American Psycho

Ch. 2

Places can put on masks just like people; they seem nice, friendly, clean. They can deceive you and make up stories to meet their will. When Ivy started to look for the infamous forgotten house of the Appalachians, she meets one man that is somehow charming yet seems distant.

That is all Mirai got so far. She scratched the back of her neck as she re-read her own words. It was better than nothing, right?

The flight; booked, paid for. The hotel; the closest one was in the middle of a urban sprawl and very expensive. The general place she was thinking of was lower-state West Virginia. Not the greatest place on Earth; her friend said she went there, and was surprised to see so much trash and roadkill everywhere. "Don't ever go there," She warned. "Its like trash with a little patch of grass."

Mirai's friend might have been a little over dramatic about this. People couldn't possibly live in a dump without the health department finding out. It would then be labeled as a health hazard and the owners would kindly be asked to move out to another location, or clean the place up as quickly as possible without disturbing the peace. 

The woman clicked back on to the internet icon on her laptop, and started to type in Google in the search bar. The thought of Craigslist came to mind, but she pushed it aside; wouldn't be also ironic if she put up an ad on there for a room then when she got there, she would end up dead by morning? The Craigslist Killer would be very pleased if she made that decision, and would make sure to show her a note before she died; Also, thanks for putting that ad up. Had a wonderful time tearing you apart!

Or, at least that's what she thought he would do.

There's better ways she wanted to die, of course, and one of those is a simple shot to the head. Easy, quick, hopefully painless from what others had said. Mirai didn't want to die of any natural causes when it came down to it; it would be slow and never ending, taking its time like nothing in the world could ever stop it. She would either die in a bed or in a hospital, and hospitals gave her the creeps anyway, so that was out of the question.

When she did go searching, though, something popped up. Room needs rented out! Master bedroom with full bath! Owner (me) needs help with payments; will go cheap, but $100 is the limit. It looked reasonable. The address looked descant... From what she could tell. Wooden Branch Road. Was that even a place? Turns out, it was. In the boonies, but the nearest neighbors were five miles down the road, evenly spaced apart and homely. The state was West  Virginia. Of course it was. Only they could name a place like that. Wooden Branch. Maybe it was a joke, seeing how an actual branch was wooden. 

There was a number and an email. It would feel odd to talk to someone from this place; it would be like talking to someone who you couldn't understand, yet they expected you too understand them perfectly. 

Mirai pulled up her email page, clicked compose and started off with that room you want to rent out. She continued to say that she would like to rent it, and when she was planning to come in -later in the month was the best time, that way she could talk to her publisher, Martin Gale, to get a loan to start her off. She made no mention of her book. What Mirai did say was that she wanted to travel and didn't trust hotels. 

She expected an answer within a week, and during that week, she'd traveled to her publisher -a taller man whose dark hair was always trimmed and brushed back- and they settled on $15,000; a perfect amount to start off. That would be a good one hundred and fifty months if her math was correct. 

As she started to pack her things, Mirai heard the ping of her laptop, signifying a new email. The man, who by the end of the email called himself RJ Moorse, replied by saying that would be fine; he would get everything ready for her and will be happy to see her once she arrives.

The whole idea of going to another state and feeling like an alien still swam in her mind. Mirai didn't even want to meet this man in fear of him pointing out her almost exotic accent. It would be news to her hearing a whole different world of voices and sounds, seeing rolling hills instead of plains she's come to know and love. 

Would it be strange for others as well? Mirai hoped so. It would be very awkward if it were just her. 

[Also, Wooden Branch is a made up town; as far as I know, there is no town named that so its totally fictional.]