“Who were the people?” asked Katie before Cyrus could answer Tyson’s question.
“The creatures the spirits took the form of varied. However, when they did the most damage, the spirits took on the form of a serpent that had two small arms, no legs, and plumage across its head. When the spirits looked like people, they usually came as strangers, but every now and again they would look like someone who had passed away that used to live in the town.”
They reached a three-story building. It was very wide and had a roof that reminded Katie of the pagodas one would find in China. Some people leaned against the railing on the balcony above them, each with a drink in their hand and looking out.
Cyrus led them inside. The lobby was small and round with a friendly-looking woman at the reception table. She had straight hair and was probably in her mid-forties. The walls were deep mahogany and decorated with paintings of nature, bodies of water such as ponds, some like grasslands, and deserts. Everything inside was made of wood, the floor, the walls, the counter, and all the furniture. It was sleek and had a feel to it that made it seem lighter than the outside. Behind the reception counter, there were two slim swords, crossing each other, facing down and hanging off the wall.
“Good afternoon,” the woman said with a pleasant smile as Tyson, Katie, and Cyrus approached the counter.
“Good afternoon,” Cyrus replied. “I would like two rooms, please.”
He paused for a second, looked back at Tyson and Katie and then said, “Let’s make it three rooms.”
“Of course,” the woman said. “And for how long will you be staying with us?”
“We will be here for just the night,” Cyrus said.
The woman smiled and nodded. She opened a drawer from her desk and gave them three rusty keys. “Your rooms are 212, 214, and 215. They’re on the second floor. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you so much,” Cyrus said politely and walked away.
Katie and Tyson both thanked the lady as well and followed Cyrus upstairs. Katie noticed that they didn’t have an elevator. Then again, she reminded herself that they probably didn’t have elevators at all on Narque.
The stairs looked roughly made but felt stable as they climbed them. The hallways were narrow, with large wooden doors that led to the various rooms. The lighting in the hallway was dim as if the lights were old and burning out.
“Here you go,” Cyrus said, stopping in front of room 212. “These are your keys. Make yourselves comfortable. We will meet someone in a few hours so wash up.”
“Who are we seeing?” Katie asked.
“You’ll find out,” Cyrus replied. “It’s not like you know the person, anyway,” Cyrus pointed out, laughing a bit. He walked into his room and closed the door.
Tyson took the room next to his and Katie took the one across from 212. Sunlight blinded Katie’s eyes for a moment and then they adjusted. She closed the door behind her and looked around. The room looked like a typical Earth hotel room, save for the TV, which was absent. There were two queen-sized beds and a nightstand on each side of the beds. Each stand had a small peach-colored lamp on top. By the window, there was a large armoire. The curtains were a light red color with a design of blue vines across it.
Someone knocked on the door. Katie turned back and opened it to be greeted by Tyson.
“Not bad,” he said, walking in and inspecting the various things about the room. “I suppose everything is pretty much normal, right?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Katie replied. “It isn’t much different from home.”
Tyson nodded. “Except this is your home,” he reminded her.
Katie shook her head. “No, I may have been born here, but I grew up on Earth. I think I know where my home is.”
“You make a good point,” Tyson replied, staring at a large painting of a lake with tall grass by its edge and lily pads.
Tyson ambled by Katie, clicking his tongue.
“What’s up?” Katie asked.
“Nothing,” Tyson shrugged. “I just thought we could have shared a room, you know.”
“Why would we share a room?” Katie asked.
“Well, you know, since everything that’s happened, I don’t really want to leave you alone, I don’t want to be alone,” Tyson replied bashfully.
Katie sort of laughed. “That’s sweet, Tyson, but I think we’re safe for now.”
“I don’t know, the jungle didn’t make me feel any better about our safety and Cyrus keeps hinting at all these dangerous things.”
“I mean, he’s mostly just messing with our heads,” Katie said. “And yeah, I’ll admit the jungle had me scared, but it wasn’t that bad.”
Tyson smiled awkwardly, “Yeah, I guess.”
Katie said firmly, “We’ll be fine, you’ll see. And all that matters to me right now is finding my father. You shouldn’t be thinking about the danger to yourself, my father probably has it far worse.”
Tyson sighed, attempting to hide his worry. “I know,” he said. “I didn’t mean to sound…” He trailed off into silence.
“I’ll see you later,” he said before walking out, closing the door behind him.
Katie felt upset at herself for her attitude towards Tyson, but was also upset with him. She spent the next couple of hours lying in her bed and staring at the ceiling. The shadows on the ceiling seemed to move on their own. Looking closely she saw that they were hardly shadows at all. They looked like charcoal drawings of water droplets. The droplets merged and shifted until an image came into focus. It formed into an owl perched on a branch. Then several other birds were in flight. They moved again, and the tree came down from the ceiling until Katie
