The Death Curse

Chapter 1: The End is Just the Beginning

I drained the glass and signaled the bartender for another. The bartender eyed me with clear suspicion that I had had enough but she pulled out a new glass from behind the bar and turned to grab the gin anyway.

"I'm not even bothered though," I said as I leaned over to the guy next to me. He was a big burly fellow with a full beard. He was looking at me with an amused but polite smile beneath his dark whiskers. "I didn't want a second date either. So him putting us both out of our misery halfway through our first date was actually really kind. And yeah, maybe he did have really cute eyes and we would have made beautiful babies together. And maybe I shouldn't have said that on a first date but I'm honest. And guys like honesty, don't they? Right?"

Mr. Burly was saved from answering when the bartender set my gin and tonic in front of me and said, "that's your last one. I'll bring your check."

I threw my arms in the air. "Oh, that's nice. You want to get rid of me too."

She ignored me and went to close out my tab.

I took a long drink and then turned back to Mr. Burly. "I mean twenty-five isn't too soon to be thinking about kids. It's normal. I'm normal. He's weird." I tried to take another drink but instead spilled a good portion of my gin and tonic onto my shirt.

"Well, it can be a scary thing to think about. Especially with someone you're just getting know," Mr. Burly said, being the voice of reason.

I glared at him. "Of course you're on his side. You guys always stick together. Bros before hoes and all that."

The bartender sat my check and a pen in front of me. "Is she bothering you?" She asked my neighbor.

Mr. Burly hesitated before slowly shaking his head.

 I held my hands up in surrender. "I get it, I get it. You want me gone. I was just having a nice conversation with my new friend here but if I'm really such a nuisance I'll go. I don't want to overstay my welcome. I can read the room. I understand. I may be unlovable but I'm not stupid."

"Sign the damn bill and go. You've been annoying the other customers for almost two hours now. Oh god, don't cry." The bartender groaned.

"I'm fine," I sobbed. Wiping at my eyes, I wrote down a tip and signed the check. "I'm sorry to be a bother."

I couldn't see the bartender's face clearly through the tears but I thought maybe she had a hint of guilt on her face.

The chilly fall air hit me when I stepped out of the bar, making the tear tracks sting on my cheeks. I wiped at my face with clumsy drunk hands and closed my eyes to try to get back in control of my emotions.

"Can I help you?"

I jumped, not having noticed the woman who approached me. She was dressed clad in black with black lipstick to boot. Her shoulder length red hair was the only thing that gave her some color. She didn't look goth though, she was dressed too business-like for that. Still, there was something about her that made me uncomfortable, even with my alcohol fogged brain.

"Thanks," I said slowly, "but I'm okay."

She smiled, her teeth shockingly white against the dark lipstick. "Then maybe you can help me. My cat went missing and another pair of eyes would be really great right now."

I felt my brow furrow. "You're looking for your cat? It's like midnight."

"It's ten to two actually."

"Even worse. Take it from me, nothing good happens after one a.m." That was something my friend Julia was always saying to me. Not that I listened to her or believed it. I always felt the most alive in the middle of the night. But at this moment I wanted nothing more to be in my bed with a glass of water and painkillers prepped on my nightstand for the hangover tomorrow morning.