After relocating the car so that it was in front of the room that they would be staying in, the three of them carried their belongings into the room. The room wasn’t that bad. It was outdated, but it would do. The walls were covered in wallpaper that Meghan couldn’t tell if it was off-white or discolored with age. A round, high top table sat next to the window and was surrounded by three stools. The AC was whirring, and the room was freezing. Two beds were pushed against the wall. Each of them had a horrendous comforter that had large, mauve flowers printed across the fabric. Across from the bed there was a dresser that had an old, boxy TV sitting on top. The bathroom was straight ahead. Each of them placed their bags onto the table by the window.
“Well, this is home, at least for the night,” Meghan said.
Shane had already flung himself onto one of the beds and had the TV remote in his hand. It surprised Meghan and kind of grossed her out that he was so carefree about lounging on top of the comforter. She had always assumed that motels never washed those things, and she didn’t know what had happened on them or what had touched them. She wasn’t fond of a motel’s TV remote either, but she wouldn’t touch a motel comforter even if she was wearing a hazmat suit. The sheets she could do, she presumed that they did wash those, but the comforter…no.
The TV clicked when Shane pressed the power button, but all that came on the screen was a blur of black and white static. He flipped through the channels, but couldn’t get anything to come through clearly. Frustrated, he clicked the TV off and tossed the remote onto the bed, near his feet.
Again, the remote on the comforter, Meghan thought with disgust.
Shane propped himself up on his elbow. He looked from Embry to Meghan. “What’ll y’all say we step over to that bar for a few beers?”
MANDY WALKER – LIVE TON GHT! was what the sign proclaimed outside of the bar.
Shane led the way across the gravel parking lot that connected the asphalt lot of the motel to the small cinderblock building that the bar was located within. Overhead, the nearly full moon and brightly white stars shone down on the scene.
Embry had decided to stay back in the room, not wanting to let Jericho be by himself. He never liked leaving the dog alone, but back at home it was different. At home he always felt like he could leave Jericho in the apartment while he went to work and felt assured that all would be well upon his return. But in the questionable motel, with its outdated key and everything else, it didn’t seem like such a good idea, especially with the soldiers lurking around somewhere out there.
Meghan had agreed to go to the bar with Shane, “just for a few drinks,” she had told him. The inside of the bar was hazy with cigarette smoke. Meghan was surprised to see that there were any places left that let people smoke inside. The cinderblock walls were covered with posters of the musical guests that the bar had hosted over the years. In one corner there was a dart board that had a handful of young men standing several feet from its surface. The men were wearing their work clothes and caps. One woman stood with them. She appeared to be barely legal to drink. She had on a tiny tank top and a pair of shorts that let the bottom of her butt cheeks peak out when she bent over to pick up one of the darts that had fallen to the floor. The men whooped and hollered when she threw the dart and it hit the bulls-eye. In the opposite corner there was a pool table that had several men around it. There was the crack! of the balls hitting one another. Like those that were in the windows, old neon beer signs were hung sporadically along the wall behind the bar; red, green, and blue. The colored lights cut through the haze of smoke.
An older woman was working the bar. She had a wide, leather wrist cuff on her right wrist that she worked hard to show off each time she opened a bottle or poured from a tap. Her hair was a crazy mess of black strands. She was wearing a tacky, factory ripped, too tight tee. When she turned around to get one of the customers a beer, Meghan noticed that the back of the shirt looked like it had been shredded by claws. Even though she knew that it had been purchased that way, it made Meghan think that maybe the woman had been in a fight with one of the soldiers of The Indescribable. Meghan and Shane stepped up to the bar.
“What are y’all having tonight?” The woman asked, seemingly indifferent about them being there at all.
Shane ordered a beer for himself and one for Meghan. They took their bottles to an empty booth that was situated against the far wall. While they drank their beers, they laughed and talked. Not once was The Indescribable or any of it ever mentioned. They had a good time. It had been a long time since Meghan had had a guy friend. And as she sat there with her new friend, it was a comfort for her to know that Embry was OK with her stepping to the bar with him, that he wasn’t jealous or worried that anything would happen between her and Shane.
In the middle of an up tempo beat, the house music abruptly ended and people’s conversations stopped midsentence. There was a loud “awe!” from the woman at the dart board. Meghan glanced that way and saw that the woman had been in the middle of a booty dance, enjoying the music, when it had suddenly stopped, putting an end to her serenade.
From the direction of the stage, there was the scratchy sound of a microphone coming alive. Every head in the room spun toward that direction. Meghan tore her attention away from the dart board woman who had now retreated to sit on the edge of the pool table and saw that the bartender had walked onto the raised platform.
“It is an honor tonight to welcome up and coming country star, Mandy Walker, to our bar. Let me hear it y’all!” The woman raised her hands and clapped, leading the crowd into the welcome. Several people stood from the high top bar stools and booths and walked across the floor to be closer to the stage. Meghan and Shane stayed where they were, in the cozy booth near the back. The bartender stepped off the stage and the performer came on.
Mandy was a petite, pretty girl. She was wearing a short skirt, cowboy boots, and a white tank top. She didn’t have a band behind her. It was just her, a guitar, and a microphone. She immediately jumped into an upbeat, twangy song about leaving her past behind. As the song ended, she was greeted with cheers from most of the audience and catcalls from several of the male patrons. Meghan’s eyes darted around the bar and settled on the men at the dartboard. One of them had his fingers in his mouth, whistling, while another was pumping his fist in the air. Their overt masculinity ended when one of them sloshed his beer on the other and they both fell into giggles. It made Meghan smile.
Mandy’s performance was a short set. It had only been ten songs in all, and at the end of show she thanked the audience for coming out. “I’ve got some CDs and a few t-shirts for sale over in the corner. And I’ll be signing whatever you want -”
“I’ve got something you can sign!” A loud male voice boomed from somewhere within the crowd.
Several people laughed. Mandy looked and saw him grabbing his crotch and holding up his beer bottle with his other hand.
Mandy giggled. “- as long as it’s reasonable,” she said in response to the outburst, which elicited more laughter among the bar’s patrons. From where Meghan sat, she could see the singer blush. “Anyway, thank y’all again. Good night!” She waved to the crowd and walked off the stage. The house music came back on. It was stark contrast to what Mandy had played. The music playing through the speakers was studio polished and auto tuned, whereas Mandy’s had been heartfelt and a little off key and scratchy at times.
With the house music resumed, the bar quickly returned to its pre-show state. The game of darts and pool started back up. There was the cling of beer bottles hitting against one another as they were tossed into the garbage. Mandy made her way to the small, foldout card table that was near the stage. Several people walked by, looking. It was almost as if they were afraid to step any closer than from where they stood.
“I’m gonna go get her CD,” Shane said and began to stand from the booth’s seat. “Do you want another beer?”
“Na, I think I’m going to turn in for the night,” Meghan looked a
t him. She could see the hope of possibility in his eyes. She could tell that he wanted to flirt with Mandy. “But Shane, be careful.” She meant be careful of the soldiers, but it sounded like she could have just as easily meant to be careful of Mandy.
They stood from the booth at the same time. “Do you have your key?” Meghan asked. Shane reached into the front pocket of his jeans and nodded.
Meghan smiled. “Have fun,” she teased and turned away.
Outside, the air was pleasantly cool for the middle of the summer. It was quiet, especially after leaving the hectic cacophony of the bar. Overhead, the sky was clear. Meghan walked across the oil stained parking lot. The sounds of the bar grew dimmer with each step. Now the motel had three cars parked in the front. Meghan scanned the stretched length of the building and saw that there were only two rooms that had lights on. Hers was one of the two. The other was at the far end, nearer the bar. She noticed the desk clerk push the curtain aside and peek through the window. When he saw Meghan look his way, he dropped the curtain and turned his attention back to the boxy TV that was on the other side of the office. Meghan was quiet as she eased the key into the lock, careful not to wake Embry if he was sleeping. When she pushed the door open, she saw that Embry was lying on the bed. The cover was pulled mid way down his bare torso. Jericho was lying cuddled up next to him. The dog lifted his head and looked toward Meghan. The pair of them made Meghan smile. She went into the bathroom and changed into her pajamas. She eased herself under the cover and scooted herself up against Embry’s back. She wrapped her arm around his stomach and pulled herself as close to him as she could. She quickly fell asleep with her face buried between his shoulder blades and dreamed of being wrapped within a pair of feathery wings.
SHANE STAYED with Mandy and they talked about her music, among other things, until it was time for her to pack up her table. The unsold merchandise (which consisted of five t-shirts and six CDs) fit into one cardboard box. She had only sold three CDs during the night. Shane had bought one of the three. He had also been the only person to buy a shirt. No one had asked for an autograph. With the lack of selling, it made Shane think highly of Mandy. She was determined and would not let herself get discouraged. She was the type of person that would not give up under any circumstance.
After folding each of the legs down flat, Shane carried the table while Mandy carried the cardboard box. Her guitar was zipped safely in its case and the strap was wrapped around her shoulder. Side by side they walked to her car. The t-shirt that Shane had purchased was slung over his shoulder. They passed by the third car that was in the parking lot. It was an old, beat up station wagon. Shane noticed that Mandy kept a good distance from the car. Actually, she went out of her way to avoid any close proximity to the vehicle whatsoever, nearly bumping into Shane in the process.
“I don’t trust anybody that has bumper stickers and vanity plates,” she said. “It freaks me out.”
Shane laughed. “Bumper stickers and vanity plates freak you out?” Truthfully, he hadn’t even noticed the plate until she pointed out. HUNTR1, it said. There was a row of stick family decals across the back window, two men and a woman. The one that was the furthest to the left, a man, had been scratched through with a jagged, red slash. It was kind of creepy.
“Think about it. Who would care what their license plate says? It’s a license plate.” After a few more steps she added, “I’ll tell you who,” and pointed her finger toward him, “a deranged person. That’s who.”
By then they had reached her car and she was unlocking the trunk.
“So what else freaks you out?” Shane placed the table flat into the bottom of the trunk.
“Face tattoos,” she said without hesitation as she dropped the box into the cavernous trunk of the car, on top of the table. “And liberals. Don’t ever trust either of the two.” Mandy slammed the door.
They stood facing one another. Shane’s hand was grasped onto the shirt that was still thrown over his shoulder.
“You want to come in for a drink?” Mandy asked him. “I have a six pack in the fridge.”
“You know, I think I would like that,” he told her.
They stepped up to the door that led into her room. It was several rooms down from where Shane was staying with Meghan and Embry. Mandy unlocked the door and let Shane in first. She had left one lamp on. After they were both inside, Mandy shut the door behind her, locked it, and clasped the security chain.
Shane placed the t-shirt on the table by the window, sat down, and watched Mandy walk over to the small fridge that sat near the floor. She opened the door and pulled out two beers. She turned around, and with the pointed toe of her boot, kicked the door closed.
“So what other words of wisdom do you have?” Shane asked her as she was walking back to where he sat. “You say not to trust anybody with vanity plates or decals on their car. Liberals and face tattoos,” he nodded his head, “I can see that. What else?”
Mandy was sitting on the stool opposite Shane. “My main rule in life is to always earn your beer.”
Shane laughed again. “Your biggest rule to live by is to earn your beer?”
She placed one of the bottles on the table in front of Shane. “Think about. It applies to so many things.”
Shane lifted the bottle and looked across the width of the table. “So have I earned this one yet?” He saw it as an opportunity to flirt with her. He held it up, not tasting it just yet.
Mandy thought for a moment and then she spoke. “Yeah, actually you have. You bought my stuff,” she nodded toward the t-shirt, “and I can tell that you’re an all around awesome guy.” She drank from her bottle. “But you know, I’ve always wanted to watch a guy put on one of my tees.” She glanced again at the pile of cotton fabric that lay between them.
Shane drank from his bottle, but as he pulled it away from his lips, Mandy was already reaching her hand around the girth of the bottle and pulling it away from him. Her fingers brushed against Shane’s and he felt jolts of desire rush through his body.
“T-shirt,” Mandy said and nodded her head toward the shirt. The beer bottle was now completely in her possession. “Then you get the beer back.”
Shane stood from the chair. “Now what is it that you want me to do?” He was obviously embarrassed by the playful proposition. So much so that he was blushing.
“Just put on the shirt,” she shrugged her shoulder, picked up the t-shirt, and tossed it to him.
He caught it one handed and began to pull it over his head, on top of his existing shirt.
“No, take that one off,” she motioned with her finger toward the shirt that he was already wearing.
Shane pulled the Mandy shirt back off. By then he knew that his face was on fire. He could feel it. He looked at Mandy and then reached his hand to the back of his white t-shirt and began to pull it over his head. As soon as there was no barrier between his skin and the air he could feel himself instinctively flexing his chest and checking his posture. He realized that he was doing it and thought how obvious and ridiculous it must look to her. He tossed the shirt onto the bed and stood in front of her. Even though he felt bashful doing it, he stood that way for a moment longer than he thought he should, letting her study him. The truth was that he had never been one hundred percent comfortable in his own skin, especially when it came to undressing in front of someone else. He knew that he was just an average guy. He knew that a lot of people assumed that it was only women that had insecurities with their bodies, but it was men too. He saw her eyes dip down over him and hoped that she liked what was on display. It is what it is, he thought. He picked up the Mandy Walker t-shirt and pulled it on. When his head emerged through the top, Mandy was smiling.
“Now, you’ve earned the beer,” she said and was holding it out toward him.
Shane walked over to where she sat and took the beer from her.
Before she had a chance to even realize what was going on, he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. He felt her fingers gras
p his side.
And just as things were looking up, she pulled away from him. “I can’t do this,” she said. “I’m in love with somebody else.”
Shane stood up straight. “Oh damn,” he said. “Damn. I didn’t know.” He was reaching for his other shirt that had been tossed onto the bed.
“It’s OK,” she answered back and shrugged her shoulders. “It’s stupid anyway I guess. I mean, we’re not even together any more.” She drank from her bottle. “So I shouldn’t even care. You’re a good looking guy and all, but I’d just feel guilty about it.”
“It’s OK,” he said. He knew that he had the ability to make Mandy fall for him if he really wanted to, but something was telling him not to do that. Like the other Durori, his sweat was an aphrodisiac and could be used to seduce anyone, but the motel room was freezing. All he had to do was turn up the heat, and she would be his, but for some reason it just didn’t seem right. He walked toward the door and opened it.
“But don’t leave,” she said. “Let’s drink and talk some more.”
Shane hesitated at the threshold of leaving, but then decided to stay. He shut the door.
JULY 31st
MEGHAN WOKE with a jolt. She had been in the midst of dream that was already fading. All she could remember of the dream was that she had been wrapped within a pair of large, feathery wings and being pulled away from everything that she knew.
There was a moment of confusion about where she was before the awareness came to her that she was in the motel room. In the second that it took her mind to settle from the dream world back to reality, she realized that outside the window there was a woman screaming. She understood then that it was the screaming that had woken her. It wasn’t a scream of pain; instead, it sounded like a scream of fear like that of a woman in a scary movie.
Embry was already out of the bed and bolting across the room. He was wearing what he had slept in, a pair of black boxers. Jericho was standing on the edge of the bed and barking frantically. Being pulled out of sleep to all of the sounds and movement had sent Meghan on edge. Before she knew it, she was flinging the sheets aside and standing from the bed herself. She picked up Jericho. In front of her, Embry was already opening the door and didn’t even pause before running outside, leaving the door standing open. It was still dark. Meghan was right behind him. In retrospect, she would ask herself if this had been the wisest decision. Wouldn’t it have been smarter to look through the window first, before running out into possible life threatening doom? But each of them had been acting on impulse, Embry with trying to help and her with following the man that she loved.
Indescribable: Book Two of the Primordial Page 6