Four's Routine (Issues #01)

He woke up and sat upright in his seat, he was startled by the conductor's voice announcing the next station that the train was going to stop, he looked to his left and saw there was a lady smiling, she was officially dressed like she just came out work or a job interview, she had a computer on her lap and she looked like she was working on something,

"bad dream" asked the lady with her eyes totally focused on the computer,

"i guess" he replied as he got comfortable in his seat,

"they say its bad luck to fall asleep on a train" she said while looking at him and she then continued working in her computer,

"i'll be sure to keep that in mind next time" he replied while looking at the woman, a minute later the train stopped and its where he was supposed to get off, he stood at the platform and took out his phone from his pockets, he turned it on and on the notification bar he saw a lot of missed calls from a number he saved "Pure Evil", he looked at the time and it was four o'clock in the evening Thursday the 13th, he started walking away from the train as people kept boarding in, he was headed to the public bathroom cause he a felt a sudden urge to pee, he could hear a lot of noises in the background as he walked but the one of a dog barking was more louder than others, it was almost as if the dog was a few steps away from him even though he didn't bother to look, soon as he got to the bathroom he went straight to the urinal and took a pee, after he was done he went to the sink to wash his hands, he was leaning his hands on the sink when he saw something weird on his chest inside his shirt through the reflection in the mirror, he pulled down his shirt down a little just to get a good look of what it was, what he saw was mesmerizing enough that it left his eyes wide open and jaws dropped, it was two healed scars that looked a lot like something pierced through his flesh, it came as quite a shock to him cause he didn't remember having any of these wounds before, and when he tried touching one of the wounds he felt an excruciating pain that he bit his own teeth trying to hold it in, as he was still looking at the scars a guy came out of the bathroom and went to the sink that was next to him to wash his hands, Four quickly hid the scars and then pretended like he was washing his hands too, 

"Hey" said the guy as pulled out a tissue to dry his hands, Four just replied with a head node and an awkward smile, once the guy walked out of the bathroom he took off his shirt to get a good look of the scars, they were totally healed like they had happened a few days ago, as he was staring at the scars he was interrupted by a ding a sound from his phone inside his pockets, he took it out and saw it was a notification for a movie 'you're movies starts in less than an hour' said the notification, he quickly put on his shirt and got out of the bathroom.

He was on his way out of the subway heading to the stairs that lead out of the subway, just at the second step of the stairs he saw a homeless guy sitting at the other end with a small bowl that had some change in it, he wore a large rag over his shoulders and his lips looked really chapped, his hair was too rough and he looked like he hadn't got a nice meal or shower in a while, "spare some change" said the homeless guy, but Four passed going up the stairs like he didn't hear him cause he couldn't bare to look him in the eye and yet along not help him, he entered the streets and walked straight to a bus stop, he stood there waiting for the bus to show up, he looked in a hurry trying to catch his movie before it started cause he was looking over the road to see if there was a bus coming, he took out his phone and looked at the time again, it was ten minutes past four P.M, as he was staring down on his phone a kid riding a bike in a high speed passed in front and hit hands, the phone fell out of his arms but he was able to catch it in mid air before it hit the ground, he looked at the kid with a face full of rage as he rode away in his bike, as he was going back to staring down on his phone he had a quick glance on the road and saw a car pass down the road in a high speed, after the car had passed he had another look and saw two people arguing with each other on the other side of the road, they looked like a couple who were in a fight, the lady was buried deep in the argument till she also had a quick glance on the other side of the road and saw Four looking back at them, that's when she felt awkward and started walking away, her boyfriend caught her arm and pulled her back before she could make another step, she had her head facing the ground feeling shy and when she gave another quick look at the other end road Four was still watching them, when the boyfriend saw her look the other way he also looked in that direction and saw Four staring at them, "what the hell are you looking at" shouted the boyfriend, Four didn't even hesitate or stater, he kept staring at them with absolutely no fear in his eyes, the boyfriend grabbed his girlfriend's arm and they started walking away taking their fight elsewhere, as he watched them walk away the bus showed up and he had to get in.

The bus dropped him off somewhere near the theatre and he had to walk the rest of the way, he was on the side walk when he got another phone call from the same number he's been ignoring all day, he let ring for a few seconds and he finally answered, 

"why weren't you picking up my calls" said the caller soon as Four answered,

"i was busy, what do you want" he replied as he walked, the tone in his voice was that of person who was bored by the conversation while it had barely begun

"to talk to you" she quickly replied,

"i don't think am in the mood to talk"

"Four please, am sorry" she replied, her voice was breaking down like she was holding in a cry, Four slowly stopped walking and stood at the side walk without saying a word back, his silence went on for a few seconds with his eyes getting watery and tears almost falling out,

"Four, Four, Four are you there...….., Four please say something, please" she said with a soft sobering voice,

"what do you want me to say Maria, goodbyes and good riddance" asked Four,

"no, I just...…, just tell me you're happy Four, tell me, are happy"

"congratulations Maria, have a nice life"

"i love you Four" she replied back softly,

"and I loved you, Maria" said Four and then hung up the phone, soon after he hung up the phone a notification popped up on his phone, 'your movie starts in thirty minutes', he quickly increased the speed so as he can catch the movie.

He was able to get to the theater before the movie started, he was walking through the foyer heading towards the box office when he got a text on his phone, 'dude am sorry I can't make it, had an emergency' said the text it was a text from his friend Brian, he got to the box office where he had to check his movie ticket,

"well if it isn't my favourite customer" said the lady who worked at the box office,

"Hey, Rose" said Four,

"that's weird, where's is the other one" asked Rose,

"apparently he had an emergency, he's not coming" 

"bummer, I don't think I've ever seen you two apart before" she replied, "ticket" she asked with her hand held out, Four gave him his phone showing the electronic ticket he bought online, 

"Rise of the beasts" said Rose sarcastically, "no, I gotta better one" she added and then turned around to get him another movie ticket, "here" she said as she gave him the ticket,

"Inception" said Four with a clenched face, "what's it about" he added,

"trust me you'll love it" said Rose so excited, Four smirked a little bit as he stared at the ticket, he then went away to go check out the movie, few minutes into the movie and some lady showed up and took a seat next to him, she was fully dressed in black like a spy,

"he wants see you" said the lady with her eyes were laser focused on the movie,

"and my answer is always going to be the same, not interested" Four replied, they both had their eyes focusing on the movie,

"Four listen, its not every day you get a parent who wants to reconnect, you might be missing a chance of a life time here"

"i guess I'll take my chances then"

"he loves you, you know that right"

"can't a guy watch his movie in piece" said Four with a frustrated face, the lady stayed quiet for a few second and then slowly got up from her seat, she left the theater and left Four thinking about what she just said as he was watched the movie, the movie was two hours long, and when he got out he found Rose was still at the box office,

"so, how was it" asked Rose with a bright face on her face,

"yeah you were right, it was cool"

"i told you this movie is to die for" she replied so excited, "I got something else for you tomorrow, now this is one just spectacular, I can't wait for you to see it" she added as Four was checking out the time on his phone,

"oh shit am late" said Four so shocked, after seeing the time was eight P.M

"damn you kiss your mother with that mouth"

"text me the movie so I can book the ticket, will you" said Four as he made a step away from the box office,

"you know me, am you're girl" she replied, he then stormed out of the building in rush to go at the Mclaren's bar where he worked as a bar tender, when he got there he used the back door which is for employees only, the room was filled with a lot of drinks arranged in shelves and on the other side there were lockers which employees store their stuff, the room looked like a storage unit for the drinks used at the bar, 

"well, well, well, if it isn't the little, poor, sore and formerly employed Four" said a guy in tux he looked like he was Four's boss,

"at least you got the sore part right" replied Four while heading towards his locker,

"you're late"

"yeah, I know, I know" he said as he opened the locker, he pulled out a backpack and turned around to face him, "won't happen again" he added

"said that the last time" replied the boss as Four was heading to the bathroom to change into uniform,

"this is one is the last time I promise" he replied as he walked away, He went to the male's bathroom and changed into his uniform, a few minutes later he was done and as he was walking through the bathroom corridor he met with a lady who was also headed to the bathrooms, the lady was constantly putting her hands on her face like she was drying off her tears, Four didn't get a good look of her face but he caught a glimpse of a bracelet she was wearing with words "Hasta El Fuego" engraved on it.

After he got out the bathroom he headed to the counter to exchange shifts with a fellow co worker, 

"hey Goldie, you're saviour is here" he said while putting a white rag on his shoulder,

"my saviour is late"

"how was the date last night" asked Four dodging away from the conversation,

"it went well" she replied as she grabbed her stuff

"really, that's amazing" 

"i know right" she replied as she walked past him

"i had a feeling" said Four as she walked away

"good night Four" she said before disappearing, soon as Goldie was gone and Four was alone at the counter, a lady showed up and took a seat at the counter 

"what can I get you,….oh wait, let me guess, a Negroni" asked Four, 

"no, a martini" she replied with a faint smile on her face,

"a Martini, come on, its my first drink of the night test me a little" he replied as he put a small table cloth on the table in front of the lady,

"i dunno uh....., Piña colada" 

"a Pa…what" he quickly replied in a shock, the lady was also confused by his shock, "am just kidding" he added and chuckled a little, he then slid a glass filled with ice cubes across the table and it stopped in front of the lady, "the Piña colada, first invented in 1462 by Steven Piña" continued the bar Four while swinging a large bottle of drink over his shoulders, "am just joking I don't really know who invented the drink" he added as he prepared the drink,

"its Ramon Monschito" said the lady,

"huh" 

"Ramon Monschito, the man who invented the drink, 1954, he was working as the bar tender at Hilton hotel" continued the lady,

"wow someone knows their history" replied the bar Four as he pushed the drink the lady, "where did you learn that from" asked Four,

"my dad is a cured drink enthusiast" she replied as raised a glass to take a sip of her drink, 

"you look familiar have I seen you before" he asked,

"probably, I do drink here a lot" she replied, as they kept having a conversation a man approached the counter and took a seat next the lady, he had a drink on his hand and he looked like he wanted to talk to her, she looked at the guy with an evil gaze "beat it, looser" she said to the guy before he could say anything, without saying anything he picked up his drink and left the counter in disappointment,

"ooh, that was harsh" said the bar tender,

"i've had a pretty long terrible day, so excuse me if am not in the mood to flirt" she replied, 

"hey, is that Four the bar tender" a voice was heard amongst the crowd in the bar, when Four raised his head to look around he saw it was his friend approaching the counter,

"in the flesh" he replied his arms spread in the air, he then took a step to the left to talk to his friend

"long time no see my man" he said, "oh and am sorry about Maria man she....."

"hey,hey,hey, not now, am working here remember" Four interrupted him in very low soft voice it almost sounded like he was whispering, "so what can I get you" continued Four,

"a vodka tonic" he replied, Four went on ahead and started preparing his friend the drink, Four's friend went through his pockets searching for the money to pay for the drink but he couldn't find it, it took him some time but eventually he found a couple of dollars in his back pocket, he put them on the table as Four prepared the drink, as he was still doing so his friend he also pulled out a strange object from his backpack, "so, I was going through some old stuff of my dad and I found this" said Ryan as he pushed it towards him, "do you know what it is" he asked, Four took a look at the object, it was a metal cylinder surrounded by a series of rotating disks engraved with random letters on them, 

"yeah its cryptex" replied Four and he then pushed the glass of vodka to his friend,

"a what now….." asked Ryan so shocked,

"a cryptext, its got a hidden message inside" said Four,

"well can you open it"

"no I can't" replied Four, he then realized that the lady he was talking to earlier was gone, so he went over to her seat and found the money for her drink under the glass, there were also a note written "keep the change its your tip", 

"do you know anyone who can open it" asked Ryan as Four read the note, 

"no" he replied with a smile after reading the note, "why don't you look over some videos in you tube, am sure you'll figure it out" he added,

"oh yeah, I mean how hard can it be" replied Ryan, he then took the last sip of his drink, "when you see me again, it will be with this thing opened" continued Ryan 

"i wish you nothing but good luck" said Four, Ryan left the bar going to open the cryptex, few later minutes he saw the weeping lady who was headed to the bathroom earlier leaving the bar in a rush, he knew it was her because of the dress and the bracelet she wearing, he was busy looking at her when he was interrupted by another customer who wanted a drink, Four's shift went on till later that night around thirty minutes past eleven, he then went to the bathroom to get out of the bar tending uniform and put on his regular clothes, he was so surprised when he took off his shirt and saw the weird scars that he saw earlier had disappeared, he quickly ran to the mirror to prove what he was seeing, he even leaned closer to get a good look but he saw nothing other than his smooth skin, he slowly ran his finger tips on his chest just to make sure the scars were really gone, it was almost like the wounds had disappeared out of thin air, "I was probably seeing things" , he finished changing out of the uniform and left the bar going home.

After he had left work he was headed home to his apartment, he was carrying his backpack from work cause he needed to clean his uniform, as walked through the empty streets he remembered that the keys to the apartment were at his friend's store, so he had to go get them before heading home, the store was a few blocks away so it was just a couple of minutes walk, he entered the store and looked at the time down on his phone, it was ten minutes to midnight, 

"hey yo Four" said the cashier as he was staring down on his phone, "what's good" he added after catching Four's attention, 

"Ed" Four replied with a smile on his face, he walked over to the counter that was just a few steps away in front of him, "what goes on, man" he said as he gave him a proper high five,

"nothing much just happy to be alive...., and you" asked Ed,

"am okay" 

"really"

"yeah, why wouldn't I be"

"okay, whatever you say bro, but for what's worth, am sorry about Maria" said Ed as he stared at him right in the eyes,

"i don't want to talk about it Ed okay" Four quickly replied and suddenly his face turned red, 

"at some point you going to have to man"

"hey look, I just came here for the keys to the apartment not a therapy session"

"trust me, talking about it is a first step to healing it will help"

"can I use the bathroom real quick" asked Four quickly just to get away from the conversation, Ed sighed in disappointment,

"sure" replied Ed as he handed him the keys to the bathroom, Four took the keys away from his hand and took off his bag, he put his phone inside it and left the bag at the counter, he then walked to the back of the store cause its where the bathroom was, in there he stood in front of the mirror just thinking about what a horrible day it has been, he was suddenly interrupted by some noise in the background and it looked like they were coming from the front of the store, he splashed a little water on his face and got out of the bathroom, he locked the door behind him before leaving, he then walked over to the fridge to grab a drink, he opened the door and pulled out an energy drink and then shut the door, "i can't keep buying energy drinks anymore" he thought as he walked over to the shelves filled with different brands of potato chips, he could still hear noises at the counter but he chose to ignore them cause they didn't concern him, "probably just a customer whose bike didn't work and now he wants to start a war", 

"hey open up the drawer" a voice was heard from the counter, he couldn't ignore it anymore cause this time the voice was too loud and too clear to ignore, he had a little peek at the counter and saw there was a masked robber who had gun pointed on Ed's head, he quickly crouched on the floor with his back leaning against the shelf, he went through his pockets searching for his phone but he couldn't find it cause he left it in his bag that was at the counter, he raised his head facing the ceiling with his eyes tightly closed and sighed in disappointment after realizing where his phone was, "I want every penny, put it in the bag, and don't even think of doing anything stupid" said the robber, Four took another peek at the counter and saw Ed put money inside the robber's bag, he slowly crawled on his knees heading towards the counter to try and help Ed, unfortunately he knocked over a can of soup with his shoulder and it fell on the floor making a loud noise, "oh my god, did he hear me do it" he thought while hiding behind another shelf, the store suddenly went quiet and the only sound that was heard was that of a rolling can on the floor, the robber slowly turned around to see where the sound came from only to find can of soup on the floor rolling at a distance, by the time he turned back facing the counter Ed was already holding a gun to his face and now they both had weapons,

"put it down" said the robber,

"you put yours first" replied Ed, even with a gun in his hands he was still trembling in fear, Four could see them through the tiny spaces in the shelves and he was preparing to go and help Ed, he got out running fast towards the robber like a lion that had seen an antelope, adrenaline pumping in his blood and electricity flowing through his veins, the robber didn't see him coming cause he was busy arguing with Ed about the gun, Four jumped on his back and put his arms tightly around his neck, the robber tried shaking him off but Four's grip was too tight and he wouldn't let go, Four was trying to choke him when he felt a sudden heavy blow on his face, the robber had hit him with his elbow on his face and blood from his nose was leaking allover his clothes, mean while Ed was trying to get a clear a shot but he couldn't cause Four was on the robber's back and he was afraid that he might shoot him, after the hit Four took on his face his hands started to slip and he couldn't hold anymore, the robber threw him off his back and he hit his back on some shelves before landing on the floor on his belly, he landed on the floor so hard that he got hurt pretty bad to the point of not being able to walk, he was slowly started crawling away on his belly as bullets started flying around the store, he got hit by two bullets on his back and his body suddenly went numb, he couldn't move and he was loosing a lot of blood from the bullet wounds inflicted, the sounds around the store became muffled and too vague to hear in his ears, he slowly shut his eyes and for a moment there everything went dark.