Eyes of the Serpent

With a heaving sigh, Josie-Rae closed her third-floor apartment door shut, and immediately set on stripping the tacky uniform from her figure. Under it she wore a black lace bra, and a matching pair of underwear. Her outfit was put back on it\'s hanger, which hung from the wall mounted lamp near her bedroom. Her apartment didn\'t have much in it; a table with two chairs, one of which that always empty. She owned a microwave that rarely worked properly, a stove with the same problem, and a little fridge one would expect to see in a collage dorm room. There was one old TV on a side table, one old love seat, and a coffee table. The living room held the first window, and there was no deck. That was it, except for her bedroom. The carpet was still old lime colored shag, and was dusty smelling. The walls were covered in pastel paisley wall paper, and there were a grand total of five lights and two windows in the entire little space. It was home though, and it had been that way for nine years. Nothing had changed, and she couldn\'t really afford anything better - if better really existed here. She stepped into her bedroom, which contained simply a bed, a dresser, her closet, and a table in the corner, by the second window in the apartment. After throwing on a night shirt, Josie-Rae flopped herself comfortably on her couch and began flipping through the channels to find something to watch. She wasn\'t quite hungry yet; she was after all home almost two hours early. She\'d probably reheat the same thing that there was LAST night; spaghetti she\'d made a week ago. It was probably getting a little too old, but it still smelled fine the other night.



This was life, she thought. It wouldn\'t get any better, or worse. But then, it COULD get worse, especially if she didn\'t pay Sid\'s bank back the tail end of her massive debt. For now, all he wanted from her was the dates for him and his friends; but, what would he ask for if she owed him everything and then some, that she\'d already paid? What favors would he ask of her then? She frowned. There didn\'t seem to be any other way out of this. No one else in town would help her get thirty six thousand dollars paid off. She was just \'that nice waitress at the cafe\'. She sighed. Unless she found an out and fast, it looked as though her weekends would be spoken for as long as Sid decided he wanted to rope her along for. There was a part of her that thought \'Maybe I will meet someone\', but then again, anyone who could work with and stand Sid and need a female escort service would be the same breed of slime that Sid was. She frowned at the thought, and settled on a TV movie. With a weighted sigh, she settled in to her show.



* * * * *



Another day was dribbling past, slower than yesterday, it seemed, but that suited her just fine. It was safe; it was unchanging, and it wasn\'t going to kick her out and destroy her world. It was always the same way; it didn\'t change and get taken away. She knew she was stuck in a rut and bored of it; but she didn\'t want it any different. Today was no exception; the regulars came in, paid, and left. Some greeted her, and others chatted about their own slow, safe lives. That is, until REMMY came.



"WOE IS THE TOWN!" the lunatic exclaimed as he burst in to the quiet little cafe. Remmy Torlain was the local loony; no one took the boy seriously. He wasn\'t much more than twenty eight, and liked to wear bits of tin foil through his black clothing. He was healthy physically, and was even a member of a track team; but, he was certifiably insane. "WOE IS THE TOWN!" he repeated himself, making everyone look at him. One person muttered to his wife about \'another damn prophecy\', and turned to ignore him. "THERE IS GREAT EVIL AFOOT!" he told them, perching himself backwards on a chair by the front glass. "IT WILL TAKE OVER AND DESTROY EVERYONE!" Remmy went on. Josie-Rae stepped over with a cup of coffee, and placed it before him.



"Here\'s a cup, Remmy." she said, paying his ranting no heed, as if it was usual for a raving lunatic to wander in and start screaming. "Sid\'s back in town, we all know. It\'ll be fine."



"No no it won\'t Josie!" he hissed at her, grasping the coffee as if it were going to flee on him, or vanish lest he not grasp it. The veins were sticking out and visible on the underside of his arms from the tension in his thin figure. His short quarter-inch black, or more accurately, very very dark brown, hair was its usual relaxed un-groomed yet tidy state, wild hazel eyes darting about her features from behind harry-potter round glasses, the color of which matched his gruffly cared for soul patch and day\'s stubble upon his chin. He didn\'t weigh more than 140 pounds soaking wet. "Sid\'s not who I\'m talking about." he whispered, as if she were the only one allowed to know. "Sid\'s a slime and has bad intentions that\'s for sure," he paused and sipped his coffee. "But no, there\'s something else. Can\'t you feel it? There\'s a heavy haze in the air. Anyone that can even pick up a phone before it rings can sense it. No, there\'s something evil here. Haven\'t you seen the paper?"



Josie-Rae humored the boy, and shook her head. "No, I don\'t really read the paper. It\'s all about Alamo and all of their stuff. What\'s in the paper?"



Remmy glanced around rapidly to check if anyone was looking or listening, and feeling safe, pulled the newspaper from his hoodie, and placed it on the table facing her. Josie-Rae looked down at it, and furrowed her brows at the headline.



"THIRTEEN DEAD OVER TWO WEEKS". She sat down in a chair, and began to read the story.



"Investigators are stuck for leads this week in the ancient city of Alamo, as thirteen bodies have been found over the space of two weeks in the outlying forests. There are no clues or suspects, as the coroner examines the overload. \'Their necks were torn as if a bear had tried to eat them,\' one witness commented, in her statement to police. \'I found the first two in the same spot, like they\'d been killed together, laying at the base of a tree. But they hadn\'t been eaten like a bear would eat a person, they looked drained, like they\'d simply been left to bleed to death. I think I\'ll start to lock my doors and windows at night now.\' A local mother of three commented; \'I\'m not letting my kids out at night any more, and I think everyone else should take the same precaution. Don\'t let your kids out after dark, they might not come home.\' a citizen also commented \'They said they\'re all killed the same way. What kind of sick person does this to people?\' The last few nights have been silent, and no new bodies have been found. All citizens in the outlying areas in southern Texas are urged to do the same, and take their own precautions, and are asked not to be out after sunset until more information is found and released."



Josie-Rae looked up with a disgusted expression on her face. "That\'s totally disgusting."



"Yeah it is, and it applies here, too. The mayor won\'t listen to me, though, and told me I was a complete lunatic. Just because I get a little excited now and then doesn\'t completely discredit everything I say. No one else listens, Josie. Be safe though, okay? This killer whoever it is hasn\'t struck anyone near Alamo in a few days, and that\'s yesterday\'s paper. It means they\'re moving, and coupled with this aura that\'s taken over the city, I\'m worried. Do you want me to walk you home for a while, Josie?"



She smiled at the kindness and paranoia of the young Remmy. "I\'m not off work after dark, Remmy. I\'ll be just fine. Thank you for the offer. I\'m sure if there was some killer-type in here, we\'d recognize him right away."



"Maybe you\'re right," he started, resigning himself with a shrug. "Maybe I\'m just being oversensitive to a few tourists, maybe I\'m just over-thinking. But being safe never really hurt anyone, right?" he had a point - and the company probably wouldn\'t hurt, not that he could save her from some arrant serial killer. Poor guy couldn\'t even fight off a cold in a week.



"Alright, you\'ve got your way. You can walk me home, but only until they figure more out, okay?" most people were nervous or shy of Remmy; Josie-Rae knew him a little better than that. He was nothing more than an eccentric psychic, tortured by his own gifts. Totally harmless, though some people liked to think differently. They all thought he wasn\'t right in the head, and thought he was dangerous.



"Okay," Remmy replied, his eyes lighting up. "I\'ll be back at close." he grinned, and forgetting all about his coffee, took off out the door. Josie grinned, watching him take off down the street at a happy gallop. He was genuine; one of the few humans left who were, any more. He reminded her a lot of a puppy, that was simply over eager with everything. Shaking her head, she turned to go back to her job, but caught out of the corner of her eye, someone standing across the street - the same man who was there yesterday. She stared at him, thinning her eyes to try and get a better look at who he was, when someone tapped on her shoulder. Julie glanced towards the person, whom was holding out an empty coffee mug, then looked back to the man - but he was gone.



"Yeah, I\'ll get you a refill, sorry..." she spoke absentmindedly, grasping the cup in hand. Her eyes darted up and down the length of street, but the man was gone. Twice now, he had stared in at her. Thankfully, she wasn\'t walking home alone tonight. Maybe she\'d mention something to Remmy - lest she feed his paranoia - and see what he thought. It was bothering her a little more than she liked. Shaking her head, she went to pour the refill of coffee.



"Sorry I wasn\'t paying attention, Jean." she spoke, placing the hot black coffee down on the table.



"Its alright; I was young once too, I know all about the distraction of boyfriends."



"Oh, Remmy isn\'t my boyfriend. Not by a long shot. He\'s just a friend." Jean smiled knowingly.



"Not the way he looks at you, Josie. And not the way YOU look at HIM..."



"Hmm." was all she said, turning away from the gently laughing Jean. Old ladies thought they knew everything about the younger generation, she thought.



She began to busy herself wiping tables, when she glanced up, and dropped her cloth on the floor. Someone was sitting at the recliner table. The man from across the street. She helplessly stared at him, at his perfect features, his long chestnut hair that was held back in a fishbone braid, a few straggling, well-placed strands mounting his face. His skin was abnormally white, like a sheet, or some perfectly-kept biblical king. His eyes pierced straight through her, like emerald daggers that were going to nail her head to the wall straight through the eye sockets. His rosy lips held a proud smirk, and the entire ensemble looked predatory, like a wolf, or a snake. Her skin bumped over, and not in the good way. A chill shivered along her spine as she gawked at him. His figure, tall and broad for an assumed Texan man, was clad in a black suit; however, it was nothing like most suits. The usual tails coat that came with a tuxedo was shaped a little differently, with a larger curve in the tail sides, was far shorter, and was made of a thicker, heavier black cloth, the edges of which was laced with golden ribbon. It had many buttons about an inch apart on it, and was buttoned from the stomach with the last few buttons before his belt line. The shirt under it looked like the same shape as a fancy vest, and was made of something along the lines of wine colored satin. The pants matched the coat in color, and also had details of gold thread, but they cut off below the knee, like capri pants did. Below that were a pair of ancient looking high boots, fit with a large golden buckle on the front of both. In his right hand he held a black walking stick, with bands of gold from the bottom upwards. The handle part was wooden, but either than that, there was nothing really she could tell about it.



After a long stare at him, to which he stared back, seemingly nailing her head to the wall behind her, she stepped over.



"...Can I get you a coffee?" she asked, keeping her distance. A few people had also been staring, and a couple at a table got up and left. The steely emerald eyed man merely bowed his head to her in a nod, and said nothing at all. She blinked, and took it as a yes.



"Want anything in it?" again, he said nothing, and gave a mild no by shaking his head slightly. Creepy; what kind of man said nothing at all? Perhaps he was mute, she thought, as she walked away to pour the cup. Maybe he just couldn\'t talk. Either way, she found it very creepy. When she placed it on the table, he placed his hand on her arm. She resisted jumping back from the contact, and cast her wary eyes at him. He pointed over to a tray with muffins on it. It seemed he WAS mute, after all. She nodded, and picked up the tray to let him pick from it. She felt his probing eyes of cold emotion draping all over her neck and chest, like he was searching for some defect, some marring disfigurement, like a jeweler examining a diamond. She felt her skin begin to crawl as she put the muffin pan back on the counter, and turned away. Now she couldn\'t WAIT to get off work, for the man to leave, for it to just stop. But time was ticking by slower than ever, today. It was as if his presence were making it flow slowly.



\'Oh, don\'t leave me alone with him,\' she thought, as the second to last person left for the day. He\'d been here through nine cups of coffee, three muffins, and still had not left. A haunting feeling bubbled over her; he\'d watched her twice through the window, and was now in the cafe, and had been for just about three hours. He stared at her the whole time, and it was beginning to scare the wits out of her.



Finally, the last hat stood up from his table, nodding politely to Josie-Rae as he left money on the table. She bit her lip, willing the man to stay, but of course he didn\'t. She watched him leave with worry as she wiped off a table. \'Don\'t leave me alone with this guy....\' she mentally begged, but it didn\'t work.



"I\'m closing up soon..." she spoke softly, looking up at the chair - but it was empty. She didn\'t see him leave - odd. She shrugged, and turned to grasp the money off the table behind her, and suddenly, there he was. She jumped from the unexpected proximity, and stepped back, helplessly shivering. "Can I get anything else, for you?..." she asked, barely resisting a stutter. He shook his head, and held up a twenty dollar note. "Oh..." she said, relieved, and took it. "I\'ll get you your change if you..." she continued, but he walked past her, for the door. He turned and gave her a nod, before vanishing past the window. She stared out it, almost terrified that he would come back and tear a hole in her neck like those people in Alamo. She let her shivers out, just as Remmy burst in through the door.



"JOOOOOOSIE, I\'M HERE!" he announced himself, sliding in with flare. He then noticed her state, and all seriousness mounted on her face. "Whoa whoa, what happened?" he asked, taking a chair backwards, as always. Josie sat down, and explained all about the strange mute, how he stayed there for hours, and how he managed to scare the hell out of her, and even a couple regulars. Remmy\'s face went deadly serious.



"Sounds like this new guy is the source of what I\'ve been feeling. Good thing I\'m walking you home. Maybe we should tip off Alamo Police Department."



"Tip them off with what? He hasn\'t done anything to anyone here yet. We can\'t just go off feeling and suspicion. But I think I\'m not going out alone until he leaves town..." she replied, staring scaredly out the window, as if he was going to come back any second. "We have no proof he\'s done anything, except that horrible chill and deadly air that follows him. Maybe he\'s just one of those creepers, I don\'t know."



"I\'ll have to meet him to be sure - I\'ll spend the day here tomorrow..."



"Thank you, Remmy..." but that was no solace for Josie-Rae. She wasn\'t sure what she would do it he came back...