Drunk on Shadows and Lost in a Lie
Chapter 1
"How well did you sleep last night?" Melissa asked as I fixed the bread baskets.
"I look that bad huh," she didn't reply, she didn't need to; I'd seen what I looked in the mirror.
"So, are you going to tell me what or rather who is keeping you up past your bedtime," she said smiling impishly.
"Well on one hand you and your brother do, making me close, on the other…" I debated the thought, "nightmares." Either way she wasn't going to believe me.
"It's not too late it's barely nine, and I've told you not to eat so late," she said as she disappeared behind the door that led to the kitchen.
The other waitress Judy came out of the washroom drying her hands on a brown towel, I moved onto resupplying the coffee mugs. A few minutes later and we were done. It was too hot inside the restaurant, whether it was from the manic cleaning I'd done or from the temperature in general I went outside.
Cool air hit my face, a flurry of movement in the parking lot caught my attention, I waited a while for the critter, a racoon perhaps to show himself. Black or perhaps brown and big, only a outline, definitely taller than any guy I knew, stood still amidst the darkness, something glittered.
Cold, freezing cold ran up my spine, the motionless form stood motionless and yet I could swear that it breathed in deeply. I wanted to move but I couldn't decide if I wanted to go near it or run as fast as was humanly possible, slowly but surely I made my way into the restaurant. From inside I saw that he; I suppose it was a he since the shadow was too burly and tall to be a woman's, was still out there hidden in the shadows but much closer than before.
"Too hot outside?" asked Judy. She didn't notice my little jump and I couldn't remember the temperature outside.
"No there was someone in the lot," I said, clocking out and taking a sip from my lemonade, the ice I'd put in there had melted and it was close to tasteless, I threw it in the trash.
"Your dad's here," said Melissa coming back out, accompanied by her brother. I looked at him, he smiled, it hadn't been him, he was about 5''4' and whoever was out there was surely taller.
"All ready?" Asked dad walking in, I nodded, waved bye and walked outside.
I used what my sis liked to call my 'spy skills' –the lot was empty but there was something on the ground where the shadow had been. I didn't go to it to investigate, my curiosity was muted by my killer instincts screaming at me to get out of the lot and the vicinity as fast as possible.
I nibbled at an apple, put away the rest and headed to bed, brading my hair I felt m y heart trumming, I smilled at my reflection, I had overreacted. I tossed this way and that but I couldn't fall asleep.
Eventually I guess I must have knocked out, I woke up around eleven, topped my pancake with the diced version of my apple from last night and went to the computer. Besides the usual junk mail there were four emails, one from Skie, telling me to come by and check out his new bike, one from Esme sharing her thoughts on whatever nonsense we talked about, and one from Lita the waitress a few years older than me.
Lita's was a message from her phone, in it she was frantic, telling me about the body found behind the KFC. KFC was about five businesses down from the restaurant. I tried to get something more out of it but it was useless, she just kept saying that it was horrible.
"Hey mom, they found a body," she asked about it – more like screamed, since she was downstairs doing the laundry. "Behind KFC, pretty bad, if Lita's message is anything to go by."
Around one I began to get ready for work, drying my hair, putting it up in a ponytail – pinning stray hairs with pins, and ironing my shirt. I brought my bike up front from the back, sure I could ride it to work from the back yard but through the back I would miss the downhill ride I can get from starting at the front of the house. The ride was as smooth as I usual that is until I got into the bussiness center,I passed the gun shop and soon enough KFC was in view. It was closed, police cars were outside, they watched me carefully as I made my way. Not even a minute later and I was at work. Walked to a pretty empty restaurant, normal for the time of day, I noticed Melissa and Jim, her brother talking over by the bar, Shelly was preparing to work for the day while Lita was busy getting ready to leave.
"Hey Martha," came from different directions; the register, the booths and the bar. After greetings I went to Lita.
She was a tiny thing, five feet like me, but a heck of a lot tinnier, dark blonde while I am a brunette, her green eyes were more tired than mine. "It's been a really long day," code for slow. "I guess a lot of people heard about the body."
"I guess, I know what to expect for tonight," I said looking at the clock, one-thirty-five pm it said. "Do you know anything about the condition of the body?" I asked as I walked to roll silverware.
"It was a lady, late twenties, she'd been the last to leave the restaurant said the manager," she took in a shivering breath. "She… she … she was ripped apart, there was blood everywhere."
I didn't question how she got the info; Lita was the type of girl who knew how to keep quiet and knew how to get information, mostly because one of her friends is friends with the girl who was closing last night at KFC. "Ripped apart… that's something you don't hear every day." She nodded.
"My ride is here, bye everyone!" she said going out. 'Bye, Lita' we all said in unision.
"Martha, come here," it was Jim calling me. "Melissa says that you saw someone outside last night at closing time.
"Yea, a man, he was too far for me to see but I can assure you it was a man."
"How do you know it was a man?" He asked.
"He was too tall and built to be a woman, and I mean tall, your truck was near it and whoever it was… was well tall and heavy. " I didn't notice that my voice or that I was shaking till Melissa put her hand on my shoulder. "He was standing right next to your car," I turned to look at the lot, Jim's car was a black expedition – mainly used for groceries and supplies for the restaurant, but there it was still parked in the same spot, Jim's second car a little red car opposite it.
I didn't notice I was walking towards his cars until I was nearly upon them. There on the floor, was something glittering. Something that my brain picked up yesterday but didn't really process or register, something that the he had in his hand, a necklace, which still lay there on the asphalt between Jims SUV and Corolla.
"What is it?" Jim and Melissa and Shelly said together.
"He was holding this last night," I said pointing at the necklace. Jim was on the phone before I finished the sentence.
The cops didn't take long to arrive. "Do you have any surveillance that looks out at the lost sir," asked the short and plump officer.
"Yes, we might have caught something," the two officers Melissa and Jim went into the office.
Minutes later the tallest and less plump officer and Melissa came towards me. "You saw the man?"
"He was too far away for me to have seen his face, I only saw his silhouette." I said.
"Come with us please," he said.
"I'm underage; shouldn't you call my parent or guardian if you want to take me to the station for questioning?" He turned and smiled.
"I want you to come to the office and see the footage." He said.
I took the chair they offered me, the screen was frozen about 9:32 pm. Jim pushed play, slowly I saw that there was someone in the lot, someone different from who I'd seen, someone smaller. Then as the seconds passed by I saw something move from the same spot, we could hardly make out the shape but there it was the shadow, taller and burly just like I'd said.
I got goosebumps, he was looking in the direction of the door, right where I'd been last night, and worse I got the strange feeling that I recognized him.
The silhuette in the film moved to advance but stopped short of the field of the light. He went back into the shadows. Nothing in the background nothing in the surroundings, nothing, and that was scarier than the memory of last night and the footage of him standing there waiting.
Dad's car came into view and left. The shadow didn't return. The tape stopped.
"We will take all your tapes and analyze them, for the moment I suggest no one goes outside alone." Said the tall officer and they dismissed me, I was no use to them, I hadn't seen the only suspect they had. The officers took the necklace, a gold little thing with an effigy medallion.
Time passed by slower than a snail, people came by in less frequency as the sun began to disappear behind angry storm clouds. By eight there was only one other soul with us, George, a man that comes in every other day drinks three pots of coffee and leaves fifteen minutes after close. Well leaves as soon as he realizes that that pot that he downed isn't going to get refilled with coffee for that night.
Shelly asks Jim to walk her to her car and he does, I guess the murder for I'm sure it was murder left a print in everyone's mind, especially here were the worst you hear is about a small property stolen. Dad was running late, I kept looking at the clock, getting more anxious by the second, so much so that Jim asked if I was ok. "Yea, just that he's usually here by now," the phone rang and I jumped, happy that I didn't cry out.
"Oh, alright yea, no problem," said Jim into the phone.
"That was for me, wasn't it," I said.
"You have your house keys?" I nodded. "Your dad and mom are in the hospital, your sister has stomach pains, I'm driving you home, your brother is there," he said as he kind of ushered me out of the restaurant.
Shivers ran down my body, I felt like I needed to claw my way home. Away, screamed my body. For a moment there I thought I was going to empty my slightly empty stomach inside the pine scented SUV. "Thanks Jim."
"No, no problem I can't really let you get home alone," about ten minutes later we were parking outside my house. I walked up to the door pulled out my key and went inside, waving Jim goodnight, and watching until he was gone. My brother was dead asleep on the couch, the phone I assume buried somewhere beneath him. I covered him with a thin blanket and got ready for bed. I lay there staring up at the ceiling for almost, well I'm not really sure how long I lay there but it was surely a long time before sandman came along.
We arrived at the house with plenty of time, the carriage stopped and I walked out, my husband behind me, giving directions to the driver and helping him unload the trunks. I decided to go on inside wanting to see him.
As I walked closer and closer to the door, I noticed that something was off. The door was slightly ajar, I looked around, there was no noise coming from anywhere within the house. Panic the likes of which I had never experienced in my life overcame me, I ran up the stairs, barely noticing the signs of what happened.
No…. no it can't be. I felt panic and a scarier empty feeling settle in my stomach. I didn't even notice my husband until his arms were around me, holding me up from the feelings that crushed me inside.
The crib was empty; the body of the nanny lay at the foot of it, her neck bent in an unusual manner. I didn't scream, I didn't cry, no I couldn't all I wanted was to find my child, and the ones who had taken him.
Something inside me flared, I could feel it, like the waves of the ocean. I surrendered to the current, somehow I knew where my baby was, I knew he was alive and well….. for the moment.
What transpired blurred, I was pure primal instinct unable to focus or comprehend anything other than the connection with the child I loved. The city passed by, I felt like I flew over it compelled by those waves to keep going.
We arrived at a church, crumbling and in bad shape; I opened the heavy wooden doors, my hand gripping the handle of the object in my hand, reassuring myself of its presence, entered – despite the pleas from the others. Inside I could feel others; their presence a disgusting and frightening tale tell mark.
Eyes turned on me, eyes inhuman and barely human, but there atop the altar were the most precious eyes in the world, tears drying, a smile appearing on his plump little face, beautiful iridescent blue eyes locking with mine, eyes that I knew so well, eyes like those of the man waiting outside ready to break in if needed.
"You've come," said a voice that chilled my being. He turned; I hadn't even noticed him there behind my beloved son.
"Give him to me," I said, my hand griping tighter then relenting a bit.
"Now, you know I can't do that," he said taking my little heart into his arms.
"Give him to me," my voice scared me, when did so much power take over me.
"No, I need him," he said smiling sadly at my little one. "But we could trade him for you," his lips widening into a grin.
I couldn't do that, I couldn't, but I needed to. "Alright then," I said. He walked towards me, my child stretching towards me, even from that distance. I could feel his longing, both their longings, my partner outside sighed a bit in relief, his muscles uncoiling.
He turned the child around, locking eyes with him, that mans face crumbled into a disgusted one. My heart stopped. "Such a pity he has his father's eyes," he said in a voice dripping with sugar.
Everything happened in a blur of motion, red, blood red, red. A connection severed. A scream. Glass shattering. The gaping mouth of a monster. Monsters all around, mine and his.
A swing and sprint from me, his heart pierced by the object in my hand. The organ's last miserable attempt at survival. His face rearranging and reassembling into something like a beautiful angel rejoicing at the fall from heaven of his peers. I slid that sharp spear from his chest. A part of me felt my hands digging. Searching for something – finding it hot and slimy, I gripped it until it turned into a pulp.
I moved towards the small pool of blood, gathered the remains in the blanket and crushed whatever remained to my chest. I searched reached out with my heart for that hum of him I knew so well but it was in vain… he was gone. The world became dark, I felt the distinct touch and love of my husband holding me, felt the air refuse to enter my lungs.
Air, blood, red…. Darkness.
8