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Karaoke
Chapter 11
Outside
the ‘Frog and Duck’ the rain lashed down hard. Although it
was draining away, the sheer ferocity of the downpour kept a couple of
inches of water consistently covering every surface on the road. The
street was deserted, with only the occasional person running for cover.
Yet when lightning struck, the silhouette of a rather large man became
visible, standing opposite the pub. The man had a long trench coat on,
wore a fedora style hat and was carrying an old duffel bag in one hand.
The fact that he seemed entirely nonplused by the rain suggested that
he was an accustomed traveler, used to being outside, and didn’t
really care about the excessive amounts of water drenching him. His
large, imposing figure simply stared at the warmth inside the pub. The
same sign sat outside the entrance, displaying the words ‘Karaoke
tonight’. The man simply stared, observing the shadows of people
moving about behind the windows, disrupting the orange glow from
within. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, took a quick
glance at it, and walked in.
As would have been
expected anywhere, the room fell silent as the figure of the stranger
filled up the doorway and entered. He seemed to bring in half an ocean
with him, each step creating a small pond in his wake. Glenda the
barmaid look positively scared as the snarling, heavy footed beast of a
man stepped up to the bar.
"W-w-what can I g-g-get you?" she trembled
The man took out the piece of paper again, and showed it to her. It was a photo of Dan.
"I’m looking for this man, have you seen him about?"
At first Glenda
didn’t recognize the photo, she simply snarled at the drenched
man and curled her top lip. But upon closer inspection, her eyes
widened as she remembered that fateful night.
"Him!" she gasped
"When did he come in here?"
"Just a few weeks ago,
maybe a couple of months at the most. It was just the once but
I’ll never forget him. The locals here don’t like anyone on
their karaoke patch here, and they kind of er .. roughed him up a bit
when he attempted to sing. If you can call it singing that is, his
style was a bit more like screaming."
The man kept a straight face, "That’s him all right, do you know where he is now?"
"No, we never saw him
again after that night. I figure a man desperate enough to try taking
karaoke in here must be a bit obsessed, try some of the other venues
about here, he probably goes to one of those now."
"I have, yours was the
last one. Thanks for your time Mam’" The man started to walk out
of the bar, much to the relief of the local punters. Glenda, however,
had started to take a shine to this mysterious stranger, as she usually
did to any man that paid her attention. Her curling top lip was in full
flow.
"Don’t mention it darling. What do you need him for anyway?"
"We have unfinished business."
"Oh, okay, right. Hey, if you see him around tell him to call me!"
"Will do"
"If he ever comes back in, who shall I say is looking for him?"
"He won’t, and you won’t."
The stranger closed the door behind him, and stepped back out into the rain
Chapter 12
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