The Devils Angel

Chapter One

Chapter One.

I looked out the window of the bus for the seventh hour of the morning. I had no idea where I was going, I just knew it was as far away as possible. At the closest bus port to my home town I played eeny meeny miny mo to which bus ticket on which bus line I would buy, then I promised myself I would get off at the last stop and create a new life there. Nine hours away. Two hours to go. To the left of me was mountains, not pretty forest mountains, but dirt mountains. But to the right was a cliff, and then ocean as far as the eye could see. A deep blue, and it gave me some sort of piece of mind with my choice. Like it happened for a reason, I hadn’t been to the beach since I was a little girl. But from what I remember we were always there, every weekend, playing in the sand. And we were happy. We once were happy.

***

A ding sounded, and that’s when I realised I fell back asleep as I watch the ocean along the horizon.

“End of the line! Please depart the bus and make sure you have all your belongings, thank you.” It was dark now.

The sun must have just set because there was no street lights, hell, there was barely a street leaving the bus port, but the night sky was still visible, lit up with stars and a little red. Not as much pollution here as the city.

I got off the bus, my duffel bag in tow. Sad that my 26 years of being alive could fit into one duffel bag. I slung it over my shoulder and walked down the one dirt road that I assumed would lead to a town, hopefully not too far.

***

After walking approximately 22 minutes, I could see a building ahead. Beyond that I could see more lights of a more lit up town but the closest building was calling to me. The light up sign said ‘The Red Sea Tavern’, and below that was ‘vacancy.’ This could be a good place to stay the night and I was fairly certain I could get a heavily poured drink before I laid myself down for the first time in 36 hours.

As I opened the door to the tavern a stale stench of cigarette and pizza wafted into my nostrils. At least that meant they did food, even though I couldn’t stomach it, it was probably a good idea. I sat at the far end of the bar and straight away a bartender with only half his teeth came up to me whilst cleaning a glass.

“What you having, lovely?” He slurred.

“Whiskey, neat,” I wasn’t ready for pleasantries. And luckily neither way he. As soon as he heard my order he turned away to make it, five seconds later he slammed it down in front of me.

“Thanks,” is all I said as I twirled the glass between my fingers contemplating if I even wanted it.

A minute later I gulped it down in one go then stuck a finger up for another which the bartender obliged.

“Do you have rooms available?” I asked him as I sipped the drink a bit slower than the first.

“Mine is,” he said so casually as if it was a regular thing to say, smirk on his face as he looked me up and down.

He must have seen the disgust in my face as he turned and then dropped a book down in front of me.

“Take your pick and leave your money, $100 a night,” he said before walking off.

I looked at the book full of about 12 keys. I picked room one and switched the key with room nine, putting that one in my pocket. If Mr friendly bartender decided to get too friendly at least it would take him a while to find me. I put $150 on the book as he turned back to me.

“The $50 is for a few more drinks,” I told him, finishing the one in my hand.

“I’m on it,” he nodded, grabbing the book and putting it back in its spot and the money in the til.

He put another drink in front of me and as I took a sip, the bar all of a sudden got louder, I turned to the front door that just opened and about four men piled into the room laughing with each other.

My eyes set on one in particular.

From the neck up he looked like the most innocent man I’ve ever seen, tanned, baby blue eyes, clean chiseled jaw and blonde hair that was waved back on the top. From the neck down he looked like a bad ass. Strong arms with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black and white tattoos filled all his showing skin. Oh no, that’s just what I needed. Settle down, Bailey.

As I watched him I noticed his bright blue eyes found mine just for a second, before he looked back to his friends and continued laughing and chatting loudly.

I skulled the rest of my drink and the bartender noticed, he grabbed the bottle to give me a refill.

I put my hand up in front of him and my empty glass, “I’ve had enough for tonight, keep the change.”

“Thank you ma’am,” he said and nodded towards me as I jumped down from my stool.

I walked past the men that just walked in and out the front door, in my peripheral vision I watched the blondie watch me walk away.

I made my way down to room nine and unlocked the door. The place was nicer than I expected, it smelt much better than the bar, almost clean and had its own bathroom with a large shower. I needed to wash the scum off me and sleep for at least 12 hours.