THE STRANGEST TALE: Prologue

[sinfulsimming]

Prologue

Masterpost

Morning is creeping in through the glass when she awakes, blinking grit from her eyes and struggling, bit by bit, to come around from what feels like a dead sleep.

 

Nothing around her is familiar.

She sits up, bed creaking beneath her, and blinks around at the room she's found herself in: nothing identifying. Nothing special.


She flicks on the light, cringes when it's almost too bright, as though she hasn't seen the sun in too long.

She slips from the bed, dressed as though to begin her day already, heels still worn.

The window tells her as little as the room, although the idea of it starts to piece together, bit by bit: a motel, she thinks. A motel out in the vast stretch of desert, somewhere she doesn't recognize.

Outside, the sun is only just attempting to crest above the hills, and she feels as though she's been drinking for days, if not weeks. She doesn't recognize a damn thing around her. Not a single one.

A man draws her eye and he waves when he sees her. She hesitates, then closes the gap between them, ready to say-- She doesn't know what.

Something helpful, she hopes.

Before she can, the man speaks, letting out a laugh in the process.

"Man, you look like you've had the worst night of drinking Strangetown's seen in a while." There's a grin on his face, pleasant and disarming. She feels herself relax fractionally. "You okay?" He frowns. "You look awful lost."

"I-" She breathes in and out, then shakes her head, deciding on the truth rather than pretending that everything is all right. "I just woke up here."

"What?" He looks around, almost like he's searching for a person or a car nearby that she doesn't know about. "Did someone leave you here?"

"I don't know." She scratches at her hair like it'll help ease her pounding headache. "I feel like I've been out drinking, but I don't... remember."

"Well," he says, considering that for a moment. "What do you remember?"

It's a good question, really. She feels like she's shaking her brain around, trying to dislodge loose marbles. "My name," she finally says, nodding. "I remember my name."

"Well, go on then!" he laughs. "Introduce yourself!"

She smiles a little, despite her misgivings and apprehension. "I'm Bella," she says, extending her hand to shake. "Bella Bachelor."

He beams back, shaking her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Bella," he says. "I'm Ajay. Ajay Loner. Welcome to Strangetown."


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