Chapter 7

Amelia was thrilled by her achievement on her first day in this big scary city.

Not only did she find a job successfully, but she also got a huge paycheck which was much bigger than she could ever imagine.

Hey, who said she was a useless trash who could never live on her own? See, she had a job now and she could afford her food. 

After leaving the coffee shop, Amelia took time to find a place to live. She was unaccustomed to noises and was afraid of crowds. In the end, she found an old tall building in the middle of a dark alley.

The smell of the alley was stinky and it was completely hidden in the shadow like the sun would never come to this place. But Amelia liked it because it made her feel hidden and safe.

Within the cold stone building, it was smelly and dark too. Amelia stepped into it and saw nothing but an old male clerk sitting in the reception hall. He was skinny, half bald without any hair on the top of his head. The rest hair around his head was white and messy. He attentively stared at the TV on his desk, not even turning his head, hearing Amelia opening the door.

Amelia took her time to check the place. It was an old building of over 100 years, round inside like an ancient tower. The wall of it was made of black stone and the spiral stairs along with it made it look like the bottom of a dungeon. 

Amelia hesitated but didn't go away. She now only felt safe in a place which was really dark.

She stepped to the reception window and said "hello" to the old clerk.

"I need a room." She whispered. 

Maybe it was because her soft voice was too rare to be heard in this place. The old man finally lifted up his head to look at her.

"We don't serve underage guests." He spoke. His voice was as grumpy as his appearance.

Amelia explained, "I am 19 years old. I am already a grown-up." She had no idea why everyone here assumed her to be a teenager. 

The old man scrutinized her attentively, then picked up a key from the wall and threw it to her, "Room 201 on the second floor, 20 dollars one night."

Amelia nodded her head and then paid the clerk a week's fee with the cash she had just got. After that, she crawled up the dark stairs to the second floor.

Her room was the first one in the hallway. When she opened it, a strong rotten smell rushed into her nose. She couldn't help but cough a little.

Even in the middle of the day, the room was still dark. It was small, narrow, and filled with all kinds of mixed smells like hundreds of homeless persons used to live there at the same time.

Amelia quickly opened the window to let the air flow. Outside it was another small alley filled with trash. On the opposite of it was a cold stone wall that blocked almost all the lights.

Amelia let out a heavy breath,surprisingly found that her heart lightened as the cold wind blew into her face.

Though this place was basically a slum compared with her fancy apartment with Ian, she felt happy at the moment as she had successfully made the first step of living on her own.

After that, she quickly refreshed herself in the bathroom and then went out for some food. On the way here she saw a convenience store with all kinds of tempting stuff. Amelia couldn't help but buy a bunch of junk food like chips and Cokes. 

Back in the packhouse even during her marriage with Ian, she was never allowed to eat any of those. Her parents said junk food might be the reason why she didn't get her own wolf and Ian just kept telling her that she was too fat to eat any of those.

"You don't want to become a fat pig and be a disgrace to me, right?" He always said that and then took away her plate in the middle of her meal. 

Amelia had no idea why Ian kept telling her that. She was 5'6 tall but less than 100 pounds. Occasionally there would be strangers in the clothes stores say she was too skinny. But Ian just kept telling her she was fat.

"I'd like to be fat. Go to hell, Ian." She mumbled to herself, then went back to the hotel with a bag of junk food.

To her surprise, when she stepped into the door, she saw that old clerk standing there in the small lobby as if waiting for her.

"We changed the room for you, dear Miss." He said, and his face was carpeted with fear. When he looked at Amelia, he acted like he was seeing a monster, "The bathroom on the second floor was broken. We changed your room to the fourth floor. I will help you with your luggage. Let me lead you to the elevator." 

Amelia didn't know there was an elevator, "But I just used the bathroom and it was fine." She said with confusion.

The clerk explained, "It just broke minutes ago." If Amelia paid attention, she would notice that he was sweating nervously, "Please take the room on the fourth floor. It's the same price but much better." He led Amelia to the elevator which was hidden beside the reception.    

Amelia was confused, but she agreed as the clerk was now really polite to her, like a totally different person.

After fetching her stuff on the second floor, Amelia went to the fourth following him. He opened the room at the end of the hallway for her. It was old and small as the previous one but clean and comfortable.

It has two single beds in it alongside two opposite walls. In the middle of it was a desk under the bright window. Warm sunshine came into the room through the delicate hand-weaved curtain, which made the room cozy and tempting. There was even a green plant on the windowsill.

Amelia hesitated, facing the shining afternoon sunshine like a vampire who was afraid of getting burned, but eventually she stepped into it under the raring gaze of the old clerk. 

The old man soon left the room after showing her how to call the room service. Amelia slowly sat on one of the soft beds, feeling unreal about the sudden exchange. 

"Maybe this is just a dream."

She whispered to herself, lying on the bed, watching the warm, golden sunshine running through her delicate fingers.

She closed her eyes tiredly and quickly fell asleep without realizing it.