Red Rock

Chapter 3: Counting to X (Part 1)

Chapter 3 Counting to X (Part 1)

Kurtis took the cooking pot off the stove and poured its contents into a mixing bowl. "Good ole' fashion chicken soup!" he said to himself, excited about the meal he was about to devour. He had always thought that most kitchen utensils were overrated and preferred to have as few of them as possible, owning one plate, three forks, one knife, two spoons, a mixing bowl, a cooking pot, and a frying pan. He set down the hot mixing bowl on the table, grabbed one of his spoons and was about to sit down when he heard a knock on his front door. He dropped the spoon on the table and begrudgingly went to answer. He swung the door open and was surprised to see Daire absolutely drenched and standing motionless in an odd stance. Kurtis popped his head out of his door into the apartment hallway and looked at the ceiling, "It's not raining, is it?"

Daire didn't flinch at Kurtis' quip. "Alright then, come in," Kurtis said, giving Daire a strange look. "You are just in time for supper, I've made chicken soup!" Kurtis exclaimed thinking Daire would be excited for such a meal. Daire slowly followed Kurtis into the kitchen and slumped into the chair across from him.

The apartment was rather nice for one person, containing a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. Aside from its musty smell, the taints of smoke in the walls from previous tenants, and the dirty clothes strewn about, the apartment was fit for a comfortable living.

Kurtis reached into his drawer and grabbed his final spoon. "You have been chosen to wield the final spoon. Let's dig in!" Kurtis said tossing Daire the spoon. Daire let the spoon bounce twice on the table before letting it fall into his lap. Kurtis probed for a large piece of chicken before taking notice of Daire's odd demeanor. "You OK, mate?" Kurtis asked with his spoon full of juicy meat dangling in front of his face.

Daire looked up at Kurtis and felt his lips start to shiver at the words that were about to come out of his mouth. "Ed's dead," Daire said quickly, almost embarrassed to tell him.

Kurtis dropped his spoon in the mixing bowl and gave Daire an unsatisfying look. "Come on Daire, you know that shit's not funny."

Daire started to shake and felt warm tears roll down his cheek.

Kurtis' face went somber. "Oh, no..." he said softly, looking down at the table. "Oh, no!" he screamed, launching out of his chair and sending it flying back into his refrigerator. He threw his hands to his head, violently yelling curses before getting a grip on himself. He took two deep breaths and turned to Daire. "Listen Daire, you can stay here as long as you like, man. I'll get the couch set up and you can take my bed. I'll tell Thomas that you won't be going to work tomorrow and I promise I will tell him 'to go screw himself' if he starts giving you shit. Everything will be OK buddy, let's just hang out for the rest of the night and have a good sleep; we'll figure everything out tomorrow."

"I can't stay here, it's not safe" Daire whispered just loud enough to be heard.

"Of course it is, Daire," Kurtis replied softly sinking his body to Daire's sitting position. "Nothing is going to happen to you."

"Anna's dead too."

Kurtis' face went blank again and was at a total loss for words. "What?" he replied not sure if he heard Daire correctly.

"Someone killed them Kurtis." Daire paused to let the information seep in. "And I think he was trying to kill me too."

Kurtis blankly took in what Daire had just said and slowly sank to a sitting position on the kitchen floor. Daire could tell that Kurtis had hit a psychological breaking point from his calm yet disturbing mien. "Have you called the police?" Kurtis murmured with his eyes set on the air in front of him.