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The Worst Night

Bad decisions made

By Luke FosterPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 7 min read
14
The Worst Night
Photo by Sérgio Alves Santos on Unsplash

As usual for a Friday night, Amanda and her work friends were at O'Connells bar, downing drinks and trying to unwind from the working week just finished. As typical young city professionals they were loud and somewhat obnoxious, but so were most of the bar. God knows how the bar staff put up with it.

There were plenty of empty glasses on their table, and at ten o clock the night was progressing nicely. Amanda excused herself to head to the bathroom. At the table by the far wall were a group of guys huddled in close, talking over the noise of the bar. Amanda noticed that none of the tables surrounding were occupied, despite the fullness of the bar.

She smiled as she passed the table, but none of the men were paying her any mind. In her semi-drunken state that annoyed her a little bit. She hadn't seen anything of interest in the men, but she was used to getting a certain amount of attention, and maybe her ego was a little ruffled.

On her way back she "accidentally" drunkenly stumbled into the table. A set of rough hands set her up straight and then all four men turned back to their conversation.

"Sorry about that." she said cheerily, still trying to force a reaction, but a grunt was her only response.

Amanda huffed and walked back to her table where her work colleagues were looking askance at her. She inquired as to their worries and was answered in hushed tones.

"They look like trouble, Amanda. See how nobody is sat near them?" was the response.

Amanda made a scoffing noise and rolled her eyes at her terrified friend.

"I'm serious. They are obviously bad news, and I'd stay away from them."

This was good advice, but Amanda chuckled and stuck her tongue out at her friend, who just shrugged and went back to her drink.

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Closing time comes around and Amanda and her friends are still at the bar, by this point extremely drunk, and still chatting loudly even though the music in the bar had stopped, and the bar staff were waiting patiently to clear their table.

The group eventually spilled outside onto the pavement where they said their goodbyes. Amanda stumbled off in the direction of her apartment a few streets away.

As she walked past the alleyway behind the bar she heard raised voices, and stupidly decided to have a look. Shocked to find the table of rough looking gents from the bar. Two of them appeared to be having some king of argument whilst the bigger two stood silently by.

Emboldened by too much alcohol, Amanda shuffled closer to see and hear more clearly. She regretted this almost instantly as the younger of the two men pulled a gun from his jacket and shot his colleague twice in the chest.

Amanda let out an involuntary scream that she tried to withhold by placing her hands over her mouth. There was enough noise to attract the attention of the men in the alley and three heads swung in her direction. Still with her hands over her mouth she tried to back further into the corner she was watching from, but just upset a metal bin that was directly behind her with an ear splitting crash.

The man with the gun sighed and gestured to one of his goons. Amanda tried to get her wits about her and make a break for it, but the goon was on her in a flash. She tried to scream, but a rough hand gripped tightly over her mouth and she was dragged helplessly through a heavy service door.

The corridor she was pulled along was dark, but ahead was low lighting, and as she came into the space she saw that they were back in O'Connell's.

The man she had just seen murder someone was sat at the same table she had observed him at earlier in the night, with his back against the wall and a view of the entirety of the now empty bar.

Amanda was seated unceremoniously in the seat opposite, and although she was no longer being restrained, she could feel the huge presence of the man behind her, and knew from that encounter that there was no way she was getting past this man without his say so.

The man sat across from her, whom she assumed was in charge, had looked so innocuous when she had walked past him earlier in the night. Now, however, he exuded a quiet menace that left her paralyzed and unable to speak.

He regarded her for a moment with his head slightly tilted, as he did he reached into his jacket and removed his gun. Amanda stiffened, but he just placed the gun on the table, facing her but with his hand next to it. It was a small gesture, but spoke clearly for the power dynamic in the room. Amanda was now alive at this man's discretion.

The sound of a door slamming shut made Amanda jump in her seat. She turned to see goon number two walking through. He was wiping his hands on a handkerchief that was suspiciously red. It was at this point that Amanda noticed there were no staff in sight. Whoever these people were, they obviously had some serious pull.

The seconds stretched out, just enough to get a little uncomfortable. Then he began to speak.

"It's like you're trying to be a problem." His voice was languid, he was totally relaxed and in control. "Are you that desperate to die?"

The casual nature of the threat to her life made Amanda stiffen in her seat. He looked like he was waiting for an answer but she couldn't find her voice, so she shook her head frantically.

"If you aren't useful to me, then you'll have to join my former colleague outside." Again the tone was conversational and polite, but Amanda had never heard anything so terrifying in her entire life.

"So here's what we're going to do. I need a little job doing. You need to make a choice. Either you do the job, I'll even pay you a tidy sum, or your night ends here." His fingers drummed on the upturned side of the gun still on the table top. "So, do you want to do a little job for me?"

Amanda couldn't think of anything that she wanted to do less, apart from dying, so she nodded, still too terrified to speak.

"Excellent. It's not a difficult task. My associate here has secured a vehicle, and I need you to get that vehicle and it's contents across town to the East Docks. Be there in 45 minutes and I'll pay you five grand and our business will be done. Don't show, or get caught, and my associates and I will find you."

And with that, goon number one was back at her shoulder and it was time to leave. He took her back out the way that she came in, and out into the alleyway. For a moment, she thought he might kill her anyway, that this was some kind of trap, but instead he showed her out onto the street where a blue Ford was waiting, he handed her a key then walked up the road to where a Range Rover pulled up. All three of the men from the bar got in and the car drove away.

Amanda got into the car and pulled the door shut. Once inside she let out a sob and started to hyperventilate. After a minute her breating returned to normal and she sat there for another minute thinking how stupid she had been tonight, and it had almost cost her life.

It still might. The East Docks were about half an hour away, and there was one big problem.

Amanda didn't know how to drive.

Short Story
14

About the Creator

Luke Foster

Father. New husband. Wannabe writer.

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Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

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  1. Excellent storytelling

    Original narrative & well developed characters

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    Well-structured & engaging content

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    The story invoked strong personal emotions

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Comments (10)

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  • Gina C.about a year ago

    This was a thrill! Thoroughly enjoyed!! So happy I found this, thank you for sharing!

  • Cathy holmesabout a year ago

    Great story with lots of suspense and that twist at the end. Well done.

  • Babs Iversonabout a year ago

    Splendid storytelling!!! Captivating tale and loved the ending💕😊❤️💕

  • C. H. Richardabout a year ago

    Had me hooked for nice thriller. Hope you continue with this story. Enjoyed!

  • KJ Aartilaabout a year ago

    I enjoyed your story, and the twist at the end. Now I want to know, what happened to Amanda? :) Good story!

  • Emily Marie Concannonabout a year ago

    Wow Luke that was suspenseful! Just hearted and subscribed:)

  • Great story and I love the image that leads into it, lots in there

  • Heather Hublerabout a year ago

    Ahh!! I wanted to know what happened!! Wonderful storytelling with some great suspense and one heck of a twist at the end. I would have happily kept reading. Well done :)

  • Luke!!! Whoa!!! Suspense, crime, and a perfect surprise ending!! Loved it.

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