The Sunset Road Home
Chapter 6
by commanderkaya
She smiled longingly as she sputtered out her words. "So sweet......they thought they were heroes........." She laughed again before looking like she was about to vomit but stopped herself. "They all died! What heroes! Oh i need a drink." She quickly finished off the rest of the bottle before collapsing in bed grabbing Henry's arms. "Are you a hero Henry?" Henry wasn't sure what to say before she kept going. "Psshhhh, of course you aren't. Just another boy..." She chuckled as she drunkenly kissed Henry. "Now sweet American, telllllll me how are you going to saveeee me?" Henry tried to respond but his words were like dust in the wind. It simply faded from his mouth. "hah!" She snorted before seeming to pass out holding him. He didn't dare try moving. Henry simply stared out across her room, gold and silk piled in a room meant to never be truly lived in. He wondered how after all these years she's never left. She could have always gone to France. He didn't understand why anyone would choose to stay here. He felt the irony but couldn't answer himself. He sighed. He reached around the bed to try and find a bottle of something to drown his thoughts out. He wasn't sure what he found but it tasted terrible and hit hard. He was out within a few minutes.
Henry was woken up by the sound of banging on the door. He got up seeing as Rosaline was still passed out. He opened the door and was greeted by a gruff American. "Who the hell are you?" "Huh?" "Whatever, don't care, tell Rosaline she's late" Henry looked back disoriented. "She's sleeping...." "Ugh, alright move over pipsqueak." He shoved past Henry and shook Rosaline awake. She seemed scared for a moment before her eyes locked into focus and her demeanor shifted to her usual. "Ohhhh~ Friedman, what are you doing here?" "You're late Rosaline, we're gonna miss the party" "AH! Let me get dressed." She looked down and saw she already was. "Well let's go then!" The two got up and sped past Henry. Oh god what time is it?
Henry stumbled into the hallway after Rosaline left. He rubbed his head as he looked around the area. He felt lost. He made his way back to his room so that he could at least figure out what time it was. As he did he noticed just how empty the Hotel was. While he had at first seen it at breakfast he had just assumed it was because of the timing. But as he walked back to his room he heard so little. There was an uncomfortable silence, one which he was sorely unused to. It pierced through his head like a blade and he felt like he was going to pass out. He couldn't tell anymore if it was just him or there was something wrong in his head.
After some time of stumbling through the hall he made it to his room. He opened the door and was greeted with the hum of the city as well as the night sky. Was it the next day? He looked at the clock and at least by his recollection it was earlier then he remembered. Shit It was definitely the next day and he'd slept through breakfast. His stomach hit him like a truck and he realized he needed to make his way downstairs. He'd been lucky so far at avoiding the dinner rush, but he frankly couldn't tell what would be worse, more or less people?
He descended down to the dining room and was greeted with a strange mix of sounds he was unused to. He heard something like rustling leaves and strange alien noises. All combined with Vietnamese, English, and French thrown in for good measure, There was even music playing from a radio. The lights were shining and the hotel was at least alive here. He looked around desperately trying to find a familiar face or something to latch onto but all he saw was a sea of new people and Affini. He stumbled over trying to find a table as he used to only need to grab one in the morning but someone stopped him. He looked up and saw an unfamiliar waiter. He spoke in a rough English "Do you have a reservation?"
Henry was caught off guard, he never needed one before. "Huh? I just want a seat...."
The waiter seemed to brush him off and began speaking to a couple behind him. Henry turned to look around and saw a man with an Affini. His head craned so far up to look at the Affini he nearly fell over. Henry stumbled before moving over to a seat nearby, he sat down and felt like giving up. I guess I don't need food tonight. His stomach disagreed but he was too afraid to go outside and too afraid to fight for a seat. He tried to get up but his legs felt heavy and he just sat there waiting for something to happen. After a short while a pair of Affini made their way over and began to try talking with him. He couldn't make out a word they were saying before a vine reached out to touch him and he swatted it away. "Hey! What's the big idea!"
The Affini retracted their vine before simply saying "You weren't responding little one, we were concerned about you."
Henry rubbed his head, "oh...uh sorry, I just have a headache" His stomach grumbled audibly. "And hungry I guess."
The Affini exchanged a look between them and whispered something in the strange language he had heard a few minutes prior.
"Look...If you don't need anything from me I'm just going to head back to my room."
The other Affini spoke in a softer voice. "Little one if you need food or medical assistance we are happy to help"
Henry contorted his face. Help? He didn't need help. "No no, I'm fine.. thank you for the concern though." he responded with a forced effort. He then mustered his remaining strength and began walking away. The Affini exchanged another look and whispered something between the two of them and leaving the hotel outright. Henry thought about how strange it was for aliens to go up and them to ask about his health. He was fine. He was fine.
Henry made his way back upstairs and found something to eat at least. Apparently Johnny had left behind some kind of bag of cookies. Henry didn't hesitate to eat them. Something was off about these cookies but he simply passed out again.