Walls

08

The Motel Cicada was not as extravagant as it sounded. But it was the only sign of human existence visible for miles ahead. Abbie climbed out of the car taking in the building with a skeptic's eye.

Elias rolled his eyes at her, but she did not feel any different.

Walking into a motel with someone she barely knew was not vibing right with her. Her mind ran wild with so many horrible scenarios. Was Elias working with the gunman to kill her?

Was he only pretending to be shocked when she finally told him that this was 2021 and not 2016 as he had thought?

She couldn't help but think that a tall and handsome man like Elias Castaldo could not have ended up in a car with her unless he had ulterior motives.

Why was he in that car wreck with her in the first place? He couldn't remember. Just like Abbie, Elias had confessed that the last thing he can remember is his time in college, in 2016. Part of her brain argued that he would have shot her dead already if he wanted that. He had a gun after all. But still, Abbie kept a distance as she walked into the dingy motel behind him, watching his every step.

The building was a low maintenance type of motel with only half of the overhead lights flashing on. The dark and worn-out flooring adding to the dark and could-be-a-portal-to-hell aesthetic. The air smelled stale and dusty.

Abbie couldn't see anything other than a hazy silhouette of a person behind the counter.

She tried not to think of the way Elias' butt looked in his pants as he confidently strode over to the front desk and booked a room. When Abbie halted behind him closer to the front desk, she could see that the lady behind the counter was a tall blonde in sweatpants and a loose cardigan.

The receptionist ran a pair of tired eyes over the cuts and bruises on Elias' face and turned to examine the same on Abbie's. But nothing she saw made her flinch.

She looked bored as she typed into a computer whatever Elias was saying. He plucked a credit card out of his pocket and flashed it to the woman with a charming smile. The woman did not look impressed.

She entered the details and handed him a keycard.

"Your room's on the second floor, take a right at the top of the stairs," she sighed.

"Thank you!" Elias chirped happily, which again had no effect on the woman whatsoever.

The fact that his charm was not working on the woman seemed to affect Elias. If the scrunched eyebrows and the sour look on his face was any indication. Abbie bit her lips to keep from laughing.

Climbing up a creaky staircase they arrived at the top taking a right turn to another dark corridor. The vases placed in strategic places along the corridor made Abbie wonder if they were covering termite holes in the carpet or rat holes in the walls. Both the scenarios made her shudder.

Elias checked the number on his keycard and walked to the door marked with a 203 plaque. He swiped the card and the door clicked open.

As soon as they walked in to the room and locked themselves inside, Elias turned to Abbie, "Are you sure this is 2021? That sounds a bit crazy"

"I know. But look."

Elias' eyes landed on the little calendar on the bedside table. It had a calendar for 2021. He cursed loudly, lowering himself onto the bed which was the only piece of furniture in the room that anyone could sit on.

Abbie's mind involuntarily wondered what lay underneath all the layers of clothing, and what he would look propped up on his elbows at the center of the bed, with no clothes on. But she wiped the thought away, choosing to lean against a tiny table just in front of the bed that had a few water bottles on it.

Her thirst was long gone, replaced with dread. She emptied a bottle of water nevertheless. It was the single good thing she'd felt for a while. She watched Elias kneed his temples and run his fingers all over his head, messing up his hair. He didn't bother combing them back neatly.

On the wall behind Elias, above the headboard was a small TV stuck to the wall. She was wondering what TV shows were still airing in 2021 when Elias let a loud sigh, sagging in his suit.

"I don't remember a single thing. It's like someone completely wiped my memory of the last five years! Jeez, I can't believe this is 2021 already!"

"I know. Can I have your phone? I can't hack into mine."

Elias gave her a confused look, "You can hack into phones?"

When Elias had proposed that they find someplace to "figure it out" she had imagined that he had a plan. But clearly, he did not. She had to take matters into her own hand.

"Yeah."

Elias looked impressed before tossing her his phone.

The model looked exactly like the one she had in her pocket. It also had the same weird timer counting down every second and the set of text messages from the same unknown number. The only difference was that he was called Agent 24.

Abbie tried turning the phone off. But it prompted for a password. His phone was riddled with the same security that hers was. It was unbreakable. What the heck!

Abbie let out a deep sign to match the one that Elias let out.

"I'm taking it that you can't hack into the phone?" he raised a thick eyebrow.

"No. Someone installed a high-level security system into both our phones. I can't turn it off. We'll have to probably wait until the battery dies. But even then, I don't think that there's a chance for a reboot without some security measure getting in the way."

"Do you think that I can try my password on it?"

Abbie passed him the phone, praying that he was not someone like her who made it a point to change her passwords every single year.

"It's probably my dog's name - Tito! Nope? My niece - Kendall? Nope? That's odd...what can the heck of a password be?"

"I don't know," Abbie said, looking around the room for inspiration. Maybe she could find some form of access if she plugged it into a computer. People rarely bothered putting additional security into internal file systems or file transfers. Maybe she could find a way into the system that way. She hoped.

But the only problem was that they had no computer. The TV looked too old to have a USB port. Perhaps it was there for its antique value.

"We need to steal the computer from the front desk," Abbie made it a point to sound less like she was doubting herself. But the crack in her voice was too late to cover up.

Elias gave her another confused look.

She shrugged, "The water is already way above our heads. I stole a car."

Elias eyed her for several minutes before blowing out another loud sigh and bringing himself to his feet.

Abbie caught a whiff of his scent - a pricey cologne mixed with the metallic smell of blood, as he walked over to her.

"This better be worth it," he said before heading towards the door.