Castle of the Damned | ✔

Chapter 36: And When It Rains, It Fucking Pours

For as long as Dess could remember, she'd associated the days of the week with colours. Dark green for Mondays, bright yellow Wednesdays, Thursdays dipped in midnight blue.

She couldn't remember which day she lived in now, but decided it was thoroughly grey.

She stood in front of the budget hotel in Aubenas, shielded by its canopy. Lightning flashed and thunder clapped soon after, wind blowing droplets of rain into her face; water poured down from the heavens relentlessly, like a long curtain falling at the end of a play. Dess stared at cars getting soaked in the parking lot, water flowing from streets into gutters, power lines at risk of being struck by lightning and leaving parts of Aubenas without electricity in the process.

She gathered her courage, glanced at Google Maps on her phone screen one last time, and pulled the hood of her unfortunately-not-waterproof jacket up. Then, she sprinted off, braving the miserable weather.

She instantly cursed under her breath.

This sort of thing happened every summer; there'd be days upon days of hot, sunny weather, but they inevitably got broken up by one or two-day intervals of thunderstorms and heavy downpour at least once. Dess didn't mind that as long as she didn't have to venture outdoors. She hated the rain, she decided as she raced through old streets, narrowly avoiding passersby and their umbrellas. Water assaulted her clothes, soaked through her shoes and defiled her glasses. A cold chill settled in her bones, making her shiver.

It took her about five minutes at full speed to reach the town's main square and Café le Château along with it. Ironically, Aubenas had a castle, too. Dess found the café's name disturbingly fitting and concluded Erin Halloran had a twisted sense of humour. She didn't ponder the name for too long, though. Barely avoiding being run over by a valiant cyclist, Dess raced to reach the establishment and didn't stop until she found herself safely in the outdoor seating area, finally protected from the rain by its awning.

She caught her breath, took her glasses off and wiped them clean with her sleeve, ignoring the noises of pattering rain, clinking glasses and talking guests; she was used to far quieter environments than this one. Once she wore her glasses again, she looked around properly and soon spotted Erin, seated at a small table next to the café's window, warm orange lamplight spilling outside.

Dess approached, feeling quite literally like a sponge dunked into a bucket of cold water, and plopped herself down in the empty chair opposite of Erin. She was certain her irritation showed clearly on her face: not even the fact that Erin, whose hair had turned rainwater-dark, had had to conquer the downpour as well rid her of her foul mood. Erin, after all, sat here comfortably by the restaurant's heater with a glass of white wine and was therefore undeserving of any and all pity.

"Whatever reason you have for summoning me here," Dess began icily, "it better be very good. Because we're staying in the same hotel, our rooms are literally in the same hallway, and there's nothing you couldn't simply have told me once you came back there. So let's hear your excuse for making me run through all this fucking rain, shall we?"

Erin gave her a rather annoying little smirk, taking a sip of her wine. "I didn't force you to come here," she retorted. "I only texted you to let you know I had something important to tell you and that I would be sitting here for a bit. You could've waited, because, as you said, I would've returned to the hotel eventually. But I gather you didn't have the patience."

"Because you said you had something important to say that I would want to hear. You knew I'd want to know as soon as possible. So you tricked me."

"I'll admit the phrasing of the text was a strategic effort to some extent," Erin said casually, finishing her wine. "But it's not technically a trick if it's the truth, and even if we do consider it a trick, falling for it may be on you."