Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
T raveling by bus seemed like a great idea. Sitting back, relaxing. Watching the whole world go by her window.
That was the thought.
The reality was something entirely different.
The seat was bumpy. At least that's what she would call it. Something decidedly hard and pokey was pressed into her hip and the footrest attached to the seat in front of her wouldn't lower enough for her to use it.
Still, she was moving forward.
That's what she was telling herself.
Towns came and went.
Stops were smattered along the way, but she managed to sit there and focus on what was waiting for her down the road.
The bus lurched to the side and as the wheels on the right side of the bus rumbled and stumbled over something that felt like gravel, Suzannah had to grip the one armrest she had access to and thank goodness for the person sitting in the aisle seat beside her with his elbow in her ribs, she didn't fly forward into the seat ahead.
The whine of the hydraulic brakes and the earsplitting HISS that finished it let her pull in a breath.
"Stopping for an hour!"
Suzannah felt another breath fill her lungs, this one with much more freedom as the man beside her pushed up and out of his seat and into the aisle. "Fuck, yeah! I need to piss!"
Suzannah winced at the man's words.
The driver spoke, too. "Well, this is the place to do it. There's a diner and a bathroom, for customers only ." He placed specific emphasis on those last two words and some of the people who had stood up in her line of sight, sat back down with a groan.
"They have good food here."
A few more people got up.
"But it ain't cheap."
Suzannah felt her stomach twist and before she could second guess the impulse, it started to gnaw on itself.
She was hungry.
Putting her hand on the seat back of the seat beside her, she stood up. "How many more hours to Mystic Mountain?"
The driver turned around and stretched his arms up and over his head. "If you have to ask, missy. You better get off and get some food. It's going to be a stretch."
Nodding, she got up and walked down the aisle behind the other riders who had already gotten up and out of their seats.
When she reached the front and stepped down to the ground, her legs wiggled a little, wavering from the hours and hours she'd been sitting on the bus.
The driver gave her a knowing look. "First time on a long drive like this?"
She nodded. "Yes, sir. My first time."
He nodded, his lips pressed together in a thin line. "You should get up and out at one of the next stops coming up before you reach that town. Or your legs ain't gonna work when you get out." He nodded toward the diner. "Get something filling. Use the restroom. I noticed you didn't go in the bus from the time you got on."
She winced at his words, and he waved off the excuse she was struggling to find.
"I wouldn't use it either. Damn thing smells like death no matter how much cleaner they dump in it. At least here, it's clean. The women's restroom at least."
He gave her a smile.
And she returned it.
"You strike me as a nice lady. Don't know why you're on this bus, but I'd bet good money, you're leaving something behind that... that wasn't ideal."
She nodded, unsure of what she'd done to earn that assessment.
And unsure of how much she should confirm.
He held up his hand. "Don't share too much with me."
Her eyes widened at his words.
"Just the safe thing to do when you're on your own." He gestured to the diner. "You got some cash on you?"
Her shoulders tensed and he smiled.
"Good. Don't answer me." He started toward the diner himself. "If I was you. I'd get a breakfast sandwich. You can eat pieces of it on the ride. And a glass of water would be good, too."
He pushed in the front door of the diner and the waitress looked up at him. "Joe! Good to see you!"
"How do, Alice!" He jerked his thumb toward the door at the back of the room. "Coffee and a breakfast sandwich, Alice? I'm gonna use the head."
Suzannah saw her roll her eyes and smile. "Fine, Joe. Just fine."
Suzannah stepped up and gave the waitress a little wave of her hand. "Could I have a seat?"
Alice gestured at the diner. "Pick your seat. You have all of the choices."
Suzannah paused and Alice put a menu on the counter. "Grab the menu and have a seat. I'm headed into the kitchen to give Joe's order."
Suzannah nodded even though the other woman wasn't looking at her.
She stepped up to the counter and picked up the laminated menu.
It was clean and she smiled.
Back home in Sylvan City, the area of town that she'd lived in was falling apart.
The diners there were lacking and the people in the area didn't take much care of what they were doing. It was because of the shapeshifters, her boss complained all the time. He said people didn't care because all of the shapeshifters were ruining everything.
She'd never really bought into what he'd said.
The area she lived in wasn't popular with shapeshifters. The businesses in the area didn't welcome them.
Oh, they had to take down the signs saying: SHIFTERS NOT WELCOMED.
That was illegal in town.
But they hadn't made it welcome for people who came in.
If the owners or the worker thought that someone was a shapeshifter, they'd be rude and pushy.
After a while, it seemed to Suzannah that anyone who came in who looked like they had money or any kind of personal power or confidence was identified as a shifter. She turned and looked at herself in the mirror that filled the wall behind the counter. It looked like an old fifties diner and the name DON'S DINER was painted with the long, stylized script of the era.
She saw herself plainly in the mirror.
Her shoulder length blonde hair, almost completely straight.
Her rounded oval face. Pretty much plain.
And her figure, drowning in a red and white floral dress. No one could tell what she looked like under it.
She was pretty much bland.
Probably why no one in her area seemed to think she was anything more than plain old human.
Which she was.
But she would like to borrow a little of the confidence of a shape shifter.
What would it be like to look in a mirror and feel like you love the person you're staring at?
The waitress appeared again and came to a quick stop. "Is everything... okay?"
Startled, Suzannah took a step back and felt her cheeks heat like she had a sunburn. "Sorry. I was..." She wiggled the menu in her hand and swallowed the nervous knot she felt in her throat. "Looking at... the specials on the wall."
The waitress turned around and looked up at the blackboard on the wall.
When she turned back around, Alice had a lop-sided smile. "Those have been the daily specials since I've been here. Don hasn't changed them since then."
Suzannah smiled at the long-suffering look on Alice's face. "They must be really good."
Alice turned a quick look toward the kitchen door before she leaned her hands on the counter and lowered her voice. "Or Don just hasn't wanted to climb up on the step stool and change them."
Her lips pressed into a thin line at the waitress' words.
"But they're good."
Suzannah nodded and looked down at the menu. "Good."
Alice cleared her throat and gave her a wink when Suzannah looked up.
"At least we haven't killed anyone yet."
Suzannah and Alice laughed as the bus driver walked back into the room.
He looked at the old-style laminated counter and sighed. "Don?"
Suzannah jumped a little at the older man's raised voice.
A voice came out of the kitchen. "What!?"
"How long does it take to cook a coupla eggs and some bacon?"
A man came out of the back with a white t-shirt rolled up nearly to his shoulders, a white knit cap over his thinning salt and pepper hair, and a once-clean white apron tied around his solid waist. There was a spatula in one hand and a cigarette in the other. "I'm cookin' it, old man."
The bus driver gave him a hard look and folded his thin arms across his chest. "It gets longer every time."
The chef looked at the calendar on the wall with the big AXIS BUS SERVICES LOGO on it.
He reached out the hand with a cigarette in it and tapped the day of the month on it. "You know why I got these red days on my calendar?"
The bus driver's lips pursed forward for a moment. "You losing your memory already, Donny? I better tell my sister to divorce your ass and come on home."
The diner chef took a thunderous step forward. "Those damn red marks tell me every time your bus is due to come through and I know I gotta make sure I have a good stiff drink of whiskey before your sorry ass comes through here and ruins my day. That's why."
Suzannah looked at the waitress, worried that this might come to blows, but Alice waved her hand close to the countertop and shook her head.
"Then, maybe," snarled the bus driver, "you can have my sandwich ready to go when I get here?"
Don lifted his chin and looked down on the driver from a significant height. "Well, excuse me, Mister Manners. I don't have it ready just in case you fall behind. And then the egg'll get cold and sticky. Or maybe, you cantankerous old bastard, you might decide to get something else off of the menu and then the damn sandwich would go to waste."
"So I should thank you for being slow?"
Don put the cigarette back in his mouth at the corner where the red-hot tip lifted and fell with each movement of his lips. "Seems that way you ungrateful son of a-"
"Ah! It's good to see you, asshole!" "Come 'ere, idiot!"
The two men embraced each other, slapping each others' backs and laughing.
Suzannah sat down at the table to her right, her knees weak from shock.
Alice brought her a glass of ice water and tapped the menu in front of her. "Ignore those idiots. The bus driver is my brother and that ham-handed cook is my husband. Now go ahead and pick something to eat before you have to get back on the bus."
Suzannah nodded and dropped her gaze to the menu.
There were a good number of items on the menu, but the more she read the more her stomach clenched and turned.
Swallowing, she realized two things.
One - the bus driver was right. She needed to eat something.
Two - the breakfast sandwich sounded like the only thing she could eat.
The bell over the front door jingled and Suzannah heard the bus driver's voice.
"Don't forget. If you're not on the bus. We're leaving with or without you."
"Yes, sir."
The driver chuckled and the door behind her swung shut with a soft shush of sound.
Then the air seemed to settle around her.
She noticed a radio playing something from the seventies. Something sweet and melancholy.
Alice stepped up with a smile. "Nice music, huh?"
Suzannah nodded. "Yes, I like it. Reminds me of my mom and dad's favorite music." She touched the menu and grinned up at the waitress. "May I have a breakfast sandwich, please?"
Alice winked and picked up the menu from the table. "Portable goodness."
Suzannah sat back in her chair. "Sounds perfect."
"I'll put the order in, and you'll have it in plenty of time to get back on the bus." Alice took a step to the side and then leaned back. "Do you want something to nibble on while you're here? Something bite sized?"
The thought didn't sit well with her stomach. "No, thank you."
Alice reached out her hand and settled it on Suzannah's. "Nerves?"
Suzannah nodded. "Moving. The first time in my whole life."
"Wow." Alice's smile lit up her face. "That's exciting."
Suzannah smile wavered a little. "Nerve wracking."
"I get it." She gave Suzannah's hand a squeeze. "Sit here and relax. Enjoy the music." She gestured at the radio.
Before she could say another word, the front door opened up with a discordant jingle of bells.
"Let me know if you need anything."
Suzannah nodded and lifted her glass for a quick drink of water.
Oh.
The cool water against her tongue was amazing. Even better down her throat.
She set the glass down and let out a long, pent-up sigh.
She knew food was coming.
She knew she could sit and wait in air-conditioned comfort and she wouldn't have to fight for some elbow room.
"Hey, girlie."
She cringed at the words and the tone of voice she heard.
"Good afternoon, sir."
She hadn't known Alice for long. Mere minutes, really. Still, she could hear the edge in the other woman's voice. She didn't like him. Not one bit.
Suzannah wondered if she knew him well.
"Gimmie a cheeseburger, fries, and... and that blonde over there."
Suzannah's spine tightened up in her seat and her hand clamped down on her glass of water.
"Sir, that's not... that's not something we allow here."
Suzannah wanted to turn around and look at the man, but she barely managed to keep her gaze facing forward.
"Oh, well. I'd treat her right."
Alice cleared her throat. "Sir. Do you want a drink with that order?"
"Coffee."
Was it strange that Suzannah felt like she could hear him smile?
"Hot and black. Like I like some of my women."
"Cheeseburger, fries, and coffee." Alice walked away.
Suzannah looked up at the clock on the wall. The time had passed like a wild horse running, seconds had turn to minutes and she only had a few minutes before she had to get back on the bus.
The bathroom in the corner was calling her name, because the bus driver had been right. The bathroom on the bus smelled.
When someone went to the back of the bus to use it, just opening the door sent a wall of smell rolling through the bus.
Suzannah got up from her seat and walked toward the bathroom.
Even though she was a few feet away from the man and his table, as she passed by, he grabbed onto her arm.
"Hey." The word squeaked out. "Let go."
He only held her tighter. "You look like you could use some help."
Suzannah turned to look at him.
He was younger than she'd assumed from his voice. His face was thinner than she'd imagined, but there was a cold glint in his eye that made her heart stutter in her chest.
"You want some money?"
His words sounded like a simple question, but then he licked his lips, and his gaze dropped to her chest.
"You spend a little time with me. I give you a little spending money. If you really treat me good, I'll give you more."
His hand was sweaty on her wrist.
Or maybe she was sweating.
She certainly didn't like the feeling of him touching her.
Suzannah tugged her arm, trying to get rid of his grip. "I'm going to scream."
She hated that her voice was barely a whisper. She couldn't quite manage any more. Fear was stealing her air.
For a moment, he had his eyes locked on hers and then with a grin that looked like one of those hyenas in The Lion King, toothy and slavering.
Then he let go and she stumbled, almost falling.
She braced a hand on a table and quickly made her way toward the back of the diner, slipping into the hallway leading to the bathroom.
She smiled when she saw the sign that was the ladies room. Suzannah grabbed the handle on the door and pulled it open, stopping after a few inches as the cold air conditioning touched her face, and her nose filled with the tart lemon smell of a cleaner.
Lemons had never smelled so good.
Suzannah picked up her foot to step inside and felt her breath catch in her chest as an arm reached around her waist.
"Hey there, Blondie."
Fear.
It felt like ice water in her veins and every muscle in her body tensed up.
"I told you I wanted to have a little fun."
She tried to shake her head but couldn't seem to move.
Her heart thundering against her ribs.
"So let's go inside the bathroom and... have some fun."
She felt him press against her back, pushing her toward the cold chill of the bathroom.
Do something!
Her brain was screaming at her, but her limbs were frozen.
DO SOMETHING!
So she opened her mouth to scream.
And his hand cut off that scream.
His hand covered her mouth and nose and all she could smell was him.
There was no description for that... smell.
Sweat? Stench?
Nothing she could identify.
But she felt... fear.
She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't scream.
DO SOMETHING!!
He pushed and she stomped.
Amazed that she could finally marshal her body into doing something.
Her foot stomped on his and they both stumbled, but she managed to pull away, flailing her arms.
She was in the bathroom, her body bathed in chilling air.
"Bitch-"
He grabbed for the edge of the door, but she pulled it in closed it, the fingers on one hand fumbled for the lock as her other hand pulled inward.
The moment the sliding lock sank into place she dropped to her knees, her forehead against the wood.
"Open the door," he hissed through the space between the door and the frame, "I'm not gonna give up."
Suzannah turned, bracing her back against the door, planting her feet on the tile floor. She was prepared to push with all of her might and keep it closed.
She had to.
The door behind her shook and then she felt a sharp smack against the wood.
It felt like someone had kicked the door.
Suzannah wrapped her arms around her knees and held her breath, willing him to go away.
"Please, please, please..." She repeated the word like a prayer. "Please, oh please, oh please."
She didn't know how many times she'd said the words, but then she felt the chill settle into her arms and her feet slipped, stretching her legs out on the floor.
Her gaze moved around the floor under her, searching for something she might be able to grab, but there was nothing.
Not even a tile out of place.
She turned her head to look at the door and chided herself. It was solid wood. She couldn't see through it. How was that going to help?
Listen?
Yes!
Bending her knees, dragging her feet up to brace them against the floor again, she turned her head and placed her ear against the door.
Squeezing her eyes closed, she leaned against it and listened for any kind of sound.
But there was nothing.
Not a single sound on the other side of the door.
And when it stayed quiet, she let out a breath.
Exhausted, with anxiety rolling through her veins, she leaned up against the door and closed her eyes, praying that he was gone.