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Elliott 'Eli' Miller is your average 24 year-old with an estranged father and a resentful mother. When he goes back to his hometown to make amends, he inadvertently gets dragged into the activities of an illicit crimina...
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I lay down on the bed in my hotel, clad in nothing but a bathrobe, mindlessly scrolling through my news feed. I still had a couple of days left before my flight back to New York, so I decided to walk around town and revisit some relics from my childhood; the relics in question being my former high school, the local library, and a cafe that I used to frequent.
After some procrastination, I heaved myself out of bed and changed, before heading out of the hotel. On the way out, I picked up a random brochure from the lobby as a keepsake in case I wouldn't come back here again. The weather was moderately pleasant for a winter's day, with only a gentle zephyr blowing my hair back.
It was around 10 a.m. when I reached the cafe. I bought a sandwich with some fries and a side salad to serve as brunch. The place had gotten an upgrade since I'd seen it last but still retained that familiar charm I didn't know I missed.
Sometimes, I wondered how life would've been if I had a normal upbringing. Would my teenage years have been less stressful? Would I have had time to make friends, play sports and fool around instead of parenting myself? Would I have still felt like a burden? And more important, would I have known what a mother's love was? Would she have been proud of me no matter what? The thought itself set my mood off and I felt a pang of anguish inside me.
About halfway through my introspective contemplation, the abrupt honk of a car made me jump back to reality, literally, considering I dropped my sandwich into the salad dressing. I looked around to find the place emptier as compared to when I'd arrived, with customers slowly trickling out to go about their lives, hoping to break the monotony of their quotidian existences.
My eyes moved to the other corner, one that faced an alleyway. It looked musty and was only lit by the sparse rays of sunlight that managed to break through. There were a couple of figure who appeared to be slouching back on the brick wall, although it was hard to pin-point their features due to the billows of smoke engulfing their beings. Suddenly one of them stiffened up and nudged his partner, pointing his cigarette in the direction of a black car. I squinted my eyes to have a better look at the car, and made it out to be a Toyota Land Cruiser, its windows almost opaque with tint. I turned back to the man and saw his partner give him an understanding nod before disappearing behind the alley.
The man was now looking around, presumably keeping an eye on nosy passersby who might inadvertently see something they shouldn't. Just then, his eyes caught mine and zeroed in on where I was. I quickly averted his gaze and pretended to be deeply fascinated by the venation of the lettuce leaf on my fork. Through my peripheral vision, I could see him clear away the smoke and gesture in the direction of the Land Cruiser. He then glanced back at the alley and made a mad dash to the approaching car.
Before it picked up speed, some words on the passenger's door caught my eye. It was a phrase- "Stare not into the Darkside, for it stares back."
Those words perplexed me but I didn't give it too much thought, seeing that it's become a trend to put any old thing anywhere. Like for example, tattoos of Chinese calligraphy that people think mean something insightful, but if you knew Chinese, you'd wonder why people ink orders for wontons or something onto their skin.
I finished up the last of my fries, paid, and got up to leave. As I was opening the door, I caught a glimpse of something written on the receipt that lay crumpled on my hand. Flattening it out revealed some hastily scrawled digits with a heart on the side- a phone number. I looked up to see who had left it and my eyes met those of a petite waitress who flashed a big smile and winked at me. She was pretty, very pretty even. She had everything a guy could want; a small waist, dainty frame, long auburn hair and an attractive face. She could totally be my type. That is, if I wasn't so hopelessly homosexual.
Not wanting to seem rude, I gave her a small smile and dashed out the door, crumpling the receipt and making a mental note to discard it later.
A/N:
Another chapter finished. There wasn't much action since this one was meant to set the scene for the forthcoming chapters. Comment your opinions on the character so far.
