Ravage the Dawn: Book 1

Chapter One

Elizabeth scowled at the reflection staring back at her from the bathroom mirror. "You look like hell." She told herself matter-of-factly. The fair skinned girl in the mirror only frowned back. She turned the faucet on and wet her hands, attempting to smooth down her hair. The intentional 'bed head' like waves she'd started the day with had now become an unruly looking mass of black that tumbled wildly over her shoulders. After a few moments she sighed in defeat and turned the faucet off. It was no use, she looked like a hot mess. Under the fluorescent lights in the bathroom the smoky eye makeup she was wearing just made her look sickly. Good thing it's dark in the bar. She mused distastefully.

Her shift had been scheduled to end at five that night, but the bartender and one of the waitresses hadn't shown up. She'd been working at 'The Low Down' for barely six months, and she'd already run out of room to count on her hands how many times she'd been stuck covering someone else's shift. Not a day went by that she didn't regret having been desperate enough for work to have answered the ad.

It paid well enough she supposed, but it wasn't exactly the kind of position that held a lot of potential for advancement. That was of course unless you considered being offered money in exchange for sexual favors an offer of promotion. If that were the case, she would have taken over the manager's position quite some time ago. But really, the bar was just your run of the mill, sleaze attracting hole in the wall.

Despite being a rat trap of a building with a sullied reputation the cheap drinks and late hours consistently attracted throngs of bar hoppers from neighboring communities. She wasn't surprised that today was the day everyone had decided to flake on coming to work. It was Saturday, the busiest night of the week. Except for one nervous new waitress, she'd been left to man the place alone. Again. Elizabeth groaned. "Tabitha." She murmured guiltily. That's right. You are supposed to be in charge, and you left the new girl out there to fend for herself. "Guess break time is over." She informed the girl in the mirror sympathetically.

On the way back to her station she stopped to check the trash on the main floor and found it full. She waved her arms over her head to catch Tabitha's attention, and when the girl turned her way Elizabeth pointed meaningfully at the garbage, then the back door. Her wide eyed and flustered coworker nodded her understanding from between a bar full of patrons before mouthing a desperate plea for her to hurry back. Elizabeth gave her an encouraging thumbs up before pulling the bag and making her way outside. She smiled as she threw her load into the dumpster, musing to herself about whether or not Tabitha would survive the 'initiation by fire' she was getting tonight.

She had just tossed the bag in and was turning to go back inside when she heard shuffling behind her in the alley. Elizabeth spun around, surprised but instinctively ready for a fight. A scruffy looking elderly had come out from behind the far side of the dumpster, and now stood worrying his hands as he watched her. She laughed, relieved. "Marty! God you scared me!" She exclaimed. The older man smiled apologetically.

"Sorry Lizzy, I just wasn't sure it was you." He took his hat off and scratched his head. "I was just wondering; you know...If you had any left overs in the kitchen tonight?" She smiled at him.

"I'm sure I can find something Marty, hang tight ok?" She replied sweetly before retreating back to the building. She made her way out front to check on Tabitha and help at the bar for a few minutes before venturing into the kitchen. Technically, the kitchen was closed since they were short on workers. But Marty didn't know that. She started up the grill and fryer and retrieved a couple hamburger patties and a handful of fries from the fridge. A short while later she was slapping together a double patty burger with all the fixings and a side of fries. She shoved a handful of said fries in her before putting the rest of the food in a Styrofoam container. It's a fry tax. She told herself.