“Me too,” said the waiter. “And don’t you worry a bit about being cold to me, honey, I have seen and heard it all before.” He leaned closer to her and lowered his voice. “If we’re being honest, I don’t give a damn how you’re night has been and I know you don’t care about mine. I just ask because I get better tips that way.”
Anna smiled. “You know what,” she said. “If we’re being honest, I will tip you more, the less you try to small talk with me.”
“You have got yourself a deal, my friend.” He winked at her. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
Usually, Anna took her coffee black. It wasn’t that she liked the bitter taste, more that she was cheap and lazy. Less ingredients means spending less money, and it means consuming less calories, which means she could better justify not working out as much as she probably should. It was a win, win. Besides the taste. Tonight, however, she had been running on an empty stomach for too long and she knew black coffee would make her feel sick. She tore the paper tops off two little cups of creamer, one that was just cream and the other which was caramel flavored, and poured them both in.
She watched the color of her coffee change as she stirred in the milk. Whether it was the exhaustion from the day’s events, or perhaps the hunger, Anna’s mind wandered as she made mini whirlpools in the coffee with her spoon.
The booming voices of two men brought her back to the present. They had walked into the diner, talking loudly, and sitting in the booth right in front of her. They were big guys, both with broad shoulders and impressive muscles. One of them had long, tangled hair, while the other had a buzz cut.
The long haired one yelled to the waiter as they took their seats, who was busy filling the coffee mugs of the patrons a few booths down.
“Hey Mary!” he yelled. “Yoo-hoo! Over here, Shirley.” He held his mug up in the air. “Can I get some coffee when you get a second, sweet cheeks.”
The waiter rolled his eyes and walked in their direction.
“I thought Sal told you two you were no longer welcome in his diner,” he said, not pouring the coffee. “Do I need to call him?”
“He was only joking!” said the long haired guy. “Just like we was only joking when you freaked out and said we were harassing you, isn’t that right Pauly?” He nodded to his friend across the table.
“Yeah,” said the other guy. “We were just joking. I don’t know why you had to get all sensitive all the sudden.”
“Can’t a guy give his buddy a hard time every once in a while?” said the long haired guy.
“I’m not your friend, Sam” said the waiter. “And you weren’t giving me a hard time, you were hurting me!”
At the mention of the name Sam, Anna leaned over the table so that she didn’t miss anything. She kept her eyes down, however, staring into the mug, so as to not bring any attention onto herself.
“Now you boys need to leave,” said the waiter. “Or I will call Sal and he’ll be down here her no time to throw you out. And you remember what he said last time, that if he caught you two in here again, he’d put a bullet in each of your skulls.’
The one named Sam waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Oh pish, posh, Sal wouldn’t shoot us. No way. He’s all talk, the old loon.”
“We should go Sam,” said Pauly. “Even if Sal doesn’t shoot us, he might call the Sheriff.”
“So what?” said Sam. “You think that skinny punk Wells scares me?”
“No,” said Pauly. “But I’m on probation, remember? I can’t be getting the cops called on me for nothing!”
“Alright, alright, calm down.” Sam threw his hands up. “We’ll go. Sheesh.” He gave the waiter a wicked look as he stood up out of the booth. “But I’m not done with you, Ronnie. This is far from being over, queer.”
He feigned as if he was going to go for the wiator, who flinched, and then backed off and laughed as he walked out the front door, his friend following close behind, giggling as well.
Anna stood up just as the door closed behind them. She fished a ten dollar bill out of her jeans pocket and threw it on the table.
“Where are you going?” the waiter asked as she hurried passed him.
“Sorry, gotta run,” she called over her shoulder, offering a small wave without turning around. “Thanks for the coffee! Keep the change!”
Outside the restaurant, Sam and Pauly got into an old, scratched pick-up truck and tore out of the parking lot like a deer who heard a gunshot. Anna cursed herself for not driving over the diner and quickly ran the two blocks back to the station where her jeep was parked. She sped down the road in the direction the two men had gone and just as she was beginning to lose hope she would find them, she spotted two horizontal red lines off in the distance. Taillights. Somebody had pulled off onto the shoulder, and Anna’s gut was telling her it was definitely them, even though she was not nearly close enough to make out the make or color of the car.
She killed her headlines and slowed her jeep to a crawl. A good hundred or so yards behind them, she stopped entirely, not wanting them to hear her engine. She doubted they would be able to see her car without its lights on given it was the dead of night and the snow was starting to fall, but she couldn’t be certain. She pulled over onto the side of the road and waited to see what their next move may be.
They spent about ten minutes on the shoulder, and Anna wondered if they were maybe just hanging out inside, perhaps drinking or smoking. If that were the case, she’d have to wait around quite a long time, and now her stomach was really started to revolt. It had evolved from simple growls to full on groans and her head was feeling a little hazy.
They turned their headlights back on and Anna squinted through the snow, hoping they would flip around and head back towards town. She didn’t know these roads very well, and while her intuition would likely keep her from getting completely lost, she didn’t have much practice driving in these weather conditions.
Like and answer to her prayers, the truck turned around and started back the way it came. Anna decided she’d wait on the side of the road with her lights off, duck when the drove passed, so they’d think it was just some abandoned vehicle and not think to stop and check if she’s okay. Although, on second thought, they didn’t necessarily seem like the type of guys who would do something so polite.
She ducked, tucking her head between her knees as the headlights approached, and she waited to hear the sound of the engine fade into the distance. Instead, however, the engine sounded as if it was right next to her jeep. She kept herself bent over and tried not to breathe too heavily.
“Hey!” someone yelled. “Hey you in the jeep!”
She didn’t move.
“I know you’re in there.”
Anna was pretty sure it was Sam. He had been the one driving, and he had a distinctly higher voice than his partner.
“Fine,” he said. “If you want to play hide and seek, I’ll seek.”
She heard the sound of a car door opening and footsteps on the thin layer of icy snow which had formed on the road. There was a rapping on knuckles on the driver’s side window and Anna’s whole body tensed.
Shit.
She straightened up and painted the widest smile she could muster across her face. She cranked the handle near the bottom of her door, rolling the window down, and said in a kind, Midwestern accent, “hello there! How can I help you?”
“You were following us,” said Sam. “I saw you pull up behind and wait for us in the dark. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Oh no no no,” said Anna. “You’re mistaken. You see, I was just driving along, heading out of town, when the snow started up and I got worried. I’m not used to driving in snow, and this is a new car, I haven’t gotten used to how it maneuvers. I just wanted to pull over for a moment and see if the weather would clear up soon.”
Sam smirked but Anna could tell he was buying her story, at least somewhat. Based on his performance in the restaurant, Anna also guessed that it wasn’t very
hard to convince Sam Cottons that a woman could be in such distress and require a man’s help.
“Well,” he said. “We can drive you back into town if you’d like.”
When he said ‘we’ Anna instinctively looked over Sam’s shoulder, to see what Pauly was making of all this. Except, Pauly wasn’t sitting in the truck.
Anna frowned and started to say something when a voice on her right cut her off.
“This is a fine car you got here.” It was Pauly, he had opened her door and was standing on the other side of the car. “Mind if I take a sit?”
“I, uh.” Anna looked back and forth between the two men and then reached for the gear shift. “I better be going. Thanks for stopping to check on me, that was mighty sweet of you, but I have someone expecting me home soon.”
A big, calloused hand closed over hers on top of the gear shift. “Don’t be so hasty,” said Pauly. He was sitting in the passenger seat now. “I was only asking if I could go for a little ride.” He closed the door.
“Yeah,” said Sam. “Why don’t you go on and take Pauly for a ride. And when you two are done, I’ll be hearing, waiting on my turn.”
Anna had taken a few self-defense classes, which may have helped her if she were on her feet and one of them tried to grab her. In this situation, however, she was pretty much a sitting duck. Even if she threw the jeep in drive and floored it, Pauly would still be in the car with her, and who knows what he would do then. She wasn’t sure whether or not she should reach to lock her own door, to keep Sam from opening it. Only, that would also make it harder for her to get out if Pauly tried to do something. She decided it would be useless at this point, maybe even make matters worse.
“Listen,” said Anna. “I think I should warn you two gentlemen, that I am in fact the new deputy sheriff of Idle Waters, so maybe you want to reconsider what it is you are hoping to do with me. I know you’re names.” She looked at Pauly. “And I know you’re on parole. How do you think your parole officer would feel about you assaulting a deputy?”
Pauly’s expression shifted. It seemed to dawn on him that Anna was no easy target, and the mention of his parole officer made him squirm in his seat.
“Sam,” he said. “If what she’s saying is true, we gotta’ get the hell out of here.”
Pauly started to get out of the car.
“Slow down,” said Sam. “First of all, I highly doubt she’s the new deputy. Idle Waters has never had a female deputy.” His expression had changed as well, although unlike Pauly, he wasn’t looking nervous. He looked more determined than ever. Anna knew she’d be taking a risk by bringing up the fact that she now possessed the position Sam was recently relieved of, but what other choice did she really have? “And second of all, if it is true, if this hot young thing really is the new deputy, then we know somebody who would be very eager to meet you.”
He smiled and in the dark, it seemed to Anna as if his incisors were slightly longer than normal, sharper too.
“You mean you want to take her to—” Pauly began to say, but Sam interrupted him. He had one foot out the door, but he hadn’t yet fully committed to getting out entirely.
“Ah, ah, ah, no names, remember?” said Sam. “But yes, I think he would be very pleased to meet her.”
“But it’s so late,” said Pauly. “And I have a meeting with my PO in the morning. Maybe we should just call it a night and head home.”
Sam laughed and opened the driver side door. “You go ahead and do whatever you want Pauly, take my truck home, after you help me get this bitch tied up.” He leaned over Anna and went to unbuckle her seat belt.
“Don’t. Touch. Me.” She tried to use her most intimidating tone of voice, but the display only made Sam laugh harder.
“Go ahead and scream, deputy, make a scene,” he said. “You’re out in the skids now. Ain’t nobody around for miles and miles.”
He pressed the button to undo her belt and she did exactly as he instructed.
She screamed.
Anna screamed and screamed as loud as she possibly could. She kicked and punched and screamed some more, making it as difficult as possible for Sam to get his massive arms around her and pull her from the car. He did it, however, and he threw her to the ground, where she tried to get up immediately, still screaming.
“Help! Somebody help me!”
He grabbed her arm and brought kept her from getting up. He forced her down onto her back and used one knee to pin her. Her screams started to get quieter as he applied pressure to her lungs, but she kept it up as long as she could.
Finally, the pain in her chest proved too much and she could no longer yell, only gasp. Pauly had gone around to the truck and grabbed a rope from the bed. He tossed it over to Sam who looped it first around Anna’s ankles. She tried to kick, but the way he had her pinned made it almost impossible to move her legs.
Sam had to stand up in order to get the rest of the rope wrapped around Anna’s arms and hands. When he did, she sucked in a huge gulp of air and let out one final, piercing scream. Sam waiting patiently until she was done, and then with a chuckle he reached down and started to bind her hands. The snow was coming down, falling on her exposed face, making her nose feel like an icicle, but at least it made her hands wet, which was giving Sam some issue as he tried to double knot her binds.
“Damnit, Pauly!” he yelled over his shoulder. “Get me a towel or something, would you?”
There came no reply.
“Pauly?”
Sam stood up straight again and glanced behind him. Anna tried to turn over on her stomach in order to crawl, but Sam put a muddy boot right on her stomach.
“Pauly where the hell—”
There was a blur.
That was all Anna’s brain could register at the moment. A blur.
The blur leaped over her and toppled Sam to the ground in less than a second. Anna, still unsure what she’d just saw, didn’t sit up immediately. She was still having a hard time catching her breath, and her head was spinning.
When she did attempt to get up, the blood rushed from her head and her vision was filled with black dots. She tried to blink the dots away, to get a clear view of who, or what, had tackled Sam, but all she could see were two big moving objects. One was brownish, the other was grayish, they were absolutely massive.
The more she tried to focus on these two fighting blurs, the dizzier she felt. She closed her eyes for a second, and felt her body start to fall back towards the concrete.
She was conscious enough to use her neck muscles, keeping her skull from cracking against the hard surface. Once she was down though, she was out. The last thing she heard before slipping into unconsciousness was what the howl of a wolf, calling to the moon.
Small Town Ways
Anna must’ve only been out for a few seconds, possibly a minute, but she doubted even that much based on the small amount of snow that was on her coat. Both the blurs were gone, and she was alone laying on the road in between her car and Sam’s truck. There was no sign of him or Pauly. She took her time getting up, starting first with getting to her hands and knees, then to her feet, using her car door for support. She leaned against the jeep for a moment, breathing heavily, and then she quickly slipped inside. She wasn’t sure where the two men had gone and if they were soon to be coming back, either way, she wasn’t interested in being here when they did.
She turned the key in the ignition and heard the depressing and unmistakable sound of her engine failing to start. “No, no, no!” She slammed her hands down on the steering wheel. “This can’t be happening!”
She heard the roar of an engine as a third car pulled up. The black vehicle went around the truck and parked right in front of Anna. A tall, muscular man got out of the driver’s seat and waved at her.
“Need a lift?”
Anna looked down at the license plate of the car and took notice of the last two letters. FU.
She opened her own door, slowly, and stepped out. She didn’t walk, however,
keeping herself at a safe distance from the man and keeping her door open as a sort of barrier between them.
“These two men, they uh, well it’s sort of a long story. I’m not sure what’s wrong with my car, but I’m worried they might come back.” She looked around nervously and pulled her coat tighter across her chest. “Do you know anything about cars?” She knew it was a long shot, but she figured her best option would be to get her car running and head to Stella’s, rather than for her to get into this stranger’s car.
“Not much,” the man said. “But I can call you a cab, if that would make you more comfortable? Do you live in Idle Waters?”
“Yes, err, I just moved here.”
“Oh, welcome!” He smiled at her.
“Could I use your phone to call the sheriff? I need to report what happened tonight.”
The man nodded. “Of course.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a clunky black flip phone. “Here you go.”
He started to walk over to Anna, who stayed behind her car door and took the phone from his outstretched hand through the open window. “Thanks.”
“You can make that call in my car if you like, I have the heat running.”
Anna took a deep breath and tried to hear her intuition. Sometimes it spoke to her loudly, telling her exactly what she should do. Other times, it was quiet, and she had to really focus to know what was the right decision. Right now, it seemed nearly silent, although there was the faintest of messages coming through. Just a single word came to the forefront of her mind.
Hero.
It was a strange word choice, one she was pretty sure her intuition had never used before when speaking to her, but somehow she knew, with just that word, who this man was.
“You were the one who fought them off,” she said, giving the man a wide-eyed look. “You were the, the blur.”
The man laughed. “The what?”
“I didn’t really see you… I could only sort of make out these shapes, and then I passed out, but it was you! You were the one who ran Sam and Pauly off. You saved me.”
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