Realistic or Modern Aurora Creek

[Crooked Crow]

Blair was in the grocery store when she found out.


She had always hated grocery stores. Shopping for food was the most mundane task she could think of, worse than doing laundry or dishes, for food she didn’t even want to eat. Actually, now that she was thinking about it, cooking was worse. Standing in a kitchen next to a hot stove for an hour each night just so she could continue to live was beyond what she had the patience for. Most nights she tried to get easy things, frozen pizza, rice, chicken nuggets. Anything she could throw in the over for twenty minutes while she was elsewhere was the best. The fluorescent lights, the other customers, the unhelpful staff, the fact that they never had her favorite drink stocked all contributed to her hate of the grocery store. Not to mention the grocery store was where her dad had told her that he was leaving her mother, leaving her. So yeah, she had a bit of unresolved animosity towards food stores. Blair was trying to make the hard decision about what brand of cheap wine she was going to get drunk off of that night when her phone vibrated. She pulled it out of her back pocket as she leaned against one the shelves, abandoning her search for the time being. A notification from Facebook made her scoff, and she wondered why she hadn’t just deleted the profile already.


When she moved away from home she kept it up, just in case anyone wanted to get in touch with her. They hadn’t. Blair almost slipped her phone back in her pocket to resume her search, but for some reason she clicked the notification. An old picture of her and her friends from high school stared back up at her. Someone had shared the picture to their timeline and because she had been tagged in it way back when, she was getting to see it now. A sense of nostalgia overcame her as she stared at the picture. She looked so much younger than, her sophomore year of school, just barely 16. But she could still tell it was her. Her curly red hair still sat atop her head in an unruly manor, with no respect for the person underneath it. She looked much tanner in the picture, as she had spent a lot of her days sunbathing next to the ocean. She didn’t quite remember this day in particular, but there they were, lined up, hanging off of each other, goofy smiles on all their faces as they turned away from the ocean. Blair didn’t even remember who had taken the picture.


A sigh escaped her and as she went to exit the app her eyes skimmed over the caption. Rest in peace, Ally, you will be sorely missed and always remembered. Blair’s eyebrows came together as she read the caption again. And then again. Blair clicked on the comments to the picture, all of them saying something along the same lines. How Ally would be missed. How this was all such a tragedy. How good of a person she was. A weird feeling came over Blair, as if she didn’t really believe it. Ally had been one of the few people in that town that she had actually been able to call a friend. Was anyone even going to tell her? As she read the comments she quickly found out that the funeral was in a few days and before she knew it she was leaving the grocery store, empty handed.


And now here she was, sitting in the driveway of her childhood home at 5 in the morning. She leaned her forehead against the steering wheel, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. Fog rolled down the street as she breathed in the smell of the ocean, not even completely sure what she was doing here. She hadn’t spoken to Ally in years, but that somehow didn’t dull the pain she felt when she thought of her death, when she thought of the promises they had all made to each other to stay in touch, not to disappear from each other’s lives. Blair pulled out of her driveway, unsure where she was even driving too. No one at her house would be awake yet and since they didn’t know she was coming, they wouldn’t be expecting her, either.


Blair found herself parked in one of the small parking lots next to the entrance of the beach, sitting on the hood of her car as the sun rose. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling, there were too many emotions going through her. A chill ran down her spine as she watched the waves meet the sand. God, how she wanted to take her shoes off and just feel the sand between her toes. She hadn’t been on a beach, or even near the ocean in years. For a second she wished she hadn’t come. No one had officially invited her to the funeral anyway, she could leave now and go back to her apartment. Back to her bed. Blair closed her eyes as the sea-breeze ruffled her hair, not quite sure how she was going to face her family. She spent about two hours out there, never venturing onto the sand or near the water, instead sitting in the drivers seat of her car, writing about how badly she wanted to jump in the water.


Her brother answered the door when she rang the doorbell. He was surprised to see her, of course, and she even thought she saw him smile for a second, but then he was gone, out on a morning run. She didn’t even know he ran. Her mother was happy to see her, happier than she ever had been to see her, and Blair still didn’t know how to feel. Her childhood bedroom was bare, the walls that were once littered with posters and artwork looking plain and boring. The floors that held piles of books and usually her laundry now only held boxes. It was a storage room. Blair had to make a path to the bed to put on clean sheets that her mom had given her and for the millionth time thought of leaving. Thankfully her mom couldn’t hang around for too long as she had to go to work so it was just her and Joey. He had gotten so tall, didn’t look like a little kid anymore. Trying to talk to him was out of the question She tried a few times, and they managed small talk, but never anything else


By the time dinner came and went she realized that any semblance of sleep in this house wasn’t going to come. It was almost midnight when she snuck out to her car. “God, you come home for less than 24 hours and you’re already a teenager again.” She couldn’t help but laugh. Blair drove slow through her old town, taking in the sights for the first time in a long time. The park that looked so much bigger as a child, her favorite record store that doubled as a coffee shop, and her high school. She drove past the school quickly, not entirely enjoying the feeling of deep sadness she felt just from looking at the place. Blair ended up in the parking lot of Georgies, a diner her and her friends used to go too after long nights or during early mornings. Despite how familiar the place should have been, it felt completely foreign, like she was completely out of place.


The place hadn't changed at all and with each step deeper she took into the building she felt herself relaxing more and more. There was a small group of teenagers sitting in the booth that her and her friends used to sit at. Blair stopped in the middle of the aisle, remembering why she was here in the first place. Ally's funeral. She sighed, making herself comfortable in the closest open booth. It had been easy to forget the real reason she had drove all the way home while her mom was bombarding her with questions, while her brother could barely look at her, while she had had to dust off her old room, it was easy to get lost in those things. She ran a hand through her hair, leaning back in the booth, and ordered a coffee, her eyes once again roaming over the few people here for a midnight meal. And then her eyes fell on a man on the far side of the restaurant. She knew she must have been staring, but he wasn't looking at her anyway, and he just looked so familiar. She blinked, her brain grabbing onto a memory, trying to figure out who this person was, when finally, she realized, it was Jake.

lovedentist

 

[Crooked Crow]

Nights were never this dark, never did they emanate pitch blackness that would creep into your bones like on this night. This night where a new moon sat up in the sky, an ethereal for that left it hidden from the world's view. Only the stars reached out from the heavens to shine their light upon the earth, but not a single ray fell on Aurora Creek, Oregon. Storm clouds, thick and dark, shielded the town from any celestial grace. Thus any and all light in the valley was of man’s own creation. thus there was none but that of man’s own creation.

A lot of good that would do Jake.

He stood on the outskirts, looking down from the mountains, enveloped in shadows. The town stood downhill, just a reasonable drive away, but Jake couldn't face it, not just yet.Those lights were not inviting to him as they would to others. Jake instead chose to linger in the darkness, prolonging their embrace and the inevitable that came with them as much as he could.

For nearly four years he’d been away from it all. He’d escaped, and managed to leave the godforsaken town which he’d never gave a single damn about. There had been plenty of reasons to make his run, and plenty more as to never return. Yet here he was.

Jake stood at the Rubicon, so to speak. The back entrance to the town was a winding highway that ran up a small mountain. Though, it was truly a hill as he’d come to see real mountains reaching to the heavens from the desert floor during his time away. Regardless, just about three quarters of the way up there was a forest rangers station. Anyone who parked there would find themselves with a scenic view of the town and the ocean at night, though because it took a bit of time to get to, it was relatively unknown and unused past dark. There were much more convenient places to go at night. It was because of this that this place had become Jake’s refuge, a place he’d shared with only those closest to him. A place where he came when he solemnity and solitude. He’d traveled an extra hour and a half taking the back way in order to find such on this night.

The lack of light was peaceful. It allowed him to reflect. Sounds coming from the storm and forests were music to his ears. His heart was full of discord, and seeing the world in the same state made it a bit more bearable. The wailing wind, the pounding rain, and the roaring thunder made the mountainside a place of wild serenity.

As difficult as it was with the rain, he’d been smoking a cigar. It was the third for that night, and it wouldn’t be lasting that much longer. He clenched the stick of tobacco between his teeth and puffed it. This was a habit he’d developed in order to relax and enjoy himself when over-stressed, his one major vice to relive his nerves, tonight it was doing nothing.

On the hood of his car was an open bottle of whiskey. He’d been drinking it for a while earlier on, but he’d cut himself off to allow himself to sober up in order to finish the drive. As much as he needed a drink, he didn’t want to find himself buried with his friend.The number of people he’d actually liked in this town could be counted on one hand, and that number was one fewer.

Annie was like nothing else. She was one of the few good memories he had from his time in the hell hole that was Aurora Creek, and now like the cosmos above, she was gone.

He looked out at the town full of assholes, but honestly he felt like the biggest one. Jake had ditched this completely, and wanted to never come back. He’d left all of it in the dust, the bad and the good. When he did, he didn't make promises to stay in touch like the rest of his friends. Jake left for good, assuming he would probably never see them again. They would go their own ways and live their own lives. That was fine with him.

Then he’d gotten a call from his mom the day before. Allie was dead. Her life, everything that she was, her accomplishments and, and everything that she could have been, her hopes and dreams, were gone. Only in death did she get to leave this town.

This had hit Jake like a bullet, no, getting shot would have been preferable. Honestly this destroyed part of him. All he could feel was pain, sadness, anger and guilt.

Guilt for throwing away Allie, Blair, and a few select others. Abandoning the few people that he’d actually cared for, and at one point even loved. He’d written them out of his life, knowing full well he’d not see them again. It took a funeral to make him see just how much of a goddamn idiot he’d been.

Finally, he’d become numb to the feelings inside him. Just as his skin had become to the cold. He tossed the bottle of whiskey into the passenger seat, and chucked nub of his cigar into the trees around him. Now was the time.

Jake loaded himself into the driver's seat, and brought the engine to life with the turn of a key. He plowed down hill, listening to the beat of the windshield wipers, driving rain, and static from a radio.






Gasoline took to fire as soon as the match had hit the ground. Flames roared to life, like hell reaching out to scorch any and all it touched. And in it’s frantic grasping, the hands tore apart the vipers nest.

It was here that the snakes made their home. This bar had served as the headquarters for the notorious biker gang for a decade and a half. Now it was turning to cinders. The cracking of timber and screams of those working inside were inaudible over the storm and laughter.

A mangled figure stood outside laughing maniacally. Revenge was best served indiscriminately. Everything associated with the damn Vipers would be destroyed, wiped from the face of the earth, and the ground where it all stood salted. This town would burn.

The Faceless King. A nickname he’d carried before his untimely demise. How fitting it was now. There was a time when he’d led a group of his own, the royals they’d been called. But the Vipers systematically saw them removed. As the leader, he was one of the last alive, though it had taken a while for it to discover that it was in fact him in control. He’d done his best to keep his identity as the leader unknown.

Now he proudly wore the jacket which bore his name. No longer did he need to run from it. There was nothing left for him to protect. What he cared for was gone, and now he’d do the same to others, with each and every night that would come. He didn't need to hide his face anymore, as he no longer had a face to hind.

The King noticed a survivor crawl from the flames, panicking, running his way from help. It was only when the snake arms rested on the shoulders of the king, panting, that he noticed that the figure in the dark possessed no head. Had the king had a head, it would be grinning ear to ear as it pushed the snake away, grabbed him, and shoved his head into the fire as the snake was screaming.

As the flames died, he looked upon the town in the distance, and turned away. He revved up his motorcycle and rode off into the hills where he bided his time. Smoke rose into the air behind him.







He found himself in the motel parking lot just shy of an hour later. Key in hand he threw open the door and threw his luggage inside. He was cold and miserable, so he quickly changed jackets and pants, just so he could go out and get them wet again. But on a day like this, he needed a good meal.

Georgies was the same as always, and it cut him deep inside. He looked at the booth where he’d always sat with his friends, knowing it would never truly be full again. So he decided to take a seat at the end of the counter.

He sat there until the waitress came to take his order. A grease-ball burger, fries, and a slice of apple pie. It was the same thing every time he came, no menu needed. The only thing that differed was a malted vanilla milkshake which upon its arrival he proceeded to pour a hefty amount of bourbon flask into.

He’d worked on his food over the course of a half hour, getting up every now and then to throw some more quarters into the jukebox. Jake couldn't handle any music remotely happy sounding at this time, so he’d emptied a good 20$ into the damn thing to keep the music matching his mood. There weren't many other patrons this time of night, and he could give a damn about the small who were.

After a while, he saw a flash of red come through the door through the corner of his eye. He kept his head straight. Jake instead got a look at her through reflection in some glass. Blair.

She was staring, probably trying to recognize him. Real subtle. But he knew her almost instantly, it was hard to forget that fiery red hair.

Jake debated if should say anything to her, if he even had that right. It was inevitable that they’d probably speak again, being that they would both be going to the same funeral, but was he ready to do it now?

He eventually decided to poke the bear. Jake waved the waitress over and told her that he would pick up Blair’s tab. Additionally, he ordered what he remembered to be her favorite milkshake here, and asked to have it delivered to her able. With one more milkshake for himself added on for good measure, he pulled out his wallet and paid in full. It was a little pricey and all things tended to be in a small town, but he deemed it was more than worth it.

It was the first move. Though this wasn’t a game of chess, he didn't know how Blair would react. He figured this was the safest course of action to figure out how she’d react. Maybe she’d wave him over, maybe she’d want to be left alone. Worst case the motel was across the street, and even though the weather was terrible, it was nothing that would bug him in the slightest.

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