The Blood Hotel by Cheryl Peña

Author:Cheryl Peña
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: World Castle Publishing, LLC
Published: 2023-04-10T20:12:23+00:00

Chapter Nine

Mayra listened while Jackson took her around the nearby shop, gathering equipment and showing her what she needed to have to catch fish. She seemed earnest like she was really paying attention, but she had half an eye on her children, watching out for them. Jackson felt like it was a lost cause. She still thought Ramόn would return and take care of everything the way he’d always done.

Jackson picked out a tackle box and began packing different lures, floats, and weights, insisting this was important as he placed everything in a different compartment for easy organization. Then, he tried to explain what everything was for, when she would need it and when she wouldn’t, but she didn’t seem to be interested any longer. She called to the children as they raced around the store and tried to keep them from knocking over store displays, although there was no one around to be annoyed by their behavior except Jackson and Nadine.

Finally, he gave up and took his own equipment out of the store and headed to the lake. Nadine trailed behind, her own gear carefully stowed as she walked out the door. She didn’t look back, but Mayra and the children seemed to take this as their cue to begin crying. “You had better come along, or you’ll miss everything,” Nadine chided Mayra.

Jackson was halfway to the lake when they joined him. This time, Mayra had the tackle box he’d begun packing, and she had picked out a fishing rod and reel, although he wasn’t sure she’d listened to the lecture at all. But she had stopped crying, and she had a determined look on her face that gave him a little bit more confidence than he’d had before.

Eventually, they approached the water’s edge, peering through the trees first to be sure they had not been observed. Jackson showed Mayra what to do to get started, how to bait her hook and how to cast it into the water. Her movements were clumsy, but she managed to get her line in the lake a few feet from his. He wished it were a little farther away, but perhaps there were plenty of fish in the lake after all. There were few predators anymore. Only the ones hunting humans.

It wasn’t long before Jackson and Nadine had caught several fish, but with Jackson helping, Mayra had caught a couple of them, too. They carried their catch back toward the hotel, freezing when they saw a large crowd of people gathered outside the front door. Mayra called out, to Jackson’s chagrin, and then she ran toward them with open arms. “Do you need a place to stay? There’s room inside.”

Jackson looked over his shoulder, and Nadine’s expression surely echoed his own. He hurried to the door, where Mayra was ushering the strangers into the lobby. Catching up to her, he took her shoulder and nearly shouted at her, “What are you doing?”

“I thought there was plenty of room,” she argued.

“Only if the cyborgs don’t find us.

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