#mack.

Mackenzie had hated the feeling of being watched. It was one of her biggest fears, and unfortunately, being dead had only made that worse. Now, people had even more reasons to watch and follow her; especially if they knew what she was…or what she had done. So when Jade had slipped up on her, it had nearly jump-started her heart back to beating again. But that little threat had been taken care of, and that looming feeling of watching eyes had disappeared allowing her to breathe a little easier. Though she was pretty sure the limp she had from her regrown leg was going to be around for a while.

“Trouble on my left; trouble on my right. I’ve been facing trouble almost all my life.” Mack sang out loud as she walked back to her car from running to the grocery store to grab a few things she had decided to pick up on her way home from her shift at Dance Macabre. The parking lot was empty, except for the lone cashier’s car.

As she continued to sing, she popped open the hatchback of the Mini Cooper to put her groceries in, but suddenly stopped singing when she realized she had forgotten something that she had needed, “Crap. Looks like I’m headed back inside, Midnight. I’ll be back out in a minute, and we can blast Cage the Elephants on the way home.” Sidenote: The author would like to mention that Mack was indeed talking to her car.

Shutting the back, she rounded the corner of the small car headed back towards the entrance of the store. Thank goodness for stores that stayed open 24 hours in Wicked’s Rest.

—

Mack Ross had moved up the priority list of the Good Neighbors. Mack fucking Ross. Mack Ross, whom Daiyu had seen in plenty of movies and TV shows, who had disappeared after the death of her fiance, who apparently liked gorging on brains and being very messy and merciless about it. Mack Ross! Who went on killing sprees!

Miracles and strange phenomenon were not out of this world just yet. Maybe next week, they’d be asking her to take out Robert Pattinson because he ironically was a werewolf in reality. (She really hoped not. She’d hate to do that to him.)

Multiple of the hunters in the Good Neighbors inner circle had been assigned to the task. Not only was Ross an acute risk (as she’d been reported to have recently killed again), but also a high-profile supernatural. Daiyu was also put to the task and she took to it with mixed feelings, like she did with all things in her new circle of hunters. She wasn’t sure about the organization’s goodness any more, after all. Keeping a town safe was one thing, but doing so by locking shifting supernatural away was not sitting right with her. Especially not whenever she visited the Keep.

She could abandon post, of course. She could have told Winnifred to go fuck her crochety self and all the others to choke on a bit of popcorn. But she hadn’t, as she was waiting in the wings along with Emilio and whatever allies they could scrounge up. So she was tracking Mack Ross. If she was going to land in the Neighbor’s clutches anyway (and she would, as she had found the organization pretty effective at what they did), then it might be for the best if she was the one to do it. 

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t a bit starstruck, even if all Mack Ross was going was groceries. (Celebrities! They’re just like us!) She was even singing while loading them away, which would be grating in any individual but was something Daiyu suddenly appreciated. What she didn’t appreciate was the blonde moving away from her car. She’d hoped to tail her to what was to hopefully be home, but she could make do with a parking lot. She got out of her car, snatching her club from the passenger seat. It was a weapon meant for blunt force, enforced with studs. She followed Mack as she crossed the lot to the store and had half a mind to go in with her and get a snack (and autograph), but she had gotten distracted enough. And so Daiyu walked quietly but with a pace that ensured she’d catch up with her before she reached the lights of the store.

—

Mackenzie’s hearing was shit. Her eyes were shit. And so to have someone tailing behind her, yet again, and her not realize it was no surprise, especially since it seemed like everything was back to normal in her life. So, like the unsuspecting little dipshit that she was, the actress continued forward as she belted lyrics out into the warm night air, “Trouble on my left; trouble on my right. I’ve been facing trouble almost all my life! My sweet love, won't you pull me through? Everywhere I look, I catch a glimpse of you. I said it was love and I did it for life. I didn't do it for youuuuu!!!” 

God, if only her music career had panned out before all of this bullshit zombie stuff had happened, but in the moment, her need to sing out was only fueling the flames to want to go home and write some more songs. The journal she had was starting to get full, and with that reminder, she figured she might as well pickout a notebook while she was in here to go with the thing she had forgotten.

As Mack continued to sing, and move towards the door, she caught sight of something laying on the ground, but she couldn’t quite tell what it was, and with all the time in the world at the 24 hour grocery store, she definitely had time to pick it up. So, without much thought and the fact that someone had in-deed been sneaking up behind her, the zombie leaned over to grab it, wincing slightly at the tightness in her leg, where Jade had severed it at her thigh, “Fucking Jade. This regrown foot is going so far up your ass the next time I see you…”

—

Daiyu preferred stalking her prey in woods. It seemed more natural that way, more sensible. It felt less like she was chasing creatures that were also human when surrounded by nothing but pure nature — it felt more like the kind of hunt people did in fairy tales and movies, rather than stalking someone in a parking lot like a … well, stalker. But Daiyu made do. Daiyu didn’t think too deeply about these things, because to make these kinds of distinctions was to think too far and deep about her role in this world, and that was something she’d prefer not to.

It was good that Mack was singing. She wasn’t too informed about zombies (except for those in The Last of Us and The Walking Dead, of course) and so wasn’t sure how good their hearing was, but it was a nice way for the famous actress-turned zombie to muffle the sounds of her not-stalker. Daiyu continued straining her short legs to catch up with the other all the while acutely aware of all their surroundings.

And then Mack Ross did something perfect. She bent over. Slowly and with a movement that suggested a level of strain. The timing was like a gift from heaven. (Note: Daiyu was a devout atheist.) She moved forward, swinging her club backwards and aiming it right at Mack Ross’ blond head like she was a ball on a baseball pitch. There was a wooshing sound in the air and she wasn’t as quiet now as she intended to knock the zombie out in one go.

—

Mack had managed to snag the piece of paper that she had spotted awkwardly with her bad leg sticking out at a weird angle, but before she could even straighten back up, she heard a whoosh next to her head just as something hard connected with her temple. With everything going dark really fast, the zombie fell to the ground and crumpled up into a blonde heap.

Everything was spinning when Mackenzie finally started to come too. But something had seriously felt off.

Moaning, the zombie blinked heavily as she tried to clear out the blurriness from her vision, “Wha…” Grunting, she looked around and her mind easily went back to the day Elora had found her after her rampage through town, “Elora…” The name was a weak whisper as she continued to try and find her bearings, but when she realized the redhead wasn’t anywhere to be found, Mackenzie started to panic.

“W-Where am I? Why…why are you doing this?” A dark ooze ran from the side of her head, and she whimpered in pain as her eyes scanned the small cell she had found herself in. All she had wanted was answers, but there currently weren’t any and the longer she went in silence with no return in the conversation, the more she could feel herself starting to grow angry.

—

Wood enforced with metal studs met skull and the blonde went down so easily that Daiyu wondered for a moment if a mistake had been made. She did not wait any moment longer, though, tucking the club underneath her armpit and picking the actress up, slinging her over her shoulder. These were crucial moments — she had to be quick, lest curious Resters started calling her out for carrying around an unconscious Mack Ross.

And so the famous zombie was deposited in the back of her truck and she drove as she often did — wildly and with abandon. Daiyu wasn’t sure how to go about zombie hunting, especially when it came to knocking them out. Killing them was doable (most things died when you chopped off their head), but kidnapping them? Another thing. She tried not to think about it too much, about how it might be kinder to kill her now rather than to lock her up — but maybe Mack Ross would not have to be locked up for too long. Plans were brewing.

She did her job, deposited Mack into one of the empty cages that whispered to all the supernatural fiends out there like a promise. It was hard to look at her now and think her a vicious killer, but Daiyu forced herself to think of the bodies that had been connected to the actress. (It would be — it would be kinder to kill her.) Her jaw was set as she waited for the actress to wake up. This was perhaps the ugliest part of the job and she cursed Winnifred for not being in, as she did such a good job at telling the prisoners what they were imprisoned for. 

Mack Ross awoke and she felt uncomfortable standing there. “Hey — hi,” she said, plopping down criss-cross applesauce in front of the bars. The cell was fitted with some standard needs — a chair, a tap with running water and a sole bar of soap, a toilet. There was no bed, as the undead didn’t need sleep, but there was some flickering light and a bookshelf with tacky, yellowed romance novels and shiny self-improvement books. Mack was gifted a book that blasted a title in red: HOW TO EAT CLEAN AND STOP FEELING DIRTY. Maybe Winnifred thought it would make her stop eating brains. “Welcome to –” Nope. Where was Alistair? He was tall and menacing. Or Winnifred? She was convincing and somehow pretty welcoming. “You’re somewhere safe. Sorry about your head. Tranqs don’t work on …” She shrugged. “Well, you get it.”

Daiyu reached for her bag, pulling out a smaller, ziplock bag with a hellhound brain in it. She pushed it to the edge of the bars, then pulled her hand back. That wasn’t protocol. It had been pretty gross to get the brain out, in all truth, but it was done now. “Oh, right — why. You, um. Killed a bunch of civilians. It’s not safe. So, you know! Now you are somewhere safe.” For the humans. The humans of a town who had no certainty of a normal life. Daiyu tried to think of them as she tried not to ask Mack for her signature.

—

The cell didn’t offer much in the way of comfort and as Mackenzie’s vision cleared, she noticed the book with the red title screaming in her face. This was it. She was locked away in a cell never to see the light of day again. But if she was in a cell, did that mean they knew about Brody? Was she finally imprisoned for his murder? If so, if that was the reason, then she couldn’t really blame the people who had put her here, but an odd wave of relief seemed to come when she heard the explanation, and then it all made sense. The rampage on Wicked’s Rest. A legit reason for her being here at least, and not one that would make national headlines. At least she had hoped, considering this definitely didn’t look government official, and though she was angry, the anger had somewhat ceased knowing she had deserved to be locked away for the monster she had become.

“Right. Yeah. But I think you mean safe for the citizens of Wicked’s Rest right?” The anger had dissipated and turned into something of defeat as she lowered her head. Not paying much attention to the hellhound brain that lay at the edge of the bars. And when she did finally see it, all she could think was how it had solidified how much of a monster she really was. Mack immediately felt like a feral dog being locked in a pound fed only scraps until Death, himself, really came knocking.

Reluctantly reaching out towards the smaller brain, she pulled it through the bars and up to her mouth. Her head was throbbing from the bat she had taken to it, and she knew if she didn’t eat things would get a lot worse, so instead of waiting any longer, Mack stuck the soft matter into her mouth and began to chew, refusing to look at Daiyu.

—

The concept of safety was novel to Daiyu. It was spoken of often in hunter circles, though never as something they experienced themself, but rather something they were made to protect and defend. And though safety was probably a novel concept for the people of Wicked’s Rest as well, it was a thing worth defending. So Mackenzie Ross was right — this was for the safety of the citizens of Wicked’s Rest, of which Daiyu was now a protector. Or, at least, that was how it was supposed to be on paper. In practice, it was too complicated to think about.

She lifted her shoulders, “Yup, guess so.” It was hard to believe the other was a serial killer (or mass murderer – the distinction was always lost on her) but Daiyu knew very well how looks could deceive. “Killed quite a few of them. Citizens, I mean. Not cool.” Because if there was one of the golden hunter rules she followed, it was that she did not kill humans. 

The entire scene in front of her was ridiculous — a famous actress behind bars and at her mercy, chewing on hellhound brain to sate her needs. It should feel awesome, this power that Daiyu held over the celebrity, but she felt rather icky about it all. “Anyway, um — you’re safe here, too. From other things, like the leg and slayers.” That was the whole catch, wasn’t it? The whole purpose of the Keep — to keep the dangerous supernatural away, but to not put them to the blade. She wasn’t sure if she’d feel better if she’d cut off Mack Ross’ head. Probably not, but such was the hunter’s life. Concepts like safety and feeling good were novelties. “Cool. You – wow, real weird. I totally saw you in movies and stuff before. Life can really take a turn, yeah?” Maybe it would for her too, one day.

—

Mackenzie swallowed the brain matter, and without looking up, decided to slide back into the shadows of the cell. She didn’t really want to look at Daiyu anymore or even hear what she had to say. She just wanted to be left alone. It was what was best considering she was either going to die here or spend eternity here, which she prayed didn’t happen if the brains eventually stopped coming.

Her back against the wall now, Mackenzie pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head on them. With sad eyes, she kept them on the floor trying not to cry. She knew there was going to be quite a lot of time to think, but just like anybody in her situation, she was going to have to have her time to adjust and get as comfortable as she could, “I don’t really want to talk to you anymore. Thanks for the brain, I guess. Now, please just leave me alone.” It was all she could muster out before turning her body to face away from the hunter and lean the side of her head against the wall.

—

Maybe if she had been in a more petulant mood, she would have stayed around to talk Mack Ross’ ears off — just because she’d asked her to leave her alone. In any other situation, that was Daiyu’s M.O., to go against someone’s wishes when she felt rejected. But this was not any other situation. She’d just kidnapped a former A-list celebrity, put her in a medieval looking cell and offered her a bit of brain in the name of supposed goodness.

This goodness did not feel very good, though. The woman across from her was defeated, hiding her face from her, folded into herself. Though she was by all definitions a serial killer, there was no satisfaction to be found in seeing her behind bars. No glee found in the knowledge that she had succeeded in this all by herself, even though multiple members of the inner circle had been on Mack’s trail. Daiyu had won, but there was no victory be found here. There was nothing good about this. It was something, that was certain — it was a form of cruel justice, a way of safe-keeping the humans that might become the blonde’s meal, but it was not good.

Mackenzie missed coffee. She missed the smell. She missed the taste. She missed the rush it gave her on late night shoots. Unfortunately, just like everything else in her life, it no longer tasted the same, smelled the same, or had the same effect. Just another punch to the gut as far she was concerned, but she needed some normalcy in her life. So a late night coffee run it was.

The bright sign on the front of the building advertised just what she needed. She had yet to really explore all of Wicked’s Rest, but this had been spotted on a passing glance. Pulling the door back to an almost empty shop, Mackenzie plastered on a fake smile, much like she used to do when paparazzi would hound her to death at the most random times, “Hey, I’m sorry for coming in so late, I just needed a caffeine boost. Are you guys still open?”

Wynne liked closing up. They liked the fact that they were trusted enough by their employer to do the closing up, as well as the rhythm that came with it. Making everything tidy. Cleaning everything. Checking off all the things on their mental checklist and feeling extremely satisfied when done. On top of it all, they often got to sneak some treats back home rather than throw them out.

But closing up, at this point, did mean that they were often mentally checked out to receive new customers. So when the little bell rung and another patron walked in, there was a little bit of mental shifting they had to do. Especially as they recognized the new patron as the girl who’d left early at Van’s party. “Hi! Yes, we’re still open. But only by a bit. What can I get you?” With those official things out of the way, they smiled. “I think we met at that party? I was sorry to see you leave. I’m Wynne, by the way.”

As soon as they spoke, Mackenzie seemed to recognize their voice along with them, “Wynne. Right. It’s nice to officially meet you. Sorry, for dipping out early. I realized at the last minute I had some stuff I needed to take care of, but it was a fun party.” The reality of the situation was that Nora had mentioned Hollywood and the possibility of why Mack had really left potentially coming out. It had been hard enough feeling like she could fit in here, and a great night had very quickly turned into a horrible one all thanks to a girl she thought she would never see again.

“How did the rest of the party go?” Mackenzie looked up at the menu on the wall while she listened. There had been a variety of options available, but coming in so late meant she would get what they had left, and with that realization, she let her eyes fall back on Wynne, “And, I’ll take whatever you have left, even if it’s cold. I really don’t care.” She was trying not to come off as defeated, but she was tired and the fake smile had already faltered after asking if they were still open.

They wondered if she spoke the truth, when saying that something had come up. Wynne could imagine wanting to just leave rather than stay, as the entire ordeal had been quite overwhelming, if not exciting. “No, it’s okay! Things come up, I get it.” They didn’t mention that it had been their first party like that, ever. That they had been surprised by the lack of seasonal celebration. “It was fun, yes. Maybe we can have another one sometime.”

She looked a little tired and Wynne wanted to ask what was wrong, but didn’t want to intrude. “It went very well, we ended up getting pizza so that was cool.” They did really love pizza. It was fastly becoming one of their favorite foods. “I can make you an iced latte? With maybe a syrup of your choice?” They looked over the other before ducking to get at least some ice, as that seemed crucial for whatever drink was going to be had by the other.

Mackenzie had longed to stay at the party, but after the words between her and Nora, it was a harsh reality of how easily her secret could have been exposed. Instead, she went home, curled up on the couch alone, and put on some shitty reality show on Netflix about food to try and distract herself, until night turned into day again. “I’m glad to hear everyone had fun. Pizza always makes the night so much better.” Her smile was genuine, but broken. “Yeah, that would be great.” She wasn’t sure if she’d be invited, but she’d cross that bridge when she got there.

“An iced latte would be perfect. What syrup do you recommend?” It’s not like she’d really be able to taste it very well, but it would still be refreshing and something pleasant. Plus, the caffeine seemed to give her a little buzz, but not like her normal choice of food did. “Hey, thanks again for making this for me. Sometimes you just need a late night coffee buzz, you know?” While Wynne went off to get ice, Mackenzie let her eyes wander around the small cafe, before they caught on something stumbling around outside. The glint from the street lights caused her eyes to narrow, until she caught a bit of purple and was drawn closer towards the window.

They nodded. “It does. I liked the game but I liked it more when we were just chatting.” There was something about that game that could turn somewhat mean, after all, and though it hadn’t quite happened in a disastrous way, Wynne was glad when it and its rules had fallen way. Maybe that was why the other had left. They tried to remember all the dares and questions that had been thrown around, but the beer had taken something of a toll on their mind that night. Ariadne had also been something of a distraction. “I haven’t been to a lot of parties, but I think it was pretty cool to go to one.” 

They looked over all the bottles, “Maybe for this time of the day … butterscotch? Though elderflower is nice for the weather we’ve been having. I like most of them.” Wynne’s sweet tooth really did, and their favorite kept changing over time. “Oh, of course! I don’t mind doing it, and I get it.” They didn’t, as they just wanted to be tired when the day was over so they could sleep, but plenty of university students and professors shared the sentiment. They started preparing a shot of espresso, “What milk?” They bit their lip. “I’ll close up in about five, though. Just a heads up. I mean, if you want to sit here and drink for longer that’s fine, but you know.” They wanted to go home.

Everything Wynne was saying was falling away as Mackenzie seemed to find herself moving closer and closer to the window, “Hey…Wynne…what’s that?” Her eyes were wide, and she couldn’t seem to pull herself away as whatever it was started to move towards her. It was simultaneously the prettiest and the scariest thing she had ever seen. It easily reminded her of something out of Resident Evil, but not quite as ugly.

As it stumbled closer, Mackenzie raised her hand to the glass as if wanting to touch it, but once it was right in her face; the glass didn’t seem like the best place to be standing. If true diamonds could scratch glass, what the hell could this thing do? She instinctively started to breathe heavier despite not needing to breathe at all, but paused when she heard it say something, “Huh?” Leaning in closer, she heard what sounded like a random sentence strung together, “I can’t understand you?” When she glanced back up at it, she saw the hollow expression of someone she could have sworn she had seen around town only days before, but it was the sudden stream of liquid hitting the glass and burning through it that caused her to panic!

Backing away quickly and stumbling over a table and chairs, Mackenzie hit the floor with a hard thud and a grunt, before scrambling to her feet again and running back towards Wynne, “I don’t know what the fuck that thing is, but we’ve gotta go!”

The other became distracted by something outside and Wynne let their gaze drift to whatever was taking up Mack’s attention. Eyes widened, and they let go of the coffee machine, swallowing thickly as they tried to keep themself calm. “Come here,” they said to Mackenzie, who seemed entrenched by whatever was looking at her. “Get back.” 

Because it was looking at her, wasn’t it? Despite the fact that there was no face. Wynne patted around them, trying to see if there was anything of use in this shop. But coffee didn’t have to be cut and all the sandwiches came in pre-sliced. They looked back up at the shop window and now the thing that had looked like a gemstone looked exactly like Jeffrey, a regular who always came in on Wednesdays and Fridays and talked loudly on his phone. This was wrong. 

And then the glass broke, but not really. It disappeared, eaten away by some kind of liquid the thing had spat out. They let out a sound, thought vaguely of their manager and how pissed he’d be about Wynne being unable to close the shop without some kind of catastrophe. Mackenzie’s words brought them back and they nodded, diving underneath the divider that separated their place behind the bar from the rest of the shop. “Go! I’m right behind!” They sprinted, running once again, and tossing a look over their shoulder. As they caught up with Mackenzie, the pair burst through the door and hit the street, “What happened? Did you do something?”

Now that they were safe and outside, Mackenzie leaned over to find some kind of relief from how fast everything had just happened. Was that thing still after them? She wasn’t quite sure, but she was just grateful that her and Wynne had both made it out safely. Straightening up, she looked over at Wynne, “I didn’t do anything! That damn thing started talking to me and then shot its acid juice at me. What was that anyway?” She looked back towards the coffee shop.

Mackenzie didn’t know what to think. Was anything actually normal here? She had certainly come to the right place to fit in, but was it even safe. There had been a number of strange occurrences, but this one seemed to take the cake, “Why are there walking-talking rocks? What is this town, Wynne? Where did I move to?” She was clearly flustered and just wanted to go back to the safety of her own home, or better yet, California, but she knew what moving back across the country would mean, and quickly pushed that thought out of her head.

“Are you okay?” She looked back to Wynne hoping that thing didn’t somehow get them or shoot acid at them. “I mean, I can’t say much for the coffee shop, but as long as you’re okay…” Mackenzie let out a fast, hard sigh.

When Mackenzie slowed down, Wynne decided to as well, trying to calm down their breathing now that they were no longer pushing themself past their limits. They shook at her questions, “No clue, I have no clue what that was! But it looked like a regular, at some point, but he definitely never spat any acid! He likes sweet drinks.” Jeffrey had, in fact, liked pink drinks in carton cups so no one could see that he drank pink drinks. Wynne didn’t get it but didn’t want to argue with any customers.

As the other started wondering about the town they looked at her, not sure what to say. Wynne didn’t know a lot about the outside world, anyway, so perhaps every town was like this one. Or maybe Wicked’s Rest was special. It had felt more like home than any other of the other places they’d crashed in, if only because they were more accepting of those that diverged from the norm. “It’s weird, maybe? I don’t know! There’s a lot of things that don’t make sense. That seem to have a explanation beyond … like normal biology.” Not that they knew about that: Wynne’s education was quite limited when it came to any of that. “I’m okay. Yes, we’re okay, right? That could have been us, hit by that … and well, my boss will be mad, but I hope the cameras caught what happened? Are you okay?”

“Whatever that man’s been drinking was definitely not sweet.” Mackenzie had never heard of any kind of sugary drink melting glass. It did make her wonder if there was something in the water though. Had the mayor of Wicked’s Rest been feeding the town a special kind of Kool-Aid? She really didn’t want to know. She was dead anyways, so it wasn’t like it would affect her if he was though, right?

“Beyond normal biology…right.” Mackenzie walked back and forth nervously wondering what they should do next. Did they need to call someone? Could they just leave? Could they just go home and pretend like it never happened? As much as she wanted this to be the option, she also didn’t want to just leave Wynne to figure things out. This was their job, and she knew how important jobs could be, “Good. Good. I’m okay. You’re okay…And yes! Cameras.” There had to be cameras. “Do we need to stick around and call somebody or can we go?” She looked at Wynne desperately confused on what to do as she had never faced something like this before.

They almost laughed at that. Wynne looked at Mackenzie in disbelief. “No, definitely more acidic.” The fact that it hadn’t quite seemed to be a man was a fact they omitted. They didn’t seem like the right person to inform others that there was such a thing as supernatural creatures. They nodded as Mackenzie repeated their words. “Right. It’s a weird town. Or weird world, maybe!” 

They wanted nothing more than to just go and leave, but that didn’t seem to be an option. The owner of the shop would be so disappointed, especially now that they trusted them to lock the store. “I need to, um, call my boss. And I left the door unlocked, but for obvious reasons I don’t really wanna go back right now.” Wynne inhaled sharply, wondering how they’d have to explain this. Would the cameras show what had happened? Or would this be like the time Nora had come and scared them into letting them steal a bunch of stuff. They felt like crying. They just wanted to do their stupid, simple job right. “Um, would you mind waiting with me until I’ve done that? After that, maybe we can go somewhere. Get a different drink. Or just go home, I don’t mind.” They offered a small smile. They thought of their bike, still at the shop. “What a day, huh?”

“Weird world…yeah.” She could definitely agree with the weird world statement. Mackenzie shut her eyes tightly. Why had she come out tonight? Staying in would have been the better option. The much better option. In fact, why did she leave her house anyways? After this maybe going back to her stupid television shows and unsavory food would be her safe, permanent thing. Forget trying to explore or make friends.

“Uh, yeah, we’re not going back there, Wynne. That’s a hard pass, but I will wait with you. Besides, what if that thing is still inside the store? I don’t want to be faceless.” Dead and faceless was not a good combination. “Surely your boss is more concerned with your health than the state of the store…” Though she almost wanted to snort at her own statement considering everything that happened at her job.

Mackenzie’s determined voice stating that they wouldn’t be going back to the store made Wynne feel a little more steady in their reluctancy to go back. “Alright, okay. We’re not going back.” They swallowed. “How did you get here? Walking or … car?” Maybe they could ask Arden to come pick them up, or maybe they’d ask Mack. “Okay, just hold on a second, okay?”

They moved a few feet away, tapping in the number of their boss and nibbling their finger nails as the tone rung. It was not easy to explain what had happened without sounding like someone who had lost their mind — especially considering the fact that Lauri seemed so oblivious about all that was going on. The conversation ended with Wynne settling on a different story, “No, you’re right, I must have seen something because it was dark and I was tired, it must have just been some random vandals.” Lauri confirmed that he was on his way and told Wynne to return home (probably on account of the fact that they’d started crying on the phone) and soon enough the conversation was over.

They blinked their eyes with frustration, wiping at them before turning back to Mack. They showed the other a thumbs up. “All good. He’s gonna check it out.” Wynne swallowed. “Thanks for waiting.”

Mackenzie wasn’t going to leave Wynne there alone, but it was like a weight had been lifted from the air when they said they weren’t going back. Good. They could leave soon. “I drove, so if you need a ride home, just let me know.” She was ready to go home, and she knew Wynne probably was too, especially considering it was closing time when she had arrived earlier. “Sure thing.”

While Mackenzie waited for Wynne to make their phone call, she had slowly approached the back of the coffee shop and could hear rustling going on along with silverware and dishes being shattered. Catching herself with a jolt of fear coursing through her dead body, she slowly backed up and went back over to Wynne, just in time as the phone call was wrapping up, “Yeah, no problem, but um we probably should go…” Her voice was more of a whisper at this point as she motioned with her head towards the shop.

She wasn’t sure if it was the same thing as earlier or something else, but she didn’t want to stick around to find out, “My car’s this way.” With one last look back, Mackenzie started to walk back around to the front, being sure to keep out of sight of the creature, if it was still inside. Her car was just a few stores down and then they would both be home free.

Frustration rippled through them for a moment, born from their lack of power in situations like these. Things kept happening to them and Wynne wasn’t sure how to get to a point where they could feel proactive. Not like a damned witness to all of it, blinking fearfully at all the danger and oddities this town had to offer. They shook their hands, as if the nerves would fall off their fingers like that.

There were more sounds coming from the shop and they wondered if they should head back anyway, to see what it was that was making all that noise. But Mackenzie was offering a ride. “Yeah, a ride, that’d be cool. I biked and …” They looked in the direction of the noise. “Well. I don’t know, a little risky.”