Reflections of Light

Going Along For The Ride

"Y-you al-right, Lllittle bird?" Rachel greeted Nyx from her seat on the couch, opening her arm in an invitation for her daughter to come sit next to her. "You s-seem a bit down. You havin' a ni-ce birth-day?"

Breaking into a smile, Nyx scurried over to her mum, wrapping her arms around her and snuggling into her side. "It's been an amazing birthday."

It had been. A breakfast of her choice, wonderful gifts and a fun day out with her family; the day could not have been better. The strange reaction brought on by Alysha's gift was all but forgotten now, sitting in some back dark corner of her mind to be mulled over later in the peace and quiet.

Resting her head on her mums shoulder, Nyx smiled a soft and contented smile, soothed by the motion of her mother's hand stroking across her hair. Rachel was getting better and better each and every day, and it made Nyx happy to see her mother back up and doing some of the things she used to do.

A clinking of keys out in the hallway suddenly drew her attention, causing her to sit up and peer in the direction of the open lounge door. Travis was pulling on his jacket, trying to wiggle his foot into his shoe simultaneously in an effort to get out of the door quicker; his keys dangling from his mouth, the blue keyring clenched between his teeth.

"You alright there, Trav?" Nyx called to him with a slight chuckle.

"Yep." Travis replied, removing the keys from his mouth. "I'm just popping down to the bar for a bit. You can come for the ride if you want, just no drinking after yesterday."

"Yeah... I'm still not sure it was worth the headache." Nyx winced, chuckling. "But yeah, I'll tag along."

She gave her mum a tight squeeze, which Rachel returned, before smiling and waving at her daughter cheerily as she headed to the door. "Have fu-un! L-Love you!"

"Love you, Mum! First one to the car gets to drive!" Nyx yelled, racing Travis to his vehicle.

***

"... So Dec fired Jerry again. And now we're placing bets on how long it takes for him to rehire him this time." Travis chuckled, motioning expressively with his hands as he described the story, sitting in the front passenger seat of the car.

Clutching at the steering wheel as she negotiated the side roads, Nyx couldn't help but laugh and grin. "It won't be long, I know that. It never is. And... Here we are."
She pulled up in front of the bar, parking in a tarmacked area to the side of the building.

The place seemed weirdly quiet.
None of the expected noise could be heard; no voices, no music, nothing.
A short distance away from them, the bar sign hung from a metal bar jutting from the wall, creeking ominously in the faint evening breeze.
The sign appeared to have been some kind of portrait in the past, but had since been heavily graffitied, turned into some strange and brilliant artwork of vicious pink and green paint, the sign still proudly announcing the name to the world; The Nook.

"... I think it's closed." Travis said, tilting his head in curiosity. "Lights aren't on. Huh. Dec usually gives more warning."

"Oops." Nyx chuckled. "Maybe last night was more wild than I remember."

Face an expression of confusion, Travis walked around the corner to the front of the building.
An older man was waiting by the, also looking confusedly up at the building with an expectant face.

"Hey, Richard." Travis greeted the regular cheerily.

The man nodded a greeting in response. "It's not open today?"

"Doesn't seem to be, does it?" Travis chuckled, keeping a cheery and casual face. "I don't think Dec's here."

Richard eyed Travis with narrowed eyes. "You're here."

Travis chuckled again. "Come on now, you know I can't open up without Dec here. That's just the rules. Look, I'm really sorry about your ruined evening. Are you alright getting home?"

Travis saw the customer safely off down the driveway towards the road, the older man muttering irritably under his breath as he headed off home, before Travis bounded back up the drive to Nyx.

"I think we better put a sign on the door or something. Some of them are going to get really pissy if not. Seriously, Dec's just...Not opened. No warning to anyone, whatsoever."

"I've pens and a notepad in the car." Nyx supplied, gesturing at the aforementioned vehicle.

Travis nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's perfect. Go grab that for us, would you?... Wait, who said you could store stuff in my car?"

"Do you want to borrow them or not?" She said with a grin and an eyeroll, rushing to find them for him.

Taking the writing implements from her, Travis scrawled out a quick but clear notice, walking up to the door to find a way to perhaps attatch it to the wood.

"Can you just... Slide a corner between the slats or something?" Nyx suggested, tracing her finger down the join between two of the timbers making up the door.
The door gave slightly at the pressure of her finger, the hinges giving a slight creak that made her jump back in surprise.
"The doors unlocked!"

"Is it?" Travis asked, furrowing his brow. Tentatively, he pushed on the door, surprised when it swung open easily. "Now that is weird."
Catching the side of the door, he held it still, running his hand up the side.
"It's not unlocked, the lock's been broken by force."

He pushed the door open again, reaching inside to flick the light switch he knew was on the inside wall. Light flooding the place, they peered into the room, jaws dropping in disbelief.

"... Has Dec been robbed?" Nyx finally voiced, breaking the stunned silence. The bar was absolutely trashed, aggressively so.

"That's it, I'm calling him." Travis said anxiously, scrambling for his phone. "I don't know what's going on here, but it's bad."

Hiya! Guess who submitted their fanfic, Reflections Of Light, into the Wattys 2019? Yep, that's right! XD
Not necessarily expecting much, but hopefully it'll be a bit of fun, and hopefully you'll all support me!

Okay, so for some reason this chapter got unpublished, so I'm reuploading it.