I Thought You Said We Were Gonna Fight?

“I’m telling you dude.” Mav gnawed at his steak quesadilla. “She’s into me.”

“What makes you say that?” I wiped my cheek with a finger and coughed. He got the message and mopped his face with his napkin.

“Well she looked over at me.”

“Or she was just looking out the window.” Asaf interjected.

The Pantry Diner seemed more crowded than usual, especially on a Tuesday afternoon. However, the food still remained as fresh as always.

“Can we move on from the girl that looked at you from across the diner?” I sighed. “You do this every time we’re in public.”

“You’re not wrong.” Mav shrugged.

“I’m single too, and you don’t see me lasering random chicks with my stare.” I managed to suppress my own laugh with a grin. “So, onto more pressing matters, we gotta talk about the final in Intro to Calculus.”

“Are you gonna finish your veggie omelet?” Asaf pointed at my food.

“I’ll give it to you if you help Mav and I with math when we get back.”

“Why would I put myself through that?” He swapped the positions of our plates.

“I don’t know, you’re pre-med.”

“It doesn’t work like that man.”

“Why not?” I furrowed my eyebrows. “They’re practically the same thing.”

“Hardly.” Asaf dug into my omelet. “Dumbass.”

“I hate to interrupt your love affair guys.” Mav sipped his coffee and burped. “But there’s a real shady guy checking you out, Leo.”

I looked to my left, then my right, and Mav spoke the truth. A man, around 5’11, wearing black skinny jeans and a plain blue t-shirt, brooded at the diner’s bar. He held up two fingers to the bartender and smiled at her, then returned his gaze to me.

“Staring at someone for more than five seconds in a row can be considered sexual harassment.” Asaf mumbled with his mouth full. “It’s definitely been more than five seconds.”

“I don’t think Leo is into that, Asaf.” Mav whispered.

Asaf face palmed.

“I think I know him.”

“Is he part of that ‘mysterious past’ of yours, eh?” Mav chuckled.

I glared at him and his smile faded.

“If he doesn’t want to share his life before we met him seven months ago, he doesn’t have to.” Asaf jabbed my shoulder.

“Be right back.” I stood up, walked to the bar, and sat next to the man.

“Long time no see, Leon.” He nodded.

“Noone’s called me that since ‒”

“Athens.”

I scanned him one more time before realizing who sat next to me. “Therron, you bastard.”

“In the flesh.”

“What in God’s name are you doing here?” The bartender placed a Corona in front of me, and a Corona light in front of him. “Really? A light? What happened to you over the past decade?”

“Nothing too exciting.” He took a swig of his beer. “Collected a few big bounties while you’ve been running away here in America.”

I looked away. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Alright buddy, listen.” He set his beer on the coaster and turned towards me. “We get why you left Athens, after what happened, but I’m here to tell you that they’ve caught up with you.”

“You’re lying.” My tone raised, and some strangers glanced at me. “That’s impossible.”

“I wish I was.” He leaned in closer. “Their in Atlanta, Georgia right now, and something tells me it didn’t take them this long because you hid well.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a lot of them, Leon.”

“What’s a lot?”

“An army.”

I inhaled and rubbed my forehead. “This is bad.”

“You had to have seen this coming.” He placed his hand on my back. “You’re literally running from Fate herself.”

“I’m aware.”

“And she’s caught up with you now.” He removed his hand and went for the Corona light again. “You weren’t supposed to survive that car accident ‒ hell ‒ she designed it just for you!”

“What’s done is done.” I chugged my drink. “I had no choice.”

“That’s a load of horse ‒”

“What was I to do then, huh?” I threw my arms in the air. “Just die? I didn’t believe in all these cosmic entities until one of them gave me a second chance, and I’m not going to throw it away just because another one is pissed.”

“I’m not judging you on your choices ‒ I can’t. All I’m saying is that Fate has got a nice golden thread with your name on it, and you can’t run from that forever. Moving from state to state every eight to twelve months is not good enough.”

“Interesting conversation you two got going on there.” The bartender furrowed her brow.

“Nothing to worry about.” I giggled at her and turned to address Therron, hushing my voice. “Then tell me what to do.”

“You need to stop running and fight this head on.”

“How do we fight Fate?”

“I have no idea.”

“Which entity did I bargain with?”

“No clue.”

“Do you know how to make contact with any entity in particular?”

“Nope. I know how to find their servants and emissaries though.”

“Well this is a great start.” I set a ten dollar bill on the counter and rose from my seat. “But we need to get out of here now and figure this out in some place less… public.”

“Good idea.” He finished his beer. “Say goodbye to your friends over there.”

I approached Asaf and Mav. “Hey guys, I gotta run, something came up.”

“So you know this guy?” Mav took a bite of the giant chocolate chip cookie.

“Yea, we go way back.”

“I’ll take it.” Asaf slapped the table. “Anything to get me out of helping you too fools with math.”

“Is everything ok?” Mav removed a crum in the corner of his mouth with his tongue.

“Yea, but I really gotta go.” I dropped a twenty on the table. “I’ll catch up with you guys later, ok?”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.” Mav stood up and green light flickered in his eyes.

“No way.” Asaf looked at me, then at Mav. “Am I the only one seeing this?”

“Nope.” I took a few steps back. “You should run.”

“Oh, there’s no need for running.” Mav smirked.

“What’s taking so long?” Therron strolled over and noticed the scene. “Oh.”

“Pleasure to meet you in person, Therron.” He stepped out from behind the table and walked up to us. “I’ve heard much about the Greek bounty hunter.”

“Who is this guy?” I inquired.

“Judging by the green in his eyes, he’s gotta be an emissary of Life.”

“Come agai‒” Mav waved his hand in front of Asaf and put him to sleep before he could finish his sentence.

“Yes, excellent observational and deducing skills!” He clapped. “Your appearance this side of the world has put a bit of a wrench in my mother’s plans, Greek, so you’ve forced my hand into action.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Therron inhaled sharply.

“Your days of running are over, Leon.”

“Over my dead body.”

“That’s the idea.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Yea… I coulda come up with a better retort there.”

“Why have you allied yourself with Fate?” Therron placed his hand on the holster on his hip. “I thought none of you hooligans liked her.”

“Well, we don’t, but this little charade of Leon’s has gone on for far too long.” He turned to face me. “Do you have any idea how many lives have been influenced ‒ how many lives have been lost ‒ because you decided to run from your fate? Your destiny?”

I peered over at Asaf to see his eyes darting around under his eyelids. “Destiny can shove it.”

“Everyone thinks that.” He chuckled. “At first.”

“You still haven’t told us why you’ve allied with that thread-weaving hag.” Therron blared.

“The reason is simple enough that even your puny brain can figure it out.”

My long-time friend squinted his eyes in thought. “Because life is being lost due to his existence…”

Mav nodded.

“Surely not just lost, though.” Therron scratched his head. “The outcomes of a break from fate are not limited to people dying. Others that were not meant to live can be living as well.”

“Like Leon.” Mav rubbed his forehead. “I’ve indulged you two long enough. Now, bounty hunter, step aside.”

As his hand reached for my head, Asaf’s eyes erupted, emitting a soft shockwave, and the entire diner froze, except him, Therron, and myself.

“Always can count on Time to be a party crasher.” Mav spoke, but his body remained idle. “I can’t believe I didn’t see through that disguise, Tempra.”

“Odd.” Asaf — or Tempra, as Mav called him, snickered. “I saw right through yours.”

Mav growled as he struggled to move. “Taking sides now, are we?”

“That’s none of your concern.” Asaf’s voice echoed. “That won’t keep him contained for long. Time sends his regards.”

“That’s our cue.” Therron grabbed my arm and rushed me out of the diner. “Get in the silver Subaru Outback.”

“You’re kidding. “I hopped into the passenger’s seat. “Very inconspicuous.”

“Thanks.” He floored it and got onto the main road.

“So I was thinking.” I adjusted the seat position. “If Life is after me, why not make a deal with Death?”

“Sure thing.” Therron honked the Toyota Camry in front of him and it moved out of the left lane. “Why don’t I give Satan a phone call too while I’m at it.”

“What?”

“Have you watched no movies or TV shows?” He glanced at me. “Read any books?”

“Plenty, why?”

“A deal with Death never ends well for anyone except Death.”

“Ok, so how about we try Time and find Asaf again?” He sped through a yellow light. “Apparently he’s on our side here?”

“Time is a bit fickle.” Therron checked his rear-view mirror a couple times. “No telling what his agenda is and I don’t wanna find out.”

“So then what’s the play?”

“Remember how I said we should fight this head on?” He floored the gas pedal. “Yea, I lied. We’re running.”