"To Never Be" - The Darkness

       The drive to the restaurant took longer than either of us had expected. I sat in the car, trying not to draw attention to myself, as Nicene went through her normal parking ritual. Driving up and down the rows, looking for the perfect spot upfront, never settling for one of those farther back spaces, it had to be just right for her. She knows what she wants, and while she will never admit that aloud, you can tell that much from her determination.

       She finally parked, complimenting this space with her presence, and quickly I got out of the car. As always Nicene lingered about a while longer in her car seat, checking to make sure everything was hidden away, out of view of would be thieves. As she went through her envisioned check list, I caught a glimpse of something else. A couple storming from the restaurant; a woman with abnormally long red hair, and a clean cut man dressed for Friday at the office. They argued for a moment, but when the man tried to place his hand on the woman’s shoulder, she brushed it off and turned away. He stood for a moment, watching her leave, then turned and headed towards the parking lot. Digging through his pockets, I watched as he pulled out his keys, and then stopped. He looked up for a moment, and then snapped around in the direction the girl had wondered off to. He placed the keys back in his pocket and began down the side street after the girl. Curiosity got the best of me, and I had to follow as well, but I am sure my intentions were entirely different. I hadn’t taken five steps when I heard a voice from behind me.

       “The door is this way silly.” It was Nicene of course.

       “Why don’t you get us a table, and I will be there shortly?”

       “How about no.” She said in that smug way only she can pull off, “Where ever you are going, I am going with you.”

       “It’s ok Nicene, I just want to see someth...”

       She cut me short, “Look, there is no point in fighting me; I’m coming with, ok?”

       I just stood there for a second, wondering how someone could ask for approval and demand it in the same sentence, but I knew I was wasting my time. Without saying another word, I turned back towards the dark street and Nicene followed closely. When we reached the corner, we could both could hear voices, the shadows were filled with many voices, but we could not make out what they were saying. Before we even started down the street I saw there was an intersection shortly ahead with no sign of where the couple had went. A few steps into the darkness, and a voice called out.

       “Hey! You two!” A pause, as we both looked for the source of the noise. “What about you two, can you spare some bills?” With that said a middle aged man came into view, wearing multiple layers of dirty clothes that were covered in the stench of liquor. One hand firmly wrapped around a bottle of gin, while the other reached out, wishing to be filled.

       “Look,” I said, knowing he might be of help, “I will give you ten dollars if you can tell me which way that couple just went.”

       He thought for a second, looking closely at the intersection, and finally said, “They went left, I think.”

       I reached in my pocket, pulled out my wallet and gave him a five dollar bill. “If you are right, I’ll give you the other half on our way back out.”

       That being said, I tugged on Nicene’s arm, and pulled her deeper into the intangible landscape. Making the corner left, one set of voices became louder as we walked. It was definitely a man, talking to someone who wasn’t replying. There was a constant soft weeping sound, that didn’t stop while the man spoke. I still couldn’t make out what he was saying, but when the sobbing became a scream I stopped, grabbing Nicene by the arm, and whispered in her ear, “It gets darker the farther we walk, stay right here and don’t make a sound. I will be back in just a moment.”

       Without waiting for her permission I shifted back the way we had came. Making my path back, I was almost to the parking lot when I spotted what I was searching for.

       “I’ll give you fifty dollars for what’s left of that bottle of gin.” I said to the man from before.

       The man looked at his bottle, now slightly less than half remaining, looked back up at me and said, “Deal!”

       I reached back into my pocket, hurriedly trying to acquire the money. All the while, the man was eagerly trying to put the bottle in my left hand. I handed him his money, and started back to Nicene when the man said, “What about the other five dollars?”

       “On my way out!” I barked, flying back to where Nicene was waiting. I reached her in an instant, and started shaking the bottle before I had stopped.

       “What’s that for?” She asked.

       “Light.” I said, reaching behind me to my back pocket and pulling out a cigarette lighter.

       “Why do you have a lighter?”

       “Why don’t you?” I replied, hoping that was enough of an answer. She just stared back at me. “What?” I asked, while wadding up a page from an old newspaper that had been lying nearby.

       She smirked at me, “No, really? Why do you carry it around with you?”

       “I don’t know if you have noticed, but we sort of don’t have the time to be mocking me.” I said, seconds before lighting the end of the paper of fire and letting it sail from my hand.