Darkside

Three

"Room service."

"No, thanks. I'm all good in here."

No one needs to clean up after me. I haven't touched anything. Anything I have touched has been attacked with the wipes. Nothing left behind.

"Actually, it's breakfast." This guy isn't giving up. "I just thought...well, you looked hungry when you arrived last night so I thought I'd do something nice."

Shit. It's him. The boy from the reception desk.

"Oh, right."

I stagger, like I'm half-drunk, across the room and pull the door apart. The stage curtain drops and Phoenix is in place. She doesn't care who sees her in sweats, nude-faced, gruff hair. Luvvie would be horrified, but that's why she didn't make it. She focused on all the wrong things.

"Thank you."

The plate is warm to the touch, it's pleasant on my fingers, but the release doesn't come instantly.

"Orson."

He looks at me expectantly.

"Wells?"

Laughter bubbles in his throat. I must be wrong.

"No, I'm Orson. I just thought I should introduce myself."

Why? Who is he? What does he want?

Does he know?

"Phoenix."

He doesn't react. He doesn't know.

"Well, Phoenix, I don't know how long you're planning to stay today, but I'm here if you need me for anything."

"Still?" He stares blankly. "Well, you worked all night, now you're still here?"

"No one to cover." His shoulders rise and fall hard. "Last boy quit. Just me around. Why, you aren't looking for a job, are you? It's pretty easy."

Ooh...money...

But freedom isn't working in a motel, is it? I didn't escape Luvvie to have a small, nonexistent life. I need more, I deserve more, for the first time in my life I'm gunna focus on me. A girl like Phoenix is too important for a motel in a place like this.

"I'm outta here before noon. Nice try though."

"Well, you have until dark. Ain't no one needing that room anytime soon..."

I slam the door a little too hard in his face.

Dark...Darkside...does he know?

I drop the plate on the bed, beans spilling on the sheets, and I fall into the chair. With a pounding heart I gulp thickly, willing my body to calm the hell down.

"He doesn't know, he can't know." I need these words to sink in. "Place would be swarming with cops if he did."

Orson isn't a Darkside kinda guy anyway. I can see that just by looking at him. He's crisp looking, clean-cut, the sort of guy who only uses the Internet for fake news and social media.

Darkside would scare him off, and rightly so. It should've scared me off.

If only...

I should never have gone over to the Darkside. That's what I know now. Even the word screams trouble, yet I went for it anyway. I tumbled over, wanting something exciting to happen, needing my dull existence to dissipate.

But the Darkside doesn't mess about. It sucks you in, chews you up, and spits you out.

It spat me out.

It left me with nothing.

I need to get out of this town now before it catches up with me once more...

***

"Why the fuck aren't there any buses today?"

My fist aches. Punching the bus stop wasn't my wisest move but if I can't get out of here then what will I do? I can't stay here anymore.

Not with Orson.

Why the hell do I even know someone's name? That's stupid. Admittedly it felt good to show off my own, Phoenix No Surname, but now I have to go. Orson knows too much about me. The way his eyes stare at me, I feel like he really knows me. Too much. In a way I promised myself no one would ever again.

"Are you okay, love?"

An old dear grabs my attention. I nearly smack her until I realize 'love' is a term of endearment rather than a reference to old me.

"Just trying to get out of here, that's all."

"Not today. You can't escape here on a Sunday. Tomorrow morning though..."

The motel comes back into my vision. Orson, I might be back after all.

Oh God, how will I keep Orson away? He can't know more? With a bit of luck, it'll be someone else...

"Funny looking midday."

My eyes narrow.

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Than makes jokes about you? Nah, 'fraid not. Like I said, there isn't anyone else to help."

"Well, looks like I can't escape so one more night for me."

Orson's eyes pierce me. I don't like it. No one needs to look at Phoenix like that.

"Okay, well you can have the same room. Fortunately for you, we aren't busy." I take the key from him. "Also, fortunately for you, it's my birthday, so we're going to share a drink tonight."

My heart stops. The walls close in around me.

"You don't have anyone else to share a drink with?"

"Maybe I do, maybe not." His smirk chills me. "But I do want one with you."

"Why?"

"Can't a guy ask a girl for a drink without all the defensiveness?"

"No. Not when he doesn't know her. You don't know me at all."

"Exactly. This is a small town. A new face is welcome. If you're here for another night and you weren't planning on it, then you must be free, so why not? What else you got going on?"

I won't even dignify that with an answer. I grab the key and stalk off. Honestly if Orson is sad enough not to have friends to hang out with on his birthday, that's on him.

He's wrong that I don't have anything going on anyway. I always have something going on. Leaving Luvvie Thompson behind isn't straightforward, my work isn't done, just because I'm stuck. It's the perfect time to reflect anyway, to check the trail I left behind, to wipe off any marks anywhere.

The only challenge will be keeping offline. I need to avoid the Darkside at all costs.