Under John’s watchful gaze, the two of them boarded the train.
In this era, trains still hadn’t been modernized yet, so the speed was painfully slow. It would take nearly nine hours for them to reach New York and get off in Manhattan.
After finding their seats and settling down, Carol immediately started chattering away.
It was the first time the siblings had traveled alone together, without any adults around, and Carol was visibly excited.
She talked almost nonstop the entire journey. One moment she was pointing out the scenery outside the window, the next she was talking about the buildings passing by.
They were all things she’d seen before, but somehow everything felt different today. Maybe it was just because of her mood.
Daniel sat beside her, half asleep most of the ride.
By the time the train finally pulled into Manhattan Station, he was practically dozing off.
The two got off the train and stood in the middle of the station lobby, staring blankly at each other.
"So... where do we go now?" Carol asked.
"Hmm..." Daniel rubbed his chin lazily. "We should probably find somewhere to stay first."
Honestly, he had no clue where they were supposed to go either. Finding a place to settle down first seemed like the safest option.
"After we get a room, we can go explore the city," he added.
The two immediately set off.
Since neither of them had any plan whatsoever, they randomly picked west and started walking.
They decided that whenever they saw a hotel, they’d stop there.
After walking for over an hour, the buildings along the street gradually became shorter and older, and the environment around them noticeably worsened.
"Did we go the wrong way?" Carol asked hesitantly. "This area doesn’t seem very nice."
The two of them were complete rookies. No travel plan, no map, no preparation, they had simply gotten off the train and started wandering around.
And now both of them were completely lost.
"Let’s keep going a bit longer," Daniel said. "We’ve already walked this far. Turning back now would feel like a waste."
He looked up at the sky.
It was already getting late, close to five in the afternoon.
"Alright," Carol agreed.
The siblings were both unusually bold. Like newborn calves unafraid of lions, they still had no idea how much darkness hid beneath New York’s glamorous surface.
After another half hour of walking, they finally spotted a hotel.
The building looked fairly old. A faded sign hung outside that read:
Storm Family Inn.
It was the kind of ordinary family run inn where the owner’s family lived downstairs while the extra rooms upstairs were rented out to travelers.
The two exchanged glances and decided to check it out. If it looked decent enough, they’d stay there.
After entering, they found the front desk empty.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Carol called out.
"Coming!"
A girl’s voice answered from inside.
A moment later, a blonde girl with blue eyes walked out.
"Looking for a room?" she asked.
"Can we check the prices first?" Carol asked politely.
The girl sized up the siblings for a moment, but her gaze lingered noticeably longer on Daniel.
"Sure," she replied, though she couldn’t help sneaking a few more looks at him.
Well... another girl stunned by Daniel’s appearance.
Daniel could practically feel the stare resting on him. By now, he was already used to it. Being this eye-catching honestly made him uncomfortable sometimes.
’If only I had Superman’s glasses,’ he thought again.
Those magical glasses that could instantly tone down someone’s presence really were perfect for everyday life.
Traveling, hiding, even robbing people, absolutely essential equipment.
"My name’s Carol, and this is my younger brother Daniel," Carol introduced as they followed the girl upstairs.
"I’m Susan," the girl replied. "You two aren’t locals, right? Are you... tourists?"
"We just graduated high school," Carol answered with a smile. "We came out here for a trip."
"No wonder," Susan muttered.
"What do you mean?" Carol asked curiously. She had already noticed Susan giving them strange looks.
"It’s nothing," Susan said. "It’s just... people from outside rarely come to this area anymore."
Then she suddenly asked, "Do you even know where you are?"
"Nope," Carol answered honestly. "Daniel and I got off the train and just walked west for over an hour. Then we saw your inn and came in."
Susan immediately looked like she wanted to hold her forehead.
These two were unbelievable.
"You seriously didn’t make any travel plans?" she asked again.
"Uh... not really," Carol admitted awkwardly. "We just decided to come and didn’t think too much about it."
Now that she thought about it, the two of them really had been a little too reckless.
"Well..." Susan sighed softly. "I hope you two have a good vacation."
The three of them went upstairs to look at the rooms.
After discussing it briefly, Daniel and Carol both felt the place was decent enough. It was old, but clean, and that was good enough for them.
"We’ll take two rooms," Carol said. "How much?"
"Ten dollars per room," Susan answered.
Carol handed over the money immediately.
"Here’s twenty."
After getting settled in their rooms and taking a short rest, the siblings prepared to head out again.
When they came downstairs, Susan was sitting behind the front desk reading a book.
Seeing them leave, she asked, "Going out?"
"Yeah, just gonna walk around a bit," Carol said cheerfully.
Susan looked over their clothes for a second before frowning slightly.
"I’d suggest changing into something else," she said. "And make sure you’re back before dark."
"Why?" Carol asked in confusion.
"The public safety around here isn’t very good," Susan explained. "Dressed like that, people will spot you as easy targets immediately."
Carol looked down at their clothes.
"What’s wrong with this? They’re just normal clothes."
"Nothing, but better safe than sorry," Susan insisted.
"I’m sure it’ll be fine," Carol said casually. "We’re just going out for a quick look around anyway."
"Just make sure you’re back before nightfall," Susan repeated seriously. "The streets here are really dangerous at night."
"Alright, thanks for the warning," Carol said gratefully.
Daniel stayed silent the entire time.
Before they came, Carol had already declared that she was the older sister and would handle everything herself.
Daniel was more than happy to avoid the trouble and simply let her take charge.
Before leaving, though, Daniel turned toward Susan and smiled lightly.
"Thanks."
Susan’s face almost turned red instantly. She hurriedly lowered her head and pretended to focus on her book.
Very few women could resist Daniel’s smile.
So far, he had only met two exceptions: Mary and Carol.
’This girl’s pretty nice,’ he thought.
After the siblings left the inn, Susan finally let out a breath and shouted toward the back room,
"Johnny! Come out for a second!"
"What now, sis?" a boy’s voice answered from inside.
A moment later, Johnny walked out.
He looked around fifteen or sixteen years old, about the same age as Daniel.
"There were two tourists just now," Susan said.
"They had no idea what kind of place this is and somehow wandered into our area.
They just went out, and I’m worried something might happen to them. Follow them and keep an eye on things."
"If something happens, help smooth it over."
"Sis, you worry way too much," Johnny complained immediately.
"What does it have to do with us if they get into trouble? Honestly, if something does happen, we’d probably get to keep their luggage."
Then he added, "You know what this neighborhood’s like better than anyone."
"Go already," Susan said flatly, ignoring his complaints completely. "If you wait any longer, they’ll be too far away."
"Do I really have to?" Johnny grumbled.
But under Susan’s unwavering stare, he quickly surrendered.
"Alright, alright, I’m going already."
"Seriously, I don’t know what to do with you," he muttered while walking out.
"Hurry up," Susan urged. "They’re almost out of sight."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. So annoying," Johnny complained nonstop. "I was in the middle of watching a DVD. It’s the newest Star Wars movie. I finally managed to borrow it."
Even though he kept grumbling, his pace wasn’t slow at all as he headed after Daniel and Carol.
Clearly, he wasn’t nearly as cold-hearted as he pretended to be.