The Best Tip He Ever Got

**Authors note: This part of the series is going to drag on a little bit. If you're interested and you've been following the story, a lot of information is going to be revealed in this part. If you're just here for the naughty bits, scroll to the end of this part, that's where the fun stuff is. Many thanks to everyone, enjoy :) **

Drew sat on Alex's couch, with nothing but a blank stare on his face. He said nothing. Alex sat across the room from him in the recliner, also not saying anything. Neither of them knew what to think about the news they had received.

"So...... What's next?" Alex asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"I....... I don't know." Drew replied quietly.

Alex casually got up and left the room. Drew leaned back on the couch, the same blank stare still drawn on his face.

"Maybe it's just a weird coincidence?" Drew thought to himself.

Drew picked up his phone and began doing a search of his wife's name. The first results were of her social media pages. But as he scrolled, he came upon an article from the early 70s. In 1971, a woman with the same name had gone missing along with her newlywed husband. He continued to read the article, hoping to find some more information.

According to the article, the woman had lost her father a few years prior to their disappearance. A few months before that, she had gotten married. The strange thing was that nobody really knew who the person she had gotten married to was. The article goes on to mention that in interviews with family members, it came as a surprise that she was getting married, there wasn't even a ceremony. She had apparently been acting very strange in the weeks leading up to their disappearance. Family members insisted that her new husband had something to do with it. The article concluded that the only thing found at the house that was out of the ordinary was a strange thick blue liquid that was never identified. Medical professionals stated that the substance contained no properties that could be identified to the scientific community, and some even suggested that it was not of this world.

Drew chalked this information up as coincidence. He continued searching, but only turned up the same information from a few different articles. The case went cold and neither her or her husband were ever found. Drew locked his phone and dropped it in his lap. Just then, Alex reappeared at the entrance to the living room. She had apparently gone and gotten dressed in proper clothes.

"Are... Are you OK?" She asked quietly.

"No. I have some type of creature, that I can only suspect is a fucking alien living inside me, and the person who gave it to me seems to be a figment of my imagination with the same name as my wife. I think it's safe to say that I'm not OK." He replied.

Drew then began to share the information that he had found online with Alex. After filling her in, they both just kind of sat there in her living room, not saying anything. Drew happened to be staring out the window when he noticed a black SUV drive by very slowly. A few moments later, he saw them drive back by the house. Initially he thought nothing of this, Alex lived on a dead-end road and people mistakingly turning down the road and having to turn around was something that he could see happening often. It wasn't until he saw the same black SUV creep back down the road again that he got suspicious.

"Hey, does anyone with a big black SUV live down at the other end of the road?" Drew asked Alex.

"No, there's just the person beside me, and then one other person beside them. But they don't drive an SUV." Alex responded.

"Well there is a black SUV with blacked out windows that keeps driving by your house." Drew said to her.

They both went over to the window and peeked out, trying to be as discreet as possible so that they aren't seen. Intently they stared out the window hoping to see the strange vehicle drive-by again. They sat there for several minutes, but nothing else happened.

"I bet there at the end of the road." Drew spoke up.

"But why would they be sitting there?" Alex asked.

"I don't know, but I think that I need to get out of here. I don't have a good feeling about this." Drew said.

"Well I'm coming with you." Alex responded

"Oh no you aren't. What if they're after me? It wouldn't be safe for you. Besides. I think you're in the clear. If it is somebody after me, what would they want with you?" Drew asked her.

"Hey, you're not the only victim in the situation! It attacked me too, and what about the woman in the park? Don't you think that if someone was looking for you, they would come here and talk to me as soon as they saw you leave?" She snapped back at him.

Drew was only trying to protect her, but he couldn't deny that she had a point. The two of them would probably be safer together anyways. Drew thought about this for a moment, and then rubbed his hands over his face letting out I frustrated groan.

"Fine! You can come with me. But I am in charge of this situation here." He said.

"Oh I wasn't waiting for permission, I was going with you whether you said yes or not." She said back to him with sass in her voice.

Drew kept his eyes fixed out the window while Alex moved about the living room gathering things. She picked up her decorative katana off the floor and stuffed her phone in her back pocket.

"Ready?" She asked.

Drew turned his head and looked at her, then laughed a little bit to himself.

"And what do you plan on doing with that?" He asked back.

"It's the best protection I've got. Is that a problem with you?" Alex replied condescendingly.

" whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night is fine by me." He retorted.

He reached down and grabbed his keys off of the coffee table, finding and isolating the key to his car.

"Alright, the doors are unlocked, we are going to walk out here and get in the car casually as if nothing is wrong." He said to her in a hushed tone.

"Why are we whispering?" Alex whispered back.

"Fuck, I don't know. I'm just nervous." He replied.

"But you said look natural, not nervous." She said with a little smile.

"Can we cut the bullshit?" Drew snapped.

He walked over to her front door and opened it, they casually started to walk out to his car. Alex locked her door and walked to the passenger side of his car. They both got in the car and fastened their seatbelts. Drew started the car and backed out of her driveway. Just as he suspected, the black SUV was parked at the end of the road.

"Shit, there they are!" Drew said, somewhat shocked at seeing this, even though he had speculated that they were.

He turned off of her street and noticed that the SUV did not seem to move. He kept his eyes focused on the rearview mirror as they got further and further away from Alex's road.

"Keep an eye out for me would you?" He asked.

"Yeah." Alex replied.

They drove for a few miles, making several turns, but it did not seem they were being followed. Drew was relieved when he pulled onto his street. He turned into his driveway, but instead of parking where he usually did, he drove around back, parking so that the car was hidden from the road. Once he parked and turned off the vehicle, they sat in his car for a few moments, wanting to be absolutely positive that they weren't being followed. Once they were comfortable, they both got out and started walking towards Drew's back door.

They entered into a laundry room that was connected by a door to the kitchen. Once they were inside, Drew tossed his keys on the counter and went over to the couch where he plopped down as he usually does when he returns home. Alex looked around, having never been inside his house before.

"Everything is very tidy, it's obvious that another woman lives here." She said, giggling a bit to herself.

"Oh no, I'm the one who cleans. She's actually the messy one." He responded, returning a laugh as well.

"Oh?" Alex replied.

She then walked over and sat on the loveseat adjacent to the couch. She noticed a small cigar box in the center of the coffee table. Knowing that he didn't smoke cigars, this piqued her interest.

"What's that?" Alex asked, pointing to the cigarbox on the coffee table.

Drew looked over at it and then smiled.

"This is exactly what I need right now actually." He responded, leaning forward to grab it.

Taking the box from the table, he flipped the lid open. Inside was a little jar of marijuana, a pack of rolling papers, a glass pipe, a few lighters, a grinder, and what looked like several different cleaning tools. Drew proceeded going through the motions, grinding up some and packing it tightly in the glass pipe.

"Do you partake?" Drew asked, putting the glass pipe up to his lips, lit it and took a very large draw from it.

"I mean I haven't in a long time, but after today, I feel I'm ready for it as well." She responded.

They passed the pipe back-and-forth, and after about five minutes it was finished. Drew put everything neatly back in the cigarbox and closed the lid before replacing it on the coffee table. When he did, he grabbed the television remote off of the table and then sat back leaning into the cushions of the couch. He turned on the TV and started flipping through channels until he arrived at Cartoon Network.

Both of them sat there, relaxing in their seats high as kites. Neither of them were quite sure exactly what show was on the television, but they giggled at it nonetheless. Alex kicked off her shoes and propped her feet up in the empty seat beside her. It was starting to get dark outside. Drew looked out the window and noticed that this day that seemed to drag on, filled with unexpected events, was finally coming to an end.

Drew leaned forward slightly and slapped his hands against his knees. He stood up with a grunt and started walking towards the kitchen.

"I'm making myself a drink, would you like one?" Drew asked as he walked.

"Uhhh, sure. What are you having?" She replied.

"Bourbon on the rocks." He said back, grabbing his bottle of 1792 as he did.

"I guess, why not." She replied, crinkling her nose a little bit.

Drew pulled down two whiskey glasses from the cabinet, dropped three ice cubes in each, and then filled the glasses about halfway. He walked over to her, grabbing some coasters on his way by the table. He dropped one in front of her and set her glass on it, before doing the same in front of where he was sitting on the couch. Together, they sat and sipped there drink while sharing funny stories with one another, briefly letting the events of the day slip from their mind as they relaxed.

After about two hours, an entire box of cheese it's, and two drinks later, Drew finally got around to apologizing for what he had said back at her house.

"Hey, about what I said earlier. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." He said to her, lowering his voice a little bit as he did.

"Oh, it's OK. I guess I was being kind of a bitch." She replied, laughing a little.

"No no, like you said, I really was being an asshole. I know you were just trying to help, but I just didn't know what to expect and I didn't want you to get hurt." He replied, reaching his hand forward and resting it on her knee. She smiled and placed her hand on top of his, looking up to meet his eyes.

They both stayed like that for a moment, looking deep into each others eyes. It was Drew who finally broke the embrace, lightly pulling his hand from under hers. He grabbed her now empty glass along with his own and started walking back to the kitchen. He sat the dishes in the sink and began to wash them. Alex grabbed the television remote and began flipping through channels again. Drew looked up as he was washing the cups and watched her. Just like earlier, some thing about this moment just felt right to Drew. He watched her candidly sitting on the loveseat, leaning back into the corner where the arm and back met, casually flipping through channels with her legs resting in the empty seat. A small smile appeared on his face as he rinsed the soap suds from the glasses and placed them in the drying rack.

Alex stopped flipping channels, landing on one of the local channels. She was about to change the channel again when the voice on the television caused her to stop.

"Coming up next, a woman says she was attacked while jogging through the woods. More on that next, and Jim has got your forecast for the week coming up right after sports. But first a word from our sponsors." The news anchor said, before advertisements started appearing on the screen.

Drew and Alex looked at each other, their eyes both wide as if they had just seen a ghost. Drew came up and took a seat on the side of the couch closest to the loveseat where Alex sat. Both of them turned their eyes to the TV when the voice of the news anchor returned.

"Tonight, a harrowing story of a woman attacked as she jogged on a familiar hiking trail through the woods. For more on this story, we go to Jessica who is live on location tonight. Good evening Jessica, I wish we were speaking under better circumstances, but what's the consensus in the area tonight after this brutal attack?" the anchor spoke.

"Yes Tammy, the neighborhood is on high alert after hearing about this vicious attack. A woman, who asked that we not share her name, claimed she was running on this trail behind me. She claims to of run this trail for years and has never had an encounter with anyone other than other friendly joggers. But today was different for her. She claims that she approached a man who seemed to be in trouble, thinking that he was being attacked by one of the many venomous snakes that are indigenous to our area. She claims that when she approached the man, she was attacked by something she could not see. She says she doesn't entirely remember what happened, just that she awoke lying on the ground, parts of her clothes had been ripped off of her, and a strange blue liquid was all over her and around the area that she woke up. Police say they have opened an investigation, but piecing this story back together with such little information to go on is unlikely to reveal any solid details about exactly what happened here today. Investigator say that the only detail that seemed more strange than the incident itself was that of the blue liquid that was found. In their statement they noted the 1971 case of Amanda Caldwell, who went missing along with her husband just a few weeks after getting married. Investigators say that they do not know at this time if there is somehow a link between the decades old cold case and the events that took place here today. We will keep you updated on the story as we learn more, back to you Tammy."

"Thank you for the excellent reporting Jessica. We would like to note that the woman was sent home after being given the all clear from medical staff. Other than a few scrapes and cuts from debris on the ground, the woman seems to be uninjured. If you or someone you know has any information regarding this story, do not hesitate to contact our crimestoppers hotline. Hopefully the perpetrator of this horrific event will be brought into custody soon so that her, and the neighborhood can once again sleep soundly."

Alex and Drew just looked at each other, both of their mouth slightly hanging open. Seeing the story on the news about what Drew described earlier brought both of them rushing back to reality.

"There's no way she walked away from that." Drew said, "I saw that thing damn near pull her legs off of her body. I heard a popping sound of her joints becoming dislocated. There's no way she just got up and walked away from that." He continued.

"What do we do?" Alex asked.

"What do you mean we? I think you mean what do I do." Drew replied.

"Hey, did you forget that it attacked me too?! I am as much a part of this as you now." She said back.

Drew let out a heavy sigh. He knew she was right. She had become a part of this whole thing. She was, after all, the first person other than himself to experience the creature. He rubbed his temples, thinking about what to do.

"I need a shower." Drew said.

"Ugh, me too" Alex said back.

"I'm trying to figure out how though." He said, exhaling heavily.

"Oh.......yeah. About that....." Alex said back laughing.

"I guess you should go first. I'm assuming you're staying here tonight since that truck might still be camped out at your place." Said Drew.

"Yeah, I was going to if that's OK. I don't really have friends and I don't want to go back home. So it's either here or the office." She replied.

"Yeah, that should be fine. I'll take the couch, you can have the bed." He said back.

He showed her where the bathroom was and returned to the kitchen while he waited for her to finish. While he did, he grabbed the bottle of bourbon and a shot glass. He poured himself a shot, and threw it back almost immediately. He did the same thing again, cringing at the taste of hot bourbon. He looked down at his abdomen and patted his stomach a few times.

"Looks like it's just me and you this time." He said, speaking down to his lower regions.

As he waited, he began to think. He knew how to make the creature wake up, so he thought there had to be away or to make it "go to sleep". With the alcohol taking affect, he wasn't able to think clearly enough to come up with any options. He walked back to the living room and grabbed his phone off of the coffee table. He decided to call Amanda.

He touched her name on the screen and put the phone up to his ear. As it began to ring, he heard a strange sound coming from the closet near the front door. It was the unmistakable sound of a phone ringing, but set to vibrate. As the phone kept ringing in his ear, he followed the sound. He opened the door and was astonished by what he found. It was Amanda's phone, purse, and all of the luggage that she had packed. The moment he realized that all of her belongings were still here at the house, Amanda answered the phone.

"Hey babe! Miss me that much?" Amanda said.

Drew was stricken by momentary speechlessness. Her phone in the closet had answered itself, and was displaying the screen that one would see if you were on the phone with someone, but had the phone away from their ear. Thinking quickly, he spoke to her as if nothing was wrong.

"Hey sweetheart. Yeah, I just wanted to say good night before I turned in." He answered back.

"Since when do you go to bed so early on a Saturday night? That bored without me?" She said, laughing a little bit as she finished her sentence.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Drew replied, returning the same laugh that she had given him.

Drew was pacing back-and-forth from the kitchen to the living room while he spoke with her. He spotted Alex come out of the bedroom doorway wrapped in a towel and held his finger to his lips before she said anything.

"Well don't worry, just one more night without me, then I'll have you all to myself." Amanda continued.

"Tell me about it, I can't wait." Drew said.

Alex just stood there in the hallway, not moving an inch, afraid that any slight motion would somehow alert Amanda that she was in the house.

"Well I'm gonna let you go now, just wanted to say good night. Love you, I'll talk to you tomorrow." Drew said. She returned the pleasant words and they hung up.

Once he set his phone down, Alex began walking towards him. He just stood there, bewildered about what he had found.

"Was that Amanda?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, it was. But you wanna know what the weird thing is?" Drew answered. "All of the stuff that she packed to take with her, including her purse and phone, are in the coat closet." He continued.

Drew lead Alex to the hallway where the closet was and showed her what he had found. Neither of them had answers, they were both wildly confused. Things already weren't making sense, and this just made it worse. They tried coming up with ways that she would have been able to talk on the phone with him even though her phone was still here. They weren't able to come up with anything.