When she was free from her workplace prison, she collapsed into her car with a big sigh of relief. She had already decided to make a trip to the gas station to pick up a movie and a snack that wasn’t good for her. For some reason, the gas station near her house had a collection of old DVDs so it was entertaining to find the craziest looking one. This was something she used to do all the time when her anxiety got severe. It comforted her like nothing else and would get her through until the following morning when she could see her therapist.
It was already twilight when she entered the gas station. A middle-aged, white male with a beer belly watched movies behind a counter framed by lottery tickets, expired candy, and condoms. She barely made eye contact with the man as she went to look for a tasty snack.
As she looked, she noticed a tattooed man in the corner of the convenience store eying the beer as if he couldn’t make up his mind about what he wanted. She tried to be as discreet as possible but her fingertips brushed his leg as she tried to go past him. He whipped around. His eyes were bloodshot from drinking and she noticed that one of his feet was wrapped up in a bandage. He didn’t look angry but she knew she had startled him.
“Sorry.” Harmony said quickly and began to retreat.
“Is ‘kay.” He slurred. “Whater you doin’?”
She looked him straight in the face. She wasn’t scared of this man. He was simply drunk and asking nosy questions.
“I’m hungry.” Harmony offered up a slight smile like she was humoring a small child.
“I ‘ave food on my boat. And drinks.” He hiccuped and opened a refrigerator to grab a six-pack of beer. “I will ‘ave drinks.” He corrected himself.
“Thank you, but no. My husband is waiting for me.” Harmony lied. She was used to this routine. Romilda had taught her the technique for discouraging men you weren’t interested in.
Before he could respond, a low growling started from the hallway where the restrooms were. Her paranoia came back with a jolt and she froze. The drunk man even stopped speaking to listen. It was a growling that tickled the ears as the sound rolled across the floor. The gas station employee was still watching TV and hadn’t noticed the change.
The tattooed stranger was alert enough to step in front of Harmony without question and pull a gun from his belt. Black smoky tendrils began to slither across the turquoise tile as a rattling began. The freezers sprung open of their own accord and products from the shelves began jangling.
Replacing the strong fear in her soul was a sudden, bloodthirsty desire to rip the gun from the man’s hand and watch his brains splatter onto the freezer doors. This intrusive thought seemed perfectly natural and welled up until she felt almost powerless to resist. Indistinguishable whispers filled the air and she slid to the floor covering her ears with her palms.
Despite the man being drunk, his hands appeared steady on the gun while his legs swayed slightly. Just then out of the strange fog came a horrifying creature. It had the body of a human woman with trailing blue filmy fabric. Her neck was long and stately underneath a disturbing face. The eyes flitted back and forth as if trying to read something under threat of death. Her mouth was replaced by a blank space of paper-white skin and sharp breaths were being drawn into her nostrils. The ears were the most horrific because out of both bleeding eardrums, two stakes protruded out. Her beautifully styled blond hair that fell around the nightmarish sight was almost comical if it hadn’t been so terrifying.
She walked slowly, but not inhibited like a zombie. She seemed almost unaffected by the torture she was going through. Her arms then reached out as if to embrace the tattooed man but without deliberation, he fired three times into the girl’s chest. She fell to her knees and her eyelids slowly closed as if what little life she had left had drained out of her. The growling sound continued, but before Harmony could deliberate any further on it the man grabbed her hand and they began racing from the gas station. As they flew out the front door, they briefly saw the gas station employee calling 911 and trying to flag them down. They had no intention of stopping, however. They both seemed to be channeling the same idea and that was to run.
When they neared her car she shouted, “Get in!” and pointed to the passenger door.
The tattooed stranger was not very fast with his injured foot, but his drunken state must have dulled the pain enough to where he was moving better than she expected. He managed to fling open the door and fall inside as she started the engine. Before he had time to buckle, she was pealing out of the parking lot.
“Go to the marina.” He commanded. “My houseboat is there.”
Harmony nodded, ignoring the voice of reason in her head and feeling the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She would decide where to go after they were as far away from that thing as possible. She made a sharp right when she saw the sign for the docks and the tattooed stranger’s body fell hard on her. She caught a whiff of booze and musky cologne. Her heart flipped inside her chest but quickly calmed down when the man cursed under his breath and muttered something about female drivers.
When she was in a parking spot, she leaned back into her seat and took a few calming breaths.
“It felt...evil.” The man said. “That woman.”
“Yes.” Harmony agreed. She paused then admitted, “When she appeared, I felt like the worst version of myself. Like I was going to do something terrible.”
The man’s eyes widened and he nodded. “Same.”
“I’m Harmony.”
“Arrow.” It was silent between them then he said, “I thought I was seein’ things.” He gestured vaguely out the window and waved a hand over himself to imply he wasn’t sure he could be trusted on his eyewitness account.
When the man let his hand drop into his lap, she took a good look at him for the first time. He didn’t look old but simply worn out. His skin was dark from sun exposure. Tattoos covered his collarbone, disappeared into his stained white t-shirt, and curled down both arms in intricate sleeves. His hair fell below his earlobes and in a dark greasy mess. Lastly, gray stubble spread over the lower half of his face at the start of a beard. His eyes were denim blue but the whites were streaked with red. She expected to see a beer belly, but his torso was very trim and she could see a slight bulge under his sleeves where his toned arms hid.
“Me too…” Harmony knew this man was drunk and that he might not be very reliable, but the way he had shot that woman three times convinced her that he wasn’t completely delirious. His aim had been true. “That’s not the first time that kind of thing has happened to me.” Harmony said, making a gamble that this stranger wouldn’t think she was crazy.
It was hard to tell behind the watery eyes, but it appeared as though he was thinking seriously about what she had said. Before he could answer though, a rapping sounded at the passenger window and the fuzzy outline of a man could be seen.
Arrow buzzed down the window and barked, “Whaddayawant?”
“We have to go.” The other man said tersely. “You can pick up women another time.”
Everything about this man was perfect. His hair was dirty blond and perfectly styled. His eyes were deep-set and milk chocolate brown. His firm jawline was covered in stubble. His body looked like he made a concerted effort to work out. Nothing was out of place on him and she found herself staring a little too long. Arrow didn’t notice. He was too busy glaring daggers at the man.
“I need a beer.”
“I thought that’s what you were getting!” The man said exasperated. “We can’t stay in one place too long and we can’t draw attention to ourselves.”
“About that…” Arrow began. He then explained what had happened at the gas station.
When Arrow finished, his friend looked like he was about to pull his hair out. “Okay, I’m sorry for assuming you were looking for a hookup but, whether we like it or not, things have become much more complicated.”
“I accept your apology.” Harmony said sourly. “If it wasn’t for me, your friend would’ve been walking back here.” Harmony knew this man’s perfection was too good to be true. He was obviously a pompous jerk.
Arrow gave her an appreciative smile then said, “Yeah, Doc, I would’ve been up a creek without a paddle.”
“Get out here.” The man Arrow called “Doc” grumbled.
Arrow rolled his eyes but obediently began shuffling around to leave. “Are you comin’? My invite still stands.”
Harmony hadn’t intended to take Arrow up on his offer in the first place. She figured that once she had dropped him off she would head home and go to bed. She still had her appointment the next day and a full day of office work before the weekend. There were so many questions about what was happening to her that she had hoped to answer.
On the other hand, the rush she had felt when running from the strange female apparition was unlike anything she had experienced before. It left no room inside her mind for worry or despair. She had also found another person who believed her. Maybe they could find the answers to her problems together. The secret part of her that craved adventure and excitement gnawed at her. While her work colleagues were creating their own drama and experimenting with drugs to create meaning in their lives, she would actually be doing something spontaneous. She also wasn’t truly leaving anything behind. Rufus was gone, her mother and she weren’t close, and her job was awful. This felt like her moment to take a risk.
