Short Stories Volume 1

The Bar

Everyone loves a good place to drink. Some people like a nice quiet setting so they can read while they drink a little wine. Others like to party and listen to music with lots of different types of cocktails. Point is, everyone has their perfect setting. And there's one place that has whatever it is you're looking for. You can drink, party, read etc.. You can do whatever you want really so long as you obey the one rule.

At the Bar, everyone drinks peacefully together. It doesn't matter whether you're a villain, a hero, anti-hero, morally grey or whatever. Whether you're human or not. No fighting in the Bar, no matter what. It's not based on some sacred truce, treaty or anything like that. The reason why everyone obeyed it so diligently was because everyone was scared of the bartender.

No one knows where she came from or what she is. All they know is the energy she expels when they're around her. Only way to describe it would be like seeing the dark clouds and hearing the thunder coming up but the storm never actually arrives. As if the thunder and clouds are there just as a warning. It set everyone on edge so much that they didn't want to risk the storm hitting.

For a decade this was how the Bar was run. People came in, drank together and socialized. When they walked out, they went their own separate ways. Free to do whatever they wanted, fight each other. This establishment has been in service going on nine decades. The only time there was an incident happened in the fourth decade in its fifth year. Since then, everyone who once thought that maybe, just maybe the rule could be broken without any consequence, well no one ever let that thought cross their mind again.

What started the incident was something trivial. It was no one's fault but simple need for hired help. The bar became so well known throughout the universe that our bartender couldn't service so many customers at once without some waiting for too long. So in that year, she posted an ad looking for anyone who was willing to bartend. No experience was required as she was more than willing to teach them until they got the hang of it. There would obviously be good pay, you could keep any tips you earned for yourself and if you needed lodging then she had a place that you could sleep. All that she said was mandatory was that you would help enforce her one rule. No fighting.

We all felt a little bad for her since she went almost three months with no one replying to her add. They were all too scared of her. We all had our own jobs or lives that we did so the only way we could genuinely help her was to be patient when we would go grab a drink. Yes, she would apologize for having us wait so long and although none of us would ever dare to complain, we were very sincere with her when we told her we didn't mind. After all, we all had become regulars and obeyed while on her property.

Then suddenly, there was a group that came in one night saying that they were looking for the owner responsible for the ad. At first, we were all caught off guard. Normally we'd just glance at the swinging door with whoever just walked in out of curiosity. After a quick glance though, we'd return to our drinks and conversations.

However, on this night, these new comers were not only not recognized by anyone here but they walked in and opened with a question to everyone. And not just any question. They were specifically looking for the bartender. As far as we were concerned, that had never happened before.

None of us spoke for a while. The silence only broke when she finally came upstairs bringing up another keg with her. There was a brief moment where something flashed across her eyes. What it was, we couldn't tell. But she calmly walked up to them and asked what it was that they wanted.

"You posted an ad. For our service, what do you offer?" the main man said. This normally was a fair question but his tone of voice and the stare of his eyes made us all uneasy. It was like a challenge.

"Gentlemen, my number one rule is simple. There is to be no fighting here. We must all get along. For helping me make sure everyone does so along with the usual needs bartending requires, I will pay you, feed you and accommodate you with living arrangements if you need it."

Her reply was gentle. That only made it that more terrifying. We could hear the "thunder" rolling in.

"No that's not good enough!" he yelled.

We all jumped at the raising of his voice. This was something that we couldn't comprehend. While we were all frozen and had fear, she looked not scared or offended, but saddened.

"Gentlemen. Are you sure you really want to do this?" we could all hear her voice breaking. Tears forming in her eyes. It was like she was silently pleading for them to change their mind. To walk out of here. The tension in the air was brutal. I can't speak for everyone here but I desperately wanted to help her if these men became violent. Yet, I stood still. If I engaged, even if it was to help and protect her, wouldn't that mean that I am fighting and causing violence in her bar? That I am breaking her one rule?

"Alright then. Please, let us step outside. I just mopped the floors and got new chairs." she stated and turned her back on them without any worry about the men who began to follow her.

No one moved. There was no drinking, music playing, shuffling of their seats or even clearing of their throats. We just watched the back door close behind them. Screw a pin dropping, it was so quiet I'm pretty sure you could hear an ant walking. Then we all felt it.

It was like some kind of powerful shock engulfed us, starting from our toes to the tips of the hair on our heads. The force of it knocked the air out of our lungs and the more we tried to breathe the more our chest tightened. Those of us who still had our eyes open could see that there was nothing attacking us. We were just caught in the tailwind of the bartenders storm.

Finally it all stopped. Like breaking the surface of the water, all of us came gasping for air and clutching our chest. Some of us fell out of the chairs when we could finally move again. As we were trying to settle down, she was walking in.

Her hair looked a bit disheveled, her skin was a bit pale and her eyes were extremely dark. Almost black. But above all else, she was covered in blood. Calmly she walked over to the counter and spoke to us.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry for whatever pain I may have caused you. I tried to control it as much as I could but at last, you were too close. As compensation for it, all of tonight's drinks are free and you may order one to go as another apology. The bar will be closing early tonight. I will reopen it as soon as I have cleaned up. Thank you for understanding."

One by one, she walked around the tables asking for the last order.

We don't know what she is or what she did to those men. We didn't dare go check around back. Every last one of us got on our ship or ride and took off. She didn't open the bar again until a week later. Her complexion wasn't as pale anymore and her eyes were bright. No longer the dark and emptiness we had seen that night. And such night was never spoken about again.

We come to the bar to relax and enjoy our drinks with those we normally would never hang around with out there. It's a beautiful and peaceful establishment. So long as you obey the one rule.