Retracing A Hero's Path

[Deadpool]

The collector's eyes widened with mild delight as he stared at the sign above the inn: Plush Inn—the letters were engraved into a beaten wooden sign above two ancient redwood doors. Age had assaulted the regal appearance of the building into an ominous mummy of its former self.


Based on the information he had received from one of his hired private investigators, this was a place frequently visited by the ultimate hero. Twice, in fact, which provided enough incentive for Elijah to make the trip personally.


“One step closer to the Man in Red,” he muttered.


His glass cane reverberated against the hard floor of the inn as he entered the lobby, and his eyes began to survey the interior—aged victorian furniture, illuminated by iron candleholders with dying flames.


“Greetings, traveler,” a middle-aged man said from behind the corner at the far-end of the lobby. “Here for a room?”


Forty plus years of life had carved deep crow's feet into his visage, which stretched down to his graying beard. His hairline looked like the top of a valentine heart, and housed waves of forehead wrinkles. The man either had terrible genes to prune so quickly, or he had experienced hardships unfathomable to the modern society Elijah came from.


The collector's eyes rolled towards him. “No,” he replied, “I won't be needing a room today.” He approached the counter, favoring the leg that his cane guided. “But there is one thing you may be able to assist me with.” With his free hand, he retrieved a folded paper from his trench coat's inside pocket, and slid it across to the lobby attendant. “I'm looking for this man; he might've been accompanied by a sugared cookie.”


The man unfolded the paper and beamed a long stare into its content; after a delayed response, he answered: “No, sorry.”


Disappointing, but the collector persisted. “How often do individuals dressed like this enter into this establishment?”


“It's not frequent, but not seldom either,” he man answered, folding the paper and handing it back to Elijah. “Perhaps one of the other attendants saw him though. The same people have been working here for years, so if he stood out they'd remember.”


“Oh, he stood out.”