Reid
“Brother!”
Someone’s shaking my shoulder, but I don’t want to move. My head is fucking pounding like a motherfucker.
“Brother! Wake up!” the voice calls again. I know it’s Akilah, but at the same time, my mind is racing back to what happened last night.
“Brother!” he screams again, tugging at my shoulder to wake me up.
Without thinking, I turn over and grab his neck. My eyes wide and unfocused.
“Brother,” he chokes out, “it’s me, Akilah.”
Once he says his name, my grip loosens, causing Akilah to choke. I must have squeezed him harder than I thought.
“Shit. What happened to you? You’re head’s bleeding.”
I pull myself up, but it’s a fucking effort. Everything aches. Everything pounds. “Someone was in the bar last night playing fucking tricks on me.”
Akilah frowns. “Are you sure? I checked everything last night before I locked up and left.” He gives me a look as if to say I’m making it up. “You were pretty wasted last night.”
“I fucking know that!” I screech, causing my head to pound harder in protest. “Someone was here. I’m telling you. Check the sound system. Is anything out of place?”
Akilah diligently walks up towards it and has a good look around it. Eventually, he looks down at me and shakes his head. “No, brother. Everything’s fine.”
“Shit!” I reply, holding my aching head.
“Why don’t you get cleaned up and have a rest? I can deal with the bar until you feel better.”
Angrily, I pull my hands away from my head and look up at Akilah. “I’m telling you, there was someone in here last night!”
Akilah doesn’t say anything at first. He just looks at me like he’s trying to figure it all out. I know what he’s thinking. I was drunk and stoned off my head last night, so it wouldn’t have surprised him if I saw pixies flying around the bar singing the fucking Birdie song.
“There’s only one way to find out. Check the cameras from when I left to when you fell and hit your head.”
I smile up at Akilah. “I knew there was a reason why I hired you.”
He smirks back down, offering a hand to help me up. I take it, and he pulls me to a standing position. My head pounds again, so I close my eyes. That’s when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“Are you sure you’re okay? I can take you to the hospital if you need it?”
I shake my head. “No, it’s okay, but thank you. Nothing that some painkillers and a couple of hours sleep won’t cure.”
“Why don’t you go to bed now? We can check on the cameras later.”
“No. I won’t be able to rest until I see what happened.”
He motions with his hand. “Okay. Let’s go.”
I follow Akilah as he walks around the bar. When he stops still, that’s when I remember I threw the bottle of drink across the bar. I glance over his shoulder where I spot the scattered glass all over the bar floor.
“I had a temper tantrum last night,” I offer with a smirk. “I’ll clean it up once we’re done.”
Akilah says nothing. He simply shakes his head and carefully walks through the bar area, avoiding all the glass. I follow suit, hearing the faint cracking of glass under my feet. Right now, I don’t give a shit. I need to know what the fuck happened last night.
We make the journey upstairs and once on the landing, we move to the door that has all the state of the art surveillance cameras. As quick as a flash, I’m in my seat and getting to work rewinding the cameras to just after twelve last night. My head’s fucking killing me, but I have to know what’s happened. I won’t be able to rest until I do.
With sweat dripping down my brow, I wipe it away and notice blood on my shirt arm. Ignoring it for now, I press PLAY and watch from when Akilah leaves and I’m sitting at the bar drinking. I watch as I throw the drink and cringe before looking at Akilah. I don’t really want him seeing me in such a weakened state, but if he’s here, he may be able to spot something I don’t. I see the moment I turn around, but there’s nothing behind me in the camera. Was I really hallucinating?
“You look like someone’s spooked you,” Akilah observes.
“Someone had.”
“There’s no one there.”
“I know. I don’t fucking like it, but I know.”
It’s a long shot, but there are certain angles the camera can’t reach. Those are angles we wouldn’t be able to see on the recordings. It’s quite possible that I saw something out of the corner of my eye which came from one of those areas. But that would mean that someone knows this place inside and out.
I watch the moment I stagger towards the fantasy room area, so I quickly click on the cameras for that area. I saw Scarlet. I definitely saw Scarlet.
Knowing I need the cameras in that particular fantasy room, I simultaneously play both side by side, so I can see the moment when the lights come on as well as Scarlet hanging from the bondage machine.
She’s not there.
“Fuck, no. That can’t be.” I rewind it and play it again, but there’s still nothing there.
“What’s wrong, brother?” Akilah asks with concern in his voice.
Realising I must have been stoned off my head, I say, “Nothing. I thought it was something, but obviously, it’s nothing.”
Akilah laughs. “That was some pretty strong shit you smoked last night. I’m hardly surprised.”
I shake my head, scanning the rest of the cameras until the moment I hit my head, but nothing can be seen. I obviously hallucinated the whole thing.
“Yeah, I must have been out of it. I could swear someone was in the bar last night.”
Akilah smiles, patting my shoulder. “Happens to the best of us. You need to get your head down.”
“No. I need to clean my shit up from downstairs.”
He places his hand out, stopping me. “Go get a wash and get your head down for a couple of hours. I’ll clean up.”
“It’s my shit. I should clean it.”
Akilah smirks. “I know, but I also know you’re suffering. Go to bed. I’ll clean up, and maybe when you’re ready, you can tell me what’s been haunting you since we met.”
He taps my shoulder, moving towards the door, and I marvel at how observant Akilah is. “Thanks, man.”
“You’re welcome,” he replies, walking out the door.
Silence envelopes the room. The only noise is what‘s rattling in my head. It’s an all too poignant reminder that I need something strong enough to take this pain away. I’ve had hangovers before, but this one takes the biscuit.
Slowly getting out of my seat, I leave the cameras rolling again, and head to my door. Immediately, I’m in the shower and soon after, I collapse in my bed.
I’m out like a light again.