Page 98 of His Untoward Hate

“Are you new?”

“Are you sure you know what you are doing?”

“Fuck this pharmacy!”

“Give me the Pharmacist!”

There were moments when Jasper felt like bursting into tears. After all, he was still new to everything. Whenever customers became difficult, he did his best to understand where they were coming from, reminding himself that many of them relied on maintenance medications, particularly antihypertensive drugs. Perhaps their frustrations were rooted in worries and struggles he could not see.

Miss Zita, however, was an entirely different story. She was smiling, warm, welcoming, and incredibly approachable. Jasper rarely saw her throughout the day since she spent most of her time in the patient counseling area, but he had grown fond of her kindness. Sometimes, her gentle treatment made him unexpectedly shy. There was something about the way she looked after him that reminded him of his mother.

For the past few days, Jasper had been staying in the staff room. He was grateful that Miss Zita had allowed him to sleep there without hesitation or conditions. In fact, she had been the one to insist.

“It’s a staff room, and you’re part of my staff,” she said.

After Jasper explained that he sometimes arrived late because of his daily commute, Miss Zita’s concern only deepened.

“Are you comfortable sleeping in the staff room?” she asked. After a brief pause, she added, “We have plenty of spare rooms in our house if you’d like to stay there instead.”

Jasper quickly shook his head, politely declining the offer.

“Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness, Miss Zita, but I’m really comfortable staying here.”

“If that’s what you want, then I won’t force you,” she replied with a reassuring smile. “My cousin Norma sleeps here occasionally. The two aides, however, have families waiting for them at home, so they rarely stay. All of my staff are welcome to stay here whenever they need to.”

She paused before adding, “But are you sure you’ll be okay being here alone most days?”

Miss Zita’s voice carried genuine concern, as though she still hoped to convince him to stay at their house instead. Since the pharmacy only operated until midnight, Jasper had not expected Zita to worry about him so much. He reassured her repeatedly that he would be fine. Her kindness, hospitality, and trust touched him deeply, especially considering they had only known each other for a short time.

“If you’re really certain, then I won’t insist,” Miss Zita said at last. “And you don’t have to worry too much. My son sleeps here sometimes, whenever he feels like it. Though, to be honest, that only happens once in a blue moon,” she chuckled softly. “He can’t stand the smell of medicines.”

What Miss Zita had said about her son the other day was always running through Jasper’s head. Tomorrow would mark his first full week working at Annel’s Pharmacy in Town, yet he still had not met her son. Not that he was excited about it, but Miss Zita had said a couple of times she would introduce them to each other since they were around the same age, but it never happened. The more Jasper thought about it, the more he felt that there was something unusual about the family. He had never seen her husband visit the pharmacy either.

Jasper pushed the thoughts away and turned back onto his side, realizing he was beginning to pry into matters that were not his business. Sleep refused to visit Jasper. More than two hours had passed since the pharmacy closed, yet he remained wide awake. A glance at the clock told him it was already approaching three in the morning. Fortunately, it was Sunday, which meant he did not have to report to work.

Jasper planned to head home before sunrise to do his laundry and gather a few necessities. More than that, he wanted to check on his brother. Throughout the entire week, Sky had not replied to a single message or answered any of his calls. Jasper had been trying to reach him all week, sending messages and making calls, but Sky remained completely unresponsive. It had also been nearly a week since both Sky and Jude had stopped attending school. At first, Jasper had not thought much of it, but as the days passed without any word from either of them, his concern grew.

Something did not feel right.

Jasper climbed out of bed before his endless overthinking could drive him crazy. He headed to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water, not bothering to switch the lights on. The glow of the full moon casting through the large glass window with its curtains drawn open was enough to illuminate much of the room.

With the bottle in hand, Jasper walked over to the window and leaned against the concrete frame, taking a long drink. His gaze drifted to the moon, dazzling brilliantly in the quiet dawn sky. It shone so brightly that the surrounding stars were nearly washed from sight.

The view was relaxing. The sky was calm and beautiful in the serenity of the early morning. Jasper was admiring the scene in front of him when a bat suddenly darted across his field of vision, flying hurriedly past not far from the window, startling him slightly. Jasper touched his chest to calm himself down and looked at the moon again. It was past midnight, and it somehow scared the hell out of him. He caught his breath even more when he heard a crackling noise coming from somewhere. As he tried to locate the sound, he figured it was coming from the drugstore. He jumped slightly as fear suddenly arose in him when there was a shattering sound of bottles, which he was certain were bottles of syrups and suspensions.

Tiptoeing silently across the floor with bare feet, Jasper made his way toward the door, forcing himself to be brave. He pressed his right ear against it, trying to make sense of the sound outside. But his heart nearly stopped when he heard unsteady footsteps growing louder and closer.

Jasper’s breath caught in his throat.

Without wasting another second, he rushed back to the lower bunk of the double-deck bed and pulled the white blanket over himself, hiding completely beneath it. His heart hammered wildly against his ribs as the doorknob turned and the door slowly opened. Clamping both hands over his mouth, he felt cold sweat bead across his skin.

“Ahh, fucking bullshit!”

A drunk man’s voice echoed through the room. The stranger continued to mutter incoherently, his words slurred and difficult to understand. Yet something about the voice felt disturbingly familiar.

No way. Not in a million years. That’s impossible. How come? Jasper’s thoughts raced.

“Damn it! T-this isss a fuuckingg baaad day.”