Ive never been the best at turning up to work on time, always showing up five minutes late or two or twenty but it depended on the day.

Everyday I show up to work my manager, Darl Beau Carlson, always talks to me about how I need to get better at it. But Darl is perfect, and when I say perfect I mean *perfect.*

He’s always had it ‘better’ in life and I feel like he just doesn’t understand the fact that I have to walk to work everyday cause I don’t own a car and that my alarm clocks broken and that my shoes were worn out so I had to find a different pair of shoes.

But I know that he cant afford to fire me since we’re super low on staff. But what’s confusing is that his life is perfect and he has all this money but he decided to make this crappy diner with broken windows and machines and roaches.

How is he making so much money off of owning a small crappy diner??

“Uhh earth to Mal?? You there bro don’t let me lose ya now.” Darl’s voice rang in my ears as I snapped back to reality.

“Uh sorry- what..?” My eyes met his as his blue eyes squinted in confusion.

“We were talking about why you’re late today? You said you fell on a hole in the stairs of your apartment?” I could hear him suppressing a laugh in his voice as he spoke.

I sighed as I responded, “Yeah I know it’s stupid but i fell down like three stairs and this random guy had to help me get up. I even have this cut to prove it!” I gestured to a small mark on my upper cheekbone. Darl examined it before made a ‘tch’ sound.

“Next time watch your step. Man you’re really living up to your name ain’t cha?” He spoke with a teasing smirk.

I’d always been ‘made fun of’ for my name. For one thing it’s a girl name and for a second thing ‘Mallory’ means unlucky or unfortunate in French or something. And even my nickname, Mal, means ‘Bad’ in Spanish.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," I replied, with a roll of my eyes. Darl’s blonde wavy hair bounced as he chuckled.

"Hey, light-hearted teasing is part of the Darl experience," he declared. “And sorry to be a party pooper but Alayna called in sick so you gotta start mopping these floors.” He handed me a mop. “They ain’t gonna mop themselves!” He flashed his smile at me before walking away with a bounce in his step.

I grumbled under my breath as I gripped on the mop and started to mop the tile floor underneath me.

The diner was quiet, save for the low hum of the refrigerator and the occasional clinking of silverware from the back room.

It was always dead silent in here and the only customers went through the drive thru window in the back. It made me wonder how Darl still had all that money. Unless he was lying but that doesn’t sound like something Darl would do.

Darl always seemed genuine; his carefree nature was contagious, even in the quietest shifts.

# three months later

I’m still working in Darl’s diner but there’s something going on.

Darl is acting off. He’s twitchy more than usual and has been a bit more irritated with every word I say. Ever since id mentioned my younger sister, Bethany, to him he’s been off.

And recently Darl got a huge load of cash and nobody knows where he got it from. Every time I speak he looks at me like I have a death wish.

I finally arrived at Darl’s diner for my night shift. I glanced at the clock that rested on the clock. It read, 9:18 PM. Damnit. I’m three minutes late. I looked around for Darl who would’ve been waiting here for me by now but he was nowhere to be seen.

Me and Darl were the only ones supposed to be working tonight and if Darl wasn’t here then I’d be working all alone in the dead of night. My eyes darted around the Diner looking for any signs of him.

A sudden clanging of metal tensed my shoulders as my eyes focused on the managers office to my left. I cautiously took steps forwards to the sound as I raised my arm to knock on the door. Before my knuckles could make contact with the door in-front of me it’d flung open. I quickly lowered my hand to avoid being hit by the wood.

Darl stood infront of me in the doorway but it wasn’t him. His eyes were bloodshot and the bags under his eyes were**dark.**

His usually perfectly combed blonde hair was messy and tangled and his tan skin appeared as pale as mine was. I noticed his hands and legs shaking viciously as he made eye contact with me. He began to speak then stopped. His jaw clenched as he began again. His voice sounded strained and rough.

“Where is she.” a chill ran down my spine as his head twitched anxiously as if anticipating something.

“Who..?” I spoke with my voice barley over a whisper as I held back the tremble in my tone.

“The blue haired b1tch that you call your sister.” He replied, his voice was coaxed with a hostility that I’ve never heard from him before or expected from him before. He was talking about my younger sister which made me uneasy.

“I’m sorry..?” I spoke with a questioning tone but I was quickly cut off as Darl stepped forward and raised his voice. “YOU KNOW WHO IM TALKING ABOUT.” His voice was shaking. I took a step back.

The fear in my chest matched the intensity in his eyes. Darl seemed on the edge of something dangerous. I hesitated, unsure whether to try reasoning with him or to run.

The atmosphere felt tense but I felt as my whole body froze and stumbled back as Darl drew a small dagger from his back pocket. My eyes widened as they moved from the knife to his eyes.

His gaze remained down as he slowly moved the knife to point it forwards me. My head turned up as his eyes met mine and I watched as the corner of his mouth twitched upwards.

“Your sister is a liability.” He muttered with a sinister tone. My eyes shook with confusion and fear as he continued. “She is a liability to the Arison company. A liability to my life. And, currently, a liability to yours.” He stepped forward and I felt as he pressed the metal close to my throat.

I couldn’t help but wince as the metal pressed against my neck. The sudden mention of the Arison company shook me.

The Arison company is notorious for being the cruelest Mafia in the state. How would Darl have anything to do with the Arison company and Family?? But maybe I should focus on his words rather than my thoughts.

Darl continued on with his tone not changing, “And liability’s need to be dealt with accordingly.” The metal pressed harder against my throat but didn’t cut skin.

I sniffled as I suppressed the tears that threatened to leave me eyes. I spoke as quietly as I could to avoid the sharpness of the blade cutting skin, “D—Darl what are you doing.. ?” I stuttered as my voice cracked in fear.

Darl let out a laugh as if something amusing was happening. His eyes looked crazy. He didn’t look normal.

“Blame your sister! If she hadn’t meddled in our business then maybe you wouldn’t be the one with a knife at your throat!” He still had on that stupid smirk that I once thought was charming. How stupid of me to trust someone like him.

“And now.” He paused as goosebumps littered my skin before continuing, “Now you’ve seen too much.” It felt hard to breathe due to the fear coursing through my veins. My eyes darted behind him. In his office laid out pictures that I couldn’t make out and white powder that was poured out in thin lines.

His bulletin board was full of pictures of people who had recently went missing and phone numbers that I couldn’t make out.

A loud thump from the front door broke me out of my trance. I couldn’t turn my head to look behind me but when Darl looked at who had just entered I saw a flash of fear in his eyes as his voice shook with the words he had barley uttered out.

“Mr. Arison.” He addressed the person who’d entered the room. Wait. If what I heard was correct then Otis Arison, the leader of the most cruel and brutal mafia bosses in our state was currently behind me.

“Carlson.” Mr. Arisons deep voice seemed to ring out through the diner though he had barley said a word. He had also addressed Darl by his last name which means Darl must’ve really known this guy.

Silence filled the room as Mr. Arison took a step closer. The blade remained at my throat. And before I could get a good look at Mr. Arison his voice spoke torwards Darl again.

“Do it.” His words had no hesitation. I felt a rush of panic, my heart pounding in my chest as I felt a bead of sweat run down the back of my neck.

As if it was normal Darl quickly dragged the dagger across my pale skin and dug through the tissue. The pain sputtered out as he dropped my shirt and I fell back on the rough tile, hitting my head on the ground with a thump.

“D—Darl” I barley muttered as blood overfilled my mouth and a cough naturally came out. The back of my head throbbed as I felt a puddle of blood come out through a cut made from the jagged tile.

My eyes became hazy as I could vaguely hear and see Darl and Mr. Arison though I couldn’t make out Mr. Arison’s face. I watched as Mr. Arison pulled out a stack of cash wrapped in a rubber band and handed it over to Darl who took it within seconds.

Mr. Arison’s footsteps boomed as he left the diner and Darl’s laughs rang in my ears as my vision began to turn black.

Images flashed in my mind.

My parents arguing, me protecting Bethany, us getting separated in foster care, my first day of 3rd grade, my first love, my first heartbreak, leaving the foster care system, getting my first apartment, finding a job, getting fired, meeting Bethany again, getting hired at Darl’s diner, making new friends.

Images of people I cared about crossed my vision as if they were actually there in the moment.

Bethany, Alayna, Jacob, **Darl**,

My eyes flickered open and shut as I felt my consciousness slipping away from me. I knew this was the end. All the years of begging for death all lead up this moment on the floor on a Diner where I had made new friends and fell in love.

I guess I really did *live* up to my name.

But there was no response, only the distant hum of the diner’s refrigerator, a constant reminder of life carrying on, oblivious to my fading existence.

I felt as cold fingers wrapped around my ankle and started to drag my limp body towards the back.

And as my eyes finally shut. I took a shaky inhale as I could smell the cold dirty tile around me and the smell of my own blood.

My breathe hitched before I finally let out my final exhale which felt more like a sigh of relief.

I’ll finally be able to see what life is like when it’s over. Something I’ve always dreamed of seeing but never did.

*I guess it’s time to find out.*