Kenneth stood on the balcony of the motel preparing himself for the last leg of the journey. He would have thought he’d be more excited but he found the echo of feeling to be more like relief. While he was glad to be out and away from Boston it had been a different experience than he expected. His time spent in his Sire’s institution had left him a little overwhelmed and stressed during his trip cross-country. The loss of regular routine was bad enough but then there was the fact that no one seemed to know how to obey the rules of the road. Speed limit, passing on the left, turning off their brights, slowing down in construction zones, not slowing down to gawk at accidents on frontage roads. These plus more seemed up for interpretation. It annoyed Kenneth more than he thought it would.
Then there had been the hundred other things. Having to hunt on the go or risk going into hunger frenzy. The amount of construction around Cleaveland that had forced him to stop early to avoid dawn. Tracking daily sunrises and sunsets to make sure he could make it to his next destination. The worry that a cleaning lady would ignore the do not disturb sign on his door. Begging the car to not break down or run out of gas, though he did have a body bag and blankets in the back as an emergency haven. It was almost all done, though. Sacramento was just over the horizon.
A man passed by behind the vampire without a second glance on the way to his room. Kenneth stopped leaning on the railing. The guy didn’t notice Gilroy following behind him. He did notice that the door took longer than you’d expect to click shut. Turning more out of habit than actual curiosity he barely had time to register the tall lanky man that had suddenly appeared in the room before Gilroy attacked.
The nosferatu exited the room a little while later and checked his watch. Ten hours to drive before sunrise. Plenty of time.