Dark Shadow

Sometimes you need a little help from your best friend.

I spotted a table for two in the pub, strode over, and sat down across from my best friend.

“So spill it. What’s up with you?” Crystal demanded.

“I’m just done,” I ranted.

Several people looked at us strangely from other tables, so I lowered my voice and continued.

“That asshole I have for a boss…”

Crystal got a gleam in her eye. Unlike me, she thrives on drama. “So, what’s up with your boss now,” she asked.

“He came on to me again today,” I told her. “He grabbed me in the lounge. This time, though, he made it pretty clear that my job’s on the line if I don’t…”

Crystal’s gleam grew a little brighter. “You know,” she said, “I could probably take care of him for you.”

A tingle went up my spine. She seemed sweet when I met her, so I wouldn't have believed it even if my own mother had told me, what she was capable of.

“As much as I appreciate it, Crystal, I can take care of this in a civil way,” I answered.

“But I could handle it more effectively,” she said. “And you know it.” My spine tingling continued.

A waitress slowly approached our table. She probably didn’t want to interrupt our intense conversation.

“Um…can I…uh….get you anything?” the server asked.

“A Bud please.” I smile encouragingly, but she only glanced back and forth across the table, and scuttled away without another word. Crystal had that effect on people.

Undeterred, Crystal brought me back to our conversation. “Didn’t I take care of Derrick for you?”

Bile started to rise in my throat when I thought about what she had done to my ex-boyfriend, Derrick.

“Look, Crystal, he was a cheating scum, but I think you went too far.”

“No,” she replied, “I don’t think I went far enough. I should have lit the bed on fire with him still tied to it instead of just….”

“Stop,” I begged, I looked at her hate filled eyes across from me and thought of Derrick, screaming, tied to the bed, and bleeding from the word “bastard” she’d carved into his chest.

When the waitress returned with my beer, I gave her my credit card. She snatched it quickly out of my hand and hurried away. I couldn’t blame her. When Crystal was in this kind of mood she radiated evil.

“You’re scaring me and the waitress, Crystal.”

She laughed and said, “Seriously, you let people run all over you, and it makes me sick...”

“No I don’t,” I tried to defend myself, but she was right. I let people treat me like a doormat. No one ever messed with Crystal. No one.

“Crystal?” The waitress interrupted by reading from my credit card.

“Yes,” I replied.

She swallowed nervously as she handed me the card and the credit slip to sign. After glancing at the empty chair across from me, she hurried away.

“OK,” I continued. “What exactly do you have in mind, Crystal?”


Tina B
Word Count=500
Prompt: "I wouldn't have believed it even if my own mother had told me!" Please use this sentence somewhere in your story. Remember 500 words max!