Chapter Text
This has been the weirdest day of Lexie Dewitt’s life. What she thought would be a day of pouring beer, avoiding handsy clients and joking around with Rhonda like every day for the past month, turned into first having a gun pulled on her and being saved by a flirty blue eyed guy who’s good with a pool stick. Then it got weirder. The guy, William, started saying that Lexie isn’t really Lexie, that the crappy boyfriend who she ditched and didn't love is not real, that her *life* isn’t real, that she’s someone else. Someone who was in Haven, Maine when she’s never been anywhere near there. But weirdly, the most out there idea is that there’s a guy, who she hasn’t met, who she’s somehow secretly pining after. That’s some weird romance novel bullshit. She's never pined after anyone even one day of her entire life. She's just never been the type, despite still sometimes searching for a decent guy to share her life, but she hasn't had much luck.
But then, she assembles a gun in under 10 seconds, and suddenly William’s words don’t seem so out there. Something has to be going on here. She doesn’t really trust William. He seemed cute enough for a quick tumble after work, but she keeps getting conflicting vibes from him. He’s telling her that her life, her existence, is a lie, and she doesn’t want to trust that. But there is something there, in the way he flirted and talked about ‘the ache in her heart’. She doesn't understand what that means, why it resonates with her. She doesn’t want to trust him. But she might have to.
But he’s not making it easy with his clear manipulation tactics. Suddenly, he claims that she’s not ready to hear who she is and where she is, now that she’s listening. He’s probably just some crazy person. Best to just get rid of him, kick him out. Rhonda should be back soon. Then she can just tell Rhonda about all the weird stuff that just happened and then forget all about it. Amazingly, William is not the worst customer she’s ever had.
William leaves, with a smarmy look on his face, and Rhonda gets back and everything should get back to normal. But then everything gets worse. William left. Lexie pushed him out the door herself. How is he back in his seat? What the fuck is going on? Is it ghosts?
No, it’s not ghosts. But something is wrong with this place. Because as good and real as the tequila tasted, Lexie can’t leave this place. She physically can’t. Time jumps ahead and brings her back here without any time passing for her. Her life isn’t real. William was right.
That doesn’t mean she really accepts not being Lexie, but there is something going on here. William claims that everyone in this Bar is not real, hell the whole bar isn’t even real. It’s a ‘Barn’. She can accepts that all the patrons are not real, but Rhonda? Rhonda *is* real. She gave her a home when she stumbled into this bar, and she’s been such a dear friend. She has to be real. But when Lexie closes her eyes, and says goodbye to Rhonda, she’s gone by the time her eyes open again. It hurts.
The past few hours have been the weirdest in Lexie’s life, and everything gets weirder and weirder by the moment. The Bar(n) is full of black holes, and William claims it’s dying, like some living creature. William teaches her how to hear the door, how to hear people who are not there, and tells her to jump out into nothingness. She doesn’t really understand what is going on, but given everything she’s seen today, she just has to trust it.
”You keep saying I’m not who I think I am. When I get to the other side, who will I be?” she has to ask.
”Whoever you most want to be”, William replies, and it’s odd and cryptic, but that’s William.
Lexie sees some figures by the other door, hears a man yell “Audrey! Audrey!” but that’s not who she is, so it doesn’t matter.
Lexie DeWitt jumps out of the Barn, and blacks out.
***
Lexie wakes up to the gentle touch of a man she’s never seen before, and she’s been woken up by worst sights. He helps her up, keeps the crowd of armed people away from her, and looks at Lexie likes she’s the answer to all of his prayers.
"You made it."
Lexie is not sure what to do about the man. He must know who she was before. He’s probably the person who shouted ‘Audrey’ into the nothingness, but that’s not who she is. She can’t help but like the way he looks at her. It’s not like the bar patrons, staring down at her cleavage or her ass, or her ex who never wanted to hear what she had to say. It’s not like William, using his knowledge in various ways to mess with her.
After a while, the man gets tired of just watching her and tries to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear. The touch is still gentle, tentative but Lexie pulls away. She doesn’t know this guy. Lexie is well accustomed to dealing with handsy guys and refuses to feel bad about the pained look on this guy’s eyes.
”OK, dude, let’s keep our hands to ourselves, OK?” she tells him, pulling back a little more. Her Arizona accent comes out exaggerated, like her mouth is doubling down on her identity: Lexie DeWitt, 31, Tucson Arizona. She's not from Haven, Maine and she is not the woman this man should be looking at like that.
"Who are you?" he asks, pain and hesitation in his voice.
"I'm Lexie DeWitt. Who are you?"
Her name and question clearly cause this man pain. Lexie is not certain what to make of her own reactions.
Finally the man can speak again, "I'm Nathan Wuornos, and you were supposed to kill me."
Lexie can do nothing but stare at Nathan with horror.