I woke up to a cramp forming at the side of my neck. It was an absolutely horrible night. I didn't fit on the bed unless I was curled up, and the old pipes made grating screeches erupt from inside the murky walls. I kneeled down on the bed and turned my head to one side, massaging it with my palm. Before I even thought about what to do next, a loud and aggressive series of knocking came from the door. The knocking was done with so much force, the weak wood of the door was nearly penetrated through. "Alright, alright have some patience will you?" I yelled, opening the door. Before me, stood the same old man I had encountered at the front desk last night. There were a few moments of intense staring, before the man began to talk. Or...shout, I should say. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" The man bellowed, his very unpleasant breath blowing in my face.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, rubbing my eyes.
"You think I wouldn't know? You tried stealing this building! Give me back the keys!"
I suddenly remembered I had left the keys on the floor of the room last night, completely forgetting to return them. But at the same time, it wasn't my fault this daft man entrusted his keys to a stranger. He should be thankful my intention wasn't to steal, or else he really would've been an easy target.
"Woah, calm down there. I just forgot as I was tired. Besides, if I really was a thief why would I still be here?" I tried being reasonable, but the way he approached me really got on my nerves.
"How should I know? Return them this instant." The man clenched his fist and stuck his finger in my face.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. He was seriously testing my patience. "I would appreciate it if you were a lot more civil about this matter. It's just a simple misunderstanding, nothing to get worked up about."
"You-" The man immediately lifted his fist in an attempt to throw a punch, but paused at the sound of a woman.
"Hunny? Is everything alright?" Her voice sounded familiar.
We both looked in the direction the sound came from. Emerging from a small room, an old lady huddled down the hallway towards us. "What's going on?" She asked, concerned.
I tilted my head to one side, and then remembered. Oh! She was the lady from the bus yesterday. It was a shame that such a nice old lady was married to a horrid man like this.
"Nice to see you again." I said to the lady, waving.
"Oh it's you!" The old lady replied, smiling so wide her eyes turned into lines.
"You know him?" The man grunted, shaking the lady's hand off of his shoulder.
"Of course! He's a lovely young man I encountered on the bus yesterday. I just helped him clean up a bit," she replied, reassuring her husband, "Now, why are causing such a big scene so early in the morning? People are trying to sleep!"
"Causing a big scene? Well, I'll tell you why- this 'lovely man' of yours attempted to steal our keys! He's nothing but a thief!" The man yelled, nudging me on the shoulder.
"Now see, here's where he misunderstood-" I began, but the man spat on the floor and grabbed my collar.
"There's no misunderstanding! Where are my keys?" The man threatened to punch me, yet again.
"Let the poor man speak!" The woman begged, snatching her husband away.
"Thank you," I replied, rubbing dirt off my shoulder, "As I was saying, your husband gave me his keys to find my room myself as it was quite late, so that's what I did! The keys are in my room right now only because I forgot to return them. I can promise you now, I had no intention of stealing!"
"I have no intention of stealing!" The man mimicked, "That's a load of rubbish a thief would sa-"
The woman grabbed the man by his shoulder and shooed him away. "Enough! Go back to our room, I'll deal with this." The man glared at me and mouthed 'bastard', before eventually leaving.
"I apologise for my husband. He gets like this sometimes." The old lady seemed sincere, so I reassured her.
"It's alright. Oh, and here are the keys." I knelt down to grab the keys and handed it back to her.
"Thank you darling. By the way, I never caught your name! We've bumped into each other twice now."
I wasn't sure whether or not to tell her the truth. After all, I can't forget the risk of revealing my name to a stranger after murdering a famous detective.
"My name's Shane," I lied, "What about you?"
"What a lovely name, Shane! My name is Lilith." The woman patted my head gently.
"Well thanks for your help today, Lilith. If you don't mind, I have something to get ready for."
"Of course! Go ahead. It was nice meeting you, Shane. Have a great day, okay dear?" She wrapped her hands around mine before walking back down the hallway to her room.
"You too." I said under my breath.
The lady on the bus- Lilith was one of the kindest people I had ever met.