Beast Within

01| Moving On

Part One:

"Blazing like a bullet,
Warm like an eternal goodbye
He said he loved her
Like he loved the blue sky

Endless and vast,
Yet as deep as the sea.

Their love was a true tragedy.

It was never disrupted
Never still
He said there was no one
That cared for him enough to kill."

🥀

KAIA'S P.O.V.

"Hey, sweetie, what's your name?" A voice called from behind the bar. For most people, hesitation wouldn't course through them at such an innocent question. I almost gave the wrong answer.

"It's Kaia."

My eyes narrowed in searching of who had just asked.

With a pause, I planted both of my feet firmly on the ground and peered over at the stranger that was still at the entrance. The bar itself was fairly lit up, but until you walked up to my workspace, I couldn't see who had walked in very clearly. Especially at night.

All I could make out now was a silhouette. The man rushed toward me, making me come nose to nose with a dopey eyed drunk. A black scruffy beard covered a good portion of his face and he wore a brown trench coat, slightly wet from the rain pouring outside. Small droplets dotted the shoulders of his coat.

I stepped back, catching a whiff of the stall alcohol dancing on his breath. "What can I get for you, sir?"

Using both of my hands, I gripped the corners of the bar and braced myself for the worst. I'd been working at this job for nine months, getting an ear-full of cat calls, sexual advances, and lame pick-up lines.

Whatever this stranger had to say to me, I knew it wouldn't be original. I was a barmaid and I came across countless weirdos and perverts in my line of work.

When I moved to Harper Falls, I had no interest in starting up any trouble. I wanted to get as far away as possible from our hometown. Blending in with the locals and taking a low paying job was my best bet.

I squinted up at this stranger and his large built shoulders, thinking if I knew him or not. It took me a while, but I finally figured it out. He had come in for the first time just last weekend. Each time he talked to me, he'd ask me numerous question. The things that came out of this particular stranger was never too aggressive, and he never tried to touch me.

He asked the same line of questions he did this weekend and I answered them exactly how I did before. He'd ask things like:

"What's your name, doll?"

"Do you have a boyfriend, sweet-cakes?"

"Aw, that's unfortunate. I'm sure he won't mind if you came over to my place for a bit."

"Hey, do you get off of work anytime soon?"

I sucked in a dry breath, not really in the mood to do much talking.

"How are you doing?" He slurred.

Dude clearly pre-gamed before coming in tonight. He was still nursing his first order, shaking the ice inside.

I took note of how his eyes swept down to my breasts more often than they looked at my eyes. If it weren't for the low-cut tank-top and short-shorts I was enforced to wear as my uniform, I would've covered up.

"I'm doing alright." I said with a fake smile. "And yourself?"

"That's good, baby girl. I'm happy I get to see you. You weren't here the other night."

"I had the day off."

"That's too bad. I missed you."

Shivers went down my spine. Before he got here, I wasn't nauseous. Now I could feel heat bubbling in my throat, inching closer to the act of vomiting. He hadn't said much, but it was his eyes that did the heavy lifting. My wardrobe disappeared under his gaze, undressing me with his imagination. His lips were glossy from licking them repeatedly.

He pounded down his drink, slurping it up in one big gulp. "I'll have another." He proclaimed, flattening his palm on the smooth wood, and slid over some cash. I served him Scotch on the rocks. He had about three rounds of that one particular drink last time he was here - so I expected the same. Another couple came in, sweeping into barstools to the left of me. After attending to their drink requests, I got waved down by the same guy from earlier.

Walking back up to him, I wiped my hand on the towel draped on my shoulder. "What else can I get for you tonight?"

"Let me buy you a drink." He reached over and tried to stuff it into my top. Slapping his hand away, I shuffled backward and almost ran into the row of bottled liquor behind me. My breath hitched at the contact, causing an endless array of hysteria to ring through my body like I got stung.

I had one rule.

Don't.

Fucking.

Touch. Me.

It was simple, but some assholes liked to cross that line and see how many times they could push my buttons.

"Just take the money." He waved it at me as if I was a dog, anticipating a bone to be thrown in my direction. "You look like you need a drink."

"No, I think you've had enough for the both of us."

"Come on. Just one, Miss. Marlow."

I flinched. "I never told you my last name."

He had said my old last name, before I had changed it legally. I wasn't Beverly Marlow anymore. Before I moved, my cousin, and my brother, and I changed our names. No one knew us as anything other than Jamila, Lawrence, and Kaia Wells.

We never thought anyone would figure us out.

"Why so shaky Beverly?" the stranger chuckled, meeting the glass to his lips. "Lighten up baby girl. A smile would look nicer on you."

"H-how did you know that?" I stammered. "How did you know my real name?"

. . . .

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