𝐀 𝐋𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝

Chapter 5

These childish nightmares were getting old. I was once again awoken by the sound of my phone ringing. It was one of the managers. I had been asked to come in and deal with a problem. I was assuming that one of the drunk regulars that liked to come in and harass the girls had passed out in the dumpster again. I put on my boots and noticed a thick layer of mud caked on the bottoms due to the rainy fall weather. I started my car and headed down. I noticed myself feeling much more tired than normal with every winding turn of the road. 

I pulled into the parking lot and noticed many of the male bouncers and bartenders grouped around the parking lot. I headed over to see what was happening.

The blood and the carcass itself didn't bug me. But I couldn't imagine what kind of monster would massacre a deer like that. A hunter wouldn't have strewn intestines about and left the beheaded deer visible in a parking lot. The rational part of me wanted to think that it was a bear or some kind of animal.

"We will get this cleaned up before opening, and contact animal control about potential bears or lions in the area." stated the store manager.

As we were told, we made sure that everything was up to standard before the shift started.

I was about to go on my lunch break when I noticed a familiar head of curly blonde hair. Roy had stopped by and was chatting up one of the bartenders. I walked over and took a seat.

"How's life been?" asked Roy as he took a sip from his drink.

"Pretty boring recently," I responded.

One of the bartenders from behind the counter cut in, "Yeah if you don't count the absolutely destroyed deer that we found in the parking lot this morning. Looked straight out of a Saw Movie."

"Yeah you better be careful, I think a bear came pretty close into town last night," I told Roy.

"Wow, that's pretty insane. Are you doing anything later? I think me and a couple of guys are gonna go get dinner and drink later?" Roy turned to me.

I thought about it and I haven't gone out in a while so I agreed. My shift came to an end and 7 p.m. rolled around. I threw on a pair of jeans and a button-up and headed toward an outdoor restaurant downtown. It was always light up and full of life at night which is what drew me to this side of town. I poured a couple of glasses of wine in and began watching people. Couples, young and old, lined the streets. People walked hand and hand while their young waddled about in front of them. There were young teens on bikes balancing ice cream cones in one hand and steering with the other.

I was pulled from my daze when one of the guys asked me "How is work going Lloyd? I'm thinking about getting a job there as a janitor or bouncer."

With all of the small talk about work, I began to wonder if getting out for a bit would be beneficial to me. My dad had bought a cabin up by the Oregon-Washington border. Maybe I could spend time there for a weekend as my mother was too old to go up there herself. I decided that I would take the weekend to go spend some time up there and freshening up the place.

I began to pack my bags for the trip. While packing I decided to take a hunter's knife and some pepper spray with me for protection as there has been a lot of uncertainty about the recent animal attacks.