Ever hear the joke about a priest and a captain in a bar? Me neither I don’t even know how it ends but that’s something I’d like to call this current situation.

 A man with messy black hair and dark circles under his eyes, his eyes looked cold and empty and his steps looked calculated.

 This man was named Damien, he never gave his last name to people and no one could be bothered to ask him.

 He was a simple but albeit successful freelance photographer that catered to rather eccentric clients.

He would spend the time when he wasn’t busy at pub a little distance from the city, it wasn’t close enough to be considered a small walk but wasn’t far enough to make those that didn’t live deep in the city consider driving, Damien was one of the former.

He already lived near the outskirts in a small apartment so he would often walk the distance and given the weather conditions, any time of the day might well he ideal.

  The bars name was [to be considered] there he spent his evenings slowly drinking and enjoying the atmosphere of the bar.

 This in itself was no consequence, every individual had their vices and this just so happened to be his, the only problem would be his location choice.

 The bar called [to be considered] was a hotspot for contract killers, mobsters tge like while this may had not have been the case originally at some point this had become true and all the normal customers had been replaced, all but one.

  The reason he remained was simple, he walked into the bar with such confidence every time no one had bothered to question it since the place was designated as the only place where everyone was essentially the same as a normal person.

 While customers were inside the bar the act of taking lives or excessive violence were not well welcomed and poison was strictly forbidden, so no weapons were allowed inside with the exception of perhaps a knife or two.

  Damien the odd man out in this situation was unaware of all this and merely attended the bar as usual with no worries or care as to why the owner had changed.

   “My usual” He said in a calm and low tone as he sat down, momentarily taking off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, he felt rather mentally drained today.

 The barman handed him a drink and nodded, he took a short look at the glass and said “This isn’t my usual”

“New special, on the house”

“If it’s free then no waste I suppose”

  This would happen from time to time, the bar would get new drinks and pass them around to customers, especially regulars and had assumed the new guy has just kept the practice going.

 The bar was silent as he picked up the glass and held it at an angle that made the glass glint and made it seem as though the liquid glowed and gave a light chuckle.

  The temperature had dropped even lower as the rain has started to pour and everyone took a look outside for a few seconds when a woman had opened the door quite forcefully.

  The woman had her red hair looking quite dishevelled, carrying a large rucksack had walked in, making it quite obvious that the rain had gotten her on the way here. The woman had a cowl on her face and Damian was convinced he could understand why.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    The read haired woman had taken off her shoes and tossed them to the side and like most customers left her large bag to a man at the door.

     The bag aside, the things she had just tossed away seemed too battered to be considered shoes anymore.

       The woman walked up to the front bar after getting a fresh set of clothes from the back and practically dropped herself into her seat looking alot more put together

   The bartender offered her the same drink he had just offered Damian and she and given relatively the same reply.

 Damian slowly turned to face this woman, he felt as though he should ask what could have led to her carrying such a heavy looking sack.

   When the woman walked in, like the rest he has turned his head to observe but had preoccupied himself with the shape of the bag and the way it’s contents shifted about.

   “Rough day?” The man had finally asked taking a sip from his glass and the woman had given him a small smile.

“Oh you wouldn’t believe” The woman had decided to humour what she felt was either this man’s attempts at flirting or threat’s.

  The line between the two had become harder for her to recognise as she continued to do her job.

   The woman had nudged him off his composure alone feeling he was a fairly experienced person from her line of work but she had never heard of him.

  This had only meant one of two things to her, either this man was an amateur or very good at his job, she felt the urge to test that

“Try me” The woman could almost feel herself chuckle as she only felt a stronger urge to test him but controlled herself.

  “I just might take you up on that offer mister..” she paused a dart flying past her face just enough to graze the bridge of her nose.

   The woman had reflexively turned her head in the direction of the dart to see who was on the other side only to see the dark haired man playing with it.

“My reflexes still seem fine I guess” The woman was stunned by his choice of words, he had not only caught the dart but now made it seem this was a regular occurrence.

 The woman had a rather wild guess as to why she had not heard off this man now she continued to be lost in her thoughts as she watched him flick the dart back at the board only for it to hit dead centre.

  He gave a small chuckle as he picked up his drink and took another slow sip “I’m not drunk enough”.

 “What an interesting man”