literature

Bar Talk

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Literature Text

I'm sitting here in the local bar, with my colleagues,
for a bit of a celebration.

You see, I just got promoted to become the head of my
department, and we're celebrating it.

Before long, the drinks started flowing and the conversation
took an interesting turn.

"Hey," Sherice giggled, "let's talk about something on ourselves
that the others don't know about."

Despite the replies that they're not interested and that it's the
alcohol talking, they eventually talked, some trivial, while some
are pretty surprising.

It didn't take long to reach my turn.

"Come on, Leo. Tell us something. Guys like you always have a
big secret," Hassan smirked.

I hemmed and hawed for a bit, before I grinned and said,
"I'm married to a demon."

The table went silent for a while, before someone started laughing,
and soon the whole table roared with laughter.

"Oh god. That's a good one, Leonard. Really, it is," Jeni said, wiping
off a tear.

I just grinned sheepishly.

After a few more beers, I decided to leave. I gathered my coat, paid
for the drinks, and told them I'm leaving, which prompted more jokes
about having to take care of the demon and the unholy spawn I have at
my house.

I just laughed, told them I'll see them on Monday, and left.

"A demon, huh?" a man sitting at the bar counter said. "I guess I better pay them a visit soon."

One train ride later, I soon reached my apartment, opened the door,
and called out to them I'm home.

Britt sat at the kitchen table, playing with her crayons and coloring in her coloring book.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, and ran to hug me.

"How's my little girl?" I asked, and she told me what happened today and showed me that she
could control her features at will.

"That's my girl," I smiled.

Kate walked out from the bedroom, and found us in the kitchen.

"You're home late," she commented.

"Yeah, sorry. I had a few drinks with the guys at work to celebrate," I replied.

"Oh? Celebrate what?" she asked.

"My promotion." I grinned.

She squealed with delight and hugged me.

The weekend and the following week went by uneventfully, and I was looking forward to the weekend
when Kate called me.

"Hey," I said.

"Lenny," she said, panic visible in her voice, "Britt's missing."

I stood up, shocked. Sweat running down my brow, I uttered, "What?"

"I went to her kindergarten to pick her up, but when I got there her teacher said someone claimed
to be a friend of ours took her." she said, sounding on the verge of tearing up.

"Damn it, damn it," I panicked. "Was she able to identify the man?"

"Yeah," she said, sniffling. "And we just called the cops."

"Oh god. I'll be right there," I said, hung up, took my coat, and informed my staff of the situation,
delegated the day's work to a staff member, left the office in a hurry, feeling confused, sad and
worried at the same time.

I hailed a taxi, reached the kindergarten, and was greeted with the sight of Kate wiping her eyes and
the police taking statements both from her and the teacher.

I approached them, and the questioning officer asked me if I'm her father, and after I confirmed it,
he asked me some questions, such as whether I have seen the man in question, if I have any enemies, etc,
and after I responded in the negative, they informed us that they'll show it on the news and
run a hotline for any possible leads.

We soon went home, and I kept her company all the while, making sure she eats something, and trying
to assure her that everything will be alright.

"I know," she sobbed, before continuing, "but I'm scared. What if something bad happens to her?"

Unsure on how to answer her, I glumly stared down at the floor.

After our friends called on us to see how we're doing, Kate just sat on the couch, her senses numbed
with grief, and could only answer in monosyllables.

I took out a blanket from our closet, covered her up with it, and went to the kitchen to make her
a drink.

She took it from me, and numbly stared at it as it went cold.

"Kate," I sighed. "Please, don't.." I was about to begin when the phone rang. I got up and answered it.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Daddy, help!" a voice replied. It's Britt.

"Britt? Where are you?" I shouted.

Kate, hearing her daughter's name, hastily put the mug down, ran over to me, and snatched the phone.

"Britt? Honey, where are you? Who took you?" she asked.

"I don't know, mommy," she sobbed, before continuing, "Mommy, I'm scared, I want to go home," she cried.

"You will, sweetie, you will," Kate said, assuring her, before a voice cut her off.

"Hello. I assume you're the mother to this child?" a male voice asked.

Kate's eyes turned red when the voice took over.

"Who are you and why did you take my daughter?" she snarled.

"Your little girl is fine," the man replied, calmly.

"What do you want from us?" Kate growled, her anger rising, horns growing out of her forehead.

"Your husband is a really silly man, I mean, telling his colleagues at a pub that he's married to a demon?
At a place where everyone can overhear something like that?" he said, a sneer in his voice, before continuing,
"but enough now. I'm at unit 5-B, River Heights apartment, West River projects. Don't call the police," and
was about to hang up before Kate shouted, "Wait!"

"Let me speak to her one last time, please," Kate said.

"Fine," he humphed, and held it over to Britt.

"Britt, honey, listen to me. Whatever happens, don't show your features to that man. When mommy and daddy show up,
only show it when either mommy or daddy wink, ok? Be strong, mommy loves you," Kate said, before the line went dead.

She put the phone down, rushed at me, and slammed me against the wall.

"YOU IDIOT!" she roared, her blood red eyes glared right into mine, looking directly into my soul.

"What'd I do?" I squealed.

"You told your friends that I'm a demon! And at a pub too?!" she roared, her voice indicating that she wanted to do nothing more but rip me in half for that, "It's your fault that she got kidnapped!"

"Kate, I'm sorry," I squealed.

"Sorry isn't going to save her!" she snarled.

"Neither does losing it!" I shouted. "Britt needs our help now, and if you get mad, you'll use up all your energy, we'll get delayed, and she wants nothing more than seeing us again!"

She released her grip off my collar, and I crumpled to the ground while she backed away, calming down.

I gasped. "Kate, I'm sorry. I had no idea this was going to happen, I mean, I assumed that people thought I was joking when I said something like that. How was I supposed to know that this guy overheard me and decided to see if it's true?"

I got up. "She's my daughter too, you know," I said, approached her, and held her arms. "Kate, I'm sorry. But right now, we need to tell the police where she's being held," I looked at her, and said, "and save Britt."

"Ok," she nodded. "I'll get prepared, you call the police."

After calling the police, we drove out to the location ourselves.

While driving, Kate said, "There's something you should know."

"Oh?" I said, my eyes still fixed on the road.

"I told her that she should keep her features hidden from the man, and if she can show it only when either one of us blinks an eye," she said.

"Why would you want her to show it?" I asked as we approached the projects.

"I was banking that maybe he would be preoccupied by us, that maybe Britt can bite him, perhaps." Kate sighed.

"At least we got everything we need," I sighed, and looked at the depressing environment surrouding us, and commented, "the area he's holed up in is pretty much deserted. Gentrification in this area is getting underway, though."

Kate simply kept quiet and stared out the window.

"We'll get Britt, I promise," I said, as we drove towards the apartment blocks.

Britt kept on crying. "I want my mommy," she sobbed.

The man hushed her, and calmed her down. "It's ok, little girl, it's ok. What's your name?"

"Britt," she replied, between sobs.

"Britt, that's a beautiful name." he said, before continuing, "Do you know why you're here?" he asked.

"No," Britt replied, still terrified of the man.

He smiled at her, and said, "Well, dear, I'm ridding the world of evil."

"But my mommy's not a bad person," she protested.

He smiled, and said, "That's what you think, dear, but she's a demon, and she's a bad person. I know."

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I just know, dear, I just know," he said with a smile.

"Please don't hurt her," she begged, and said, "or me and daddy would be lonely."

"I'm sorry, but this is something I have to do," he replied, walked to the window and peered down,
on the lookout for any patrolling police cars, and smiled with satisfaction when a car pulled up, and a
couple walked out of the car and into the apartment.

"Looks like they're here, dear," he said, still wearing the same satisfied smile on his face.

Britt panicked, unsure of what to do. On one hand, she's excited that her parents are here to save her, but the man also said that he might harm her mother, and the thought of losing her terrified her to no end.

As we walked up the steps slowly, I whispered to her, "Do you hear anything?"

"Well, I can hear Britt crying," Kate replied, "and the man on alert. What should we do?"

"We can't just rush in there and ambush him, he's clearly expecting us," I replied, "and he might harm
Britt, we can't risk that."

Kate snarled.

"Look, Kate," I said, "I know you want to save her and rip the bastard apart, but we need to remember that he has our daughter with him, so it's best that we remain careful. I think I should go first.", while procuring a firearm out of my jacket and preparing it.

I inched closer to the door, held my breath, and said, "Britt? Are you there, honey?" while holding on
to my firearm.

"Daddy!" Britt shouted, "he wants to hurt mommy!"

"Shit," I muttered. "I did not think this through, did I?"

"Leave her alone!" I shouted, looking at Kate glaring at the door, clearly wanting to smash it open and
rip the man apart.

"You'll have to come inside and get her," he replied.

Kate snarled and smashed the door open, and we both rushed in.

"Mommy!" Britt shouted, "watch out, he wants to hurt you!"

"I know, honey!" Kate replied, and leaped at the man.

"Kate, don't! What if he.." I shouted, before the man shouted a prayer that threw her back.

"Oh no," I thought, but I steeled myself and pointed my firearm at him, and said, "Look, buddy,
we just want our daughter back, release her and we'll leave."

"I'm afraid it's not as easy as you assume it is," he said, smiling.

"What do you mean?" I asked, as Kate got up and bared her fangs at the man.

"You see, I'm on a mission, to purge the world from the demons that make this world a miserable place," he said.

"Your wife will just be another demon that I've managed to exterminate from this world, and I can assure you, I've been in this business for a very long time."

I sighed. "Not another one of these again."

"Let her go, or I'll.." Kate said with a snarl, before the man uttered a prayer and sent her doubling over.

I rushed over to her, and supported her. "Kate, what's wrong?"

"He's hurting me, it hurts really bad," she groaned, before he uttered another one that made her collapse on the floor, gasping for breath.

"Mommy!" Britt shouted, as she watched her mother writhing on the floor struggling for her life.

"Look, buddy, for the last time, just leave us alone. She's a good person despite her nature, I can assure you," I reasoned, my firearm still pointed at him.

"Not until she's dead," he replied, and was about to utter another prayer before I rushed over to him, he tackled my attack, and we're both wrestling with each other trying to gain posesion of the firearm.

"Funny strategy you have here, Mister Grey," he said. "You have a gun, and yet you decided to tackle me head on, and now we're both locked together. I assume you don't want little Britt to see all the blood?"

Wait. That's it. Kate's right, I'm an idiot, I thought, as I struggled to break free from his grip, and while I remained locked on to the man, I quickly turned around, and winked at Britt.

She stood there, wide-eyed, understanding what I meant.

As we struggled, Britt's appearance changed, with horns growing out of her forehead, her teeth turned into fangs, and her eyes turned blood red.

Just like her mother, I thought.

"You might as well give up, Mister Grey," the man taunted, "I always leave no witnesses behind, and I knew you already called the cops, but the crime rate here is so bad, they usually take a while to show up, and by then, I'll be long gone."

"We'll see about that," I grunted.

"You seem pretty confident for a man about to meet his doom," he said, unaware that Britt was crawling up to the man, and when she reached us, stood up, looked at his calves, and looked at me.

I nodded, while keeping my eyes on the man.

Britt sunk her fangs in the man's calf so hard that it drew blood, causing him to scream and lose his grip on me.

"Aaagh!" he shouted, "you little piece of.."

I quickly tackled him to the floor, sending all three of us crashing down.

"Mind your language," I said. "There's a little girl here. Britt, go check up on mommy."

"Okay." She withdrew her fangs from the man's calf and ran to her mother.

Kate felt her body being shaken up, and a faint voice calling her, before she can hear, "Mommy, mommy? Wake up,"

Kate opened her eyes and saw her daughter was leaning above her, shaking her.

She sat up and hugged her. "Britt! Thank god you're ok! I was so worried something bad will happen to you. Where's dad?"

"Um..he's over there," Britt replied, pointing at me, still pinning the man down with my knees.

"Kate, can you come here and tie him up?" I asked, "I can't hold him down forever, you know."

"On it," she replied, produced a roll of duct tape from her jacket, and tied his legs first, before tying his arms.

Soon, the police arrived, took us all to the station, and before long, we all drove home.

"Britt?" Kate asked, "are you hungry?"

"Um..yes. He gave me some juice, but I didn't get anything to eat. Daddy?" Britt asked.

"Yes?"

"I hope he goes to prison," Britt stated with a childlish earnestness.

I smiled. "He will, Britt, he will. You said you were hungry, right? I know this place that has good burgers."
Leonard finds out how costly careless small talk can be. The latest story in the WH series.
© 2013 - 2024 weekendhunters
Comments3
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LadyOfSilver's avatar
This one had a very nice plot, with a touch of romance as usual. I spotted some grammar mistakes at some parts, but nothing major. The little girl is just adorable. Very nice.