Phantom & Scythe

Chapter Two

Brakes squealed from across the street as I rounded the corner of the block where Dukes Bar & Dine was located. 

“You're a piece of s**t!” A woman yelled from somewhere, and a car honked in response. “f**k off!” 

I pulled my jacket tighter across my chest, peering over my shoulder to see the car creeping up to the sidewalk where I was walking. 

“Wonderful,” I muttered under my breath, releasing the front of my jacket and sticking my hand in to feel for my bottle of pepper spray. I cursed, realising I had left it back in the apartment. 

“Hey sexy thang, you in for a good time?” The man inside the car wheezed and began coughing. “Hey, I’m talking to you!” 

I waved him off, increasing my pace toward the light casted from through the windows of Dukes. 

“Damn slut,” he murmured as I reached to open the glass door to the diner. He sped off, yelling a few more expletives at me that I didn’t bother to acknowledge. This was a common thing around here. 

Women were treated like objects. I have yet to find a guy that was half decent, and wouldn’t bore me to death. Was that too much to ask for?

I pressed down the door handle, suddenly feeling the weight of being watched. I glanced over my shoulder and sure enough, right beneath the light of a streetlamp, stood the black outline of a man.