Mystery Noir

Mawaska Part 4

I showered and threw on a clean shirt and a pair of jeans before heading down to the attached bar restaurant thing, though I hesitated as I heard the sounds of music and a fair bit of people. There had been no one in the bar the night before and I had hoped that it meant that the place wasn't frequented by locals. I should have known it would be, as there had not been many other bars in town.

A crack of thunder broke me out of my reverie of trying to remember where another place to eat was, and a glance to the nearest window told me that I would not be riding or walking anywhere that night. Maybe boating, but as I was completely out of kayaks. I sighed and forced myself to walk the rest of the way to the bar and step inside.

Thankfully, it was smoke free, though it looked nearly packed to capacity, with people watching sports on television, playing pool, dancing or just eating and drinking at the tables scattered around. There were shadowed corners and enough people and movement that it was hard to pick out anyone in particular with a cursory glance, leaving me feeling vulnerable as I turned to the bar and grabbed a takeout menu.

"It's about a half hour wait. But I can grab you complimentary nachos if you order a beer while you wait..." The bartender, a cute redhead grinned to me, her smile genuine, but looking tired.

"Sure. I'll take a burger and salad to go. Just whatever red ale you have..." I murmured as I nodded to the reddish pint of beer in the hand of a woman down the bar from me.

The bartender shook her head and gave me an uncomfortable look. "Just finished the keg... next one won't be settled for another hour. We have a microbrewery in town, they have a great grapefruit sour."

A sour is nothing like an amber ale.

But, seeing as how I knew the place was filled with nonhumans and catered to them, I figured I'd follow the bartender's recommendation for what was safe for an innocent little human like me to drink. One mouthful of blood infused beer was enough for my lifetime, and maybe the next one after.

So, I nodded. "Sounds great. Thank you. I can pay now, I know you're busy."

"Ten bucks." She flashed me a smile when I slid her fifteen in exchange for a pint of golden coloured beer with a wedge of candied grapefruit on the rim.

It was the girliest drink I'd had in a long time. Usually I would have tossed the candy to the side and sighed in resignation, but I felt eyes on me. I was being weighed and judged, people were trying to figure me out and I refused to give them a hint into who I really was. So, I grinned, took a bite of the candied fruit and took an appreciatory sip of the sour that wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.

It may have been paranoia, but I was certain that the conversations weren't flowing as freely with me in the bar. People were talking, but it sounded disjointed and distracted, but I didn't dare look around. A glance in the brass, warped mirror behind the bar showed me warbled images of people moving back and forth, so I turned my eyes to the nearest tv.

Darts.

A bunch of supernaturals, and they watched darts?

Before I could roll my eyes, a large form stepped up on either side of me, and I was struck first by the delicious scents of cedar, rainstorms and mountain breezes before I glanced between Ver and Enzo. They were each wearing a pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt, no weapons on their belts or hint of badges.

"Doctor." Ver smirked to me as Enzo motioned to the bartender, holding up two fingers before turning his smile in my direction

"Sheriff, Deputy." I did my best to keep the amusement out of my voice, telling myself that just because they didn't seem like weirdo murdery creeps, didn't mean they weren't in on the whole human slave cult or whatever this town was.