Haunted by the Past (Original)

Chapter 58

Several hours later I had produced a list of nearby vacant commercial or industrial properties and they were all either too small, too open, too central, too visible, too not good enough for Eli. So I left him with the list then grabbed my hoodie and headed for the door, but not without being reminded to wear a face mask and avoid people at all costs before walking out.

While it probably would've been more sensible to stay indoors, the apartment with him felt so stifling. As soon as you tell me not to move that's the exact moment I need to move. With my swollen ankle, I had no plans to really go anywhere, I just needed air.

From the second floor, I observed our surroundings. Below us was the rear parking lot and aside from Cameron's old Mustang, it was empty. It was lined on the sides by neighboring brick buildings with a metal chain link fence along the back. On the other side were a line of evergreens providing cover for the residential street beyond. At some point Cameron must've had the gap in the fence repaired as the shortcut Heather used was no longer visible.

Through the open door on the bottom floor I could hear the faint sound of music playing from the jukebox in the corner of the bar. Curiosity got the better of me and I limped down the stairs to take a peak. The bar was nearly empty aside from a middle-aged man sleeping face down at one of the bar and two drunk women playfully slow dancing in the middle of the floor. Cameron was wiping down the bar looking less than amused. When the song ended, the two women stumbled their way towards the front door. Cameron slapped his cleaning cloth on the bar loudly on purpose to wake up his final patron. The man sat up sluggishly, blinked a few times, pulled out his wallet and threw money down on the bar, then meandered towards the door without a single word. Cameron frowned as he picked up the cash, counted it, then shoved it into the register. As he turned back around, he caught sight of me standing at the rear door.

"Come have a drink!" Cameron called out. "There won't be anyone else until closing, I can guarantee it!"

Looking around the empty car park, I weighed my options. The sound of sweet, mind-numbing alcohol was too good to pass up. "Busy night?" I asked as I walked over.

"Hell no!" Cameron laughed while shaking his head. "How's the ankle?"

"Still shitty," I sighed as I sat down at the second stool at the bar.

"What would you like?" he gestured to the range of bottles behind him. "It's on me, but be nice."

I glanced over the choices, but couldn't make up my mind, "Something hard."

"Sounds like you could use a friend. May I suggest Johnnie Walker? He's a great friend to many," Cameron held up a bottle with a black label.

"Oh? You spoil me so," I mused.

Cameron pulled out a couple of clean shot glasses and poured one for each of us, "I gather you need it."

"Understatement," I murmured before downing the first shot. I winced as the alcohol hit the back of my throat, "Smooth."

He laughed at my suffering, "I didn't take you to be such a lightweight."

"I'm anything but light," I frowned. "Just hadn't drunk any for a while."

"Uh-huh," he looked at me questioningly before downing his first shot. "That's what all the lightweights say." Before I knew it, the shot glasses were refreshed. "So you going to tell me what the hell that was earlier?"

"What?" I asked honestly.

Cameron downed his second shot, "Let's just say Eli's lucky I ain't your brother. Because if I was your brother, I would've slugged him."

"What are you talking about?" I couldn't recall anything that happened recently that would've caused a rift between those two.

"I heard you screaming, Dani," he stressed. "And when I went up to check on you, he fucking told me off. Said if I cared about protecting you that I needed to ignore everything I may or may not hear coming from the apartment. Don't want to draw attention to the fact that you two are up there. If you was my sister, that shit wouldn't fly. I had half-a-mind to do it anyway just because of his attitude."