Transitions of a lost soul

(Chapter 21: The truth shall set you free)

It was a chilly Thursday night and I decided to go out to town. I wanted to be alone instead of bothering the group and asking them if they wanted to come out with me. I've been so stressed out about this whole ordeal that I felt a couple drinks would be good for me. I dressed up comfortably and went to this new bar that was a couple miles from my usual hangout spot. I haven't been to the Voodoo Bar since that night and I still felt uncomfortable to step foot in it ever again. The bar was called Casio's and it was a nice laid back, clean hangout bar compared to Voodoo.

It was dim there, filled with luxury black and red suede seats, designed tables and a nice black porcelain bar in the middle of it. I was greeted by the host there, her tag saying "Tara". "Welcome to Casio's, would you like to be seated?" she asked me. I politely said no and that I was gonna sit by the bar and get some drinks. The bartender was this average height guy who had to be about 5 foot 8. He had long black flowing hair and a nice built face and frame...kinda similar to Brandon. He greeted me with a huge smile and asked what drinks I wanted.

I started off with three shots of whiskey, then hammered 4 shots of tequila and sealed the deal with a beer. I didn't want to get drunk but I definitely felt the alcohol warming up my entire body, making me feel "nice". I then ordered some appetizers to fill me up and chilled there for at least an hour. My body started to cool and I sobered up quickly enough to drive myself home. I took my time getting home, enjoying the chilling breeze against my skin as it came through my windows, giving me goosebumps throughout my body. My stress lowered a little bit thanks to the drinking, but I knew it wasn't fully gone yet.

I made it to my apartment complex and walked my way into my home. As I opened the door, my heart dropped into my stomach. Chris was standing by the kitchen with his arms crossed his chest. He looked up at me and his eyes looked full of fear. Chris was gone 5 days total, not a call or text received nor answered and I was confused as to why he decided to show up now. "Hey Jar, I know you don't want to see me..but I can't avoid you any longer. This has been eating me up inside and I thought I was doing a good thing, but it's not." I looked at him puzzled " What are you talking about? You acted so strange lately and all I wanted to know was why." I said to Chris.

He sat me down and sat next to me....He kept playing with his hands in nervousness. He kept his head down as if he didn't want to face me. "You're going to look at me differently and maybe even leave me and I can't cope with that idea, which is why I've been gone. I had to think about how to tell you and not completely shut down about it." Still confused about what he was trying to say, I started to get frustrated. " Can you stop talking in circles and tell me what the fuck is going on?" ".....I know what happened to Brandon. I didn't leave that night, I stayed in the shadows because he looked like trouble."

I looked at him wide eyed, hoping he'd tell me he knew who killed him. " What did you see? Who did it and why didn't you tell me anything?" I bombarded him with questions and I wanted every answer. "I didn't tell you because no one else did it, no one killed him.....I did it. I was the one that shot him for trying to hurt you." My skin ran cold, it felt like someone froze me and left me here where I was sitting. I couldn't even utter a word for 10 minutes...it was just pure agonizing silence between the both of us.