle and for the next few hours the conversation was only that. From the back, Aditya played with Lily and held onto her when she took short naps to make sure she didn't fall as well as watching and listening intently to Ben and Nera's conversations. And on and on, the group went, getting closer and closer to Neskarta, when, all of a sudden it began to rain heavily, the sound of "pitter, patter," easily heard above them as water began to leak into the carriage from the back.

"Damn it, we've got to take shelter. I was hoping we would reach Neskarta by today, but guess not," Ben said, frustrated, as he tried to look for any form of shelter coming up ahead. After a little while, he spotted an inn of sorts and pulled the carriage aside using the reins of the horses.

"Alright everybody get out. Aditya you get out with Lily, I'll help Nera get out," Ben ordered as he hopped out of the carriage and walked to Nera's side of the carriage.

Aditya got out as well, holding Lily tight in his arms and using his hands to make sure she didn't get wet. He watched, his eyes like lasers, as Ben held out his hand for Nera and she took it to hop down from the carriage.

"Thanks, Benny," Nera whispered to him, and then ran to get shelter inside of the inn as Aditya(with Lily in his hands) and Ben followed closely.

The moment they stepped in, they could smell the acrid smell of cigars and cigarettes as well as the strong, yeasty smell of beer and alcohol as they heard and saw big, bustly bikers laughing around a pool table in the front foyer of the inn they were staying at.

Once Ben took this all in, he whispered to everyone, including Lily, "Be careful."

Then, exclusively to Aditya, "Protect Lily and I'll take care of Nera. I don't want them getting hurt."

He stepped next to Nera, took her hand in his and, with his chest stuck out, marched straight past the bikers and to the front desk of the inn to get a room for them. There stood a middle-aged woman who had a tough expression on her face and was wearing a short skirt, a cropped top and bright red lipstick on her mouth.

"What d' you want kid?" The woman asked as she faced Ben, her eyes slightly closed as if she were already bored of their conversation.

"I want to get a room for the night for us," Ben responded, keeping his mouth hard and straight.

"Kay," the lady said as she turned around and disappeared through a doorway.

All four of them waited there in complete silence as the bikers behind them enjoyed themselves and laughed like crazy. They were betting on each other, smoking cigars, and drinking alcohol as the four children waited for the lady from the front desk to come back. Neither group said anything to the other group, until, finally, the lady came back and handed Ben a key.

"Your room is 126, it's right upstairs," The lady mumbled as she sat back down once Ben had grabbed the keys from her and said, "Thank you."

Still holding Nera's hand, Ben made his way past the front desk and into a hallway, as Aditya followed him with Lily in his arms. Ben led the way down the hallway which had a red, olden carpeting and was made out of wood, just like the rest of the inn. Finally, they reached their room and, as he dropped Nera's hand, Ben pushed the key into the keyhole, twisted and opened the door.

Nera walked in, closely followed by Aditya as Ben held the door open for them and took Lily out of Aditya's arms. Ben held onto Lily as he walked in as well and for a moment, all four of them looked around and didn't say anything. Until, finally, Ben took charge.

"So...How 'bout the girls take the bed and Aditya and I will sleep on the floor?" Ben asked, as he placed Lily on the bed for her to crawl around.

"No, it's okay. I don't want to sleep on the bed. You can, if you'd like to," Nera suggested as she declined Ben's offer.

Slowly, Ben moved closer to Nera and, looking down at her, whispered, "You sure?"

Nera smiled politely and whispered, "I'm sure," back to him as Ben returned Nera's smile to her. The two of them looked at one another, their eyes lovey and gooey as Aditya watched from behind Nera, jealously, his eyes burning into Ben.

Finally, Ben broke their lovey gaze and said, "Ok, time to go to bed! C'mon, Nera. I'll help build a nice little cushion for you on the floor."

But, before Nera could respond, Aditya quickly said, "She'd love to but I have to talk to her right now."

Nera turned around and furrowed her eyebrows as she mouthed the words, "I do?" to Aditya.

Aditya nodded and quickly dragged Nera out of the bedroom while saying, "It's private."

Once he had taken her outside and shut the door of the bedroom, he pulled her to the end of the hallway.

"What happened, Aditya?" Nera asked hurriedly, a tinge of worry but also impatience on her face.

"I need you to promise me you'll stop," Aditya responded, giving no hints at all.

"Stop what?"

Swallowing, Aditya finally says, "Stop telling him too much. We can't trust them."

"What do you mean? Are you talking about Ben? I'm not telling him too much and we can trust him. I trust him," Nera retorted back at Aditya.

"You're being too naive. We can't trust strangers!" Aditya responded, his voice raising slightly.

"We can trust them!" Nera exclaimed, loudly.

"No we can't!" Aditya responded in the same tone.

Nera became furious at his tone and she turned around and went back into the bedroom, slamming the door behind herself.

Aditya took a couple deep breaths in before he entered the room again. The moment Aditya entered, Nera laid down on the cushion mattress Ben made and faced the opposite direction of Aditya, obviously angry at him.

Aditya sighed loudly and said, "Good night, Ben," to which Ben responded, "Goodnight," and watched him carefully as he laid down beside Nera and faced the opposite direction of Nera. Ben turned around and kissed Lily, who was already asleep, on the cheek, as he laid down beside her.

The four of them fell asleep inside of an unknown inn filled with dangerous people, in the middle of nowhere that night. But, they felt as if they were safe with one another. And they were.