Wasteland Ferns

Trapped

I started to understand what Charon was so worried about.

Charon was only out of Ahzrukhal's employ for what, a month, and the behavior of my employer started changing. And not for the better.

While I was able to do more than serve drinks for people who were too lazy to stand up and get their own booze, he did seem more harsh over the days, even scaring me with some of the looks in his eyes. Something told me that Carol and Greta were right, that I was in a worse situation than I had initially realized.

One particular night, I saw Tulip walk into the ninth circle, a small tin in her hands. Looking around and seeing my boss distracted, I snuck my way to Tulip and hissed, "Tulip, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to Ahzrukhal."

I shook my head, my gut sinking with dread. "You shouldn't be here. He doesn't take kindly to people who run other businesses coming in here. Please, just go."

Tulip persisted, "You said Ahzrukhal was being nice to you, just let me talk to him."

"Don't worry about me. I can handle myself, just please leave before my boss sees you."

He heard me mention him, and stopped what he was doing, making his way over to us. I managed to get out of his way and resume putting bottles on a shelf, and listened in on their conversation.

"So, Miss Tulip, what brings you to my humble establishment?"

"I- Well, I was hoping to talk to you about Fern and her debt."

Ahzrukhal stopped talking to her and turned at me, shooting me the most threatening glare he could muster. I flinched at his glare, my gut sinking as I knew something would happen. He turned back to Tulip and continued, "I'm afraid the topic is classified, miss."

Tulip argued, not willing to back down. "She's just been stressed over work since Charon left the bar, and I wanted to help her. I have some caps saved up, enough for her to pay off at least some of her debt."

"That is indeed courteous of you, ma'am, but Fern is handling her duties just fine here."

Tulip tried to argue, but her hand clumsily swung to a couple glasses on the counter, sending them crashing to the floor. The loud ruckus of breaking glass rung out in the bar, causing the patrons to look at the scene in mixes of confusion and annoyance, and some of the ghouls muttered to themselves.

Tulip's jaw dropped at the sight of the shattered glass on the floor and stuttered, "O-Oh, my- I'm so sorry, I didn't see those there, it was an accident-"

Ahzrukhal raised a hand, silencing her as he cut her off. "No worries, miss. Accidents happen all the time. There's a broom in the corner, so go ahead and clean up your mess, if you please."

She nodded and rushed to the corner, picking up the broom and dustpan as she started sweeping up the broken glass on the marble floor. He then turned to me an calmly asked, "Fern, may I see you in the back for a moment?"

My heart sank with fear, but I nodded and followed him into the back room of the bar. As soon as I stepped in, he shut the door behind me, glaring at me with hatred and anger as he inched closer to me. I raised my hands in defense and stuttered, "Ahzrukhal, I- I didn't know that-"

Before I could finish, he raised his hand and slapped me across the face. I clutched my stinging cheek, continuing to back away from him as he angrily grabbed the collar of my shirt, pulling me closer to him until shoving me backwards.

"You really think you can have that naive little bitch pay off your debt for you?!"

I was scared now, meekly trying to distance myself from him with a chair as I responded, "Sir, please. I- I'm sorry-" He grabbed me roughly by my arm and pushed me into the wall as he continued in a menacing tone, "You brought her here to make things easier for you? To meddle in my affairs?!"