The Edge of Reality

Chapter 8: Stretching the Chains

The next morning, Monohan parked the car in The Hideout parking lot instead of pulling up next to it. He locked the car doors as we walked towards the cafe, his forward-turned gaze as cold as the wind. I clocked in without feeling any sense of excitement for the day as I usually did. Uma glanced at me from the back room, her eyebrows furrowed with worry. For a moment it looked like she was going to stand up; I could tell she wanted to talk to me. But she didn't. She continued to look at me for a moment and then continued working. Meanwhile, Monohan had sat down at a table near the front of the room with his laptop and was ordering something from another waiter. I was nervous to have him around- not just because of my friend situation either, I was trying to not even think about that right now. Having him vulture my every move was going to be horrible. Even if he didn't say anything, I knew he was going to be judging me all day. As he looked at me out of the corner of his eye while I started walking back to the kitchen, I could see him starting.

The day seemed to pass by second by second and I felt like I was making mistakes with every table, tray and meal I served. Every time I glanced at Monohan, his eyes were glued to his screen, but I could feel him thinking about me. But maybe that was just my imagination. As 6:00 arrived, I tensed up in anticipation because my group was coming and I'd had no way to warn them. I intentionally placed myself at the front checkout counter as they walked in.

"Where were you yesterday?" "Why didn't you answer my texts?" "Are you okay?" They began asking questions at the same time before noticing my wide eyes and the quick shaking of my head. I could feel Monohan looking at us behind me, but didn't dare turn to look. They did though, almost unperceivable, and got the message.

"Welcome to The Hideout," I said mechanically. They gave me polite nods and went to sit down, glancing back at me worriedly. Tears burned in my eyes, but I knew there was nothing I could do, so I waited on them as though they were strangers.

"I'll take a lemonade and explanation of what's going on," Eloy said, hissing the last part quietly.

"I can't talk about it," I whispered as I continued taking orders.

"And a side of fries," Mareo said loudly before hushing his voice. "Why is he here?"

"They know," I said quietly, not looking at them as I wrote down their orders. Even this was risky- I was dismayed to find I wasn't just paranoid, because Monohan was staring at me as I turned away to the kitchen. I set their orders down and went into the restrooms; I needed a moment to regather myself. Moments later, Des and Lela stormed in.

"Tesha what happened?!" Des exclaimed, taking my arm.

"Are you okay?" Lela asked. "Did they hurt you?" I wiped away a tear as quickly as I could- there was no room for breaking down.

"No, but they figured everything out," I said, speaking as quickly as I could. "I'm in so much trouble, Monohan is going to be here every day and I can't be seen with you guys. And Murtvika died and I don't know what to do!"

Lela was about to say something, but stopped and stared at me. "Died? That means... you're on the right track..." She trailed off. I was going to ask what she meant when Des hugged me.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "We have to get you out of there."

"I can't leave," I said quietly. "You know I can't. I just don't know what to do yet."

"We'll find a way," Des said. "It's going to be okay." I let her comfort me, but I didn't believe her.

As I left work with Monohan that night, I found a letter in my jacket pocket. I didn't know how it got there, but I didn't dare pull it out until I was alone. I was antsy to read it, but knew I had to wait just a little while longer.