Decipher

Decipher

By Amilia Jackson

Prologue

There was shouting and the sound of crying coming from inside the building. The white paint was peeling off the sides of the walls, and broken glass was littered all around. The door lazily swung open, unable to close all the way. There’s a neon sign in the door that reads, Interdimensional Smoothie Shop, open 24/7! The shouting gets harsher, and the crying diminishes.

“You are so inconsiderate! Ya know that? You’re causing such a scene... and you wonder why I don’t like to go in public with you!” The woman sighed heavily at her husband, reaching under the frames of her sunglasses to wipe roughly at her tired red eyes.

“Oh, so I'm the one causing the scene now? That’s ridiculous! You're absolutely ridiculous!” He shouted back, trying to find her eyes beneath the shade of her glasses.

The man had lemon-blonde hair and bright yellow eyes. He looked annoyed; his jaw clenched. He had a faded scar on his left cheek. He was wearing a stained, black and yellow button-up shirt, the top two buttons undone, and a black top hat. He seemed to be missing an eye, and there was a patch covering his eye-socket. His tall, muscled frame loomed over an equally annoyed woman with long, white-bleached hair, fair skin, too much makeup, and a light pink blouse. Not to mention the angel wings that were sprouting from her back. She throws off purple-tinted sunglasses to glare at him with pale blue eyes.

“You wanna know what’s ridiculous, Bill? The way your shirt is all stained. It looks terrible! It’s a black shirt! And, yes, you are causing a scene.”

Bill rolled his eye. “I'm leaving now Sarah.”

“What?” She sounded shocked.

“I said I'm leaving! So, you don’t have to be all embarrassed when I ‘make a scene. You can get a ride home, right?”

She hesitated. She didn’t want to be all alone at the bar. Bill may have been a jerk today but being with him still made her feel safe. He was a very intimidating person, and no one bothered to mess with them. When he was gone, she felt vulnerable.

Though, she didn’t say it out loud. She just glared at him and said, “Fine. Leave.”

And he did. He stormed away without giving another glance back.

Little did he know that would be the last time he ever saw his wife again.

“Bartender, get me a smoothie. Extra strawberries.”

The barkeep eyed her nervously. He swept his sandy brown hair off his forehead and, blushing, made her a smoothie and asked if she needed a ride home.

She hesitated. “Yes...”

“So...” he started awkwardly, looking at her wings. “You’re an angel?”

She sighed. “Men...”

He blushed. “No, no, I wasn’t implying-”

“I’m joking. Yeah, I’m an angel. So what?”

“Why’d you marry a demon?”

“I... loved him?” She sipped her smoothie.

“How did you even end up in the Nightmare Realm?”

“Why do you ask so many questions? You don’t even know my name.”

“I already know your name. You’re kinda famous...”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess I’m, like, the queen.”

“Well, I’m Gary.”

“That’s a dumb name.”

He looked down. “Oh.”