A light puff of steam hissed as the rain fell against my cigarette. I inhaled deeply, enjoying the mix of the brisk air with the nicotine I so desperately needed.
I stood in front of the entrance to Hell. Well, if a job counted as Hell, which I certainly believed to be the case. I sighed, pulling the irritating name tag away from my neck to stop its scratching. It read, ‘SAMMY’, the oh-so-original moniker my parents decided to give me. I still groused to my brother that it wasn’t even a name. Who names their child a nickname?
Despite being two years older, my younger brother took no small amount of pleasure in emasculating me in any way he could. I couldn’t blame him; my features didn’t exactly scream “masculinity.” My brown hair reached to my shoulders, a product of my laziness in refusing to leave my house for anything other than work or alcohol.
My height had been a sore spot for me since my brother had outgrown me in early highschool, sprouting well past my meagre height of 5’9 to an impressive 6’2. I wasn’t sure which parent I had to blame for that fact, but I didn’t mind pinning it on both.
I flicked my cigarette, watching as the ashes blew away swiftly into the parking lot with the wind. I sighed, knowing my break was nearing its end, dreading to go back to my shift as a cashier.
I had worked at Jerry’s, a local convenience store, for a few years now, and although I detested it the pay was just comfortable enough for me to stay. My thoughts wondered as I watched customers filter in and out, griping about this or that, leaving shopping carts hither and thither. I sighed again, knowing I’d be asked to bring them back.
I put my cigarette out, stepped out into the drizzle and retrieved them before heading back inside. It was supposed to rain much heavier later; I’d prefer to get damp now rather than soaked. My dickhead manager wouldn’t take no for an answer, after all.
KERTHOOOOM
I heard the crackle of thunder in the distance, making me jump slightly. As much as I loved the rain, thunder had always made me nervous, much to my chagrin.
The automatic doors slid open as I approached with my train of carts, and behind it stood the devil himself: Kevin. He was a freak of nature, as tall as he was stupid, towering at 6’6 with a room temperature IQ to match. He never left his car without his signature pink baseball cap, clinging to his bald, bulbous head tighter than a dog to a life preserver. How he had gotten a management position I would never know, but he used it to make my life a living hell.
“Sammy, we need you on go backs. Where have you been?” Kevin asked, sternly.
“Sorry boss, was just finishing my smoke break,” I replied, while also gesturing to the carts I had plucked from the parking lot.
He looked at me as if I’d shot his dog, before replying with a snivel, “You need to tell management before you go on your break, you’re leaving us in a tough spot during a rush.”
I looked at him blankly, before eyeing the rest of the building. There were hardly any customers, they’d already stocked up on their doomsday supplies when they heard rain was coming.
“I see,” I replied, noncommittally. I balled my frustration up inside of my chest, resisting the urge to tell him that, actually, I already told the manager I was going to break before shift change, you fucking nitwit, but decided it wouldn’t be good for either of our health.
He gave me a sickly smile, “Good. Work on those go backs, afterwards you can go home,” before turning around and leaving me to my anger.
I raised my left arm, looking at the black, smooth-faced digital watch on my wrist.
Yup, 2:59. And my shift ends at…3. Of course.
I sighed for a third time, once again considering how easy life -or lack thereof- would be if a car would run me over.
Approximately 40 minutes and a litany of curse words later, I found myself clocking out in the break room with even less hope in life than I had thought possible.
“Rough day?”
I looked to the side, shocked out of my trance, and gave a rueful smile.
“You have no idea,” I replied, lightly shaking my head towards the woman who had asked.
Asha, as she was called, was by far the only sufferable coworker I had, and closest in age. The two of us were both in our mid twenties, her 26 and myself 25, which gave us a modicum of brotherhood for our pitiable profession.
She was pretty, with a black pixie cut and red highlights, matching her winged eyeliner. It would be a striking appearance, were it not contrasted with the bright, sickly orange tone of her work uniform, which made her resemble the world’s most emo tangerine.
Her eyes flicked up from her phone for a moment as a frown crossed her face.
“You don’t get to leave without me, dickweed. You’re not ditching me again.”
I shook my head, “I’m not leaving, I’m getting something from the deli until your shift’s done.” I responded. I had promised her I’d accompany her to visit our mutual friend - my best friend, Aaron. We had met him here before he’d been fired, and become fast friends.
She grunted, standing as she placed her phone into her back pocket, and stretched lightly. My eyes flicked down of their own accord, though I pulled them back up before she noticed.
“Eyes to yourself, skippy,” she snipped, staring at me accusatorially.
Or, so I had thought. Whoops.
My face flushed lightly before I about-faced and left the room. Nothing like a good meal to wash away the shame. I passed through the store, giving hellos to coworkers as I passed, spouting a quip here and there, before I retrieved food and sat down. It was a short while later that I spotted Asha heading towards me, giving me a light wave.
We walked out of Hell with full bellies and a weekend ahead of us. Thank god it was Friday. I looked towards Asha, who was taking light sips from a cup of coffee she’d ordered inside.
“Gimme,” I ordered, snatching the cup from her hands, before taking a long quaff.
“Dick!” She pouted, staring angrily at the cup in my hand.
I replied with a toothy grin, as she snatched it out of my hands.
“It’s good, what is it?” I questioned.
“You don’t get to know that until you apologize,” she retorted, sneering at me as she wiped the rim off and took a sip.
“Alright, alright,” I said, “We taking your car or mine? ‘Cuz I certainly don’t mind playing passenger princess today.”
She glanced at me, letting out a Cheshire like grin.
“I’d like to see you play princess sometime,” She teased, “But you’re not exactly my type.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
I laughed in response, hiding the light stabbing of pain in my heart, before I replied, “I don’t think anyone wants to see me in a dress, I don’t think it fits my aesthetic.”
Asha snorted in response, “Aesthetic? I didn’t realize milquetoast was an aesthetic.”
I shook my head as she led the way to her car, some beat up old thing. Half the grey-green paint on the passenger side was stripped, showing the metal beneath. I could swear this thing was older than the country we lived in.
“You ever gonna get a new car?” I inquired as I pushed her seat into the place I liked before sitting.
“You paying for it?” She retorted, raising an eyebrow at me while she clipped her seatbelt in.
“Touché,” I reply, knowing we probably couldn’t afford a tire, much less a new car with our half-assed salary.
Rain pattered on the windshield as we drove towards our destination, Aaron’s new job. He switched between jobs more frequently than he switched partners, which was an impressive feat to say the least. His most recent job, which he had interviewed for last week, was an old antique shop in the ass end of the city. I wasn’t sure what kind of business a store like that could have without being a money laundering scheme.
Aaron had a habit of getting himself into sticky situations, and it had become my part time job to peel him out of it. I could still half-feel the slap his previous “conquest” had given me when I tried to bail him out of one of his “Aaronisms.” The dumbass had been talking to another woman on his dating app while still with her, only to realize they were friends. Small world. He was a good friend, but made a shitty partner.
Asha and I had met him a few years ago when we started training at the same time. Our knack for pissing off our supervisors made us fast friends, although I managed to hang onto the gig out of sheer apathy.
KERTHOOOOOOM
My thoughts were interrupted as another bout of thunder shook me from my daydreams. Asha gave me a quick glance before refocusing on the traffic ahead of us.
“You ok?” She asked, trying and failing to hide her light concern.
I looked at her, startled for a moment, before replying, “Yeah. Thunder just freaks me out. Never been a fan.”
She nodded, letting the conversation drop, as I focused on my favorite raindrop, hoping for it to reach the bottom of the windshield first. Asha turned the volume of her radio up, drowning out the pattering of the rain with a sound she had called, “music,” although I wasn’t sure how true that was. She had a penchant for listening to bands that screamed more than they sang.
Roughly ten minutes later, we arrived at our destination without dying in mid-rain traffic. Somehow. I climbed out of Asha’s car, slightly shivering as the progressively denser rain spattered cool drops on me.
I looked up at the storefront while rubbing the sides of my arms, attempting to get some warmth into them. The sign read Ollie’s Curiosities and Oddities. I wasn’t sure what possessed Aaron to apply here - I was certain his sociable personality wouldn’t do well in a place that received no business.
As if to confirm my suspicions, Asha and I were the only customers when we went in. Standing behind the front counter was a man, two months my junior, with short-cropped black hair, startlingly blue eyes, and a jawline Bruce Campbell would be jealous of. He stood to his full height of 6’3 as he saw us, a smile laying across his lips, and gave us a mock salute. I would be lying if I didn’t say I thought he was handsome, and the jealousy that most men felt as they looked at him didn’t seem to find purchase in me.
“You guys made it,” he said excitedly, “I’ve been waiting to show you guys this dump!”
I frowned at him, “You sure you should be saying that? You might set a new record in how fast you’ve been fired.”
Asha laughed, before adding onto the mockery, “Yeah Aaron, I’m surprised you lasted until we got here. I bet 50 bucks you wouldn’t last the first hour when you realized how boring it’d be.”
A grin spread across his face as he lightly shook his head. He walked around the counter and fist bumped Asha before he embraced me in a hug. I tried to weasel out of it, but his grip was like iron, and I couldn’t escape the giant teddy bear.
“Dude,” I complained, pushing out of the hug, “Please don’t hug me.”
His smile widened further before he retorted, “Why wouldn’t I hug my wife?”
I sighed, pushing the twinge I felt when he said that back down. This had been an ongoing in joke ever since I had been confused for Aaron’s partner at a Halloween party a couple of years ago, when we cosplayed as a lost dare. Unfortunately, Aaron’s friends thought it was hilarious, and my short lived stint as Aaron’s fling was a bottomless source of entertainment for them.
“So why the hell did you drag us here?” I asked, attempting to steer the conversation away from the current topic.
Aaron looked surprised for a second before he said, “Really dude? Look at all this cool shit, some of it might even be older than Asha’s car.”
Asha, who had been holding a relatively well made ceramic cat statue, looked up with disdain and flipped Aaron off before walking further into the store.
I shook my head in mock disappointment, giving Aaron a look of pity, before I followed. I looked around, getting a better take of the products up for sale, and found I was impressed. There were several pieces of rather old origin, fascinating design, many of which I wouldn’t complain about receiving as a gift. Aaron followed Asha around, playing guide.
Left to my own devices, I picked up an object here or there but didn’t find much to my attention. A short while later, I turned around, ready to let Asha know I needed to get home.
KERTHOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The third roar of thunder, far louder than the previous ones stormed through the small room, making me flinch. In my panic, my hand pushed a small vase over, and my heart dropped faster than the vase did.
It thudded on the ground, thankfully not breaking. I lifted it to put it back on the shelf, but felt something move, rattle, inside of it as I did. Curious, I tilted the vase to look inside, and spotted a something shiny at the bottom. I slid my hand inside, currently thankful of its rather thin build, and retrieved the object. It was a golden bracelet, intricately woven, two strips of gold weaving in and out of itself before it connected at two mid points. Three well cut sapphire colored gems were inlaid in it, and it was breathtaking.
On instinct, without even realizing I had done it, I slipped it straight into my pocket. I blinked, realizing I had just stolen from my friend, and set the vase down. I reached my hand into my pocket, ready to put it back -
“Sammy, you good?” Aaron asked. I jumped almost as much as I did when the thunder crackled, and looked at him in surprise.
“Uh, yeah,” I said, feeling as though I had forgotten something. “I was looking at this really cool thing…” I said, realizing I couldn’t remember what I had been looking at. Aaron raised an eyebrow.
“You must like vases, bro.” He quipped, before turning around and walking behind the counter once again.
I stood there like an idiot before Asha grabbed my sleeve and pulled me towards the door. We gave our thanks for letting us check the place out, and she ferried me back to my own vehicle.
“Thanks for the lift,” I said, glancing worriedly outside of the car at the heavy rain.
“No prob, bob. Now get the fuck out, I want to go home and change.” Asha retorted, with a smile.
I nodded, said my goodbyes, and rushed to my car’s door through the rain. It had gone from a sprinkle to a downpour, and I was regretting my decision to stay out so late. I turned my car on, winced as the music blasted my eardrums out, and turned it down hurriedly as I watched Asha drive off. The sun was lowering by this point, and I pulled my phone out to put some music on.
I felt something metallic and cold in my pocket, and, feeling confused, pulled it out as well. I looked stupefied, as in my hand was the bracelet from the store. My heart dropped.
I swore I put this back didn’t I?
I hadn’t meant to steal from that store… if the owner found out, Aaron and I both were fucked. I thought about returning it immediately but… I felt like I couldn’t. Despite the doom scenarios playing in my head, an overwhelming need filled my being and I couldn’t bring myself to consider returning it as an option.
I shook my head, deciding to worry about it after a shower, and headed home.
My apartment wasn’t exactly the Ritz, but it wasn’t the worst place I’d stayed at by a long shot. I was thankful my shit job at least payed for decent lodgings, but that was to be expected of a place that employees you, supposedly.
It was, unfortunately, on the second floor. I walked up the outdoor steps onto the lifted second-floor platform, trying my best to stay dry from the rain. I opened my door, and felt the weight of the world fall off my shoulders as I walked into my house. I kept it neat, comfy, and, in my opinion, well decorated.
I kicked my shoes and socks off, stripped and threw my clothes in the bathroom’s laundry basket. It was then I heard a familiar metal clink, and realized I had once again forgotten about the bracelet. I picked my soaked jeans out of the hamper and pulled the bracelet from my pocket, properly admiring it in the apartments brighter lighting.
Its design was immaculate. What I had taken for simple gold-plated bands were gold bands shaped into two elegant serpents, intertwining between one another to form the brace of it, with a sapphire on each head and one in the middle of their back.
I had never been one for jewelry, but the compulsion I felt from this one could not be denied. I ever so gently slid my right hand into it, the bracelet just barely fitting over my rather slender hand. It was cool to the touch, and as it slid into place, I could have sworn I smelled the fresh, salty breeze I had become so familiar with in the ocean of our town.
It was then that the sapphires began to glow. Surprised, I began to pull it off, when the gentle cool of the bracelet turned into a scorching cold, as if my hand had been in a snow bank for hours. I flinched, trying to remove the bracelet, but found I couldn’t. The more I pulled, the tighter and colder it became. The pain became unbearable, and I staggered towards my room, sitting down on the bed. My head swam as I tried to fight through the sheer pain.
I writhed in agony, letting loose silent screams of suffering, back arched as I tried to escape. My mind wavered, and then everything went dark.