Was it wrong of me to say that I was expecting to see a display of dead animals frozen in place growling and hissing everywhere? Instead all I saw was a… rather normal house in a sense.

The hallway led to a set of stairs leading to the upper floors and all of the doors in the hallway were shut and almost set up like an apartment building. A house turned apartment building, turned motel… or something?

One of the doors opened up revealing a small old lady carrying a few towels who smiled towards me “Please dry off before stepping inside. It’s a bad storm outside and I would hate to get these floors wet.”

It was hard to describe the old lady as she looked old… like she should be in a nursing room waiting for death, but she moved about with an energy as if she was still a young woman. I was nearly about to question if her mind was starting to go, but she gave me one look that made me keep my mouth shut as she looked as if she still had all of her marbles.

Taking one of the towels to try to become damp instead of dripping wet. I noticed a few more towels on the ground leading to the room on the left as she opened up another door on the right revealing a laundry room full of wet clothing that was being hung out to dry.

Apparently I wasn’t the only person here “I’m just here to rent one of the motel rooms outside. I have money…”

“Go to the room on the left dear. Normal hours are closed, but with the storm out there I figured people might be stopping in due to this terrible weather.” She spoke with a slight smirk “Besides I’m old and I like company. More to it than that…” There was a grumble from my stomach “I’m betting you haven’t had anything to eat so why not stay for a little before paying for a room?”

“I still have to go outside in the rain and I have food in the car.” I replied as staying didn’t exactly sound like a good idea.

There was nothing wrong with staying as it was storming outside and she was offering a free meal… but I had no idea what she was serving and offending the owner of the motel by not liking their food before paying for a room probably wouldn’t end well or have me end up with a good motel room.

Of course fate at that moment didn’t really seem to leave me with a choice as the door opened up with a couple shouting “Let us get out of the rain!”

Stepping aside and into the room the old lady had tried leading me to the path made from towels as she started repeating the same speech handing the couple some towels while I entered the new room. This room looked like a living room or possibly a dining room as it was hard to tell which.

There were a couple of tables set around the room as most of the future were chairs or couches… but moved together and slightly crammed into the room as if she had been expecting guests, but didn’t have any regular chairs to for them all to sit in leaving the random assortment of furniture that didn’t belong in the same room.

There were already five other people in some of the seats trying to dry off or just take shelter from the rain as they tried using their cell phones to talk on… or in the case of the one fat guy messing watching a movie on his laptop while it was plugged into a nearby electric socket.

I took one of the empty chairs near the corner of the room as a couple in hiking clothing were busy looking over a map while the guy tried to laugh off their misfortune “Heck of a storm. We nearly got lost in the woods only to find this place.”

Woods? I didn’t see any woods nearby as we were near the highway. Still it didn’t seem like they knew where they were going as the woman was looking at the map she had trying to figure out how they lost sight of the campsite before it started pouring.

“It’s your fault David! that we got lost and would it have killed you to check the weather before deciding to go camping this week?” The woman bitterly muttered “These are not clear and sunny skies.”

“I was the one who found us shelter from the storm Debra. That ‘map’ didn’t do us a lot of good when you decided to go off the trial because you wanted a better look at that stupid deer.” David replied in an equally annoyed tone

Any thoughts or questions I had towards them went away as the one thing that everybody knew… do not get yourself involved in another couple’s argument. Leaning back against the chair I tried to ignore the couple’s argument while the next couple came into the room. The new couple was a pair of teens and they were the ‘love struck teen’ brand of love.

Seriously what is with the odd atmosphere with this place? Is it a motel? A Hotel? Something in between or something else?

I pulled out a pair of headphones before trying to listen to some music and ignore the couple drama. It might have even worked until the door opened up revealing a large Russian bodybuilder who seemed to be muttering something in Russian. The scene seemed so unreal it was hard not to stare at the out of place Russian taking a seat in an easy boy recliner and pulling out a phone.

What made me nervous about him was not the fact that the massive man looked as if he could break my body in two if we got into a fight and he decided to sit next to me… but from the worried expression on his face as he looked frightened. It was hard not to be nervous when the large scary Russian in the room looked worried.

Then as if by magic there was knocking on the door as the old lady arrived once again revealing two more people soaking wet as they walked into the room as the weather outside began to howl as if we were in a hurricane! The windows shook a little as the lights flickered a little making a few people nervous.

These two new people were both men wearing clothing that looked as if they bought it from a bargain bin since one suit of clothing was a little bit too loose and the other one was two sizes too small. The most troubling part was that they looked really nervous and almost ready to bolt out the door if not for the growing intensity of the storm outside.

The old lady spoke “Just sit down. We can talk about renting a room for the night after I serve everyone some food. It’s a bad storm outside and it does my heart some good to help so many people in need.”

The two new strangers eventually gave up taking up residence in two seats away from everyone as they kept their eyes on the windows. Everyone else just ignored them as they were too busy dealing with their own problems.

I tried to follow everyone else’s example and just calm down and relax, but it was kind of hard to relax with everyone around me. The hiking couple are still arguing about who got them lost. The teen love couple had the boyfriend promising his girlfriend that he would take the blame for bringing her back late because they got caught outside during the storm.

The Russian guy trying to get his phone to work as it couldn’t get a signal… and yet the older woman nearby was talking in a slightly depressed tone about how she wasn’t going to be home just yet to meet her daughter as she was stuck renting a room for the night due to the storm.

This one was a little harder to ignore as she rose up from her seat and shouted “Yes the storm! You can hear it outside!” She held the phone near the window as another bolt of thunder flashed through the sky before we heard it just a few seconds later “I don’t care what the news channel says. You can see this from the phone's stupid camera that I am stuck here! Otherwise I would be taking her back to my house Adrian. You lost the rights so do not complain to me about never being there when I’m needed!”

I tried to turn up the volume of my headphones as nobody exactly seemed happy being here. Oh sure they were happy about getting out of the rain, but it looked like we were all in the same boat. My own hands itched around my phone as I debated between trying to call someone I knew.

Should I try calling my parents to let them know I was coming home? Should I call Jake to let him know that I made it safely out of town and was now resting in a motel? Should I just go back to my car and try seeing if there was a gas station open nearby?

A few more shouts from the hiking couple and the angry woman made me rethink my decision to stay.

After all, the storm wasn’t that bad and there probably was a gas station open nearby. If it wasn’t open then the pumps outside might still be working so I could just fuel up my tank and find another motel… or someplace with a roof over where I could park my car and simply sleep inside it.

Stepping out into the hallway the old lady popped out of another room before staring at me in confusion “Why aren’t you sitting with the others to dry off? I don’t want my floors wet you know.”

The last bit was said with a small smile trying to be friendly… while also letting me know that she wasn’t kidding about the last part. My hand was already on the doorknob, but for the oddest reason I couldn’t make myself open up the door without at least explaining why I was leaving.

“Things are getting a little bit… charged in there.” I admitted out loud “Look can I just pay for the room now… or maybe you could give me some directions to a nearby gas station?”

She raised an eyebrow at the last statement, apparently surprised that I wasn’t going to let the storm/hurricane stop me “I take it you’re a little bit lost.”

I shrugged as she wasn’t wrong, but I really didn’t see what that had to do with anything “Just trying to get home as soon as I can.”

Another bolt of thunder rang loud outside as the old lady shook her head “It’s a pretty bad storm out there. Look why don’t you just stay a while, dry off, and I’ll let you have that room for free just as long as you don’t make me regret it in the morning?”

That made me raise an eyebrow at that statement “No offense… but why?”

Good charity always helped, but there were also limits to it. More to it than that she seemed a bit more surprised that I was still willing to go through the storm to find some gas rather than stay at the motel even with the offer of a free room thrown at my feet.

“Because I’m old. Happy?” She snapped at me with a hint of frustration “I lived a long life, own this place and do you see any family here? Any phone calls ringing through the house to see how I am doing in a storm like this?”

Her face turned into a rather bitter frown making her look a lot older… and a lot less friendly “I’m old, alone, no children, and barely any kin left alive to speak of. How often do you think I get company? This is a bad storm and I might as well provide some charity by not charging you all for a room in exchange for feeding you all a good meal… and feeling like I am not a senile old witch living who doesn’t want to live in a retirement home alone with very little family, and even fewer friends to speak of.”

She stared at me oddly for a moment before clearing her throat “Let me guess… you ran away from home, tried to make it out on your own… and now you want to see your kin again to see what they make of you or how you make of the place since you left. Possibly wondering if going back home is better than staying where you were.”

That statement was rather oddly on the mark. I doubt she’d understand why I left in the first place… either my home or the city I left, but it felt odd for her to get enough of a rough idea.

She cracked a small smile as if reading my mind “I’m old. I’ve seen people like you before and heard the story over and over again. The woman in there? Single mother twice divorced, married three times. First with a man, then a woman, then a richer man. Good at falling in love, but not staying in love with anyone besides her daughter and that would be up to debate.”

The old woman chuckled as if she was telling a good joke “The hikers? Looking for adventure, but annoyed at how reality doesn’t suit their TV saturied fantasy. They went into the woods trying to see the majesty of nature only to step on animal waste, poor plumbing, and a couple of rather nasty bug bites.”

She glanced at the room shaking her head “Of course a magical unicorn could dance in front of their faces and it wouldn’t be enough. They don’t want nature or majesty. They want something to change their lives instead of standing as a random diversion or footnote for their dull daily lives.”

“The two down on their luck men with ill fitting clothing?” She spoke with a grin that the Grinch would be proud of “They are probably trouble since they are down on their luck. They took a chance and they think it paid off, but they have their doubts and refuse to admit that they didn’t think it through while being far too late to pull back.”

“It’s not that I don’t understand that people are generally good…” I stated as I glanced back at the room “More that I’d rather not being in a room full of people arguing or shouting.”

Call me a bad person, but I wasn’t a fan of loud noises, muchless people shouting and screaming at one another.

That caused the old lady to chuckle a little “So you went to find the bathroom for peace and quiet? I must be off my game today. How about you join me in the kitchen so that I can ramble a little and you don’t get my floor wet?”

Was it wrong of me to want to say no, but at the same time unable to find myself to say it? The words rested on the tip of my tongue yet refused to leave it as the old woman grabbed my arm and essentially dragged me into the kitchen.

To my surprise the kitchen was a bit bigger than I had expected… Seriously it felt like the dimensions of this building were off! Maybe they just knocked down another room to make it a larger kitchen since this was a motel/hotel?

She went to work looking more like a kind old lady looking for company rather than… the less than happy grumpy old lady that made me nervous just a few minutes ago. Her hands moved quickly pulling out a chopping board and handed me a knife and some carrots much to my confusion.

“You wanted some peace and quiet. I didn’t say you couldn’t help out.” She spoke with a small smirk as apparently she had roped me in for kitchen duty without my knowledge

I took the knife as it was kind of hard to say ‘No’ to this old woman for some reason “You aren’t worried? I mean I could mess up or…”

“Stab me? Threaten me with a knife and try to rob or kill me?” She spoke in mocking humor “If I had to worry about that, then I wouldn’t have bothered inviting any of you in here and just kept the door locked... Then again… I’m old.”

She sighed as she started setting things up “Call me a fool, but I’ll place my money on dying from old age before someone gets around to stabbing me in the face with a knife.”

Without any more arguments she left me to the carrots chopping them up to smaller bits as she was busy tending to a rather large stew along with whatever else she could find in her fridge. As she kept cooking up more of the food I started to think that maybe half the reason why she was making this free meal was because she was trying to empty her fridge and she’d rather cook it as a meal for strangers rather than throwing it away.

Still my fears started to calm down a little as she just talked. Well more like she ranted to me about random things as I just nodded or gave a small word or two to let her know I was listening. A few of the other guests would knock on the door trying to find something. She would always respond, having the exact answer to what they wanted.

Sometimes she even left the kitchen to take some time out and talk to one of the guests giving out a few bits of advice or just talking to them… similar to how she guessed about my own circumstances and giving them some advice which… surprisingly they didn’t disagree with.

Usually there always seemed to be that one person who argued for the sake of arguing as nothing would make them happy, but she never ran into them… or they were not able to say no to the surprisingly spry old woman with a personality that kept people from disagreeing with her.

Once she was back in the kitchen after the seventh time of leaving to deal with her guests she stared at me with a slight hint of being impressed “You managed to keep everything in check here without me looking over your back? Who taught you how to cook?”

“My friend Cassy did. She said a man who is single needs to learn to cook for himself.” I spoke with a hint of amusement as how she had always teased me about it.

“Girlfriend?” The old lady spoke with a smirk

“Friend who liked my roommate instead of me.” I stated “I was just the third wheel.”

“Ah… not much luck in love then.” She replied shaking her head

“More like it was never for me.” I countered “I mean I do believe in it… but more that it’s reserved for other people instead of me.”

“Not worried about growing old, single, and dying a virgin?” She spoke a bit bluntly to my surprise

Then again she was old and she could probably get away with it since we’d never encounter each other after tonight “Too late for that. Reality already showed me that the cards just weren’t in it for me.”

She let out a soft, bitter, but humorous chuckle. There was a real hint of bitterness in her eyes that I knew quite well, but the soft attempt at trying to laugh at it only was done to try to lessen the sting that… sometimes the cards were never there as somebody forgot to add them in the deck.

The old woman sighed “She is quite the uncaring mistress isn’t she? Grow up rich and powerful. Have everyone know your name and in the end… single, alone, and waiting for death to show up. Funny in a cruel way fate can be letting one marry, remarry, and marry again while the rest of us never even got to try taking a swing at it?”

“That’s life. It’s bitter, sour… but just sweet enough to keep you wanting for more.” I answered much to her shock and amusement as she slapped her knee before letting out a hearty laugh

“Ah I think I like you! Shame about tonight though.” She replied as if an afterthought “I think you would have made a fine daughter.”

“Somehow I highly doubt that.” I replied off hand “I mean first of all... I’m a guy.”

“Bah. You have no sense of imagination.” She spoke in good humor as if that minor detail wasn’t important “Where’s your imagination?”

“Oh I have plenty of imagination, just none of it good.” I replied in stride

“Oh come on. That’s the best type of imagination you can have!” She spoke with a genuine grin while trying her best not to laugh “Come on now and let’s set out the table before seeing which one of those brats makes it through the night.”

I shook my head as I think I finally pegged her down. She was just one of those people who were so old… they just stopped caring what people thought of them. So what if she ticked off a few people with her attitude?

She highly doubted she would see any of them and she was old enough to know she wasn’t going to get any better so why not speak bluntly and say whatever she wanted to say?

I helped carry along some of the dishes and entered the dining room as everyone was still arguing a bit, but most of them calmed down at the magical sight of free food and booze that silenced most arguments. It was also probably a little bit shocking as nobody had been expecting a good meal after coming here in the middle of the night during a storm like this.

The brief moment of silence only lasted for a few seconds as reality kicked back in as they were now focused on the food or snapping at each other not to hog the chicken, or to pass one of the drinks around. The old woman just smiled at the sight as I sort of understood why she was doing it.

Anyone can be nice for a day and with the storm raging outside… Everyone inside was now ignoring the storm, eating a good meal, as some of the others started talking to one another. Mostly trying to find out what they were doing and what they were going to do when they leave as the flow of alcohol helped smooth over a few sore edges or let others drink away their worries.

If you squinted your eyes and let yourself ignore the bitterness of the storm outside… you could almost think it was like a family arguing at a dinner table. The old woman just wanted a little bit of company to fool herself that just for tonight... that she wasn’t alone.

She went from chair to chair stepping in to break up arguments or provide a bit of advice to those she thought needed it. Nobody argued with her as she took away empty plates and brought new ones full of food as some actually went to help her out with the mess left behind by the small feast.

It felt… nice to tell the truth as it was one of those moments that you’d remember just due to how odd… but nice life could be. You’d probably never run into it a second time, but just the thought or memory that it had happened was enough to warm the heart.

Eventually everyone had started splitting up and going to the rooms the old lady assigned to them as a few of us were left heading out to the motel rooms or being left inside the house if they drank too much and passed out or fell asleep.

Most of the others grumbled about getting up or borrowing something from the owner of the house to protect them from the storm before another knock on the door came. The old lady opened up the door and frowned as two police officers stood outside.

“Step inside or please step out of the way.” She spoke in a very bitter tone “I have a few guests who need their sleep.”

“Just came to check up on things… especially considering the weather.” The cop spoke up, casting his gaze on everyone he could see “Is everything alright?”

The old lady smiled before speaking in a venomous tone “It will be over soon enough. Just let this old lady have her last night in peace while the rest of you ingrates finish figuring out if you are building a shopping center over my home or a waste treatment plant when I finally die.”

The cop nodded for a moment before glancing at everyone “I’d suggest all of you get out of here as soon as the weather lets you.”

He and his partner walked back into the storm leaving a few of us confused and the ‘down on their luck men’ hiding in the dining room. A few of the others started heading out to their motel rooms, but a few stayed behind preferring to wait until the cops left or where out of ear shot.

The fat guy grumbled “What’s with their problem?”

The old lady shrugged “That fact that I’m old and still around. They don’t want reminders of the past and wish to move onto what they think will be a brighter future.” She practically spat “This house is old and the town might fare better if this entire place was torn down and replaced with some trivial toy for the masses to stare dumbstruck at while trying to forget how meaningless their lives have become.”

“Back in my day people were known… communities stood for something as you had leaders of communities who helped look after their neighborhood instead of complain about it!” She practically raised a fist and shook it to the door.

The other guests nodded as I couldn’t help, but wonder what the full story was. Why did cops come in the middle of this wretched storm just to tell people to pack up and leave?

The old woman continued her triad “While you might not always be happy at least you knew who you could argue to in order to get things done or find out what’s going on!” She spoke with growing disdain “Leaders hiding in the shadows as the mindless masses move along without knowing who to talk to or voice their complaints to. I may have been a mean old witch back in my day, but people knew they could curse me out if I screwed up or just come up and tell me if something needed to be fixed! Not wait in a stupid line for a stack of bloody useless papers to fill out in triplicate only to be ignored once you fill them out!”

She closed her eyes and sighed pinching her nose and trying to return back to the nice old lady who severed us dinner than the rather… meaner one who lost her good mood at the unexpected arrivals.

Some of the people in the room left ignoring her rant or not paying it any thought. Those that stayed she looked at for a moment before nodding as she took a deep breath “If I have one final lesson to give you all… just remember that anyone can be nice for a day. You folk should be a lot more careful in who you trust least it comes and bite you when you least expect it.”

We all left reaching our respective motel rooms with keys in hands before locking up for the night. The rooms weren’t bad, though they were kind of cheap. The room had a single bed, no TV, no windows, and a single table with a chair next to a lamp. There was a bathroom, but it was a small one… as apparently they didn’t want to spend too much money making this place.

I felt like going to bed… but my paranoia got the better of me as I moved the table and chair in front of the door wedging it shut. The old lady on the haunted looking house was a lot better than I thought, and this pit stop had been a nice experience… but the pistol resting by my side still told me to be careful.

“You are in a better place.” I told myself chastising myself “Oh what fools we must be! To see what must not be seen, and call forth the curse, yet think it a blessing nonetheless!”

The area was clean and well kept. There were cops nearby who even went out in a storm like this to make sure people were okay. The old lady was nice as my fears based on horror movies had been proven wrong and people were generally good people.

‘Generally good people’ was the keyword as I rubbed my wrists.

“Oh what A fool I must be to beg for the Curse and still this it was a Blessing now that I might escape it.” I muttered to myself.

Even after having driven far away from that place… a part of me began to doubt if I had truly left my troubles behind? I had friends… and I had ticked off a quite few people. I mean it would be foolish to think that they would try and follow me after I left but…

“It’s just paranoia.” I muttered to myself “Jack gave you the gun as a joke. Cassy would probably laugh… and Andrew would tell me to wait a day. If nothing happened then I was safe. Otherwise the police are nearby and 911 are just three buttons away.”

The storm raged outside howling like a beast from the depths of the Spire yet a crazy part of me still wanted to race back to my car and drive away! That I still hadn’t run far enough away to even think that I was able to relax.

In the morning I was going to get some gas, get back on the road, and simply go home.

Walking over to the bed I let the pistol rest near my side as tomorrow I was going to start my new life.