Fall, 1937
Lynn
Tick. Tock.
The hands of the clock spun in a static motion, uncaring of unspoken laments of the bar’s many drunken customers as they peered at it on their way out, unaware of just how much time they’d spent drinking away the miseries of the everyman.
The placement of the device was a cruel thing, to say the least. There was no doubt in Lynn’s mind that it was strategic, Mia had told her a while back that the thing had originally been embedded into the back wall of the bar, moved to stop customers from thinking about how long it’d been since they’d entered.
At least, that’s what Mia thought, and Lynn didn’t think the idea was too far from the truth.
She looked back at the entrance for a moment, squinting her eyes at the clock planted in the wooden siding above the door frame.
4:52 AM.
Christ.
“I just-I worry about you, y’know?” Mia’s voice came from behind her, a soft, warm murmur, “I get that you’re hardened n’ all that, but it ain’t safe out there at night, walking those streets. Especially with how far downtown you work.”
Lynn turned her head back to the bar, Mia meeting her gaze with a bothered look. At this, Lynn slouched slightly, hunching herself over the bar and moving her eyes to the drink clutched in her hand.
“I can handle myself.”
Mia’s eyes didn’t stray from Lynn, “You always say that, Lynn, but you always come in here lookin’ so damn tired! I really just think that you-”
“Mia, I’m fine. Really.”
In her tiredness the words had accidentally come out rough and coarse, something she quickly thought to apologize for, but before she could get the words out, Mia spoke.
“Alright.”
They both stared at each other for a moment, lost in a silence between them that was only interjected by occasional mirthful conversations spewed out by the intoxicated patrons of the bar.
Mia was fairly well dressed, outfitted in the usual uniform of the bar, a simple combination of white collared shirt and black vest. Her waves of blonde hair just nearly reached her shoulders, though the yellow color faded towards the top of her head, her crown beginning to grow out hair in its natural, light brown color. Just above the shirt’s collar, a leather collar, akin to that of a pet, was wrapped around her neck, the letters “WW” burned into the brown material.
She wore a slight frown on her face, and her eyes gazed upon Lynn with a deep concern, an all too familiar look.
The craving suddenly sparked in her mind. Lynn instinctively rummaged around her coat pocket with the hand planted in it, hoping another sucker may have suddenly manifested itself from her sheer desire for it.
She didn’t like talking about work with Mia. Stressed both of ‘em out.
Lynn took a small sip of the drink in her hand before taking the other hand out of the coat, and placing onto the table to tap on the wooden bar idly.
“Listen, I get that me workin-”
Lynn stopped mid sentence. Mia had suddenly paled, her eyes solely focused on the hand Lynn had pulled out.
She looked down to see what had shocked Mia so much, and sure enough, there was her hand, fingers covered in a thick layer of dark red. Dried blood coated each of her fingers in a large splatter, the sheet of red cracked at the points where the fingers bent and moved.
Shit, did I really punch him that hard?
Mia’s voice suddenly broke her out of thought, significantly louder than earlier, “And what is that about!?”
A few eyes turned towards them with the sentence.
Lynn quickly shoved the hand back into her coat, attempting to de-escalate the conversation, “Just a little scuffle on the way home.”
“A little scuffle,” Mia scoffed, completely ignoring Lynn’s attempt to calm her, “Lynn, your whole damn hand is covered in it!”
“It’s not my blood,” Lynn slouched further into the bar, tightening her grip on the glass in her hand, ”a problem came up, and I took care of it.”
“Ugh!” Mia was clearly exasperated, and she slammed her open palm against the bar, a noise that would’ve drawn attention if not for the loud clamoring from around the building. “That isn’t the point, Lynn! The point is that there shouldn’t even be a ‘problem’! Beating people to a pulp shouldn’t be in the job description of an accountant!”
Lynn cringed as her lie came from Mia’s lips. She’d needed a mock job, something to use as an easy alibi for the late hours she’d have to work. It’d seemed like a fine idea at the time, but each time it came up Lynn couldn’t help but feel awful for lying to her. “I know, Mia. I know.”
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Mia frowned at Lynn’s resignation to her point, hoping to get an actual response out of her, but Lynn just took another swig of her drink, only leaving an inch or so of beer in the glass.
Another silence.
Mia finally moved her gaze from Lynn, awkwardly shifting her gaze to the glass she’d been cleaning with a rag as Lynn had come in. She looked dejected as she began to speak, as if she already knew how Lynn would respond to the words she was about to say, “Would working here really be so bad?”
Lynn sighed, “We’ve already talked about this …”
“No, we haven’t! Every time I try to talk about it, you just shut me down, just like this!”
“I’m not shutting you down, Mia. It just wouldn’t work.”
“And why not!?”
“You know good and well why not, I don’t got a lick of werecreature in me.”
“That doesn’t matter!”
Lynn gritted her teeth, frustrated that they were even having this conversation again, “Are you kidding me? Of course it does, that’s this place’s whole gimmick!” She took a moment to drink the last of the liquid in her glass, setting it down onto the bar with a loud thunk once she’d finished.
“You see that guy down there?” Mia spoke quietly, pointing down the bar towards a well dressed young man behind the counter. His pale body had a fairly gray complexion, and he shared in wearing Mia’s black and white pairing of vest, shirt, and pants, as well as having a quite similar leather collar, “WT” burned into the side. Two spiked teeth could be seen in his mouth as he smiled, making casual conversation with one of the people in front of the bar.
Mia spoke as Lynn continued to look at the vampire, “He’s a new guy, hired a month or two ago. We’ve talked, apparently my manager got his collar custom order.” She pointed a finger at her own collar as Lynn looked back at her. “You can get fakes for dirt cheap, if you know where to look.”
Lynn winced, “This place really that understaffed?”
Mia nodded sadly as Lynn looked around the building.
The bar was by no means large, but more times than not it looked to be bursting at the seams. Large masses of people were constantly moving in and out of the place during the day, and even during the night when traffic considerably slowed, crowds of familiar faces would still stay seated for hours at a time, drinking through the late, late hours of the night.
With how busy this place got, you think staffing wouldn’t be so far and few between. To their own detriment, though, the management were quite quick to anger, that’s what Mia had said at least. Made it a hell of a lot harder to hire people when you blow a gasket on their first day.
That, and the shit pay.
Mia loved it though. Refused to work anywhere else. She got to chat up customers all night, learn about all the different sorts of people that walked through the bar’s door. Even if they paid her nothing, Lynn bet she’d still want to stay here, chewing the fat with anyone who took the time to come up and order a drink.
“That’s why you’d be so perfect! We need all the help we can get.”
Mia’s voice made Lynn look back towards her. She frowned as the proposition came up again. “I just don’t think working here is right for someone like me.” Lynn slid her empty glass towards Mia. “I’m not much of a talker, y’know?”
“You talk with me. All the time! Refill?” Mia grabbed the glass from in front of her, gesturing towards a beer tap with her free hand.
“Talking with you is different. And no, I think I’m good for the night.”
Mia turned and walked back towards a small sink behind the bar. “It’s not so different, you just gotta treat it like you know them. Talk to ‘em like they’re an old friend.”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s just hard for me.”
“I know.” Mia made her way back to the bar, returning to stand in front of Lynn.
“And besides, I gotta bring in money. For us.”
“Mhm.” The sound came from Mia with a frustrated acceptance.
It always came down to this, each time. They went through the same talking points, too. Money, worries about Lynn’s job, and her inability to keep casual conversation with strangers. Mia still pushed for it though, for Lynn to work with her, seemed like she did it every time they met at the bar. She’d probably bring it up next time too.
Mia was looking down at the worn wood of the bar, averting Lynn’s gaze, face fixed into a glower.
Lynn thought to comfort her, but a rattle at the door quickly grabbed her attention. She looked back as a small group of four or five people stumbled their way through the door. The first group to leave in a while.
Lynn quickly spared a glance at the clock above them.
“Shit, Four fifty-six! Night’s going by too damn fast.” She began to move out of her seat, and spoke as Mia looked up at her, “I got work early tomorrow,” she grabbed her hat and draped coat from the barstool next to her, quickly sliding both on. “I’ll probably be asleep by the time you get home, but I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
Silence.
“Okay.”
Lynn looked back at Mia as she responded, finishing sliding into her coat. The word was said quietly, but it was clear as day that it dripped with a strong frustration. She wore a deep frown all the while, it’d always been clear she hated Lynn working so far away, down in dark, abandoned strips of downtown, where the only signs of life were criminals, the blood stains they left behind, and the occasional corpse.
When a city is as infamous as Aceton, somewhere along the bright, yellow hum and throb of the city blocks, there had to be a dark underbelly, and Lynn just so happened to be a part of it.
Just the way it has to be.
Mia had moved from where they’d been talking while Lynn was thinking to herself, now standing by the sink at the back of the bar, washing out the glass that Lynn had just earlier finished.
“Hey,”
Lynn spoke, keeping her eyes fixed on Mia’s back, waiting until she acknowledged the call and turned from the sink to speak.
“Love you!”
Though Mia’s expression lightened slightly at the words, her frown stayed static. She simply turned back to the sink, sighing, and flatly responding as she continued to wipe at the glass with a rag.
“Yeah, love you too.”
The uncaring delivery stung. Lynn stood there for another moment, looking at Mia’s back as she continued to scrub at dishes. She’d be back to normal tomorrow. She’d forget about this argument in the busy haze of tending to the bar’s patrons, and everything would be okay. Or so Lynn hoped.
‘Til she brings it up again.
But that was now. It wouldn’t always be like this. Someday things would be normal. They would leave, get a house out of this city, away from all the devils, the violence, the murder and the scumbags and those damn entrance guards.
Just one more year.
One more year.
Lynn turned, walking for the door. She looked up, gauging the time on the clock as she walked to approach the door.
4:59 AM.
Damn.
As she looked back down towards the door, she could see reflections of the bar in the large windows on either side of it. People still sat, loudly clamoring around the round, wooden tables, but way back behind, Lynn could see Mia.
She’d turned from the sink, looking at Lynn as she left.
Lynn stuck up a hand, waving with the back of her hand as she continued for the entrance. She slunk it back down when she reached the door, turning the creaky handle and leaving.
A strong gust beat against her as she exited, ruffling her hair and the end of her coat around. The door closed behind her, slammed shut by the breeze.
Rain’s stopped.
All that remained of the earlier rainstorm were the sheen of the slick roads and sidewalks, painted in all sorts of yellows, pinks, and reds by the colorful lights in near every direction.
Silkstreet was covered in attractions from its start to its end, multicolored glowing signs fixed to every building, their static hums mixed with the chatter from the droves people making their way up and down the sidewalk.
Lynn looked up behind her, taking a moment to look up at the sign of the bar she frequented all so often.
“The Silver Bullet”, it said. The lights were a faint yellow, forming a jagged outline around the words. Towards the right side the thin glass tube forming the glowing outline morphed, turning and contorting to form the head of a wolf, which was choppily animated snapping its mouth open and shut.
Lynn felt a small tap on her shoulder, and turned to see a group of three men, awkwardly gathered to her left. It suddenly became apparent to her that she’d been blocking the entrance while looking at the sign, and she quickly stepped back.
“Sorry ‘bout that-”
Lynn started an apology, but the moment she moved they just pushed on past, knocking into her shoulder.
She sighed.
Why do I even try?
And with that, Lynn headed down Silkstreet, hands shoved into her pockets, strolling down sidewalks streaked with the colorful sheen of hued puddles.