The night brought the darkness that Biddle's Burgers needed to hide it's horrid secrets. It brought a hopelessness that Sarah couldn't seem to escape. As she pressed her hands against the cold glass of the restaurant she reminisced about the nights she spent sleeping on the subway or public benches. Even the streets would have welcomed her more than the prison that Biddle's was.
Sarah's heavy breathing began to fog up the window. She turned away from it and retired to one of the tables. She rested on the squeaky plastic chair and stared off into the dark restaurant. She rubbed her arms as she began to shiver. Not only from the cold, but from fear, fear of what she had to do. She had decided that it would all end this night, but now that the night had come she didn't know if she could do it. There were risks and if she didn't do everything perfectly they would be fatal.
A sigh escaped her cold chest as she forced herself to stand up. She clenched her fists tight and walked behind the counter. She pushed through the doors leading to the kitchen. The light switch made a click sound as she flipped it on. The lights flickered on and a quiet buzzing sound filled the room.
Sarah continued through the restaurant. She walked to the very back of the kitchen where two doors sat across from each other. A red one which was on the left and a black one on the right. Straight ahead of her was a yellow door. Sarah knew the red one led to the managers office, the yellow one led to the dumpster in the back of the restaurant, and the black door had very obvious yellow letters spelling out the word "security". She had no business visiting the managers office. It was empty at night anyways.
Sarah's destination was the security room. All the restaurants files were stored there as well as the security cameras and security tapes. On this specific night Sarah was the only employee present. She was expected to carry out all of the assignments of her peers. Of course, she had other plans for this night.
She opened the door and swiftly shut it behind her. The light emitted from the security monitors filled the gray room with dim, blue light. Sarah approached the table that held the surveillance monitors. She knelt down in front of it.
Under the table was a pile of semi organized boxes. They had security footage stored in them. The boxes had labels on them, some of them saying odd things such as "activity" and "camera malfunctions". Sarah had looked through them before, but there wasn't anything noteworthy in them.
She reached back and grabbed onto a box labeled "confidential". She stopped in the middle of taking it. It was light and didn't make a sound when shook. She threw the lid off of it and saw that it was emptied. Someone moved the tapes.
That idea startled Sarah. That meant someone knew that she'd seen them. She carefully placed the box back where it was and rose from the ground. There was only one place the tapes would have been moved. Sarah shut the security door as she exited. She looked ahead at the red door.
She was nervous just thinking about going in, but she wanted to get the whole thing over with quickly. She opened the door a crack and peeked in. It was empty unsurprisingly. She stepped in and walked up to the managers desk.
It reminded her of the day she was hired. She thought she was the luckiest person alive when she got the job. However, it didn't take too long before she started seeing what Biddle's Burgers really was. She sighed and bent down beginning her search for the tapes.
There wasn't much in the first drawer and still no luck in the second one. Upon pulling the third drawer open the three tapes shifted around briefly. Sarah's eyes lightened up at the sight of them. She took them with haste, still making sure to do so quietly. She stood up, backing up against the wall. She shut her eyes for a moment to collect herself.
She let out a heavy sigh. Not a sigh of stress or anxiety, one of pure relief. She was simply glad that it was finally all over. All of the lies, all of the secrets were over. She could put Biddle's Burgers behind her now, for good.
Sarah straightened her self out and opened her eyes. She gasped as her eyes focused on a shadow standing right in front of her. Suddenly her eyes were flooded with the bright light of a flashlight. By the time her eyes had got accustom to the light, the person was lunging towards her. She felt the solid, metal flashlight collide with the side of her head. The blow was enough to knock her down.
Silence filled the room. Her attacker looked down at Sarah. She was still moving, but it wouldn't be long before she would black out. She looked around in a dazed manner as she felt herself being dragged. It was all she could do in her weary state.
She still couldn't make out her attacker, but it didn't matter. She knew who it was. She could only remember looking up at the ceiling as her eyes became too heavy to hold open, and her consciousness faded.
Sarah's eyes slowly opened. Wherever she was, it was dark. She couldn't move around much. Her arms and ankles were tied together with what felt like duct tape. Her mouth was also wrapped tightly with tape.
As she continued to shift around quietly she heard plastic crinkling under her. Her eyes widened as she was hit with a horrible realization. She thrashed around as much as she could, trying to break free, but it was too late. Her attacker had summoned their accomplice. There would be no escape for Sarah now.
The black garbage bag writhed back and forth from her desperate fighting. Her two captors watched her struggle and squirm around with blank expressions. The darkness of the empty restaurant covered their faces in shadow, concealing their identities. They exchanged looks and gave each other slight nods. They approached the garbage bag.
Sarah felt them hoist her off of the ground. She let out a muffled cry for help, continuing to shake violently trying to escape their grasp. The two unknown people took heavy, strained steps as they carried her out the back door of the restaurant. They stopped in front of the dumpster. The assailants took quick glances at one another before pushing her up into the dumpster.
She landed with a thud amongst other bags of garbage. She sunk beneath the trash until the echoes of her already muffled groans disappeared. The two waited by the dumpster looking for any movement and listening for sounds. There was no sign of Sarah. For a moment there was utter silence between the two accomplices.
"Those tapes…" started one of the assailants. The moonlight made the persons silhouette much clearer. Long, dirty blonde hair hung from her head and a red shirt was neatly buttoned around her thin body.
"Do any of the other employees know about them?"
"No, none of them know." The other persons voice was that of a man.
"Take them back to my office." The man nodded and headed back towards the restaurant.
"Oh, and put our 'now hiring' poster back up."
The morning was bright and sunny. Casey made sure to wear her nicest outfit. She had her hair tied back and she tried her best to look happy. With a nervous sigh, she stepped into Lovin's Diner.
It was a beautiful place with glass flower vases at each table and embroidered cloth napkins.
"Welcome to Lovin's Diner," a hostess greeted. Casey nodded quickly and said,
"Um. I'm actually here to be interviewed for a job."
"Oh, I see. Sorry, your actually suppose to go in through the back door if you're here for an interview." The host advised.
"Oh, okay. Sorry," Casey apologized before making her way back out the door. She was already in a sour mood so that conversation didn't help her in the slightest.
She walked around the diner. She pushed through the back door and immediately a worker took notice of her.
"Hey! You're here for a job interview right?"
"Uh, yeah." Casey said awkwardly as she walked in.
"Oh, alright, I'll bring you to our managers office." The worker navigated Casey to a doorway where a woman was busily working on paperwork.
"Denise, there's a young lady here for a job." The woman looked up,
"Oh, come in, come in." She welcomed Casey. Casey took a seat on the opposite side of the woman's desk.
"Thank you for telling me Claire you can go now." The worker nodded before leaving the doorway.
"Your here for a job is that right?"
"Yeah." Casey affirmed.
"What's your name?"
"It's Casey. We spoke on the phone."
"Oh, yes I remember you. I'm so sorry to tell you this, but we just hired another person right before you showed up. We don't really need anymore employees, in fact we're starting to get a little crowded."
"Oh, that's alright I guess. Your sure there's no way I can get a job here?"
"I'm really sorry again, but no I can't give you a job." Casey thanked her on her way out. She had been denied five job opportunities over the course of two weeks. She was starting to lose hope that she'd find a job before the end of the month. She knew the landlord wouldn't be happy if she didn't pay up for this months rent. She let out a sigh.
"Guess I'll have to try somewhere else." She mumbled to herself as she crossed the street. She got to the other side and walked down the sidewalk with her head hung low.
"Hey! You!" Casey stopped walking and looked around. A woman stood a few feet behind her. She had a red shirt neatly buttoned up to the very top and long dirty blonde hair which was thoroughly combed. Casey didn't see anyone else around so assumed she was talking to her.
"Um, yeah?" She asked.
"Didn't get the job, huh?" The woman asked. Casey stared in confusion for a few moments.
"Guessing that's a no. Anyways, ever thought of applying at Biddle's?"
"Uh, I didn't know they were hiring right now." The woman looked back at a large building behind her. A tall sign reading "Biddle's Burgers" was besides it. She was focused on the restaurants empty windows.
"You gotta be-" She suddenly stopped herself mid sentence and turned back to Casey.
"Never mind. Yeah, we are hiring. It just so happens a position just opened up. Would you be interested in having an interview right now?"
"Seriously?" Casey asked now really confused.
"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't serious, kid." Casey took a moment to process exactly what was happening. This lady was offering her a job for doing literally nothing. She didn't waste another second standing there in silence.
"Of course!"
"Good choice. My names Reece I'm the manager at Biddle's." She pointed to a set of letters sewn into her red shirt. They spelled out "manager".
"Let's head into the restaurant. There's no prying eyes in there." Casey looked around slightly concerned.
"Uh, 'prying eyes'?"
"Don't worry about it." Reece brushed off her statement and led Casey towards the restaurant.
Upon walking in she was greeted with the smell of fried foods and sizzling meat. There were plastic and metal chairs and red tiled floors. The restaurant was mostly yellow and orange with a few things being red. Casey could hear cooking machinery steaming and buzzing behind the kitchen doors. There was a young golden haired woman behind the counter.
"Keeping up the good work Carly?" Reece asked. The girl nodded with a smile. Reece lifted the counter door and gestured for Casey to follow. They walked through the kitchen doors. The area was small and cramped for a restaurant's kitchen, but it looked like they had all the equipment they needed.
"My office is in the very back of the restaurant." Reece informed gesturing to a red door on her left.
"The interview shouldn't take too long."
"Well, that's a relief." Casey said walking into the room while Reece held the door open.
"Have a seat." She said sitting down behind her desk. Casey sat down on the other side.
"Let's start off with a few simple questions." Reece picked up a clipboard that was sitting on her desk.
"Do you have experience working at fast food restaurants?"
"Well, I use to work at a donut shop. Does that count?"
"Yeah, that'll do. Anyhow what sort of work did you do there?"
"I guess I sort of did a bit of everything. I worked the night shift and there wasn't anyone else in the restaurant at night so I took on all the responsibilities in the shop."
"Well that can be helpful. There can be a lot of times where one person has to fill in for all of our employees. There's this important staff meeting that everyone needs to attend. Everyone except the cashiers of course. Our cashiers really have no business attending the meeting, they already have so many other tasks to do."
"A cashier? That's the only position open right now?" Reece sighed,
"I really hope that isn't a problem with you."
"Oh, no no. I'll take whatever job you're willing to give me, really."
"Good, then you're hired!"
"Wait, really?"
"Of course, I wouldn't joke about hiring someone. Do you have any questions?" Casey stuttered for a moment.
"No, I don't think so."
"Well, then I'd say we're done here. Oh, here you'll need to read through these." Reece dropped a small packet of stapled papers in front of Casey.
"I look forward to seeing you when your shift starts. For now you can be on way." Casey was almost at a loss for words. She gave Reece her final thanks and walked out of her office. She stood there outside Reece's office for a moment. She could hardly believe it. She felt as if she was living a dream. She finally landed a job. She'd be able to pay her rent and all of her bills. Everything was lining up.
Until her moment of relief and happiness was interrupted by a sound. She couldn't tell exactly what it was. It wasn't the cooking machinery. It was coming from the back door. She put her head up against it. It sounded as if someone or something was shifting around just outside the door.
Casey looked down at the handle. She didn't know whether she should open it. She told herself, as she continued to stare at the handle, that it wouldn't hurt to take a quick peek. She reached for it. Before she could grab on to the handle Reece came out of her office.
"Oh, kid, you're still here? Is there a problem?" Casey turned and looked at her.
"Sorry. There's no problem. I just thought I heard a sound outside."
"Oh yeah, well the dumpster is right out that door so it's probably a raccoon or some other pest. I'll have the janitor go check it later."
"It's okay, you don't need to do that. It was probably just my imagination anyways."
"Nonsense, he doesn't get paid for nothing. Now, why don't you head home. Get some sleep so you're ready for your first day on the job.""I will. Thanks, Reece."
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