The time was approaching 8pm, Levi got up from his hammock and walked inside

over to the bathroom to take a leak. His body was cold and heavy, he stumbled quite a

bit, looks like that gin was really doing the trick. After flushing, he washed his hands and

stared at himself in the mirror.

His 2 mismatched eyes, the left was a shining grey and the

right was a contrasting dark blue. Both his eyes were bloodshot, how long had he spent

staring at the night sky and drinking? He started to try and do the math. He spoke to

himself in a low voice that had a kind of deep growl to it “Well if I got off work at 7am,

got home close to 8am and started drinking my now empty bottle of Aviation gin.... that

puts me at about 12 hours and not that I need it, but I also haven’t slept in close to.... 36

hours?” He smiled to himself in the mirror, finding his actions a little amusing. His teeth

were pristine, the only thing off was the fact that his canines were somewhat overly sharp

and longer compared to the average person. Even though the top right one in his mouth

was visibly chipped, it was still abnormally sharp.

Levi thought it’d be good to get some fresh air, so he threw on his black Nike

boots and a black flannel jacket over his grey tank top, then looped his belt through his

blue jeans. After grabbing his wallet and keys, he decided on bringing 2 more items. A

black half mask and faded black baseball cap. He would rather ride out his drunkenness

in peace and didn’t particularly feel like being harassed or ogled at. He put on his mask to

hide his face, then the baseball cap to hide his blonde (borderline white) hair. Levi’s

unique features made him extremely identifiable.

Levi decided to head into town to grab some drinks; as he walked, he started to

sober up, even if it was just a little bit. He couldn’t head to his usual spot because Marcy,

the bartender at his usual spot, would be able to tell how drunk he was and wouldn’t

serve him. No matter how much he offered to tip her. He decided on the fancy place, it

shouldn’t be too busy on a Monday night and they made on hell of a Bloody Mary there.

It was a bit pricier, which is why he wouldn’t go often.

As Levi tried his best to soberly enter the building, he continued to stumble. But

no one seemed to notice. The room was spinning but he managed to make out the bar in

the middle of the room. Most of the stools were vacant as he predicted, he plopped down

into the closest one and tried his best to sound sober as he waved over the bartender. A

tuxedoed man walked over to Levi and said, “What can I get for you?” Levi held out his

debit card and replied, “A spicy double shot bloody Mary, keep the tab open.” The

bartender took the card and said, “I’ll have that right over for you, sir.”

Levi sat there and looked around the room, there was an older couple dining on

what appeared to be overpriced salmon that was a portion size 4 sizes too small. On the

other end of the bar was a woman in a red dress who was looking almost as lonely as he

was. The only other people there were a younger couple or an uncle treating his younger

niece to a fancy dinner.

The bartender returned to Levi with his drink, but in the time it took to make Levi

finished it and was ready for another. He closed his eyes and awaited the next one, the

room was spinning faster by the minute. He thought to himself “Fuck it, the more I drink,

the less I feel the fire.” When he opened his eyes, the red dressed woman was now sitting

next to him. “You’re quite attractive, why do you hide behind that mask.” She said to him

while leaning against the bar with one arm and holding a drink. “You must not be from

around here.” Levi said to her while avoiding eye contact as the bartender delivered his

next drink. “Actually, I was born and raised here in Heart.” Levi chuckled and replied to

the woman “Then you should know damn well why I wear this mask. The woman

smirked and answered, “I figured it was you, but I couldn’t believe it until I spoke to you

myself.” Levi drank in silence, not looking at the beautiful woman next to him. She

continued to speak “I always heard of a disfigured man with 2 mismatched eyes with

white hair, but I know better than to listen to rumors because you are far from

disfigured.” Levi finished his drink and was onto his next.

“Do you know who I am though?” She asked. Levi looked her up and down, she

was fit with ocean blue eyes, her body fitting perfectly in the red dress and accentuating

her hourglass figure. “Not a clue.” He answered her, his eyes returned to scanning the

room, the pair who he thought was uncle and niece was now passionately kissing.

“Weird.” He thought. The woman laughed and said, “I’m Rachel Heathers from channel

7 Heart news.”

Levi continued to drink, maintaining his solemn expression and said “Neat.”

“Now you know my name, so the polite thing to do is tell me yours.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“…Levi”

“Well Levi, where are you from?”

“Not here.”

“Obviously, so where are you from originally?”

Levi had no reason to answer, so he remained silent.

“Okay then, what brought you to Heart?”

“I liked the name.” he finished his drink and was once again onto the next.

Rachel laughed and then realized that he wasn’t joking. “Wait, what about your family?”

“Not a clue, was never that close with them.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She put her hand on his arm, trying to comfort the man

who was looking more than a little depressed this evening. “How about this, 1 question

for 1 drink?” Rachel propositioned him.

“Deal.” Levi couldn’t turn down an offer like that. “By that reasoning you already

owe me a couple."

Rachel smiled and said to the bartender “Jared, put his drinks on my

tab tonight.”

Jared, the bartender, gave her a nod.

Levi sarcastically thanked her, then proceeded to slam his drink.

“So, is it true you took on a whole bar of cops and won?” She asked.

“They were drunk and I wouldn’t exactly say I won. I can’t really go back there.”

Rachel pulled out a notebook and proceeded to write vigorously. “Jared, can you bring my friend Levi and I shots of tequila?”

Jared brought the shots. Which were gone as soon as they appeared, Levi wasted no effort trying to hide how drunk he was now as

Rachel proceeded with her line of questioning. “Were your eyes born that way or were they transplanted due to a freak accident that you had as a child.”

“Transplanted, if I remember correctly then my eyes used to be green before they

were removed.”

“Why were they removed?”

Levi slammed his shot and let out a twisted smile that revealed this chipped fang.

“A mad scientist, borderline psychopath was having fun with me.”

Rachel rolled her eyes and said, “Serious answers only please.”

“I’m telling you the truth, it’s your choice to believe it or not.”

Rachel had a puzzled look on her face, then asked “Were you abducted when this

happened?”

“Bingo.” Levi took his shot and Rachel’s.

“Oh my god… I’m so sorry that you had to endure that. Who could do that to

another human being?”

Levi began to laugh as if she had just told him a joke. Then looked her in the eyes

for the first time and saw the sadness/empathy in her eyes. The smile left his face and he

said to her “It is what it is.” He took another shot but began to cough as it felt like it went

down the wrong pipe.

“Are you okay?” she asked and began to rub his back.

“Yeah, just a bit too much to drink tonight.”

Rachel stood up, held out her hand and said “Here, let’s

get you out of here. That’s more than enough questions for one night.”

Levi stood up, unable to stand straight and Rachel put her arm around him.

They walked over towards the exit, but Levi tripped over his own feet, startling Rachel.

A man rushed over to help him up and with a look of pity said “Levi?”

Levi looked up and said “Alex? What are you…” before he could finish, Levi’s

attention was all focused towards not puking in the middle of this restaurant. Levi then

pulled his mask back over his face when he was sure he wasn’t going to vomit.

“Do you 2 know each other?” Rachel asked Alex.

“Yeah, we work together.” Alex answered “Wait, aren’t you Rachel Heathers from the news?”

Rachel blushed and said “Yes but that’s not important right now, can you help me take him to my car? I’m a little worried

leaving him on his own right now, so I was going to take him back to my place.”

Alex got a slight glint of jealousy in his eyes and said to Levi “You are one lucky son of a gun.

Yeah, I’d be more than happy to help.” He then helped Levi up with Rachel, as a young

woman rushed over to them.

She asked “Alex, is he okay?”

Alex answered her in a calm tone “Yeah, Alice, this is Levi. He works over at the warehouse with us. But he’s on the night shift.”

Alice looked at the disheveled masked man on the ground and felt confused.

This was the man that she had heard rumors about and told to stay away from. It was

somewhat underwhelming as she watched Alex and Rachel struggle to get the drunken

Levi off the ground. He was unable to walk without the support of Alex. The group made

their way out of the fancy and warm restaurant into the night which greeted them with a

chill and emptiness.

“That one.” Rachel said and pointed to a matte black Mercedes.

Alex moved Levi into the passenger seat of Rachel’s car and strapped him in.

“Are you sure this is alright?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, he should definitely have someone watching over him tonight.” Rachel replied.

“I was asking him, not you.” Alex was worried about loading Levi into the car of a woman he just met.

“Oh.” Rachel looked down in embarrassment.

Levi stared down at the ground with his masked face in his hands, trying to get the world to stop spinning so fast.

“Yeah, I don’t care.” Levi’s tone reflected his unease at this whole situation. He was

never a big fan of being around others outside of work and bars. People had only proven

time and time again how cruel they could be to him when given the chance.

“Okay then, I’ll see you at work in a couple days. Try and take it a little easier.” Alex closed the car

door and Rachel got in and the 2 drove off into the night.

“Are you sure he’ll be alright?” Alice asked Alex as they walked back into the

building and back to their seats.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I once saw him even drunker than he was tonight stumbling around town back to what I assume was his house. Then the next

day he was at work good as new. Well maybe not new because he reeked of what I’m pretty sure was tequila, but other than that he’s still one of our best workers.”

“Huh” Alice remarked and looked out the window in the direction that the Mercedes left in. She wondered what pushed Levi to act in such a way that could only be

described as miserable.