The Watchmen: chapter 1

'Are you okay?' Still hesitating, Anna stopped about a meter in front of his feet. Feeling quiet uneasy she would add, because who knew how he'd react. A hooded man, sitting on the sidewalk with bloody hands wasnt the kind of person she would normally address at 23:30 at night. Startled by her appearence he got up in a shock and frantically started to wipe the blood from his hands.
Anna took a few steps back, 'I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you.'
The hooded man twisted around and looked at her, his face still dark under his hood. He was soaking wet from the rain and his dark hair stuck to his forehead. There was a dark substance sticking to the left side of his mouth. Blood.
'I'm fine, it's fine' his voice sounded broken.
'Are you sure, I can call someone if you want?' She could smell the alcohol on his breath. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
'No! 'It's fine, please go.' His lips trembled, either from the shock or it might have been because of the fact that he wasn't wearing a jacket on this freezing November night. Ignoring his plea to be left alone, Anna continued, 'Where's your jacket? You must be freezing.'
Developing a case of hypothermia was a likely possibility if he stayed like this. He didn't answer her question; instead he turned around and started walking away. On an impulse Anna called after him, 'Wait!' But he kept walking and was disappearing out of sight quickly. Anna hesitated as to what to do now. Should she go after him? She had seen red circles around his eyes and could have sworn that she'd heard him cry. He might have got hurt badly in a bar fight and need an ambulance. Or maybe his girlfriend has just dumped him and he's contemplating suicide. Or what if he's just lost someone close to him and gone on a drunken stupor? Or... he might just be completely and utterly drunk and crying because he doesn't remember his way home. Anna realised it was no good standing around trying to explain a strangers behaviour, especially one who had made it clear that he wants to be left alone. Just when she turned on her heels she heard footsteps coming closer quickly. He was walking back towards her. For a moment she felt scared, the look he had on his face screamed anger. Anna stood up straight and tried to look confident, but he paid no attention to her and walked straight past her. He bent over the sidewalk on which Anna had found him, swearing as if his life depended on it. With his hands he searched through some dirty wet leaves. He must've lost something important.
'What are you looking for?' The moment it was out of her mouth Anna regretted it. She'd always been pretty straightforward, but this really wasn't the time or place, certainly not the right person to be straightforward with. She half expected him to jump up and yell at her, but he didn't respond. He kept searching and seemed to get more frustrated by the second. Anna started to feel more and more uncomfortable and decided this was her cue to leave. She turned around and started walking. A shiver went down her spine; the cold wind brushed her frozen cheeks. She pulled her coat firmly around herself and fished around her pocket for her phone. She felt a sudden urge to call Jill. She might still be up. If not, she'd probably get an earful in the morning. Still, it was only eleven; she might be out having a drink. The thought of a drink was very appealing to Anna right about now. The night she'd had... and then this guy. While Anna searched her phone for Jill's number, she started walking faster. The darkness of the night had started to get on her nerves. As she turned the corner of the street her eye caught one last glimpse of him. He wasn't searching anymore; he was sitting on the sidewalk again. For a second Anna wondered if she'd imagined what had happened only moments before. It was as if she'd never approached him. Hesitation... He really ought to get inside and not sit there without a jacket; especially not in the state he seems to be in. Anna closed her eyes and sighed. He didn't want her help; he'd made that perfectly clear, she needed to go home. She turned on her feet. As she was dialling Jill's number she heard more footsteps approaching. Anna peered around the corner to see another person running towards the guy sitting on the sidewalk. This person, which seemed to be a man, grabbed the hooded man by his shoulders and pulled him to his feet. The man had gotten to him so quickly; he didn't have time to react. The man pushed him and he stumbled to stay on his feet. Anna heard yelling, but besides a lot of swearing she couldn't make out what they were saying. The hooded man took an unbalanced swing at the man, which only aggravated him more. In return the other man punched him in the face and the hooded man fell down again. While he was down Anna saw that the other man was about to start kicking him in the stomach. She couldn't stand to let this go on and started running towards the men. She was terrified, but the injustice of kicking a helpless man when hes down angered her in such a way that her adrenaline level seemed to shoot through the roof. Anna had no idea what she was going to do, but she couldn't stop her legs. When she got close enough she grabbed the sleeve of the man's leather jacket and tried to pull him away from the hooded man lying on the street. 'Stop!' The man turned his attention to Anna and turned around to face her. She couldn't see his face either as it was hidden under a hood as well. The man's hand grabbed her arm and as he started to push her away a group of young men came running towards to them. They must've seen the men fighting as well.
'Hey! What's going on here?' a preppy looking twenty-something yelled. 'Let the girl go and step aside!'
The man let go of Anna's arm instantly and took a step back. The preppy one pushed her behind him and looked straight at the man. In a split second a fist flung through the air and landed straight in the face of the preppy guy standing in front of Anna. As he fell backwards the aggressive man turned around and made a run for it. Some of the other guys from the group went after him, but were a bit too drunk to keep up when he disappeared into the crowd. The preppy one was bleeding at the nose.
'Are you okay?' Anna sat down on her knees. She felt the rain water that was flowing down the street through her jeans.
'That bastard!' It didn't seem like he heard her as he turned to the hooded and bloodstained man whom was now sitting on the sidewalk again. 'Is he a friend of that bastard?' He looked like he was going to kick up a fuss, so Anna quickly made a decision.
'No, he's not, he's with me.'
The preppy one didn't seem convinced, so she elaborated. 'That guy was insane, he couldn't stand a Joke,' she explained. 'But thank you, I hope you're okay.'
'Fine, no problem, we'll get him another time, I've seen him around. Is he okay?' He nodded towards Annas 'friend', sitting on the sidewalk staring down at the street.
'I'll take care of him.'
The rest of the group of young men was already heading towards the nearest pub and the preppy one seemed anxious to join them. He wiped the blood from under his nose and turned around.
'Well, if you're sure?'
This seemed to be a question, but before she could answer he had disappeared after his friends. Anna turned towards the guy sitting on the sidewalk and saw he was looking at her. She couldn't read his expression, but he wasn't moving. We can't stay like this, thought Anna, especially when she saw the blood on his face and hands. She gestured towards his hands. Can I take a look?
He didn't respond so she carefully took one of his hands to take a closer look. Still he didn't move, but she could feel his eyes on her. She was still so full of adrenaline that she felt braver than ever. She looked back at him and held his gaze for a few seconds. His eyes left hers and he looked down. Before Anna could really inspect his hands, he started to get up, but as soon as he was standing he almost fell over again. Anna jumped up and held him up.
'Please let me take you home'. He returned his eyes to her, half a smile appearing on his face. 'You shouldn't talk to strangers.' The smile vanished quickly as his face grimaced from pain. 'Let alone offer to take them home.'
'Are you okay?' Anna asked, ignoring this sudden outburst of misplaced comedy. He had a bad nosebleed and she wondered if his nose might be broken. Before the thought had left her mind, she had her fingertips inspecting his nose. At first he leant back slightly, not sure about what she was about to do. Then he leant back towards her and let her fingertips slide over the bridge of his nose.
'It's not broken.' She said with relief.
'I know.' He answered dryly as he took her hand away from his nose. Anna's heart skipped a beat as he let it slide out of his.
'I'm sorry; I didn't mean to just touch your nose. I just wanted to make sure.' She felt her cheeks glow.
'You're a nurse then are you?' he said, a mischievous grin appearing through the grimace.
'No!' She looked down. 'I just know what a broken nose looks like.'
'You had yours broken?'
'No.' Anna felt lost for words. This probably wasn't the time to tell him about the time she'd broken Jill's nose by kicking a football in her face, by accident of course.
Looking around as if he suddenly realized he was in danger, he said 'I should go'.
'Who was that man?' She couldn't resist.
'Don't know, some crazy bastard.' It had seemed very personal to Anna, not a question of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting beat on by a random by passer. Before she could argue his unconvincing response he started to back away. 'Bye.' He said.
'You're bleeding; you need to get checked out!'
He tried to smile. 'I'll check it out myself. I've had worse.'
Anna wanted to stop him and make him go to the ER, but he didn't give her the chance to convince him. 'Go home; you shouldn't be out by yourself at this time of night.' He started walking; well it was more like limping, in the opposite direction.
'Hold on.' She tried one last time. 'I don't want to find you collapsed around the corner.'
'Go home' his face suddenly serious. 'This is not your concern.'
She stared after him hoping for something clever to come out of her mouth. She'd just stopped some crazy man from kicking the shit out of him, but he seemed to have forgotten that. Not even a thank you. Anna stared at the empty street in front of her.

The next evening Anna was setting the table, her mind still going around the events of the night before, when Greg walked in.
'Set an extra plate would you, Laura's coming over.' He poured himself a large whiskey and took a big gulp before fishing around his jacket for his cigarettes. Greg never had dinner without having a cigarette first, or a cigarette after for that matter. Anna never quite understood how her mother could stand it since she'd been so against smoking all of her life. With Greg it didn't seem to be an issue though. Like so many things didn't seem to be an issue with him. Head over heels is the term that springs to mind or possibly blinded by love. Anna would definitely go for the latter since Greg is anything but lovely in her eyes. His daughter Laura on the other hand is a real sweetheart. She's only a year older than Anna and loves to chat. The first time the two girls met, a couple of years back, they immediately got on. Laura had a pot of tea ready and made Anna feel welcome instantly. Laura asked all sorts of questions. She was a good listener and seemed genuinely interested. They discovered that they were both passionate about books. From that moment on they visited each other almost weekly for a 'time-out', which is their word for a big pot of tea and a good chat. Preferably about a book. Laura even reads some of Anna's writing, which is quite a big deal. Before they met Anna wouldn't let anyone near her writing. She was too afraid to be told she had no talent at all, that it was absolute rubbish. She knew that Laura would give her honest opinion, but that she would have useful tips as well. It turned out she was very complimentary about Anna's writing and sort of turned into her editor. Right now Laura is helping her with a short story she might want to get published in the local newspaper. I say 'might', but I actually mean love. It's just that it's a big step from letting Laura read my stories to letting the locals read them. I don't know how I'd react to criticism. Even though it's part of life and I really do accept that. I just don't know if I'm ready for my dream of a writing career to be crushed by Barney the butcher or Mrs. Henderson when they come in to buy their next newspaper telling me how they loved my story and then hearing from the gossips how god awful they had really thought it to be.
'Darling, please don't put out those napkins. Get some of the nice ones out. I've bought some with roses.' My mother stormed through the dining room, looking more flustered than usual.
'Oh right.' I gathered the white napkins I'd just folded into triangles and went over to the china cupboard, but my mother beat me to it.
'Has Greg come home yet?' She asked while rummaging in one of the drawers for napkins.
'He's outside having a smoke.' I saw my mother grab three napkins. 'He told me Laura's coming over too.'
'For crying out loud, that man...!' My mother exclaimed, with her mouth twitching, trying to stop a smile from spreading.
'Are you okay mom? You seem ...excited.' I examined her face. There was definitely something going on, she looked like she was about to get the giggles.
'Fine, fine I just have a roast in the oven and I want everything to be perfect tonight.' Her smile turned into a frown as she handed me the napkins to fold.
'What's so special about tonight?' A bad feeling was starting to stir in my stomach.
'Just set the table please dear. We'll discuss it over dinner.' She disappeared into the kitchen. I hadn't seen my mom like this in a long time. The last time was when she and Greg told Laura and me that they were moving in together. Or better said, moving into my home. That hadn't gone down too well with me at the time. Greg and I had never seemed to bond. There were no shared interests and there was no shared sense of humour. There was only polite conversation and irritation. Especially when he would yell at my mom about the littlest things, such as what was for dinner or when she invited a friend over without discussing it first. One time I tried to stand up to him, but that got me into a huge fight with my mom. I never understood my mother's attraction towards him. He was a big man. His dark hair was always neatly combed to one side and he would wear a suit all days of the week. He has this sort of expressionless face which never tells you what mood he's in. I don't think I've ever seen him either very excited or sad. I could understand that my mom felt safe with him around, he did look intimidating. But that was the problem, he didn't only look it and he wasn't shy of a little manipulation. Greg's the manager of a gym up town. He spends most of his time down there and regularly stays out till the early hours. I've been down to the gym several times, mostly with my mom and Laura. I've even seen a boxing match or two, but it's never really appealed to me. Unwillingly my mind drifted back to the events of last night. I wondered if he'd got home okay, even though he said he'd had worse. This suddenly sounded a bit pompous on playback. It really amazed me how he made light of the situation with his remarks about me talking to strangers and offering to take them home. But then again, thinking about it now he was probably right. Still it was hard to put it out of my mind. I couldn't believe what I'd said and done. I felt a bit embarrassed that I'd just pretended he was with me to that student and that I touched his nose. The fact that he took my hand and let it slide through his didn't help either. This particular segment of the whole scene kept replaying in my mind over and over again. Alongside the way he looked at me. It unsettled me.
'Anna?' The sound of my name brought me back to the dining room and supposed to be special dinner to come. It was my mom calling me from the kitchen.
'Get the door will you?' I turned towards the hallway and almost bumped into Greg coming in to the dining room. It looked like he was about to make himself comfortable, the paper under his arm. Why he didn't answer the door to his own daughter amazed me every time this took place. It was as if it was beneath him to open the front door. Every time the bell rang it would be as if he had heard nothing. I've never even caught him looking up. When I reached the front door I took a deep breath before I let Laura in. Something was going to change tonight, I could feel it. Would you she already know? I turned the knob and was greeted with a big hug and kiss from Laura.
'Jo! It's so good to see you, I have great news.' She smiled a wicked smile and pulled me up the stairs.
'What is it? I think we're supposed to have dinner in about a minute.' I looked over my shoulder and almost fell flat on my face.
'Hi Elaine! Hi dad!' Laura yelled down the stairs. I heard my mother yell back from the kitchen. Nothing from the dining room.
Laura pulled me into my room and on to my bed. She sat down next to me almost jumping up and down with excitement.
'Are you ready for this?' She looked like she was about to burst.
'Yes?' I wasn't at all sure what to expect.
'I talked to my friend Michael; you remember the smart one with lots of contacts. Well he's an editor at The Woodworth Gazette and he loved your short story about the old manor.'
'Oh my god, are you serious?'
'He is going to publish it next week!' She looked at me, her mouth open, but still smiling.
'What? Laura, that's amazing!' I grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet. 'Thank you, thank you so much!' We jumped up and down just looking at each other like idiots. 'You're very welcome - it's a great story after all.'
'I could never have done anything like this if it wasn't for you.' I was so grateful to Laura for making me bold enough to let others read my stories. I was sure they'd still be hiding on my laptop in their secret folder if I'd never met her.
'Well I have an eye for talent after all. Speaking of which - after we discussed your story Michael asked me out for a drink.' She said it like it wasn't a big deal, but her eyes sparkled. I'd never met Michael, but Laura had talked about him a lot. The smart one she called him, with sandy hair and trendy glasses. He sounded like a real gentleman compared to the bloodstained dark haired guy I'd met last night. My mind drifted back to his eyes. What colour were they? They were dark, maybe brown or green.
'Jo, did you hear me? Michael asked me out!' Laura gave me a quizzical look. 'Planet Laura, to Planet Anna!'
'Sorry I'm still getting my head around the whole Woodworth Gazette thing. That's great Laura! He sounds so nice. Let him take you to the White Deer.' I urged her. I really wanted to meet him.
'And have you as a third wheel on our date, I don't think so.' She laughed.
'I would never! I would only serve your drinks and spy on you from behind the bar.'
'Yeah right. Speaking of spying from behind the bar - how's thing's going with Donald, is he still harassing you?'
'Oh he's not really harassing me, he just needs a chat now and then.' I always felt quite sorry for Donald, even if I was the only one.
'With his wedding ring in his pocket, really Jo, you should be more careful.' She raised her eyebrows and looked at me. 'I'm always very careful.' She should have seen me last night.
'When's the last time you've been out on a date yourself?'
'What?' She took me by surprise with this question.
'You heard!' She looked at me questioningly.
'There has to be a guy before there can be a date.'
'And there isn't?' She kept staring at me with those big questioning eyes. For a second I played with the idea of telling her about last night. But I quickly changed my mind, as it wasn't relevant whatsoever.
'No there isn't. You'd have known if there was. I think we should go down for dinner; my mom's cooking a roast. I think they have something to tell us.'
'I know! Let's go out for a drink tonight. Call Jill and Luke, tell them to meet us at the White Deer and we'll see where the night takes us. Or better even - where it takes you!' She hadn't heard my remark about mom and Greg, which was a shame. I really felt like I needed to talk to her about what could be going on before we were dropped in it at dinner.
'I don't know, maybe.' I wasn't sure we would be in the mood to go out after dinner. Just then I heard my mom calling from downstairs. 'Girls, come down please!'
'Smells good' Laura said; chipper as ever as we entered the dining room. 'Hullo dad' she kissed Greg on the cheek. He grunted.
'Sit down girls; I've made us a nice roast. There's some roast potatoes too if you like.' My mother handed Greg the knife to carve the meat. If this was going to be a happy announcement I'd be surprised. Greg looked like he was pressed for time as he cut the meat in an amazing speed, a frown on his face.
'Plate' He said to Laura and she handed him hers. Laura hadn't seemed to pick up on the anxious vibe radiating from my corner of the table and was as relaxed as ever. After we'd all had our plates and glasses filled, I noticed my mother started to shift around on her seat. Now that she had no more people to attend to she looked at Greg expectantly. Once he noticed, he cleared his throat. 'Girls, Elaine and I have something we would like to tell you.'
'You're not pregnant are you?' Laura laughed and looked around the table, but her joke hadn't gone down well with the crowd.
Greg gave her a stern look. A look I knew quite well by now. 'Darling, please behave.' Laura took a big gulp from her Merlot and looked down at her plate.
'Ive asked Elaine to marry me and she has agreed'. All went quiet for about two seconds before Laura let out a scream. 'But dad - that's great! I'm so pleased for the two of you.' She jumped up from her seat and walked over to hug her dad and stepmother to be. I felt my throat thicken. I knew Laura loved Greg. He was her father and they always seemed to get on. I'd never dared to talk badly about Greg to Laura; I didn't know how she would react. It felt like the Greg that I knew was an entirely different Greg from the one she knew and loved.
'Mom, are you sure?' I looked her straight in the eyes.
'What did you say?' Greg turned his stern look in my direction.
I could see the vain on his forehead start to grow and I knew he was about to blow up.
'Darling, don't ask such silly questions. Of course I'm sure. Greg and I have been together for quite some time and we're ready for the next step. We love each other.' My mom said in an attempt to control the situation. Greg didn't respond to this and kept gazing at me.
`You have a problem with this?' His nostrils flared. 'Is that it Anna, you want to make trouble?' There was no talking to him when he was like this. I'd seen it happen many times before. I felt lost for words. I didn't want to cause any upset, but it had slipped out of my mouth before I knew it. For the past couple of years I had been trying to get my mom to see Greg for who he really was. This engagement meant I had accomplished nothing. It was over. Greg still had the carving knife in his hand. 'I didn't mean it like that Greg.' I tried to stay as calm as possible, this was supposed to be a happy occasion after all. 'You need to calm down.' Within a second a glass flew inches from my face and smashed against the wall. 'Greg!' My mother screamed while she rushed towards where the Merlot was now sinking into the carpet. 'Salt!' she yelled at Laura who obligingly ran towards my mother with the salt. All the while Greg was still looking at me with that intimidating look. 'You don't want your mother to be happy, Anna?'
'Greg, darling, she didn't mean anything by it.' My mother, seemingly unmoved by the fact he just threw a glass in my direction, tried to calm him down from her knees.
'Dad, you know she didn't mean it like that. She just cares about Elaine.' Laura tried. Greg was having none of it.
'It's always the same with you girl, trying to cause trouble.'
'Not at all!' I rose to my feet and pushed my chair back. Greg stood up as well, his chair almost falling over in the process.
'Don't talk to me like a child.' I felt my head burn, the way he talked to me angered me so much I felt like I was losing it.
'You act like a child, so I will talk to you like one.' He gave me a cocky look that momentarily made me forget the people around me as well as my manners.
'Do you know Greg; I really wish you would just shove...'
'Anna!' my mother grabbed me by the arm.
'Do you want to say that to my face?' Greg said as he got so close I could feel his stinking cigarette breath on my skin. He didn't usually scare me, but right now I wasn't sure what to expect and I felt my composure weaken. Laura was standing between us within seconds. 'Dad, this is insane. Please, sit down and let's talk about this.' Greg didn't move. He stared me straight in the eyes. My mother was still holding my arm and she turned to Greg as well. 'Darling, listen to your daughter.' His face remained close to mine. 'Apologize to your mother' he spat the words at me like venom. 'Greg, that's not necessary.' For a moment my mother seemed to get angry herself. Greg must've realized the slight change in her voice as well, because his eyes left mine and he focussed them on his wife to be.