Beau - Chapter One
#11 of Beau
© All characters and storylines involving said characters belong to me: Eben Black.
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The snow covered roads and lanes whipped by as I traversed the mountain ranges and snaked through the beautiful, almost poetic wilderness. Lakes had been frozen over and the trees looked like tall, white Christmas trees. While I huddled in the warmth of the Jeep, I had the radio switched on. The genre was indie rock. The sounds of drums and guitars thrilled through me, the distant whine of a guitar riff, and the deep sounds of the bass. The vocals were smooth, powerful in places and laid back in others. The band, according to the DJ, was called Whiplash. I liked 'em. I snuggled down into the scarf and turned a bend in the road. I saw a diner lining one side of the road. It was the oddest place to have a diner, sheltered among the snow-capped trees and mountains, but saying that there were a fair few cars parked outside. I could feel my stomach growl at the prospect of getting something to eat. I gave up and pulled into the diner's small car park.
I locked up and stepped inside the diner. I felt the eyes of furries looking over at me, watching me as I walked deeper into the diner and slipped onto a stool at the counter. I loosened the scarf, and unzipped the jacket. A slender, lioness stalked toward me behind the counter and smiled, warm and almost inviting. I glanced around and found most of the people here were huge, muscular, chunky types. Bulls, bears, horses. I raised an eyebrow at the muscles and chunk squeezed into the diner and the waitress seemed to catch on and answered for me.
"There's a lumber mill down the road there. Some of these boys work in the harvesting factories while the snow's thick on the ground," she explained.
"Must be difficult carving down trees in a snow storm?" I replied with a smile.
"You have no idea," a nearby bull smirked across at us.
"Settle down, Bill." The lioness turned back to me and asked, "What'll be your pleasure, sweetheart?"
I looked up at the menu and decided right away. "Honey pancakes and orange juice, please?"
She smirked and said, "I'll have it whipped up in ten minutes. I'll bring your drink over in the meantime."
"Thank you."
I watched the lioness head off into the kitchen. I heard voices and assumed she was ordering my pancakes with the cook. She returned moments later with a tall, slender glass and a jug of fresh orange juice. She winked at me and left without a word. Was she flirting with me? Nah. She was a waitress. It was her job to make customers feel relaxed and at ease while they spent their money here. I gazed around the diner, and soon found the television hung in a bracket at one end of the counter. It looked like there was a news channel on. I saw the word MURDER flash along the bottom and waved the waitress down. I pointed up at the TV and she caught on.
"There's been a murder at some college campus, down south."
"What college campus?"
"It won't reveal the details yet. But from what they've been reportin' all mornin' it looks like someone took a blade to them all."
"All? How many were there?" I asked.
"Around six. All students. Its a shame, kids like that, havin' prospects and goals in life. Real shame," she smiled with sad eyes. She turned and left. I pulled out my mobile and sent a text to Luka.
_ Dude, did you hear? There's been a murder on campus?_
Moments later the reply came through: _OMG >< where and how?
How what?
How did I nt here about dis! Simon doesn't knw anythin either. It jst flashed up on the terminal TVs. Looks bad.
Your still in the terminal?
2 mre hrs T_T
Hang in there bud. Text you later x.
Yh yh, peace out, brudda~_
"Here ya are, sweetheart," a pleasant voice tore me from my phone and I soon realised my pancakes had arrived.
"Thank you." I smiled up and lifted my knife and fork to the rather sizeable pile of pancakes. Honey flavoured with syrup all over them. Just like mom used to make. Or at least, I think she did. Did mom make pancakes?
"By the by, ya may want to know you've attracted some rather odd attention over there?" the lioness leaned her elbow on the counter between us and sneakily pointed over her shoulder.
I followed her direction and found a rather nervous looking bear, dressed in a chequered red shirt and denim jeans, hiking boots too and a big thick coat draped over the seat next to him.
"He's been glancing this way since you walked in. A love interest, perhaps?" she asked with a quick smile.
"I seriously doubt that, he looks more scared than anything?" I glanced back and watched him look down with wide brown eyes into his coffee.
"Want me to go ask him what's up?" the waitress asked.
"Don't you know him? You seemed to know Bill quite well."
"Bill's been coming here for fifteen years. Apparently the bear over there is a newbie to the mill. Never seen him before," she admitted with a casual shrug.
"Ah well, I'll be out of your hair soon, so don't worry about him." I dug into my pancakes and relished in the sweet taste.
The waitress smiled and added, "Leave your cash on the counter and have a nice trip, wherever your goin'."
I nodded as I sipped some more orange juice.
Soon I'd finished my breakfast and drank the last of my orange juice without hesitation. I did what the waitress had asked and left my cash on the counter. She waved at me as I opened the door and smiled back. I stepped out into the cold and glanced back along the diner windows to see that bear still looking at me, eyebrows furrowed as if he wasn't sure what to do with himself. He looked down and continued staring down, his eyes wide and scared. Who in the world was he? And what had I done to spook him so much? I shrugged, fastened everything back into place and crossed the car park. I slipped back inside the Jeep, revved the engine and pulled out. Soon the roads were all winding and smoothing out, more concrete than snow-covered dirt tracks. Before long I was cruising the highway, a flat, straight road that stretched out across a wide open plain of purest white. The mountains sank behind me and the odd car sailed by every now and again. The skies had darkened and fresh snow had begun to fall. The Jeep was more than equipped to handle snow, the tires were designed for rough terrain so snow was no issue.
I switched on the radio and listened as more rock music filled the air around me and pumped me up. Drums echoed with distant thrashes from the drumsticks, while the riff of a whining guitar thrilled through me with a chill. That raw, naked whine always had that effect on me. The vocals on this one were deep, dark and almost eerie. Was it natural that someone out there had a voice as deep and demonic as that? I tapped my fingers on the wheel and let the dark vocals swim over me. Regardless of how unnatural his voice was, it was still a decent tune. I soon felt a dull vibration in my pocket and lifted out my mobile. It vibrated a second time in my hand. Two messages. I opened the first one and found Luka's grinning mug spread across the screen, Simon was beside him looking less than pleased to be there. Luka was a white lion, his blue eyes screaming that he was tired but still pumped for some fun, as Simon, the hyena, seemed less than amused with Luka's sudden picture taking fiasco. I smiled at the picture and glanced up, a stretch of abandoned highway. I could risk reading a text.
_ Hi Beau. I was wonderin' what time you were goin' to make it home?_ Lian. Lian was my brother and a professional basketball player too.
_ I'll be home in around four hours. Why?
No reason. I just wondered what state dad would be in when you came home.
He's drinking again?
Like a sailor. I think he said something about staying at his friend's house tonight anyhow.
So he's gonna run from me then? ><
Looks like it :D at least we won't have to bother with him.
Now, now, Lian. He's done nothing to you.
But he's been a complete bastard to you. No thanks. Not interested.
Anyway, Lian, I gotta go. I'll be hitting city limits soon and need to focus on the road.
KK. Speak to you soon bro. Lian._
I sighed and slipped the mobile phone back inside my hooded jacket. The last thing I needed was to return home and find dad plastered and spewing vicious comments at me all night. Good. Let him go stay with a friend. Let him run from me if he wanted. His problem, not mine. I'd only be staying with my folks for a while anyhow. The course I'd been doing had assured me a place with the Investigation Squad back home. I started in two weeks and in one month hoped to be out from under my mom's roof and under my own somewhere in the city limitations. I loved my family and being in the same town would be close enough, but I also loved my space. Plus, I had a feeling that if I met someone and wanted to bring them home, seeing dad's reaction when I brought a possible boyfriend home might be enough to send him off the edge. I may have hated him, but I couldn't put up with the abuse, not in a public setting at least. Bringing home that special someone qualified as a public setting, and there was no way I'd let him ruin that for me.
Soon the highway dried out and I was back amongst the towering buildings of a neighbouring city to my hometown. The Police Department I would work under shared this duristiction too. I drove passed the high glass buildings, a few restaurants, a handful of bars and clubs, and knew I'd be seeing more of this place before long. The city soon became a distant blur as I drove across another stretch of highway. The snow was still thick on the ground, but the clouds above seemed to have given up on adding to it. I could feel a sick tension build in my shoulders as my hometown came closer and closer. Please let dad not be there. Please. Please. Please. I wished and prayed while I saw the distant glimmer of the city lights on the horizon. Please. Let him be anywhere but here.