Chapter 3 - The City

The restaurant perched on the edge of a quiet, less crowded street. The lights from the windows peered into the outside world, lighting up the roads, creating a shimmering orange glow reflecting on the wet London roads.

London is the city I now live in, worked in and where I, generally, started a whole new life. Years ago, while I was still a kid, I had heard of a place called London. I guess the name never changed. I grew up in a small town called Dunwich. It no longer exists now. I'm guessing it was destroyed in a war of some sort or abandoned and crumbled away over the years.

London is very different from Dunwich. Dunwich was a small town perched on top of an isolated hillside, hidden away by a wall of trees. Nature was the main feature our people focused on. Everyone I knew had beautiful gardens and grew their own food. Flowers bloomed, always on time, in the spring. Layers and layers of trees surrounded us and as you got deeper into the forest the more beautiful it got. I remember a river, somewhat deep, in that wooden area. It sparkled in the sunlight. I loved listening to the calming rush of the water, climbing over a fallen tree, that turned itself into a bridge for the river. I remember in the winter the river would freeze over. Kids from the village would try to skate or dare each other to try and cross it to see if the ice could hold their small body weights. Even though the sun rarely shone in the snowy weather, the river still sparkled a blinding white.

London doesn't have such a sight. It's quiet dull, yet it's a very interesting place. The people aren't as nice as back home. The citizens all wear such extravagant clothing, I haven't seen a single woman wear a simple dress or shirt and trousers. Every man has a tall hat placed upon his head, shiny shoes and all hold onto a stick or cane of some sort. I don't think it's for support maybe it's merely for show. Others had bags, rectangular bags that was held by the top, and only, strap and it hung in their palms just below their waist. Many more mechanical vehicles moved around the city. Some made this annoying noise, which made Abby extremely mad which resulted in her yelling at the other vehicles.

Once we arrived, straight away, Abby introduced me to her uncle. Abby's uncle called himself Charlie. He was a jolly fellow, rounded face and body that made his persona even more friendly than it seemed to be. He offered me the job saying words along the line of, "if ma' girl Abby says it's al'ight, then it's al'ight" Charlie spoke in an interesting accent,western country I presume. Very different from Abby, he was definitely raised in a barn or something along the lines of that type of environment. Some letters he pronounced we're definitely off from how I was raised, but I thought nothing of it and was actually intrigued in his vocals.

Charlie was the head chef at his restaurant. Abby worked at the bar and I started my training in the kitchen, washing the used dishes the customers ate their food from. Charlie didn't have many helpers in the kitchen with him, there was only two loud males and a grumpy old lady, Edna.

Working at The Lighthouse was fulfilling, while I worked up an income and a decent amount of money to support myself, I found myself living above the restaurant with Abby and her uncle in a small room each. The three of us became quite close very quickly, it's almost impossible really for people to 'click' as well as we have.

Though having this job and starting my new lifestyle has been, interesting. I still can't help but take even more precautions. I feel pâro towards all of this. The more I work up a sweat for this 'job' the more guilty I feel. It's a strange feeling, my stomach feels empty and as if it's churning inside out, sometimes I feel dizzy and alone in the world, doesn't matter if; I'm standing in the crowded restaurant full of happy friends, families and couples or laying in bed late at night staring at the ceiling, I still feel lonely.

After my first, almost, month of my new job Charlie let me start customer service. I will admit I'm a fast learner but I definitely did not think I would move on that quickly. I stayed in a cheap inn to start off as my salary and experience grew.

Everything seemed, perfect, unfortunately I wouldn't be telling you about my story if everything was going to turn out this perfect so quickly.

It was a late night, Charlie was finishing up in the Kitchen and me and Abby were cleaning the bar and putting away the money we made that day. The streets of London were quiet, it wasn't a rainy day but, it was so quiet you could hear the rain drops, drip, from the rain gutters. Everything was peaceful.

"Hey Kate, I'm going to be right back!" she called to me from behind the bar. The bar was Abby's 'station', it consisted of beers and alcoholic beverages and small snacks. Abby quickly disappeared, walking behind into the kitchen out back. Most likely to help out Charlie or take out the garbage.

I was left, sweeping the floor and cleaning the tables for a short while. Soon I became distracted from my work and my eyes were focused on a new issue. The little bell hung over the door, indicating someone had entered the building. Two footsteps entered, I spoke up, told the men to leave, "I'm sorry we're close-"

Everything I worked so hard on was destroyed; the restaurant, trashed, my friends, scared for their lives and can no longer trust me, my new life, torn to pieces in a matter of seconds. Thanks to them.