Hell on a Stick Pt. 3: Motel 6th

 

We get to the town front gate.

"I need to take care of business. I'll be back later. Actually, why don't you make a reservation at the motel? Here, I'll walk you over."
We cross the square, there's a large building to the right that's segmented like a layer cake, with each floor floating a few feet separated from each other, and I can see "Criozesas Administration Building" in a neon sign, blue and pink and red, suspended by a chain hanging on the front. The levels of the building shift and sway, suspended by an invisible force.

The motel is an indecipherable set of light-shapes. A pink and glowed yellow facade, made up of large triangles and squares, hang in the air, with a large typography of "MOTEL" written across the side, vertically, in yellow (outlined black) bold font, glowing. The front door is, oddly, a simple pair of double wooden doors, blue, with a latticed set of windows on the upper half. They are open, and a menu with text that scrolls and shifts as you look at it displays the motel restaurant dishes for today. The white and red awning provides shade, but I notice that though it throws a shadow there is no sun in the sky. The sky remains black.
We go in.

"MINERVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Jevas screams out at a decibel level that vibrates my whole body but does not hurt my ears? Odd.
The shadows in the room pull together, and formulate into a wooden female figure. Minerva collects herself and shakes a bit, and I've honestly never seen anything like her.
She is a wood-block mannequin of sorts, with a large red smile and black eyes made up of small black clay(?) discs ringed by red. She walks to us, and I realize there are tens of thousands of tiny shifting wooden blocks, her tan form moves as if slithering upright.
"Jevo! 's been almost a week since I've seen you! Where've you been darling?" Her voice is ringing and fun, borne from the deep south.
"Wandering the far fields for fun, Nervie. Helps my smile soften, you know how the grin gets in old age."
"Dour delight, I still can't believe the Furies accidentally used the same punishment on both of us. Who's this with you?"
"This is Cayman; he's here on vacation."
"Oh my! A tourist! I can't remember the last time Criozesas got one from the Old World. Are you dead?"
"No actually, I just got into a hard spot with Mr. Merrick and he took possession of my body for a while, so I decided to tour hell in the meantime."
"Oh oh, you absolutely cannot make Mr. Merrick mad! I once made fun of his cooking, because frankly nobody cooks worse than him, oh this was back when he was working with me at this motel, why, he took my cat and turned him to metal for a month! Poor Erro. Anyhow I'm assuming you need a room?"
"Yes, what's the fare?"
"No fare, but you owe me a kiss for every day you stay. Does that sound enticing? I promise I'm a good kisser."
"That'll have to do, though I'm a terrible kisser."
"Well it's just payment. I found out a loophole in my curse, you see, if I get a kiss on the lips here I can actually use my mouth instead of having it fixed and stuck like Jevo."
"Jevas why don't you do the same?"
"I dunno why, but that little trick Nervie has going on doesn't work for me, the grin stays fixed like a buggart on wine. Must be a misspelling in her version of the curse, I never figured it out."
"Well I'm all puckered up! You gotta pay first before you get a room~"

Minerva closes her eyes and sticks herself forward, both fists bunched up in giddiness. Straight outta a 80's chick flick, if 80s chick flicks featured wood witches from hell.
I press my lips to hers and kiss her, and I feel a sudden leaching of warmth from my face as her lips absorb my heat, leaving my whole head cooled down a good ten degrees. I freeze in confusion.

She pulls back, done.

"Ah, feels good! That was amazin'. Fresh fresh fresh energy! Don't worry hon I only pulled off your excess warmth, I'm not in the business of soul-suckin'. But that was so so good, mmm mmmm! I don't think I've ever smooched such a supple soul before, must be because you're still alive! Anyhow I'll get you your key. ERRO!"
A puffy gray cat, with bright eyes, floats down from through the ceiling. He holds a key with the number 6789 on it.
"Mreow"
He turns around and goes up the stairs, and I start getting pulled along by invisible force.
"I'll meet you later, Cayman! I got things to do. Explore Criozesas for a while? I'll meet you tomorrow!"
He goes out the door.
The staircase is a beautful mahogany and oak paneled affair.
"Minerva told me via telepathy that her lips softened up so much from your kiss that your fare's paid through this week."
"Oh that's nice of her. You can talk?"
"Yes; I'm a cat. Here's your room. Breakfast is served whenever you wake up, which is to say, the restaurant is open all the time, and we serve whatever you may think you may not like, and only those sorts of things, so I can't say we have a fixed menu. Meals are free, included with the fare, but you cannot eat at the restaurant more than twice a day, so you'll have to either eat plenty or eat out."
He floats away from me, through the wall, and I am left in the hallway alone. The potted plants are a mysterious reddish color and the hallway, pink marble walls, and tiled black and white floor, and the ceiling is not there at all and the tiny chandeliers that hang on thin chains come down from a smoky blackened void that lounges about ten feet above my head. I turn the key in the door and go in.
It is an incredibly average hotel room.
There's a queen sized bed, done up with two pillows and a golden throw cover sheet. A bathroom with shower sink and toilet. A kitchenette near where the door is, and on the opposite side of the room, a wall to ceiling sliding glass door that goes to a balcony. I have no extra clothes, and I take my bag off and put it on the bed. I take off my shoes. I go open the door and step out onto the balcony.
The balcony is bordered by glass fencing, and the textured concrete is almost soft to my feet. I don't know what floor I'm on, but the room's quite high up and I have a good view of the whole town. I pull out my compass, and surprisingly it works, and I am facing east.
I look to the left and right of me. Everytime I blink, the positions of the other balconies on the wall move, teleporting to different areas. There are no other people on the balconies. I blink twice more.
"Oh! Look, a guest."
I look over to the source of the voice. A man of thick build leans over his balcony, and the glass bends to the contours of his arms as he looks me over. His hard edged, thick mustache and imposing stance makes him pronounced, though I am not intimidated.
"That's what happens, you get guests at hotels."
"Not much around here. Minerva's very picky about who she lets stay here, you're lucky." He inhales sharply. "Jevas? You came in here with Jevas, ah he's picked up another friend."
"How'd you know I got here with Jevas?"
"I got a big nose, it's the only thing on me that works well."
"Your arms look large, do they not work?"
"No actually! They are in fact very weak. I am punished with a large and imposing build, but cannot actually use them. It is so annoying to be constantly assumed to be strong, but you have no more strength than an old lady. No disrespect to old ladies."
"It sounds like a lot of the 'punishments' that you all get around here are more like quirks."
"I mean a lotta people die and end up here, unless you were really bad you don't get an interesting fate. I'm Lonnie."
"I'm Cayman."
I blink, and he's gone.
"We'll talk later!" I hear.
"OK!"

I go back inside my room.