Chapter 272 - 272 A New Place of Refuge

272 A New Place of Refuge

“Okay, so what do we do now? Somehow, they found us inside of the motel, although we used cash,” Brie said once we exited the taxi.

We were by a row of brown buildings, which you could see the outlines of the bricks stationed on top of each other.

“Stay away from a motel, I guess,” I said, shrugging. She sighed and turned to give a cross look. “You don’t say,” she said as she walked forward.

“Listen, we can go back to the motel, grab our car, and just drive around until the next day comes,” I said. “It’s not a good idea, but it is the best we have got.”

“The best?”

“Trust me—yes—unless you want to go to a hotel this time, and endanger a lot more people,” I said, exaggerating a bit.

“Of course not,” she said. “But what makes you think driving around is going to be the best option?” I shrugged, very unsure of what to say.

“It’s the only option,” I said.

She sighed, battling within herself. She turned around to face me, and she nodded. “Let’s do it, unless the TSA are investigating the place.”

.....

“For what? We already escaped.”

“I guess. Come on, let’s go.”

“Do you remember the direction to go?” I asked. “And wouldn’t it take hours to get back?”

“It’s your plan!” she shouted. “You made the choice. Now we have to suffer the consequences.”

I grumbled as we began to walk along the sidewalk, with traffic swinging by as we strolled back to the motel.

I looked around, seeing the towering buildings that were disappearing into the night sky.

The cold air whiffed against my face, making my body chill a bit. She turned to look at me, as concern was drawn on her face, which I couldn’t blame on her.

“You about to die from frostbite or something?” she asked.

I glanced at her, and I shook my head. “—chilly, I guess,” I said. “Actually, just a lot chilly.” She looked at me up and down, and narrowed her eyes, “I thought so.”

She brought her head up and looked above me as she pointed ahead. “Look, we almost there,” she said, as I turned around to see us arriving at the motel.

“Oh, perfect,” I muttered, as we began to approach the front gate. But there were a lot of sirens and lights in the area, which could only mean one thing—the car was probably gone.

“Could the car be gone?” I muttered, although Brie still heard it clearly. “Hopefully not,” she said, as she jogged towards the side of the building.

I followed behind her as she searched for the red car. As she stopped, her eyes skimmed through the night sky as she pointed to the treasure.

“Over there,” she said, as she put her hand on the top of the fence and propelled herself over. “Come on,” she said, cupping her hands in a motion.

I jumped over the fence without laying any hands on it, as I dropped down to my feet.

She gave me a disgusted look. “Show-off,” she mumbled, as she walked towards the car, leaving me behind.

“Wait!” I shouted, coming after her. She walked towards the car and opened the door as I took the passenger side.

“Alright, should we find some place to eat?” I asked her, in which she turned to me and nodded slowly with a smile going across her face.

“Yeah, that’s sounds like a good idea,” she said, turning the ignition on. “We have to find to go out the back unless the cops are going to pull us over, and make things worse,” she said.

“Makes sense,” I said, as she drove off, except exiting a different way. She turned to the right, and drove through the road, which barely any lights were positioned on the sidewalk.

“When I thought things were gonna be calm,” I said, shooting a look at her. She didn’t turn to respond to what I said, but then she shrugged, then continued driving.

Silence followed shortly before I then said something. I’m not sure if it was a good idea, but I think it was worth knowing.

“Remember what you said about your parents? That they kicked you out, and were kinda ashamed, which you went to that diner for refuge?” I asked.

“Hmm,” she said silently. I hesitantly opened my mouth and then asked, “Was that true?”

She paused for a moment, her eyes still, before she glanced at me. Then she scoffed, “Nonsense, what makes you think that?”

“Well, you said it.”

“As a cover, obviously.”

That’s complete hogwash. That’s a complete cap. “Okay, okay,” I said, giving her the look as she turned to see my side-eye, giving me one in return.

“That’s right, just a cover,” she said. “I didn’t know if you were trustworthy or not. You’d understand.”

She wasn’t wrong. I did. I never had to create a fake name for myself, or a false identity, but I could understand her point.

“What do you think of iHop?” she asked abruptly, destroying my train of thought. “I—uh—yeah, that could work,” I said, nodding at her. “They’re open 24/7, right?”

“Yeah, I believe so,” I said, as she pulled out her phone. She set her navigation system towards the nearest iHop before she put her phone away.

“My phone is also dead, so let’s hope they have a charger there,” she said, throwing a look at me in which I nodded.

We soon arrived at the iHop restaurant that was radiating light in this dark area. She pulled into the driveway before she parked in the lot.

“Pancakes sound good even in the darkest night,” I said, chuckling. “You can say that again,” I said, as we both laughed. She exited the car with me, as we headed towards the restaurant.

Once we entered inside, I could see the bright lights glare through the room. There were a couple of chairs and tables scattered around the place, but the one place that immediately got my attention was, of course—the booth.

“Over there,” I said, in which when we walked, I saw an employee behind the table, as if she was waiting for customers to enter iHop.

We sat in the booth, showing her arrival. She walked up to us and said, “So what drinks will you guys want?”

“Lemonade, please,” I said.

She nodded. She left our table, walking behind the counter and barging into the diner.

“This looks a lot like the time we first met,” I said. “We were both lost, unsure what to do or what to try next, just wandering around this big city.”

“And now it’s together,” she said. I shrugged.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “Together we’re lost, inside a restaurant.” We both chuckled, waiting for our drinks to arrive, which it was actually quite coincidental when it approached us.

“Here you go,” the waiter said, her smile glistening. “Now what will you guys like to have for today?”

“I’ll have your double-berry pancakes,” I said. Abruptly, Brie added. “Make that two, please.” The waiter was disturbed by the sudden order, being the fact she slowly wrote our orders as if she saw something horrifying.

“Alright,” she said before she walked off. Right then, another employee walked in, meaning things could go faster.

But then, three girls walked inside and sat at the far other side, meaning things were going to go back to regular speed as it was.

“You know, I was never like those girls,” Brie said. “An enormous group of girls, laughing and gossiping. I was a bit—too violent.”

“How?” I asked, in which she took a deep breath, as if a cut-scene about her story was going to occur.

“When I was in preschool, the teacher feared me. I remember when she put me in the far back of the rows of children sitting on the floor. She hated me like I was some devil,” she said.

“Well, what happened next?” I asked, but then our food immediately came, as the waiter laid the food on the table on both sides of the table.

“Hope you guys enjoy,” the waiter said, as I gave a quick smile, but quickly returned to look back at Brie. “Brie, what happened next?”

“Oh, you wanna know?”

“Yes, that’s why I asked.”

“My parents beat me like I was some type of dog! Wooden spoons, belts, staffs, you name it—they beat me up!”

My mouth dropped in shock, but she only recovered with a chuckle. “That was fun,” she muttered. What kind of psychopath is she?

“Fun?” I hissed at her. “How in the world is that fun?”

“Ahh—don’t take it seriously, I’m just trying to liven up this conversation. I didn’t know you wanted me to talk to you like some therapist.”

“I never asked for that, but I mean—”

“Don’t take it literally,” she said, shaking her head as she took her first bite of the double-blueberry pancake.