The swirling fog of the morning made me more miserable with my utterly boring existence. Just like everything in this backwoods part of Kentucky it seemed to close in around me. Nineteen and life didn't offer any hope of escape from this place, not even from this rotten, little dinner that had been passed down to my mother from her father. Here was boredom served to me on a platter my family had created, a platter I wanted nothing to do with.
"Fuck," I whispered to myself, "I'd sell my soul to the Devil for some excitement."
"Hey, Melissa," Ballard Barnes called out, "Wake up and give us more coffee, or do I have to take you out back and wake you up?"
Ballard Barnes and his brother Sam, two morons that God made the mistake to have given vocal cords. Both were sure they would be the one to take my virginity from me. Both were very, very wrong on that idea.
As I turned from the coffee machine with the pot of coffee, the whole place lit up as lightning engulfed the fog shrouded world. Instantly there was a huge boom of thunder sounding more like a demonic scream than anything else. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as the thunder echoed from the unseen hills around the tiny cafe.
I blinked twice as I stared out the window towards the road. Slowly two headlights pulled closer, looking more like the sinister eyes of an approaching demon than anything else. My body shook for a second before the car turned to the right and vanished towards the parking spaces.
I had returned the coffee pot to the burner and had just sat back down on the ugly burnt orange stool when he walked in. Dressed in tight black jeans, a shirt as black as a moonless night he cut the image of pure, unbridled excitement into my mind. His black hair was neatly combed and he took a glance at me with the darkest black eyes ever created. In his eyes I knew that, here was not only excitement, here was danger.
"Hey, look, it's Johnny Cash," Ballard roared loudly as the stranger passed the table the two brothers were sitting by.
I knew there was going to be trouble. The man stopped, a wicked grin tugging at the corner of his lips. He slowly turned to Ballard and moved to the table.
"Not Johnny. Not Cash. The name is Charon." He growled in a voice more like the thunder than I could imagine.
"Sharon? SHARON?" Ballard roared with laughter. "And my name is Sue. How do you do?"
"Ballard," the man said, his voice as sharp and crisp as a sharp knife. "You have so little time. Maybe you'd do better to use it more wisely."
"Who are you?" Ballard asked, confusion washing over his bearded face.
"Your worst nightmare," the man replied slowly, then turned and walked to a booth, his feet coming to the floor as if he intended to plant them through the dirty, greasy tiles with each step.
"Best not mess with them." I whispered as I set the glass of water and a menu down for the stranger. "They are real bad people."
"Bad?" He asked, picking up the menu. "They look bad, but they are just two morons who don't know when to stop."
"Come on," I don't want any trouble. Okay?"
"No trouble. Not for you. But they are caught up in a dance they don't know is coming to an end."
"Melissa, honey," Ballard said as he sauntered up. "Don't waste your time on this guy. Come on, lets go out back and you show me those little titties."
His fingers touched my blouse an instant before my hand crashed along the side of his face. "You ever do that again, you bastard, I'll fucking kill ya."
"You little tramp!" Ballard screamed as his hand slashed out to repay my slap. There was no way I could avoid it but, it never got to me. The stranger, not even looking up reach out and stopped Ballad's blow without any effort.
"Your mother never teach you any manners, Ballard? You don't go around hitting little girls. Ever!"
Both Ballard and I stood in pure amazement at what had just happened. Ballard was a big man, made muscular by a lifetime of working in the woods. No matter how shocked he was, this would not be tolerated by the two brothers who thought they owned half the girls in the community.
"I'll fucking kill you for that," Ballard growled, jerking his arm from the man's grasp.
"No you won't," The man smiled up at him. "But you'll try. Now go sit down and keep you big, ugly mouth shut for a few minutes."
Unaccustomed to such treatment, the read face giant of a man backed off.
Moving swiftly to the service window to the kitchen, I nodded to Jimmy, the old man who swept the place to come closer. "Go get the sheriff, there is going to be big trouble here."
With his coat half on, Jimmy headed to the door, his limp slowing him down. "Jimmy," the stranger said, not looking up. "He's down there behind his favorite billboard, but you will have to wake him up."
I flopped down on the stool. Something was going on here that was beyond my mind. Something evil was here, you could feel and taste it. Trouble wasn't going to happen, trouble was already here.
The three men got up at the same instant as if on cue. I opened my mouth to scream for them to sit down but nothing came out. Unable to speak or move I watched the brothers advance on the stranger, anger and hate painted on their faces as the stranger, the one called Charon, stood with a knowing grin on his face.
Charon took his time with the two. Speed was his thing as he bashed a fist into Sam's face, twirled and caught Ballard between the legs with his knee. Even in pain Ballard lashed out with a wild punch that went wide as the man stepped back.
I knew he was hurt the instant the fist slammed into his muscular chest. Ballard backed up like a staggering drunk, caught himself on the edge of the table and looked at the man in disbelief. "You fucker," He said as a trickle of blood drooled from the right side of his mouth. His eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed in a heap, his eyes staring blindly at the ceiling.
Sam started to crawl to help his brother, but the stranger used the bottom of his shoe to slam the injured man's head against the floor. Sam lay still beside his dead brother.
I had never seen a man killed before. It had happened so quickly that I was unable to grasp any of what had happened. Sitting in total shock I found myself unable to move as the man named Charon moved towards me, a coldness coming over me as he came closer.
With his eyes boring into mine, he pulled my blouse out and I felt his hand push something beneath my bra. "Never ask for what you do not understand," he said with a smile. "You might get it."
