Day 1 - Room 21
🎲 Event: 6, Cause For Alarm
When I was called to attend to a guest emergency, I didn't expect the smoke. The motel never sustains any permanent damage, but hazards such as a fire reflect poorly on the establishment and must be dealt with efficiently. The doorknob is painful to hold, but I have no choice. I shield my face to the best of my ability as I enter.
➕ This job is precious to me. Even if I am disfigured by the flames, I will press on with my duty.
➕ The sight of the flames devouring the furniture and curling the wallpaper stirs a memory in me. I've seen this before -- but not with an empty room. It was a person burning, then. Someone important to me?
🎲 Result: 13 (11+2)
To my surprise, once I am inside the room, the flames do not hurt me. For a moment I wonder if the motel has finally chosen to extend its protections to my own body -- I've sustained many injuries over the years -- but I soon realize it's the fire itself that has changed in my favor. It bows at my command, curling in beautiful spires with a wave of my hand or prostrating itself to harmless cinders at my feet.
Watching the flames calls up another memory. I realize, now, that I've always had this power. It arises in my darkest moments, then tucks itself away when I must return to polite society. I can only wonder if there's a reason I've only remembered this now, after so long working at the motel.
Perhaps the person I remembered before was burning because of me.
Regardless, I call up a cinder and tuck it away in my pocket. I hope this newly-remembered power will be of use with the other customers.
⚙️ Cinder added to inventory
💤 Marked 1 Tire
Day 1 - Room 41
🎲 Event: 2, With Tooth & Claw
It was meant to be a routine post-checkout cleanup. Foul stenches and fluids of unknown origin are nothing new to me by this point, but the creature is a surprise. It is a feral, toothsome thing, as tall as my waist with a mess of gangly limbs and dark, matted fur. Spittle flies as it snarls and lashes out with glinting fangs and loathsome claws. Drool falls from its gaping maw and singes the carpet on contact, dangerously acidic.
🌫️ I have no sympathy for this beast. We all must learn to control our darkest natures. To lose oneself entirely to violent instinct is to give up on life and all that it offers.
➕ I am, however, something of a creature myself. It may only be a form I take on, but it is still part of me.
🎲 Result: 7 (6+1)
I am not proud of how I dispatch the beast. It answers to none of my calls, nor my pleading. The only thing the violent creature does seem to answer to, is further violence. So I let the dark side of me take over, if only for a moment. My body grows and becomes covered in blood-red scales. I flash threatening displays of teeth and claws to mirror the creature's own. The room fills with an oppressive heat.
I black out. And when I come to, the creature is gone. I don't know what happened to it, and I don't wish to know.
💤 Marked 1 Tire
Day 1 - Room 25
🎲 Event: 5, Surprisingly Stark
I am initially relieved to find the next room nearly pristine, after my earlier encounters today; the only object of note is a sealed letter on the table. However, the more I search the room for things to clean, the more unnerved I become. Did the guest only stay long enough to leave that letter? What sort of being would do such a thing? And who is the letter meant for, exactly? I consider simply taking it to the lost and found, but my curiosity is just too great. And I wish to enjoy this room's relative calm for just a little longer.
➕ There is no one else in the room with me. Not even a mouse.
🌫️ I am unsure if there was ever any guest to begin with. I'm well accustomed to dark patches in my memory; it's possible that I'm misremembering the circumstances. Maybe the letter is from a member of the staff instead?
🎲 Result: 10 (9+1)
The envelope opens with unnatural ease, the wax seal practically crumbling away under my fingers. I unfold the letter. It begins with "Dear Annabella."
Tears spring to my eyes as I read the handwritten words. They were penned by my sister Anastasia; she finally learned where I've been hiding all these years and wants to apologize for the coldness with which she treated me. Her son Alexander is doing well. He is a grown man now, properly educated and making bold strides in the field of medicine. He misses me, but Anastasia understands my reluctance to return to my old life.
It's been fifteen years since I left. I hadn't realized; I never bothered to count the days. Time has a way of slipping through your fingers in the motel. How much has the world changed? How much have I missed? Could I reintegrate even if I wanted to?
At least my loved ones are happy.
Day 1 - Room 11
🎲 Event: 2, With Tooth & Claw
The room on the first floor is a stark reminder of my duties, shaking away the sentimental thoughts. Inside is another beast. This one, however, is sickly; its body is devoid of muscle and fat, mere skin stretched across slender bones and covered with patches of graying hair. It looks down its long, wrinkled snout and into my eyes. I hear a voice.
"Why are you still here?"
The creature's mouth doesn't move, but its croaking words worm their way into my ears regardless.
🌫️ I cannot sympathize with this beast. It is ancient and long-suffering in a way I could never hope to understand.
➕ Perhaps it seeks to sympathize with a fellow creature like me, however.
➖ This isn't my first encounter with a beast today. I am tired.
🎲 Result: 6 (6+0)
Wary, I try approaching the creature. It looks easily wounded, and I don't wish to cause it undue harm with my second form like I did before. It curls onto its haunches, still staring at me with beady black eyes.
"Why are you still here?" it repeats.
"I have a job to do," I say, taking another step closer. Then another, and another. Soon I find myself within arm's reach. I extend a hand, hoping to guide it safely from the room.
"You are a fool." Before I can react, the beast lashes out with crooked fangs. Blood erupts from my hand. I scream, and the noise seems to startle it into running away. It darts past me through the room's exit and vanishes around a corner, leaving me to clutch my injured fingers. The pain prevents me from moving them.
This isn't the first time I've been injured by something in the motel. But this particular incident will make my job more difficult to be sure, at least until it's healed.
💤 Marked 1 Tire
Day 1 - Overnight
Sleep doesn't come easy. I toss and turn all night, my wounded hand radiating a sharp ache that seeps into the few dreams my brain can muster.
When I wake the following morning, the wound is gone. The pain is gone too. However, my hand has transformed. The red scales and hooked claws of my other form sit upon my skin permanently. This has never happened before; it isn't the first time I've been injured at work, but up until now I've been able to hide my secret reasonably well. I can't help but imagine that the beast from yesterday, the ancient one, saw through my disguise and wanted to rip it away.
I find a pair of black leather gloves to cover my hands. My claws tear through the seams, however. I can only hope no one will notice.
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