Part 1
The rain was coming down hard. So hard that I considered getting off the road and staying at a motel until it died down. Which looked like it wasn't going to be soon. I had been driving on the road for about three hours now with about three hours still left on the trip. The trip was from Los Angeles to San Francisco to visit my sister. Who had just given birth to my first nephew. Since I was scared of flying, I chose to drive up North. It was the first time I had driven to San Francisco and honestly I was a bit nervous.
Using my phone I looked up a motel to stay at. Thankfully, one was close by. The Neon Nights Motel. I headed off the highway and drove down the nearly empty street. The roads were flooded everywhere, but thankfully the road to the motel wasn't too bad. It had a giant purple and blue neon sign that read Neon Nights Motel. I drove into the parking lot and turned off the engine in front of the lobby. My car was the only one in the parking lot, which made me wonder if it was even open.
I covered myself with my coat and headed into the lobby. Inside, it was nice and warm, but empty. Now, I was really wondering if it was open. But seeing as the door was unlocked it clearly was open. It made me wonder if a murder happened or something like that. I went to the counter and rang the bell. A few seconds later, the clerk walked out. He was a young guy, in his early twenties. Short brown hair, thin frame, tall. About six feet in height, but not taller than me. I stood at six feet two inches.
"Hello, sir," the man said in his soft voice, "It's really coming down out there, huh?"
A flash of lighting flickered through the room followed by a roar of thunder that shook the building. "Yeah, it really is. I wasn't expecting it to be this bad."
"It is an odd storm. They say it's something that only happens every hundred years or something."
"It certainly looks like a Roland Emmerich flick out there."
The young man laughed. "So, overnight stay, sir?" I gave him a nod. "Alright, you can pick whatever room. They are all empty."
"Really?" I said in shock, "You guys get a bad review or what?"
He shook his head, "No, the last person left today. It's been pretty dead since."
"I guess, I'll take room one," the man gave me the key to the room and I gave him the money to pay for it. Before I left, I turned to him and said, "What's your name?"
"Oh, Christopher, but you can call me Chris."
I smiled and said, "My name is Russel, nice to meet you, Chris. I hope you can get a good night's sleep."
"Same to you, Russel."
I walked inside the room soaking wet carrying one of my suitcases. A shower was probably the smart thing to do. The last thing I wanted was to get to my sister's with a cold. Speaking of her, I had to text her and tell her I was going to be coming late. Quickly, I sent her a text and she immediately replied saying, "Okay, be safe."
With that out of the way, I removed my wet clothes and headed into the bathroom to shower.
I put on some new clothes and laid down on the bed. The rain was still coming down hard with flashes of thunder and roars of thunder. It made me wonder if I would be able to sleep at all. I turned on the tv and the second I did that, a flash of lightning happened and then the power went out.
"Great," I said. Annoyed. This night was going terrible. I had to sit in traffic for like an hour because it was a weekend. Then a once in a century storm had to hit California. Which was actually a good thing since California was in a drought. I sighed and got off the bed then went to the window. Looking outside, it was dark, really dark. The only light came from the flashes of lightning. When the flashes happened it showed me the road flooding. I turned away and reached for my phone and saw an alert. A flash flood watch was in effect.
Because the night could only get worse, as I checked my phone I felt water against my feet. The water was coming in from the bottom of the door. "Crap!" I said. I grabbed my shoes and put them on. The moment I got my bag, I heard a knock on the door. Quickly, I went to it and saw through the peephole that it was Chris.
I opened the door and he said, "Hey, Russel. The area is getting flooded. Seeing as you're the only person here, I was wondering if you wanted to take shelter in the lobby?"
"Oh? That would be great, thank you." I grabbed my duffel bag and followed Chris to the lobby. The lobby was a bit raised compared to the rest of the motel rooms.
Inside the lobby, I took off my soaked shoes and sat down on the small sofa. "So, this night went to shit real fast."
Chris laughed, "I'm sorry to hear that, Russel. I'll try to make it better for you."
"Unless you can make the rain go away, I doubt you can make my night any better."
"Try me," before our conversation could continue, we both noticed water seeping through the bottom of the door into the lobby rug.
"Oh, wow! That is coming in fast."
"Let's go upstairs."
"Upstairs? This place has an upstairs?" I followed Chris into the back room where there was a short staircase that led up to the second floor.
"It's where we keep some of our extra stuff that we can't store somewhere else. Plus, I have a bed up here so when I decided to sleep in."
The second floor had boxes everywhere with a mattress on the floor and a single lobby chair. Chris turned on a portable lamp and said, "Have a seat, wherever you want. You can even go to sleep if you want."
I sit down on the mattress and say, "I doubt that, the thunder alone won't let me sleep. Plus the worry of waking up in water."
"I doubt the water will make it up here," He sat down on the chair across from the bed and lit a candle. "So, where were you heading?"
"Up North. Heading to see my sister in San Francisco. She just had a baby," I popped out the phone and showed him a picture of my nephew.
