Darren's POV
I looked around. This place looked like a shit hole.
The bar was dimly-lit with the pungent odor of stale beer and unwashed bodies. The smell plainly hit me like a freight train.
The patrons were a motley crew of disheveled characters, their faces twisted in various stages of drunkenness and rage. The cheap, disgusting alcohol flowed freely, fueling the chaos that swirled around me. The air was thick with cigarette smoke, and the walls were coated in a layer of grime that seemed to have accumulated over many years. The tables and chairs were mismatched and worn, some missing legs or arms, others so rickety that they threatened to collapse at any moment.
I couldn't help but notice the poor souls slumped over their drinks, their eyes glazed and unfocused. A group of men in the corner were arguing loudly, their voices slurred and angry.
"Fuck you, Billy!" a man shouted. "You're possessed by that fucking brunette at Damian's funeral. Didn't you see the designer dress and shoes she was wearing? She's totally out of your league!"
"She's out of my league, but I'm not planning to fuck her, right? I'm just saying, that girl's got a point. We can't put up with tragedies like this. You're angry. I am angry. We've all been angry. Why don't we transfer our anger into something useful?!" The man named Billy said and poured more beers into his throat.
"You aren't transferring into shit, Billy. The only thing you can transfer is a fucking coyote-like tiny dog infested by flees," the man shouted.
Another roar of laughter.
The man named Billy said in a calm, reserved voice, "I can't believe that you guys are this indifferent. Your family members are dying and all you guys are doing is just sitting here and blabbing nonsense! Don't you have a heart?!"
"Wow! Wow! It seems Master Billy here is going to start a war. Does anyone want to have a drink before the war? Because Master Billy is paying for it!"
"Fuck you, Jimmy!" Billy's face turned red and he clenched his fists.
It was clear that at any moment, the situation could escalate into violence.
The bartender, a grizzled old man with a missing tooth, barely looked up as I approached.
He poured me a glass of the same foul liquid he'd been serving to the other patrons, and I downed it in one gulp, trying to ignore the bitter taste and burning sensation in my throat.
Despite the chaos and filth surrounding me, there was a strange kind of energy in the air.
It was as if anything could happen at any moment, and I was both excited and terrified to be a part of it.
At that moment, a group of women started dancing on a table, their movements wild and uncoordinated. It was a scene of pure, unadulterated debauchery.
One of them dragged my arms and said, "Come dance with us, sister!"
I shook my head and remained seated next to the bar.
She kept dragging me and insisted on inviting me to a dance.
Just as the scarf around my head was about to fall down, Ellie showed up and pinned the wrap back up again.
"Stay away from her! Diego wants to see her!" Ellie said.
The woman immediately withdrew as she heard Diego's name.
Ellie pulled my arms. I stood up and followed her into a long, dark corridor behind the bar.
Two giant gorilla-like men were standing on both sides of the corridor.
As we approached, they blocked our way.
"Diego wants to see her," the woman said. "I was talking to him a moment ago."
"Remove the scarf," a man said. "Show your face."
I didn't do anything.
"Are you deaf?!" the man sounded cross.
"Stop shouting, you moron! She doesn't speak English. She doesn't understand you," Ellie said.
The other man didn't say anything and pulled the scarf off my head drastically.
"A man?! You've brought a man in a woman's dress?!" The man looked shocked with anger.
The other man took out a gun and pointed it at me.
"Who the fuck are you?! Why are you here?!" he shouted.
At that time, Ellie totally freaked out. She jumped to the side and raised both of her arms.
"I swear I don't know him! He forced me to do this! I don't want to die! Please don't kill me!" Her voice was desperate.
"Fucking bitch!" A man swung his arm and slapped Ellie across her cheek.
Ellie screamed and bashed her head against the wall. She coughed out some blood and a broken tooth.
"Oh, no! My tooth! No!" Ellie cried out as she was trying to pick up the broken tooth from the ground.
But her hands were trembling, so she couldn't do it at all.
She looked absolutely pathetic.
"OK, this is enough. You can't treat her like this," I said.
"Fuck you, man whore!" The man who was holding the gun barked at me. "Get on your knees before I blasted your head!"
"Not before I crack your head open," I said as I used the scarf to wrap around his hands, so he couldn't pull the trigger.
He was surprised by my swift move and was about to break away. He thought I would pull him back, but I didn't. I let go of him. He lost his balance immediately as I bashed his head against the wall with great force.
His skull was dented and there was blood everywhere.
The other man who slapped Ellie saw what I had done and flinched. He grabbed Ellie's throat and held her up, pressing a knife against her throat.
"Drop the gun in your hands, or I'll kill her!" The man shouted.
"Are you deaf?" I asked as I pointed the gun at the man. "She has just told you that I don't know her. Now you're using her life to scare me off?"
Ellie was shocked as she heard my voice.
She kicked her legs in the air and shouted, "Fuck you! Are you going to let this mother fucker kill me?!"