by Wilde, Rhea
His demeanor made me smile and we chuckled next to one another. I realized how ridiculous it sounded and shook my head after thinking longer about the discussion we just had.
“Please, have a seat.”
Irvine offered me the chair just as Phoenix emerged from the back. He placed a cup full of something steaming in front of me and then did the same to Irvine.
“A cup of tea for Mr. Irvine and something for Ms. Ariel.”
“What is this?” I said as I looked down at the cup in front of me.
“It’s a cure," Phoenix said.
“Cure?”
“Yes, a cure… for hangovers, which I’m suspecting you have. Am I right?”
I looked over at him for a second then toward Irvine. They were both staring at me and realizing this was my out, I smiled and started to nod my head.
“Right,” I said. “I was…”
“You were too embarrassed that you drank too much last night,” Irvine said. “It’s okay. We’ve all done it before.”
We all shared a laugh and I continued to stare at the cup in front of me. It was clear but had a red tint. It looked like food coloring swirling around in water. I hesitated for a moment but knew that they were going to force me to at least take a sip. I placed the cup against my lips and poured the red fluid into my mouth. It was hotter than I expected and burned the tip of my tongue. There wasn’t much flavor to it. Something I couldn’t quite place but it wasn’t hard to drink.
I smacked my lips and bit the corner of my bottom lip as I felt it burning down my chest. Their eyes were upon me. I could feel them staring so hard that I was unable to look back at them. But something strange happened. I started to feel better. It worked almost instantly. My stomach was resting easy. I was no longer as exhausted as I thought I was. I felt like I had just woken up. My vision was clearer.
“Wow,” I stated simply. “It-it worked.”
“It always does,” Irvine said. “Thank you, Mr. Phoenix.”
“Yes, thank you.”
The old man bowed his head slowly then made his way to the back of the shop.
“I’ll be here if you need anything else,” he shouted as he disappeared to where he had come from.
I looked over at Irvine and the smile on his face was there as I continued to drink the rest of the cure in front of me.
“What’s so funny?” I asked him.
“You,” he said. “Just moments ago you were vomiting into the sea. Now you look much more sprightly.”
“How did you know? How did you know that this is what I needed?”
“I’ve seen it before, Ms. Everhart. I admit that I’m not the most uncomfortable person to be around but I could see it in you just from standing next to you. The uneasiness. The fatigue. The vomiting. The red eyes.”
The smile on his face disappeared as he said the last sentence. I paused for a second as I put the cup against my lips before covering my face with it. How did he know? Could he see it even through my sunglasses? Maybe he saw it from the sides of my face. But there was no way to tell that my eyes were as red as they were.
“It’s okay,” he said to me. “The sun doesn’t shine as bright inside of here. Your sunglasses will just make everything dim. You have nothing to hide, Ms. Everhart. Not anymore.”
I swallowed nervously, placing the now empty cup down in front of me. Irvine stared at me coldly, his brown eyes locked upon me. I could see that he was clenching his teeth from the visible tension of his jawline. There was something he wasn’t telling me.
I raised my hands up to my sunglasses and pulled them down slowly. I rested them on the table and looked down, unable to look back at Irvine.
“Is something wrong, Ms. Everhart?”
“No… Nothing’s wrong.”
“Good. Because nothing is wrong. You can see for yourself.”
He pointed toward an ornate mirror that was hanging on the wall. I looked at my reflection in the distance. Even from here I could see that everything had gone back to normal. The whites of my eyes had reappeared without a trace of red to be found. I turned back to Irvine and the seriousness on his face was still there.
I didn’t want to ask him how he knew. Maybe it was because I was too afraid of what the answer was.
“I need to tell you something, Ms. Everhart. I don’t want to tell it to you but I feel that you have the right to know. It’s not something I enjoy telling people.”
“What? What is it?”
I started to panic, wondering what could he possibly say to me. He barely knew me. What could he say to me that would cause him to suddenly act the way he was?
“You must remain calm, Ms. Everhart. You must not get upset.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
His quiet disposition didn’t offer me any peace. I found myself leaning across the table, waiting with breathless anticipation for what he was going to say to me.
“You’re in danger, Ms. Everhart.”
“What? W-what are you talking about?”
He reached into his coat and pulled something out. He placed it down in front of me and I tried not to react. It was a photo of Vaughn.
“Do you know this man?”
I didn’t know what to say. Vaughn was still the same mystery he was when I first met him. But I didn’t want to admit that I knew who he was. I didn’t want to confirm whatever suspicions Irvine might have.
“Do you know him, Ms. Everhart?” he repeated adamantly.
“I-I don’t know…”
“Ms. Everhart, this man was seen at your bar. Eyewitnesses say that you were speaking to him. Please, Ms. Everhart. This is extremely important. Your life could be in jeopardy.”
“But… I don’t what he has to do with anything.”
“So, you do know him?”
“I… No. I just know his name. That’s all. I don’t think Vaughn—”
“Vaughn? Is that what he said his name was?”
“W-what does it matter? Why?”
Irvine sighed as he looked around the small shop. I could see a bit of frustration on his face. I still didn’t understand what was going on. I had so many emotions going on inside of me and my body was having trouble taking it all in.
“Ms. Everhart. Please. Listen to me. This man is very dangerous.”
“What? How do you know that?”
“Ms. Everhart, he’s a suspect.”
“A suspect? How do you know? You said the investigation is still pending. What evidence is there? There was a murder last night and I know for a fact he wasn’t there.”
“Ms. Everhart, please calm down.”
I didn’t notice that I raised my voice until he pointed it out to me. I jumped out of my seat and wanted to leave right there. For some reason I didn’t want to believe anything Irvine was telling me.
“Listen,” he said. “Outside of the four men who were killed in that alley a week ago, all of the victims have been women. I’m not saying this man, this… Vaughn, is responsible. I’m only saying that you need to watch out for yourself.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need to worry about any of that happening to me.”
“And what makes you so sure?”
“I just… It’s not going to happen to me.”
I was lying through my teeth. I was more adamant about staying safe than any of the other women I knew. I just didn’t want to believe that I had let a potential murderer into my home.
“Do you know where I can find him? I need to speak to him.”
“I don’t know where he lives. He doesn’t have a phone number. All I know is that he works down at the…”
My words trailed off. I realized that I had run into Irvine at the shipping yard. The same shipping yard that Vaughn claimed he worked at. I shook my head in disbelief at everything that was going on. It was all too much for me to handle.
“I have to go,” I said, searching for an excuse to finally leave.
Irvine grabbed my arm and stopped me before I could escape.
“Listen, Ms. Everhart. The police aren’t any closer to catching the people responsible for these crimes. Even if you weren’t in direct danger from this Vaughn of yours, there’s still a threat out there that you have to be aware of.”
“I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself.”
“I just… I want you to be safe, Ms. Everhart. That’s all. It’s dangerous to be out there alone…”
He slowly loosened his grip from around my arm. I looked into his eyes and could see that he was genuinely worried about me. Finally regaining my composure, I nodded my head and did my best to reassure him.
“I won’t put myself in harm’s way,” I told him. “I promise.”
“Okay. If for any reason, you don’t feel safe, you have my number.”
I nodded to him as I pushed the door of the small shop open and walked out. I didn’t know what to do or what to think. I didn’t want to believe that Vaughn was a suspect. But the doubts I had about him were beginning to creep into my head and I felt more unsafe than I had been in weeks, which was saying a lot.
I walked home and had the entire time to think to myself about everything Irvine just said to me. By the time I got into my apartment, it was already late. I tried to get my mind off of everything but it was no use. Hours passed as I sat on my couch, trying to figure out what the truth was. Eventually, I drifted off to a sleep I wasn’t sure I wanted.
Chapter 12
I locked myself in my apartment until it was time for me to go to work the next night. I didn’t hear from Vaughn. The same with Irvine. I was alone with nothing but my thoughts, trying to come to terms with everything. I didn’t have all of the details and I feared knowing more. I didn’t want to acknowledge that Irvine’s concerns for my safety were necessary. I was told to stay away from something that I didn’t even know existed.
I put on a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt to work that night. When I got there, the crowd was already causing a ruckus. All of the other girls were working frantically to get to all of the patrons. Even though the band was playing louder than they normally did, I could still barely make out the music over the sound of the colorful conversations around me.
“Get to work, Ariel.”
I nodded to my boss as I made my rounds. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Businessmen who looked like they had just gone through a long day at work. Drunk college students who were looking for a good time with any girl that would show them some interest. There was even a table of young women enjoying themselves here tonight. The Arrested Bar was packed and there wasn’t an empty seat the house.
I brought a tray of drinks over to one table when I noticed a peculiar group of men sitting at the corner table. I couldn’t place it exactly but there was a vibe emanating from them that I couldn’t explain.
There were about four men. They were all dressed in black. Leather jackets, jeans, boots, t-shirts. They didn’t match exactly but it was difficult to tell each of them apart. All of them had dark hair with a few of them sporting beards. They looked like they were all part of the same biker gang.
While everybody else in the bar was enjoying themselves, their conversations growing louder, the men in the corner were silent. It was like they were there just to observe everything that was going on in front of them.
Even though they all looked the same, there was a man sitting between all of them that seemed to stick out. He had a neatly-cropped goatee resting on smooth skin. His eyes were a bright green that stuck out on his face. If he was in a biker gang, he looked like he was doing everything he could to get away from the stereotype. His dress didn’t match the rest of his demeanor. He was just sitting there calmly with the rest of them.
My eyes met his. Something snapped inside of me. He stared back at me, unblinking, and I suddenly felt compelled to walk over to him. I knew exactly what I was doing but I couldn’t explain it. I was walking toward him. I was in a trance that I couldn’t snap myself out of him. I just needed to go over there and talk to him even though I had no idea who he was.
“Ariel!”
I felt someone grab my arm and I jerked my head back.
“What?” I said to my friend May as she held on to my arm. “What’s going on?”
“Stay away from them.”
“What? Why?”
“That’s Summer’s table. Trust me. They don’t want to talk to you and you definitely don’t want to talk to them?”
“Why? What are you—”
“Ariel, just trust me. Come on, you’ve got other tables to deal with.”
I pulled my arm free from May as she motioned for me to follow her back through the rest of the bar. I looked over at the man in the corner as he continued to stare back at me. He finally broke his gaze when Summer showed up at their table with a tray of drinks.
I couldn’t pinpoint exactly when all of this started happening but it was becoming too strange. There was a murder investigation going on in the city and one of the detectives was questioning me about it. He was even concerned for my safety. I had seen and spoken to Vaughn several times but he was just as mysterious as he was since the first time I ever saw him. I was nearly raped but saved by an unseen stranger.
And now there were a group of men sitting at the corner of the bar who gave me an uneasy feeling that I couldn’t describe. I couldn’t place it but there was something more than unsavory about those men. Their demeanor was calm and peaceful but I couldn’t fight my suspicions. It just felt like they were up to something and I didn’t felt completely safe.
I couldn’t focus. I was serving all of the other tables their drinks but my mind was elsewhere. I was always curious as to what those men were doing in the corner. They seemed to be preoccupied with Summer at this point. She did what she normally did. She teased her hair and sat on the edge of the table, crossing her legs seductively so that you couldn’t see up the micro skirt she was wearing. Her top was tied around her waist so you could see the feint definition of her abdominals and her breasts were bulging out of her top. She giggled and laughed at them and all of the men seemed to be eating it up.
It wasn’t anything unusual in Summer’s case but she didn’t move from their table. She didn’t get them any other drinks than the ones she brought them initially. She just sat there and spoke to them, seemingly content with the fact that the only tips she was going to get tonight were from that table.
“Hey, are you okay?”
May caught me staring at the table in the corner once again and I bumped into a drunk patron, spilling some of the beer I was holding onto his shirt.
“Crap, lady! Watch where you’re going!”
“I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
As the patron fumed at me, May grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the employee restroom.
“Is something wrong?” she asked me.
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “Why are you asking me?”
“Because you’re completely distracted. Every time I look at you, you’re staring at Summer and that table full of guys she’s with.”
“What are you—”
“Don’t deny it. I’ve seen you looking at them. What’s wrong, Ariel? You can tell me.”
“I don’t know… Do you know who those guys are?”
“Nope. They just walked in here and took that spot. They were acting like they owned the place and they plunked down a wad of bills so thick that Frank would probably let them have that piece of the bar.”
“What do they want with Summer? Do you think that—”
“What does every guy want with Summer? Every guy who comes in here wants to sleep with her. They were eyeballing her ever since they walked in here. That’s why Summer’s been giving them all of her attention. I can’t say I blame them.”
I wasn’t satisfied with May’s answers. There was more to it than that. I couldn’t hide the worry I was beginning to feel.
“What’s wrong?” she asked me. “Do you know them or something?”
“No but
it feels like I do. Like I’ve seen them before.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know. I just get this vibe from them. I can’t explain it. It’s like they don’t belong here.”
“Ariel… You’re starting to give me the creeps.”
I could see the concern on my friend’s face. Everything that I was going through. My situation with all of the new men suddenly in my life. All of it had me stressed out. The last thing I wanted to do was have it rub off on one of the few people that actually cared about me. It was a mistake to even bring it up to May. I decided it was best if I just let it go.
“You’re right,” I said. “It’s stupid of me. Summer is just so pretty, you know? It feels like there’s always going to be some guy…”
“Summer’s dealt with a lot of scumbags before. She’s had her fair share of stalkers, unfortunately. It just comes with part of the territory because of who she is. But she knows how to deal with those kind of guys and she knows how to deal with these men. They’re not going to do anything to her that other men haven’t already tried and failed at before.”
“Yeah,” I said, listening to my friend’s reassurance.
“Believe me. The cops in this city are nowhere to be found but when you really need them, they’ll come out.”
My friends dig at the city police force made me chuckle and with it, I could feel a bit of the tension beginning to be released. I sighed and May dragged me back into the bar so that we could finish the rest of the night.
Even though I told my friend that I wasn’t going to be distracted anymore, it didn’t stop me from keeping an eye on the suspicious men in the corner. It was clear Summer had no intention of dealing with any other customers. Whatever they paid Frank to let one of his waitresses sit in one place for the entire night must have been a hefty sum. A lot of the guys who were here now only came to see Summer.
She seemed to be more captivated with the men than I had ever seen her before with a customer. She was laughing a lot louder at every single comment they were making and the smile on her face was genuine. They seemed to be enjoying her company just as much. It was a group of four men but Summer looked like she could handle every single one of them.