Hell On Earth

Pt IV — Babble on

Photo by Sasha Yudaev on Unsplash

Dave sat in the corner of the small tavern with his back to the wall facing the front door. He had made it a routine to be in the lounge every Friday at 2:00pm and he’d stay till closing.

The waitress had grown accustomed to this routine and so she’d have one of his drinks ready for him the minute that front door cracked open and he came walking in. Dave would walk through the doors and walk straight to his table where he’d pull it out from the wall just slightly so that he could see the front door but so the big pillar in the center of the room that supported the ceiling would partially obscure him from anyone that came in looking for him. This would give Dave the edge to slip out the back quietly without being noticed, or so he thought.

Dave had a drinking problem. Worse, Dave had a gambling problem and he had a habit of missing payments with his Bookie which led to a routine of avoidance and paranoia. On this day some men came looking for Dave which surprised him as he was squared up with all his debts at the moment. He was lucky and beat the spread last week on the football games which evened him out and then some.

At 4:00pm two bruisers came in and Dave recognized them right away by their demeaner but he didn’t know who they were. He dropped a twenty on the table and left his drink untouched as he slipped on his jacket, pulled up his hood and sleekly slid out the backdoor without a sound. Only, on this day the bruisers stationed two buddies in the back. Evidently they knew him well enough that they didn’t want to be hearing ‘Dave was just here not long ago, he must have just left before you fellas showed up’ so they figured they’d cover all of the exits just in case.

Damian caught Dave’s attention immediately. He was a high profile soldier with a nasty reputation. Everyone knew what Damian looked like. Even people that hadn’t ever actually met him. He had teardrop angel tattooed under his eye. It was a distinct tattoo that no one else dared wear as it was his and everyone knew it. It had a special meaning as Damian was a known killer of Angels.

Damian liked to hurt people as well. So, would wear his brass knuckles everywhere he went just in case he could find a reason to pop someone. He liked the feeling of the crushing bone when he hit someone…