Kindled (Page 60)

“There’s something strange about this place, we’re going to go into town, maybe find some answers,” Devon answered.

He pulled swiftly back onto the road, hitting the gas pedal hard in his eagerness to find the center of town. He glanced back at the GPS. A hotel had popped up on the screen; it was about five miles away. A gas station was even closer, but there were no other spots popping up. “Small town,” Chris muttered.

“Do you think there are answers here?” Melissa asked.

“There is something here,” Chris answered quietly. “And a whole lot of nothing.”

“I don’t understand,” Melissa replied.

“There’s nothing out there. No wildlife, no people, just nothing.”

Melissa leaned forward, her hands grasping hold of the back of Devon’s seat. “Are you saying that this is some kind of strange ghost town?”

“I don’t know what it is, but it’s not normal.”

“Do you think Cassie is here somewhere?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Devon answered when Chris remained silent. “I do know I have never been in a place like this.”

He turned his blinker on, but ended up driving past the gas station as none of the lights were on. “It is two o’clock in the morning,” Luther reminded him. “We’ll be lucky if we can get a room at the motel.”

“Hmm,” Devon agreed, keeping his eyes focused on the dark woods surrounding them.

“This place is creepy,” Melissa muttered, sitting back in her seat. “I keep waiting for zombie’s or hill people to come out and attack us.”

Devon wasn’t going to say that he agreed with her, but he couldn’t shake the thought of such a thing either. They pulled up to the motel, but all the lights were off. Though there were four cars in the parking lot, the place had a deserted air about it. Devon stepped slowly from the vehicle, his senses on high alert as he scanned the parking lot.

He did not hear people moving around inside the building, could not pick up the faint beat of human hearts. He couldn’t hear them rustling around in their sleep, couldn’t hear their breathing, or snoring. “It’s so quiet,” Melissa breathed.

“There’s no one in there,” Devon told them.

Melissa and Chris glanced sharply at him, but Luther had retreated back to the SUV in search of something. “Are you certain?” Chris inquired.

“Yes.”

“But the cars,” Melissa argued.

“This place is empty.”

“According to this map Cedarville is twenty-two square miles with a population of two hundred and fifty people. This is the only motel on the GPS and it appears that Cedarville mainly consists of dairy farms,” Luther announced as he returned from the SUV with a map book in his hands. “Though they do have a small center of town, and a school.”

“We need to go in there and see if there are any clues about what happened to these people,” Devon told them.

“Wait,” Chris said, grabbing hold of his arm. “What if you’re wrong? What if there are people still in there? We can’t just go barging in.”

Devon stared at him for a moment before pulling his arm free. “There is no one left in there, and even if there was, I would just change their memories.” Chris was still hesitant, his eyes doubtful as he gazed back at the motel. “We’re wasting time, we need to go.”

Devon didn’t wait for them as he made his way swiftly across the parking lot. Snow crunched under his feet as he moved, the wind whipped around him. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, barely noting the chill. He needed answers, and he needed them now. Stepping onto the sidewalk that ran down the front of the building, he went for the first room he came across. He tested the door handle, not surprised to find it locked.

Grasping hold of the door handle, he pulled down hard, ripping it free. “Devon!” Melissa hissed, huddling deeper into her coat as she joined him on the walkway.

He didn’t give her a second thought as he shoved the door open and flipped on the light switch. The room was in neat order, the bed made. There was no lingering scent of human within, no bags marking this as one of the rooms that had been occupied. He didn’t bother to close the door before moving swiftly onto the next one.

He went quickly through the next few rooms, finding all of them as deserted as the first. Finally he came across a room that had obviously been occupied. He stepped into the room, glad to be out of the cold air and howling wind. The comforter on the bed had been turned down, a suitcase sat on a chair beside the bed; the top of it was open.

An old Married With Children episode was running on the TV. Devon barely glanced at the TV; his attention was riveted on the empty room. There was no sign of a struggle, but the room was completely empty, the person seemed to have vanished. He glanced back at the suitcase; it appeared to be all men’s clothes. There were no answers to be found here.

He moved swiftly back out of the room, hurrying down the walkway. He went rapidly through the rest of the rooms, but there were no answers to be found in any of them either. Another man appeared to have been staying in one of them, and a couple in another. He arrived at the manager’s office, frustration and anger boiling through him as he grabbed hold of the knob.

“Wait,” Melissa whispered, seizing hold of his arm.

He turned slowly toward her, surprised by the pallor of her skin, the firm set of her full lips. There was a haunted look about her black eyes that made his blood run cold. He had seen that look on her face before, seen the horrifying knowledge of what was to come. The last time he had seen it he had lost the only thing that mattered to him, the only person he had ever truly cared about.

“Cassie?” he breathed.

She shuddered, taking an unsteady breath as she snapped out of the premonition. “No,” she moaned, shaking her head as she took a small step back. “No. That room, it’s awful, just awful.”

Luther took hold of her shoulders as she turned away, looking as if she were about to throw up. His eyes were haunted as they met Devon’s briefly. Bracing for whatever it was that Melissa had seen Devon turned the handle, surprised to find it unlocked. Twisting the knob, he shoved the door open; the smell of blood instantly swamped him. For a moment the beast in him reared to fierce life, hunger sprang forth as the sweet scent assailed him.

He inhaled sharply, closing his eyes against the demon that clamored at his insides. His teeth had elongated instantly at the smell, they bit sharply into his lower lip. “Are you ok?” Chris inquired tremulously.