First Kiss - Kit & Tully Book 1

Chapter 2 - Tully Rescues a Stranger

Andy is right about the shop getting busier later on. Harried parents come in on their way home from work, laden down with bags of shopping, desperate for something to keep the kids quiet after dinner. Between seven and eight, the teens appear. Still too young to go out, they want the perfect video for a night in with friends. The young lovers come later, looking for an excuse to curl up together on the couch. After the rush ends around eleven, Andy says he's done and asks me to close at midnight.

His request makes me uneasy but I can't afford to fall out with my boss on my first day, so I let him show me what needs to be done.

"You'll do well here," he claps me on the shoulder as he leaves. His words confirm my suspicions. He's not supposed to leave me on my own but I just nod and watch him disappear down the street.

A rowdy crowd, on the way back to someone's gaff from the pub, come in half an hour later and I wish Andy was there to help. Eventually they get what they want and leave, though I feel a bit shaky after they are gone. Then a few stragglers come in just before midnight. Andy would probably state firmly that we were closed, but he's not here. Without his authority, I don't like to turn them away. By the time I finally lock the door behind me, it's close to one in the morning.

I can't help wondering if that's why my boss was so anxious to get away early, especially since this is pretty much the exact same time the pubs in Drimshanra empty out into the streets. With a shiver, I button up my navy reefer and pull the collar up around my ears. It's not just to keep out the cold drizzle, but to blend into the night. An odour of urine and vomit oozes from darkened doorways and you can feel the pulse of danger flicker in the air.

Ahead of me, two young guys are thrown from a bar in a tangle of limbs.

"I'll get you yet, you two ends of a knob." One of them hauls himself to his feet and shakes his fist at the bouncer.

"Yeah." The other crawls out of the gutter.

"Fuck off, Sledge," the bouncer replies, "and don't let me catch you with any of your underage friends in here again."

It's too late to cross the street, it would only draw attention to myself. I put my head down and quicken my pace, hoping Sledge and his pal don't notice me. Main Street is too busy, too bright, with nowhere to hide. By taking the short cut, I can melt into the shadows, and pass unnoticed in the dark. I hunch my shoulders tighter into my coat and quicken my step. Leaving Main Street is a mistake. The real danger lingers in dark alleys like this one.

"The gay bar!" I hear a shout behind me and press myself in against the metal shutter of a closed shop, as Sledge barrels by.

"Yeah, get the poofters." His friend is hot on his heels.

The two disappear out of sight around the corner and I exhale with relief. My route home is the same way they've gone, but I follow at a slow pace, giving them plenty of time to get ahead of me.

The back streets aren't as quiet as I expect. Instead, they are lined with the kind of places that come alive at night but are invisible when the shutters are down during the day. The gay bar must be somewhere along here. I wonder if Sledge and his friend will get in and what kind of havoc they'll wreak if they do.

As I walk on up the street, the Saturday night revels fade into the distance behind me. Home is close now, just around the corner, and, thankfully, there's no sign of Sledge or his friend. They must have found somewhere to go after all.

My body is trembling and I can't wait to get inside the house and bolt the door behind me. It's funny, I didn't expect Drimshanra to have this effect on me, not after the estate we lived on in Dublin, but it's like something evil and malevolent is lurking in the shadows here.