Story 05 – Part 2 – Aftermath of a Nightmare

“Vi, I’m fine,” Carmine said.

“Well,” Vire said over the phone, “you did worry Tech. What got you so worked up?”

“Honestly,” Carmine admitted, “I’m not completely sure. I just got a bad feeling. Like there would be trouble. So we left.”

“All righty,” Vire said. “Thanks for telling me. Are you coming by for holiday preparations tomorrow?”

“Wouldn’t miss it. I work a half shift at the store, so I’ll be by in the afternoon. Around one.”

“See you then.”

Carmine was glad that Vire was content with his explanation. He did not want to tell her that it was a strong feeling than that and that the feeling had only recently left. Not only that, but whenever he had this feeling before someone ended up in the hospital at best. And he had been worried that Tech was the one in danger.

Despite popular belief, Carmine was sure that he was not psychic. Unless he truly focused on something, he would not get exact impressions from a person. Since he had only seen the person out of the corner of his eye, Carmine felt he could not be sure. Still, his initial suspicions got his mind working. Those words he had said in lobby, only in passing, had suddenly struck him.

All of those victims kind of did have the same face if you had slightly poor vision. More importantly, Tech fit that same description. It had seemed like the person was following them, but then the feeling did not stop after he had dropped Tech off. It was not until a few minutes before Vi had called that the feeling had faded. The worry did not.

Despite a sleeping pill, Carmine still did not sleep well and ended up waking with a gun under his pillow. Even though he felt tired from his restless night, he still felt surprisingly well in the morning. Carmine had actually considered bringing a gun with him for the day but no longer felt it necessary. The day just seemed to get better once he got to work.

“I did sorely miss you when you were gone,” the old owner told Carmine after he stopped a shoplifter.

“You seemed to mange fine,” Carmine told him.

“I just own the place,” the old man said. “It’s my young helpers who keep everything managed.”

“So this is your other part time job,” a voice said from the doorway. “A pawn shop. Nice.”

“Jordan,” Carmine said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“I was visiting one of my bomb squad buddies and spotted you through the store windows,” Jordan answered. “I just thought I’d pop in and give a hello. Now, I don’t mean to be rude, but I really do have to get going.”

Carmine laughed. “Then maybe I should show you the door.”

After a little bit of bantering, Jordan finally did run off. Carmine waved from the door and let it close behind him. Then the feeling of last night returned in full force. Taking a few steps away from the door, Carmine looked out the window at the café across the street. There were two patrons whose faces he could not see, but everyone else seemed fine.

The fact that the strong feeling remained and did not follow Jordan actually relieved Carmine. If whoever was setting off his senses was still nearby, it meant that Tech was never the one in danger. That knowledge actually calmed Carmine down considerably. Now he briefly wished he had brought a gun, but ignored that thought. He would need to figure why the person was so upset with him.

“Can I leave fifteen minutes early?” Carmine asked the pawn shop owner.

“Of course,” the old man said. “Could you empty the trash on your way out?”

Using the backdoor, Carmine made his way into the alley. He tossed the garbage into the dumpster and froze. At the other end of the alleyway was that person. Now that he could finally see the man, Carmine could tell that the man was not in a right state of mind. That was going to be a disadvantage for Carmine’s ability to understand a person. He did not realize that the person was actually going to throw some sort of knockout weapon until it left their hand. Carmine had one quick moment to duck and shove his phone into his shoe.