one ~ where it began...

Prologue

She had been dead exactly 3 days, 18 hours and 23 minutes. I should know, she told me. She also told me that I would be joining her soon. Then, she sneered.

Being in such close proximity to a decaying body, not by choice of course, can bring out the best hallucinations. She told me of the lonely days before my arrival. That her only companions so far had been the worms and bugs that found her to be a tasty morsel. To prove it, she let a roach escape from her mouth and crawl, perhaps, into her ear. I wouldn't know, she didn't tell me where it went.

I asked her how she came to be here, hoping for a clue as to my own predicament. She merely laughed and told me to relax, that it's not so bad, that I would soon see the humor in all of this. She also whispered in a conspiratorial way that she knew something I didn't, then she cocked her head to the side and asked how long I think it would take for me to figure it out. If ever.

That's when she told me that I looked familiar. I looked at her and realized that she, too, was someone I recognized. Of course, not in the state she was in now, but some human traits just follow you beyond the grave.

I looked down and noticed her uniform. Ah yes, now I remember! She had been my regular server at the Mocha Latte where I get my daily caffeine fix. The shop where the misfits and outcasts gather.

She was there that afternoon the cops took Weird Fred away.

*****

One

Dealing with people was not one of my strongest suits. "You're not a people person," my best friend would tell me. Not true. I love people, all kinds of people. As long as they don't talk to me.

This was a very bad trait to have when you're working in the travel industry. Tourists tend to drive you crazy. Their inane questions made me wonder how they live day to day. My sarcastic answers to such questions as, "how do I turn on the shower?" alarmed my bosses and they decided to do something about it. They promoted me to manager.

This meant I now work in the office and do not have to deal with people face to face. I can now throw my barbs out through the telephone. But only when they let me answer it. My job was, as they put it, to watch over the peons as they went about their work. I highly suspect it was because they were afraid of losing more customers.

But that day, everyone was busy when the phone rang for the fifth time. I almost rubbed my hands with glee as I reached for the handset, ignoring the panicked look on my bosses faces. They were helpless to do anything about it since they all had phones glued to their ears as they barked out orders.

"Good morning, Starlight Tours and Travel, how can I help you?"

"Is this Starlight Tours?"

"No, this is the Chinese Noodle Factory."

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, this is Starlight Tours." Sigh.

"Good. This is Detective Branson of the police department. I have one of your clients here and I need someone to come and get him."

I knew it! One of our idiots finally had a breakdown from information overload.

"What did he do?"

"I am not at privilege to give out that information, Miss. He may want to tell you himself, but that is entirely up to him. I just need someone to pick him up at the main station downtown."

"Why us? Why can't he just go back to his hotel in a cab or something?" I had just gotten comfortable at my desk with my thermo cup of bad company coffee and was annoyed that someone would suggest that I move.

"Well, he could. But he specifically asked that one of you come get him. I think he feels that you, as the booking agent, is partially responsible for the incident."

This was ridiculous. How can we be held responsible? I wasn't even involved.

Sighing heavily, I pulled out my folders of clients and started flipping through them for any clue as to who the culprit might be. It was quite a busy week and we had visitors from all over, especially from foreign countries. Like California.

Goodness! There were dozens of them. It could be any one of these faceless names.

"Can you at least tell me his name?"

"His name is Richard Sambora. How soon can you come for him?"

*****