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Chapter 9: Stranded

Stranded

~

"Getting anything, Raine?" Zen could hear Kai shouting in the background. He finally put his phone to rest and stood up. The yellow flash of light ventured towards them till it shone directly at Kai's face.

Raine shut his phone's flashlight. "This is ridiculous." He plopped down on the chair and exhaled sharply. "First, the bus had gotten so far when we got through. Then second, because of the typhoon, the district police decided it was the perfect time to play roadblocks and keep our bus on the wrong side of the disaster zone, so it can't even return to pick us up," Raine narrated. "And the news from university says they're preparing to send a ride but we have to wait till morning. To sum it all up, we are stuck here," he finished.

"You know, the old man from the store said we could stay in the inn for tonight," Kai said. "We should be able to get two rooms. What do you think, Zen?"

"I'm down with the idea," Zen agreed. It wasn't like she had anything to lose. Besides, sleeping inside was ten times better than sleeping outside waiting for the typhoon to sweep them off their feet like love at first sight.

Taking a moment to glance at her phone, Zen recalled her message to Kate. She'd informed Kate of her situation, even made her swear not a word of it should reach her father. With that assurance in place, she could finally be at peace. She could now make decisions on her own without fearing for the outcome.

"We don't have a choice, do we?" Raine responded.

"Nope," Kai replied. "By the way, we have to pay them if we're staying in the inn."

"Money's not the issue."

~-~

"Yes? How may I help you?" The spooky old lady behind the front desk welcomed them as they entered the inn.

"Rooms," All three of them said in unison.

"Certainly. We have plenty of empty rooms. How many would you like?"

Zen felt relief wash over her soul at those words. For a moment, she'd disturbingly thought the whole getting a room thing would be like a scene in those movies where the characters were forced to share a room due to all others being fully booked except for that one room. It was a very common chichè trope many writers used to develop chemistry between the characters. Zen would never put something as stupid as that in her stories. Real life is always different. And the old lady saying she had enough rooms to facilitate all of us proves it, Zen said in her mind.

"Two, please," Kai said. "Raine and I will share one," he added, flashing a small reassuring smile at Zen.

"Fourteen hundred for two rooms."

"Great." Raine, who was standing in between them, didn't look like he minded the arrangement as Zen found him pulling out his wallet from his pocket.

"We don't accept credit cards. Only cash," the old lady specified.

"Why not?" Raine asked. The credit card remained intact on his outstretched hand as the old lady refused to accept it.

"Young man, do I look like the type of person who knows how those things even work?" the old lady remarked, her spit flying everywhere as a result of a few missing teeth.

"Now what, Mr. Money's not the issue?" Kai said to Raine mockingly.

"I have five hundred in my wallet. Cash," Zen offered.