prompted stories

The Nightclub

'Your ability to see people's age in years as an invisible number above their heads has made you the perfect bouncer. One day you see a four digit number.'

It seemed like a normal day, turning kids who were too young to be inside away, and then she arrived. Beautiful, but in a way which suggested she didn't understand her beauty. As always I glance upwards to see her age, as she looks around 18, and to my surprise see four digits.

Woah.

Four?

I glance back up, desperate to see if I was too quick, and the numbers blurred over.

No, there's definitely four. '1415' shines bold as brass over her head. I shake my head slightly, and mumble the customary 'can I see your I'D please, miss,' and she hands over a worn card. Evilyn Jaimon puts name to face. It calls her 25 here, although I know better. I'm about to say something, something condemning her in front of all these people - then I think better of it. I unclip the rope, and let her in, inclining my head slightly as she walks past. A miracle, or an incursion if I ever saw one.

I ID a few other kids that night, and when I end my shift, the nightclub is emptying. I see a few 18's, a lot of 20 to 35 year olds, one hen party of 22 year olds and her. I walk up to her and ask her to stay a minute.
"How old are you?" I ask.
She blinks up at me. "I'm not sure what you mean."
The numbers shine like a halo - although... "You aren't 25, are you?"
"What do you mean," she hisses.

I take a step back, hand on my pepper spray pot. I'm not sure how quickly I can get it out. "You're 1415, right?"
She pushes me against the wall with surprising strength. "Who told you?!" She slams me backwards. "Who told you." Her voice is dangerously low, and I don't like where this is leading.
"No - No-one told me!" I squeak uncharacteristically, suddenly afraid for my life.
She pulls a hidden blade and presses it flat to my throat. "Then don't try and follow me," she breaths, and suddenly I find myself totally alone outside the nightclub in the sunrise.

I never forgot that encounter. While I don't see Evilyn again, she seems to have warned everyone she may have known about me, because a some of our regulars regard me with disgust, while a few have failed to appear at all since then. That doesn't bother me though, and I find myself wishing for more than two digits to appear again over someone's head.

[423 words, 7th Jan 2020]