Chapter 2 The Barn

• Slow day at the Barn. I work at a place called the Barn. Tess thought it was funny to name her breakfast restaurant that. Good thing it was a busy place and the tips were good. The folks were nice. The charm of small towns. I worried I wouldn’t fit in after moving here four weeks ago but things had been moving smoothly.
• The town’s people were nice but they kept to themselves and were somewhat secretive. This morning there seemed to be a dark cloud hanging over the town. Four days ago the local billionaire lost his girlfriend to a horrific fire.
• Amelia came in a few times. She had a warm smile and bright honey-blonde hair I would kill to have! Though, I doubted Amelia’s death was the reason for the dull mood in the restaurant. Even Mr Henley my usual admirer was in a sour mood.
• I didn’t think Timothy; the cook’s bad mood was due to anything happening in the pack. He was always mad.
• Pans rattled in the kitchen and fires grew. Just like every other day.
• My friend Selma walked into the restaurant with her art supplies practically falling out of her bag. I was in my third year of history and literature when… I had to run.
• “I’m late! I need a strong coffee,” she panted.
• “Geez, what happened?”
• She ran a hand through her frizzy brown hair trying to make it even.
• “There was a commotion in my neighbourhood to top it off Noah was out late.”
• Noah was her older brother, who regularly came to see me…
• “Is he okay?”
• I handed her a coffee in a foam cup.
• “Fine. He worried my ass off though. The streets are getting dangerous, Paris. You should knock off earlier.”
• I swallowed. “Is that why the town’s so gloomy? Is the crime rate going up? I didn’t read about it.”
• Selma snapped back and blinked. “What? No. Look at the time, I’m really late. See you later!” She grabbed her coffee and scurried out.
• Elvira Falls was supposed to be a quiet town hidden from the rest of the world where the crime was close to minimal. I chose this town because I believed it was the last place Caleb would search for me.
• Despite what Selma said I couldn’t get off work early. I had a double shift. Nights were slow here. This means for four hours I would pick up trash, clean tables and attend to the three people who came in to buy water.
• “Fuck!” Timothy cried from the kitchen as a pan dropped.
• “You okay back there, Tim?” I called.
• My co-worker Mindy didn’t show up for her shift today but it didn’t matter because the restaurant was empty. A tumbleweed just blew by.
• “You’re still here?” Tim grumbled.
• “Yeah, you know I have a double.”
• The door creaked alerting me to a customer.
• Tim straightened his spine and frowned. “Get out of here. I’ll lock up.”
• “We just got customers,” I said, walking off
• I grabbed the night menu. Two men settled in the corner, hunched over speaking in hushed voices.
• “Can I get you guys anything?” I asked.
• They looked up at the same time. The one with blue eyes held a striking resemblance to the man back home. A shudder went through me. Relax, Paris, not every man wearing dark leather was a thug.
• “Some drinks while we go through the menu doll face and why don’t you ask the cook to come out? He’s… a friend of ours.”
• “Okay…”
• I found Tim pacing in the kitchen. I reached for the glasses.
• “Your friends are out there. They want to see you.”
• “Do me a favour Paris go out back and dump the ice.”
• I frowned. “Why?”
• Tim grumbled and the veins in his neck popped out.
• I raised my hands before he blew a fuse. I grabbed two bags of ice from the freezer and carried it to the back which was an alley. The only light bulb flickered violently. I heard glass shatter and an animal scattered across the ground. I hurried back into the kitchen to hear a fist connect with flesh.
• “You’re out of time!” a roar halted me at the door to the restaurant.
• Tim was on the ground with a bleeding mouth. The two customers stood on either side of him but they had their eyes on me.
• “Get out of here kid!” Tim yelled.
• “Tim…” I gasped!
• “I wish you hadn’t walked in doll face,” the blue-eyed goon shook his head.
• “It’s none of her business,” Tim said.
• He received a boot to the gut. I didn’t shudder. The action had been beaded into my mind from a young age it was sickening how used to it I was.
• The other man closed the distance between us and snatched my arm. He dragged me forward.
• “What do you want? The register’s right there!” I said.
• They laughed. That turned my blood cold.
• “We look like common crooks, Doll Face?” the blue-eyed one asked.
• “What do you want then?” I snapped.
• “It’s none of your business,” Tim barked. “Let’s take this outside. She doesn’t know anything and she’ll keep her yap shut.”
• The blue-eyed one stared me up and down.
• “Why don’t I believe that?”
• The door creaked again before I saw who it was my limbs numbed. What if teenagers walked in and witnessed this? They would keep them hostage. What if they mascaraed us?
• Instead, it was a tall, demi-god man with pushed-back black hair, bronzed skin and muscles toned from hours spent in the gym. He dawned a bored expression and oozed confidence and authority.
• “What’s taking so long?” he demanded, calmly.
• “We ran into… a problem,” the blue-eyed one who seemed to be the leader in the pair said.
• The demi-god turned his attention to me. He drank me in but his expression of boredom never wavered. I broke the trance and focused on the very real fact that they would kill me.
• “Look at me,” he demanded.
• I blinked a few times before dragging my gaze back to him. He moved closer.
• “You’re going to grab your things and leave out the back. You’re not even going to cast a glance behind the restaurant and then you’re going to come back in tomorrow as if nothing ever happened. Understood?”
• I couldn’t prevent the gasp that escaped me.
• “Who are you?”
• He chuckled.
• He brushed the corner of my lip with his thumb.
• “You don’t want to know. Now leave before I change my mind.”
• I glanced at Tim. He growled at me. With pain in my heart, I turned around. I hoped Tim wouldn’t die because of me.