The Reduction

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

James

As the cold water of the sink met with James' hands, he stood there for a moment, letting it flow through his fingers. The water covered every inch of his waterproof skin as he turned his palms around. He watched as the water streamed through the creases in his palm and dripped off the sides. After a couple moments, he decided to gather himself and actually wash his hands. It had just been a stressful night and James didn't know where he stood with Zara. Should he pretend that it never happened? Should he apologize? Should he just leave? He was never really welcomed with open arms into the motel. He was kind of forced by Danker.

Danker. Where was he? He was supposed to come back many days ago. Zara would just say to be patient. But James couldn't be patient anymore. Danker was his friend too, even if they weren't great friends, he worried that something bad had happened to him. He could tell that Zara felt the same way. Most days she would stand by the window and just peak out, hoping to see his truck pull into the driveway. James didn't want to think that Danker just left them to rot. He cared way too much about Zara to ever do that to her. Then what did happen to him? Did he get captured by the Government? Did they Reduce him because he didn't say where Zara was?

James' head was spinning as he leaned against the sink, the water running loudly. Snapping back into reality, he turned off the faucet and made his way back into the motel room. The room was different now. There was an awkward tension. It was dark. The windows were always shut, but this day just seemed off. Darker. James shuffled over to his bed to pull the sheet back up and place the pillows neatly against the headboard. He then started to pick up old, dirty clothes off the floor and throw them into a pile. Moving towards Zara's bed, he grabbed some her shirts and socks and put them into the pile as well.

Zara was still sleeping. Even though it was nearly 4 pm, Zara hadn't gotten out of bed to use the bathroom or eat. She had decided to sleep all day. James just figured it was probably because she didn't get much sleep from the night before. Plus, he was kind of relieved that he didn't have to converse with her after the fight they had. Walking lightly around the room, trying not to wake her, James cleaned up the rest of the motel room. He packed his backpack up completely with everything that it had originally, minus the alcohol. He and Zara had already finished that a while ago. Digging through a few drawers, James had found a knife and put it into his boot. He gathered everything that wasn't his, which he guessed was Zara's, and put them near her side of the room and in her backpack neatly.

He felt bad for kind of going through her stuff so he would barely look into her bag and mostly stacked her stuff next to it. He then made his way to the small table in the corner of the room which held the last box of food that they had. All that was left was a box of honey grand crackers. They had already gone through all the other food and Danker had taken some for himself. James made a mental note to go and fetch them groceries. As he picked up the box, a loud knock struck the door.

James instantly turned to the door. Staring at it for a second then looking back at Zara. She was sitting up in her bed bleary-eyed. They were puffy and the dark circles under them were prominent as her hair fell out of her ponytail. A look of fear crossed her eyes as she stared back at James. Another knock broke the silence as a muffled voice shouted, "Mr. Danker!" from behind the door.

'Shit!' James thought as he realized that Danker probably never paid for the extra time that they had spent at the motel. After he quietly made his way to the door, he took he deep breath and then unlocked it. He opened the door just a crack to see an older woman standing before him.

She had a wide smile on her face, making her wrinkles prominent. She was also super tall compared to the average older woman. She probably stood at about 5'11. James found himself at eye level with her. Her lips wear painted red but were still cracked and her eyes were a piercing light blue. They were practically holding James captive. Her face dropped from a smile when she saw James, making his heart drop.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir, I thought this was Mr. Danker's room!" She said apologetically, already making her way back towards the front lobby.

"Oh, no, it is!" James shouted back, stepping more out of the doorway to get her attention. The woman turned back around and smiled sweetly. She clapped her frail hands together and made her way back towards James.

"Okay, I was pretty sure that time! I even kept repeating the room number in my head on my way over here so I didn't forget!" She giggled causing James to smile unconsciously. The woman generated pure warmth and happiness which was very refreshing to James.

"Uh, sorry, my name is James. I am Danker's nephew." James reached his hand out to shake hers as spoke. She let out an "Ahh, I see." while she shook his hand gently with both her cold hands.

"Pleased to meet you, James. You are a very handsome young man." She grinned, making James slightly blush. He hasn't been able to recognize himself these past couple of days so the compliment carried some weight.

"Haha, thank you, ma'am," James replied shyly. He ran a hand through his hair as the woman motioned towards the lobby.

"Of course, I would normally let the adults handle the money stuff, but I'm assuming Mr. Danker isn't here to discuss if you guys will be staying any longer." James shook his head while looking down. He prayed that Danker paid in advance for the rooms because James didn't have the money to afford it.

"Well, I was just coming over to tell him that his big payment runs out tomorrow morning. So if he wants to stay another couple nights he needs to pay for that latest tomorrow morning." She beamed as she played with the silver rings on her long fingers. James exhaled in relief as he mentally thanked Danker.

"Thank you so much! he actually mentioned that we would be taking off early tomorrow morning!" James beamed back at the woman.

"Okay, that sounds swell, James. Thank you for letting me know. Just have him check out so I know to clean up after you guys." the woman said as she rested a hand on James' arm. He nodded in agreement as she started to walk back to the lobby.

"Uh, do you happen to have a complimentary dinner by chance?" James asked hoping that she would have any type of food. She turned back around looking a bit puzzled."Uh, Uncle Danker won't be back until after dinner. So, I'm kind of on my own today." James shrugged a bit quieter than before. The woman scanned him for a second, causing James anxiety. Then she smiled brightly and motioned him to follow her.

He quickly shut the door and followed her into the lobby. Once the door to the lobby shut, the woman motioned James to sit on the leather couch in the corner of the room. The lobby was small yet bright. Huge windows allowed the sun to beam through. It was kind of outdated, but so was the furniture in the room where James was staying so he didn't think much of it. The woman made her way behind the big desk that faced the couch. James sat awkwardly on the couch as he scanned the room.

"I know you aren't Danker's nephew."