Requiem of the Beast

Chapter III

   It took Allister no more than thirty minutes to reach the café. He greeted Sadie with the same pearl white smile he had before, which somehow brightened her mood. She hadn't even known him for an hour, and she could already tell they would get along well. "Long time no see!" Beamed Allister as he sat in the seat in front of her. She was already on her second cup of coffee, but she still felt her stresses melt away with each sip. The smell of coffee seemed to be bothering him though because his expression changed as soon as he sat down. Apparently, this didn't last long because he shook his head and started a conversation.

   Allister moved from Holly Hills, SC so he could get a degree in psychology just like her. He seemed to be a very well-rounded individual who valued his studies. He claimed he moved in a couple days prior to Ryder's murder and Sadie wondered whether she should ask him about it. However, she opted not to say anything for fear of him thinking she's crazy and scaring him off. Instead, she talked about the past couple years of her college life that had been relatively uneventful. She talked about her friends and what she wanted to do after college along with several other random things. Of course, he asked if she had a boyfriend to which she shook her head. Sadie told him about her first and only boyfriend who was a dick who broke up with her just because she didn't want to have sex with him just yet.

   "Yea, he does sound like quite the dick head." Allister replied as she stared at the tiles on the floor. He then changed the topic and pointed to the cross hanging around her neck. "Were you wearing that earlier?" He asked. "Yea, I always wear it. You may think it's silly, but I believe it protects me." She replied, gripping it tightly in her hands. For some reason, this made him laugh. "What's so funny?" Sadie asked with a puzzled look. Allister stopped laughing and apologized, "I don't really believe in all that, but to each their own." An awkward silence befell the two of them before Sadie realized the time. They had been talking for two hours! She was supposed to meet up with her friends to grab dinner!

   Sadie stood up and began assembling her belongings. As she did so, Allister gently grabbed her wrist. "Hey, I didn't mean to offend you a second ago, please don't leave yet!" he said. She could sense a true apology in his voice, however that wasn't why she was leaving. "It's fine, I'm packing up because I have to meet up with my friends for dinner." She replied with a laugh. Allister smiled before releasing her wrist, "That was a little aggressive, sorry!". Sadie shook her head and laughed again, "Lighten up dude, it's fine you don't have to apologize!" He walked her out the café doors and bid her farewell before disappearing into the crowd of college students.

   As she was heading towards the trolley stop, her phone began to buzz in her pocket. A quick glance at her phone informed her that it was Kat. Maybe she wanted to apologize for earlier. Of course, she too owed Kat an apology for the way she reacted. Sadie answered to find a seemingly distressed Kat. "Hey," began her friend, "Aubrey is sick, and Aria has a family emergency that just came up, so she won't be back til' Tuesday. Nikolai doesn't feel like going to town because he's finishing an essay. I guess we'll have to reschedule are outing..." She thought for a moment before suggesting an idea, "What if you two come over to my place to hang out? I'll fix dinner and Nikolai can finish his paper. Sound like a plan?" There was a short pause, and Sadie could hear a small argument in the background. When Kat came back, she told her that they would love to come over and that they would be there in thirty minutes.

   Sadie now had to rush back to her apartment to see what she had to make dinner with. After entering her apartment and rushing to her refrigerator, she found: a pack of three chicken breast, a pack of butter, a carton of heavy whipping cream, and a pack of Parmesan cheese. Once she did a little research, she figured she could make fettuccine Alfredo only instead of using fettuccine noodles, she was going to use spaghetti noodles since that was all she had. Sadie got to work and was able to slice and season the chicken breast before there was a knock on the door. Kat and Nikolai opened the door before she could make it over too it. Kat instantly ran up to her and hugged her before apologizing for the events that had happened that morning. She returned the hug and exclaimed that she could have reacted better and that she too was sorry. After their make-up session, Kat joined her boyfriend on the couch. Nikolai hadn't said a single word to her (not like he ever did), and instead just stared at her like the creep he was.