The Blood King

1: Strangers at Night

Present Day…

“HERE IS your order, sir.” I placed the hefty platter of food consisting of steaks, sausages, smoked ribs, fries, a burger and a couple of sun-side eggs in front of the bulky man and straightened before giving him a polite smile. “Your milk shake is coming right up.” I assured him then turned to the next table to get yet another order for the night.

The eatery was blustering that night with folks coming in from all directions. It was that time of the season because our town of Blackstone Creek was famous for the fishing spots and game in late October and people came from all sides of the world to fish and hunt. There was a regulation of course and sometimes, these people didn’t come for the fish and game but rather for the scenery and trekking in the famous Blackstone Forest.

At these times all the hotels, restaurants and pubs were extra busy catering for the large number of people but business was good and the tips came in handy.

“What can I get you, Miss?” I asked the lady who was dressed up in very expensive clothing and taking in the way she turned to me coolly while brushing her dark slick hair to the side, I could tell she was from a very good background. It was the kind of background that allowed her to have whatever she wanted and go wherever in the world because she could afford it.

I could see that she wasn’t even comfortable being there in that place because ordinary folks ate at that place and she wasn’t ordinary. Her nails were enviously done, sparkling in the lights and I couldn’t even remember the last time I painted mine. I was always working with food so hygienically; I was not allowed to have long manicured nails.

“I will have a Caesar salad and some sparkling water.” She ordered then turned to the man sitting next to her who was busy scrolling on his phone. My eyebrows arched up when I noticed he had the latest phone, the one I looked at in the magazines and just swallowed hard before continuing to page through it.

“Jaylan, what are you having?” She asked him, her voice calm but hinted a little impatience.

Jaylan looked up at me and smiled. “What’s the chef’s choice tonight?”

I smiled back and pointed to my previous customer. “That meat platter with a milkshake of your choice.”

“In that case, I will the get that platter and a banana milkshake.” He spoke as he went back to his phone.

The girl smiled politely up at me and said. “We are expecting three more people to join us.”

I nodded. “I understand. I’ll back with your orders in ten minutes.” I told her as I walked off towards the kitchens where I deposited the order and leaned against the wall before sighing tiredly. I had been up on my feet for almost four hours straight and my shift was over, but I had to help out because the person who was supposed to relieve me of my shift was late!

There wasn’t a day that I worked in that eatery that Amber arrived on time. She always had excuses, always complaining about the bus being late or that she had to take her mother to hospital or last week, she complained about misplacing her favorite shoes!

I had other things to do with the rest of my night one of them being sleeping. I hadn’t been sleeping well ever since the town became busy. There was something in the air that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but it was making me restless.

I was suddenly jerked back to reality and my hand shot forward catching whatever that was coming towards me at a very fast speed. A towel landed in my hand and behind it stood Kip, the dishwasher. He looked so surprised that I was able to catch the towel, and so was I.

“How did you do that?” He asked me in bafflement.

“Meditation.” I lied as I pushed myself from the wall and added. “You should try it sometimes.” I quickly made my exit back to the noisy room before I was asked anymore questions and my face literally lit up when I saw Amber making her way through the crowd. She looked exhausted as she squeezed her way through the people when she saw me standing by the kitchen door looking at her, I saw the way her shoulders slumped and her face ashen.

“I am so sorry.” She removed her jacket and hung it near the door then tried to give me the puppy eyes. “My phone went off and I didn’t hear the alarm.” She waved her phone in my face and true enough her phone was off.

I rolled my eyes. I was still waiting for that day Amber came on time and didn’t have some lame excuse escorting her to work. “Boris is almost done with the order for table twelve.” I removed my apron and handed it to her. “A new group of friends just entered. Go and get their orders first.”

Amber nodded and quickly took the apron before rushing to the new group that just entered the place. It was so strange that people were entering but no one was leaving. Soon we were going to have to place a bouncer outside to limit the people entering until the ones inside left.

I made my way to the locker room and changed for the night into my faded jeans and t-shirt with my black leather jacket and my soft furry scarf around my neck. I had an appointment with my bed and a series to finish. I didn’t want to waste any more time.

The night and cool and the air crisp. Dark clouds hovered above me as I walked to the curb of the road to call a taxi.

I was involved in an accident six months ago and I lost my best friend in it. It was my fault because if I didn’t force Vela to go out that night, she would have still been alive. I survived and the doctors said it was a miracle because while my friend’s body was mangled by what they said was a wild dog, I had superficial wounds that healed in a few days. Much of the details of that night were hazy but I refused to take that short route to my house again because the fear of being attacked again was still very much alive in my gut.

I drew in a long breath and turned up to the clouds. I missed my best friend because she was the only person that understood me better. I thought my ex-boyfriend did too at one time, but I was gravelly mistaken when he dumped me and got married.

A bitter chuckle escaped my lips but suddenly stopped when I felt my skin creep and saw the dark shadow a few feet beside me. I turned around and noticed two men standing in the shadows. I could tell they were men and I could see that they were looking straight towards me. I fidgeted from one leg to the other. Where were all the taxis when you needed them? I wondered as I scooted over and stood right under a streetlight, letting it illuminate me so that everyone in the streets that evening could see me. They wouldn’t try to attack me if they were seen, I gave myself hope.

The strangers didn’t move and just watched me from the dark. My heart thundered in my ribs and something deep in my gut told me I was in imminent peril. Ever since the attack six months ago, I could say I had developed a sixth sense that was never wrong. I was always aware of my surroundings and everything that was acting towards me. I knew what was around the corner before I saw it, I knew the scents of my fellow workers at the eatery and always knew who was inside with me before I even saw their faces.

Last night, I could have sworn I cut my finger really deep as I was preparing dinner at home and I treated it and bandaged it but come morning and there was a hard scab as if the cut was a week old. I couldn’t explain all of the phenomena that were happening around me and I didn’t have anyone to talk about them but I was sure something was happening, something unexplainable and it scared the s**t out of me.

It was just a few seconds into the night when suddenly the expensively dressed woman and her man, Jaylan burst out into the night. The woman's perfume filtered into the air and teased my nostrils. She smelled summer rain and it had a cool and calming effect on me. The woman took a deep breath and scanned the premises in front of her as if she were looking for something in particular while Jaylan talked softly on his phone. When she saw me, her eyes brightened slightly.

“Are you off for the night?” She asked me.

I smiled back at her and nodded. “Yeah, I have a house to clean and a cat to feed.” I lied.

“Oh,” she answered then turned to the side where the two strangers were standing but I was sure she didn't see them because she only looked for a split second. “It’s pretty dark and cold out here to be standing alone.” She muttered almost to herself.

“I’m just catching a cab. My house is twenty minutes from here if I decide to walk but it looks like it’s going to rain and I don’t want to chance it.” I am also terrified because on a night like this, I was attacked by a wild animal. I wanted to add but voted against it.

What made me terrified even more was the fact that they didn’t catch the wild animal responsible for the attacks so it was loose out there probably waiting to finish off the job. My skin just crawled thinking about it.

"There is something in the air tonight." The woman said as she pushed her hand into her pockets and produced a cigarette box. "I wouldn't advise anyone to walk around tonight--Want one?” she asked as she placed one in her mouth and gestured the box towards me.

I shook my head. “No thanks.”

She pulled in a long breath of smoke and scanned the premises again. I was beyond relieved when I saw the two strange men reluctantly walked down the street. I could tell that Jaylan and the woman had just interrupted them and they didn’t like it. These strangers made my skin creep and not in a nice way. Something told me to be very careful.

Suddenly a cab stopped beside me and my heart bloomed with more relief.

“There’s a cab.” The woman spoke pulling yet another mouthful of smoke into her lungs. “Have a good night, Olivia.”

I frowned at her. “Wait, how do you know my name?”

“Your name-tag.” She reminded me and I rolled my eyes. 

“Oh—yep….Good night.” I entered the cab and soon enough I was on my way home.

When I arrived to apartment building, I made my way to the elevator, stopped at the third floor and opened my door as I removed my scarf and jacket. I had a good one-bedroom apartment in a good neighborhood. Everyone minded their own business and most of them worked the nine to five jobs so most of the days that I had an off at work, I could really relax and get back my strength for the next shift at the eatery. As I shuffled inside, I kicked off my boots and walked barefoot across the floor on my way to my room when I suddenly stepped on something that dug painfully into the sole of my foot.

“f*****g A!” I exclaimed as I collapsed onto my couch to look at the perpetrator of the pain that made its way up to my knee and hip. It was like stepping on a Lego piece when I was young. I frowned as I pick up the item and discovered with cold dread that it was my name-tag. I dropped my name-tag in the morning as I hurried out to work—which meant I wasn’t wearing it at work…