Loryn stuffed the note into her pocket, and started to clean the room again, trying to put the mysterious message out of her mind. Yet her thoughts continued to return to it. Who wrote it? What was their intent? Whatever was her daughter getting herself into? Finally, the room tidied up, she decided to take action and investigate for herself.
The first order of business was to make sure Jennifer was occupied, so she could investigate freely without her daughter knowing, If it was just an innocent prank, or a surprise by a friend, she wouldn't want Jennifer to know that she was snooping around her room. Fortunately, she had the perfect way to keep her busy for evening. Since her daughter was currently out with her friends, she went over to the phone and rung up her daughter's cell.
After a few rings, Jennifer picked up. "Hello?"
"Hi, Jenny?" Loryn said, sorting through the list of various errands she needed to run this week, "your Aunt Doris needs the weed whacker she lent us back. Could you run it over to her today? I'd do it myself, but something came up back at the office and I need to go."
"But mom, Aunt Doris will keep me there all night with her yammering."
"Now Jenny, that's not an appropriate thing to say." Loryn reprimanded her, but thought to herself, 'But it's true, and it's exactly why I'm sending you there.' "Besides, I won't be home to make dinner, so you can eat over there."
At the other end of the line, her daughter sighed, and relented. "Fine. Anything else?"
"That's all, sweetie. Have a good time." Loryn hung up, and sighed, before checking her watch. She had time for a quick bite to eat before driving across town to the Wayside Inn. She took a shower before changing into some tight, comfortable jeans and a sweater, and threw some food in the microwave. She ate hastily, still preoccupied with the note, which she read again. It was so strange, but she was actually rather excited over it. Life has been pretty dull lately for her, and this definitely spiced things up.
After eating, she drove over to the Wayside Inn. It was a locally owned place, clean and respectable-looking, but it had a reputation for being the place teenagers went after the prom. She parked far away from the building in an inconspicuous lot, and walked carefully to the building, taking the stairs up to the second floor, and peeked into the hallway. Empty. She looked at the note again, and walked hesitantly over to Room 211. After calming down the jitters that were racing up her spine, she knocked on the door. No answer. She knocked again, with the same result. She licked her lips nervously, then reached down to the doorknob and gave it a twist. The door was unlocked, and opened a crack, creaking slightly on its hinges. |