Dead bonds

chapter 4, Ida

Working the night shift at a dusty old drug store is the worst... I signed up for this though, I signed up for the drunk teens, naked old guys, and possible serial killers, so I guess I can't complain really.

I decided to quit my job months ago, but I never got around to it, if I did then that would destroy what little trace of a social life that both Ty and me have, so I stay.

I get up and start shuffling over to the counter and swayed my body to a song that I don't know what it's called that I've seemed to have had stuck in my head all day, I only stop when I hear the cat bell that I hung over the door ring as the feel of the small room changed dramatically. The figure that walked in was oddly familiar, he had cute Harry Potter-esque glasses that were way too large for his face and a blue striped hoodie.

"Ty called me earlier and he told me to come here! Are you Ida?" he blurted out, it seemed like he ran a marathon to get here.

I looked at him with a surprised face and nodded cautiously, "Yeah, do I know you? You look kinda familiar..." I stared into his bright blue eyes and squinted as I said this.

He took a second to catch his breath and smile for a moment before he awkwardly shuffled over to the counter. "I think we met a few nights ago at Trinity, if I remember correctly, you were trying to hook me up with Ty, you were stone cold drunk though, so I understand if you don't remember."

"Oh! I remember you, wait a second... are you wearing the same clothes as three night ago?" I said as I looked him up and down.

"Yeah yeah, but that's not the point! Have you had the dream yet?!" he almost yelled.

"N- no... not that I know of. Not unless you mean a dream about going about my day naked." I looked at him completely and utterly confused and raised my eyebrow, being obviously sarcastic, he seemed to ignore my comment and kept on blabbering on about who knows what.

"Hey so... I'm clocking out soon so if I could just get your number to text you later that would be great." I interrupted him, still trying not to be rude but starting to get annoyed.

He stopped abruptly and finally acknowledged my presence, "Oh, I guess. Just one more thing though, if you have the dream make sure to tell me or Ty, he still hasn't had it but he knows about it. Can you promise me that?" he sounded oddly serious about this dream and I found his worry for me rather odd, I wonder what he knows.

"Yeah, sure I guess. How will I even know whether or not it's 'the dream'? I have a lot of weird dreams all the time, it seems weird that you're so hyped up about one single one, what's the deal?"

"I'm not really sure that I can do it justice by just explaining it, you're going to have to just figure it out on your own," he paused and started to turn around, "bye now..." he shifted back as he thought of what to say, "good luck." he scoffed as he jogged out of the store. My eyes followed him until he was gone in to the big world and I followed his lead and closed up.

I was beginning to sense that he was completely serious about all of that stuff but for now I just picked up my bag and skipped out.

Right before I locked the doors, I backed myself up, I noticed something black on the pristine white tile floors, I picked it up and rolled it between my fingers. I was puzzled, it looked almost pure black other than a few specks of shimmering purple and green. I don't want to think too much about it as it was probably something that one of the customers had dropped earlier on. I set it down on my desk for me to ponder about in the following nights. For now, I must be off.

The store was frozen and everything was in place. I was ready to go, finally.

I feel my bag fall onto my shoulders and to be honest, that feeling made me want to collapse. There was a sudden wave of tiredness, but it was already four in the morning and I began to feel like a toddler how didn't get their nap.