By the time I made it to work the next day I was already done. I felt paranoid, constantly looking around for anything that might trigger me again, I wasn't doing well, I had already dropped 2 dishes and messed up an order and I was only an hour into my shift. I was clearing a table when I turned and rammed into someone.
"Oh, so-" I began but stopped when I saw him, it was the man from yesterday. And just as quickly as he appeared he was gone. Standing in front of me was Lex. I looked around frantically looking for him, I needed some kind of proof I wasn't crazy.
"Hey!" Lex barked, snapping in front of my face to get my attention. Was he speaking this whole time.
"Yeah, you." He chuckled, it was a nice sound. "Are you alright, or are you always this odd when you aren't waiting on someone?"
Did Lex just make a joke? He seemed too serious for a real sense of humor.
"I'm fine." I finally blurted out. I felt that strange sensation again under his gaze, then he looked away.
"Is everything alright, Lex?" Aiden chimed in from behind. A look of recognition crossing his face when he looks at me. It was odd for him to be here, and at this time, I was use to the usual 4 at the usual time. I didn't have much time to think on it when I saw him, a masked man with a gun pointed straight at us.
"Behind you!" I shouted at them. They turned just in time to see... nothing. There was no one. No masked man. No gun. I really was going insane.
"Behind us... what's behind us?" Aiden asked very slowly. Lex just watched me, making me more nervous.
"There was... there... there was someone..." I stammered weakly. There was no one there, no matter what I tried to tell myself.
A hand touched my shoulder and I flinched, Lex dropped his hand back to his side.
"Why don't you sit down and relax." He said in a matter of fact way. He didn't seem confused or freaked out by the crazy girl standing in front of him, he was perfectly calm. Kirstie had noticed us by now and was making her way to us, she had a look of silent anger on her face, and considering who I was with I couldn't really blame her.
"What's going on, are you alright?" She shot daggers at them with her eyes.
"I'm fine." I said a little too sharply and walked to the back. I don't know if they tried to follow or stop me, honestly I didn't care. All I wanted right now was to crawl into a hole and stop my mind from whatever it was doing to me. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't think straight, I was acting crazy. I was so exhausted and mentally worn out. I started to head back out to keep working when a hand lightly grabbed my arm. I turned around with a slight gasp.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." My boss, Henry, said. He was middle aged with a full head of graying hair. He wasn't overly fit, but you could see he was not too long ago. He was always very kind to me, very fatherly. I liked working for him.
"I think you should go home and rest a bit dear."
"No, no, I didn't mean to make a scene or anything-" I quickly said, trying to recover from the mess I was making. He just smiled a gentle smile at me.
"You're not in trouble dear, you just seem very stressed today and I can't have one of my best servers having a break down on me."
I began to protest again but he lifted a hand to stop me.
"Just go home, get some sleep, relax and come back tomorrow." He patted me on the shoulder and left. I retrieved my things from my locker and sent Kirstie a text so she knew I was leaving.
Hey, boss gave me the rest of the night off, I'm gonna head home.
DING
Ok... plz get some sleep!
... I'll try.
DING
btw, those guys were looking for you.
they disappeared, Idk where they went.
Thanks for the warning. See ya tomorrow.
See ya hun ;P
;P
I left out the back and started my walk home. I was so tired and distracted I didn't notice him till he was in front of me. His skull tattoo told me all I needed to know.
"What's a pretty thing like you doing out here alone..." He mused as he eyes me from head to toe, it made me feel sick. I didn't know what kinds of men joined the Ghosts but this one obviously wasn't a good one. I started slowly stepping back but he started circling around cutting off my retreat. I had to think fast or this was gonna end very badly. My apartment building had a lock on the front door, that could get me away from him, but then he'd know where I lived... I didn't have a choice. I kicked him as hard as I could on the side of his knee and ran for it as I heard him yelp and crumple to the ground. I only made it about a block before he caught me and drove me to the ground. I was beneath him clawing and kicking while he laughed. Then suddenly I felt his weight lift off me and saw someone slam his head into the wall next to us. I quickly scurried away a few feet. The man who saved me started walking my way, I braced myself to try and fight again, then realized I didn't feel I had to. It was Lex.
"Are you alright, did he hurt you?" Lex asked as he helped me to my feet. I was shaken and trembling but thankfully he got here before anything happened.
"Yeah, yeah i'm ok." I replied weakly. I stared at the immobile body slumped on the ground, a little red puddle had formed near his head. "Is he..." I started to ask before I could feel acid rising from my stomach into my throat.
"No, he's alive." Lex said venomously. He really hated these people, it wasn't hard to see why. A thought suddenly hit me.
"How did you find me?" Slipped out my lips as little more than a whisper.
"I saw you walk out the back to leave, you seemed like something had you on edge so I followed to make sure you were ok. Good thing I did!" He remarked with a warm smile. That did it. The last few days hit me like a freight train, I began to cry -and I mean ugly cry- letting all the pain and fear I've been feeling pour out of me. Something about the warmth in his smile, and the consideration he had shown unraveled the strength I was forcing myself to have. Some might find his actions a bit creepy, but to me, it was a kindness. No one had ever shown enough care for my well being as to actually take action to be sure I was safe.
"Hey, it's alright, everything's going to be fine." He said as he wrapped me in a tight hug. It was strange to me, this man everyone feared, this known criminal, was holding me, whispering words of comfort and encouragement to me. The strangest thing was, he made me feel better. I sat there for several minutes leaning my head onto his chest as he just held me safely.
"Sorry..." I squeaked out as I slowly stepped out from his arms.
"There's nothing to be sorry about." He assured me with a soft smile. I had never really seen him smile before tonight, it was something I could get use to.
We both stood there awkwardly, both seeming to want to say something but not knowing if we should. He broke the silence first.
"Did you maybe want to grab some coffee or tea with me? There's a little café around the corner..."
Was he asking me out?
"Yeah, I'd like that." I replied before I thought better of it and smiled.
"Fantastic." He smiled back. He started to move in the direction of the café. I began to follow but stopped to asses the man on the ground one last time. He was still unconscious and probably would be for a while. I started to walk away when something caught my eye, a patch on the left arm of his jacket was sewn, the symbol on it all too familiar. I rushed over to ensure my eyes were not playing tricks on me.
"Don't worry, I texted one of the boys to call in an anonymous tip to pick him up." I faintly heard behind me, but that wasn't my concern.
I grabbed the patch and stared at it hard. As I went to yank it off the cloth I felt a strong hand on my wrist.
"You best not take that, love. That's not something you want to get mixed up in." He said in a gentle warning.
"You know what this?" I asked sharply, all warmth leaving my body.
"Do you?" He asked in return.
"This... this stupid symbol has been haunting me since I was 10!" I practically shouted. What was this, and how does he know what it is? I've never been able to find anything like it, and no one knew what it was either.
"Haunting you how?" He asked rather slowly, his already deep voice managing to get deeper.
"In my dreams..." I replied timidly.
He paused, almost seeming unsure of what to do. This symbol was obviously something bad, I knew that from how it was used, but his reaction to my knowing of it sent shivers up my spine.
"I think we better go get that tea now."
**********
We had been sitting silently in this booth for about 10 minutes now. The walk here was quick, the moment we sat down he ordered an assortment of sweet cakes and chamomile tea. When it got to the table he poured us both some, but neither of us had any desire to eat, so we just sipped on our drinks. I was beginning to wonder why I was here. He didn't seem too inclined to speak about whatever that symbol was, but I desperately needed to know. This was my first real chance to get answers. All through therapy they told me it wasn't real, they told me the dreams weren't real, no matter how hard I tried to believe that something kept telling me they were wrong, here was my proof. I opened my mouth to say something, finally growing too antsy to stay quiet.
"Tell me about these dreams, and I'll tell you what that symbol is." He said sternly before I got a word out.
I was torn. Torn between telling him everything and risking him looking at me like I was a nutcase, and standing up and walking away before I learned something I might regret. I chose the former.
"When I was 10 I was adopted by my parents, I don't remember anything before then, but I was always told that I was an orphan who lived on the streets and I had no family. Shortly after going home with them I started having these nightmares, every night, always the same. I'm in the middle of a murder scene, there are bodies and cops everywhere but they're all frozen in time. There's a 10 year old me on her knees sitting at a big bay window staring into the night covered in blood. She's the only thing moving. On every wall, drawn in blood, is that symbol..." I trailed off at the end remembering the terror it puts in me. "They went away when I was 15. Over the last couple days I've started seeing it again, but it isn't in my dreams, it's here, when I'm awake." I finished, forcing my voice to stay steady.
He sat there for what seemed an eternity, staring down at his drink as his left index finger circled the rim. I couldn't tell how he felt about what I said, his face was a blank mask hiding whatever he was thinking.
"Did something spark it again?" He asked while keeping his mask on and eyes down.
"I was walking around and stumbled on this little Thai place, when I went in, I saw it on the wall."
He was silent again, mulling over what I said.
"Alright..." He began and leaned forward onto his forearms, bringing his face closer to mine. "What I'm about to tell you is going to be a bit hard to swallow."
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