Audric walked back to the last of the tables in his section as the group of five shuffled lazily toward the foyer. "Thanks folks, have a wonderful evening!", he shouted after them as enthusiastically as he could muster. One of the two girls glanced back and smiled a warm smile. He waved goodbye, and she half-waved back. The group must have been around his age. They were talking about college but they had used too many 'were'-s and 'was'-s to still be attending, Audric thought. He started to move the dishes and silverware around on the table, organizing everything the way he always did. Audric espied his tip underneath a glass and did the math in his head to figure out how fair it was. Fifteen percent, maybe a little more; fair enough on a $150 bill. As he dropped all the silverware into one of the more empty glasses, he noticed the sound of rain outside falling lightly as the group opened the door to leave. Audric loved the rain. He loved to stare out of the windows as the cars passed by and watch the lights refract from one side to the other of every raindrop on the window. He'd stare for so long that his eyes would go out of focus and it would all smear together in a blur of moving lights...

[i]...Audric? .........Audric? Hello?...[/i]

"Ah! Sorry, Sarah." Sarah was Audric's upstairs neighbor and the maître d' of La Maison, the restaurant where they worked. Audric gave her rides home on his scooter whenever they worked together to save her bus fare. She looked at him quizzically and asked, "Are you going to stare out there all night or are you going to finish bussing this so I can go home?" Audric laughed, picking up the first pile of plates and salad bowls. "On it boss!", he said jokingly as he walked back towards the kitchen. Sarah shouted after him, "Hurry up, boy!" Audric glanced over his shoulder and frowned exaggeratedly, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

Audric dumped the pile of dishes into the soap foam-filled sink. [i]Maybe this'll be the night[/i], he thought. 

Sarah had been the first friend that Audric had made since moving into town, and he had begun to fall for her since getting to know her. She was perfect for Audric. She never pried too much and she was okay with him being quiet, but she also made attempts to get him out of his shell. Whether willing to admit it or not, she had made Audric most of the friends that he had here. He wanted desperately to ask her out on a date, but was afraid to lose his best friend above all else.

As he walked back toward the swinging kitchen door, Audric glimpsed something through the tiny plastic window that made his heart sink, and his eyes widen with panic and fear. Sarah was being held from behind with a gun to her head by a man with a mask on. The man's hand was around her throat. Audric ducked out of sight, fairly sure that the man hadn't seen him.

"Marco! Get out here you little shit!" the man shouted angrily, spit flying over Sarah's shoulder. "You think I wasn't gonna find you?! You think I'm some kinda idiot Marco?! Get the fuck out here before I splatter this little girl's brains on the carpet, Marco!"

Marco was the sous chef, and a 'scraggly little sketchball' as Sarah described him when Audric had first got the job. Audric half-crawled to where he could see Marco, ducking behind his prep counter. "What the fuck did you do?" Audric half-whispered to him across the kitchen. Marco shot him a look, clearly terrified and confused, but fully aware of who this man was and what he wanted. Before Audric could piece together what was happening, Marco sprinted for the door to the basement, staying crouched as well as he could. Audric sat there, leaned against the prep fridge, trying to figure out how to get Sarah away from the man with the gun. Then it dawned on him. Marco was running for the door in the back, where they made deliveries. He was going to sacrifice Sarah for his chance to get away.

"I'm gonna give you 'til the count of ten to get out before I start shootin', Marco. It's up to you whether this girl lives or dies!... ONE!"

The next few moments were a blur. Audric knew he couldn't come out from the kitchen, the man was waiting there and he wouldn't be able to get to Sarah quickly enough. It was too risky. He sprinted down the wooden stairs into the pantry and past the walk-in cooler. Rounded the corner at full speed with his hand on the rack to his right, pulling it down as he went past. He slammed into the door at full force with his shoulder and the flimsy handle gave out. The door swung open and he turned down the alley. In his head, the image of that first feeble handshake with Sarah played over and over. [i]Just a few more feet now, come on.[/i] Audric looked down at his shoes, willing his feet to push the ground from under him faster, he [i]had[/i] to move faster.

"...NINE..."

As Audric opened the door behind the masked man, time slowed almost to a halt. The man's head started to turn. Audric lunged for the arm with the gun, wrenching it behind the man and pointing it as best as he could away from Sarah. The man started to lose his balance with Audric's full weight on his arm. Sarah pried his hand from her throat. "Run, Sarah!" Audric screamed in a voice he had never heard himself use before. This was the most urgent message he had ever had to deliver to anyone in his life before. Audric tore at the man's arm, maybe trying to get the gun free or maybe just trying to give Sarah time to run, he wasn't sure. The door slammed shut and it was now his own life that he was fighting for. Audric managed to drag the man to his knees, but the man was strong; Audric could feel his muscles rippling in strain beneath his shirt. Before Audric had time to react, the man's hand was on his head and pushing him to the floor. The man's other hand was at his chest, the hand with the gun.

All Audric heard of the two gunshots were things like distant echoes. Everything was slowing down. The world went silent. There was a twisted burning in his chest. Everything was slowing down. He tried to think of something but his mind was blank. Everything slowed to a stop. His eyes closed.

When Audric's eyes reopened, it was like the world was twice as fast as it had been. His thoughts raced, he replayed the events that had happened. He was dead, he was sure of it. That wasn't a dream, it couldn't be, he hadn't made it home or he would have remembered it. Where had he woken up though? He hadn't expected to wake up ever again, he [i]was[/i] dead after all.

As he stood up, Audric stretched out his limbs and it was as if they hadn't been used in years. He took in his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was, but this natural beauty didn't match anything in his memory. He took note of a group of people behind him that seemed to be discussing something. Many looked about as confused as he was. He started to walk over and realized that he was still wearing his [url=http://pimg.tradeindia.com/02159792/b/1/Waiters-Uniform-Fabric.jpg]uniform[/url]. There weren't any holes in it...

As he approached the group, he noticed that he didn't seem to be the only one overdressed, which was a bit interesting to him. There was a bit of talk about where they were and why they were here. No one seemed to have any answers. He decided not to add any more confusion to the conversation and to wait it out. Something was bound to happen, right?