Chapter Text
You looked down at the smooth dark countertop before you, swirling your small drink in its glass, the ice making a satisfying clinking sound. You were waiting for your coworkers to come in to the bar. You all weren’t particularly close, far from it really, you honestly found them quite annoying, but they offered to pay for drinks so you figured it was worth it to go.
The door to the bar chimed, and you looked back expecting to see your coworkers, but it was none of the sort. A tall, chunky man entered, looking a little disheveled yet he had a charm to him, and you found yourself staring. His eyes met yours with a slightly confused expression, and you quickly turned around. For a split second you cursed yourself for not just coming alone, if you had you might have had the chance to talk to the guy but you figured you’d be too busy pretending to enjoy interacting with your coworkers.
As soon as the man sat down at the bar, only a few seats away from you as if the universe was taunting you, the door chimed again, and this time it really was your coworkers. You sighed, hopping down from the barstool and putting on your best normal-everyday-person-who-enjoys-social-outings expression.
“Hey guys!” You smiled and waved, not actually as chipper as you sounded.
“Hey girl hey!!” Stacy ran up at greeted you, looking you up and down as if confused, “umm, were all your nice clothes in the wash?” She looked at you with pity at your completely normal outfit. Just a jacket over a plain tee and some comfortable pants.
“Oh, no. Just felt like being comfortable.” You shrugged, walking over to an empty table so the group could all sit.
“Huh, well, you’re certainly brave for going out like that!” Stacy laughed, her words said positively but you got the undertones, with you shooting her a nasty look you didn’t think she saw.
The group sat down, consisting of you, Stacy, Brittany, and Kayleigh. They were all pretty annoying by your standards, not putting in much effort and being generally a nuisance but you had unfortunately gotten used to it. Stacy called over a waiter, ordering a round of drinks and beginning to chat. They mostly chatted between themselves, only talking to you occasionally but you couldn’t care less. You were just here for some free drinks god dammit.
…
At some point you realized it’d been an hour or two, you honestly weren’t sure. There’d been alternating orders of cocktails and rounds of shots. You sipped on a chocolate martini, surprisingly good for the strange combo, when the girls got your attention. They’d been doing this all night, talking amongst themselves while only including you to make you look stupid or weird somehow. You’d gotten pretty damn tired of it but just kept a good face and thought about the fact you were drinking for free.
The three laughed to themselves, before Brittany spoke up, addressing you with a nondescript and quite drunken gesture “Oh. My. God. Like… it would be soooo funny if you like… went and talked to that fat guy at the bar…. Like i dare you to try and get his number, and stuff….” The 3 laughed, pointing to the man you’d seen come in earlier at the bar, clearly hoping to have this situation be some form of humiliation but honestly your were glad to get the fuck away from them for a minute. Not just that, but you were honestly a little curious about him, so a double win for you. You got up, trying to look disgruntled as you made your way over to where the man sat.
You sat on the barstool next to his, noticing as he shot you a small glance. You weren’t exactly sure how to start, but you figured if you’d gone this far for free drinks, this guy might as well, right?
“Hey, uh… do you mind if i buy you a drink?” You say, turning to address him.
The man looked around slightly confusedly, before turning back to you.
“Are you talkin’ to me?” He raised an eyebrow as you heard his smooth, deep southern voice. It sent shivers up your spine for a moment before you realized you had to answer.
“Oh! yeah, i just um, figured i’d uhh… offer???” You quickly realized your inexperience talking to new people that you actually wanted to talk to. The man beside you chuckled and his expression softened to be more relaxed.
“Sure thing, sweetheart. I’ll just do a whiskey on rocks.” You nodded, waving down the bartender and ordering drinks. When they arrived soon after, you and the man started chatting.
He introduced himself as Bob, and you gave him your name in exchange. It was generally standard small talk but one question led you to more interesting topics.
“So, what brings you to the bar tonight?” You asked him, continuing the stream of questions the two of you had going.
“Oh, not much. Jus’ blowin’ off some steam from the workday, treatin’ myself a little. How ‘bout yerself?” Bob asked the question back.
“Well, uh, funny story i guess but honestly…” you lowered your voice and leaned closer to Bob, even though you doubted your coworkers could hear you at your previous volume, “those 3 girls, over there, they’re my coworkers, all attached at the hip. I barely know them but free drinks are free drinks.” You shrugged, sitting back up straight, “but to be honest, they really just used me as the butt of the joke and ignored me before ‘daring’ me to come talk to you. Funny how the exact people i wanted to get away from encouraged me to talk to the exact person i was interested in talking to.” You chuckled a little, watching as Bob processed the information.
“Hm, well, that really is a damn shame. They should take the time to appreciate ya more, they’re missin’ out.” He gave a sly wink that made you blush a little as you muttered out a thanks.
Bob downed the last sip of his whiskey yet still stuck around to talk more for a while. You two really hit it off, and when Bob mentioned something along the lines of needing to take care of ‘personal business’, you two exchanged numbers and parted ways. You sighed contentedly, looking down at the napkin with Bob’s number on it as you walked back to where your coworkers were sitting.
You looked up expecting to see them but all you saw were empty seats. You walked over briskly, heart sinking as you saw a note on the table. It read:
‘Can’t believe you would ditch us for some bozo. Should’ve been more grateful about the invite and not ditched the group. Luckily, we were so kind as to put it on your tab! Just ask the bartender when you’re ready to pay! <3 -XOXO, S,B,&K’
You had to pick your jaw up off the floor at the audacity and stop yourself from going apeshit in the middle of the establishment. You trudged up to the bar, begrudgingly paying the tab as you weren’t in the mood to refuse to pay and make things worse for yourself.
You trudged out of the bar, walking with your eyes on the floor as you felt rain pour onto you. How fitting for your already crummy evening. You didn’t bother to speed up on your way to your car, you opted to let the rain shower you while you sulked.
Sitting in your dingy old car, you put the key into the ignition, turning it to get going.
….
Nothing. The car did nothing. You tried again.
….
Still nothing. You felt the frustration boiling. You tried a final time.
….
No response. You gave a frustrated groan, slamming your fist into the armrest for your seat and practically ripping the door off its hinges as you got out. Apparently you just had to walk home! How fun for you!
Making your way down the sidewalk, you felt yourself begin to cry. Your silent tears flowed as your footfall was heavy. You hadn’t accounted for any of this, obviously. How the hell were you going to face your coworkers after this without fucking killing one of them? You didn’t know, and quite frankly didn’t want to think about it. Not until your next workday.
As you continued to walk down the dark streets, your mind racing yet simultaneously empty, you heard some strange noises from an alley up ahead and stopped in your tracks.
You knew you were in a sparse part of town, mostly full of old stores and vacant buildings. You’d only ever driven through here and each time you never saw anybody, so this was nerve wracking to say the least. Best case it was an animal of some kind, worst case it could be some crazed lunatic killing people.
You sighed, reminding yourself that when you hear hoofbeats its always best to assume it’s a possum rather than a serial killer, or something.
Just to ease your nerves, you walked confidently to the alley even though you had a strange feeling it wasn’t the best idea, clearly you decided to ignore that feeling, how smart of you! You rounded the corner, your brain taking a few moments to compute the scene before you.
A body— no, three. Three bodies. All sitting in the middle of the alley, a large figure dressed in red crouched over the pile. The noises you were hearing were more apparent now, and you could hear what sounded like squishing and tearing, along with the occasional snap, all accompanied by chewing.
You felt your heart lurch, panic flooding you. You sucked in a sharp breath, giving away your position. The shadow-doused figure whipped its head around to see you, giving you a good look at the devil mask it adorned. You felt your whole body freeze despite how much you wanted to run away, your eyes darted around but no moves were made. The figure stood up, its presence looming as it walked over to you. You had so much time to run, and yet you were glued in place.
The person reached you, grabbing your arm and pulling you close, holding you by your waist and seeming to pause for a moment before chuckling darkly.
“Well, ain’t this a treat?” The figure spoke. That voice… you knew that voice. You’d never met anyone else that sounded like him.
“B-Bob..?” You squeaked, trembling in his grasp. It seemed his smile grew even wider, if that was even possible.
“Glad ya recognize me, little lamb~. So sorry i had to leave ya so abruptly, I had some important matters to take care of, I’m sure you understand.” He glanced over to the pile of bodies and you couldn’t stop yourself from following his gaze. Now that you took a closer look you realized that the desecrated carcasses were… familiar.
You gasped as you saw them. Stacy, Brittany, and Kayleigh, their bodies lifeless and covered in their own viscera. Their corpses were splayed open, guts all on display, some even seemingly missing. It made you want to vomit.
You didn’t realize how long you were staring until you felt a hand grip your chin, jerking it upwards to face Bob.
“Now then… a pretty little thing like you wouldn’t tell on yer new friend, would’ja?” He had a threatening look in his eye and you could feel blood from his hands drying on your chin while his breath was hot on your face. You were in quite a daze, but decided for the sake of your life to shake your head no.
“Good, I knew i could trust ya.” He said, his hand moving to cup your cheek, the deranged look in his eyes softening. The arm wrapped around your waist held you tighter. It made you shiver.
“Why don’t you run on home now, sweet thing? We wouldn’t want you catchin’ a cold out here, now would we?” Bob’s grip on you loosened, and when you didn’t move, he stepped back from you fully, leaving an odd hollowness in his absence.
The two of you stared at each other for a minute. You still stood frozen as you had for the whole encounter, still trying to catch up to your own thoughts. You knew you were keeping Bob waiting on your departure, the reason? You weren’t sure. What you were sure of though is that you should probably listen now that you know what he’s capable of. It didn’t quite feel right to leave him without a word, though.
“U-um.. thanks..” You muttered sheepishly, unsure if he even heard you before you quickly ran out of the alleyway, continuing your way home. Nothing felt real anymore. Was that an encounter that really just happened?