Chapter Text
"Goodbye."
That was the only thing Alexander managed to scribble on a piece of paper lying on the kitchen table. His mind began to wander: was he really doing the right thing? How would his father react? After all, he was only 17, Mortimer would surely go file a missing report first thing in the morning. And what if police actually found him? What would he tell his family?
"Oh yeah, I have been getting weird calls from a woman whose voice vaguely resembles Mom's."
Even though that was the truth, he would just sound insane. Alexander snapped out of his trance-like state and looked at the clock: "11:02 PM." The last bus ride to Strangetown would arrive in 10 minutes, so he got ahold of himself and started making his way towards the bus stop.
Alexander waited for what felt like hours while his head kept replaying the ominous phone calls he had been getting for the past month or so. Just when he thought he would go insane, the bus finally arrived. The boy stared at the open bus doors, pondering about if he should really commit to this, when the bus driver, visibly annoyed, blurted out:
"Are you getting on or not, kid?"
"Yes, sorry sir" replied Alexander, embarrassed.
The bus drive was pretty uneventful, Alexander just wished he had brought an MP3 player. He wasn't really a virtuoso, but at the moment he would have loved anything that could distract him from the fact he was running away from home. He was never a rebellious kid, quite the contrary actually; however, since his mom mysteriously vanished into thin air 5 years ago, his life did a full 360. His dad married a young and beautiful woman only 8 months after his wife's disappearance, and now they were expecting a child. Alex never understood any of this, actually he could comprehend his stepmother's motives: she was a gold digger, there was no doubt about that. But he couldn't figure out how his dad didn't feel an ounce of regret for remarrying so quickly. What if his mom was still alive? What if she came back and found out her husband didn't love her anymore, if he ever did. The best thing to do at a moment like this was sleep; the road ahead was still very long, but how could Alex sleep at a time like this? He tried as hard as he could to fall asleep, but when the sunbeams started to shine on his face he abandoned the idea completely.
After what felt like an eternity, there he was; the worn-out Strangetown sign welcomed him to an immense spread of sand decorated with sparse cactuses along the way. Alexander got off the bus at a gas station about 3 miles from the heart of Strangetown, needless to say it was as decrepit as the welcome sign. Behind it there seemed to be some rubble, maybe from a fallen building.
"I'm never letting a Strangetown architect build my future home," thought Alexander to himself.
Entering what seemed like a souvenir store, a warm voice greeted him:
"Hello there, young one! Welcome to Mambo Loa Curio Shoppe!"
"Hi ma'am, I was wonder-"
"Ma'am? I may be aged, but I'm not that old! Is your prescription outdated? Just call me Mambo Loa." Spat back the woman.
"Sorry Mambo Loa, I'm looking for a place to stay for possibly several weeks. Is there any around here?"
"Honey, you look like you are searching for far more than a room to stay. What's bothering you? And don't even think about lying to me! Mambo Loa knows everything!"
It was at that moment Alex regretted ever coming here, maybe the town should be renamed "NoisyTown" or something along those lines, but he figured asking around if anybody saw his mother wasn't such a bad idea.
"I'm looking for my… aunt. Her name is Bella Goth, she disappeared 5 years ag-"
"Oh yes, Bella Goth! I've heard her name countless times on the radio!"
Did this woman even want Alexander to speak or what?
"Some conspiracists say she was abducted by aliens. Is this why you are here? Are you one of them too?"
"Not reall-"
"This town is just filled to the brim with alien negationists, but I've seen them; they used to be all over the place before Division 47 was established."
Alexander couldn't hear another word coming out of this woman's mouth, so he just replied with:
"Look, I really need a place to sleep. Is there one here or am I wasting my time?"
"Oh, but of course! There is a hotel just a mile from here, the road is all straight, so you can't miss it!"
"Thank you," Alexander sighed, and as he moved towards the door, the woman called him back.
"Hey, one last thing: if you ever need some extra cash, just know I like to buy secrets."
"Secrets?" At this point Alex thought he was just hearing things from sleep deprivation.
"Yeah, you will have to meet the townsfolk sooner or later, right? Well, if you manage to get some juicy secret you know where to find me."
And as that was settled Alex began his walk towards the hotel. Even though winter was rolling around, the scorching sun made Alexander sweat a lot, and the lack of any form of shadow wasn't helping either. But suddenly up a hill there it was, or what Alex hoped was, the hotel. From the look of it, it seemed almost abandoned, but what doesn't in this town? Upon entering the concierge was sleeping soundly on the reception desk. The inside was much nicer than the outside, but still it was very dusty and dark, since the power was probably cut off.
"Excuse me?" Said Alexander in a low tone, trying to not startle the concierge, however that definitely didn't work because the man didn't even flinch.
"Hello?" He now said it in a normal tone, but still no response.
Alex tried to get him to wake up for a good 10 minutes until he just gave up. Maybe the hotel wasn't even open and the poor guy was on his break, yet aren't hotels supposed to be open 24/7? And a work break at 8 A.M. seemed a bit odd, but what didn't in this town? Alexander basically dragged himself out of the hotel hall, hoping he would find somebody to ask if the hotel was actually still up and running or if the shopkeeper just blatantly gave him disinformation.
He spotted a small corner shop; a glowing neon sign said "open 24/7," just what he needed, hoping the sign was actually right. Entering the store, he spotted the store clerk; the only thing is that he was… green?
"How did you find me? Please don't hurt me or my family! I'm sorry I escaped, I'll do whatever you want, just please don't bring me back there!"
Whoever this guy was, he seemed genuinely terrified, and whatever he was talking about, Alexander didn't understand any of it.
"Hey, calm down! I'm not going to hurt you! I just want to know if-"
"I'm not telling you anything! Go away! You can just tell General Buzz you didn't find anyone in here, we're cool, right?"
"Do people here just not know how to speak without talking over someone else?" Alexander blurted out loud, although the clerk looked more confused than offended.
"Look, I have no idea what you are ranting about. I just want to know if the hotel is open, because the concierge is sleeping and won't wake up."
Instant relief spread across the green man's face after hearing Alexander's words.
"God, I'm so sorry man, you just look exactly like them. Anyway, the hotel is open, it's just nobody ever comes around here so I guess the concierge passes his spare time sleeping."
"Well, at least I know where to sleep tonight, thanks. But how exactly do I wake him up?"
"If you are interested, I do sell really loud horns; I can give you a 'sorry-for-freaking-out-on-you' discount."
"Isn't that a bit too much?" Alex asked uncertainly.
"Trust me, that guy has the heaviest sleep known to mankind."
So Alexander decided to buy the horn and head back to the hotel, when he stopped halfway to think the obvious: "Why the hell was that guy green?" He simply hoped his prescription was outdated like Mambo Loa suggested. Although a thought penetrated his mind: could he have been… an alien? No, it wasn't possible, aliens only existed in those sci-fi books his dad loved to read, but we are indeed talking about STRANGEtown. Alexander decided that the best thing for now was to blame everything on his sleep-deprived brain and go wake up the concierge.
The horn noise echoed through the hotel hall, and finally the concierge jumped awake. For a second, the man seemed lost, but seeing a possible client in front of him, his attitude completely changed.
"Welcome to Strangetown Hotel! How can I help you today?"
"I need a room for an indeterminate amount of time; is that possible?"
The concierge's eyes lit up just thinking about the cash Alexander would have given the hotel, but suddenly his expression shifted to puzzled, then just lit up again straight after.
"I'll give you a once-in-a-lifetime deal! You get your room for how long you want, and you also get to run this hotel! What do you think, huh?"
"What?!" Alex rightly exclaimed. Seeing how Alexander was about to refuse, the concierge crumbled beneath the pressure he put up and blurted out:
"Please! The last owner ran off, and technically I'm the boss now, but I've let this beautiful place diminish to what you see now. I beg you, please take this hotel; I can't do this anymore!"
Alexander started thinking about it. He was a minor; he couldn't technically own anything yet, and it was bizarre the concierge didn't ask for any kind of identification document. He could be handing off the hotel to a criminal at the moment! But also Alexander needed at least some money to get by, and he certainly did not bring enough from home, not that his family lacked in that department: he just felt guilty taking too much. In the end Alex decided to counter-offer.
"I'll take it, but I can't really own the place at the moment. It'll stay under your name until I find a way to actually buy it, deal?" Alexander certainly didn't intend on buying the place, but a free room and some cash sounded sweet.
"Really? Sure! It's all yours, though it's technically not mine either, but who cares, right?"
"Right…" Said Alex, "Who cares about some private property invasion?" He thought to himself, maybe Strangetown was a lawless place, kind of like The Purge. That thought alone sent a shiver down Alexander's spine, so he decided to head to his new room to finally lie in a dust-covered bed and rest.
When he woke up, the clock on the wall read 4 P.M. Alexander definitely felt more rested, he almost felt peaceful until he heard a knock on the door. The concierge burst in.
"Great, Strangetown also has zero privacy," Alex said under his breath.
"I'm really sorry to disturb you, but I forgot to ask, what's your name? You know I have to add it to the hotel record."
"Oh crap, my name." Alexander definitely couldn't give his real name, yet he never thought about a fake one.
"My name is… Alec Gothier"
"Thanks. Look, since you are the boss around here could you go to the shop next door and grab a new vacuum?"
"Why?" The last thing Alexander wanted to do was clean someone else's hotel.
"To clean, of course! Also, if you find radioactive bars lying around, make sure to bring them to me; they fuel all the electronics in this place."
"Sure man..."
If Alex actually wanted the money to come his way, the place had to look at least half decent, and if the store clerk is actually an alien, he might know something about his mom's apparent abduction, if that theory was even plausible.