by Lori Aisling
Heading through the last stand of trees before they broke into the clearing around the town, the threesome went silent, listening and looking for anything out of place as they approached the outskirts of the settlement. As they neared a group of buildings that would be considered the business district of the town, Bristol saw Jessie and Jayson walking towards them.
“Bror is securing stables for the horses for the night,” Jayson stated. “Everything looks good so far. Jess and I are going to go and get us some rooms.”
Swinging down off of Phase, Bristol joined Jayson and Jess, as Ristan and Boz headed to the stables to care for their mounts.
“We’ll meet you in that restaurant right there,” Bristol said to them as she pointed to a clapboard building across the street. “I can smell the deliciousness from here!”
“Be cautious, Bristol. Always be aware of who and what is around you,” Ristan warned. He pointed to the whip on her hip. “I would feel more comfortable if you kept that on you at all times.”
“I promise.” Turning her attention to her two friends she laughed and said, “Let’s go get us a bed for the night and some clean water to soak in. I am so gross. Like ‘I can’t believe you will let me this close to you’, gross.” She looped her arms between Jayson and Jesse’s elbows and spurred them on.
“Hey, I didn’t slide up on you,” Jayson teased, winking at her as they walked to the only motel on the short street.
Entering the lobby, it smelled of antiseptic cleaner and lemon oil. The staunch-faced woman behind the desk looked at them with disdain, her forehead wrinkled as she took in their appearance.
“Can I help you?” She sneered.
“Why yes, ma’am. I believe you can,” Jayson purred, capturing her gaze. Within seconds, her demeanor changed. She flitted her eyelashes and ran her hand through her hair to the tight bun at the back of her head. “I need five rooms for the night. Preferably with their own baths, if you have it,” he stated, his voice low.
“Oh, I am so sorry, sir. We are a small lodge. I have only 3 rooms left! But I am happy to reserve those three for you!” She stammered as she rushed to start loading up a basket with towels and little soap bars.
Jessie elbowed Jayson and hissed, “what the fuck are you doing to her?”
“Just a little compulsion to get her to drop the attitude. She doesn’t need to remember anything other than some nice young couples that rented a few rooms. The fewer people that can talk about our group the better. It’s a handy little trick.”
As the woman hurried back over to the counter with the toiletries in hand, she blushed at Jayson. “It’s so nice to have such wonderful guests!” She gushed.
“Why, thank you. My girlfriend and I are traveling with friends,” he responded, his voice low and soft. “You would tell me if this town was not safe for our ladies, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course! Anything to help, sir!” She said, shaking her head quickly. “There were rumors of hunters killing and capturing some farmers on the outskirts of town, but nothing important.”
Bristol clenched her fists, anger causing her teeth to clench. The Change had occurred, most of the population of the planet had just vanished, and farmers still got no respect.
She remembered her father’s calm smile when she would get riled about this exact same topic. “Just remember, Bristol. If anything ever goes south on this rock, it’s the farmers that will get everyone through it,” he had told her. So much for that theory. Granted, they had continued to grow, harvest and feed the remaining citizens, just like this snooty bitch, but they still got no appreciation.
Paying the woman the requested fee, Jayson took the keys and led the girls towards the stairs leading to the rooms. “We’ll have to group up, but three rooms is better than one. Miss High and Mighty will hold that compulsion for the evening while we eat. I’ll hit her again when we retire for the night and before we leave in the morning. If she hears anything, we’ll know. By the time it wears off and she realizes what happened, we will be long gone.” he reiterated.
Reaching the rooms, Bristol grabbed a key from Jayson along with soap and towels. “I will be done in just a few minutes. I don’t want to leave the guys waiting, we told them to meet us there. Plus, I am seriously starving. Waiting for you guys, we talked about steak. And burgers. And pies. All kinds of luscious, sweet, delicious pies.”
She looked up to see Jayson and Jessie both staring at her, mouths agape. “Yeah, I’ll race ya. The last one done gets to buy the pie!” Jessie squealed and raced down the hall to the next room. Bristol shook her head, laughing, as she entered the room. Seeing the old claw foot bathtub in a small room just a few feet from the king-sized bed, she sighed. Turning the water on, she stripped out of her clothes as she waited for the water to fill. Unwilling to wait longer, she crawled in the tub, soaping her hair and body, using a washrag to scrub the filth of her fight against the Empurin off her skin. Drying off quickly, she squeezed the water from her hair, combing it with her fingers before plaiting it in a long braid. She threw on the same clothes she had worn into town and strapped her whip back to her belt loop. Jerking on her boots she headed for the door. As she exited, she saw Jessie stepping out at the exact moment.
“Dang, it!” Bristol laughed. “I was just sure I would be faster and you’d be buying me some sweets! Looks like that was a dead tie.” Looping her arm through her best friend’s, they headed down the hallway.
“Jayson will be down in a minute. He is going to make sure that Miss ‘personality plus’ at the front desk is primed to give us any info that might help,” Jessie said.
Leaving the hotel, the girls crossed the street and followed their noses to the eating house Bristol had honed in on while riding into town. Entering the establishment, she felt a sense of deja vu. The last time she had entered a similar structure was just a few nights ago. The night that her life had changed; again. It felt like so much more time had passed. She had a new goal, new friends and nothing would ever be the same. Seeing Ristan, Bror, and Boz already seated at a table, relaxing with a big pitcher of something cold and frothy, she smiled at them.
“There are my girls,” Boz said as he grinned at them. “Grab yer glasses and relax a bit.”
Bror smiled warmly and rose to pull out their chairs. Ristan nodded his head to Jessie before turning his gaze on Bristol. She looked into his eyes and the heat she saw in them turned her insides to mush. She had no idea why he made her feel like a flustered teen, but he did. She blushed, he smirked. ‘Jerk,’ she thought. ‘Sexy jerk,’ she corrected herself.
‘You think I’m sexy, eh?’ Humor lacing his tone.
‘Damn it, Ristan! You said you couldn’t read my mind!”
“I didn’t, and I can’t. You thought that statement at me. It’s the same as speaking it out loud. I’ll take the compliment and I won’t even deny the other accusation.”
Bristol slammed her mind shut as her blush deepened. Getting her mind off the handsome man across from her she asked, “so how do we go about this recon thing without drawing attention to ourselves?”
“Food first,” Ristan answered. “You started it when you brought up burgers and pies and roasted fowl.”
“You were the one who mentioned the roasted fowl,” Bristol pointed out as she waved a waitress over. “What are the selections for dinner this evening?” She asked the rosy-cheeked waitress.
“Venison roast with the trimmins’, pork steak with potatoes and roasted grouse with vegetables,” she said.
Bristol looked at Ristan to see him smiling like the Cheshire cat and she giggled. “Can we start out with some bread and butter, please? We are still waiting for another member of our party.”
“Right away, folks,” the waitress said, walking away.
“I can’t believe you get your roasted fowl and we get skunked on the burgers and steaks,” Boz groaned. “If she says there is no pie, I’m sending you in that kitchen to remedy that, you know that right?” He shot at Bristol.
“Oh my God! I never thought about you guys not really knowing our Bri, here,” Jessie exclaimed. “The girl is a friggin genius with dough. Like pies, cakes, cookies, breads; you name it. Your little wonder woman is a domestic goddess. I’m with Boz on this one. We get some damn pie or we send in the pro and get the shit done!” She joked.
Bristol blushed for the second time since entering the restaurant. “My mom was an amazing cook and baker. She had me rolling dough and cooking when I was too short to reach the counters. She would put up a stool for me so I could reach and we enjoyed some really good creations with my child-mind coming up with recipes. The award for the best original creation was my brilliant idea to add marshmallows and chocolate chips to the apple pie. It was so hideous! But my dad was a real trooper and powered through a piece of the way-too-sweet concoction anyway. However, I did learn a lot. So when I left the farm and headed out on my own, I always had a way to earn a wage. Cooking, baking, and preserving are always necessary, so I am grateful that I have the skills. I’m not so sure the cook here would appreciate my intrusion, though.”
“She makes a honey scone that would bring you to your knees,” Jayson announced as he joined the group. “Every time we could get a bunch of fresh honey, that would be the special for the day. The owner of the bakery made a mint off that one menu item alone. They were amazing.”
“The more I learn about you, the more impressed I am with ya in this realm, Bristol,” Bror said, admiration in his eyes. “You can fight like a demon, ride like the wind, you have a shift that is awe-inducing and now we find out ya have been self-sufficient since a young age. You are much different in this cycle. The gods have a big plan for ya, I think. In your previous Re-Order’s, you were honed for battle. That was your skill. I think we need ta keep all of this in mind as we work on your balance. This is not at all what we are usually given.”
Ristan nodded in agreeance. “You have always been fierce; fair and balanced in those things. But you were hard, sometimes even bitter with the lack of balance. I agree with Bror. You are different for a reason, and we need to know why.”
The waitress approached the group, placing two large loaves of hot bread on the table with a generous tub of churned butter. After taking their orders, Ristan answered Bristol’s original question. “Once we have eaten, we will begin making small talk with the waitress, other staff, or other groups of people that appear approachable. Splitting up may be easiest, as people tend to get intimidated by a bunch of strangers encroaching on them. Let’s see if we can find out if there have been sightings or attacks by chayn or any mention of the Empurin we killed.”
When the meal arrived, everyone attacked their plates. The only sounds were the groans and moans of approval as every morsel was consumed. To their delight, the waitress informed them that there was a fresh gooseberry pie that had yet to be sliced. Telling her to bring the whole thing, Bror surprised Bristol the same way Ristan had the night they had met. “Would you happen ta have cream and honey for coffee?” He asked the waitress.
“Yes, sir. We do.”
“Then a mug for the lady, please. And black for the rest of us,” he said, nodding at Bristol.
Shaking her head, Jessie muttered. “This shit is just weird. When I start thinking there is no way I can believe this bizarre story, you two go off knowing stuff about her that is just creepy! I am stuffed, but if you don’t save me a slice of that pie, someone is gonna bleed. I am going to try and strike up a convo with those two girls sitting over there in the corner. Sometimes girl talk can be quite enlightening.”
While the rest of the group tied into the pie and coffee, Jessie nonchalantly wandered to the other side of the bar and was soon engaged in an animated conversation with the two young girls at the table; giggling and carrying on as if she had known them all along. Finishing up the dessert minus the slice of pie, saved for Jessie, Jayson addressed Ristan. “I used compulsion on the gal at the motel. I’ll keep it up until we leave. It’ll give us some added safety and she will let me know if she learns anything. However, after we leave and the compulsion wears off, she will know what happened. I don’t want to do that here since I won’t be able to enforce it until we leave. I was thinking maybe I could wander down to the stables and try the same thing with a couple of the guys down there? I’ll be able to keep the compulsion up until we leave in the morning by heading back down there a little later tonight.”
“Good idea. Go. Bror, you’re with him for safety. We only travel in pairs from here on out. Boz. I want you to stay here and keep this place nice and calm with that Fae magic. People that feel comfortable and sedate are much more likely to let slip any town secrets.”
“I’ll hit the bar and get us another pitcher of ale and see what I can learn from the bartender,” Bristol offered.
With their plans in place, they dispersed to mingle and converse with the other patrons. Walking up to the bar, Bristol leaned her elbows on the smooth hardwood and smiled at the bartender. Engaging him in small talk while ordering the refill of ale, they chatted back and forth about business, the weather and the local economy. He was a friendly, chubby guy with a nice smile and trustworthy eyes. It was soon apparent that the man knew nothing about any of the invading chayn or Empurin. If he did, he was really good at hiding it. Bristol figured she would talk to him again later and turned to return the pitcher to the table. As she stepped away from the bar, she bumped into a man that had approached her from the side. Middle-aged, but well built, he had slicked-back, oily black hair and sported an evil grin completed with decaying teeth. “Oh, excuse me, sir! Just lost in my own little world and didn’t see you walking up here.”
“It’s all right, little lady,” the man sneered and Bristol’s blood ran cold. Only one man had ever called her ‘little lady’. He was the first man she ever killed.
Forcing a fake smile, she attempted to walk around him. “Have a nice evening! I am just going to get this pitcher back to my friends,” she said.
“I don’t see any friends waiting for you,” he said sarcastically, looking around the bar pointedly. “Why don’t you just stay right here and be friends with me,” he offered.
Knowing that the kind of information they needed would not only belong to nice people, and worried about causing a scene that would not help their situation, Bristol again forced a smile and nodded. “Sounds good to me! Let’s just grab a couple of glasses from the bartender here and you can tell me all about this charming town. My friends and I are just traveling through and I have been so impressed with how kind and accommodating everyone has been,” she gushed, pouring on the charm as thick as she could.
Reaching over the bar and grabbing two mugs, the man poured them each a glass from Bristol’s pitcher of ale and patted the stool next to the one he had chosen. “Sit,” he demanded as he set the mug on the bar in front of it. “I can be very accommodating,” he stressed as he licked his lips, his eyes traveling up and down her body.
Fear raced through Bristol’s body and she clenched her teeth as she continued to smile, gripping her mug tightly. “How long have you lived here?”
“I never said I did.”
“Oh. So are you traveling, then?”
“I never said that either, little lady. I just said we could be friends. And here you are,” he smirked.
Bristol focused on her mug, trying to understand the irrational fear that was radiating through her body. Determined not to let some asshole in a bar intimidate her she replied. “I’m not sure you really want to be friends. I think you like degrading people, though. Is there a reason for that? Making up for an inadequacy or something?” She spoke with venom, knowing it would piss him off and not caring in the least. Scanning the bar, she decided to send a mental heads-up to Ristan about this guy's odd behavior. Seeing him talking to a blonde dressed in military-looking
fatigues, she felt sickening dread rise in her. The girl was athletically built with short, choppy blonde hair, full lips, and a drop-dead smile currently employed to pull Ristan into her story; possibly even her bed. Not that Bristol could blame her. A terrifying feeling of loss enveloped her. She couldn’t lose him. The thought of it made her dizzy.
Her palms began to sweat and her breathing quickened. Thoughts of being alone without his guidance, his safety, filled her veins with icy fear. Swinging her gaze back to
the asshole on the seat next to her, she found him staring at her, a truly evil smile on his face as he watched her.
“Listen, I don’t know you and I think we got off on the wrong foot. I really need to go,” she stammered as she stood to leave, sickening fear twisting her guts. Snaking his hand out, the man grabbed her arm and hissed in her ear.
“Sit. Down. Bitch,” he spat, enunciating each word. “Don’t make a fucking sound. I didn’t come here to make friends with some stuck up cunt. You fuck with me and I’ll fuck up your pretty red-haired friend in the corner. Yeah. I watched the two of you leave the motel, smiling and laughing as you made your way over here. Looking for a couple of sponsors, no doubt. Then I walk in here and see her whoring it up with those bitches in the corner and you, here at the bar, schmoozing up to the bartender. Let me tell you how this is going to play out. I am going to feed off all that decadent fear that is rolling off of you. It’s the sweetest nectar. And it will only get sweeter the longer I play.” With a grin that was all teeth, he let out another hiss. Another sharp twist of fear hit Bristol hard and she gasped for breath. Sweat broke out on her brow as her hands trembled. She noticed the bartender was making sure he stayed as far away from them as possible. With further observation, she saw that no one in the bar approached them. If someone headed close, they just veered off to one direction or another, as if avoiding something they didn’t even realize was there. Every fear Bristol had ever had instantly raced through her body: the fear of being alone after The Change; Dave assaulting her; the threat of freezing to death that first winter alone; even the terror she felt as a little girl seeing a black widow spider- all of it was consuming her. She started seeing images of her friends dead, dismembered, and suffering. She saw Ristan and Bror with faces twisted in anger yelling at her, leaving her alone- broken and injured. Fighting hysteria, she felt the tingling of her powers breaking through, ebbing the flow of fear. The yellow highlights she had come to associate with it started illuminating objects around her. She took that moment of clarity to reach out to her men.