Human? Human? Who the hell referred to someone else as a human? The more I thought about the honey-eyed man and his hostile words, the stranger he seemed.
Then again, it was also strange how hard it was to keep him out of my thoughts, especially at a moment like this.
"It's all there, Jeff. We're not shorting you," I sighed. I was tired. It had been a long day and I just wanted it to end.
"I'll see that for myself," he answered with another drag of the cigarette that rested between his lips while his hands were occupied with dumping out dime bags of red onto a small digital scale.
Of course, it would be too merciful of life to allow my last delivery of the day to go smoothly. I should have known the moment I saw Jeff's name scrawled out in dads chicken scratch writing. Not that mine was much better. I just wanted to go home, take a lukewarm shower to wash away this day, and crawl into bed. Maybe eat one of the bars I had stashed for Ash-
I jumped at the sound of a hard thump as Jeff slammed his fist down onto the coffee table, causing the contents on it to rattle and some of the drug to spill off the scale.
"I knew it! You stupid bitch, you thought you could rip me off?" He demanded as he rose off his old sagging couch with a finger pointed at me. It shook with rage. The same rage that twisted his features.
My heart hammered against the inside of my chest. "What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level as I reached into my pocket for stabby. I had a feeling she was about to come in handy.
"You thought I wouldn't notice how the bags have been lacking? You thought you could take a little out of each one and short me a gram without me noticing?"
"All I do is deliver the goods and collect what's owed. If you have a problem, take it up with my dad."
"Oh, I have a problem." More problems than he was willing to admit to.
"Take it up with him," I repeated through clenched teeth. The scratched edges of the folded blade's handle dug into my sweating palm.
"Or," he said, dragging the word out as he rounded the table toward where I stood waiting to get paid. "I could get the rest of my money's worth out of his daughter. If you play nice and make me happy, you might even get me to forget all the other times you've stiffed me."
"That's not how this works." I took a step back, wanting to make a run for the door but knew if I didn't collect the money for the product he had dumped out, I was the one who would pay. "Take it up with him."
I went to take another step back, but he was faster. Lunging forward, he grabbed me by the arm before I could jerk it away from him.
"Come here you little whore. I'm sure deliveries aren't all he sends you out on. What's one more client added to the list?"
"Let go of me!" I spit out through my teeth as I tried to twist my arm free.
Tightening his grip, he swung me around and threw me onto the couch. My head cracked against the wooden armrest, leaving me dazed and unable to escape his crushing weight as he dropped on top of me. Clenching my eyes shut, i tried to block out the spinning room and the groping hands that roamed my body. I pushed and shoved but could barely move my arms with them pinned between us. I couldn't even pull them free to reach for my weapon.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Jeff chuckled into my ear. His rancid breath mingled with the scent of his body odor to make my stomach turn.
I knew I did. That's why I used all the strength I could muster to jerk my knee up between his legs. I felt the impact it made reverberate through my leg.
He curled over, his body still weighing me down but moving enough to let me pull an arm free. Lifting it to his face, I gripped the side of his head and pushed my thumb into his eye. I gagged at how it sunk into the soft tissue and the scream it elicited. But it worked. The pain was enough to have him turning away and rolling onto the floor.
With his weight no longer holding me down, I followed after him to drop to my knees on the floor before bolting to my feet. I underestimated the resilience of his anger. I barely made it to my feet before a hand was in my hair, pulling me back. I yelped at the sting of pain that spread across my scalp. Trying to escape it, I crashed into the coffee table hard. The sound of glass breaking accompanied our struggles, but it was only an afterthought until Jeff overpowered me to slam me onto the floor. Pain bloomed at my side as I felt shards cut into my skin. A cry left my lips when his body dropped over mine to dig them in deeper.
While he ground my body into the glass while fumbling to reach for the front of my pants, I took shaking breaths to keep from focusing on the pain and wet warmth that bloomed. My hands trembled as I set them on the floor. I pushed my weight onto the side that glass wasn't shredding while my hand reached into my pocket. Jeff didn't notice, preoccupied with shoving his hand down the front of my pants. He also didn't notice me pull out my switchblade and flick it open.
Gritting my teeth as I shifted into the glass, I pushed off the floor with everything I had. He must have been caught by surprise after how compliant the pain had made me. The shove dislodged him enough for me to turn and get a clear strike on his leg. A howl of pain sounded as the three-inch blade sunk into his thigh.
It was going to take him more than a few moments to recover from that.
"You fucking cunt! I'm going to kill you!" He shouted as he fell back against the couch, clutching at his thigh.
I didn't wait around to hear more of his shouted abuse or see if he would be stupid enough to pull the blade out. Grabbing the bag that now only held money from the floor, I launched myself at the door. Glass dropped to the linoleum floor along the way. Throwing it open to slam against the trailer's metal exterior with a harsh clank, I hoped I left a dent as I grabbed my bike off the overgrown grass and took off.
Biking past other beat-down trailers that matched Jeff's, I ignored the pain in my side as I aimed for the park's exit. It was difficult to do, each breath and effort to pedal faster had the glass in my skin doing more damage, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins helped. It became easier when the dirt road leading through the park turned into smooth asphalt when I turned onto the road it led to. I didn't slow until the flickering lights of the diner I had left not too long ago with sore feet came into sight a few minutes later.
Pulling over to deal with the pain that was plastering my shirt to my skin with sticky warmth, I leaned my bike against the old diner that sat on the outskirts of town. I choose a spot that was away from the windows and some distance away from the entrance to give myself a once-over before I went in. I didn't want to raise any questions by appearing all covered in blood, so it was a good thing that I couldn't make any out on my black clothing in the dim lighting. I wanted to deal with the glass before I finished the remaining leg of the journey back to the house.
Rebuttoning the button of my jeans without lingering to think about how it had become undone, I kept the duffle bag on the shoulder of my good side as I opened the door. The metal bell above announced my arrival.
"Back so soon?" Carol asked, looking back at me from the other side of the counter where she was making a fresh pot of coffee.
"I decided to grab something to take home. Can you let Clyde know to make me two cheeseburgers to go?" I said as I pulled a twenty from my pocket and placed it on the counter. "Thanks."
I didn't wait for her reply before turning and making my way to the washroom. I didn't want to give her a chance to notice that something was off. Like the red powder dusting my leg. It was clearer under the bright lights inside the diner. Quickly brushing it off with a hand, I entered the single-occupancy washroom and locked the door.
Dropping the duffle bag onto the floor I had mopped an hour ago, lifted my clothes to take a look at the damage. I winced as my shirt pulled away from my skin, cringing at the sound of more glass tinkling to the tiled floor as it came free at the action.
It could be worse, I told myself as I took in the shards that hadn't come loose. Pulling them out wasn't going to be pleasant, but it was worth the price to have escaped Jeff's stubby fingers. Luckily, he wasn't the kind of man who would chase after me and show up here or at the house. I only had to worry about him if he appeared again on the next list of deliveries. Which wasn't likely given what he had pulled.
Though Dad didn't care what condition I returned in, he did care when it was without the amount of cash he had expected. He wasn't going to miss the missing payment and product. Both Jeff and I would face consequences for it.
Quickly washing my hands, I lifted my clothes again to pinch one of protruding shards between two fingers. Biting down on the inside of my cheek, I tugged it free from my skin, feeling resistance. Once free, rivets of blood ran from the cut left behind and seeped into the waistband of my jeans. Dropping the shard into the sink, I continued to pick the glass I could find out. Most of the blood was caused by two larger pieces that made my eyes tear up at the pain I felt removing them. By the time I had the worst of it removed, I could taste blood in my mouth from biting down so hard.
Balling up some toilet paper in my hand, I wet it before dabbing it against my skin to get a cleaner look at the damage and feel for any remaining glass I might have missed. I was relieved to find no more but frowned at the largest cuts. They were the kind that typically required stitches. Instead of going through the trouble of making my way to the hospital across town, I was going to settle for my trusty bottle of superglue that was tucked away with the rest of my first aid supplies in my room. I had enough experience to know that it would do.
Cleaning up as best as I could, I righted my clothes before clearing the sink of glass. Making sure everything was free of blood, I grabbed the duffle bag on the floor and made my way out into the nearly empty diner. It wasn't anyone's go-to place, but it was one of the only places around open so late.
As I made my way towards the counter to check on my order, I froze as my eyes locked with honey-colored ones. The man I had encountered during my delivery earlier sat at one of the booths with an untouched cup of coffee sitting in front of him. He wore dark casual clothing, but it did nothing to help him blend in. He didn't belong here. He was far from his neck of the woods. His kind- the ones with money- never ventured out here. This run-down diner wasn't up to their standards. It wasn't even up to health code standards.
So, why was he here?
His intense and focused gaze gave me an answer I didn't like.
On top of everything else, had I gained a stalker today?
His eyes slowly left mine to trail down my body, but it wasn't with heat in his eyes. No, his cold gaze lowered to rest on the side of my torso. Right where it throbbed in pain.
The sharp sound of a bell had me flinching.
"Greysi!" Clyde's familiar voice boomed my way. "Your orders ready."
Not returning my eyes to the man I could feel still watching me, I rounded the counter to the window leading into the kitchen. "Thanks, Clyde," I said as I grabbed the paper bag that was waiting for me.
Darting toward the door with it clutched in my hand, I decided to pretend that I hadn't seen him. I couldn't deal with a new stalker on top of all the other shit I would need to face. Hopefully, in the morning rather than the moment I returned.
As I stepped outside, my eyes darted to the window to unsurprisingly find him still watching me. Looking away, I took in the three cars in the parking lot. It was easy to tell which one was his. The sleek white Mercedes stood out just as much as he did.
Making a mental note of what he drove, I got on my bike and set off down the long and quiet road that led back to hell. Despite no longer having glass buried in my side, my waning adrenaline made it hard to keep going. But I had to. Until I was sure I wasn't being followed.
My eyes once again darted over my shoulder in search of the honey-eyed man and his car. My shoulders relaxed further when I found nothing but the dark street lit by street lights. Soon those would end and the only thing lighting my way back would be the moon above.
Slowing to a stop to wipe the sweat off my forehead, I dismounted to take a break from pedaling and the strain it put on my injured side to walk until the street lights ended. I pushed the bike alongside me as the sound of my breaths was joined by the screaming of insects and the occasional owl. The night sounded more peaceful than it felt-
The sound of a branch cracking had me pausing while the sounds that had been filling the air abruptly grew silent. The feeling of being watched returned. Unease slithered down my spine as I looked over my shoulder again.
Still nothing.
It was nothing.
Not wanting to wait around and risk that changing, I pushed past my pain and got on my bike again. Bolting down the street, my throat grew tight as the safety of the street lights ended. The sounds of nature hadn't returned.
I squinted at a shape in the distance as my eyes took a moment to adjust to the moonlit street. The faint outline of a man in the middle of the road had my feet slowing. My fingers reached for the brake, slowly pressing it as I drew closer and it became easier to make him out.
It wasn't the honey-eyed man as I had first thought. This man was too bulky and large for it to be him.
"Hello?" I called out hesitantly as I came to a stop a safe distance away from him. I kept my foot on the pedal in case I needed to make a quick escape around him.
The man didn't move or reply.
He didn't need to.
He was only the distraction.
A scream tore its way free from my lips when a hand grabbed me by the hair from behind.
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