My Wave, Epilogue
Little addition to my last series to act as a teaser for the new one. Enjoy!
Ryan twisted, rolling over onto his back. He tried to gain a more comfortable position, but it was nearly impossible. His mind was now aware of how miserable his body was. Trying to lick his lips he was disgusted at how dry his mouth was. The sun shining through the window seemed to be able to burn right through his eyelids. His head pounded with every heartbeat. Taking a deep breath he rubbed both of his still closed eyes. It had been a while since he had felt this miserable.
"Shots? I did shots last night? Why did I do shots..."
It took a few minutes but he eventually worked himself upright, extending his legs down off the edge of his mattress. His heart responded by beating faster even at this slight movement. At the same time a wave of nausea overcame him. Tensing his eyes shut, he tried to will his stomach to calm down. The last time he felt this hungover he had been a teenager. Granted, it took significantly less alcohol to make him feel this badly these days.
As ill as he felt, there was something about him that felt strangely alive. It was probably the side effect of having had some of the best sex he could remember the night prior. At that thought, his hungover mind was jolted with a small dose of reality. He glanced around the room. His apartment was just as empty as it usually is- TJ was no where to be seen. A small part of him sunk. Which was surprising, considering he usually felt a sense of relief when his chosen partner for the night had shown themselves out. He let out a little chuckle to himself. What was he he even thinking?
A quick shower was enough to take the edge of of his hangover. He let the cool water rinse through his mouth and over his gills. That had been enough to get rid of the dry mouth and some of the headache. After quickly toweling off he changed into the first dry set of clothes he could find. His heart almost skipped a beat when he noticed a note left out on the counter, a pen still laying on top of the paper. He snatched it up, a smile spreading across his face when he noticed that it was a phone number, along with a little sketch of a peace symbol. Ryan shook his head as he tucked the note into his pocket. It wasn't like him to be the romantic type. He shook it off as it being a side effect of the long period of time since he had any type of intimate contact with another being. Even if it was what could be considered a trashy, drunken hookup.
The late afternoon sunlight was still irritating. Ryan cringed, lowering a pair of sunglasses over his face. The sidewalk became sandier as he made his way back out to the main street. He caught a glimpse of the cruise ship out on the horizon. Its silhouette was only visible, its outline shimmering off of the waves.
Ryan jumped as there was a sudden jolt from a siren behind him. He turned to see an Island Police SUV go screaming past, its faded lights barely visible as they flashed green and blue. It sped down the road, turning onto the business district near the pier before it disappeared from view. Ryan cocked his head at the sight. This was a quiet tourist town, not many emergencies that the police were in a rush to get to occurred around here. After quickly glancing across the street he jogged after the police vehicle.
Ryan could feel his heart rate increase as he neared the corner. It wasn't from jogging either, part of him knew what was going on to cause all of the ruckuss. There was some shouting, followed by more sirens. A loud bell could be heard ringing, blurring the words of those shouting into unintelligible nonsense.
"STOP THE CAR!" He heard a voice roar just as he rounded the corner. The locally owned jewelry store, Oceanside's, looked to be in shambles. Its large, glass storefront was shattered across the pavement. The police SUV that had just raced down the street was billowing smoke from under the hood, which was pockmarked with what looked like bullet holes. An older style muscle car, with rusted body and dirty windows, idled in front of the store. "Toss the keys out of the window!" A cop yelled as he stepped behind the car with his weapon shaking in his hands. Island police were certainly not used to drawing their guns very often.
A few tense seconds passed as the officer positioned himself behind the car, his gun still trembling. The reverse lights came on and there was another tense moment where the alarm bell was the only thing taking up the silence. Suddenly, the car's tires spun and its engine screamed as it lurched backwards. There were two pops of gunfire as the officer dove out of the way. The car reversed all the way down the street skidding to a stop only feet from Ryan.
He tried to get a glimpse inside but the windows were tinted and covered in filth. The car's body was faded and covered with patches of rust. He could feel its idling engine shaking through the asphalt under his feet. New engine and transmission into an old junker- you don't attract attention but you can still lay down rubber when you need to. Usually a trick used by street racers and hardened criminal types. It was most likely the latter in this case.
The car revved its engine twice, most likely at Ryan. It almost felt like a playful challenge, even though he wasn't in his own car. The only thing he could make out behind the glass was a pair of tear shaped yellow eyes. Then the car engine roared to life again, unleashing an almost deafening noise as its tires began to spin. It spewed smoke as it disappeared off down the road, laying down two thick streaks of rubber on the pavement as it did so. The out of breath officer managed to round the corner of the street just as the getaway car vanished from view. He breathlessly cursed into his radio before turning back towards the jewelry store.
Ryan managed to be on time for work, even considering the amount of excitement he witness on the walk in. The police didn't hold him up long as he hadn't seen any more of the getaway car then they did.
"On time for a change? You mean I don't have to open all by myself?" Miranda smirked as he approached the bar.
"Yeah." Ryan responded absentmindedly as he stepped behind the counter.
"Well, it should be a quiet night. The cruise ship is out of port and we don't have another for two days." She commented as she lifted a stack of dishes into a cabinet. Ryan didn't respond as he filled a glass of water from the sink and sucked down a couple of big gulps.
"I could use a low key night..." He sighed.
"Still hungover at this time of day? You're such a bum." She laughed, giving him a pat on the shoulder as she passed.
"Not as young as I used to be."
"Ha!" Miranda blurted out. "You're barely halfway through your 20s, you can't complain about that."
"Right."
"So, how was your night?" She asked with a mischievous tone.
"Alright."
She shook her head in response. "Someone left something for you." She slid a cruise line brochore across the bar towards him.
"Whats this?" He asked, picking it up.
"Your aquatic friend left it for you earlier today. Said he had to take off and didn't want to wake you." She smiled. "You know, the one you were flirting with..." She let her sentence trail off as if she was waiting for Ryan to fill her in with details.
"Oh." He grunted with a confused look on his face. On the backside of the pamphlet there was scrawled a telephone number. A handful of dates on the cruise line schedule were also circled- dates the ship would be back in port. He rummaged into his pocket for the note that had been left in his apartment. His eyes narrowed as he glanced back and forth between the two phone numbers. They were different.
"Well?" Miranda asked with a hint of frustration.
"Well what?" Ryan responded, stuffing the note and brochure into his pocket.
"Whatever." Miranda went back to stocking the cabinets. "I'll just ask you later when you're drunk again..."