July 5th, 1998.
A rundown hotel in the middle of nowhere. Creaking stairs and molding books, nails sticking from the floorboards leading to the basement and dust covering shelves head to toe. Two maids and one person sitting idly at the counter of the hotel.
Shelves for keys, locked behind small cupboards. The man at the counter quaintly reading his book, flipping each page, some stained in oil.
One of the maids sitting idly on one of the old ripped up couches with a rat in her hands, slowly petting it with a bored expression melted on her face. The other made robotically cleaning what she could by herself, not even breaking a sweat in the hundred-degree weather.
The man at the counter sniffs to find a warm smell passing his nostrils.
"I hope that food is for us." He comments, flipping another page within his book.
"If you want it, buy it." The maid on the couch responds.
"We should be getting the food for free, we work here after all."
The maid who is cleaning spins around to look over to the man at the counter. "The cooks have no obligation to participate in cooking lunches for the staff of the 'Tubarão Adormecido Hotel' which was clearly stated by the head chef the exact day we were all employed so I would like to insist you to not complain anymore if you know of these rules."
"So the head chef creates the rules?"
"No, everyone who is the 'head' of anything within the hotel creates the rules for their own specific occupation."
"That doesn't make too much sense to me."
"Then why don't you ask that maso-bitch to cook you something?" The maid on the couch joins back in, throwing the rat in the air and catching it.
"Sorry, I'm not a sadist."
"Still kinda hot... kinda."
"Can't say I agree."
"Doesn't it get your rocks off even a bit? Like the face she ma-"
The man at the counter cuts her off, "Can we stop having this conversation please?"
"You know she prefers your bite the most." The maid on the couch starts chuckling while the man at the counter grits his teeth in embarrassment.
"What about the other cook?"
"She'll just kick your ass if you ask for food."
He leans back in his chair and sighs. "Fuck... why do I work here?"
"Hey! Alina, got anything else to say?"
"I don't need to say anything else, it is not necessary to keep this conversation going any longer if there is no conversation to be had at any point after you ha-"
"Okay, we get it!" The man at the counter interrupts Alina.
The front doors of the hotel open and two people enter. A tall man clad in purple wearing a peculiar mask matching the colors to his suit and a smaller man clad in black with a half-shaven head and cat-like eyes with a cold sapphire glare inspecting the hotel's lobby.
They move towards the counter and the man in purple drops a stack of money on top of it.
"We'll be staying for a while, we don't know how long so we'll pay you in advance, is that fine?" The man in purple speaks, moving his velvet gloves into his pockets.
The man at the counter counts the money swiftly and puts it into a register. "May I have your names?"
"My name is Nixon Driver..." Nixon motions to the man in black beside him. "And this is Seth Alpheus Hunt."
Seth gives a light bow to the man. "Alright... I'll be registering your names now and you will get your room number and key in just a few moments." The man swivels his chair to the other side of the counter and writes their names into one of the available rooms. The man looks back at them. "Just a quick question before I continue, you'll be sharing a room yes?"
Nixon nods slowly, Seth glances at the maids excitedly.
[Room 103]: Nixon Driver and Seth Alpheus Hunt.
The man spins around in his chair to the cupboards behind him and takes out the key for the room. "There are others in the hotel around you, so try and not disturb your neighbors okay?" The man says handing the key to Nixon.
"Damn he's tall..." The maid on the couch comments, hiding the rat behind her back.
Nixon nods at the man, leaving the counter to go into their room, Seth follows behind him giving a wink to Alina as they leave. Alina sighs and continues on with her work.
"Looks like that small guy has his eyes on Alina." The maid on the couch comments, leaning over the back of the couch she is sitting on.
"Everyone who comes here has their eyes on her, right Alina?"
Alina turns around to look at the man behind the counter again. "I don't understand why though... do you know?"
"Yeah, because you're hot."
"I don't feel particularly hot, though admittedly the weather has been quite scorching lately."
"No, I mean you're attractive. Like men wi- you know what, nevermind." He goes back to reading as Alina is left to ponder.
***
A crooked room, curtains blocking the sun from coming in coloring it into a greyish orange. Seth laying down in a dusty bed, his arms and legs sprawled across it like a starfish, yawning loudly like he's trying to get Nixon's attention.
Seth yawns again, Nixon continues to ignore him.
"Nix..."
"What?"
"So what do we do now?"
"Do what you want. Walk around, flirt with the staff or something, greet the other tenants, I don't very much care what you do just as long as you don't cause any excess trouble for us. We're already in deep shit anyway, don't need you making it worse."
"I don't make it worse."
"Oh... yes you do." Nixon spins around with sour expression, resting his hand on his mask sitting upon a small dresser. "Remember when I first met you?"
"Not recent enough, why would I do something troublesome now?"
"When we got to the border of Mexico, the first thing you did was provoke a gang of Mexicans because you were bored."
"No! Lies! It was because they were harassing a beautiful chocolate brown Latino girl and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity that was set out in front of me."
"You were bored."
"No, I was righteous."
"You were after her body from the start, how is that righteous?"
"How would you know?"
"Not like her screaming 'Si Papi' in the back of a gas station gave anything away huh?'
"Nothing like doubling down!" Seth jumps up into a seating position on the bed. "I was massaging her!" He points aggressively at Nixon.
"Bullshit, how do you massage someone in a bathroom for two hours. Her screaming of pleasure got so loud that we were told to never come back. Not to mention that it was the gas station owner's daughter."
Seth pauses for a moment to think. "You would do the same in my position if you were given the opportunity."
Nixon lets out a long sigh and turns to Seth, "Just don't cause any trouble. Only attack someone if you're defending yourself and never overdo it. We don't have enough medical supplies to service any of the 'normal' wounds you get often."
"I understand."
"Okay... I'm going to the kitchen to get some food, I'll see if they have your favorites there and come back."
"Right! Thanks!"
Nixon leaves his mask behind as he walks out the door, Seth watches quietly.
***
[Room 101]: Seth went to check if there was anyone there but he was met with deafening silence after knocking.
Seth tried asking around to see if anyone actually lived in Room 101 but he was either ignored or told that "Nobody is there if they tell us nobody is there." Seth figured that they had a privacy policy.
[Room 102]: Stumbling to the door half-naked, drunkenly propping herself on the half-open door with one arm and a bottle of whiskey in her other hand. A beautiful tan Brazilian woman with long wavy locks of black hair going down to her breast. Her eyes look Seth up and down and she gives a coy smile.
"My name is Seth Alpheus Hunt, I'm new to this hotel. I thought that it'd be nice to know the other tenants here since everything seems so... closely knit together if you will?"
"Yeah... we all know each other here. Except for 101. Nobody uses that place... I think." She pauses. "You're pretty cute."
"Sorry, I'll be taking that as the simple flattery of a drunk woman - I prefer drinking until drunk with someone, not drinking with somebody who already is."
"I see, I see... You're the manipulative type?"
Seth chuckles, hands in his pockets. "I told you my name, what's yours?"
"Eremita, call me Eremita. I prefer my nickname compared to my real name."
"Hermit huh?"
"You know Portuguese?"
"I know a lot of languages."
"Which ones?"
"Russian, English of course, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Portuguese." Seth gives a speculative expression and continues, "I also know a bit of Italian, but it's the weakest of the ones I know."
Eremita points to the left side of her forehead. "What's with the scar?"
Seth smiles, "Vietnam."
"The Vietnam war!?" Eremita gives a baffled expression.
"Yep."
"Is that why you know Vietnamese?"
"Yep."
"You look a bit too young to have been in the war, are you bullshitting me?"
"Nope."
***
[Room 104]: A man slightly taller than Seth opens the door with a solemn expression, his glasses barely hanging onto his face and greasy, long, tendrils of hair sticking to his forehead.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Seth Alpheus Hunt."
The man gives a blank stare, letting out a light sigh. "I'm Johan."
"Nice to meet you, Johan."
Johan awkwardly scratches his beard and clicks his tongue. "Are you gonna leave?"
***
[Room 105]: After knocking on the door, it cracks open. No response. Seth enters...
Pitch black...Seth's curiosity has peeked. A smile drew across his face, he knew that something interesting was going to happen and he was prepared.Taking a step into the darkroom, slowly but carefully. This room... is bate.The sound of something rising is heard from the deepest depths of the room.Seth, normally keeps his eyes closed. The reason for him doing this is so he could hinder his own performance in a fight, and another reason is for a situation wherein he'd have to fight in the dark, keeping his eyes closed helps him adjust to darkness faster than most, this makes him the equivalent of a black panther hunting in the night but in human form.Seth unbuttons his vest and reaches inside of it and doesn't move.Silence.This has become a waiting game. A creak and a step. "I can see you, y'know?" Seth speaks up and whatever is in the darkness sprints at him.Seth lets go whatever he had under his vest and instead goes t
"Hi, we're gonna be your neighbors." Seth stands awkwardly as Michael tries interacting with him. Logan breaks the silence with a clap, heading into room 105. "Ummm... so do you know where the person in 104 is?""No...""I see..." Michael cracks his neck, clicking his tongue, and trying to think of something to continue their conversation."I'll be going now.""Right." He snaps his fingers a bunch, heading into the room with Logan. Seth walks past them, back into his room with Nixon, who is following behind him with food in hand."What are you doing out here?" Seth jumps, spinning around to look at Nixon."Went to greet the other tenants.""Right, well, I got you... your meat jelly..." Nixon quietly gags. handing Seth the covered plate.***"The girls will probably get settled before us so let's make a plan here." Michael starts the conversation, Logan sitting on the couching propping himself up with both arms. "I'm defi
"So you fought against some pale guy in 104 and 'accidentally' killed him?" Nixon asks, taking a bite of a salad he has in hand."Why did you put 'accidentally' in quotes?""Because I know you don't do things on accident.""Well, I'll have you know, he attacked me first!""Did the pale guy have pitch-black eyes and long grey hair?""Yes.""I'm pretty sure I've heard of someone like that once, but most likely that dude was a druggy who accidentally kept his door open. You know, bath salts and stuff?""Do bath salts make you capable of destroying walls and give you the muscle mass similar to that of a 300-pound wrestler in their prime?""Probably.""I'm sure bath salts make you more like some, rabid homeless man cradling the face of some poor young worker boy down in the south.""Why the south?""All the nutcases live there! I was raised in Texas after all.""I've known you for a long time and your sto
"Trying to kill me didn't work out very well did it?"Melissa looks around her, composing herself, she looks over to Nixon. "Where are we?""A theme park.""I thought... I killed you.""You almost did... but I don't trust anyone. Not even my own friends. My guard is always up for any situation, which is why you are here. Does your neck hurt?""Yes...""Might bruise. I disarmed you and then choked you out with my belt. I almost killed you but I made sure to release it just before your windpipe fully shut so you could pass out.""Why have you taken me here?""To ask you a few questions.""Right... ask away then." Melissa tries moving, but she is bound tightly by ropes. "Not like I have much of a choice in rejecting your questions.""Okay..." Nixon pauses, thinking of a question, and looking down below."I just realized we're on a Ferris wheel.""Yeah, had to make sure that it stopped us at the highest
"Where did Melissa go?" Logan asks, loosely hanging from the door to the girl's room. Svilanka shrugs, and Yua ignores Logan. Logan jumps, spinning to look behind him, Seth tapped him on the shoulder, which startled him."Nice to meet you all... can we talk?"***"Are you on the phone right now?" Caçador ignores Maid, turning around in his chair, continuing to speak to whoever he is on the phone with. Alina comes in from the outside with a broom in hand, setting away some dirty shoes she was wearing aside near the door. Alina notices Caçador and looks over to Maid expectantly.Maid shrugs, curiously heading to the hotel rooms.After a couple of minutes, Caçador hangs up. "Shit...""Who was it?""It was the boss. He's coming."Alina drops the broom, eyes widened in surprise. Her surprise turning into a grim expression, looking as if she were anemic."Fuck me..."***An hour has passed si
Somewhere else in a different part of the world. A Volkswagen drives up to a motel in the middle of a desolate desert.Nevada, Las Vegas.A man comes out from the car, he's wearing a hoodie with a coat layered over it with fingerless gloves. He has long greasy black hair, he has a long scar going from his beard to his eye. He licks his dry lips and continues limply to the back of his car, opening the trunk. He takes something from the trunk and heads to the main counter to the motel.A young woman wearing a red sweater sits at the counter, she appears to be chewing on a piece of gum. The young woman notices the man and asks why he was there."Do you know an Alpha and Artego here?"She confirms that the people he is referring to are at the motel and are living on the second floor, three rooms down. The man thanks the woman, heading back outside and up the stairs.He knocks on their door. The sound of panic, frantic yelling, and thudding, like
"So she was killed by a sniper?" Yua asks Seth."Yes," Seth pauses, scanning the room. "I want to ally myself with all of you. Help you get this ебарь off your back." (ебарь means cunt-chaser in Russian.) "Our reasoning for wanting to ally with you all is for one reason and one reason only. We want to do a clean sweep against all of those who want me and my buddy Nixon dead.""What do you mean by that?" Logan cuts in."Before I tell you more, there is someone very dangerous coming to the hotel and is after almost everyone's head. The only ones I know for sure aren't being hunted is," Seth points at them."Wait, so that means...""Nixon and I are being hunted by multiple people, either to capture us or kill us. Escravos is here to kill us, and someone named the Balrog is here for the same reason, the government is here to capture us and or take what we have from us.""Wait! The government!?" Svilanka yells, startled by what he said and sort o
Nixon... he never managed to hit Balrog. His reactions were too fast and perfectly distributed the damage so he wouldn't get hurt. Nixon couldn't do anything but curse under his breath.BANG!!A gunshot through the wall, Balrog drops to the floor, firing back into the wall beside him. Another gunshot rings out from the other wall, dropping Balrog to the floor completely, unable to fire back, he puts pressure on his wounds."Finally found a fucking fault."Both Seth and Johan from room 104, both on behind both sides of the hallway's walls. Seth runs out of the room, firing the rest of the magazine into Balrog. "Where did the other shot come from?"Nixon shrugs, kneeling down to Balrog, looking through things he had. "This was too easy...""Yeah, compared to last time it was too easy.""Why...?Nixon's eyes widen, he's realized something. He quickly turns around to tell Seth...It was a realization that was almost