Hush, Hush: Chapter 22
ZeldaQueen: Well. We left off when things were getting really batshit, so I shouldn't leave you hanging, huh? Oh, and folks? I've begun reading the sequel, Crescendo. I'm just a few chapters in and...um...we're all in for a treat
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
Chapter 22
ZeldaQueen: To recap. When we last left Nora, she lost her cell phone to a bag lady who was subsequently shot by Mysterious People. This means that Nora is in a very shaken state and has entrusted herself to Patch for a safe journey home. Needless to say, both his Jeep and his cellphone "conveniently" break and it starts raining, meaning that both of them are stranded in a nearby motel with no means to contact assistance or get Nora home.
To quote Raul Puke, I don't see this going awry at all.
Right. After a twenty-minute trek to the motel, it looks like the rain has no intention of letting up, which means that Nora and Patch are in a motel for an indefinite amount of time, while both are soaking wet. First the description of Miss Greene and now this. Has Fitzpatrick been skimming porn tapes for plot set-up ideas?
Anyway, it's hammered into our heads how low-budget and filthy (in more ways than one) this place is, because nice, safe motels of good quality never seem to show up in these sorts of stories. The desk clerk is just as bad, and apparently has Cheeto cheese dust all over his fingers, which he licks off when the two come in. Because clearly people who eat Cheetos messily are sloven and sleezy.
He asks them if they want a room for just the two of them. Now, it might just be me, but if there was a storm going on and two people who are clearly minors caught in the storm come in, I would think that they wanted to use a phone to either call home or for help. And sure enough, that's what Nora asks for. The desk clerk shakes his head and says no can do, the storm has knocked out all the phone lines. Hmm, I guess this is one of those motels with no back-up generator or emergency means to contact help. Those seem to show up a lot in really contrived plots. I mean really, aren't places, even really low-budget ones, supposed to have some sort of communication? No, of course not. If there was, we wouldn't be "treated" to the incredibly contrived situation which we can all see plodding towards us with a sense of horrific inevitability.
Nora continues to fight fate and is understandably upset to hear this. She ask if he has a cell phone. Now, how does the desk clerk respond to this? Does he try to explain to her what's going on? Does he give a rough estimate as to how long it will be until the power is back on?
Let's see
"The clerk looked to Patch.
'She wants a nonsmoking room,' Patch said"
ZeldaQueen: I'm sorry, what?
No, let me repeat that in a larger font.
WHAT.
Let me get this straight. Even though Nora is the one who began the conversation and made it very clear that she wanted a working phone and not a bedroom, dammit, the desk clerk ignores her because clearly asking for a phone is just so unreasonable and impossible to deal with, turns to Patch (the guy who has given nothing to the conversation thus far) and listens to him.
Yes. Yes, he does. I need a drink.
Nora is slightly freaked out that Patch has asked for a room for both of them with neither her input nor her consent. Really, if I were her, I'd be utterly terrified. This is the guy who chased her through the library parking garage and pinned her to the wall, and he's now ignoring her wishes and fixing them both up in a motel room. A motel room that has no working phone. While her mother has no idea where she is and could take hours to find her. Oh, and Patch holds all the cards because he's the one with money so unless he agrees to shell out for two motel rooms - and you know the fucker won't do that - she's stuck with him. I absoulutely hate this book.
But wait! There's still a bit of power Nora has! After all, she can just refuse to take a room at all, right?
"I tilted my chin up a fraction. 'You can't f-force me to stay here.' I'd only agreed to come this far because I didn't want to stand out in the downpour, for one, and I had high hopes of finding a phone, for two.
'That sounded more like a question than a statement,' said Patch"
ZeldaQueen: Nora. Start carrying a shotgun or at least a really sharp knife. NOW.
The desk clerk finds a king-sized room and Patch says that they'll take it. I'd like to point out that (A) Nora in no way accepts the offer and (B) does absolutely nothing to protest it except to glare pissily while Patch grins at her like the smug bastard he is.
As if on cue, the lights suddenly go out. The desk clerk gets out an industrial-sized flashlight and says that he's always prepared because he used to be a Boy Scout. Nora asks if that means that he has a cell phone, and the desk clerk says that he used to but no longer does because his mother is cheap and won't pay the bills. Because even though he has a steady job, we must hammer in that dur-hur, he's a loser who is in his forties and still lives with his mother. Although if I was his mother, I'd figure that a cell phone would be handier than an industrial-sized flashlight.
Patch says that they'll pay in cash, and the desk clerk starts going all wink-wink-nudge-nudge
ZeldaQueen: And while the desk clerk is all but openly saying "You're going to have death by Snu-Snu, right?", Nora still is just acting vaguely irritating. It's honestly creeping me out by now. By this point, she ought to be screaming and telling the desk clerk no, she does not want the room. Instead, she acts like the straight man in a comedy sketch who is mildly horrified by the antics of the other actors.
Nora tells Patch that this is all crazy. Where's my Clue Bat? Patch grins and replies "I'm crazy [...] About you". Meanwhile, the desk clerk is getting together some candles for them to use in the bedroom to light things up. He also throws in the matchbox because "If nothing else, it'll make a good keepsake". Ummm...
And then, Patch thanks the desk clerk, accepts the room key and the matches and candles, and literally grabs Nora by the elbow and leads her down to the room.
ZeldaQueen: Truly, this is the stuff romances are made of.
Oh, and notice what's missing from this equation? Nora's reactions. This entire thing might as well have been narrated from the third person, for all the input she has. There's nothing about her protesting, not even in her mind. Nothing about her struggling or telling Patch to let go of her elbow. Nope, it's not until they're in the room, with no one around to see them, and Patch having bolted the door that she says that he can't keep her there against her will.
ZeldaQueen: It's times like this that I think fondly of Annie Sawyer, who would soundly tell Patch off for trying to drag her off like that and then teleport the hell out of there.
Patch is his normal, douchy self and completely ignores her anger and uneasiness. Yes, truly he respects the feelings of the girl he loves. Instead of calming her down or assuring her that he has no plans to molest her while she sleeps (which apparently has not ocurred to her, and I'm sure a lot of sane people would be worrying about in that situation), he proceeds to oogle her in her wet clothes and make crude comments about how she's distracting him when she looks like that.
So Nora again gets joke-angry, which gets me angry for real mostly because this is a legitimate reason for Nora to be angry and upset and it's being brushed aside for "flirting" and also because I'm getting horrible flashbacks to Edward condescending comparing an angry Bella to a cute, harmless kitten. Anyway, Nora storms off into the bathroom and takes a shower. She outright admits "It wasn't the smartest or safest arrangement, but I'd personally see to it that nothing happened".
*rubs forehead* Yes, Nora. You'll personally see to it that he doesn't grab you or assault you or do any other number of unpleasant things to you. Go right ahead with that stellar plan. I'm sure it will work just as well as your brilliant notion to interview him in the library parking garage and run away if he wouldn't give answers.
Which, I might add, brings up another layer of Do Not Want. I'm assuming that there's only one bed in this room, given that it was never specified otherwise and the desk clerk assumed they were getting it on. Patch was the one who made the arrangements and paid for it all. It could be handwaved that Patch only had enough money for one room, but here's the thing - why didn't he ask for two beds? They were not renting the room to keep up appearances of being married or anything. Just because the desk clerk made assumptions doesn't play into it at all. He rents the rooms, it doesn't matter if he thinks they're sleeping together or not. And even if, coincidence of coincidences, there were only single-bed rooms available, don't most places have fold-up beds available upon request? Patch didn't ask about that though. He didn't even ask about the possiblity of getting a room with multiple beds.
In other words, he rented a room for both himself and Nora, clearly against her wishes, and in no way tried to get a room that had a bed for each of them. He arranged for them to share a bed between them. After he has harrassed her and made sexual comments and assaulted her and said how he wants to get her alone and could take advantage of her. And also, while they're isolated with no telephones and no one knowing where they're at.
And Nora STILL doesn't get it.
*smacks Nora upside the head with the Clue Bat* WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT! THIS IS NOT GOOD NEWS!!!
Oh, and to top it all off? Nora realizes that she's totally horny for Patch. I'm honestly starting to think there's something to my theory that Fitzpatrick got this from porn.
Nora finishes off her shower and continuing in a long, long line of contrivances, only her camisole and panties are dry enough for her to wear them into the bedroom. She's going out into the bedroom with a guy who can easily overpower her and who ought to be tazered in the nuts, wearing nothing but her underpants. Because she'd rather do that than be a little uncomfortable in wet clothes.
I honestly have nothing, by this point. I'm saving my juice for next chapter and the one after. Rant amongst yourselves.
In the bedroom, Nora asks Patch to blow out the candle. She does this because...fuck only knows. She doesn't want him to see her in her undergarments? In that case, why go out just wearing them? She doesn't want to see him naked? I honestly don't know. All I know is that the creepiness factor goes up a few notches, because Nora is now in her undewar in a pitch-black room, while hearing Patch breathing somewhere in the darkness.
ZeldaQueen: Although I do suspect that it's just more of Fitzpatrick wanking over how hawt Patch is, because Nora starts swooning over how he's probably not wearing many clothes in the dark. Oh, and she outright tells him she's got very few clothes on, which he makes a joke about. He then goes off for a shower, while Nora sighs dreamily over how great he smells.
Once he's in the shower, Nora continues to fret about how this isn't right. No, she still seems unaware of the fact that he could drug her and harvest her kidneys and leave her body in the bathtub. She just says "It was wrong to stay here alone with Patch, vow of prudence or not". *flatly* "Vow of prudence". It's not the 1950s, Fitzpatrick. It is possible for girls to spend nights with guys, without engaging in sexual activities or otherwise getting a stained reputation. What your idiot of a protagonist should be worrying about are things a little weightier than the Wall of Jericho.
We get a few token mentions of the dead bag lady, Vee being with Elliot, and Patch possibly being a guardian angel, just to remind us that there are, in fact, other things in this story than Patch being an attractive asshole. Nora then promptly forgets all of those things when Patch comes out, totally shirtless (though with pants on, thank the lord).
After Nora yammers on to us about how ripped Patch is, he asks her which side of the bed she wants and if she's nervous. It honestly sounds like they're setting up for their first time, which coupled with Nora saying how Patch can dazzle her into submission and his previous treatment of her makes this all really squicky.
Thankfully, this comes to an end when Nora sees his angel wing scars again. She reaches over and touches it, which Patch clearly does not like. Given what's going to happen, you'd think he'd wear a shirt around her to prevent this sort of situation. I guess he was too preoccupied with dazzling her.
Anyway, Nora touches the scars and basically has the same experiece as being sucked into a Pensieve. She's dragged into darkness, and Fitzpatrick ends the chapter there to keep up some facade of suspense. And thus, we end there as well
Onward to: Chapter 23 (Part 1)
Back to: Chapter 21
Return to to: Table of Contents
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
Chapter 22
ZeldaQueen: To recap. When we last left Nora, she lost her cell phone to a bag lady who was subsequently shot by Mysterious People. This means that Nora is in a very shaken state and has entrusted herself to Patch for a safe journey home. Needless to say, both his Jeep and his cellphone "conveniently" break and it starts raining, meaning that both of them are stranded in a nearby motel with no means to contact assistance or get Nora home.
To quote Raul Puke, I don't see this going awry at all.
Right. After a twenty-minute trek to the motel, it looks like the rain has no intention of letting up, which means that Nora and Patch are in a motel for an indefinite amount of time, while both are soaking wet. First the description of Miss Greene and now this. Has Fitzpatrick been skimming porn tapes for plot set-up ideas?
Anyway, it's hammered into our heads how low-budget and filthy (in more ways than one) this place is, because nice, safe motels of good quality never seem to show up in these sorts of stories. The desk clerk is just as bad, and apparently has Cheeto cheese dust all over his fingers, which he licks off when the two come in. Because clearly people who eat Cheetos messily are sloven and sleezy.
He asks them if they want a room for just the two of them. Now, it might just be me, but if there was a storm going on and two people who are clearly minors caught in the storm come in, I would think that they wanted to use a phone to either call home or for help. And sure enough, that's what Nora asks for. The desk clerk shakes his head and says no can do, the storm has knocked out all the phone lines. Hmm, I guess this is one of those motels with no back-up generator or emergency means to contact help. Those seem to show up a lot in really contrived plots. I mean really, aren't places, even really low-budget ones, supposed to have some sort of communication? No, of course not. If there was, we wouldn't be "treated" to the incredibly contrived situation which we can all see plodding towards us with a sense of horrific inevitability.
Nora continues to fight fate and is understandably upset to hear this. She ask if he has a cell phone. Now, how does the desk clerk respond to this? Does he try to explain to her what's going on? Does he give a rough estimate as to how long it will be until the power is back on?
Let's see
"The clerk looked to Patch.
'She wants a nonsmoking room,' Patch said"
ZeldaQueen: I'm sorry, what?
No, let me repeat that in a larger font.
WHAT.
Let me get this straight. Even though Nora is the one who began the conversation and made it very clear that she wanted a working phone and not a bedroom, dammit, the desk clerk ignores her because clearly asking for a phone is just so unreasonable and impossible to deal with, turns to Patch (the guy who has given nothing to the conversation thus far) and listens to him.
Yes. Yes, he does. I need a drink.
Nora is slightly freaked out that Patch has asked for a room for both of them with neither her input nor her consent. Really, if I were her, I'd be utterly terrified. This is the guy who chased her through the library parking garage and pinned her to the wall, and he's now ignoring her wishes and fixing them both up in a motel room. A motel room that has no working phone. While her mother has no idea where she is and could take hours to find her. Oh, and Patch holds all the cards because he's the one with money so unless he agrees to shell out for two motel rooms - and you know the fucker won't do that - she's stuck with him. I absoulutely hate this book.
But wait! There's still a bit of power Nora has! After all, she can just refuse to take a room at all, right?
"I tilted my chin up a fraction. 'You can't f-force me to stay here.' I'd only agreed to come this far because I didn't want to stand out in the downpour, for one, and I had high hopes of finding a phone, for two.
'That sounded more like a question than a statement,' said Patch"
ZeldaQueen: Nora. Start carrying a shotgun or at least a really sharp knife. NOW.
The desk clerk finds a king-sized room and Patch says that they'll take it. I'd like to point out that (A) Nora in no way accepts the offer and (B) does absolutely nothing to protest it except to glare pissily while Patch grins at her like the smug bastard he is.
As if on cue, the lights suddenly go out. The desk clerk gets out an industrial-sized flashlight and says that he's always prepared because he used to be a Boy Scout. Nora asks if that means that he has a cell phone, and the desk clerk says that he used to but no longer does because his mother is cheap and won't pay the bills. Because even though he has a steady job, we must hammer in that dur-hur, he's a loser who is in his forties and still lives with his mother. Although if I was his mother, I'd figure that a cell phone would be handier than an industrial-sized flashlight.
Patch says that they'll pay in cash, and the desk clerk starts going all wink-wink-nudge-nudge
Click to viewZeldaQueen: And while the desk clerk is all but openly saying "You're going to have death by Snu-Snu, right?", Nora still is just acting vaguely irritating. It's honestly creeping me out by now. By this point, she ought to be screaming and telling the desk clerk no, she does not want the room. Instead, she acts like the straight man in a comedy sketch who is mildly horrified by the antics of the other actors.
Nora tells Patch that this is all crazy. Where's my Clue Bat? Patch grins and replies "I'm crazy [...] About you". Meanwhile, the desk clerk is getting together some candles for them to use in the bedroom to light things up. He also throws in the matchbox because "If nothing else, it'll make a good keepsake". Ummm...
And then, Patch thanks the desk clerk, accepts the room key and the matches and candles, and literally grabs Nora by the elbow and leads her down to the room.
ZeldaQueen: Truly, this is the stuff romances are made of.
Oh, and notice what's missing from this equation? Nora's reactions. This entire thing might as well have been narrated from the third person, for all the input she has. There's nothing about her protesting, not even in her mind. Nothing about her struggling or telling Patch to let go of her elbow. Nope, it's not until they're in the room, with no one around to see them, and Patch having bolted the door that she says that he can't keep her there against her will.
ZeldaQueen: It's times like this that I think fondly of Annie Sawyer, who would soundly tell Patch off for trying to drag her off like that and then teleport the hell out of there.
Patch is his normal, douchy self and completely ignores her anger and uneasiness. Yes, truly he respects the feelings of the girl he loves. Instead of calming her down or assuring her that he has no plans to molest her while she sleeps (which apparently has not ocurred to her, and I'm sure a lot of sane people would be worrying about in that situation), he proceeds to oogle her in her wet clothes and make crude comments about how she's distracting him when she looks like that.
So Nora again gets joke-angry, which gets me angry for real mostly because this is a legitimate reason for Nora to be angry and upset and it's being brushed aside for "flirting" and also because I'm getting horrible flashbacks to Edward condescending comparing an angry Bella to a cute, harmless kitten. Anyway, Nora storms off into the bathroom and takes a shower. She outright admits "It wasn't the smartest or safest arrangement, but I'd personally see to it that nothing happened".
*rubs forehead* Yes, Nora. You'll personally see to it that he doesn't grab you or assault you or do any other number of unpleasant things to you. Go right ahead with that stellar plan. I'm sure it will work just as well as your brilliant notion to interview him in the library parking garage and run away if he wouldn't give answers.
Which, I might add, brings up another layer of Do Not Want. I'm assuming that there's only one bed in this room, given that it was never specified otherwise and the desk clerk assumed they were getting it on. Patch was the one who made the arrangements and paid for it all. It could be handwaved that Patch only had enough money for one room, but here's the thing - why didn't he ask for two beds? They were not renting the room to keep up appearances of being married or anything. Just because the desk clerk made assumptions doesn't play into it at all. He rents the rooms, it doesn't matter if he thinks they're sleeping together or not. And even if, coincidence of coincidences, there were only single-bed rooms available, don't most places have fold-up beds available upon request? Patch didn't ask about that though. He didn't even ask about the possiblity of getting a room with multiple beds.
In other words, he rented a room for both himself and Nora, clearly against her wishes, and in no way tried to get a room that had a bed for each of them. He arranged for them to share a bed between them. After he has harrassed her and made sexual comments and assaulted her and said how he wants to get her alone and could take advantage of her. And also, while they're isolated with no telephones and no one knowing where they're at.
And Nora STILL doesn't get it.
*smacks Nora upside the head with the Clue Bat* WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT! THIS IS NOT GOOD NEWS!!!
Oh, and to top it all off? Nora realizes that she's totally horny for Patch. I'm honestly starting to think there's something to my theory that Fitzpatrick got this from porn.
Nora finishes off her shower and continuing in a long, long line of contrivances, only her camisole and panties are dry enough for her to wear them into the bedroom. She's going out into the bedroom with a guy who can easily overpower her and who ought to be tazered in the nuts, wearing nothing but her underpants. Because she'd rather do that than be a little uncomfortable in wet clothes.
I honestly have nothing, by this point. I'm saving my juice for next chapter and the one after. Rant amongst yourselves.
In the bedroom, Nora asks Patch to blow out the candle. She does this because...fuck only knows. She doesn't want him to see her in her undergarments? In that case, why go out just wearing them? She doesn't want to see him naked? I honestly don't know. All I know is that the creepiness factor goes up a few notches, because Nora is now in her undewar in a pitch-black room, while hearing Patch breathing somewhere in the darkness.
ZeldaQueen: Although I do suspect that it's just more of Fitzpatrick wanking over how hawt Patch is, because Nora starts swooning over how he's probably not wearing many clothes in the dark. Oh, and she outright tells him she's got very few clothes on, which he makes a joke about. He then goes off for a shower, while Nora sighs dreamily over how great he smells.
Once he's in the shower, Nora continues to fret about how this isn't right. No, she still seems unaware of the fact that he could drug her and harvest her kidneys and leave her body in the bathtub. She just says "It was wrong to stay here alone with Patch, vow of prudence or not". *flatly* "Vow of prudence". It's not the 1950s, Fitzpatrick. It is possible for girls to spend nights with guys, without engaging in sexual activities or otherwise getting a stained reputation. What your idiot of a protagonist should be worrying about are things a little weightier than the Wall of Jericho.
We get a few token mentions of the dead bag lady, Vee being with Elliot, and Patch possibly being a guardian angel, just to remind us that there are, in fact, other things in this story than Patch being an attractive asshole. Nora then promptly forgets all of those things when Patch comes out, totally shirtless (though with pants on, thank the lord).
After Nora yammers on to us about how ripped Patch is, he asks her which side of the bed she wants and if she's nervous. It honestly sounds like they're setting up for their first time, which coupled with Nora saying how Patch can dazzle her into submission and his previous treatment of her makes this all really squicky.
Thankfully, this comes to an end when Nora sees his angel wing scars again. She reaches over and touches it, which Patch clearly does not like. Given what's going to happen, you'd think he'd wear a shirt around her to prevent this sort of situation. I guess he was too preoccupied with dazzling her.
Anyway, Nora touches the scars and basically has the same experiece as being sucked into a Pensieve. She's dragged into darkness, and Fitzpatrick ends the chapter there to keep up some facade of suspense. And thus, we end there as well
Onward to: Chapter 23 (Part 1)
Back to: Chapter 21
Return to to: Table of Contents