Hotel Room Lottery Ch. 04 Room 435

Housekeeping: The the first chapter is the lead into this chapter. It is the same for every chapter. It's too long to copy / paste into every subsequent chapter. So please go back to the first chapter if you want to refresh yourselves, or read it for the first time if you are coming into the story late. The room numbers represent the divergence in the story. Different rooms = different characters and situations. There will be some time rewind after the room number in every chapter. Also I've noticed that I'm adding details to the subsequent chapters that realistically require the reader to read the previous portions. So, go back and read the earlier parts.

There are parts after #####. Those are character developments from the past, this chapter is different. I'm going to use these parts as part of the build up.

As always, constructive criticism is appreciated.

*****

Room 435

Kylie is tapping her heels together nervously as she waits for the rehearsal to finish. She has so many thoughts running through her head that she is getting angry that she is not allowed to leave the area. She also hates the stupid bridesmaid dress that she is currently feeling trapped in.

She picks at the unnecessary ribbing and pleats. She keeps examining the stitching of the garment, and mentally criticizing the workmanship. The criticism continues to the color and fabric choices. She hates the designer.

Kylie then tries to calm herself by thinking about the multiple cosplay outfits that she packed to take pictures of while she is stuck in San Juan.

"Ok. Ok. Ok. What am I going to wear first tonight?" she ponders. "The Dva one piece? The Titan's anime outfit? I finally got that to look good. The slutty Pikachu? That usually makes me feel good. Or the the cybergoth collection. I haven't taken any photos in any of those yet."

Kylie's train of thought is broken when Courtney plunks her scrawny ass down into a chair opposite Kylie.

With a big toothy grin, Courtney greets her, "Hey, cuz! Are you bored?" Kylie blinks several times before responding. Kylie wonders to herself when is Courtney going to finally grow into her body. She knows that Courtney is almost 21 years old, but damn if she doesn't look like she's still in middle school.

Not sure what Courtney's intention is Kylie responds with a bland, "Yeah, why?" She does her best to flatten her affect.

Courtney's grin somehow gets bigger. "Because I heard about something that can deal with that. The boredom."

"Oh? What do you have in mind?" Kylie asks feeling skeptical but hopeful. She remembers Courtney's infamy for inappropriate but fun chaotic shenanigans.

"So, Uly and Maddy are doing this... thing.," Courtney says with a flourish of her hands. "To kill our boredom and... to get people laid at the same time."

Kylie blinks rapidly as her brain processes the information, and then leans forward, "I believe that you need to tell me more, dear cousin." Courtney holds out her hand with her pinky finger extended. Kylie slaps it away. "Everyone already knows what a perverted kinky slut you are. I believe you what you're telling me. And we, at the very least me, also know that it's in our own best interests to not talk about your sexual adventures. Now. What are you three scheming?"

"Well, let's see. There's this thing that we arrange for everyone to randomly get assigned a room..." Courtney explains it badly. And in a lengthy convoluted manner. Intentionally.

Kylie sighs. She knows that this is part of Courtney's head games. "Ok. I need to make sure that I understand what you're saying. 1) You're part of organizing a piecemeal orgy. 2) We will be matched up at random, giving a surprise to everyone participating. 3) If I join, I don't have to accept the match. 4) There is the possibility of being matched with a relative.

Grinning wildly, Courtney chirps, "Yup!"

Kylie's mind starts winding up. She can't help the smile growing on her face as she contemplates the possibilities. "Who have you gotten so far? And how are you maintaining secrecy?"

"I don't know. I was just recruited five minutes ago. But the paper that Uly had has about 20 names on it. And for the secrecy, I would assume that it'll be enforced by some unpleasant manner. I mean..." Courtney looks off to the side. "I ain't letting some jackass fuck with my reputation or my fun."

Remembering the various methods that Courtney has gotten revenge in the past, Kylie relaxes concerning the secrecy of the event. Her thoughts then turn to the potential for the evening. "Ok. Ok. What time is the lottery?" Kylie mutters in a far off manner, leaning back in her chair lost in thought.

"Uly said that they would do it right after they get everyone's cards. They'll be recruiting for another hour, I think."

"So just after dinner then." Kylie says nodding her head.

"That's what I'm understanding."

Kylie smiles and stands up. "Well, then I'll be looking for you right after dinner then." Kylie walks off from the table. Courtney feels gleeful with the idea that she just pulled someone into a taboo event / activity.

Thinking to herself, Courtney feels pride and jubilation, "This. Is. Awesome! I'm getting people out of their comfort zones and to be naughty." She refrains from clapping like an idiot to congratulate herself.

*****

Ulysses pulls an empty chair from the table that Kyle is sitting at. "Where's your other half?" Ulysses tries not to sound concerned, even though it bothers him to see one twin without the other.

Kyle slowly turns his head to look at Ulysses rather than his cell phone. "I dunno. She might be looking for a place to do a photo shoot or working on her costumes. You do realize that she brought her sewing machine with her, right?"

"Seriously? We're only here for a week. And that shit is heavy as fuck."

Kyle shrugs. "It's her hobby. She's paying for the freight. Which by the way, her hobby is actually getting her a reasonably large following on several different social media accounts." Ulysses looks confused. "She was recently paid to do her cosplay in San Diego. It wasn't much in my opinion, but she told me it was one of those beginner's gigs. It didn't seem to pay that bad, but I wonder if she'll be able to keep pulling in offers, and if they'll get better."

"You're talking about that anime and comic book dress up thing, right?"

Kyle feels irritated with the question. "Cosplay? Yes."

"Ok. Well, Um... "

Kyle feels protective of Kylie. "If you have something to say, just say it."

Ulysses blushes. "Well, I'm not sure that I would feel so comfortable with one of my sisters doing that. I mean, I've heard of the things that happen to pretty female, um, cosplayers."

Kyle softly laughs, "She's been doing this for several years, starting back in college. She always has someone who she trusts physically within range to help out." Ulysses looks at him uncertainly. "Yes, Ulysses. Also, it's usually been me for the past couple of years. And trust me, it eats into my PTO like crazy."

Ulysses grunts noncommittally. He looks around for something other to look at or think about rather than sexualizing his cousin in some hypothetical skin tight outfits.

"So. Ulysses." Kyle restarts. "You seemed to have something that you wanted to talk to me about. What's up?"

"Oh! Um. It wasn't anything important." Ulysses mutters hesitantly.

"Bullshit, Uly." Kyle calls his cousin out. "You don't seem to realize that you carry yourself different when you have something to say. So, just say it."

Ulysses stumbles on his words for a moment, "Well, Maddy and I were thinking. Thinking about how bored everyone has been with the practice dinners and ceremonies. And we were trying to come up with a way to make this more fun for the people that are not, um, here without, um..."

"Someone important like a husband or wife?"

"Pretty much. We're just thinking about having some fun." Ulysses says noncommittally.

"You're not comfortable with something. What's up?"

"Um, Ok. I have something that I need to let you know."

Kyle looks at his cousin with a raised eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

Ulysses groans and looks away, "There is this possibility. You know of something that most people would be upset about."

"Ok. What's the problem?" Kyle asks maintaining his calm with his younger cousin.

"Well, there is the possibility of being paired up with a blood relative."

Kyle looks at Ulysses trying to figure out the full meaning of Ulysses' statement. "Ok, so. If I were to participate there is the chance that I would paired with a relative for a potential sexual partner."

"Correct," Ulysses confirms. "But you can reject the pairing if you want. We're not expecting anyone to do something that they're not willing to do."

Kyle nods his head slowly, "This could be very interesting." Ulysses watches Kyle's face for any clue. Kyle stands up from the table and states simply, "Text me when it's time to hand in my key card."

*****

After agreeing to participate, Kylie actively avoids bumping into her twin brother. She keeps in mind how bad of an idea that would be for him to see that she's participating in this "unplanned activity." And even worse for them to be seen together with him considering their history.

She quietly hands her key cards over to Madison as soon as she can, and then finds a relatively quiet spot to wait for the lottery drawing. She sits down and starts drinking up to what she has decided is the just right amount of alcohol to not care about who she's with, but still have her wits about her to enjoy if she's with someone she likes. She knows that she needs to plan her night. She pulls her phone out to review the photos of outfits that she had picked as possibilities.

Scrolling back and forward between photos on her phone distracts her well enough that she doesn't notice the middle aged woman dressed in a white classic rock band t-shirt and nominally distressed jeans sit down next to her. The woman clears her throat in the quiet pause between songs. Kylie looks up irritated at the interruption. The woman inhales to start asking a question before Kylie cut her off.

Looking the older woman up and down, she snarks, "This conversation might go easier if you just show me your badge."

The older woman growls under the bar's music. She lifts one side of her butt to pull a wallet out. She tosses it in front of her. She has practiced this move so many times that the wallet bounces open to reveal her police credentials. She feels proud when it does its intended little parlor trick, even though she's done it so many times before.

"Ok." Kylie remarks as if the woman threw dog shit onto the table. "I'll give you three questions, and THEN I get up and walk off."

"I could take you downtown." the woman retorts.

Snickering, Kylie responds, "And ruin all that effort that you put into getting dressed for an undercover sting? Nah, you're going to leave me alone once you realize that I have no information. Besides, you reek of being a cop."

The woman nods understanding. She moves to drag the badge off of the table. She makes a weird movement with her fingers that Kylie almost didn't see. She clicks her phone off and glances around the room.

Turning her attention to the undercover officer, "Ok. Let's see if I can get you to leave me alone quicker. Some of the answers to obvious questions would be..." Kylie lifts a finger for every answer that she provides. "I'm not a prostitute. And I'm not in a human trafficking scheme. I'm not a drug dealer. And I have no intention on being in Puerto Rico for more that a week." The officer gives Kylie a nasty look. "Listen. Officer. I'm sure that you've noticed that the hotel is mostly taken up by a wedding from the mainland. If you're irritated that I made you out, just remember that I'm from the 'white trash' side of the wedding, and you're lucky that I was distracted otherwise you wouldn't have gotten this close. You're going to have to trust me on this, I'm being super polite."

"You do know that could reflect negatively on you and your family."

"Ha!" Kylie couldn't stop the laugh from escaping. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you, but have you met real rednecks? I mean roots from deep in the Appalachians. We've never liked the authorities telling us what to do." The officer was about to reply angrily. "And don't come at me with that first responders bullshit. I've never found a reason to trust any of you. Ask your questions."

"Who are the tall young man in the Satanic shirt and ripped jeans and the short woman in the black sleeveless shirt with the boots?"

"You're going to need to clarify. I see at least three different people that fit both of those descriptions. My family tends to be rather rebellious and wear inappropriate clothing in public. "

The officer grumbles louder. "They both have sandy brown hair. Also hugging more people than anyone else in the bar." She discretely points out two individuals.

Chortling loudly, "You mean the punk looking version of Lady Fortuna over there and the Chaos Goblin?"

"Those names sounds like they're capitalized. But, yes. The upside down pentagram shirt and the ACAB wife beater."

"Those are cousins of mine."

"Names?"

Kylie smiles gently at the officer, "How about a question that at least has a chance of getting answered."

The officer looks at her through squinted eyes. "What are they doing?"

Giggling Kylie responds, "First, you look like that Leonardo DiCaprio meme right now. But to answer your question, it looks like they're drinking and enjoying themselves. That counts as your second question. You're lucky that I'm being this generous. I could've counted that as your third question."

"I can still take you in for questioning."

Shrugging, "Ok. Waste your time. I'll be fine and you will have wasted your time on a wild goose chase." Kylie gives the officer a wide toothy smile.

"Oh? And where should I be focusing my attention?"

"That's your third question. And I would recommend paying more attention to the two guys in the Dolphins gear. They may not have 99 problems right now, but if you bring a dog here, then they'll definitely have one." Kylie stands up and says sweetly, "I hope you have a good evening, ma'am. Especially by not wasting your time with arresting anyone that isn't actually breaking a law."

*****

Kylie is trying her best to remain patient through Madison's pep talk and reminder of the rules. She feels her ire rise when told that the family pulls last from a different envelope.

Overhearing the short conversation between Courtney and Jasmine, Kylie's mind races with the implications of their observations. She comes to one of her own that she likes and calms down to await her turn.

Once the non-familial participants finally leave, this allows the family to pull their cards. Kylie desperately restrains herself despite the jumpy energy that she is feeling.

"Hey, Maddy. Isn't your key missing?" Courtney asks. Kylie glances at her thinking about how this is only delaying the process. As they shoot barbs at each other, Kylie unconsciously curls her feet inward to press against the bed that she had moved to with the recent vacancies created by people leaving.

"Are we done?" Madison asks. After no response or retort, she then asks, "Who would like to pick their card?" Madison asks with a flourish of her hand over the cards on the table.

Kylie's excitement is too much and she leaps off of the bed to snatch a card off of the table. She giggles as she beats a hasty retreat knowing that she just made a fool of herself, and not really caring. But such is life and she's got more important things to deal with. She heads down to the bar, dragging behind her the heavy suitcase with her costumes back down to the bar. She finds herself a quiet spot to further contemplate her wardrobe selections. Hopefully she won't be bothered by the 'undercover' officers again.

She finally hears Madison shout over the crowd in the bar to meet up in the previously agreed rooms. Grateful for the excuse, Kylie leaves the bar.

*****

Kyle has posted up on the slow corner of the bar. Close enough to watch the action, and far enough to avoid bullshit. He drinks a pull from his beer bottle. Wishing he could get his preferred beer. But, hey. You go with what you can.

A taller guy walks up to the bar, unusually close to him and leans on it next to him. Kyle takes note of the man's posture and cologne. Remembering everything else that he's seen in the bar for the past few days, Kyle orders another two beers, depositing the empty bottle on the bar. The bartender drops off the two freshly opened beers and collects the money left on the bar in front of Kyle.

Kyle slowly pushes one bottle in front of the guy next to him. "You know if you're going to get stuck on a shitty sting assignment, you might as well enjoy a beer or two."

The man gets defensive, "Excuse me?"

"Oh, com'n man. No one still wears a mustache like that except for police, priests, porn stars, and pedos." Kyle explains. "And considering where you are, the only option is cop. Besides, you all have taken a lot of interest in my family since we walked into the bar. So, you're either selling something or looking to arrest someone."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Thanks for the beer."

Kyle absentmindedly clinks the bottoms of the bottles, "You're welcome. But, don't treat me like an idiot. I may possibly be inbred, but you actually starched and pressed your cargo pants and t-shirt."

"Is that right?"

"Yup. Only cops and military do that. And military are in your face about it if they want to have a conversation. You're here with the woman over there in the, what is that? A Led Zepplin shirt? The dude in the purple polo and khakis and the guy in the corner behind a laptop." The officer stands up in order to intimidate Kyle. "Dude, chill," Kyle replies calmly, "You just need more practice, and not to walk into a bar full of rednecks with questionable pasts... That part is probably the more important part. Besides, you should transfer to the mainland for some exposure for a year or two."

"Any other suggestions while you're making assumptions about me?"

Chuckling, "Yeah, that pea shooter on your ankle ain't going to do shit. Just get a good knife. You won't need to reload it in close quarters like this." The officer glares at him before walking off.

Kyle's phone buzzes at that moment as if it was waiting for the cop to leave. He pulls it out to see a text message from an unknown number. It reads plainly, "You're going to want to trade for card 435. Trust me."

Kyle racks his memory for who got 435. All he can remember is leaving James and Ulysses in the room with the remaining cards. He's pretty sure that 435 was the only card left on the table.

"Ulysses was also acting strange at the start by pulling that one off of the table." Kyle thinks to himself.

*****

Kyle makes his way over to Ulysses. He waits for an opportunity to pick Ulysses' pocket. Kyle gets more nervous as time slowly marches on, against his wishes. He keeps trying to figure out which pocket Ulysses has the key card. Not to mention that Courtney's constant hanging onto Ulysses is giving him an unnecessary extra challenge. Kyle finally decides to post up next to Ulysses and wait for an opportunity.

"Hey, Kyle. Got a question for you." Ulysses asks point blank. He stumbles slightly since Courtney is physically clinging to him in an odd way.

"Huh? Yeah. What's up?"

"Why are you interested in my key card?"

Kyle verbally stumbles as his face expresses his obvious surprise. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Well, I've got nothing of value to you since you make a lot more money than me. And as I stand here trying to figure out why you're looking at me like yet another mark, I can only think of the key card. So why are you so interested in it?"