Chester and the 24-hour Lottery
Chapter 10; No Tell Motel

Van sat on one of the twin beds as Chester paced the floor in the same room they used before he’d become part of something much bigger than the lottery. Alone with her nerves and questions that couldn’t be voiced made him stop-start in front of her unsure of how to proceed.

“Spit it out, Chet.”

“I like you, Van.”

“I like you too.”

“Do you like me because I won?”

Keeping up the ruse his win had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with politics or the fact Spell wasn’t above walking officers into the crowd tonight to turn citizens into mindless zombies made Chester want to lock himself in the bathroom and cry like an infant.

Van narrowed her eyes, licking her bottom lip in a manner he found extremely sexy, “Why don’t you come over here and I’ll show you how much I adore you?”

Sitting on the narrow bed he genuinely smiled, “No matter what happens the rest of the night, I want you to know I appreciate how you’ve had my back. You’re a remarkable woman.”

Van’s green eyes widened when he kissed her. She relaxed after he pressed further, placing his hands on her shoulders. Soon, they were oblivious the state was watching them make out, but Van came to her senses, ripping the Vid Frames off both their faces, tossing them inside the bedside drawer.

Chester chuckled when the throng outside audibly booed but offered encouragement to them both. Normally, it would have put a damper on his libido, but when Van straddled his lap, he had a flashback of her slashing Carl’s neck ear to ear and groaned as her greedy lips pursued his. Who knew he got off on violence?

“Does this answer your question?” She purred, whipping off her top, “They might still hear us, but right now I need all of your attention on me. I’m for your eyes only Chet.”

Never did he imagine someone as wonderful as Van would come in his life, let alone desire him. The things she whispered in his ear as he took her lithe little body made everything that had transpired in the last sixteen hours disappear.

People in the streets, ogling a blank screen hoping for an X-rated show settling for listening to their quiet moans, were of no consequence as Chester and Van found solace in each other’s arms. In a time of stress and uncertainty, she submitted with no conditions and he the same, plunging into the moment as if it would never come again or end.

He’d never held another person as tight as he did Van when they laid spent, bodies covered in a fine sheen of sweat. She sweetly kissed his cheek before standing.

“Take a shower with me,” she strode naked into the bathroom and he grinned, only able to nod as his mind continued reeling from what they’d just done.

The prostitute he’d screwed when eighteen had definitely been right about one thing, women liked a guy who uses their tongue for more than arguing with them. He hopped off the bed and scurried into the room as Van ran the hot water.

She smirked over her shoulder as steam filled the space, “We won’t have long, better hurry before meathead comes to investigate.”

He pulled her into the large glass stall needing no further encouragement, running his hands over her hair, “I thought you had greasy hair when I first saw you.”

She laughed, then sobered, leaning close to his ear hissed, “Tell me what Spell did to you at Fort Ozark.”

Thankfully, the spray was warm because her tone chilled his blood, “W-what?”

Unexpectedly her arm shot up, going across his neck to pin him against the cold tiles as he stupidly gazed into her sharp emerald eyes which held none of the warmth he’d fallen into minutes before, “What did you see? What did Spell say? Tell me!”

Chester didn’t bother to fight, kinda digging her aggressiveness. He unburdened what transpired in a rush, “He has a new drug, more potent than what we witnessed in Allard. He turned my mother into a fucking mindless zombie, taking orders and wanting the dose. It’s a nasty toxic green color. Spell said it’s become tiresome keeping the peace, and easier to drug citizens into compliance. He also demanded who I’m working for, which I’d like to know too. The Institute went over our footage and found nothing. He let me go, not saying anything. He threatened you though.”

“Does he suspect me?” she dropped her arm but didn’t back up.

“No, if anyone did you think you’d still be alive?” he snapped, then sighed, “What will happen? I hate being in the dark. How is every state throwing a Halloween party when I suggested it in a panic? This shit doesn’t make sense!”

Van brushed her knuckles on the side of his face, and he tensed, “I thought you were the most miserable man I’d ever encountered when assigned to you, but now I know, you’re the bravest of us all.”

She punched him in the face so hard, his head cracked against the wet tiles. He reached out to grab her, but her slippery skin slid through his fingers. She snatched his hair, bashing his skull once more against the wall. He cried out, falling to his knees painfully, confused and angry.

“What the hell!” he shouted, dizziness making his vision blur, “What’s wrong with you!”

She backed away, breathing heavily, “Fuck you’re tough to knock out.”

He tried to stand, but Van shoved his shoulders, falling backward with him to once more slam his head on the floor. He heard her mutter something as darkness overwhelmed his consciousness. His last thought was how much of a pussy he is compared to a hundred-pound girl.

“Chester? Sir!”

“What an idiot.”

“Loser nearly died for a bit of pussy.”

“Knock it off, remember your place.”

Slowly, Chester blinked into awareness to replace himself on a bed with a towel thrown over his body. Garth and three men glared at him with accusing eyes and he closed his own, head throbbing in time with his panicked pulse.

“Where is the girl?” Garth ground out, “What the hell happened?”

Chester groaned and sat up, “I slipped in the shower.”

Garth tossed a pill and a carton of water right onto his gentiles making him flinch in pain, “Bullshit. Did you really believe we’d leave you in here alone if the room wasn’t monitored? She beat the shit out of you, then ran off.”

He swallowed the medicine, the ache in the back of his head and balls disappearing with welcoming relief, “If you know, then why ask? She must have decided I’m a bad fuck! Who knows? Women are ridiculous.”

Garth huffed in agitation, “The council members are waiting downstairs. They said you plan to make a speech on stage before the festivities?”

He looked over to the long black robe laid out on the other bed. Why did Saldivar want them to dress the same? Was it so no one could tell who was who, enabling them to slip away to do nefarious things? Why had Van beaten him unconscious when he’d let her go?

Disappointment and hurt clouded his thoughts, telling Garth to wait outside. The man shot him a dirty look but complied. No doubt the soldiers would laugh over this for years.

Why he continued to care for a woman who had an agenda that didn’t include him was wearing thin, but he hoped deep down Van did it for his protection. If not, she had a lot of fucking explaining to do before he ever took another shower with the crazy girl.

He opened the drawer to retrieve his Vid Frames and saw Van left hers behind. She was out there somewhere unmonitored and unnoticed and before the night was over; he was sure she would replace her way back.

If not… at least he banged a hot chick without paying for it.