Afterlife (Afterlife Saga) (30 page)

I walked to the bar as I had done last night still not knowing what to expect. My heart rate went up yet again when I knew I would have to pass the top table. I bit my lip as I always did when being unable to control my nerves and gripped the strap of my bag tighter over my shoulder. I put my head down and promised myself mentally I wouldn't look. I repeated it over and over in my head until I had passed, completing my goal of self-discipline.

I finally took a much needed breath when I got to the other side and was safely at the bar. I held my eyes closed and raised my head slightly as I inhaled.

“Well look who's back. Hey honey you ready to start your shift.” My eyes opened to find the kindest face looking back at me, as it felt like all my Christmas's had come at once. There was nothing I needed more than a friendly face right now, as my confidence was at an
all-time
low.  I didn't know how I would have lasted a minute without Karmun's happy smile making me feel welcome... let alone an entire night.

“I'm ready. Put me to work.” He motioned for me to come behind the bar and I followed to where he pointed for me to get through. Behind the bar was just like any other bar apart from it being immaculate. You could have done surgery behind there it was that clean. There was a place for everything and most of the glasses were so fancy I was scared to touch anything. There were masses of green bottles all lined up on their own appointed shelves. There wasn't two bottles the same.
All were
different in shape, size, label and even material, some being glass others being made out of metal, pot and even wood. The only similarity was that they all held the same green liquid. Karmun saw me looking and said,

“Ah yes we have a lot of different liquors that you won't have seen before, we import specialised drinks for each of our customers’... umm…how should I say...needs.”  Needs? That was a strange way to put it but he was foreign, so maybe he meant something else.

It was the same with the glasses, there were goblets, shot glasses, wine glasses, tankards, pint glasses, high ball, Martini glasses, champagne flutes and even sake cups. And they were only the ones I could name. There were others too, made out of different materials, ranging from stone to copper, silver and gold. Some were plain and other looked as though they belonged in the Tower of London with the rest of the crown jewels.

“You can put your stuff back here in this little room.” He showed me down a few steps off from behind the bar into a small office style room.

“I'll give you a minute,” he said smiling as he walked back to the bar.

I looked about the room taking in my surroundings for a moment amazed for the first time to notice the lack of things, rather than the splendour I was used to seeing in this place. There was a desk with no paperwork or a computer. There were shelves with no folders, just old looking books. Also there were no personal belongings from any of the other staff members so I wondered, one, what this room was even used for and two, why was I the only one that seemed to be using it? 

I put down my bag and took off my jacket, hanging it on the back of the only chair as there were no hooks. There was, thankfully however, a gilded mirror that looked far too much like an antique to be in this tiny room. I studied my face quickly realising that instead of my usual deadly white skin my cheeks were flushed giving me a warm glow. I placed the cold backs of my hands on them to cool them off and curled a stray strand of hair that had escaped from my twist. I took another nervous deep breath, knowing it wouldn't be my last one tonight and with my head held high, I walked back out to take my shift by the horns!

For the first night Karmun thought it best if I just took it easy and collected empties as I did downstairs on my first shift.

“It will also give you chance to get a feel for the place but you must understand up here we do things differently.” I was not surprised. Nothing about this place was normal so why should the work be.

“I am the only one that gets the drinks ready and the girls take them to their assigned tables, but they never change tables, you understand?  That's our one main rule ok?” It was the first time I had seen him serious so I took the rule as set in stone.

“No problem,” I said copying his serious tone. But I then wondered if I was only collecting empties then who would be serving my tables?

“You’re going to be doing the tables nearest to the bar. There are ten tables in your section and these are over here.” He pointed to the ones surrounding the bar area. The tables went from one side of the bar to the other, ending up near the staircase I had left by last night. They were all along the same wall and thankfully none of them went near the top table.

“We have six girls in total, including you and they too have all their own sectors. See the small Asian girl with the pigtails, she does the same sector as you but on the other side leading from the main staircase you see there, to the staircase at the back where you came in. Her name’s Akako.” He pointed to the staircase that I had first seen Dominic Draven and his bodyguard’s walk up to the other end of the wall where I had just come from. The girl I spotted was like a china doll, she wore what looked like a black school girl dress but then I remembered there was a name for people that dressed like her...what was it called?... Gothic Lolita, yeah that was it. She looked adorable until she turned around showing scary blood red contacts that were haunting to look at. She saw me drop my head and smiled an evil grin to match her dramatic eyes.

Karmun walked further round so that I had a clear view of the middle and he pointed out the other waitresses.

“Then there's the middle, which is split into three sectors. The parts that are not raised both have six tables that sit Mr Draven's more important clients.” He pointed around the large raised area that only had the one table in it, this one of course I knew well.

“You can see the girl with long green hair that's Zarqa. She covers the left side and the other girl with the short black hair that's Rue and she covers the right.” He continued and I wondered how I was ever going to remember so many strange names in one night. He pointed towards each girl in turn and I couldn't have picked a group of girls so different in all my life.

The one that worked on the left with the green hair was very beautiful with green eyes to match her sea coloured hair. She wore a black corset with green ribbon tied up each side. The black trousers she wore looked like leather and heels she had on made me wonder how she made it through the night without limping.

The other girl looked more boyish but the bust she had under her tight black T shirt proved she was just that. She looked like a punk skater with long shorts and army boots that reminded me of the ‘
Avril
Lavigne
’ look, only she had short spiky black hair that was shaved on one side. I could now only see the back of her so didn't get a look at her face but I did however notice the blonde bomb shell that was dressed like a high end prostitute buzzing around the top table.

Karmun noticed me looking and continued on with his introduction to the VIP area.

“Ah, that's Layla and the other girl with black and red hair is Lauren but everyone calls her Loz, they both work the top table” I looked up at him sensing there was more he wanted to say.

“What, they have two girls for just the one table?” I said in disbelief, not understanding why on earth they would need two waitresses for what... no more than seven people!

“Yes and you are never to approach this table, if you have anything to ask then come to me first ok?” He said this in a firm yet steady tone. It was most definitely a warning but it just made me even more curious as to whom this man Dominic Draven really was.

“So there you have it, it’s as simple as that, just stick to your tables and you will be fine.” He walked back to the bar and I followed but as I turned I saw the back part of the room that was in the shadows.

There stood a pair of double doors that were even bigger than the ones at the front entrance. They were carved in what looked like the same hardwood, with the same family crest carved in each panel. Above, there was a stone arch that held them into place, this also had carvings but I couldn't understand the words nor did I recognise the language that was used. Unusually though there wasn't anyone guarding these doors. There was however just something about them that looked threatening and imposing, almost as if they took on a life of their own, something demonic that sent shivers down my spine.

“What's in there?” Normally I wouldn't have asked but it was like staring at Pandora's
Box
. There was something inside me that needed to know more. He looked without needing to as I could tell by his expression he knew where my eyes meant.

“You should stay clear of those doors.” And that was all that he said on the matter. It was like I was being tugged from either side, good versus bad. The good girl side of me wanted to take this advice and stay away but the other side, the side the monsters fed from was daring me to run towards the doors tearing them open and run for whatever they were concealing. I could hear the voices...do it...do it. I wrestled with the demon inside me and walked away...

For
now.

The band started to play, but for the first time since working here I heard a woman's voice over the microphone. It was a more mellow sound than what usually came from the speakers but it still held a rocky edge to it, as she sang about an infatuation with a dark eyed stranger and how within 24 hours the love would turn bitterly into death. The message being that he would inevitability become the death of her.

For reasons out of my body’s control I looked at the table that I had been avoiding all night. What I found there was both magical and terrifying. What was it about him that held these two descriptions so closely together?

As always whenever I saw him out of my dreams, he was wearing a suit, black with a dark red shirt and black tie. For some reason this added even more to his dark features. His face looked even more cruel and unimpressed than usual. Maybe it was my added presence that did it. I couldn't seem to take my gaze from his eyes that were exhibited as cold and black like the darkest of winter nights. He sat in his chair with a masterful grace, his strong shoulders set back against the stone that mirrored his muscles. He looked deadly and indestructible.

It didn't take me long to get into the job at hand as a monkey could have done it just as well. The tables contained the same colourful characters as the rest of the place but luckily for me my tables seemed to be the nicer ones. The people that sat at all of my ten tables were nice to me and smiled as I took away their empties. Some even passed me over the glasses that were hard to reach. One table had people nicer than the rest who even asked my name and introduced themselves as the family of Shinigami. Of course I didn't know what this meant but they seemed pleasant. They all shared the same striking eyes of the lightest blue colour almost as if they were transparent but they held a depth and sincerity to them. I couldn't help but feel at ease as they stared back at me.

Karmun kept a close eye on me the whole night but this wasn't in an intimidating way but more like a friend who wanted to look out for me. He shouted me over as I had just finished clearing the last of the tables with empties on it.

“What's up?” I said just as one of the other waitresses came over to the bar. It was the one with short hair, what was her name again ….umm Rue. She turned to me and extended her hand but I couldn't keep the shock from my face when I saw her eyes. They were the scariest eyes I had ever seen. They were all white apart from the tiniest of black pupils left in the middle. There were scars and what looked like burn marks around her eyes, creeping their way down the cheeks.

She was blind....

“Nice to meet you, I'm Rue and you're Keira right?” She said in a cocky voice as
I took her hand and shook it, noticing a strange tattoo of an eye in a tribal style on the palm of her hand. I looked at the other hand to find another identical one in the same place. She looked directly into my eyes, which I found amazing considering she couldn't see them.

“Hi, nice to meet you too.” She smiled and let go of my hand and turned towards the bar with no problems, she didn't even need a cane. She was quick and nimble and grabbed her tray of drinks from Karmun, turning one last time to my face and said,

“Welcome to the house of crazy, I hope you stay.” And that was it, she was gone.

I couldn't help thinking about how she knew exactly where my face was when she said this because I had moved. I knew blind people's senses were heightened but she was truly gifted, to look at her you would never have guessed she couldn't see just like the rest of us.

“So how's it going?” Karmun asked me as though it was my first day at a new school. I suppressed a little laugh and told him the truth.