My one room apartment looked slightly more lonely than usual. I sighed and got a jacket from my closet, preparing myself to go out. It was nine o’clock at night on a Saturday, but the bars were still open and my friends were waiting. They never minded that I showed up late, so I took my time to clean a mug in the sink.
Upon placing the cup on the rack to dry, I thought a bit dishearteningly to myself that they never really cared whether I showed up. I didn’t want to go out, but I also dreaded the idea of spending my Saturday night here alone and reading more comments.
At least with some company, I won’t feel so down in the dumps.
With a glance over my shoulder, I made sure my computer went into sleep mode and locked the apartment door behind me on my way outside. The air was slightly chilly, nipping at my nose. I could see my breath fade away in the wind and was glad I grabbed my coat.
I crossed a couple of streets, minding the traffic lights as I passed. Soon I was standing in front of a booth at Tabby’s Witch Experiment, the bar I’d frequently visit with this group of friends.
The warm, cozy atmosphere greeted me upon entering. Two of the three men, sitting in the booth nearby, I recognized immediately. The last one, however, caught me by surprise. Oh, right… he was the first person who was ever nice to me.
I even based my character Leon on him. I wonder if he knows about it. The thought was embarrassing, but I also secretly hoped that he did. Standing by the side awkwardly, I grew self-conscious of my shabby sneakers and heavy coat.
“Hey closet man! Glad you could make it,” Marcus said while throwing me a big grin. He had tawny hair and wore something completely scandalous for the winter, but I guess that suited his playboy personality.
“Well, he said he might show up,” Ruffus passively slid his glasses up the bridge of his oily nose. He was usually the most rude, so I just smiled and waved whenever he was around.
Marcus wrapped an arm around the quiet blond-haired man next to him, “This is Leon! I think you guys met once before.”
Recalling our unceremonious first meeting, I nodded nervously. My heart pounded to a rhythm of it’s own, worrying that if he knew I wrote about him, he’d think what I did was gross. I might even give up on the entire book if he hated me. I was practically sweating, engulfed by my over sized jacket. My feet were faced towards the door, an old habit, ready to run away at the first sign of ‘danger.’
However, Leon only smiled softly in a way of greeting. Under the amber light, he looked... ethereal. His fur coat shifted as he leaned forward just slightly so that only I could hear him, “There’s actually two ways to exit this building.”
I knew I was staring for too long, but really, he was just so perfect that I wanted to pull out my notebook right now and write about him in more detail.
He nodded towards what I assumed was the kitchen with a twinkle in his gaze. “You are better off leaving through the backdoor if you don’t want to draw attention.”
Marcus and Ruffus appeared to be engaging in a conversation of their own, so I raised my eyebrow at Leon, taking the bait, “Just two? I thought there were three.”
He looked nervous at the prospect. “You can’t possibly mean through the window...”
“There’s a basement.”
It was Leon’s turn to raise his eyebrow this time, “In a place like this?”
I nodded, sitting back into my seat with some satisfaction I knew something that he didn’t. This little game of ours had become rather amusing, almost enough to make me forget why I was disappointed going out tonight. “Tabby’s Witch Experiment has another business department underground,” I explained offhandedly. “One less known to the public for... Let’s just say less ethical practices.”
Leon’s eyes widened. He leaned across the table again, whispering lower then before, “You don’t mean...”
“Indeed. They sell the magical mushroom.”
Leon scoffed, grumbling under his breath. “Unbelievable. Right in the middle of town?! They clearly don’t have principles.”
“I know right? They already get a lot of business from the bar, but I guess that’s corporate greed for you. Once they’ve had a taste of cash flow, they can’t get enough.” Leon was staring at me with a strange smile that made me flustered. I almost shouted for the waitress to hurry to our table, but while waiting, I realized my feet no longer pointed towards the door. That revelation alone scared me even more then overhearing Ruffus carried stinky feet. Fine information for the average person, not great when you planned to spend the weekend together, hauled up in a vacation house with only one room to spare for beds.
Leon, who looked a bit uncomfortable at this knowledge as well, turned back to me in a hushed voice, “Thanks for coming tonight. If not for you, my night would’ve been most uneventful.”
I laughed dryly at his compliment, feeling a bitter pang in my chest as the reality of the situation came back into focus. “You must have lived a dry life then. I’m not that interesting.”
“On the contrary, I think you are the most interesting man I’ve ever met. Why don’t we get out of here?”
My gaze lifted from the table, hardly believing the words I just heard him utter. Surely they were meant for someone else. “Wait, what?”
The timing for our conversation to reach such an awkward end couldn’t have been worse since the others stopped talking too. I found Ruffus was watching us quietly while sipping on his yellow drink.
Marcus squinted at his phone not giving a damn about anything other then himself. I’m sure he was checking his follower count again, oblivious to the fact he was doing me a favor.
A waitress finally approached our table holding a pen and notepad. Her short curly brown hair bobbed as she came to an energetic stop. I decided to go with a small amount of whatever Marcus and Ruffus were having for the sake of not saying soda.
“Waitress,” Leon gestured for her to come closer and then whispered something in her ear. She left shortly after with an expression was of understanding at whatever was said. Meanwhile, I was left at the mercy of Marcus’s conversation I got pulled into, so I couldn’t ask what that was about.
It was basically just Marcus telling everyone how he just reached a million followers on the streaming app GTube, short for GamerTube, but everyone called it like that. I offered him congrats, but by the end of our talk, I was left feeling jealous. He’d only been on GTube for three years and was already this famous.
It’s not that I craved popularity, but followers meant I was doing well enough to ensure a monthly profit. They meant I could continue doing something that I loved while making a living. I thought about how I was editing my story with 200,106 words back in my apartment and the invisible pain accumulating at my temple formed again. Sometimes I wish I could quit my day job and become a full time author. The word count wouldn’t seem so daunting with more free time on my hands.
The waitress returned with my drink, a yellow liquid in a shot glass. She also left another much taller drink in front of Leon. It was clear and bubbling, almost like mineral water, with a lemon hanging from the top rim of the glass. Overall, it was quite a pretty arrangement. He passed it to me without a second thought. “It’s not alcohol, don’t worry,” he gave a reassuring smile.
He probably said that because of the look of confusion on my face and he would be right, but not for the reason he thinks. Marcus and Ruffus had taken a sudden interest in my yellow drink, snickering under their breath. I forced a laugh too, so I didn’t feel so awkward. Sadly, I was used to their poor sense of humor.
“Drink it,” they both said in unison.
My blood ran cold when they didn’t drop the matter. My mouth instantly grew dry, palms sweating underneath the table, “I’m not sure that’s...”
Ruffus grabbed my hair and pulled my head back enough to open my mouth, creating the perfect chance for Marcus to lean over the table and dump half the contents down my throat. A shattering noise erupted throughout the restaurant making the distant chatter grow quiet.
The scene distracted Ruffus long enough for me to pull away, choking on the substance with tears in my eyes. In the midst of my coughing attack, I realized Leon had slapped Marcus’s arm, sending the shot glass flying across the table and into the wall. Marcus glared at him, fists clenched at his sides, “You’re crazy!”
Leon smiled sweetly with a layer of venom, “And here I was going to say the same about you. Now how about we settle this like adults?” He placed his hands together and with a brighter smile, he grabbed Marcus by the scruff of his clothes, pulling him back into his seat. “Waitress! We’ll take five more shot glasses. Oh, and the check!”
Once Marcus downed all five drinks, Leon made sure he was nearly passed out on the table and we left the check to Ruffus on our way out the door.
I was laughing so hard that I almost forgot the whole incident. The key word being ‘almost’ because I began to feel slightly woozy afterwards and had to lean against the lamppost for support.
“I’ll call you a taxi.” Leon pulled out his phone, ready to dial the number. His thumb paused over the lit screen and he looked back over my way, “On second thought, maybe a hospital would be better. Your drink was spiked.”
“Shit... I should’ve figured with those two. My house isn’t far though so don’t bother.” In my slightly delirious state, I walked into the empty street, following the path I knew led home.
“So, you’re an engineer, huh?” Leon smiled faintly, poking his head around my shoulder. His hands were neatly poised behind his back as he followed along. “You must love to build things.”
Snow was falling around us, coating the ground in a thick, white blanket. I looked up at the dark sky, my hands resting behind my head, and I sighed in contentment. I felt peaceful for a rare occasion. Cold snowflakes gently fell against my lashes and bare skin as I spoke, my head having cleared from the toxins. “Yeah, I guess that’s why I’m into world building with my writing,” I peeked at his pondering expression, holding my breath for a long moment, only to discover he found nothing odd from my statement. “What’s it like being a teacher? Doesn’t it get stressful?”
Leon laughed, and I swear it was the most soft, serotonin inducing sound I’ve ever heard. “Sometimes,” he admitted with a sad sort of smile. “But I think it’s a wonderful job. To give people knowledge is a rare blessing.”
Listening to him talk about his job a bit more, he sounds like he really loves his job, and knowing that for some reason made me oddly happy. “Why don’t we grab drinks again sometime?” I tossed the idea I’d been thinking out there like rolling dice. We were close to my apartment and soon would have to part ways. Leon could probably be the first real friend I’ve ever had. I didn’t want to squander the opportunity.
His gaze locked with mine, blue eyes brightening like the sun reflecting off the sea. We could meet at local cafes on the weekend. He seems like the type that would enjoy aesthetic things and sharing coffee over brunch. I was about to voice my thoughts when suddenly his eyes grew wide and bulging.
He tried to reach for me, but his attempt ended up being too late. Sharp pain shot down my back as a giant object slammed into the both of us from behind.
We both flew through a store window, Leon colliding into me during the dive. I didn’t realize how weightless someone could feel while soaring through the air until experiencing so for myself. Glass pierced parts of my body that I knew weren’t supposed to go that deep. In the back of my mind, I heard an alarm was going off, but such a concept was far out of reach. The world was swimming in circles, colors mixing into a pool of blinding light. I blinked several times, now trying to focus in the dark.
There was a man standing before the broken window looking down at us. Vaguely I realized he seemed familiar. I wanted to ask him for help, but he left in a hurry as if simply checking whether we were alive, or perhaps dead.
The headlights from the truck were now gone, leaving us alone to fend for ourselves. Tears slid down my face without me feeling them, but I knew because my eyes became blurry. There was something wrong… something not right about this scene. My head turned to the side in search for Leon and then I realized why, for what I saw made my insides shatter into pieces.
Leon was laying beside me with his eyes staring back not moving, his coat soaking with fresh blood. I cried so hard that I barely recognized the sound of my voice. All I could think about was how I could never confess how much I liked him, and now I missed that chance for good.
My mind wandered back to the present with my hands still cuffed to the chair and an empty room staring back at my broken, lifeless face. Looking down at my lap, I begged whatever god that existed, “Please! Please let him live! Don’t let him die… Don’t let this be the end.”
The feeling of cold wind whipped sharply across my wet face. I could smell burning wood and the brief hint of something heavily seasoned cooking over a fire. Bright red, yellow, and orange hues danced into the night air, turning the house before me into smoldering ash.
My stomach twisted at the strong aroma I inhaled again. I was standing alone in the street with a box of matches in one hand and no doubt a horrified expression. I dropped the matchbox in a hurry, not quite believing the scene before me was real. For a brief moment, I wondered who was inside the flames.
“Halt!”
There was a guard shouting at me from across the street that broke my train of thought. I quickly burst into a run, not wasting a second longer. If I don’t get away, I knew this trip was about to be a short and painful one. No matter what world I fell into, arson and murder was a crime nearly everywhere and wasn’t handled lightly.
Just from looking at the guards uniforms and the unique architecture of the homes, I could tell this wasn’t the modern world. Is this the part where I should say I’m not in Kansas anymore?
Most people think death is the end of existence. I think I could count myself among the few who hoped they were wrong.
But when I imagined the afterlife, this was not what I had in mind.
Afterlife…? No, that’s not the right word. I came to a clearing up ahead. My shoes slid just over the edge of the cliff as I stopped abruptly in time to miss the sudden drop. From this height, one could see for miles and view the magnificent display that was the heart of the city. Such a place I would recognize anywhere, but not in person. I’ve only traveled here in my dreams.
With a crazed smile set on my face that I survived tonight's events, I laughed weakly. After spending my whole life going unheard, who knew the gods were listening.
And this time, they heard me.
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