Bloody Business

Chapter 9: Unexpected additions

The motel room was identical to all the others and probably the only normal aspect of any other motel; two beds, a washroom, and a chair that is always placed near the corner of one of the beds, like it was made for someone to sit and watch the other person sleep. Nothing else to watch really, there was no tv, unlike other motel rooms.

"This place more and more makes me think we're in the 1920s." Roman muttered, looking at all the interiors.

"The 1920s had very nice interiors back in the day, if this place wasn't a murder motel, it would be a successful tourist motel." Noemie gave a soft smile, looking at the curtains and the designs of the bedding.

For sure, this motel probably was designed in the early 1900s, maybe even considered a hotel before it was deemed too small or short since it certainly wasn't built like a regular motel floor plan. The red dining room down below would have previously been a speakeasy, the interior certainly made it look the part just without the furniture and bar. It's deep in the woods, difficult to find, and there's not many records of it on the maps Noemie searched through, physical or digital.

The radios that each room likely used to have would've been taken away or stolen over the years when it was abandoned, the same fate could be said for some of the antique furniture, why else would most of it be modern?

Roman, ever the wary and cautious person he was, investigated the room thoroughly, testing the mirrors and inspecting the washroom.

She slung her bag onto one of the beds, and then made an alarmed expression, whipping her head around and patting her body, acting frantic.

"What's wrong?" Roman came out of the washroom after hearing her worry, knitting his brows in concern.

"I think I left something behind." she turned and rushed out the door after grabbing her key, leaving her items behind. "I'll be back!"

"Wait!" Roman followed after her, looking back at the room before shutting the door behind him.

"What did you leave behind?" He asked from behind her.

It was her camera which she purposefully left in the locker room but pretended to forget as she walked with intention down the hallway, turning her head side to side at each of the rooms.

"My camera, I need it for work, and I don't exactly have a replacement, along with some other items I may need for the night."

That part was a lie, she did have an extra, but it was at work and not her favorite.

They ended up finding the staircase leading to the second floor, all the way at the end.

"I don't think your camera would be here." Roman attempted to ease the worried face she put on, planting a hand on her shoulder. "It might be back in the locker room, but what other items would you need?"

There was a door underneath the staircase, it was built for storage, but there were rarely any western staircases built for this.

Noemie boldly went up and turned the knob on it, opening it to reveal nothing but cleaning products inside, she searched the shelves.

"I just remembered I can't sleep unless I have some sort of sleep aid or medicine, I'm hoping there would be a storage room somewhere." She sighed as she closed the staircase door.

"Nothing in there will help."

Roman hummed behind her, looking around.

"We could ask the guy at the front desk, or I could help you?"

She shook her head.

"I don't want to burden you." She gave him a grin.

Her eyes climbed up the stairs, pondering whether she should go up and see the rooms there, if they were all shut like the ones downstairs, or if they were different. Roman could see where her eyes went and took her hand, grabbing a hold of her attention and gently tugged her away from it.

Around the corner and down the hall to the lobby, they could see Gavin conversing with the guy behind the desk. Hand in his pocket as the other arm laid down on the top of the wood surface. Roman frowned in suspicion as he held Noemie's hand tighter, the lady waved at them as they walked closer.

"Hmm? Can't sleep?" He asked both of them, shifting his body to face the two as they got closer, the guy at the desk also turning to see them, greeting with his usual smile.

"Yes, I was actually looking for a storage room with something to help my insomnia."

The polite guy behind the desk stood up.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that, I have some melatonin but it's in a restricted office, if you could wait just one moment while I go get it?" He pointed to somewhere down the other hall, stepping outside of his desk.

"That would be nice, thank you."

He quickly walked down the hall with his keys jingling in his hand. Such a 90s feeling this place gave off sometimes, oh if only I could properly describe the interior and exterior to you, it really was such a lovely place.

"Where's Everett?"

"He went to go check out the locker room, to look for something." Gavin answered. "What are you two doing?" He eyed them together.

She glanced between the two men, sighing.

"He was helping me look, I have to go and get my camera from the locker room anyhow." She let go of Roman's hand, going over to the heavy door.

"Roman, would you be alright waiting here for me? I'll be back soon." She glanced over at Gavin, nodding her head to him, he seemed to understand.

"Maybe you can also express to Gavin the issues you have with him? I promise you it will be helpful."

The redheaded man groaned, not really arguing with the lady as she went through the door, but also clearly not enjoying the tall man's company.

"So..." Gavin turned his head to him, still resting a hand on the top of the desk, looking Roman in the eye. "What issues do you have with me exactly?" He asked him, this time not really giving his usual sarcastic grin, something Roman clearly noticed.

"... Something about you is not normal."

"What? Like you?" He teased him.

Down in the locker room, Noemie found Everett looking through the locker room, aimlessly, not sure what to find.

"Are you alright?" She softly said to him, closing the door behind her silently.

He whipped his head around to see her standing there, almost jumping in his own skin. He heaved a sigh of relief.

"Goodness, you almost scared me." He put his hands on his hips as he calmed himself.

"Forgive me, but you looked lost, so I had to ask."

The European man looked around the room as she went over to her locker, opening it to search inside, looking underneath her coat.

"Gavin told me to look down here for something, but the only thing I can find is no cameras." He shrugged. "So, I don't know why he made me come down here. This room isn't any different from the servers' locker room."

"Hmm, well maybe-" She stopped, and an actual feeling of worry overwhelmed her as she looked up and down her locker, closing the metal door and searching around the room, on the benches, the top of the lockers, and searching inside the women's washroom.

"What's wrong?"

"My camera, it's not here, I know I left it here." She told him, looking around the place.

"Why would you bring a camera here?" He asked as he began to follow her around, helping her search anyway.

"I kept forgetting it at work, and the one time I finally remember to take it home with me, I forget it again."

She groaned in frustration. He wrapped his arms around her to stop her from moving, she fought to pry herself from his arms as he spoke.

"Settle down, settle down. Is this why you're still up and out of your room?"

"Yes, that and-" She stopped fussing, hearing something in the kitchen, slowly turning her head to it.

Everett also heard it, glancing at the kitchen door from the corner of his eye as he let her slip out of his arms. It was a click clacking noise, just a few steps.

"Have you, by chance, checked the kitchen?"

She shook her head, they both walked towards it, she pushed the door open to reveal an elegant looking lady, sitting on the kitchen island, holding the woman's camera.

A body whose silhouette was shown only through a trench coat that wrapped around her more loosely than a chef coat would, brown hair like Noemie's, except it was more vibrant in color and shine, put up in a neat bun, her red lips that accentuated her wide smile, sharper at the corners than a cheshire cat's.

The thing that made the noise: Her black heeled boots, the heels were very sharp, one wrong misstep and the poor wearer could snap their ankle in the completely wrong way, oh but she walked in them with such ease as she hopped off the kitchen counter, noticing their presence.

"Oh, hello Noe!" She said in that velvety bold voice of hers.

Noemie pointed her eyes at the camera held in the lady's palm, her sharp nails tapping against the lens.

"Good evening."

The lady clacked her sharp heels against the floor, walking towards Noemie as Everett tried to pull her back, she stayed still.

"This is some fancy item you brought, but you do realize I don't allow items like these in this building, right?" The lady held up the camera to her with one hand, the other laced through the sling that was intended to go around her neck. Her British accent made her sound cheery; it confused a lot of people to hear her tone, Noemie knew better.

"It wasn't for use; I was planning to bring it home with me after work. There are no pictures of this place, I'm sure you've already looked through it." She reasoned with her. Her French accent along with her quiet tone made her talking sound softer, cautious, firm.

The woman stepped forward out of Everett's grasp, fear in his eyes at the smiling lady, the woman made the lady turn her body to her as the woman walked around her, looking her up and down, just stopping to make the lady's back face the kitchen island table.

"You've always had a good reason for everything." She kept the camera away from the woman, holding it up to the light. "But this is still against the rules."

"I'm aware, but you must forgive me for this, I have to bring my camera home from work."

The lady, likely the manager, lifted up the neck sling, her nails fiddling with the plastic ring on it. Noemie was stiff, unmoving as the lady took the sling and slipped it over her head, letting it fall around her neck, and moving the plastic ring, sliding it up until it almost tightened around her neck.

The plastic ring was originally to help tighten the sling around a hand or arm to make it less likely to drop or lose, but here, the lady made it out to be a leash, walking behind Noemie with that same sharp red smile.

"What are you doing?" Everett frowned, stepping closer before the lady made a movement with one of her boots.

She pressed a foot down the front side and slid it back, Everett could see something sharp glinting underneath and froze. He wanted to reach out, but that thing glistening underneath her shoe, he couldn't.

Noemie also mouthed the word 'no' to him as she kept a blank face, letting the lady do as she pleased. The lady only wanted to do one simple thing: lift up the camera she held behind Noemie and take a photo of the back of the woman's head, with the neck sling tightened around her like a leash, her hand, with those nails, in the frame, pawing at the tips of her hair. She then reached over her shoulder and plopped the camera into Noemie's hands.

"Don't you dare lose that." The lady leaned her head over Noemie's shoulder, speaking into her ear.

"I'll keep it close."

The lady chuckled, her eyes curved crescent in joy, like something about the woman brought her great entertainment, she stepped back away, giving the woman space, her hands folded behind her back like an innocent child. The lady was always as happy to see the woman as an average child would be in seeing the amusement park.

"Are you alright?" Everett rushed to pull her close, looking her up and down whilst also keeping an eye on the lady.

The lady put a finger to her lips, a shushing gesture as she stared him down, before going through the door that led into the red room, the clacking of her boots disappearing soon after. The man and woman both let out a breath neither knew they were holding.

The woman held up the camera, cupping it like an injured bird as she checked the buttons and functions.

"I'm sorry for that, are you alright?"

"That's what I asked you."

The two stared at each other, and then both turned their heads to the door leading to the red room, perhaps waiting to see the lady's face in the window.

"We should go back up before she decides to surprise us."

She took his arm, and they swiftly left the room, passing through the locker room, he looked behind them as they opened the door to the stairs going up.

"You never answered my question."

The woman hummed, wondering what he meant.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, of course, so far the only pain she has caused me is the trauma of this nightmare career."

He chuckled with her as they walked up the stairs, back out the door to see the desk person was back from his little errand, waiting for them outside the door.

"Here, I hope the melatonin helps." He said as he handed her a small plastic jar, the pills rattling inside as the woman looked around to see Roman calmly standing next to Gavin, arms crossed, but not as disturbed as before.

"Thank you, I hope you have a safe night shift."

He waved a hand in front of him, brushing it off.

"I'll be fine, this place has its benefits."

Sometimes disturbing visitors come at night, whenever the woman isn't around the area, we like to watch and see what happens from afar. The desk person has a gun hidden underneath, and the guards could always use fresh meat, some patrons don't like people who have been in the freezer too long, it doesn't make them feel as special and the flavor isn't the same.

The others also waved him goodnight as Noemie went up to Roman, holding her camera and the sleeping aid.

"I suppose there's nothing else I need, and you?"

He hummed, looking at Gavin, and then eyeing Everett. The tall man pushed up his glasses and put a hand on Everett's back, beginning to walk back to their room and looking over his shoulder at the two, beckoning them to follow.

Roman sighed.

"I guess he wants to look at the photos you took at work." He blurted out, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they went after them. She simply hummed, not saying anything and avoiding the desk person's gaze.

Down the hall, all of the doors were the same as the ones down the hall of their room. Tags hung on each of the doorknobs just like the others, 'do not disturb'.... Wait, did I mention that before? I probably didn't, it's a small but very important detail, normally very few rooms will have 'do not disturb' signs hanging from the doorknobs, and there are very few cars in the parking lot to amount to nearly all the rooms being locked and occupied. I guess that was a very important detail I should've mentioned, oh well.

The two men had a room like an exact copy to Noemie and Roman's, mirrored, the same two beds and an oddly angled chair, no tv just like theirs.

"I know we're not allowed to take photos or make calls or anything, but you should definitely take a picture of this place, Noemie." Gavin looked over his shoulder at her as he adjusted the curtains, making sure there was no one on the other side. "It's a mix of modern and old."

It was tempting, Noemie considered old style interiors to be far more beautiful than modern ones, but looking down at her camera, she shook her head as Everett could be seen replaying the recent memory of the smiling lady in his head, giving her that same concerned look as before.

"We have more important tasks right now; did he already inform you?" She turned to Roman expectantly.

He nodded, staying close to her as he watched Gavin easily get comfortable in the room, sitting at the edge of one of the beds and crossing one leg over the other, patting the spot next to him. Everett drifted his gaze between them in confusion.

"Tasks? Informed? Informed him of what?"

"That we are planning to quit." Gavin said blankly as Noemie walked over and sat beside him, Roman urged the nervous and confused man to sit down on the opposite bed.

The European man jolted in surprise, staring at Gavin with wide eyes. Roman sat next to him, also with a leg crossed over the other.

Noemie breathed in and out, pursing her lips as she looked at Gavin, pondering her words.

"Of course, if we simply tell the manager upright, she'll kill and then carve us, for she trusts no one to simply walk free of this place, knowing its secret. That's why we had planned to stay the night, to have an excuse to look around this place, perhaps for an office she may have here, and maybe a computer with information on all of us."

Everett still looked bewildered, Roman finally reacted with wide eyes, but not at surprise, it was slight nervousness.

"Yeah, it was just an easy plan to explore this place for now." Gavin cut in, leaning forward as he put an arm around Noemie. "We originally had it to just be the two of us, but then you two decided to cut in, so here we are!"

Silence filled the room, Noemie didn't like the silence of the two men in front of her, fiddling with the camera in her hands.

"I understand if this may upset you, but I promised I would not let anyone get hurt during this attempt. If you're worried about getting in trouble-"

"You're just telling us now?" Roman tilted his head at them, sitting up straight. "When did you two decide to act?"

Noemie made a hissing sound as she hesitated to answer, Gavin could feel the tensions enter her shoulders underneath his arm as she was about to nervously answer before he cut her off.

"Last night!"

The woman internally cringed as her eyes shut and she lifted a palm up to her face. Gavin looked unashamed as the two people in front of them now reacted even more confused.

"Last night?" Roman repeated back slowly, and the woman painfully nodded, her palm still on her face.

Gavin shrugged, rubbing Noemie's arm up and down as he continued to answer for both of them.

"Was it sudden? Sure. Do we have a surefire plan?" He made a chuckling sound, his mouth closed, the sound resonating from his throat. "Not exactly, but better to die trying than live like we're stuck, right?"

"You sound more convinced than when I was telling you about this last night." The woman threw him a deadpan glance, still not choosing to remove his arm from her shoulder, probably because she wasn't really annoyed about his sudden change of heart. It was more like she was asking to better confirm his resolve.

"Wait, hold on now-is that the real reason you came back down to the locker room? Not just for your lost item?" Everett asked.

"Well, partially for this, and also,,," Noemie shifted her eyes over to Roman. "Yes, I was trying to explore the building more, but clearly all the rooms are locked, and I have no knowledge of lockpicking."

Everett shuddered as he looked down, interlocking his hands together as he rested his arms in his lap.

"I'm going to guess that the meeting with the manager was not planned?"

This had the other men to respond in surprise, both flinching at the name 'manager'.

"I did leave an item behind as an excuse to leave the room and search the place, I did not expect to see her, but I would not think of it as a bad thing."

"She tried to choke you." Everett retorted, flabbergasted.

Gavin looked to inspect her neck, brushing her hair out of the way as Noemie tried to calm everyone.

"She was not trying to choke me. Our manager is many things, but she is not that irrational."

Roman sighed heavily, gathering everyone's attention; he looked at Noemie's neck that was blank of any bruises to insinuate any choking, to the man sitting next to her with still a suspicious gaze, and then to the nervous man beside him, crossing his arms in thinking.

"We're all off to a great start clearly." He said sarcastically. "Noemie, why do you talk like you know the manager?"

The woman looked down, avoiding everyone's eyes.

"It's a long story so for now I'll say that I know a lot about her, her tells and habits, and her murderous tendencies."

Roman hummed in understanding as he listened intently, then pointed his eyes at the others.

"Gavin, you're a mortician, so you have access to a cremation machine too, right?"

The man smirked in curious surprise, cocking an eyebrow behind his glasses at the man.

"I do, why?"

"Just in case." Roman muttered mostly to himself, then turned his attention to Everett, who stuttered.

"... I'm a security guard during the day."

He hummed. "That's nice, but I don't think much muscle can help us. She once threatened to tie me down and kill me by slicing open all of my veins."

"I also used to study computer science!" Everett eagerly made known, quickly clamping his mouth, he was probably a little excited to bring that up, like no one has ever asked him about it before.

"Oh, perfect, can you take care of the manager's devices if we manage to find any?"

He looked unsure of himself again. "Devices, as in… B-because I’m not actually like a tech-savvy hacker I just-"

Noemie cut in, easing him to speak by coaxing him gently, getting an idea of what Roman was inferring.

"Just in case if we find any listening devices, cameras we can take without notice, perhaps if she ever loses her phone, or better yet, a laptop that may have files on our bank and personal information. Would you be able to delete evidence about us from any of her devices?" She asked him softly.

He looked at her keenly.

"Yes! I'm pretty sure I could, if you wanted me to transfer anything, that would require some things, but deleting is easy."

"Perfect!" Roman lightly clapped his hands together. "We have an actual plan now. It just mostly depends on how well Noemie can keep the manager busy." He looked to the woman for confirmation.

She nodded, confident. "I can distract her or learn where her office may be, and hope I come upon any smart devices."

"O-oh! And then I can take care of the information on those devices!" Everett added in, carefully learning.

"And I'm guessing I'll be taking care of bigger evidence?" Gavin finished off, cocking his head to the side. "Like maybe anyone who got in our way, or the boss herself. I guess I can try to sneak an unregistered body into the morgue, some coworkers owe me a few favors." He said lowly, causing the others in the room to eye him cautiously.

Noemie removed his arm from around her shoulder, about to scoot away before he defended himself to her quickly.

"It's for good reasons! Normal reasons! I didn't blackmail anyone!" He said as he held her hand, looking her in the eye.

She put a hand up to cover her mouth as she stared at him with squinted eyes, glancing at Roman from the corner of her eye.

"I'm beginning to understand why you antagonize him."

Roman quickly threw his hands out in front of him, a body language that normally meant, 'I told you'.

"But I still want to believe he's an agreeable person for now, we're all trapped in the same situation."

Roman huffed as Gavin smiled at him.

"And..." She added in, but the two were already having a stare-off, only Everett was paying attention as she had another question for their plan.

"Should we be worried about our coworkers?"