Mikael is sticking his head outside Marvin's car window while singing the lyrics of the song playing on the radio. Marvin appears tired--after all, they've been on the road for almost three hours, and the time is only now just nearing 9 am.

"How are you this mobile and active already? We left at 6 am." Marvin asks.

"What? This is nothing." Mikael says, his head still outside. "Besides, we should be in Grayville soon, right?"

"Nope, we're still about an hour and a half away," Marvin replies.

"Huh?" Mikael looks puzzled and he brings his head back in, taking his seat. "An hour?"

"And a half, yes. a rough estimate." He says.

Mikael promptly zips up his red hoodie and covers up to his face, before shutting his eyes and going off to sleep.

Marvin looks at him. "Lucky. You get to sleep."

Meanwhile, Chica is cleaning up her kitchen when she sees a note on the cooler.

I'll be out of town for a few days and my Card won't be reachable in that time. Take care of yourself and I'll see you when I get back. I'll also bring some souvenirs with me if I can.

Love ya,

Mikey.

She smiles and puts the note away.

Almost two hours later, Marvin and Mikael arrive at the Southbound Motel in Grayville. Energetically springing out of the car, Mikael laughs out. "Finally! That took forever!" He says.

"Keep quiet. It's bad enough I had to drive you here, but I'll lose it if I can't get some peace while we're here." Marvin quickly reminds him.

Mikael and Marvin enter the small Motel. Arriving at the counter, they meet a pale, middle-aged man with deep brown hair and green eyes. He has a brown chin stubble and a pair of rough hands. He greets them, and Marvin returns the favor, with Mikael still keeping mute.

"We'll need a room for a few days." He says.

"Would you like the upstairs room or the one downstairs?" The man at the counter asks.

"The upstairs room," Marvin says, before taking out a couple of bills and paying for the room, after which, he and Mikael turn to leave.

"Excuse me..." The man says, prompting Marvin and Mikael to turn back. "You've been here before, right?"

"Just the one time, last month," Marvin says politely.

"Right. I thought I'd recognized you. It was nothing. I just wanted a confirmation." The receptionist says.

"It's fine," Marvin says, turning back and walking away, with Mikael following behind.

Arriving at the room, Marvin falls onto the bed.

"When do we get this investigation started?" Mikael asks, taking a seat on the sofa facing the bed.

"I don't know, dude. You got to sleep through most of the ride. Give me at least an hour or two, then we can get something started."

"Aw, come on!" Mikael complains. "Aren't you supposed to be used to these kinds of things by now, being a detective and all?"

"Complain when I have the energy to tolerate it," Marvin says and stuffs his face in the pillow.

Mikael sighs heavily and leaves the room. He paces around the walkway outside the room. "I'm so bored..." he says to himself.

He decides to start the investigation himself, walking back down to the reception.

There, he sees a different man at the front desk. This one is a blonde man, very young-looking, likely in his late or mid-20s, with only a light mustache to accentuate his facial features. He is visibly taller than the last one, and his features are capped off with his grey eyes.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

A bit surprised, he walks up to him and asks where the previous man was.

"Oh, he's busy at the moment. Is there anything I can assist you with?" The man asks politely.

Mikael stares at him with narrow eyes. He feels something off, but he lets go of the feeling in the meantime. "Oh, I was wondering where you can get some food around here?" He says, trying to make small talk.

"We don't exactly have a stable food service, but we do have complimentary meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if that's fine with you?" The man says, with a charming smile on his face.

"Well, it's fine. My roommate has been driving for some time, I just wanted to get something for him to eat." Mikael says.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" The man says. "We'll have a meal in your room in no time. Can I get your room number?"

"25," Mikael says.

"Okay, room 25." The man says, and pens it down somewhere behind the counter.

Mikael leans in over the counter. "I'd like to ask you some questions." He says.

"Are you a cop?" The man asks defensively.

"No, nothing like that," Mikael says. "I'm just an observer."

"Okay, ask away."

"approximately a month ago, on a certain night, there was an incident that went down here in this area. do you know anything about it?" Mikael asks, in a calm, somber voice.

"These are the badlands. incidents go down all the time, you're going to have to be specific." The man states plainly.

"The night of the invisible booms. Everyone for miles could hear it..." Mikael says bluntly.

"Oh, that? yeah. I think someone was just playing a prank or something."

"Why do you say that?" Mikael questions.

"I wasn't in town at the time, but everyone seemed to have different views on it. I think it's all a hoax." The man answers.

Mikael sighs and steps back from the counter. "Thanks for your time." He says and walks away.

He returns to his room and sits on the sofa, watching Marvin sleep.

"Something's up; something doesn't feel right, " he says, looking up at the ceiling.

He quickly falls into a short nap.

A short while later, Mikael's nap is interrupted by a knock on his room door. He goes to check it out and finds out that it is just the man at the counter, bringing up his food.

"You couldn't have sent someone from your kitchen to do it?" Mikael queries.

"Haha, I guess I just wanted to deliver this in person, " the receptionist's calm and lilted voice says.

"Well...thanks, I guess," Mikael says, and turns around. He closes the door as the man starts waving.

Mikael drops the plate of food on the bedside drawer and walks to the window facing the fields at the back of the motel. Bored, he stares into the distance for a couple of minutes. He is about to leave when he catches sight of the blond man walking alone into the fields. Mikael looks closer to see what the man plans on doing out there, but he suddenly stops walking and turns around to make direct eye contact with Mikael.

He motions for Mikael to meet him outside so they can talk. Mikael obliges and quickly heads downstairs, before walking carefully into the fields, where he can see the blond man.

"Seemed too ominous to be a regular guy," Mikael says. "What's all this for? To keep me on my toes? You have something to say?"

"Both are pretty spot-on." He replies.

"You're quite the dramatic guy. So, are you going to tell me why I'm here?"

The man's voice warps from a light, calm lilt, into a sinister bass. "I see you're still as prideful as the last time..." An extremely evil aura booms throughout the area, waking Marvin from sleep.

"...And here I thought you'd changed."