7

Memory: 2

December sat on the bar seat, gulping down glasses of wine one after another until there was nothing left in front of her,

"One more!"

She shouted in a drunk voice so the bartender could hear her request in the all so noisy club.

The sudden order from the drunk lady caught the bartender's attention and her stared at her, With a mesmerizing gaze, and then poured another drink for her.

"Here! This is on the house for the beautiful lady," Said the bartender with a grin.

One could understand the hidden meaning behind the offering, and so did she understand what he meant by pouring her a free drink.

"Hah! are you trying to flirt with me or something?" She said as she grabbed onto the glass and pressed the glass against her lips.

"Nope, I am just enjoying it," He replied with an unchanged expression.

"Enjoying what?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Your misery, it's fun seeing you like that." He said with a shameless grin.

The young bartender said as if he knew what was up with December.

When She heard those words from the mouth of the bartender, her facial expression became sour and she wanted to beat him up, but stopped herself from doing it. She rather harshly asked him.

"Misery? Do I look miserable to you?" December asked with a tough expression painted on her broken soul.

"Yes, you look miserable to me..."

he looked away and poured another glass for the customer who was sitting beside December, but suddenly came back to complete his sentence.

"Well, why wouldn't you be miserable...after all you have ruined so many lives, just for your gain... and still look at you...tsk.."

Instantly chills ran down her spine, and she felt cold sweats escaping her back.

She stared at the man before her, with an empty gaze, while her nails were trying to penetrate the solid glass. She got scared of him, Her trembling lips uttered nothing but a broken sentence.

"Who-who are you?"

"Me? Hmm, how should I put this, I am someone who knows you better than you know yourself."

His face was still decorated with a smile but that made him look even scarier and now the only message December received from her brain was to run away, and so she did...

With no knowledge of her surroundings, December ran towards the exit door, while holding onto her racing heart. She didn't realize that she had run straight into the busy road.

The reason she was drinking so much was to forget every bad thing she had ever done. But turns out, her wrongdoings would not leave her even if she tried hard to fix everything.

"I did nothing wrong. I am not a monster, I am not a mon (HONK, HONK) ster" she mumbled to herself while holding onto her hair. The busy road on which she was walking got disturbed by her presence. She nearly missed many cars but one of them wasn't in the state of stopping as I was speeding.

December saw the blinking lights and closed her eyes because she wished to end her life. Even if it had to be this way.

The sound of the speeding car got nearer and just then she has pulled away from the road, she was brought back to the safe side of the pavement by someone.

"You can't die, and you know that. So why do you even try" the person who had saved her from the road accident spoke in a calm voice?

December lifted her gaze to see who was holding onto her, but she froze in the spot when she saw who it was. It was the bartender from a while ago. Her heartbeat, which was already wild, started beating even more harshly.

"Leave me alone!! I don't know what you are talking about. If you follow me again, I will call the cops" December reed herself from the grasp of the bartender and walked away in another direction.

"You cannot run away from reality, Stop living with so many regrets you won't be able to breathe one day"

December continued to walk away, trying to ignore the person behind, but something made her stop, She halted not because she wanted to but because her feet stopped moving. Even if she wanted to run away, the gravity held on to her making her unable to move an inch farther.

With no other option, December turned around. She was face to face with him. She didn't know how but she had the feeling that the man before her knew everything about her; he knew what a horrible person she was. He knew what wicked deeds she had committed just for the sake of getting what she wanted, and he also knew how much she was repenting of her deeds. She spoke against her will, it was as if she was under a spell that made her say those words.

"I did that to myself, I deserve this!!" December said with a hard rock expressionless face, but when she continued her expressionless face turned into a painful one.

"Just like you said, I can't die even after attempting to kill myself even a thousand times. I feel like death is about to embrace me. I feel so much pain, but I can't die. I deserve to live like this, I AM A MONSTER, I DESERVE A LIFE LIKE HELL."

The last words escaped her lips with extreme pain as she confessed, she wanted to die, Her only desire left was to die, so her past wouldn't haunt her anymore. She tried hard to kill herself, but faith never let her do it, she had attempted suicide so many times, and in so many ways, but she couldn't die, she got rescued by her dreadful past only so it could kill her completely from inside.

The young man stood at a distance, listening to her under the heavy rain. His eyes searched for something on her face but he didn't find it.

"You are wrong!" the man spoke.

"What? " December was taken by surprise as the words entered her ears.

"You don't have to die. it's not your time yet. You have a long life ahead of you or should I say behind you." He spoke in a puzzling way. December could not understand him. But he walked over to her and gave her his jacket as her clothes were drenched in rain.

"Come inside, or you will catch a cold," He supported her and walked her inside the bar again. But magically now it was empty and the people from before had vanished.

"How? Where are the people?" December looked at the shockingly empty club.

"They are where they are supposed to be, their work here is done.." Said the man mysteriously.

"Where?"

"You don't have to know.," he said as he gave her a glass of water, December who was thirsty, suddenly gulped down the glass of water.

"Thank you," She said while giving the glass back to him.

"You are welcome" He looked at December with a mesmerizing gaze.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" December asked as she tried to steal her gaze

"Just wondering. How long you are going to hold on to those tears of yours?" He spoke in his usual way.

"You have no idea how long I have been waiting for you to shed those tears." He said with a poetic voice, and his gaze glued onto her grey misty eyes.

"You have been waiting for me to cry? Are you a pervert or something?" December suddenly felt awkward after his words.

"Hahaha!! not a pervert but you can call me a guardian angel, your Guardian Angel," His voice had honestly filled in it

"You can be funny at times," December said with an awkward voice

"Sure I can be," He said while shifting his gaze to the bottles behind him. It was an opportunity for December to look around the club.

"What's that?" December asked as she pointed at the far end of the club.

"What?" Asked the man

"The red thing in the back" She tried to direct him with the help of her finger.

"I can't see it," He said without even caring what she was talking about.

"I will go check on it myself," December said as she got off the seat and headed towards the boxes like things.

She looked for the switch to turn on the lights but found none, After a lot of effort she finally reached the boxes but to her surprise, it was a small arcade.

"You have got some old games over here," December shouted so he could hear her.

"HMM..yes," He said with least interest in his words.

"Wow, I am so loving these games" December shouted in happiness as she played those old games, she had forgotten everything horrifying about her past, it was new because the past followed her everywhere but while she was in that arcade she remembered nothing, no bad memories were haunting her there.