Sleepwalker Wolf

Russel Boyd

Valery

The search so far has been futile. We've been going to different diners and businesses to ask if there's anyone who might remember my mother or father. A few people remember who they are, but my mother has apparently been gone since I was abandoned, and no one has seen my father for a few years.

            "This is useless. We'll end up being here for days and Trav will lose his goddamn mind," Trev grumbles as we exit a small convenience store. "I also cannot share a hotel room with you for that long, Val. Listening to you toss and turn all night is not my idea of a lullaby."

            Sighing, I run both hands through my hair and grip the back of my head. "It's getting late, so we'll try a couple bars before stopping for the day, I promise. And if we don't find anything more out tomorrow, we'll go home."

            Trev claps his hands together, a gleam in his eyes and immediately pulls out his phone to find the closest bar. Eli sighs and stuffs his hands in his pockets. I don't know if it's the moody teenager thing or just who he is, but he's been extra quiet today, which is saying something because the boy can go for hours in total silence.

            The bar isn't far, so we walk, Eli and I shuffling along behind Trevor who looks like he's ready to bust out of his skin at the prospect of people and alcohol. I'll die the day he and Carry go out together. Just thinking of the havoc they'll wreak makes me shiver.

            Like most bars out here in the country, it's primarily dark wood with a few tables in front of the bar and a worn pool table towards the back where people milled around drinking beer and whiskey. The lights are low, making everything feel more private and intimate. There's a group of rowdy guys close to my age playing pool and a few who look like regulars sitting at the bar and one older man who looked homeless sitting at a table. He caught my attention before the others. Muttering to himself and shifting his crazed eyes around the room like someone was about to leap out and attack him.

            A man in his fifties is working the bar, cleaning used glasses with a rag that looks older than I am. His dark hair is greying at the temples and as we near, I can see his hazel eyes watching us apprehensively.

We sit at the bar and wait for him to take our orders. Trev and I both turn to Eli, noticing how hopeful he looks that maybe we'll let him get alcohol. He glances at us and droops when he sees that as his new surrogate older sister, I'm not letting it happen on my watch and, for once, Trev has his big-brother face on.

            "What can I get you two?" The bartender asks us when he makes his way over. He looks at Eli and says without apology, "Sorry kid. Maybe I got a coke in the back."

            "Whiskey," Trev says and the same time I say, "Water."

            I take in a deep inhale and note a familiar dog like smell coming from the man. He's the first one I've been able to scent all day. It seems like there's not many of us around here, for what reason I don't know. Trev does the same from beside me but makes a choking sound in the back of his throat and stares at the man wide-eyed.

            "I'm also looking for someone," I say, accepting the glass of water when he passes it to me. "My parents."

            The man's hands still suddenly as he's passing Trev his glass. His hazel eyes study me until a familiarity settles in his gaze. After placing the glass on the bar top, he moves to stand directly in front of me, his eyes never leaving mine.

            "Valery?"

            Gasping, I lean away from the bar, bracing myself against it with my hands. How does this man know my name?