Finely's Conspiracy: Road to Beginnings

"You're so silly", Christy laid back on the blanket and stared up at the cotton candy clouds. The way they swam across the sky in mesmerizing fashion captivated her for a moment. She saw a figure appear out of the different whisps and clumps. Something like a puppy or maybe a baby moving and stretching, always changing. She pointed up at the figure distracting my gaze from her for a moment. 

I wanted to see what she saw. I wanted to know what made her pause for such a while.

"It's a butt!"

"What!", I looked back to see her pointing at me giggling.

"Get it? Cause you're a butt?"

I sat up and sighed quietly. I hadn't been keeping track of time. It was already 12:30.

"Okay let's go."

"Aw what? No! Is it cause I called you a butt?"

"If we get back late again you're dad's gonna kill me, and I don't want to know if he was joking or not."

"Oh he definitely wasn't but I mean who cares?"

"Me and my neck." I said as I stood up and walked towards the car. It was almost hidden behind the tall strands of grass. From a certain angle it almost looked like an animal stalking its prey in the wild. I thought back to the night before. My father and I are sitting in front of the TV learning all about the habits of the jungle. Mentally taking notes as if either of us would ever leave town. I knew he'd still be sitting in his chair by the time I got home. 

As I started up the car the smell of gasoline clashed with the fresh air and ultimately overpowered it. I sat waiting for her. She was rolling up the blanket and taking her time too. Even her walk to the car was sluggish. 

"Ugh I hate that smell."

"Yeah me too." My voice wasn't sympathetic.

The car ride was mostly quiet except for the music playing lightly in our background. I still needed to fix the front speakers. 

"Hey are you hungry?"

"Christy, I have to drop you off home."

"Oh come on I know you don't want today to end either. Let's get something to eat or drink at least."

It never took much for her to convince me. I tried not to look her in the eyes. Her eyes were closers. All she needed to do was smile and look at me and I would fold.

"Nope not this time." I stared forward and wouldn't even look at her. Her response was to look the other way and whisper.

"Butt."

The rest of the ride was silent. The radio stopped working and we opted to turn it off and listen to the sound of traffic outside. The different cars in their natural habitat, drifting and driving through the different bends in the road. The way home had so many turns. Each one made the ride seem long and unbearable. I wanted to talk to her but I had nothing to say.

I looked over at a license plate in another lane. The state written on it was different. A place far away I'd never been too. It made me think. I wondered who the driver was and what their story could be.

...

Ben entered the town early in the morning. The only thing to greet him was a lone bird waking up alone in a nest it hadn't made. The song it sang rang out to the road before it. Ben took a sip of his coffee. The taste had grown stale and cold, since he'd taken his last sip the night before. Ben didn't mind the taste, all he wanted was the caffeine to keep him awake. 

His plan was to stay at a motel on the outskirts of the town, but the first one he saw had mold growing out of the doors. The sight almost made him sick. "Everyone's gotta have standards," he said to himself as he pulled out quickly. Now he was driving "straight down main street", or at least towards the main part of town. He figured no one would recognize him or his car. He might as well get a real hotel around some restaurants. 

As he kept going cars started to pool in from different highways. They encircled and flowed at different speeds around him. Everyone moved like a stream down the lanes to the center of the town. At the center of town was a statue of the town founder. A man named Leonard Finely. The statue captured his likeness very well. Made out of bronze and various other metals it stands at five foot seven, and depicts the young twenty-something mayor holding his iconic cane in front of him, in a powerful pose. Though many rambunctious teens and drunk adults have defaced this statue countless times, it stands spotless. Cleaner than the local hospital windows due to the private landscapers who take care of the statue and surrounding patch of grass and flowers.

The story of Mayor Finely was that at a young age he achieved success in a city far away. Satisfied with his riches he packed up all his belongings and with a few trusted associates he moved out west to an empty plot of land, where he started the building of his town he would later name Findersville. It is said that towards the end of construction, most of the men who were initial founders dropped their side of production and left seemingly out of nowhere. This sudden change made Finely the sole owner of the town and everything in it.

Including the old hotel building Ben had just parked in front of. Letting out a sigh, he sat back in his chair for a moment to think. He'd been driving for so long, his radio station only played static. The white noise zoned everything out and left an empty feeling. There was nothing going on until the sun started to climb over the nearby buildings. It's light shone through into Ben's car and blinded him, causing him to wake up from his empty daydream. Getting out of his car, Ben glanced about to make sure no one was looking in his direction. He had to stay casual. "A young man visiting his grandparents" that's the story he was going with. To be fair it wasn't completely untrue. 

He only had a small backpack with him, so the lady at the counter looked him up and down and said in monotone, "You only staying for a while?"

"Yes, I don't plan to stay long. I'm actually hear to-"

"Room 113."

"Uh thank you." Ben faltered a little before taking the key. He was always told little towns were nosy and asked a lot of questions. This lady must have been a bad example, because she barely even glanced at him. 

Room 113 was nice enough. The smell reminded Ben of when he used to go on long road trips. Though the room was different, the smell always stayed the same. The sunlight started to pour into the room revealing every dust particle in the air. He was grateful she gave him a room near the back exit. Her attitude gave him a feeling that strange men come and go often in this hotel. Not that Ben looked strange, he just felt strange in this town. Ben looked down at his clothes. He was wearing a brown short-sleeve dress shirt which he had left open to reveal a plain white t-shirt. For pants he just had regular black jeans that fit quite well. He tried to look as casual and forgettable as possible. A quick lift of the shirt collar to his nose and he flinched at his own scent.

"Oh man! I gotta shower," Ben glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "Sh- I'm almost late!"

He threw his backpack into a corner of the room and slammed the door shut as he took off his clothes and headed to the bathroom. Sliding into the shower he grabbed the faucet and tried to turn it left. It didn't move. He tried again turning it right this time but the faucet still refused to move. Under pressure Ben decided to hit the wall above the faucet causing the shower head to spew out icy water. The water stabbed at Ben's head and slithered down his back making him dance in fright at the shock of the sudden attack. He didn't have time to wait, so instead of thinking he showered in the frigid waters and hopped out quickly.

In the main room the telephone started to ring. A simple three note tone that repeated itself twice, paused for a few seconds and then continued. Ben picked it up after waiting for the third ring.

"Hello?" Ben answered.

"Who is this?"

"You called me?"

"Is that true?"

"No you're right I called you"

"No need to lie to me I ain't average Joe."

"Joe?"

"How ya doin kid?"

"I'm in town Joe."

"I thought ya weren't gonna stay in town. Ya said you would find a nice place to set up outside. Ya know keep a little distance."

"I know I just couldn't stay too far away you know. Family makes you act weird."

"Don't act too weird, kid, you're on the clock. Ya on your way to grandma's house yet?"

"Uh no I had to take a shower."

"Wanna look nice and proper huh?"

"Yea..."

There's a moment of silence, and then Ben hears a small click over the phone. Joe clears his throat and then continues.

"Come on home soon kid, we miss ya over here already."

"No problem Joe."

"Kid enough with the Joe talk ok it's Uncle J remember?"

"Sorry Uncle J, I'm just tired from all the driving."

"Well then you better get some sleep before you visit grandma. You don't want her to fuss over you too much now." Joe chuckles a bit and then ends the call with "Hey kid when you see her give her a big ol' forehead kiss from her little baby Joe ay?"

"Of course."

The phone hangs up and Ben is left sitting half naked in a towel on his hotel bed. He wasn't able to dry off completely so all the water from his shower soaked into the sheets. Ben continues to sit long after the phone call ended, staring at the door in front of him. A dog bark breaks his focus and he stands up and gets dressed.

About fifteen minutes later Ben sits in traffic still a little dazed. He tried to follow the different roads in the town but each one seemed to turn and twist into another similar one. He looked around at the different cars around him and didn't have any specific thoughts about them. That is until he saw an old faded sports car roll past him. In it were two people. One was a boy who shamelessly stared right at him. And next to the boy was Christy Finely the great, great, great, granddaughter of the town's founder. The girl Ben had to kidnap.