Trapped by Lies

Milan, Italy.

Campo Marzio Motel.

Maura reread the name of the building on the piece of paper she was holding, then looked up to read the name on the building sign. A rough sigh escaped that instant. The building in front of her now seemed to have three levels, not too big but wide, minimal lighting, and dirty parts on the walls. There were only lights from about five rooms lit up on the second level and the first level. The rest looked like there was no life.

"Is there life here?" Maura asked herself.

With a heavy heart that made her sigh for the umpteenth time, Maura took another step. But having just reached the third step, the vibrate on her cell phone as well as the notification sound stopped her again. Maura flinched slightly before grabbing the phone from her pants pocket.

Client A:

Room 167, 1st floor.

Maura furrowed her brows. After raising her head, Maura noticed the building in front of her. The first floor was almost completely dark and there were no lights on. Isn't there no-oh, wait, there's the room!

Maura smiled wryly when she saw the only light on on the first floor. It must be room 167. She was just about to take another step, but the corner of one eye felt a silhouette flashing from the right side. When she turned her head, unfortunately Maura only saw a scene of darkness and silence. The only illumination was from the reflected light of the street lamp.

It just so happened that this motel was on the edge of the district road.

In the darkness, there were leafy trees with thick grass as high as an adult's knee. There was no one there. But Maura felt someone peeking out from behind a tree trunk, or perhaps among the bushes. Maura squinted to clear her vision. There was no one, but the grass near a tree was moving very slowly. Movement that seemed to indicate someone was walking among it.

At first Maura wanted to dodge. Strangely, only the grass on that part of the tree moved, the rest did not. Even when Maura tried to check the wind, the wind was not big enough to shake the tall grass.

Maura suddenly had a bad feeling. The thick silence blew a cold breeze down her neck. Maura's goosebumps bristled. The more she looked at the darkness of the tree-lined area, the more Maura was overshadowed by the figure of someone watching her.

For a few seconds looking at the darkness, Maura finally shook her head to drive away bad thoughts.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Maura again caught the movement of a person's silhouette through the tail of her eyes. The same direction as before. The movement of turning her head was not fast enough so Maura still only saw the darkness of the land. But at that very moment, her ears caught a sound like the scraping of shoes against grass. It was the sound of someone falling.

Her instincts began to sound the alarm. Her heart pumped rapidly as her breath caught. An ominous swish flowed with a sense of unease. The sound lasted for about five seconds, then silence returned. Furthermore, Maura's ears only heard the echoing sound of crows chirping that had been circulating since she arrived here. Maura's curiosity peaked.

She slowly moved forward while tilting her head. Her gaze remained fixed on the bushes. The closer she got, the more she felt a swish creeping into the crevices of her chest. The only sound was her own breathing.

Maura turned on her phone's flashlight and shined it towards the suspected bushes. Unfortunately, the sound of a message notification accompanied by five vibrations of the cell phone jolted Maura. Suddenly she glanced at her pants pocket, then snorted in disgust. No need to ask, this must be a notification from the client.

"It's so noisy. Just disturbing people," Maura muttered. She had to put her curiosity on hold and assume that the silhouette of a person was just a bad feeling.

Maura entered the motel building. The motel hallway greeted Maura's eyes with dim lighting. Maura wondered, could the Client really not afford to rent an expensive hotel? Or at least a better hotel than this even though it was not expensive. Maura felt like protesting, but her position as a servant of a hired lover prevented her.

After all, she was getting paid for this, and this client said he would pay a pretty high price. Who wouldn't?

Maura walked down the quiet hallway. Her footsteps echoed. She approached the reception desk. The reception desk of this motel had no attendant. Maura furrowed her brow and checked left and right, then checked her cell phone again.

Client A:

Just go in. No need to go to the front desk.

There were honestly three other messages, but Maura didn't heed the Client's call. How impatient!