Chapter 3
After I had finally gotten all my things unpacked and put away, I'd jumped in the shower and changed into something casual but still a little dressy at the same time. Before we had left the house, I took a quick glance in the mirror to make sure I looked alright. Standing six-foot-one, my black hair was almost elegantly disheveled, in a way that made it seem as if I'd just gotten out of bed with it that way. I wore a dark blue long-sleeved plaid shirt that buttoned up with the sleeves rolled up a quarter of the way. The black dress slacks I wore weren't exactly tight on me, but they conformed perfectly to my legs, in the way a custom tailored suit sometimes looks. I wasn't a muscular person at all – I filled out my clothes – but I was still pretty skinny by everyone else's standards.
Still staring at myself narcissisticly in the mirror, I heard Ben yelling from downstairs that it was time to go. I looked instinctively at the clock that hung on the wall and saw that it was eight o'clock on the dot. I hurried into the bathroom and retrieved my drugs from the hiding place under the sink. I carefully poured a small amount out onto the counter, bent down, and snorted the brown colored powder. It burned a little bit as it made its way through my nasal cavity and into the back of my throat. Almost immediately I could feel the effects and my body began to relax. I sniffed a couple more times to make sure I wouldn't have to in front of Ben, and made my way out of the room and down the stairs. As I took the stairs carefully, one at a time, the drug finally began to take hold of my brain and body. A rush of euphoria exploded throughout my body and the feeling was incredible. Everywhere on me felt warm and tingly, and I felt like I was in the clouds. I made sure to keep my expression and actions as normal as possible so that I wouldn't alert Ben to any noticeable differences.
When I made it downstairs and into the foyer, Ben was waiting impatiently with the keys in his hand, front door cracked open. "About time," he said jokingly, "I was about to leave your ass here. Let's go."
I followed him out the door, making sure to lock it behind me, and walked towards the car. Ben was about to open the driver's side door when I stopped him, snatching the keys out of his hand. "It's my turn to drive," I told him matter-of-factly with a smirk on my face. Sensing defeat, he sighed and walked around the front of the car to the passenger side. I started the car up, and to my satisfaction, the engine purred as it came life.
"Be careful Conor," Ben said warily, watching me with a nervous look in his eyes.
"Yes, Mom," I laughed as I put the car into gear and drove into the dark and unknown forest.
It had taken us around an hour to get to Port Angeles, a town that actually had a few things to do, despite being relatively small. Ben's directions had taken us to a little hole-in-the-wall bar called One-Eyed Pete's. I parked the car on the opposite side of the dark road and we got out. In front of the bar, illuminated by the glow of neon lights, were three bikers, their motorcycles parked on the curb in front of them. They each had a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other, laughing and talking about various sexual conquests, each with a smug tone. As Ben and I walked through the front door of the bar, the bikers glared at us from behind dark eyes that seemed to scream "outsider".
I leaned towards Ben to prevent anyone else from hearing and said, "You sure know how to pick 'em. This has gotta' be the classiest place I've ever been to." I didn't bother to hide my sarcasm, preparing myself for this encounter.
"Relax," Ben assured me, "I know the bartender. And this place isn't so bad. You'll see." He led me inside and started heading towards the bar, which was surprisingly pretty crowded.
I was instantly greeted by an orgy of aromas, most noticeably smoke, stale beer, and a faint touch of vomit and urine. "Great," I thought to myself. We wove our way past a few high-top tables and a pool table, and finally reached the bar. I'd glanced around to get an idea of the clientele, and was actually surprised that a large amount of younger people made up most of the bar's patrons. And as usual, my eyes had already scanned for, and picked out the two cutest girls in the room, both probably in their mid-20's, the same as myself.
My thoughts were distracted by a voice coming from behind me. "What?" I asked, totally oblivious of the words that were spoken to me. It was Ben. "I said what do you want to drink?" I contemplated the decision for a moment, and then told him, "Just get me a vodka on the rocks, with a lime." I watched as the bartender, moving quickly behind the bar, made my drink and grabbed a cold bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon for Ben. She set them in front of us and Ben handed her a credit card and said to start a tab.
"Conor, I want you to meet someone," Ben said, almost yelling over the loud music that had just begun to play. He was gesturing to the bartender, a dark-haired girl, standing about five-foot-seven. She was wearing faded jeans and a black tank-top shirt, that accentuated her small curves. Her fair skin and almost flawless complexion were the perfect contrast to her vivid blue eyes. She wasn't drop dead gorgeous, but she was definitely attractive in a girl-next-door kind of way.
"This is Alana Martin," Ben informed me. I reached out to shake her hand and introduce myself. Her grip was surprisingly firm. "I'm Conor," I said sheepishly. I wasn't the most outgoing person, and I always became a little shy when meeting new people, especially women.
"Conor..." she said, deliberating it, drawing the word out. "Did your folks stop at Conor?" She was studying my face seriously, waiting for my response. Apparently she could tell that I didn't know she was joking with me, probably from the curious look on my face, and burst out into laughter, dimples forming on her face.
"It's James," I said after the laughter had died down, "Conor James."
"Well it's nice to meet you Conor James." She continued smiling as she shook my hand again and turned away to wait on some new customers that had arrived.
"So what do you think," questioned Ben. It took me a moment to understand exactly what he had meant by the question, when suddenly understanding dawned on me and clearly showed through a huge smile on my face.
"Ahhh, somebody has a crush huh?" I laughed as I spoke, watching Ben's cheeks flush, apparently embarrassed that I had vocalized my thoughts. He didn't let the fact that I was making fun deter him though.
"Well actually yeah...I was planning on asking her out tonight. It's just been a while since I've been on a date, let alone ask a girl out."
"I say go for it man. I'm pretty sure she has a thing for you even if she doesn't admit it. You can tell by the way she was looking at you."
This seemed to inject him with a sudden boost of confidence and he sauntered off towards the bathroom, probably to clean himself up and make sure he looked just right. While he was away, I ordered another drink, this one a double, and casually gulped it down. The alcohol was ice cold, but still burned inside my chest.
The evening passed light-heartedly, the both of us conversing with the strangers that were sitting at the bar next to us. I had a pretty good buzz by now, and I grabbed a cigarette from my pack on the bar and lit it, adding to the already smokey atmosphere. Ben was chatting with Alana, after she'd agreed quickly to go out with him. I contemplated ways to steal away so I could be alone to fix. Pulling my cell phone from the back pocket of my pants, I leaned over to Ben and told him I had to go make a call. He paid little attention to me though, immediately returning to his conversation with Alana. I stood up from the bar, feeling the effects of the alcohol on my motor skills. Carefully, I headed towards the front door of the bar with the cell phone apparently glued to my ear. As soon as I was outside and noticed that I was alone, I turned left and headed farther down the dark street. After a couple minutes of walking I came upon a small alley on my left, and making sure nobody was watching me, I turned down it. I leaned on the cold brick wall as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bag, dumping a small amount onto my finger and snorting it quickly.
It was then that I heard noises coming from farther down the alley, and I realized I wasn't alone. I hurriedly shoved the bag back into my pocket, and quietly made my way to the source of the sound. It was dark, but I began to make out a moving, shadowy mass in the blackness. Still remaining as quiet as I possibly could, I tip-toed a few more steps until I could make the scene out. The sounds became clearer now. There was a sickening crunch, and a wet slurping noise, that almost sounded like someone was drinking something sloppily. I shuddered, nausea beginning to form in my stomach as I thought of the possibilities. I crept forward until I could make out two shapes in the dark. On the ground was the remains of some unfortunate man, blood all over his neck and his arms. I couldn't make out more than that, because suddenly the creature that was apparently eating him snapped it's head up and looked straight at me. The feeling was like being caught doing something wrong by your parents, and the fear caused adrenaline to pump through my veins, though I couldn't find the will to turn and run.
The creature stood up and took a step towards me, and I now noticed that it wasn't a creature at all, but a man who, with blood still dripping from his mouth, began to smile at me.
"Care to join me," he said in a calm, collected voice, and started walking towards me, closing the gap alarmingly fast. As if suddenly awoken from a daydream, a voice inside my head screamed "Run!" and I turned around and pushed my body as fast as it would go. I wasn't in shape, and I could feel my legs burning as I strained them, but the fear of losing my life kept me running. I heard the man let out a menacing laugh and then a snarl, and as I turned back to see if he was still following, he jumped and flew through the air towards me faster than anything I'd ever seen. He slammed into me from behind and it felt like I had just been hit by a car. My body flew forward faster now, but I wasn't on my feet anymore and the ground rushed up to smack my body, my head hitting the hard pavement. The impact stunned me and my head was in a haze. I struggled back to my feet, still watching the man behind me walking again towards where I lay in the middle of the street. I made it to my feet again and tried to run back towards the bar but my leg was screaming in pain, and all I managed was a fast walk, forced to limp on my right leg. I could feel the desperation now and the man was getting ever closer to me. I prayed to some unknown god to spare me, swore I would give up the drugs if I could just live through this.
And that was the first time I saw her - like an answer to my prayers.