ᄃӨПFΣDΣЯΛƬΣ ΣMPIЯΣ
Skye glanced around the lobby. It smelt like lavender and wet mud. The last one was probably her fault.
“I can’t believe “sprinklers” was your great idea,” Tristan muttered as they moved with the wet crowd. Skye had turned on the sprinklers causing the residents of the place to get completely drenched and therefore making them camouflage.
“It worked, didn’t it?” Skye muttered back as she looked around the lobby. The keys to the rooms were hung behind the reception desk and the stairs were right beside it. She held Tristan’s hand and led him towards the crowd heading to the stairs. “Come with me.”
Once deep in the crowd, Skye ducked her head while Tristan hunched over. Being over six feet had it’s problems, especially when you’re trying to hide. Skye pushed herself towards the side of the crowd and flicked a room key as they passed by the reception desk. “Room seventeen,” Skye muttered under her breath. Tristan grabbed her by the waist and guided her out of the crowd towards the fire exit and ran up to the first floor.
“Where’s Bas?” Skye asked as she realised her arm was light. Tristan pointed to his arm as he grabbed the key from her and opened the door marked as 17. He walked in and let her inside, shutting the door as the sounds of people entering the corridor increased. Skye sighed and sat down on the bed, Bas slithered out of his arm and curled up on the bed beside her. “You should rest. Once all the chaos settles down, I’ll go find some information.”
“I’m fine,” Tristan muttered as he locked the room.
“Just rest,” Skye repeated sternly. Tristan glared at her but didn’t argue, Skye was beginning to recall the real reason they broke up. Skye was always domineering and Tristan never said much back because he loved her, but after a point of time, Skye knew she was in the wrong and decided to end it before it got to a point where it was no longer restorable. He removed his hoodie, leaving his black undershirt on. Skye couldn’t see how dark the bags around his eyes had turned after the trip when they were outside, but under the lights, she realised how much energy it took out of him. He jumped on the bed beside her and closed his eyes. Skye didn’t want to have that time with Tristan work out like the last one. “I’m sorry for forcing you, but when it comes to the worst I need you to be in full strength because I’m not really sure standing and fighting is an option.” She whispered slowly to him. Skye wasn’t sure if he heard her.
She got up and switched the heater on, made some coffee, drank a gulp, spit it all out and then made a mental note never to bother with coffee in hotel rooms. Skye sat down on the sofa and stared at the wall, letting her mind wander. Just when she thought she would have a meltdown she reached down to her pants to get her phone for some music.
“Fu-” she exclaimed when she realised she had left it at her house. “Guess people will have to do.” She muttered to Bas as she got up and walked to the bathroom. She washed the dirt off her face and removed her jacket and shirt, leaving her sports bra on. The bullet wound had bled again, completely drenching her gauze. She pulled it out and threw it in the dustbin. She didn’t pay attention to the cuts on her waist. One at a time. Skye sat down, her back against the bathtub as she pulled a few napkins from the holder and drenched it. Avoiding the part where the bullet entered, she slowly cleaned the outside. Lucky for her the bullet scraped through the top of her shoulder and didn’t get wedged inside. Skye scrambled through the bathroom looking for anything that might help stop the bleeding. She opened the mirror/cabinet and scanned it. Shampoos, conditioners, body lotions...more shampoos and sanitary pads. Skye grabbed a pad and stuck it on top of the wound.
That would do for now. As long as it doesn’t get infected. Skye hoped. She sighed as she realised she had to take care of the next wound. The cuts on her waist weren’t too deep and had dried up. She grabbed a few more napkins and cleaned the dry blood out. She held her shirt up in front of her. The dark grey colour had patches of black caused by the blood. The jacket hid the blood stain on the shoulder but didn’t cover the ones in the middle.
She walked out of the room to hear Tristan’s soft snores. “Looks like he isn’t going to get up anytime soon.” She muttered softly. Bas popped his head up waiting for his next adventure. “I need you to stay here. Protect him. I’ll be back in some time.” Bas placed his head back down as Skye grabbed Tristan’s hoodie and pushed it over her head. The big hoodie made her look like a homeless man, especially with the ripped jeans underneath. She never understood the point of having your pants ripped for no reason when that was usually the reason why people threw out pants. But Bryce and Bacchus had convinced her that it was “cool”.
With the black hoodie and black jeans, Alexa could have sneaked through any place. That is if her hair wasn’t bright blue with some black streaks leftover from when she didn’t dye the blue properly. She pulled the hoodie over her head to hide the hair and walked out of the room.
Skye walked down the stairs to the lobby. There were computers on one side for public use, Skye waited for her turn patiently as a kid around the age of twelve played solitaire. When he finally finished and the weird fireworks came, Skye politely asked him to f*** off.
She sat down on the computer and switched on the Bluetooth. She prayed for the building to have a line of speakers in each room. The list of viable Bluetooth devices came up on the screen in front of her, right on top was, in all caps, “bose1to11confederatempire”.
Skye clicked on it, already working on all the most common passwords in her head. But lucky for her, and stupid of them, there was no password. The name of the speaker turned blue, with a sentence below. “Connected for media audio.”
Skye opened YouTube and increased the sound to the maximum before playing Kidz by Take That, minimized the tab and then slowly walked away from the computer. The song starts off with really soft music and then it increases in beat quickly. The sudden blast of music made the receptionists jump and quickly check their computers.
Skye sat down on the couch in the lobby and half covered her face with a newspaper, her eyes on the staircase and the lift. Suddenly the music stopped as one of the receptionists switched off the public computers.
Skye sighed, she had to think of some other way. She folded her newspaper and placed it beside her.
“Miss, if you’re done with that, may I take a glance?” an old voice spoke from behind her. A smile tugged on her lips as she passed the newspaper behind her. The man took it from her for a second, as he said and then gave it back to her and walked away.
Skye checked the front fold to see the number 32 written in bold red ink. She placed the newspaper back down and made her way up the stairway. Considering how quiet and lifeless the place seemed before she entered, she doubted that her antics were taken lightly. If they were being investigated, Skye didn’t really have a lot of time left. She stopped in front of room 32 and paused before she rang the bell. She tugged at the top of the hoodie pulling it down so she could hide more of her face.
“Come in.” The old man said holding the door open for her. The second she walked in, he pulled her into a big hug. “Ah. You have grown, young lady. Last I saw you —”
“ — I barely reached your knee.” Skye finished for him. “I know, grandpa. I was there.”
The old man chuckled as he removed a tux off the armchair and held his hand out, gesturing her to sit. Skye obliged. She pulled down her hoodie off her head and watched the old man slowly walk to the closet and place his tux inside. “Tux, huh. Formal evening?”
“Date.” The man grinned from ear to ear. “The prettiest woman I have ever seen in my entire life. I love her, skittles. I really do. Might even ask her to marry me.” He paused as he pointed an accusing finger in her direction. “You will show up, right?”
Skye paused wondering if she would even have a schedule after that week. The way grandpa was acting made it seem like he had no idea what was going on. But that made no sense, there were computers and newspapers all over the place. How would there not be a single article on the massacre happening around the world?
“Of course I will, grandpa.” Skye lied.
“That’s a good girl.” He praised as he floundered across the room to the desk near the window. His hands shook as he pulled out an envelope. “I know you asked me to stay out of your love life when I was living with you —”
“— I was four and you tried to set me up with the flower boy at your last wedding.” Skye butted in. Her grandfather had been married a total of three times as far as she knew.
“—but now that you're here, it must be fate. There is a guy here who I think would be perfect for my granddaughter. Here,” he waddled to Skye and placed the envelope in her hand. “It is an appointment to talk to the guy. You give it to the security and he will let you in for about ten minutes.”
“Wow. Fancy guy.” Skye began. “But grandpa, I don’t really have the time for interviewing potential douchebag boyfriends. Maybe another time.”
“No no. You hold on. I’ll find out where he is at the moment.” He walked to the telephone in the room and dialled a number. After a few seconds, he quickly came to the point. I guess once you’re as old as him you don’t have time for formalities. Skye couldn’t wait to be old and use that as an excuse. “Minnie, do you know where Brandon is right now... uh huh... thank you, I love you.”
He placed the receiver down and turned to Skye who stood up and pulled the hoodie over her head. She had gained nothing in the visit, except of course the visit itself. This old man was going to die the same year that she had been born and at the rate that life was going he would outlive every other family member.
“I need to go. It was great to meet you.”
“No no. You must go to the gym. That’s where he is.” He shook his head and his extra layers of drooping fat shook along with him. “He is a very charming boy. Fit too. The bodyguard is so nobody kills him. A lot of trouble for the king if that happens.”
“Why would it be trouble for the mundane king?” Skye asked as the old man sat down on the bed.
He leaned forward as if he was saying a deep, dark secret; which actually turned out to be the case. “Brandon is the king’s illegitimate child. The king, himself, comes to visit sometimes but usually, the kid just stays by himself.”
Skye’s mind rocketed. If he was the king’s son, he could have had information on the robots. She picked up the envelope, gave her grandfather a quick peck on the cheek and left the room in search of the gym.
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