The Wayside Inn was a small motel just down the road from the diner. It had ten rooms, three of which had been rented out for the night. Grey parked the SUV beneath the carport in front of the rental office and went inside. The night manager had just handed him the room key when Amber entered. "I thought I told you to wait in the car," he said without turning to face her.
"I'm bored," she said while looking over some brochures advertising local attractions. "And I'm hungry."
"You just ate," Grey stated. "Now get back in the car. I have our room key. You can watch television." Turning to the night manager, he intoned, "Please tell me there's a TV in the room. It's one of the few distractions that keep her out of trouble." The night manager nodded and Grey smiled, "Thank you."
Grey sighed with relief when he settled into the driver's seat. "You should not have gone in there. There's something about the night manager. I can't quite put my finger on it."
Grey backed the SUV into the space in from of room 106 and shut off the engine. He opened the hatch and grabbed the bags while Amber opened the door from inside the room. While he placed the luggage on the racks provided, she plopped down on the bed closest to the door. By the time he was done using the bathroom, she was sound asleep. He pulled the quilt off his bed and covered her with it before going outside for a walk.
Rooms 108 and 109 had been rented out to the hunters. Both men were busy preparing their guns for the early morning hunt while a porn movie played in the background. The men had decidedly different tastes when it came to sexual fantasies. Grey smiled. He wondered if Room 108 knew that Room 109 was into gay porn. Not that it mattered. After confirming that Room 110 was vacant, he started to walk back toward the rental office. Along the way, he checked in on his sleeping partner.
Grey stopped at Room 103. He was tempted to knock, but couldn't think of a good reason for doing so. He pressed his ear against the window to the room and listened. What he heard convinced him that they were busy making their own porn and he moved on. He stood for several minutes outside Room 101. The front windows had been painted black. He walked around to the back of the building. The bathroom window had also been painted black. A square of plywood had been jammed against the window where a corner of the glass had been broken. Grey walked down the length of the building, quickly examining each bathroom window as he walked past. Satisfied that the motel was relatively secure, he went back to his room.
In the early morning hours, Grey startled awake from a noise outside. He rose from the chair where he had slept and ran outside. "If I were you, I'd put her down - gently - and apologize."
"I caught this creature leaving the room. Who knows what mischief she was up to." The night manager slowly lowered Amber to the ground and loosened his grip around her neck.
Amber smiled. "Apology not necessary. I was just making sure that nothing had snuck into the adjoining rooms. The couple are all nicely tucked in. No sign of trouble, just the seem sense of foreboding. I don't think their trouble is here, despite Freddy being a bloodsucker."
"Freddy?" Grey turned to the night manager.
"Freidrich Miller," the night manager replied.
"I take it you live, so to speak, in Room 101 during the day?"
"I also don't prey on my guests," he replied.
Amber stared at the mist rolling out of the forest. "I may have spoken too soon." Her amber eyes focused on a large shadow hidden in the mist. "What is that?"
The night manager laughed. "That is an old friend, a shadow-walker."
"I feel like I've fallen into a children's game." Amber sang, "One of these things is not like the others..."
"...One of these things just doesn't belong." Grey found himself finishing the lyrics. "That would be you."
A large black bear emerged from the mist. The sound of a pump-action shotgun being cocked drew everyone's attention. Before the owner could fire, Amber was standing in front of him, speaking in a strange tone. "This is a dream. There is no bear. You will go back to your room and put away your gun. Then you will settle into your bed. You will not remember the dream when you wake up. Now go." As the hunter turned and left, the black bear slowly melted into a raven-haired woman.
"Justine Blackbear owns the motel. I work for her," Freddy explained to Grey. Turning to face Justine, "how was the party?"
"No one died," she sighed before continuing, "I should have left last night. I hate sleeping on a couch." Nodding toward Grey, "who's the day-walker?"
"My name is Grey Walker. And, yes, my last name is actually Walker. I'm a private investigator on my way home, or I was until I got side-tracked. Amber, my companion, sensed that a young couple was in danger."
"Ah, the imp." Justine smiled. "She's one of the good ones?"
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