All I could see was darkness. The same inky darkness from the eyes of the man... thing I'd met last night. My body was frozen, a chill emanated somewhere inside me. There was a tightness in my chest from the residual fear. Last night... What had happened las-

"Problem, Ryleigh?"

I gasped loudly as I heard that voice. My gut clamped down in dread, short gasps escaped as I tried to get rid of the pressure on my chest. The pressure was stifling, the dread a reminder of last night. But I could feel it go away. The fear, the chill, and when I opened my eyes again, the darkness too. I recognized the ceiling, I recognized the sheets my hands grasped, I recognized my room. My whole body burnt, my chest felt hollow. No. No, I don't want to die. No, don't touch me please... leave me al...

My panicked thoughts came to a halt as I started to feel the burning in my body fade away. My chest no longer felt empty. My head was clear and I could... I could think again.

My fingers twitched as I felt soft sheets under them. I blinked, or I thought I blinked. It wasn't as dark anymore. Nothing was as dark as the eyes of... I was- I recognised my surroundings. I was in my room. In my apartment. But I still didn't have full control over my senses or my body. I could feel my body, and I could feel the fabric on my skin. I still wore my clothes... and shoes.

What... What had happened? How was I in my bed? I had been in the bar, trapped by that monster, and now I was... here. My body didn't feel sore anywhere, nothing seemed wrong, except the burning sensation as it faded away.

I still couldn't breathe properly. There was a pressure on my chest. My body felt cold.

I let my eyes fall shut as I forced in a deep breath to break the vice around my lungs. The burning sensation finally dissipated as I felt the tightness in my chest disappear. It wasn't long before I was just lying in my bed hyperventilating.

Gathering up my strength, I pushed myself up on my elbows. A shaky hand rose to push the open hair out of my face once I was up. My skin was cold. My room was cold. It almost felt like the bar again. I remembered nothing about how... I didn't know how I got here. My clothes were still on me. My shoes were still on me. My bag was in the chair across the room, exactly where I would normally dump it when I returned.

Had... Had last night really happened?

Had I come back home tired and just passed out? Lou... the monster... had that just been a nightmare?

It-it had to be, right? I mean, black veins across his face, dark eyes without a pupil, pale skin, talons, lanky figure. It has to be a bad dream. But that's rather strange, I haven't watched a horror movie in quite a few months. And had yesterday really been that taxing that I didn't even remember my walk home?

My hands still shook, but the cold had dissipated too. That weird burning sensation was completely gone. My phone lit up at my bedside with a notification. There had been no signal last night— in my dream— my weirdly vivid dream. I remembered everything, it felt so surreal. If... If it had been a dream.

No, it was a dream. Something that weird has to be a dream. I just got home super tired, and passed out fully clothed in my bed. It has happened before. On busy nights like Halloween, or Christmas. But yesterday hadn't been busy...

Was I losing my shit? I didn't remember coming home. I couldn't remember if yesterday was busy, but I remembered the nightmare I had. The nightmare that... that felt so real?

My short laugh broke the silence. It sounded as incredulous as my thoughts. I'm just tired. Yes, that has to be it. The weird dream has put me in the mood for some shitty horror movie. Maybe there's something good on, I could catch the morning show before work someday.

My body started to relax. God, wait till Dottie and Sasha hear about this. They'll think I fell asleep high or something.

I glanced at the clock. Quite a while to my usual wake up time, but I wasn't sleepy anymore. My hands still had a slight tremble as I got out of bed. Even a good hot shower and a long run didn't dissipate the cold dread from the dream. I found it hard to walk to work. My feet felt like they were weighed down with lead, and the walk there felt like it went by too fast.

The horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach rose as I spotted the restaurant down the road. I seemed to approach it incredibly fast. Before I even knew it, I had grasped the doorknob. It was cold under my fingers. I remembered trying it last night when he had me trapped.

Shaking my head, I decided to push that memory aside and push the door open. Dottie was by a table. She gave me a nod and a smile, and went back to taking orders as I walked across the place. The smile I mustered up in reply was a bit delayed.

It was noon. I was perfectly on time, as usual. Everything was going on as usual. I could hear Sasha thunk around in the kitchen as usual, Dottie was taking her orders with a laugh and a smile as usual, and the lunch rush would start as usual. There's nothing wrong, and there's nothing out of place. I was just tired last night. I just had a bad dream last night.

As I moved behind the bar, I felt my breath ease up. As if the short wooden wall could somehow shield me from what had hap— what I thought had happened. I'd attempted to reach the bar when I froze last n— in my dream. I'd been attempting to reach the bar to escape in my... nightmare.

I let my bag fall to the floor. My hands rested on the countertop as I lowered my head in an attempt to get myself together. I had to serve people today again. I had to listen to their stories, their woes, their problems. I had to clear my head before I could do any of that and I-

"Ryleigh."

I jumped as Dottie slammed her hand against the bar. My vision flashed, sharp teeth and inky eyes filling it. My body reacted instantly. It twisted to face her with my eyes wide and a plea ready to leave my lips.

But instead of the dark eyes that were haunted me, I met Dottie's gray ones. Gray, concerned eyes... Not black. Not veined. Not hollow.

She frowned as I searched her face for my nightmare. An eyebrow rose she looked over my agitated form. "Is something wrong? You seem off today."

I forced my sped-up heart to slow down. My head moved from side to side as I ran a hand over my face. "No. No, I'm fine. It's just been... I couldn't..." I had to pause to get my words in order. "Didn't sleep well last night." The generic excuse rolled off my tongue with ease.

"I feel you." Dottie nodded. She his a yawn behind her hand. "I was up late watching a movie with Miranda last night."

I smiled at the mention of Dottie's kid. "She has to go to school, you don't. Let her sleep at her bedtime."

"I did try." Dottie replied as she turned towards the kitchen. "But I figured once in a while ain't too bad."

I shrugged off my jacket as I laughed softly. I was worried for no reason. The bar was still set like I kept it last night. I really must have gone home. There's nothing out of place here, just a wild dream.

"Are you okay?"

I raised an eyebrow as I turned my back to her. Why was she still here? "Yes... why do you ask?"

"The bar hadn't been cleared when I came in this morning." I felt the cold chill from the morning rise up my back. "There were a few glasses kept out for drying and an empty one on the countertops you hadn't washed. You hadn't even pushed the stools in."

I swallowed softly, my fingers tightened around the jacket in my hand. My head turned to the side. I spoke slowly. "Wh-where was the glass kept?"

Dottie frowned she pointed at the place the... it had been sitting in. "There. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." I exhaled softly. A forced smile formed on my lips with my eyes glued to the spot she pointed at. "Just didn't sleep much." I repeated as I shifted to the side. My legs gave out right as I reached a stool.

"Did you leave early last night or something?" She hadn't gone yet. I could still feel her eyes on my back.

I nodded. I had to tear my eyes away from that spot to keep my jacket so she wouldn't see my smile fade away. "Might have. I don't remember clearly."

"One of those days, huh?" Dottie chuckled behind me as I bent to look for something below the counter. "Alright. Gotta go."

"Yeah." I threw over my shoulder. I stared down at the shelves below the bar for a few more moments.

That man was real? 'Lou' was real? It couldn't be... or could it? Could that man have been real and... my brain somehow added him in my dream? It sounds stupid. It sounds like some kind of impossible feat.

I forced myself to move on autopilot as I fought with myself. Maybe Dottie was right to be concerned. I might be sick, maybe that's why I had the creepy dream. There was no way anything I went through last night was real. Whatever that thing was couldn't be real. It just couldn't. It was a nightmare creature my brain dug up from somewhere.

My eyes flickered to the clock. Seven past twelve, my shift had just begun. If I remembered correctly, that man had arrived sometime after 11:30. I'd just announced last call and... maybe it's best I go home early today. I might be coming down with something. The feeling in my gut could just be diarrhea, not dread.

I fell into my usual rut as I cleaned up the bar, and set up for the lunch rush. My regulars walked in, lips moved to order their usuals with a pint of beer, or a whiskey, or a brandy to wash down their food. I smiled at them as I served them, laughed at the stories they told me, and maintained easy conversation like nothing was wrong. All I was hoped was that no one noticed me glance nervously towards the door every time the bell above it rang. Or that I jumped each time someone called me by my name... or that my hand shook whenever I reached for the same bottle of scotch I'd used to serve the man in my nightmare.

I felt almost drained by the time the lunch rush died out. This was unusual. I thrived around people. I lived to talk to my patrons, hear their stories, their work and home life woes. It was one of the best part of my day— their stories.

I ran a shaky hand over my face before I stepped out from behind the bar. Dotty exhaled softly as she sat down on a barstool. I walked over to take a seat beside her. The kitchen doors swung open and Sasha's tall figure strolled out through it. He grabbed a chair and dragged it over to sit in front of us. These twig-like barstools barely supported him.

"Your sandwiches." He held out the plates he was carrying.

Dotty and I thanked him as we took ours. I didn't have much of an appetite. Sasha spoke up after I'd forced down a few bites.

"You don't look vell today, Ryleigh." He spoke through a huge bite. "Iz something wrong?"

I raised a finger for him to hold on a moment. My mouth was still full.

"She didn't sleep well." Dotty replied easily.

I nodded and swallowed my food. "I didn't sleep well."

"Brandon again?"

Dotty snickered. I rolled my eyes. "No. No Brandon. I was alone last night." Was I?

"Sure." Sasha chuckled. He patted my knee with his huge, meaty hand. "Sure, you vere."

I sighed. "I was alone last night. I don't head over to his place every chance I get. We are broken up."

"Yet you still sleep with each other."

"Yeah, it's called 'friend with benefits'."

"Exactly." I raised an eyebrow as Dotty agreed with me. "Besides, she doesn't necessarily have to see his face when she's doing it."

I groaned as those two burst into laughter. "It was a mistake telling you guys about him."

"You should have dumped his sorry ass properly." Dotty kicked me with her leg. "You're still hung up on him."

"I did dump his sorry ass properly." I replied dryly. "If anything, he still keeps asking me out."

"Dream on, zucker." Sasha rolled his eyes. His sharp blue eyes turned back to me. "But ve are not talking about him, I asked about you."

"You brought it up, Sasha." I reminded. "Besides, I told you I didn't sleep well."

"You act differently ven you're deprived of sleep. And you are not acting that way today." He bit down on his sandwich to finish it off. "Something else... happened."

"Chew with your mouth closed." Dotty grumbled. Sasha promptly ignored it as he stared at me and giving me a bird's eyes view of the way his teeth worked.

"Nothing happened." I tried again. "I just had a bad dream. I might not be well, so I'll close up early tonight. Fine?"

"Closing is up to you." Sasha shrugged. He wiped his mouth and brushed the crumbs out of his beard as he continued. "But, yeah. If nobody is here, you go home."

"Was planning to." I can only hope nobody will be here.

I was very mindful of the time as the day went on. Dottie and Sasha helped distract me now and then. Sasha did seem a little worried about my behaviour as well. He questioned my constant forays into the kitchen, and joked about me attempting to take over his job as a chef.

Dottie occasionally handed me candy she kept in her uniform's pocket. She did this everytime she thought I was down. Seems like my show of strength didn't stand up in front of her.

They left at ten as usual. Once they were gone, the clock seemed to snail its way across the minutes. I tried my best to distract myself for an hour, and exhaled a sigh of relief as I looked up to see it was eleven.

"We're closing up early today, folks." I announced. "Last call."

My eyes flickered to the door amidst the groans of my usual patrons. Fifteen minutes later, I closed down the bar. In another five, the people had left. I scurried around the place, picked up glasses, shoved barstools under the counter, washed up and dried off. The glasses clinked loudly in the silence as I hastily shoved them into their places. Picking up my jacket and my bag, I jogged towards the door. One hand flicked out to switch off the lights as the other reached for the doorknob.

I almost burst into relieved laughter as it twisted under my hand. In another moment, I was on the other side. The keys jingled in my hand as I locked the door. The fresh air that teased my nostrils and ran along my bare arms felt almost therapeutic. It was over. The day was over. What happened yesterday had really been a-

"Going somewhere, Ryleigh?"

***********

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Going somewhere, readers?
Well, don't!
Because I shall update the next chapter of 'Closing Time'tomorrow!
First two chapters work as a nice little appetiser, don't they? I hope you're on the edge of seats and curious to find out more... in the next chapter!
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Have a good day!