Page 2

2

AINSLEY

“W e’re not really going to do this?” I growl, pissed that Gloria was able to talk me into coming with her tonight.

I’ve only been back in town two days and she’s already dragging me into something beyond crazy.

“Yes! We are. Stop being such a recluse and let’s go,” she snarls before throwing her door open and stepping out of the car.

I open my door and step out onto the gravel lot of the run-down building surrounded by vehicles that look equally run down. The building looks as if someone took tin roofing and lined it up to create a structure. Hell, if you tilt your head to the right just a little, it’s no longer slightly leaning. Not but maybe thirty yards behind the shack is marsh lands, seeing as we’re twenty minutes outside of Savannah on Skidaway Island bordering the Wasswa National Wildlife Refuge, that would make sense. The sound of Gloria’s cursing as her heels sink into the gravel brings my attention to her.

I glare at her over the roof of her car. “I’m not a recluse. What I am is a woman who chooses not to spend her time in places that will either cause me to need a tetanus shot, be assaulted, see something I shouldn’t, or end up dead in a ditch.”

Gloria stops mid-step, turning to glare at me. “You’re being a judgmental bitch. The only reason I even brought you is because …”

“Because you’re afraid you’ll need a tetanus shot, be assaulted, see something you shouldn’t, or end up dead in a motherfucking ditch,” I scream, moving around the car so that we’re toe-to-toe.

We stand there eyeing each other, neither one of us willing to step down. The sound of a door slamming open breaks our stare down. We watch as a man is thrown out of the bar. I turn back to Gloria, glaring even harder.

I wave a hand toward the door. “Fuck Gloria, they just literally threw that man out. You came, you saw, take a damn Insta photo, and let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“No, I’m going in.” Gloria turns, smirking at me, “You can either come with or walk home. That’s up to you.”

I look up at the bright starry sky and, not for the first time, wonder how in the hell I keep ending up in situations like this. When the sound of Gloria gasping as she nearly falls on her ass reminds me why. I promised myself after Jenny was murdered I would never turn down a friend that wanted to go out. Don’t get me wrong, I know that not going out with Jenny that night isn't why she was murdered, but it doesn’t mean I can’t be sure another one of my friends doesn’t end up that way.

The thought of Jenny always makes my heart ache. She was too sweet and too good for the world. After she died, I couldn’t stay and live with guilt that one selfish night led to her being out alone. I did what I do best and packed my shit and ran as far as I could, then started over. Now I’m back after four not-long-enough years. Gloria and I have only been roommates for about four months. She reminds me so much of my mom that I have to look after Gloria. She may be a raging bitch and a pain in my ass, but I know deep down she loves hard and really wants me to be happy. That’s exactly why I’m now standing in the middle of fucking nowhere, staring after the crazy heifer.

Huffing, I turn, trudging after Gloria. I make it to the door just before it slams closed behind her. Pulling it open, I’m not at all surprised to see the building is just as small on the inside as it appears on the outside. Smoke hangs heavy in the air, causing everything and everyone to have a halo around them. Squinting, I look for her, finding her long blonde hair saddling up to the bar between two men that look like they just got off the bus from prison.

This woman is going to get us both killed . I only hope that when I make it to the other side, everyone I’ve lost is there, including Jenny for me to hug, then smack for walking out that club with a stranger. I finally pick my way over to her. She turns to look at me, winking with the biggest smile stretched across her beautiful face.

“These gentlemen have offered to buy us our first and second rounds. What would you like?” Gloria yells over the outdated sound system.

“I’ll take a Miller Lite and leave it sealed,” I yell at the bartender. The man eyes me for a moment before a look of what I can only guess is respect crosses his features.

It takes Gloria what feels like five minutes to order a drink, seeing as the man behind the bar doesn’t know how, or doesn’t have the stuff, to make her anything she asks for. When they finally come up with something, I groan when he hands it to her in a plastic cup. There is no way to keep an eye on her drink to be sure no one fucks with it. I turn to look out over the crowd, noticing more and more that this is not the kind of place we want to be in.

I grab Gloria’s arm, pulling her so that I can talk in her ear. “You came. You saw. You even got a free damn drink. Now let's get the hell out of here before we can’t.”

She turns to look me in the face. “I’m not ready to leave, but you can if you want. I’m going to stay and drink with my new friends.”

“At least be fucking smart and do not drink the drink you just turned your back to. Get a new one.” If I could slap this overgrown child, I would.

“I’m not wasting a good drink” The spite I see in her eyes as she turns and downs the entire thing gives me pause.

“You know what?” I snap, getting her face. “I fucking tried. If you want to stay here in this shithole and be a dumbass, then you do that. I do not and will not fucking watch you.”

As Gloria started to speak, the front door was violently blown inward. The heat at my back is like nothing I’ve ever felt. My body is slammed to the ground, the wind being knocked out of me. I lay trying to get my body to breathe again when the sound of gunshots rings out all around us. One of the two men that Gloria was cozied up to falls on the floor beside me, his eyes glassy and unseeing. My brain tells my hands and feet to move, but my body is still trying to figure out how to restart breathing.

When I can finally catch my breath, I push up onto my hands and knees. “Gloria?” I call out, finally spot her hiding under the bar, watching with tears in her eyes, her perfect blonde hair dirty and wild. I reach for her just as a shadow falls over me. I turn to see a man standing there in all leather. What I find odd is the fact the man is wearing a leather vest with no shirt. His hair is long and unkept falling loose around him. His eyes are so dark that I swear I can see the Grim Reaper reflecting back at me.

He squats down, eyeing me closely. “Such a shame that a beautiful thing like you will never leave this shithole like so many others.”

I try to push back from him slowly, shaking my head back-and-forth, unable to get words out of my mouth. The smell of beer, cigarettes, and body order makes my head spin so fast that I barely stop the vomit pushing to escape my stomach.

My very own Grim Reaper runs the barrel of his gun down the side of my face, clicking his tongue. “Don’t be scared. I promise you won't feel a thing.”

Terro settles so deep in my soul that I know I’m shaking like the last leaf on the oak tree as winter blows in. I turn and look for Gloria when he taps the pistol against my cheek, bringing my eyes to his. Movement to my left catches my attention as men pour into the tiny building.

“Hurry the fuck up, asshole. It won't be long before the Cartel shows up,” a man yells as he fires his gun at someone in back of the bar.

“Fuck such a waste of a nice piece of ass,” the man with his gun in my face grumbles before kissing me on the forehead as he stands, pointing his gun at me.

I finally find my words. “Why?”

“Wrong place, wrong time—or maybe because we fucking can,” he shrugs, pulling the trigger.

Fire explodes across my temple, sending my head back, causing pain to explode at the back of my head. The pain is more than my body can process and it slams me into sweet oblivion where nothing hurts. I prepare myself to see all those I’ve lost, letting the darkness settle in around me.

The murmur of voices, though faint, was enough to momentarily lift the shroud of darkness while simultaneously setting off a violent headache.

“Fuck me man, they didn’t leave anyone alive.” A voice, deep enough to feel its vibrations throughout my being, speaks, trying to drag me from the darkness.

“Do we know who the hell did this?” someone else asks.

“Not a fucking clue, but it has to be someone extremely fucking stupid, seeing as they blew up the Cartel’s shit,” Mr. Baritone replies.

The darkness wants to pull me back under, but I don’t want to go back. I need to move—get my ass up and get the hell out of here before they come back for me. A wave of nausea assaults me so strongly when I try to roll over. I have no choice but to allow my body to do what it needs to. I barely get my body twisted so that I don’t choke on the vomit when words start to drift in.

“No fucking way. We’ve got a live one!” an excited voice screams, causing my stomach to turn again because of how loud it is.

“There’s no fucking way that someone made it through this alive,” a new shocked voice joins the party.

“Call Remedy. Find out how long it'll be before he arrives here,” Mr. Baritone bellows.

His voice once again causes the vomit to return. A large hand grips my shoulder to keep me on my side, ensuring I won’t choke. The heat from his hand on my shoulder is like the perfect blanket dragging me back into blissful nothingness. The vomiting eases, and I relax back into the darkness. That is my only relief.

“No, you cannot fall back into the blackness,” the strong voice snaps at me.

I try with everything I have to say or do something, like flip this guy off for being so damn bossy, only my good-for-nothing body won't allow it. Why do bossy men always have to find their way into my life? A memory of Jenny’s brothers flash into my numb mind. I don’t know why. I haven’t thought of them since the day the cops showed up at my dorm room to tell me Jenny was gone. I made sure I was gone quickly after they left—not willing to come face-to-face with the man that had tasked me with making sure she was safe.

On that thought, it’s definitely time to sink back into the darkness. I need to escape the many thoughts of a past that I cannot do anything to change.