Miss Nobody Ch 08

Chapter 8

BLOOD & COOKIES

Evening Day 2

"Hey." Jonny had his hands on either side of my face. "Come back to me." His voice and hands were gentle.

I focused on his moving lips as my consciousness came back into the closet.

My thoughts were interrupted by a crash outside the closet door. It swung open, Ben stood on the other side. "What are you doing, Tio?"

Jonny exited the closet and put the heavy marble pedestal and its statue back in place.

I flipped the switch, hiding the bookshelf and revealing the Goddesses once again.

Ben shrugged and walked out the door, mumbling something about being busy.

Jonny helped me put the jackets back up to hang in the closet. We looked around making sure nothing else was out of place. Would the police come back here? Did anyone else know about Chefs...extracurricular activities? My extracurricular...activities?

Jonny locked the door before we left and put his gloves in his jacket pocket. He grabbed my hand.

"We need to feed the chickens and Ormus." I looked over to their coop close by the porch. Their troughs already full and they had fresh water. The cat's bowl was full of cat food. Ormus grunted as his snout shuffled through the food scraps.

Jonny nodded and led me through the woods. "I'll walk you home."

I nodded. My thoughts overwhelmed me. Was that a brothel? Damn, Jonny can kiss. The Codex Gigas, that's an intense book, old man. Jonny, kissing Jonny.

The walk to my room always seemed shorter than leaving and before I knew it we were standing at the bottom of my stairs.

I hesitated before climbing them. "Are you going to stay again?" I blushed. Calm down, it's not like you invited him inside.

"I wish I could." He leaned against the railing and crossed his arms. "My nephew, Ben, will be keeping an eye on you tonight."

"Oh. Okay." I headed up the stairs. "I'm sure it'll be fine," I reassured him and myself.

I closed the door and locked myself in. I looked through the peephole and watched Jonny on his phone, pacing back and forth a few times before leaving.

***

I fell asleep quickly, exhausted by the past few days' events, and somewhat reassured that Jonny had someone keeping an eye on me tonight.

A loud clattering downstairs in the laundry room woke me up. The floor downstairs was made of tiles, the clack, clack, clack of something being rolled across the floor was louder than it should be in my sleepy stupor. Was someone rearranging furniture down there? With tap dancers?

I put on a dress and slid some shoes on before heading down the staircase to see who was making all the noise downstairs. My head foggy from sleep. I couldn't be sure I was even fully awake as I swung open the glass door. The sound stopped immediately.

Cherry lifted the fluffy white towels and muttered to herself. "It's gotta be around here somewhere."

My heart pounded in my chest. Was she looking for Chef's phone?

Cherry turned and noticed me. Her smile was cheerful. Like the Cherry I knew before her Grandfather died. "Did you find it?" she asked.

"Um...find what?"

She rushed past me. "Let's look in the kitchen."

I followed her. Yes, maybe in the kitchen.

She stopped when we reached the lobby, the lights dimmer than usual. "I have something special planned for my grandfather's birthday. I can't believe he's going to be eighty-three." She bounced happily to the kitchen. "That's so fucking old."

I followed behind her, excited about Chef's birthday and the cookies I was going to bake for him.

Cherry walked to the other side of the large kitchen island. A small spotlight over the stainless steel counter lit up, illuminating a glass dome covering a plate of delicious-looking cookies.

Oh, good. I already baked them.

Cherry lifted the glass and grabbed one of the large chocolate chip cookies. She took a bite, the cookie broke in half, and blood gushed from the middle. The stream of red ran down Cherry's chin as she devoured the bloody cookie. "Damn, so good. You should make these again." She finished the cookie and licked the crumbs and blood from her fingers. "Did you find it?" She looked at me expectantly, her face a mess of blood and cookie crumbs.

"Find what?" croaked from my dry mouth. I cleared my throat. "What are you looking for?"

Cherry giggled and shook her head. "You tell me, Jane. You're the one looking for something."

I woke up suddenly. Stiff and cold from the long metal table I folded laundry on. I shivered and rubbed my arms, waking myself up. What. The. Fuck. I jumped from the table and looked around. Cherry no where in sight. I'm losing my mind. My...accident must have affected me more than I thought.

The sun had risen above the horizon, which meant work started soon. I trudged up the stairs to my room feeling like I hadn't slept and dreading the day ahead.

***

Morning Day 3

I pulled open the heavy glass door to the laundry room.

Cherry was standing in front of the shelves, putting clean towels and linens into her cart. Prepping it for the day. She turned to me. "Did you find it?"

My heart pounded in my throat.

"I put it in your locker." She nodded toward the opposite wall where the employee lockers were. They were barely used and most of them stood empty.

I shook my head. "I don't use the lockers."

"Oh." She pushed her cart to the next shelf. "I put a note in there. I wanted to talk to you." She turned toward me. "I wanted to apologize for accusing you. I was angry and took it out on you."

I nodded. "I get it."

"It's easy to blame you," she continued, "being new and not knowing much about you. He spent so much time with you." She shrugged. "I just figured maybe something was going on."

I walked to the beeping dryer, shaking my head. "He was a friend." I pulled the dry towels out and put them on the folding table.

Cherry looked at me and nodded sadly. She pulled a flask from her apron pocket and took a swig. She lifted the flask in my direction silently asking me if I wanted a drink.

I shook my head and folded towels.

"I haven't been sleeping well lately." Cherry took another swig before putting the flask back in her pocket. "This place will get to you-" She pushed her full cart to the doors. "-sooner or later." She was almost out the door before she called back, "Jess has a special job for you. You know where to find her."

I nodded and she sauntered off.

Jess was behind the front desk watching a video, she spoke to me but her eyes didn't leave her phone screen, "your arrest video has gotten more views than all my videos put together. Maybe you'll do a video with me? I did save your life." Jess looked at me and winked. "You owe me."

"I thought your channel was about style stuff?"

She shrugged. "Maybe it's time I switch gears. Get more serious. We can do, like, an interview or something." She gasped excitedly. "An exclusive." Her straight blonde hair bounced as she nodded enthusiastically.

"I think it's best if I just lay low."

"What fun is invisibility if you can't use it to rob a bank?" She smiled. "I'll do all the hard work."

I was skeptical.

"I'll make us both look good."

I nodded cautiously, maybe It would buy me some time until all this blew over and everyone forgot about me. "For now though, Cherry said you had a job for me?" I asked her. I was so used to being busy with Chef outside or in the kitchen, trying to keep up with laundry in between, I didn't get a chance to spend a lot of time in the hotel.

Moonlit Mountain Lodges' heyday was in the 1920s, with no major updates since. Its Art Deco style was well-worn but clean. The copper fixtures were still shiny around the green patina of time. The crushed velvet couches were still lush. I found the hotel charming in a horror film kind of way. I could see why ghost stories were rampant.

"Oh." She shrugged and smiled. Her straight blonde hair glossy, her old-fashioned uniform crisp. "Yeah, it's been a little slow around here lately. After Chef's death people canceled their reservations but maybe things will pick up when we announce his memorial. Or do an interview." She elbowed me and smiled, her head tilting to the side slightly. "If there's no guests, then there's no need for us to work here. The pay is shit but the hottie tourists make up for it. It'd be a shame for this place to shut down over some...misunderstanding."

My job was boring but I did like it and the free room and board was a perk, so were the quiet woods. Maybe being proactive about my life here was a good idea. An interview from my perspective instead of everyone else's. Maybe being more "public" would keep me safe. Plus from the look on Jess's face, she was going to talk about this subject anyway, whether I was there or not, and knowing her, she would spin it.

"Follow me." She grabbed an old-fashioned key from the wall of brass keys behind her and led me to a small door down a side corridor. The walls were filled with the hotel's history and memorabilia. Framed news clippings and magazine articles hung from floor to ceiling. The Moonlit Mountain Lodge attracted high-profile men.

Presidents, Kings, and Foreign Dignitaries vacationed here. Olympic athletes and Actors sat at the famous round bar. Most of them men. Articles, as recent as last year, ended at the door Jess was opening.

She stood back as white sheets and blankets tumbled onto the floor. The small room was stuffed full of used linens.

"The last laundry lady said she was too scared of the laundry room and started putting them all in here. She was fired when they found out but-" She looked at me. "-I guess it's your job now." She shrugged, handed me the key, and headed back to the front desk.

This would keep me busy for a few weeks.

***

Evening Day 3

Utterly exhausted I trudged up the steps to my room. Hoping tonight's sleep would be uneventful so I could finally get some rest.

In front of my door were thirteen red roses and a box a little bigger than my hand. My heart thudded as I picked up the note lying on top of the roses.

"Don't forget about me. J." Jonny?

I picked up the box and lifted the lid. A rose-gold cell phone wrapped in protective plastic greeted me. It buzzed and I took it out of the plastic and cardboard. It took me a minute to figure out how to use a cell phone, I must have had one before my accident. Maybe if I didn't think about it too hard my muscle memory would take over. A technique I was taught in the hospital with daily and repetitive tasks. I took a deep breath and let my mind wander. My thumbs slid up across the screen, opening the phone to all the little square apps.

A message popped up. Call me if you need anything. J

I programmed Jonny's name. Mr. J. My first phone number. Moving up. How do I reply? Thanks doesn't seem like enough. I smiled and picked up the roses. Their aroma rich and familiar.

I went downstairs to the laundry room and found a large glass jar. I filled it with water from the sink and arranged the roses. I blushed as I imagined Jonny slowly running a soft rose over my naked body. I rolled my eyes at myself. You don't even know him. He should stay away. Keep himself safe from my curse. I sighed and climbed the steps up to my room with my jar of flowers. Scolding myself for having sexual fantasies while people were dying and my mental health was in question.

The sky was filled with vibrant oranges and pinks as the sunset. The darkness would settle in soon. Sunset had been getting earlier and earlier. Winter was on its way. I needed to buy a winter jacket, boots, socks, thick tights...I distracted myself with mundane thoughts.

"Hey." Keiran appeared at the bottom of my staircase.

He startled me and I almost threw the flowers at him.

"Didn't mean to scare you." He grinned, betraying his words. It looked like he enjoyed scaring me from the gleam in his green eyes.