Flow

Alek meets Lady Dark Side

This was the seventh tavern Alek visited that night. “Was my brother here the other night?” he asked the bartender. The bartender stopped cleaning some pitchers and look at him.

"Uh, ya, I remember him. He was here late." The bartender said.

"Like midnight?"

"Ya. Looking for him or something?"

"No no, I know where he is."

"Oh." The bartender cleaned off his hands.

"So, was he just drinking alone?"

"Well, I mean, I remember that he came here alone, but-" The front door of the tavern opened. "Oh, hey, you can talk to her. She was left with him that night." Alek looked over his shoulder at the girl in black. He blinked. The girl checked her phone as she walked in. When she looked up at Alek, she stopped and stared at Alek.

"You…" she muttered.

"What about me?" Alek said. The girl savagely rummaged through her purse. Alek held up her knife. "Where you going to shank me?"

The bartender started up, “Hey man, why don’t you put that thing-” Alek blinked. The bartender slumped over the counter. The girl starts up and spins around to exit. Alek leans on the front door with a glass in one hand and the knife in the other.

"Take a seat." he said. The girl walks backwards, facing Alek. He blinks as she turns towards the bar. The bartender is out of sight. Alek seated himself already. The girl stops and stares at him. "Well, are you going to sit? I don’t have all day."

"How did you-" she started.

"Doesn’t matter. Sit. You recognize me?"

The girl paused. She pulled out a sit from the bar and sat down, placing her purse on the counter. “Where is the bartender?”

"Laying on the ground behind the counter."

"But…how did you-"

"Doesn’t matter." Alek blinked. The knife lay on the counter, pointing towards the girl. "You recognize me."

"Yes…we had drinks the other night."

"Okay. Then?"

"Then. You drove me. And we got into a car accident."

"Oh did we?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Ya…"

"And then what?"

"I…don’t remember."

"Bullshit. I died."

"You…I killed you…what do you want from me?"

"What did you want from me? What did I do to you?"

"You…you didn’t do anything. I was…angry at my boyfriend. And bored."

"Wow. That’s why my brother’s dead? Because you were bored? Man, when I get bored, I just sleep or do a line or something, but I’d never just kill someone."

"Well, we are clearly different people." The girl looked away. Alek blinked. The girl was facing him.

"You don’t have any ID on you. What’s your name?" Alek spun the knife.

The girl quickly looked around. “Doesn’t matter…”

Alek let out a sigh and blinked. The girl had a hand on the counter and the knife stood between her index and middle finger. “Tell me something about yourself. Name. Address.”

"No." Alek blinked again. The girl looked around but didn’t see anything change. Alek bit the inside of his cheek.

"There’s something different about you." Alek held the knife in his hand.

"Why do you say that?"

"You said you were in the car crash, right?"

"Yes…"

"Did you get hurt?"

"No. I mean, I was sore but, not hurt."

"Interesting. I’d hurt you. I really would." Alek blinked. The girl found herself in a junkyard. She looked around, trying to orient herself. There was a folded piece of paper on the ground in front on her. She bent down and picked it up. She unfolded it and read it.

Dear Girl,

I will find out more about you. I promise. You didn’t just kill my brother. You killed a part of me. You killed something I love. I’ll be sure to return the favor.

-Aren’s Brother (If you even bothered to remember his name)

The girl folded the paper back up. “S**t,” she said out loud. She crumpled the paper up and looked around. She recognized a totaled car sitting out in the junkyard. It was burnt black. “S**T!” She stamped her feet on the ground.