Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2023 22:51:43 -0500 From: Fang Saito Subject: Welcome to Avernus - Chapter 3 This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any real people or places is purely coincidental. This story is the property of the author and is protected under copyright laws. The author retains all rights. No reproduction is allowed without the author's consent. Conversations and feedback are appreciated to Greyson B. via email at hokkaidohotel86it@gmail.com. I love hearing from readers. If you enjoy this story, please support the Nifty archives today with a thoughtful donation by visiting https://donate.nifty.org/. This story will contain graphic depictions of sex between males of teen and adult ages (M/m, m/m). If this is an issue for you or the laws where you live, you are obviously in the wrong place. Welcome to Avernus Chapter 3 I shook my head and crossed the parking lot to head inside. Once again, there were barely two dozen cars parked in the front lot, and walking inside, the lobby was whisper quiet. I took the elevator up to the second floor, and as I stepped out, saw my parents coming out of their room. "There the fuck you are," said my dad, a good bit louder than necessary, considering we were probably 25 feet away from one another. "Been out terrorizing the streets, I see. Why aren't you ready for dinner?" He was striding down the hallway toward me by this point, my mother hurrying to shut their hotel room door and catch up to him. I pulled out my phone to double check the time. "I'm ten minutes early, dad," I said. "Don't fucking talk back to me, boy," Dad said. I could tell he wanted to raise his hand for a backhand, but he held back. Maybe because of the unfamiliar location, maybe something else. "Get your ass in that room and clean up. Then get downstairs." He shoulder checked as he passed me, like a fucking high school bully. "I'm not waiting on your ass." I rubbed my shoulder and let myself into my room. After putting on a clean shirt that I was fairly sure neither of my parents could find offensive, I headed downstairs. It was only six o'clock, and yet the dining room was almost as dead as it had been this morning. There were two couples sitting at different tables, and that same old man from this morning. When I got to their table, my parents were in the middle of an argument. The only thing making this one different from any of the thousands I had sat through at home was that they were both whisper-shouting at each other. It wasn't because they were in public, but I guess being in such a swanky place had them on their P's and Q's. I tried to keep my interest hidden when Devon turned out to be our server. My mom didn't give a shit, but there was no need to remind dear old dad that his boy was queer. That being said, I still wanted to take an opportunity to both tease our oh-so-hot server, and also test out whatever weirdness was going on with how the people in this hotel were treating me. So when I was asked what I wanted to eat, I looked him in the eye and with a smile said, "Surprise me." As soon as Devon was a few feet from the table, I was caught by surprise by a backhand across the face. There wasn't a tremendous deal of force behind it, more of a sting, enough to make me flinch and get my attention. The lack of force was because daddy was trying to be subtle. "Why the fuck do you wanna be such a brat, huh?" said Dad, barely keeping his voice down. "You trying to fuck around with what these people think about us?" He raised his hand, as if to threaten another bitch slap. "Grow the fuck up, Jason." Sure, Pops. I'll grow the fuck up. You'd just better hope I don't grow up and turn into you. Also, Devon got it. He had smiled and nodded at my request. Trying to calm myself down a bit, I looked around the dining room, focusing on who I saw and making up quick stories in my head of who they were. For instance, the old man in the suit. Probably old enough to be retired and wearing a nice suit, but not a fancy one. Retired mob? Maybe an advisor to somebody? Maybe his nephew is someone important, and the old guy is here to ride his nephew's coat tails. He was here at breakfast. I figured I'd be seeing him in the morning, too. The way he acted, just sitting there sipping on a dainty cup of coffee, he looked like he lived here. Couple number one was a bit older than my parents, dressed real casual, nothing fancy. Everything about their look and demeanor told me real easy that they were traveling, just passing through. They gave off the same kind of vibes I imagine my parents would, if I wasn't too close to see them properly. Real comfortable with each other, but out of place with their environment. Plus they were each doing that kind of sore and stretching thing that everyone does when they've been stuck sitting in one place for way too long. Once I had a chance to actually look at couple number two, I was surprised to realize that I had been wrong about them. They weren't adults at all, but teens like me. They might have been a bit older or not, I couldn't really tell. They were both sitting so it was hard to confirm, but they both gave the impression of being tall. Maybe it was both of them having Jack Skellington style arms and legs, their limbs being so impossibly thin that you just assumed they were long. The boy was very cute, but the kind of cute you see in every Netflix teen drama. A very typical attractiveness. The girl with him made me question my little gay-boy vibes. She had long, fine hair that was an unnatural perfect white. I swear, I had never seen a Santa outfit with hair this white. It had a sheen to it that almost made it look to have a glint of silver to it. Her hair was long, too. Like crazy long, past her waist. It was like all of her features went for vertical, nothing trying for depth. The two of them combined, from their stiff, disdainful attitudes to their too-perfect appearances, made them look like the worst kind of influencers. My attention was pulled back to the table when I realized I was being discussed. My name hadn't been dropped, yet, but a subject near and dear had been mentioned. "... Hasn't even been here two seconds and he's already managed to hook up with a crew of degenerate skateboarders," my dad was saying. "Well if he has, at least he's making friends," said Mom, reaching across the table to grab my hand and give it a maternal squeeze. "As if those are the kind of friends he needs," scoffed Dad. "That was you, right?" he asked, looking at me. "Tearing up the benches at the town square?" I glanced over and saw that, unlike my mother's glass of soda, his glass had beer, and was already nearly empty. "Well, boy? Answer me," he yelled. Then remembering where he was, he lowered his volume, but not his tone. "Tell me that wasn't you out there with those other hoodlums." I pulled back, releasing my mother's hand in order to make sure I was out of his immediate reach. "Yes, Dad. I met some guys. Most of them are in my grade, and are going to help me out with getting used to the new school. Devon showed up before my dad could get in another verbal shot at me. He had my drink and everyone's appetizers, a salad for my mom, and for me and my dad, matching shrimp cocktails. They were this long stemmed glass, the kind you see an ice cream sundae served in, in old movies. But instead of ice cream, it was filled with cocktail sauce and had six massive peeled shrimp hanging off the sides all around the glass. And I do mean massive. Like almost hot dog size. To my dismay, Devon also swapped out Dad's glass for a fresh beer. With more alcohol and something to stuff in his mouth, my dad forgot about bitching for now, and Mom started into a lengthy monologue about the shops and other places she had spotted that she hoped to explore in the coming weeks. "Christ, we just got here," bitched my dad. "I haven't even got my first paycheck and you're already spending it." While I started in on my shrimp, I went back to looking around the room. I caught the old man looking our way, but as soon as he saw me notice, he quickly averted his eyes. I got the weird feeling that he hadn't just been looking at our family, but at me specifically. I couldn't say for sure why, but I felt like he had been looking at me, specifically. It was odd, and made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Then I looked back over at the influencer couple. The girl had turned slightly so that they were both facing my direction, rather than the side view I had been presented before. I felt like a spotlight was on me, as I realized that both of them were unabashedly watching me. It was unnerving, and the fact that they weren't eating anything, just staring, made me kind of self conscious about eating my own food. They were kind of pissing me off, so I started staring back. I even craned my neck forward, just to be obvious and obnoxious. Seeing my antics, she smiled coyly, almost knowingly, as if I had shown a meme that she had understood. It made me curious, and I'm sure that showed on my face. At any rate, I relaxed my more aggressive staring and took another bite of the shrimp still in my hand. Seriously, these shrimp were huge. A mouthful was hardly half of one. And the cocktail sauce was to die for. For a half a second I almost asked my dad if his were this good, but then I came to my senses with a wry chuckle. Whatever look crossed my face got the girl's attention, and she actually gave a softer, more friendly smile. I suddenly realized that she was much younger than I had originally assumed, maybe even as young as me. It was the way she had carried herself, the same way the guy with her was still acting, that made her first appear so old. It was like she had been jaded and world weary, and only when she relaxed, that her true age revealed itself. I know that whole "women should smile more" thing is bullshit, but in her case, it gave her a complete makeover. She gave a subtle nod toward me and turned back to the guy with her, raising her dainty little coffee cup to her lips. I started to turn away, but caught the angle just right, and I'm pretty sure her cup was empty. I only saw if for the briefest of moments, but seriously, all I saw inside was white. Maybe she was drinking milk out of a coffee cup? Maybe she was just taking the last swallow from the cup. Or maybe I just wasn't seeing it right, and I was making something of nothing. It was only a few minutes longer before Devon showed up with a serving tray. A massive steak and fries for Dad, and a much smaller steak for Mom, topped with some kind of cream sauce that had little shrimp in it. I guess the whole family was having shrimp after all. I was pretty hungry, so I was pretty curious what he had chosen for me. The plate Devon slid in front of me had delicious smelling steam drifting from it. It had what turned out to be a breaded and fried boneless pork chop, smothered in long, caramelized onions, alongside a pile of sliced, grilled squash and zucchini medley, and a generous pile of onion rings cooked to perfection. To the side, he set down a large dipping bowl of barbecue sauce, and a separate bowl of cottage cheese. Somehow that seemed funny, since it had been brought up last night but I hadn't gotten to eat any of it. The food was amazing. I wish I could have said the same about the company. The entrees came with a third beer for Dad, and a first one for my mom. Numbers four and two arrived about ten minutes later. With the increase in alcohol came an increase in both volume and attitude. By the time we were done with the food, my parents were arguing about everything from whether Mom was going to get a job up here, to how much Dad might, or might not, help with all the unpacking this weekend. Somehow I managed to keep my head down and stay off their radar as their tempers flared. Thank God for that. The traveling couple finished and left a short time after we started eating, and I caught them throwing some disgusted looks our way. I wanted to sink into the floor over how white trash we were acting. After a particularly loud bit of name calling, I glanced over and saw the influencer couple getting up to leave. The guy had an amused, condescending smirk on his face as he glanced at my parents, but the white haired girl actually gave me a more friendly, more pitying smile. Something that said, "It sucks, but I get it". I flushed with embarrassment. The knowing smile over a situation I was trapped in was almost worse than her partner's condescension. Finally, Dad pushed back and stood up to leave, and I was able to get away from the table. I knew better than to have been an "ungrateful little shit" by asking to leave the table before he was finished. I didn't run, and I didn't necessarily make it obvious, but I was ready to bolt. I did make it a point to walk close to the girl's table and get a good look at her cup, just out of morbid curiosity. Sure enough, it was bone dry. So was his, actually. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, except that so many other weird things were happening around here, so I was kind of cataloging them. Just one more thing to add to the list, a pair of impossibly pretty influencers who like to sit in a hotel restaurant, pretending to drink coffee from empty cups. It reminded me of that line from that old movie, where Tom Cruise says something about "eating from empty plates, and drinking from empty glasses". Unfortunately I didn't get away clean, and had to share an elevator ride up with the parents. They were standing in awkward silence the entire ride up, but the moment my mom got their room door open, my dad was already starting in on her. No fucking way was I going to sit in my room if there was even a chance I would have to listen to that, so I grabbed my board and jacket and bolted. The tall, bald guy was at the desk, and rather than giving me a greeting, he just kind of stared as I crossed the lobby, as if I was a mildly interesting TV program rolling past him. It was a lot colder out tonight than it had been when I skated that back lot the night before, and it made me wish I had a heavier coat. Maybe we should have picked up something this morning after all. Still, skating is skating, skating is life, and nothing is going to keep me from it. I'd only been at it for perhaps ten minutes when that feeling crept over me again. Somebody was watching me. I was getting tired of this, especially the part about not knowing what the hell it was. It wasn't that vague yet easily identified feeling you get after watching a good horror movie and it feels like something is creeping around in another room. No, this was something more tangible, yet harder to describe. It was like, if you could get goosebumps inside your brain. Or an itch in your attention span. I stopped and kicked up my board, looking around at the dark around me. That field on the other side of the road was drawing my attention. Maybe it was the waving of the tall grasses in the darkness beyond the street light. It was breezier tonight than last night, which was probably adding to the cold. I strained to see past the light, trying to make out anything moving contrary to the grass. "Jason, right?" I either jumped out of my skin, shit myself, or both. I did jump to some extent, dropping my board. The voice had come from behind me to the left, back in the direction of the hotel. It also hadn't been shouted, but spoken at a calm volume. Even so, I had heard it as if the person were standing right beside me. I jerked my head around in the direction of the voice and saw... him. It was the Neo-looking guy from last night. Same shiny suit, his hair and coat flicking around in the wind. Realizing who he was, I glanced around to see if his henchmen were around, but he seemed to be alone. "Hey man," I responded. My heart was in my throat, but the words came out a lot calmer than I expected to be able to pull off. "Depends on who's asking." He chuckled at that. "I am no threat to you, Jason." His voice was soft, cultured. Definitely fancy. Money and breeding dripped off every syllable. "I am Dominic Tsui. Currently your host," he waved a hand vaguely toward the hotel behind himself, "and hopefully soon your friend." I was taken aback by this. "My friend?" I asked with no small amount of confusion. "Why do you give a shit about a kid?" "Let's just say, you have positive attributes." "Sounds sus, to be honest," I said. I didn't trust this guy, and had no idea of either what his intentions were, or what he was capable of. No way was I playing his game. "What's this about you being our host?" I asked. "What, do you own the hotel?" "Not entirely," he replied with a smirking smile. "But I am the one who hired your father, and I am footing the bill for both your move and your stay in this hotel." "Um, thanks, I guess," I deadpanned. His smile became wider. "Tell you what. Why don't you join me for dinner. Tomorrow, 8 pm." His attitude became more serious. "I'll ensure it is cleared with your parents." No way was I going to do anything like dinner with this creep. "Sure," I heard myself say though. "I'd be happy to join you." What the hell was that? Did I just say that? I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but nothing came out. And I don't mean like, "I spazzed and couldn't think of what to say". No, I mean, I literally could not talk. Then before I could give any other kind of reaction, the world spun and I nearly fell over. The feeling passed, and Mr. Tsui was gone. Not like he walked off. He just... wasn't there. What the absolute fuck was going on? Was I going crazy? That must be it. My brain only made up this idea of getting the hell out of Alabama, and I was actually sitting in a loony bin down in Birmingham. I knew it had to be too good to be true. But as my friend Lisa always joked, if everything's fucked up, you may as well go with it. No way in hell was I going to stay out here in the dark after that, skating or no. So I headed back to the hotel, eyes peeled at every shadow all the way. I don't even think I had been gone an hour, so it was early as hell. I ended up goofing off on my phone for a few hours. At some point I remembered the ice cream in the freezer and pulled it out. I only got through a couple of bites though, before I started remembering that creepy meeting, and tossed it in the trash can in disgust. Alright, let's take my friend's philosophy as appropriate. If I'm experiencing this weirdness, I may as well act on the assumption that it is real, in case it is. After all, if I'm sitting in a padded room, pissing my pants and drooling, then nothing I do here can impact that. Whereas if it is real, then not acting can absolutely have an influence. So in that case, what's most likely going on, and how should I respond? I tried playing around on my phone for a while, but my mind was too distracted. I needed my own room, with my own stuff. I needed friends to hang out with, and to talk things out with. I thought about Devon, or maybe Mina. Both had been nice enough, and had seemed normal. But they were both employed here at the hotel. They could be part of the problem. No, for now it was just me. Thinking of my old friends though, got me thinking about these new guys, Taki and his crew. It was interesting that Boots had walked me back to the hotel. He was kind of cute, even if he gave off a kind of a "little brother" vibe. And of course, thinking about them made me wonder about these Ravens they had said to avoid. At first they had made it sound like some kind of a street gang. But the air they gave them, the fear, the... respect, made them sound dangerous. Not just some rivals that happened to be bullies. More like the shit my friend Alen had been babbling about, when he was confusing New York State with New York City. I needed someone to talk to, and I didn't have anyone. Yet. Even though it was only around 9:30, I decided to call it an early night. I figured maybe a shower would help me clear my head. In the end, I only managed to clear my "little head" as it were, and went to bed. I had a stark, vivid dream that night. I was dancing with the girl from dinner. She was at least a foot taller than me in the dream, and I kept having to work hard to keep my face out of her boobs, which were right at eye level, except that I remembered from the dining room that she was very flat chested. Probably to do with how insanely skinny she was. Anyway, in the dream, she moved in a very jerky, stop motion kind of way, really playing up the Jack Skellington similarities I had made at dinner. She was wearing slacks and kind of a jacket-looking blouse in a blinding, pristine white that matched perfectly with her hair. It was very similar to the crisp white top she had worn in the restaurant, and even in the dream, I realized that I had not actually noticed whether she had been wearing slacks or a skirt in real life. We were doing some kind of old fashioned dance together, like a waltz or something. I couldn't really define what kind of room we were in, but it was massive, and the entire left wall was a giant mirror, like you would expect to see in like a dance studio or something. However, in the mirror's reflection, she was dancing, and I was not visible with her. In fact, in that way you absolutely know something in a dream, I knew she was dancing alone, and not only that, but she was glad I wasn't there. The version of her here with me, I just knew, was happy I was dancing with her, but the reflected version was not. Then I noticed something else odd. The reflected version was wearing exactly the same top, but instead of pants, she was wearing a white skirt that ended just above the knees, with knee length boots of the same brilliant white. She smiled at me and nodded, just as the version of her that I was dancing with, reached up and cupped my chin to look up at her. She smiled as well, giving me the same look of satisfaction that I was here, and not with her reflection. Then suddenly I noticed Mr. Tsui, the creep from earlier, standing in the corner, watching. He had this absolutely shit-eating grin on his face, as if this scene was all part of some master plan that he was watching unfold. Then I realized he wasn't just in one corner, but was standing in all four corners of the room at once. Somehow four copies of him, and yet all the same man. His look he gave me was leering, predatory. It wasn't lustful, like some creep perving on me. More like I was the most delectable piece of steak he had ever smelled, and I was cooked to perfection. Suddenly the girl I was dancing with was more my height, and I realized it was my friend Lisa. She was laughing at me, not to embarrass me, but because she always flirted with me, just teasing her gay friend. Why was I thinking of her, though? Then I realized, it was because of the hair, shaved up the right side, then parted to the left in a wave that became longer the further out to the side it went. She had never been able to get her hair right, because it was always fried from bad dye jobs and cheap styling products. In the dream it looked awesome though. Then I realized why, because it was actually Mina's hair, not Lisa's. And the second I thought of the hotel employee, the girl I was dancing with switched to her, and once again, I was dancing with a girl a foot taller than me. Mina swayed against me, moving her hands from my shoulders down to my ass, sliding her hands into pockets I hadn't even realized were on the seat of my pants. I looked away from her, embarrassed even in the dream at her audacity, and noticed Mr. Tsui again. Now he was not pleased at all. He looked like he was ready to rend someone in two with his bare hands. Hopefully not me! His eyes seethed with jealousy. As Mina and I spun once more, I caught our reflection in the wall mirror, and to no surprise, I was in it this time, dancing away with Mina, who's reflective version looked scared to death, on the verge of panic. I looked at her there in my arms, and suddenly it wasn't her at all, but instead I was dancing with Boots. Even in my dream, that did shock me, because even though I thought he was cute, I didn't know him like that. It hadn't even been him I had thought of when I had taken care of business in the shower. I looked at him, eye level with me, and his face showed... nothing. Just a blissful blank stare. No emotion, no recognition of who I was or what we were doing. He may as well have been a puppet, a placeholder there in my dream. I looked over at the mirror, and saw that in the reflection, I was dancing with the girl in white again. She looked out of the mirror at me with a sad look, a look of loss and defeat. The look seemed to make her even more beautiful.