Echo in Her Mind

Nine.

Ruben's head wasn't in the game after he came back from getting air, so we only practiced for an hour or two, and then headed home. Whatever he was thinking about had completely absorbed his brain and shut the rest of him off. It was kind of annoying for Bethany, but it worked out in her favor because it meant a night free of Ruben. No complaints there.

She spent the rest of her night laid out on the couch watching sappy movies until her anger bubbled to the surface and she could no longer take it. She forced herself to turn off the television before she ended up throwing the remote at it.

Deciding she needed to get out of the house for a while, she threw on her coat and headed out to the closest bar she could locate. She wasn't a drinker, but under the circumstances of her even more messed up life, a few wouldn't hurt.

Having never been to a bar before, Bethany wasn't sure what to expect this late at night. But she had a gut feeling it was sure to be filled with a bunch of drunk's ready to test her patience; at little practice, outside of Ruben's would do no harm. As long as she wasn't the one to start it, of course.

As she reached the bar's entrance labeled Maloney's, a pinch surfaced in her forehead, almost as if telling her to turnaround. As always, she ignored it and entered. She was restless; her body was so used to all the movement and exhaustion the past few days, that it didn't even want to enjoy a night on the couch.

Slowly and carefully, she walked inside the establishment. She took a few moments to take in the surroundings and get a feel for the place. It didn't take long.

The environment of the bar was just as she'd imagined it to be: stuffy and smelling ripe of body odor from those fresh off their shift. The bartender was a lady in her mid-forties, tattoos plastered all over her body.

Bethany sensed something off about her, but chose not to pursue it. The bartender looked at her as she sat down, hesitant on whether or not to serve her. She threw her I.D. on the counter, but what she didn't know then was that it wasn't because of her age.

"I'll have a vodka and tonic," Bethany stated as the bartender continued to eye her. Once she placed the drink in front of her, she finally spoke: "Are you lost?"

Now it was Bethany's turn to eye her as she took a sip of the drink she received. Which didn't taste at all like the actresses in the movies she watched, described it. It was disgusting.

"Excuse me?" Her anger was ready to surface at one wrong word said by this stranger.

"We don't get a lot of your kind around here, is all." She leaned on the counter. "In fact, I can't even tell which one you are." Her gaze on Bethany darkened as she appeared to be thinking hard about something. "You're a mix," she trailed off. "Never seen that before."

Bethany took another sip of her drink, regardless of the taste, and thought her next words carefully.

"What is that supposed to mean?" The bartender's eyes widened as she realized she had no idea what she was talking about.

"You don't know?" She asked. Bethany's silence confirmed that she didn't. "You have both mag--" But she didn't get to finish, as she was rapidly cut off when a figure appeared behind the bar, his hand around her throat. It took Bethany all but five seconds to realize that the figure was Ruben.

"What are you doing?!" She hoped over the counter and attempted to rip him off of the bartender; the one person who was about to give her the answers to so many of her questions.

"Do you realize who this is?" Ruben growled to the bartender. "Do you realize what you almost did?" He eyes widened as they trailed over to me, fear evident in them.

"I didn't know!" She managed to get out, and Ruben let go of her throat.

Bethany just stood there in awe at what was going on before her eyes.

"You're lucky I got here before the words left your mouth, or you'd be dead." Ruben stormed away from her, leaving her to fall to the floor like a helpless rag doll. He forcefully grabbed Bethany by the wrist, and dragged her out of the now fear stricken bar. She had never seen him this angry, and she knew that she was in for it.

Ruben always had something to say, and that fact that he didn't even mumble a syllable to Bethany as he dragged her across the streets of downtown Jersey, said a lot without him saying anything. She was angry and ready for a battle if needed; he had cost her the truth. And now she was forced to continue with these blinds that were constantly in the way of her finding out who she really was.

"What were you thinking?!" Ruben roared as he pulled her into the safety of his home. "You could've gotten that lady killed!"

Bethany's anger rose, and she knew that what was about to happen, was no good at all.

"I went out for a drink! How was I supposed to know going to that bar was a mistake when you never give me any information?" She roared right back at him, and she was sure the fire in his eyes matched hers. What she was also sure about, was that this was not Ruben speaking, but in fact The Watcher through him.

"You're in training, you should be at home! Not at some bar by yourself; have you no common sense?"

She was sure the veins in her head were about to explode from all the blood rushing to it, but the urge to kill him right now was the strongest it's ever been. Even if it wasn't actually Ruben speaking.

"Who do you think you are? My father?" Bethany scoffed. "I am human, I make my own choices and deal with my own mistakes. You don't like it? Too bad."

Ruben's breathing was heavy and his eyes dark. She could tell there was so much that he wanted to say, but couldn't without giving something away. Within a second, those attributes disappeared, but his smile never resurfaced, proving that he was still wasn't the one in control.

Bethany wanted to test that theory, and push his buttons some more, but something told her that this wasn't the right time. It was obvious he was thinking hard, about what she didn't know. He looked into her eyes, but he eventually dropped contact and turned away from her.

"Get some sleep," was all he said before walking out of the room and upstairs.

She glared at the space he once stood and almost lost her mind. So many secrets being kept from her, and others would die if they informed her of them.

Was that why Ruben wouldn't give her any answers? She wondered.

Regardless of the reasoning, she couldn't take it anymore. It started with a broken cup, and then several more. Before she knew it, she was destroying every breakable object in Ruben's house against the walls, beginning to feel some sort of satisfaction. That was, until Ruben came back downstairs, and if she was able to feel fear, she would've ran for her life.