End of a Journey...

“Have a good time, ma'am,” said Alex, trying his best to make it sound like he hadn't said that very sentence a hundred times before that night.

He smiled politely as he gave the lady her all-access card back, receiving a generous smile in return.

Every Friday night, Alex worked as a doorman at the local night club. His job was to guard the entrance and exit, which basically consisted of one and the same pair of doors, together with a colleague from nine to six.

He would be lying if he said he enjoyed this job very much. Granted, he didn't particularly hate his Friday night occupation, but it was really dull sometimes. It rarely came to the point of physical violence to get people to leave when there were decent doormen deployed, but some people needed directions to the exit.

There were always a handful of drunk people who thought they could take on the world, but those were harmless. It was hard to take them seriously when they - depending on the severity of their intoxication - weren’t even able to place one foot in front of the other without falling on their faces.

A bouncer's job was not about beating up troublesome people, since they still had to abide by the law, but more about intimidating them.

Not being a loudmouth and being accompanied by friends kept most problems at bay, making physical confrontations a rarity.

Fridays were always more trouble for any type of security, be it mall cops, the police, or doormen. People were glad a week of hard work had finally come to an end and went out to catch up with friends or cause trouble just for the hell of it.

So far it had been a peaceful night, with the exception of a major disagreement between a young man and one of the security members stationed inside.

Said man had to be forcefully removed from the building and threatened to come back, something that happened every now and then, but this time the one who said it wasn’t drunk, so Alex hoped he’d cool down again and stay away.

He glanced at his watch and saw that it was four fifteen. ‘Just a little while longer. Keep it up,’ he thought, giving a soft smile.

With his mood brightened, he began tapping his foot to the beat of the music, which sounded muffled from outside where he was standing.

Running a hand through his short hairs, he sighed. A cloud of vapour was visible as he did, so needless to say it was pretty cold out. It had rained some time ago, rendering the streets wet and giving everything that cold autumn look.

The music from inside the club suddenly became loud and clear. Alex turned his head to the right, glancing at the doors. A familiar face walked out of the building and moved next to him.

It was Eddy, a very close friend of Alex since late high school. He carried two steaming cups of coffee in one hand whilst holding a phone with the other.

“No, it only does it when I switch from second to third,” Eddy spoke into his phone. “Hold on.” He then reached out, allowing his friend to take one of the cups. “No… Yes, of course it’s a manual. What am I, daft? No… No, don’t come here, I working right-" Eddy stopped mid-sentence. After a couple of confused glances at his phone he blurted out; "Bleeding hell, he hung up on me!”

Alex witnessed the event rather confusedly. “Who?”

Eddy tisked and put his phone away. “That Bexley guy, the mechanic,” he answered before placing himself against a wall.

Alex took a sip from his coffee, peering over the rim to give his friend a sceptical look.

“I know,” Eddy sighed. “I mean, I don’t. He called me and started asking about what he had to look at on the truck.”

Alex chuckled. “Drunk, maybe?” Eddy shrugged. “Anyway, where is he?”

“Guy said he was gonna say hi, not sure if he knows where we are, actually.”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t. I’m not a fan of him to be honest,” Alex admitted with a sigh.

Eddy let go a chuckle. “I noticed. Like cats and dogs, you two," he said before frowning. "Did something happen I don’t know of?”

Alex shook his head. “No, I can just clearly tell he has some kind of problem with me.”

“Don’t know about that,” muttered Eddy. “Only thing he said about you was about how much he hates the way you talk.”

"You mean proper English? In a way so that foreigners can actually understand me?” Alex scowled.

Eddy smiled. "People use that word way too lightly. Don't let it get to you."

Some time passed. The relative inactivity around the exit was made quite bearable with the help of a hot cup of coffee and the company of a good friend.

“Debra’s birthday,” Eddy started as if remembering just then. “Tomorrow?”

“Today,” Alex corrected. “Haven’t seen her in a while, I feel kind of bad for waiting until now.”

Eddy nodded and tinkered with his phone for a bit.

“Calm night, isn't it?" Alex continued. "I mean, I didn’t see or hear a single fight break out. At least not that I've been informed of.”

Eddy chuckled. “I wish it was like this every week.”

Alex couldn't agree more.

“Shag me twice on wednesday...” he heard Eddy mutter under his breath.

Following his gaze, he saw a large grey car park a distance further, soon after revealing its occupants; the Bexley mechanic with three others, one of which a familiar face.

“Same feller that got kicked out earlier tonight,” Alex informed, eyes locked onto the group of men now approaching them.

“Yep, at least he kept his promise.”

“I doubt they'll just make trouble. There's more of us inside and they know it.”

“Yeah, I know.” Eddy sighed. “But I don't like the feeling of this.”

The mechanic spoke up once he figured he was close enough. “Oye, it’s bloody Eddy and longshanks!” he called out, his reward was his company chuckling behind him.

“What are you doing here, Alfie?” Eddy hissed.

Alfie the Bexley guy gave him a mocking pout. “What? I’m just looking for a good time with my buddies here.”

“You’re a tad late,” Alex answered, prompting the much shorter man to turn to him. “Entrance’s closed long ago, you’re not getting in,” he continued before pointing a finger at one of the guys accompanying the nuisance. “Especially you. When you get kicked out you do best to stay away for the night.”

The guy’s eyes squinted, boring in Alex’s calm as ever ones.

As Alex opened his mouth to speak again, Eddy literally stepped in between them. “Let’s just stay calm, a’ight?” He then turned to the group. “Now, just tell us what you’re doing here.”

Alfie nodded for some odd reason. “A’ight, a’ight, we’ll just wait in the car then,” he said with a clap of his hands before turning around and walking away. The other guys turned around and followed without further ado, and a distance further they stepped into the vehicle and waited there.

Alex took a look at his watch. “Guess who they’re waiting for?”

Eddy sighed. “Crud. We should tell him.”

Alex looked at his friend. “I’ve got no idea who kicked the guy out, you?” His question was answered by a shaking of the head.

Nearing six o'clock, most of the partygoers had gone home. The remaining few were outside smoking or waiting for a cab to arrive.

Eddy and Alex went inside to get their pay and weren’t all that surprised to see the place was a dump; The dance floor was stained with all kinds of spilled liquors, and cigarette filters were scattered around the lounge area, ashtrays overflowing with the things.

“This is what happens when someone calls off, not enough staff to keep up with the animals,” said Eddy.

Alex pursed his lips, looking at the mess. “It's been worse, though. Remember New Year's Eve?”

Eddy shuddered. “Just... Don't remind me...”

As the clock passed six, everyone called it a night and went on their way home.

“I’ll call you about Sunday evening, pub at eight-thirty?” asked Eddy.

“A’ight, just call me beforehand, okay?”

Eddy waved at his friend and unlocked his car.

Alex waved back and started walking down the road. As usually he had to park quite a distance away. He grumbled something about staff-only parking spots until he caught eyes on a familiar vehicle still parked at the same spot.

As he walked past it he glanced inside; Alfie was sleeping behind the wheel and two of his friends had followed his example on the back seats, though the one in the passenger seat was wide awake and looked back at him.

“Stay safe,” he said, his voice sounding muffled.

Alex didn’t respond and kept on going. After a few seconds he heard the car doors open and voices murmuring as they stepped out.

“Hold him!”

Alex quickly turned around at the warning voice, partially expecting for them to be approaching, though it wasn’t him there were after. There were three of them; all the ones who sat in the car minus Alfie. He recognised their chosen victim as one of the security members usually stationed inside the club, most definitely the one who kicked the guy out.

The guess was confirmed as said guy was the first to act by grabbing the guard by the collar.

“You was dead once you spoke, shitface.”

He punched his victim straight in the face, emitting a sick bone-to-bone sound. Blood started pouring from the wounded man's nose.

Surprisingly, he didn't go down. He tried defending himself but got kicked in the back of his knee, causing him to lose balance for a moment. One of the assailants made use of it and punched him in the temple.

It sent him to the ground. Laying there, he tried to protect his head as the group started throwing kicks.

“Stop this!” Alex shouted whilst walking back to them. Two of the men looked at what was for them a new challenger.

“Stay out of it tosser.”

Alex pressed his lips together. “He’s had enough, don’t you think?” he said to the third guy who was still busy kicking the downed man.

It worked. The man stopped and looked at him.

"You what, mate? You want a fuckin' piece, yeah? Come on lads.” The threat was followed by the two others taking a few steps closer.

Alex knew it was going to be trouble. There was no talking out of that one. He sized them up. The left one had an average build, while the right one was short but seemed quite muscular even with all the clothes he was wearing. He quickly turned out to be the most eager one as well as he balled his fist and swung it at Alex’s face.

Alex swung his head backwards, pressing his chin against his chest. It worked; the fist narrowly missed, allowing him to respond by thrusting his right foot into the guy's abdomen.

He doubled over, gasping for air and stumbled away. The second guy dove in immediately.

The first punch glanced Alex’s chin. Noticing too late that it was a feint, another punch hit him in the gut. It was a heck of a shot, blowing all the air straight out of him, though he managed to bite through the stinging pain and kicked the guy in the right inner thigh.

The leg buckled and brought the man down on his knees. He raised a hand in surrender, which was answered by a knee smashing into his temple, sending him out cold.

‘Damn it,’ he thought, feeling fresh ripples of pain shoot through his knee. Biting through, he faced the third guy and took a few steps closer.

He froze up a second as he saw a shadow loom up from behind him

‘Fucking Alfie.’

He didn't even finish realising as a hand came from behind him, grabbed his forehead and pulled back. He saw a faint glimmer of something sharp moving below his chin.

‘What...’

It was too late. The knife dug into the skin of his throat and sliced to the right. A warm feeling spread across Alex’s chest. He knew exactly what had happened and what was going to happen.

He attempted to speak. Only blood passed his lips as he sunk to the ground, the pain in his knee a faint memory.

His vision became blurry. A feeling of dizziness welled up and grew. Unable to breathe, he slumped backwards until one of the men kicked him to the side.

Alex prevented falling on his face, breaking his fall with an arm whilst his right hand frantically clutched around his throat, trying to stop the bleeding.

Soon enough, his mind ceased to be. His pain left him, while darkness took hold until his last, final breath.

End ofchapter one.