Misery County

Chapter 4 - Part 3

"What? Really?" Cassie's face lit up.

"Yes, but hear me out. We work together, and you do everything I say. Is that clear? Everything I say."

"Yeah, understood."

"If I tell you to wait outside somewhere, you wait outside. If I tell you to run, you run."

"All right, all right, I got it."

"It's obvious that you're too pig-headed to leave this place, so the only way I'm going to keep you alive is to watch over you like a mama goose."

"I'm not even going to begin to think about the implications behind that," Cassie said with a laugh.

Eric returned her smile. "Just know that I'll be watching over you."

"Great. So when do we begin?"

"Let's start with when we're sober."

"Hey, I'm not the one chugging beers like it's my last night. I'm only on my third cocktail, and we've been here hours."

"Congratulations. That's one thing you're getting right."

"Stop it, you," Cassie giggled as she punched Eric in the arm.

"Excuse me," came a voice from the side of the table. A tall, pale woman had appeared, dressed in a bright red dress and with hair that looked like it might have been all the rage half a century ago.

"Yeah, can I get another beer?" Eric slurred without looking at her. "Any one, I don't care. And another... whatever the hell cocktail the lady's having."

"You must be confused, Eric. I'm not a waitress," she said with an accent that Cassie just couldn't place. Her English was very correct, but there was something foreign in her voice. It was very subtle; Cassie could only just perceive it, and it enraged her that she couldn't work it out.

Eric looked up at her for the first time, and like some sort of cartoon character, his jaw dropped.

"Pick your chin up, big guy. The open mouth look is doing you no favors," the woman said with her sultry, vaguely exotic tones.

"Would you like to take a seat?" Eric asked, standing up and pulling an empty chair from a nearby table over to theirs.

"Well, don't mind if I do, hun," she answered, settling herself down at their table.

Cassie only looked on in silence as the scene was unfolding. It was gross to her, and not because she didn't understand adult relationships, but because she couldn't figure out why Eric was so transfixed by this woman, enough so to invite her to the table like Cassie wasn't even there. She cleared her throat; if Eric was going to act like a cliched character, then so was she.

He ignored her, instead focusing his attention on this strange woman. "I didn't get your name," he said, all but drooling. "Speaking of which, how did you know my name?"

Cassie hoped that this was just the alcohol controlling Eric right now, and that he hadn't become this much of a drip since they last saw one another.

"My name's Nevena," the woman said, ignoring his other question. She was now rubbing her hand on his thigh.

This was grotesque. Eric seemed almost hypnotized. Cassie tried clearing her throat again, this time a little louder.

"Nevena - what a beautiful name."

Not resisting the temptation and still trying to catch his attention, Cassie made a gagging sound.

Eric's attention could not be captured. He was still looking at the woman whose deep, purple eyes appeared to be boring into his very soul. "Where is that from?" he finished.

Once again, she ignored his question. "Aren't you going to buy me a drink, stud?"

"Yes, of course," Eric said, tripping over his chair as he stood up. "What would you like?"

"Get me a blood and sand," she said with a fiery coldness.

"On the way," Eric replied as he drunkenly tripped over another chair on the way to the bar.

"Eric," Cassie called out after him, dropping all subtlety, but he didn't respond.

Cassie was now sitting alone at the table with this serpentine woman. A moment of silence ensued, and just when she thought it couldn't get more awkward, the woman turned to Cassie, giving her the most unpleasant look she had seen in a long time, worse than that of any monster.

"It's time for you to leave, little girl," was all the woman said, before turning away from Cassie again.

With tears in her eyes and not a word, Cassie grabbed her bag and ran out of the bar. The night outside was deceptively quiet - one could describe it as too quiet - but she thought it better to face whatever was happening out there than to stay in that wretched bar with that wretched snake.