Chapter 3 — You'll Understand Soon
By the time Kevin worked up the nerve to approach her again, the mysterious woman was already halfway through her whiskey, her green eyes calmly scanning the room as though nothing here could surprise her.
He stopped at her end of the bar, towel in hand, and cleared his throat.
"Another?" he asked.
She smiled faintly without looking at him. "Please."
He refilled her glass, careful not to let his hands shake. When he finally spoke, it came out harsher than he meant:
"So… how do you know my name?"
This time, she did look at him — directly.
There was a long, heavy pause before she answered. "Some names are… hard to forget."
Kevin frowned at that, but she offered nothing more.
"I don't remember meeting you," he said cautiously.
Her smile deepened ever so slightly, though it didn't look particularly kind.
"You wouldn't," she murmured, taking a slow sip. "Not yet."
"Not yet?"
Her gaze drifted back to the rows of bottles behind him, as though she'd already lost interest in explaining herself. "Don't worry. You'll understand… soon enough."
That sent another chill crawling down Kevin's spine.
Before he could press her further, another wave of customers arrived at the bar, calling his name for drinks and shouting orders. He tore himself away, trying to shake the strange, heavy feeling she left in her wake.
Every time he glanced back, she was still there. Watching.
The rest of the night passed in a blur of clinking glasses, chatter, and the usual bad jokes from Eddie and Marla. But Kevin's mind kept circling back to her — the way she seemed to already know him, the way she'd said "you'll understand."
At some point, she slipped out without a word. No goodbye, no empty glass left behind. Just gone, as though she'd never been there at all.
By the time Kevin finished locking up the Hollow Oak, it was nearly midnight. Marla waved goodnight as she disappeared into the parking lot, earbuds already in. Eddie had left earlier.
Kevin lingered on the sidewalk for a moment, staring at the faint glow of the streetlamps. His thoughts were still a tangled knot of her words, her eyes, her smile.
You'll understand soon enough.
He shivered despite himself, shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket, and started walking.
His apartment was only a few blocks away — a narrow, second-floor walk-up above a shuttered laundromat. He climbed the stairs wearily, fishing his keys from his pocket, the night air still heavy with the faint scent of smoke from some distant firepit.
But when he reached his door, he stopped.
The wood was slightly ajar.
Kevin's heart skipped a beat. He was sure he'd locked it before work — he always did.
Slowly, he pushed the door open.
The faint light from the hallway spilled into the dark apartment, illuminating three silhouettes standing in his living room.
Strangers.
Men.
One of them, the tallest, stepped forward, his face obscured by the shadows.
"Well," the man said, his voice low and almost amused. "Took you long enough."
Kevin's fingers tightened around his keys, his stomach sinking as a cold rush of fear finally cut through the haze of the night.
He didn't know who they were.
He didn't know what they wanted.
But somehow… he already had the awful sense it had something to do with her.