The Last Inn

by Rachel Gay

  Entry 14: Ashes

  Miles insisted on stopping to check the vacant guest rooms before going down to the common room, in spite of Kota’s persistent shouts and the sound of tables and chairs turning over amid the barking and screeching of the wild animals. By the time they reached the foot of the stairs, Kota slammed the front door shut and slid down to the floor with his back against the wood. Behind him the former residents of the nest that lay in tatters around the fireplace chattered through the wood before running away.

  A trail of ash and soot showed the path the chaos had taken before Kota prevailed against the surprisingly vicious squirrels. It ran from the fireplace, across the once clean floors, over more than a few tables, one of which lay on its side, and finally out the door where the young man now sat, his clothes and skin covered in soot and several scratches to remind him of the battle.

  “I’ll clean that up in a minute,” he said before he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “How was the attic?”

  “The roof needs some work and there’s half a century’s worth of odds and ends to go through,” Miles answered and Kota groaned.

  Erin looked down at Sollis’s journal, not sure why she bothered to bring it down. The idea of ever being bored enough to go through the thing appalled her, but she stopped by the reception desk and stuck it in all the same. By the time she righted the fallen table and started pushing the chairs back in place the journal was already forgotten.

  Miles watched her progress across the room before saying to Kota, “And Erin and I have decided that the three of us will go into town this afternoon.”

  “What?” Kota bounced back up on his feet so fast it looked he had springs attached to his shoes. “But the sun! I mean, you’re a vampire.”

  His eyes shifted between Erin and Miles.

  Miles pulled the device that Erin had noticed earlier off of his wrist and showed it to Kota as he said, “This is a combox, it allows me to receive messages from my dispatcher. That’s the person who tells me where I’m supposed to go next. She writes on her tablet and it shows up here, or something like that. Today I received a message that the weather will be cloudy enough that I should be able to walk around without too much of a problem, see? No sun, no ash, which is more than I can say for you.”

  Kota looked down at his shirt and brushed off a cloud of black dust that swirled in the air before resettling in about the same spot.

  “There were some old clothes up in the attic,” Miles said. “I’m sure Miss Erin here would not mind lending them to you, if they fit.”

  “Oh, right,” Erin said. There were probably enough clothes up there to fit out a regiment and supply one of the traveling troupes with the costumes to put on a full play.

  “Thank you, but I think I will just stay here,” Kota said, picking the broom up off the ground where he’d dropped it when one of the squirrels latched on to the back of his head. “We shouldn’t just leave the inn unattended, right?”

  “I could get my little brother to watch it.” Erin shrugged when they looked at her and said, “Today’s his day off, and I bet he wouldn’t mind a chance to get away from home.”

  “You have a brother?” Kota asked.

  “Three, and one sister.”

  “I think I see why he might want to get out,” Miles muttered and then said in his more usual, cheerful tone, “Then it’s settled. Miss Erin’s brother will watch the inn and we’ll go out for a little walk. Won’t that be nice? Where do you think we should go first, Kota?”

  Kota returned the question with a baffled stare and Miles caught him looking at Erin for some kind of answer.

  “What?” The vampire tilted his head. “You have been in town before, haven’t you?”

  “Not really,” Kota admitted. Except for his one excursion out to the farm, he had not stepped beyond the walls of the Last Inn, and considering how that turned out he wasn’t in the mood to try again.

  The muscles around Miles’s mouth tightened for a brief second and then he smiled again. “Then we really do need to go. But first things first.”

  He tapped the broom and pointed to the floor emphatically. Kota didn’t even bother to argue; he just rubbed at one of his scratches and started to sweep.

  Erin shook her head and said, “Well, I’ll go ahead and ask Art about coming by later. You two be good, okay?”

  She opened the door and Miles and Kota both moved away from the patch of sunlight that came in before she shut it behind her.

  “’Be good?’ Did she just talk to us like we were children?” Miles asked.

  “I think it’s a habit,” Kota said. He corralled the ash and soot up and sighed when he saw the streaks left behind. He went back into the kitchen to wet a rag and missed Miles’s snort.

  “A habit she picked up around you, I’m sure.” The vampire checked his combox again and reread the latest message. It had been a pain to get the weather mages to make this allowance for him, and he had no intentions of wasting it.

  Over the next couple of hours the clouds rolled in over town and Miles waited impatiently for Erin and Kota to get ready. The moment Arthur, Erin’s younger brother arrived, he ushered them out the door without waiting to get to know the boy beyond a brief introduction. There was so much to be done, and so little time.

  Entry 15: Around Town

  The short walk into town seemed all the shorter to Kota, who kept trying to press his hair down to better cover the mark on his face and looking up at the sky as if expecting the dark clouds overhead to break cover at any moment and leave him exposed to the sun.

  “You fuss with your hair more than a teenage girl,” Miles said. “No offense, Miss Erin.”

  “Really? How old do you think I am?” Erin asked. “And just Erin is fine. Where do you two want to go first? I mean, there’s really not that much to see, besides the clock tower and the river, maybe, and some people like to see the church – oh.”

  “What? I won’t burst into flames if I go in.” Miles paused on the paved road that separated the houses on either side. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I won’t. Hasn’t happened yet, right?”

  Erin decided to lead them along the main road, which happened to be the only road. The rest of the side streets were little more than dirt paths, and while it was possible to go just about anywhere in town using the alleys the view lacked anything remotely interesting. That said, the most interesting view in town today seemed to be the two strangers, if the many, many looks Miles and Kota received from the townspeople was any indication. A few even turned around to watch them walk by, and faces looked out from some of the store windows.

  “You don’t get many visitors around here, do you?” Kota asked. His head ducked down when a nearby couple whispered and he seemed to be making a bid to hide behind himself.

  “Well, no, but...” Erin looked at the others and coughed before saying, “Word travels fast around here, you see, and the merchants apparently like to talk a lot while they’re selling and trading.”

  “Ah,” Miles said.

  “Ah what?” The moment they reached the bridge Kota latched onto one of the railings and looked down into the river below to avoid the stares. The sound of the water combined with the croaking of frogs and the quacking ducks splashing in the water helped, and if he closed his eyes he could almost forget they were in the middle of town.

  “Ah, they know there’s a vampire staying at the inn, right?”

  Erin nodded and for Kota’s benefit said, “Yes, and people have been asking about Kota every time I come into town. They’re just curious, that’s all.”

  Kota just nodded with his eyes clenched shut. When he failed to move or otherwise respond for five whole minutes, Miles and Erin looked at each other and without speaking grabbed each of Kota’s arms. Together they managed to pry him away from the bridge and walk him into the center of town, where a large multistory clock tower dominated the area.

  “Why couldn’t I have just stayed at the inn?” Kota asked, and Erin swore
she heard the hint of a whimper in his voice.

  “Don’t you like your walkie?” Miles said in the most patronizing way possible. “Come on Kota, it won’t kill you to look around.”

  He grabbed Kota’s arm again and pulled him around the circle of stores, pointing out the patch of green at the foot of the tower and the squirrel in the tree who hissed at Kota.

  Erin decided to hang back and let them run around, so she couldn’t hear what Kota muttered in a steady stream under his voice at Miles but she did see the young man give a few fleeting smiles after a while. She wondered what could make someone so scared of other people like that. He walked around like he expected the world to kick him. Did it have something to do with his curse, or had Kota always been like this?

  “Well well, look who’s got two boys hanging on her arms,” said a familiar voice.

  Afterwards Erin looked back on this moment and felt a strong surge of pride for managing to keep her face expressionless as she turned and said, “Hello, Mrs. Grimsby. Out for a walk today?”

  “Oh, yes,” the little old woman said with a smile that suggested something. Erin wasn’t entirely sure what it suggested, but she thought it was probably dirty. “Doctor says I need to get out more, you know. I see you’re getting out of that stuffy old inn today. Tell me, is that the partner I’ve heard so much about?”

  Erin wondered how much Grimsby could have really heard as she said, “Yes, that’s Kota. Art’s taking care of the inn so I could show them around town.”

  “And that other one,” Grimsby’s voice lowered and she leaned in closer to Erin as she said, “The scrawny one dressed like a scarecrow, he’s the capital’s vampire?”

  She misinterpreted the surprise on Erin’s face and chuckled. “Don’t be so surprised, those traders have been talking about it all morning. Just like the emperor to send one of them here.”

  Mrs. Grimsby continued on, chattering about the country today with the occasional thinly veiled barb toward those “bats” as she called them, but Erin paid little attention. She looked at Kota, still rake-thin and dressed in cast-off clothes from the attic that hung on him like a sack, with dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep (did he ever sleep?). Compared to Miles she could more than understand Grimsby’s mistake.

  Before she could correct the her, Miles and Kota returned and the vampire gave Grimsby a deep bow and a smile that made the woman cluck.

  “Good afternoon, ma’am. Do you mind if we take back our guide?”

  “Of course not,” Grimsby said. She beamed at Miles and gave Erin a brief wink as she said, “You two should go by the forge and see Erin’s father. The man’s been worried sick you know. I’d warn you about walking around outside town alone, but with this one around I don’t think you’ll have to worry, eh Erin?”

  She chuckled at Erin’s discomfort and walked away, after making a discreet gesture in Kota’s direction designed to ward off evil.

  Entry 16: Magic Follows Magic

  Erin tried to ignore Miles’s incessant smirk as she said, “Well, we’ve seen most of the town now, why don’t we head back to the inn?”

  “Yes, please,” Kota said quickly but Miles spoke over him.

  “Why stop now? We still have time, and we haven’t even been to the other side of this place yet.” Miles paused and then said, “That is, unless you’re avoiding a certain forge. Afraid of Daddy, are we?”

  “No, I just don’t think going by there is such a good idea.” Erin crossed her arms and glared at the vampire. “Why do you want to go so bad, anyways?”

  “Well, it is my job to look into the new owner of the inn, after all. I should think that would include meeting her family, references and so on.” Miles brushed his blonde hair out of his face. “Of course, I could always find the place myself. Shouldn’t be too hard, after all.”

  Miles turned and walked away. Erin watched him pass by the clock tower and cross the rest of the town center before she sighed and said, “Really? Come on, Kota!”

  She grabbed his arm and dragged him behind her as she ran, managing to catch up with Miles about halfway down the street.

  “Worried?” he asked.

  “About how my dad will react when a vampire walks into his forge? Yeah, a little,” Erin snapped back. “I don’t want to explain to the capital why someone has to be sent to scrape up your ashes.”

  “Ouch.”

  The blacksmith had set up shop near the edge of town, in a large building attached to his home. Chopped wood lay in neat stacks around the outside, and a spire of smoke rose from the cutaway in the roof. Its set of wide double doors stood open, allowing a breeze to come in and a steady ring of hammer meeting hot metal to come out, sometimes punctuated with an oath or a yell.

  Erin led them into the smithy and Kota and Miles looked around, taking in the tools and materials stacked or hanging on the walls. Kota looked around and up to find the customary horseshoe hanging above his head for luck, gleaming in the light of the fire.

  A young man looked up from pumping the fire on the far side of the room and said, “Erin! About time you showed up.”

  Yet another one of Erin’s brothers if Kota had to guess, as he had the same pointed face as the younger brother currently watching the inn for them as well as Erin’s chestnut hair. He also had the broad shoulders and build that marked her father, an easy comparison to make as the man looked up from his work and scowled at them.

  “Stay there,” Eli Smith said. He finished his current project, some kind of tool that Kota did not recognize, and left it to cool as he straightened up to his full height and faced them. His eyes flickered toward Kota and rested on Miles, and his frown became even more chiseled than usual. “You must be the vampire the capital sent. What’s your business here?”

  Miles, visibly flustered in the presence of the overbearing personality that bore down from every line of the smithy, cleared his throat and said, “Yes, sir, my name is Miles. I am here to inspect the inn and make sure that it’s in capable hands.”

  “Well, as you can see this is not the inn,” Eli answered. “Marcus, go fetch some more wood for the fire.”

  The young man nodded and scurried out. Kota watched him leave and wished he had an excuse to get out of there too.

  “Look,” Eli said to Erin once his son left the forge, “I clearly can’t stop you from playing around with this inn business, but don’t drag Arthur into it.”

  “Art was off today, I didn’t drag him away from the shop,” Erin protested. “Besides, he wanted to do it, and he needed the extra money. You know they don’t pay him nearly enough for everything he does for that place.”

  “He’s an apprentice, he’s there to learn,” her father said. “It will pay off in time. That inn, on the other hand? You’re so worried about Art, but you’re sinking your time and energy into that beaten, broken wreck of a building. Look what it did to Daniel, the man spent his whole life keeping the place up and six months later it looks like no one’s stepped in there in years.”

  Kota frowned as the memory of the guest rooms flickered in his mind from his first day at the inn. Clean, neat, with fresh sheets even, someone had to have taken care of them. Aside from the usual wear and tear of age, only the ground floor bore any signs of neglect. He remembered the thick layer of sawdust covering the common room floor beneath a light layer of dust and wondered if ‘neglect’ was even the right word.

  “Well, if Erin and Kota refuse the inn or fail in their duties someone else will just have to be brought in,” Miles said, earning a scowl from Erin that rivaled her father’s. “But so far they seem to be handling it. The current guests have already told me they intend to return at some point, as well as tell others about it. Soon your little town will have more than enough visitors, which should be good news for you.”

  “What kind of visitors though?” Eli said to himself, but Miles caught the small sound.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You should know,” Eli said. “Sollis op
ened his doors to anyone and everyone, as well as everything. Those forests hold strange peoples and creatures, and more than once some monster followed their heels and terrorized this town.”

  “Well, I did see the complaints on file,” Miles admitted. “But those incidents happened years ago—”

  “Years ago? Look at what’s happening with Joe’s livestock now! I don’t care what they say they saw, no normal wolf could have done anything to a horse like what I saw this morning. Magic follows magic, everyone knows that. It will only get worse with time.”

  His stare caught everyone except for Kota, who kept his gaze firmly riveted on the floor and resisted the urge to make sure his hair still hid the curse mark emblazoned above his left eye.

  Entry 17: Observations

  Erin and her father stared each other down across the forge until Marcus returned with his arms full of firewood.

  “Where’s Mom?” Erin asked her brother.

  “Oh, she’s over at the Farmers’ place,” Marcus said after he dropped the wood next to the fire and fed it a few pieces. “She wanted to talk to Delilah, help get her mind off things.”

  “Thanks,” Erin turned and spoke to Miles and Kota, “We’re going to the farm next, okay?”

  They nodded, both more than ready to leave the forge, but Eli spoke.

  “Your mother put together some things you left behind, if you want to get them now.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. “I was going to send one of your brothers to take it to you, but now I think you would just recruit them to work in the inn.”

  Erin looked surprised for a moment and then said, “Oh, okay. I’ll be right back.”

  She went through the door that connected to the house and Marcus excused himself as well, not even waiting until they were out of earshot before eagerly talking to his sister about something to do with one of the neighbors.

  Eli looked at the other two and allowed the silence to stretch beyond the bounds of awkward before he turned and pumped the fire with the bellows.

  “I think I’m going to go outside,” Miles said once the blacksmith’s eyes were off him and he slipped out without another sound.

  “Hold on there.”