Page 88 of A Dead Girl's Guide to Living
I was fried.
“Yes,” Liv said with a dreamy sigh. “Yes, definitely no murders here.”
“Great,” Dove chirped as she parked. “That’s what we want to hear, hey?”
“Sure,” I murmured with a nod, getting out of the car and groaning as I stretched my legs before arching my back until it cracked in that sickeningly satisfying way.
“You go get the keys,” Dove told me, heading around to the trunk, her cheeks a little red. “I’ll get the bags.”
Liv pranced behind her like a backup dancer.
I gave Dove a nod and walked toward the office, my muscles a little less tense as I pulled open the door, only to immediately gasp at the colder-than-necessary air and the unmistakable scent of pine and disinfectant. Two horrible smells, even worse together.
“Hi there,” I greeted.
The woman didn’t look up.
“I have a booking for Ellis Langley.”
She sighed softly and clicked around on her screen for a moment before nodding once and turning to pull a key from the wall.
“Two doubles,” she said thinly. “Wi-Fi password’s stuck to the lamp.”
“Cool,” I replied, voice flat. “Thanks.”
I stepped back into the more reasonable temperature outside, grateful. I spotted Dove standing at the back of the car, bags by her feet as she spoke to Liv. Her cheeks were still pink, and her expression looked more guarded than usual. Maybe she was finally reaching the end of her bottomless patience. Liv looked over and grinned at me, said something to Dove, who turned her head sharply.
Her eyes widened a fraction before she called out, “Which way we headed?”
The walk to our room was filled with trepidation, at least for me. I was bracing myself both mentally and physically for something sticky or stained. The bar was very low at this point.
The door swung open, and I winced as I peeked one eye open.
It wasn’t horrible.
I took in the forest green patterned bedspreads and white walls. The carpet looked clean and didn’t squish under my feetas I stepped into the room. It didn’t smell like death or mildew—another plus—and I felt comfortable saying the bedding had actually been washed.
Dove dropped her duffel with a dramatic thud and let out a loud sigh, face-planting onto one of the beds with a groan, arms outstretched as she fell forward.
“Okay, this mattress isn’t horrible,” she moaned through a yawn. “I can’t feel any of the springs. We have a winner.”
“I’m going to check out the vending machine,” Liv said with a grin. “Who’s hungry?”
I blinked at her. “You can’t use it, Liv.”
“A little haunting might scare the food out of the racks,” she said with an ominous shrug. “Just listen out for me.”
She disappeared.
Dove snorted, and I kicked the door shut, setting down my duffel bag and rubbing my eyes, feeling more fatigued than ever.
“Okay,” Dove said, getting up and grabbing her bag. “I know this stop wasn’t planned or welcomed, but it feels like fate. I need to wash some clothes. I really underestimated the length of this trip. That said, I packed like, right before you came to pick me up, so... do you know if there’s a laundromat here that won’t give us tetanus? My clothes have been smelling weird since we got caught in the rain.”
I blinked at her, then glanced at my own bag. I definitely still had a few clean things, but it couldn’t hurt to knock out some washing while we waited for the drive-in to open.
I grabbed my phone and tapped away.
“Seven minutes away,” I told her, holding out the screen. “Reviews are good. No mentions of blood, murder, or rats.”
