A Devil's Journey

A Stop In The Park

I scrubbed all of the dishes as hard as I could, wanting to finish as fast as possible. Perhaps I could get out there and chat for at least a couple of minutes. I knew we were closing soon but if I made it to the table before he left I could ask a few things and maybe figure out where he was staying. There wasn't a hotel in town so I had no idea where to even look.

I grabbed the last plate I had to wash, scrubbing it hard and rinsing it when I heard the bell ding. Oh come on! I threw it back into the sink, going out front to see if it was someone new at the last minute or if he had indeed left. I didn't see anyone at the counter and I was dismayed to see the dining room empty as it came into view. This sucks.

I looked where he had been sitting and saw something shiny beside the plate. I went over curiously and gasped. It was a simple elegant chain with a teardrop shaped sapphire hanging on the end of it. I picked it up and looked it over. It looked pretty real to me, including the chain. What was someone with little money leaving something like this behind for?

I noticed a small note tucked under the plate and took it out. It simply read "Thanks for the great meal, here's a small gift from me to you". So he left it behind intentionally. Wow. I eyed the necklace in my hand again. "If he's so low on cash he should have sold this... i***t" I mumbled to myself. It must not be real, maybe he sold fakes on the side to make cash, it certainly looked real enough to pass it off that way. I'm still not so sure myself.

Unsure what to do with it I decided to put it on, doing up the clasp before pocketing the note and grabbing his cup and plate to go finish the dishes completely. I put them in the sink and washed the plate I was originally working on to give them a moment to soak, coming back to them and finishing up with everything on the drying rack. I could put everything away tomorrow.

I looked at the clock 9:00pm on the dot. Yes! Closing time! "Hey Alicia I'm heading out now, see you tomorrow!" I didn't bother waiting for a response, heading out the front door and locking it behind me. I looked around, the stranger no... Vincent wasn't anywhere to be found. I smiled as I remembered he told me his name just as quickly. At least I wasn't the only one who gave away information willingly.

I put my earbud in, but just one this time. It was night now after all and I didn't want someone to sneak up on me. I've never heard of anything too bad happening, but I wasn't about to be the first.

I carried on my way, walking along to the beat when out of my peripheral vision I saw a large flash of light. I stopped and turned toward the source, seeing that someone had started a huge fire in the middle of the park. There was a fire pit there and teens were there all the time, so the fire itself wasn't an issue. What did scare me was how quickly it came to be. It has been pretty dark in my peripheral vision up until that bright burst, I'm sure I would have noticed a smaller fire beforehand.

I realized there was only one person there as he crossed across the large fire, his silhouette dark against it's brightness. I had to admit, the person looked to be the same body type as the person who had been in earlier and I was tempted to check it out.

I stood there stupidly for a while, the figure eventually sitting down against one of the nearby trees. I shook my head, I shouldn't go to the park in the dark with a complete stranger. I mean, even if it was one of the others from town it was late and it wouldn't be smart to linger.

Right as I turned to walk away the sound of a harmonica filled the air. I froze mid-turn, stunned to complete silence as the haunting melody reached me. I had never heard a harmonica played this way. It sounded like it was telling a story, a sad one at that.

As I came to my senses, I realized I had actually taken several steps toward the fire and the source of the noise. Crap! I ducked behind a nearby tree, still listening intently to the melody that was playing. It was intoxicating, like I couldn't get enough. "That has to be the most beautiful thing I've ever heard..." I whispered to myself.

The melody stopped and I heard a chuckle, followed by a "thanks" from that voice. It was him! How on earth did he hear me over his own music though? "You know, for someone trying to be stealthy you aren't very quiet" he continued as I kept standing behind that tree. Realizing I was outed I stepped out and made my way the last few steps over, blushing as I hadn't meant to get caught.

He gestured for me to sit down as well and I did. The fire was warm and it had cooled off quite a bit since the morning so I appreciated it. He glanced at me for a moment before looking down and continuing to play. This close I had chills again, even being this close to the fire. I watched him mesmerized until he finished his song.

"Wow that was... wow" was all I could get out. How do you even try to describe something that magical? He chuckled again and looked at me smiling. "I would say it's due to dedicated practice but that would be a lie, I've always played like this. I guess it just comes naturally" he said. "Naturally? Who on earth could play an instrument, let alone a harmonica naturally?" I blurted out.

He looked amused by my question, I swear his head tilted to the side just a bit. It was sort of adorable. "Like I said, it's just something I can do". He said it so nonchalantly, like it was no big deal when of course, it was. He didn't look like he was going to open up about it any further so I decided to move on to some other questions.

"So where are you from exactly? We don't typically get travelers around here." I may as well start with what I really want to know. Maybe he could be my ticket out! I had planned to save for another 6 months but perhaps... "I don't really call any place home these days, and I'm mostly just passing through" he said interrupting my thoughts. Hmm. That seemed like another question dodge to me, but again I decided to let it pass.

"Okay, where are some of the places you've traveled then?" I felt the need to keep pushing. But he was sort of giving answers. "I've been quite a few places, I've seen most of the US, been up to Canada a couple times, Mexico, a few places in Europe like Spain and Italy" there was a flash of annoyance as he practically spat out the word Italy. Huh. "So you didn't like Italy then?" I inquired. "It's... somewhere I hope I don't have to go back" he sighed.

"That's really impressive! I want to travel too, but I've been stuck in this town for ages. No one seems to want to leave but me" I blurted out. Why was I talking so much with no regard for what I was saying? He looked intrigued at what I was saying, suddenly turning the questions on me "Have you ever left town at all? You must have gone somewhere right?". He was practically staring me down. I gulped as I suddenly felt a bit nervous at his change in attitude.

"N-no I really haven't. School field trips were always within the border and even when I tried to run away I was always caught" I managed to spit out while caught in that gaze of his. He looked as though he had won the lottery. "Awesome, finally found him...." he muttered under his breath as he finally looked away from me and stood up.

"Found who?..." I trailed off as his attention suddenly flicked to his left and he took a stance looking out angrily at the dark. "Stay behind me!" he said loudly as I tried to see what he was so interested in, a feeling of dread creeping down my back as I swear I saw the dark move.