"I've known Griffon since college. He used to date one of my friends and so we've always sort of rolled around the same groups. Over time we remained friends after college and well, that's when he helped get me a ride back into town. I haven't really spoken to him since then." Mia says.
Mia was able to secure a vehicle from the vehicle rental from the hotel services. They have some vehicles for the guests to rent out. Now flying down I-95, the trees zipping by like a watercolor painting.
Drex glanced at Mia, the light bouncing off her auburn locks. A halo surrounded the contours of her face, her lips were a light shade of pink. Reaching across the console he took hold of her hand and squeezed.
Mia's face lit up like the fourth of July and she squeezed back. "You know, I still can't believe everything that's happened so far..." Drex completely understood what she meant. He never imagined he'd see Mia again, and here she is sitting next to him with the biggest smile he's seen. No doubt she never thought she'd see him again, but the biggest thing is that she hasn't run away, yet.
"I never thought I'd end back up in Bedstone and here I am." Chicago comes into view in the distance. Mia called Griffon earlier and set up a meeting with him at a local watering hole, some slumbering number that's visibly standing on its last legs, literally.
The bar's exterior was rotting wood that sat like a disease, threatening to infect any that came close. Parking in the decrepit lot that looks vaguely like a junkyard, they approached the front tattered door. The wood croaked as it swung open, a foul odor assaulted their noses.
Blinking the sun out of his eyes he pushed through the dark doorway, leading the way into the foulest place he's ever laid eyes on. His eyes swiveled the darkened corners that the wall mounted lights barely illuminated with their waning strength. He looked for any traps or ambushes as they walked up to the bar.
"What can I get for ya?" The bartender asks.
Drexler can feel his shoes sticking to the dirty floor. The warped wood bowed under his weight, for a split second he thought he was going to crash through the rotting wood at any second.
"I feel totally safe." Mia mused next to him. Nudging her with his shoulder he leaned down, his lips ghosting across the shell of her ear, "Don't touch anything, I highly doubt this place is sterile." Drexler followed Mia's gaze, the rest of the bar was just as worn down and broken. The bar sat in the middle of the building, a single bartender ranging somewhere within his mid fifties cleaned glasses. Small round tables filled the main floor up but with no real plan, as the tables were far too close together and some were even tipped over, some glass still broken on the floor.
"Sorry about the mess, We've had a rowdy crowd last night and still haven't gotten the chance to clean up." The bartender says it's like a completely normal image to come into. He wipes the counter down as Drex and Mia take a seat at the bar.
"So, what can I get ya?" He asks again with a smile. His hair was medium length but colored, his facial hair was uncolored and sporting his natural greys.
Beyond his aging features, Drexler noted a few barmaids and a few other employees moving about. No doubt in a rush to get this place fixed and ready for the lunch crowd.
"Guiness." Drex orders. He looks at Mia who simply shakes her head.
"Sorry, none for me. Thanks." She waves the beer menu away that the bartender held out.
"Tap or bottle?"
"Bottle" Drexler wasn't sure he wanted to even attempt to drink from a glass of theirs. For some reason he just imagined some blood droplets staining the drinking glasses complete with tetanus and who else knows what sort of infectious diseases that may have accumulated within the walls of this bar. Seems like the type of place Griffon would pick for a meet up.
There was a squeak in the back of the bar like a door opening up. The bartender hands Drex his beer and goes about his business. Taking a sip of his beer he caught sight of Griffon over the rim of his beer.
"Well, I'll be. There is our little buddy." Drex says, smiling through his growing fangs.
Mia touches his shoulder and shakes her head slowly. "Let me talk to him. Stay here." Mia jumped off the stool, but drex stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
"Mia, wait..."
"Let me go speak to him. Let me see what I can, if it doesn't work out, then you can come in and be all beastly." Standing on her tiptoes she plants a kiss on the corner of his lips.
"So, just wait, ok?" Drex didn't want to let her out of his sight, but she isn't moving out of his sight. Why does the idea of her moving away from him make his stomach broil?
"Be careful, friend or no friend, I don't trust anyone but you." He implored her to be careful with his eyes. He wanted to voice his worries out but he knew that Mia wasn't the type to be coddled. Relenting he agreed and went back to his beer but made sure to keep her in his sight at all times.
Mia approached Griffon and pulled him over to a booth in the corner. Drex was out of sight with the center bar obscuring his position from the booth, yet, allowed him to see them both easily enough. He can act if Griffon tries anything, or if something else decides to rear its ugly head. Either way, he's going to watch them both like a hawk. Drex strained his ears and listened in on their conversation in the darkened corner. Mia was smiling, after giving Griffon a quick hug they both sat.
Griffon looked surprised and happy to see her. Drexler noticed how Griffon kept looking around the bar, probably thinking that Drex was around. Which is true, so the guy is not a total buffoon, he has some decent intuition.
"I have to ask you Mia, is that guy Drex guy with you? I never should have offered to have him pick you up from the airport. I've opened a whole can of worms and I'm not sure what's happening anymore. He's not with you though is he? I have to know, Mia. He's dangerous."
A server came by and brought them a round of beer. Mia grabs the stem and lifts it to her lips, the rose hued flesh of her lips wrapped warmly around the tip. Drexler's legs twitched with the need to storm across the room and throw her over his shoulder and take off into the sky.
More and more time Drexler spends with Mia, little by little he begins to feel like there is a future for them. Though it may not be the future she wants, he'll have to talk to her about that at a later time. An image of a cottage came into view in his mind's eye, a small quaint cabin surrounded by a lush green forest with clear skies above. Mountains in the distance with clouds teasing the points.
"You have to tell me what's going on, Grif, I had people following me. Why are people in suits following me?" Mia asked Griffon, her voice steady, the severity of the danger she is in wasn't lost on Griffon.
Griffon lowered his head and took a long pull from his beer. Foam spewed from the bottle as he clanks it down across the table top. "I don't know much about that client but the man I sent to pick you up is in hot water with some fellas. I don't know a whole lot more than that, but I do know that I never should have sent Drex to you." Griffon lowers his head in shame.
"But Drex isn't the one who is chasing me. He's been the one protecting me. So, I need you to tell me who this client of yours is and why are they after us?" Griffon's head perked up, his head swiveled around the bar.
"That's my cue." Drexler gets up from the stool and moves around the bar towards the booth that Mia and Griffon were at. Griffon's eyes bulged as soon as he made eye contact with Drexler.
His head cuts viciously towards Mia, "I thought you said you didn't bring him! What the fuck, Mia!? You want us all to die!?" Griffon jumped from the booth but Drexler wasn't letting him get away just yet.
Drexler pushed Griffon back into the booth and wedged himself after him. Griffon cowed in the corner, his face fell, solutions for his dilemma zipping past his irises. "Good to see you again, Griff. Now, tell us who it is that's after us."
"Listen man, I'm sorry but I don't know much." Griffon pleads, his voice quivering like a rickety bridge made of rope spanning a chasm.
"Tell me what you do know and maybe I'll let you live." As soon as the words left his mouth, a sharp pain cracked into his shin. Mia glares at him across the table. Feeling scolded, Drexler sat back into the cushion seat that does less cushioning and more stabbing than anything. The lack of padding made the seats pretty uncomfortable.
Drexler felt like a kid in detention. Both he and Griffon sat looking deflated and scolded, while Mia, the principal gets ready to hand out their punishments. A few 'ideas' skittered across his wicked mind about some of those 'punishments'.
"I'll tell you what I know, just don't hurt me." Drexler never saw Griffon looking so scared before. Highly doubts that he's scared because of Drexler, or was he?
"Why are you so jumpy right now?" Drexler asked. Griffon is visibly shaking in the corner.
"Griffon, no one is going to hurt you. You know me, I'm not here to hurt you nor is 'he'," She looks at Drexler with a warning. Warning him to keep his mouth shut and away from the threats. He understood Mia, but didn't mean he had to like it. It's far easier to scare them shitless.
"All I know is the guy who is chasing you," He points to Drexler. His hand visibly shakes as he grabs his beer and swallows a swig.
"He isn't very nice." Griffon snorts and looks pointedly at Drexler. "You worked for the damn guy, all I know is a little bit about who he is and let me say, he is not someone you want to cross."
Drexler shifted his weight. Was it someone he worked for? Could it really be the owner of the apartment? "Let me guess,it was the client who owns that flat I was parking my ass at?" Griffon nods subtly.
"That's the one. He isn't like what you saw when you two first met. He isn't like that, he's far darker and let me say something else, he knows about you. About the..ummm..."
"Ya, I've been thinking as much. They used some type of drug on me. When they attacked me at the apartment they tried to drug me and almost succeeded." Mia was unusually quiet. Taking in all the information, she rests her chin in her palm, "What's this mystery guy's name?"
Griffon turns his attention to Mia. "I don't know his real name. He has many names, no one knows his true identity. Though, just recently he changed his name to Hunter." Griffon was silent for a moment.
Hunter? Was his name change deliberate? Drexler's mind was racing around in a panic trying to figure out the why.
Mia's face fell. In the musty bar, the thin layer of smoke that permeates the upper atmosphere of the small building, swarmed above our heads. Mia looked troubled, her eyes slowly widened.
"He's hunting you..." She all but whispers.
"Hunting me? Why the hell would he want to---" Griffon cut him off.
"He knows and don't think the rest of the underworld doesn't know either. Be prepared, he is a very dangerous man and he is not one you should trifle with." Griffons tossed out another warning.
"Drex, what should we do?"
"I don't know....I wish I knew..."
Griffon leans across the table and lowers his voice. "What I can tell you, and I'm only saying this because I thought you were a pretty decent guy, Drex, but the man that's chasing you, The Hunter, he's on the move. Most likely on his way here now. I might be able to stall him and give you guys enough time to get out of here. He has eyes and ears everywhere. I wish I could do more but I can't."
"Thank you so much, Griff. We have to go but I'll be in touch. Stay safe."
"You too, Mia." Mia bounced from the booth and pulled Drexler with her. She pulled them both towards the front door.
The backdoor to the bar slammed shut with Griffon's exit.
"What's the damn hurry?" He said irritated.
"I don't want to be here when the Hunter gets here. If they were to fight you in a small space that would put you at a severe disadvantage. At least in the open you have a better chance."
Solid points. Drexler wasn't really thinking about the ease of his environment. He was actually surprised by her line of thinking. She was thinking about the best options available to them and the type of situations they might find themselves in as well. He had to give it to Mia, for keeping a level head during this unorthodox ordeal. Still, she stands by his side and is ready to fight back.
A deep smile penetrated his face. His emotions were bundled in a broken sack. He was bursting with so many different emotions swarming him like a hive of ravenous bees. He couldn't make heads from tails with what he was feeling inside. Her warm palm slid over his and gave him a firm squeeze.
"Least we now know who's after us."
"That is true but it still doesn't make it any easier. Why is he hunting us though? For what purpose?"
"I can answer that." Mia and Drexler were inches from the entrance to the bar when a voice their spoken question from behind.
Turning around, the bartender stands behind the bar with a sickening smile. HIs eyes gleamed in the dark shadows that played across his features from the overhead lamps. The servers and waitresses all stopped bussing tables and now stood before him and Mia. Abandoning their server trays for metal pipes and knives.
"How barbaric." Drexler laughed. The absurdity of humans. Coming up to him acting as if they were equals. They continuously hound him and torment him. He is fed up with feeling like he has to constantly look over his shoulder.
Is this what his entire life will be? Violence after violence? When can He finally be able to rest and finally live. Shaking his head at his own misfortune, he knew deep down that this was inevitable and the only thing he is able to confirm is that he tossed Mia into the mix of it and now she is sitting in a powder keg of danger, waiting for that small flicker to explode the world into chaos.
"Finally. You know, I've been looking forward to this moment for a long time." The Hunter grabs a bottle of black label off the back wall and pours himself a shot. He brings the shot glass to his lips but then thinks better of it. Instead though he lowered it back to the bar top and poured a second shot glass. The glass slid across the bar top towards Drexler.
"Have a drink, stay awhile. I have many questions for such a fascinating beast as you." He looks at the amber liquid swirling in his glass. He was silent, then his eyes raised to Drexler's eyes.
"How rude of me. Of course, calling you a beast must be derogatory, you probably must not like being called such a distasteful name." Drexler eyed the cronies around the room. He glances down at Mia.
Mia's eyes were clear, yet held so much. They looked at him like he was precious. A burning heat pulsed beneath his chest. His heart always fluttered when he was close to her, but now he has to keep her safe.
Her hands were fisted, her eyes taking in the room, looking for a way out. She looked behind and found the door blocked by a huge balding man standing close to Drexler's towering height of six feet, five inches.
"What is it you want?" Drexler growled, taking a step up to the bar. Few of the cronies visible twitched to act but withheld themselves. Their eyes remained wary of him and his movements. So, they aren't completely stupid.
"Come, have a drink. We have much to discuss." He says with an air of boredom. He flicks his wrist and a few more of his cronies block the bar entrance, the others take seats or lean rather lazily against the walls. The room lost that sharp edge to it, and a dulling void took over. The cronies lost their alertness and now amble around in place like a group of bored children.
"I said, 'SIT'." The Hunter said, placing extra emphasis on the 'sit'.
"I'm not your dog, nor your pet. You have no control over me and if you talk to me like that again---"
"Yes, yes. I know all about your small outbreaks of rage. Worry not, I plan to get to that a little bit later. Right now though, I want to know more about you. Where do you come from? Are there more like you? Do you have a family?"
At the mention of the word 'Family', sent a surge of adrenaline through his body. Scales break out across his skin, the infernal blaze ripping him apart from the inside, ripping and tearing him to shreds only to be put back together seamlessly.
"Oh, how quaint. Seems I've touched a nerve." The Hunter downs the rest of his bourbon and tosses the glass to the floor shattering it across the floor. Hopping over the counter, the Hunter sat on the edge, a gun in his hand resting against his thigh.
The Hunter was tall and well built. His dark brown hair tousled against his forehead. Crease lines spiderweb out from around his eyes, his corded neck littered with scars and thick roped veins. His steely green eyes, the color of moss, or bacterial growth, his oily keen eyes entrapped Drexler within their murkiness. The image from the barkeep from earlier was long gone, now replaced by something dark. Something sinister.
The Hunter's eyes looked devoid of any emotion. Dark, glittering obsidian glass boring into Drexler's soul. An uncomfortable feeling coiled around his muscles. HIs fingers twitched into sharp claws.
"Drex." Mia moved closer to Drex, her arm brushing against his side.
"So, Family seems to be a trigger for you. I had a family once, but ya know, things happen. Disagreements to be had and life corrections to be made. It's how I got to where I am today." The Hunter says rather happily.
"Are you done talking about yourself or am I going to have to sit here and listen to your monologue and all that shit." The Hunter's smile fell. A twitch in the corner of his lips was the only indication that he wasn't happy about being interrupted. Drexler took glee in that fact.
The scales formed all along Drexler's body but stopped it's progression up his neck, leaving his entire body coated in shimmering scales, with the exception of his head. "Mia, stay close." Mia pushed in closer to Drex.
The Hunter eyes them both with a calculating glare. A knowing smile broke his face unevenly. "I'll say. It didn't occur to me, but maybe that's because I never thought Monsters can love too. How interesting."
To anybody else that wouldn't have felt like a threat. Drexler heard the underlying threat carried with his words. He's threatening to target Mia. "I'll give one warning. Get out of here if you don't want to get hurt." Drexler's wings slowly sprout from his back, expanding and spreading.
"There isn't much room, Drex. Don't do it, we need to get out of here." Mia tugged his hand but Drex wasn't listening. His vision blurred and focused on the man staring at him with a bemused expression.
"Perfect. Show me, Beast. Show me just how terrifying you can be." The Hunter cackles with delight, clapping his hands.