The mystery girl 4 - Meeting in room thirteen

He was there.  They had been corresponding for about a month,

and the plan they had conjured up was flawless.  Though he was

two cities away in life, tonight he was across town at their

meeting place, his laptop communicating with her system from a

motel’s phone line.  Her anticipation and excitement with what

was going to transpire tonight made her type quickly, almost in

jilted lines.

She didn’t waste precious time.  Departing with a final Smiley

from the IRC channel, she turned off her computer and threw on

her leather coat, and her black Docs.  Her natural beauty needed

only to be enhanced with a little eyeshadow and a swipe of glossy

burgundy lipstick on her full, cherubic lips.  Then, with the ease

conceived of familiarity, she opened her basement window and

crawled out, leaving it open an inch behind her, as she had done

since she was fourteen.

The walk across town in the darkness was uninterrupted, crisp,

and refreshing.  Nothing infused her soul with more electricity

than the embracing night, and the ceiling of stars and bone-white

moon above her.  People always looked beautiful and ceramic-

like in the moonlight, as if the ethereal glow washed away any

traces of imperfection on a person’s face - the dark made one

more attractive.  Traffic was slow and sparse downtown at such a

late hour. The lights passed in her peripheral vision like

streamers of red, white and orange.  She smirked to herself at

the thought of what was to come, and her pace quickened.

It had been over three months since she had done something like

this.

At last she arrived.  The red neon sign of the Red Carpet Inn

glinted off the reflecting folds of her jacket, and reflected in red

spheres off her glowing eyes.  Alexis quietly jogged up the stairs

to the second story row of motel rooms.  She knew from prior

experiences which room was number Thirteen, and she stepped

up to it.  Her pale hand raised to knock, and she paused for a

moment an inch away from the door.  Then she cautiously rested

her ear against the door, listening intently.  There was no sound. 

He had brought nobody else with him, as she had asked.  She

glanced at the window and saw no flickering TV light coming from

the apartment. Her hands slid down until her nails ticked as they

found the doorknob, and she tried to turn it.  It opened with a little

pop.  After a pause, she let it drift open and the black maw of

darkness greeted her.