The Demon in the Pastry Shop

11: The Cruelest Kindness

 Kit wiped down the counter, catching the crumbs in her hand and throwing them away. It was a slow day. Jude stopped by earlier and bought a danish before he went for a stroll in the wilderness. He said it was for inspiration. Kit wasn't going to question him on his process.

After cleaning the counter top, she leaned her elbow on top of it to hold her chin as she stared at the passersby beyond the window. This position let her stretch out her legs beneath her bell-shaped skirt. Her notepad weighed down the pocket of her apron.

She worked alone today, since it was universally a heavy work day for all spirits in this realm. Kit didn't expect many customers at all that day, but she brought a brand new notepad with her anyways. It was leather bound, like the first one. A sibling of the original, in fact. Kit asked Jude where he got the first and she got another from the same place.

A few hours of sweeping the floors and coming up with pointless tasks later, Kit started doodling in her notebook. She was surprised by the ring of the door chimes and took a moment to dust off her apron before looking up.

When she saw Silus, she grinned. When she saw demon blood dripping off of him onto her clean floors, she wilted and shivered. When she saw his handgun at his hip, she lost her breath.

He never brought it with him anymore. Kit knew what he did, what he was, but he never came here with any signs of it. There was something ravening in the way he stalked inside and closed the door behind him. His snakes hissed loudly.

She didn't understand what was happening, but she had a very bad feeling. Her trembling hands picked up her pen and her pad. She jotted down something choppy and nearly illegible in its tremor, slapping the paper on the counter as he approached and dashing back into the wall to get away from him.

Silus picked up the note.

It said, "what are you doing?"

He swallowed hard and crumpled the paper in his bloody speckled hand, sticking it into his pocket. His eyes wouldn't find her directly and Kit wondered if Silus had a bad day or if she was about to.

"I'm not here for a pastry," he disclosed in a low tone.

Kit inhaled and with big eyes, she splayed her hands out in front of her, fluttering them and managing to communicate, "then what?"

"I had something of mine taken long ago," Silus confessed to her. He planted his hands on the edge of her counter and she watched his fingers grip there. "I'm not in a position where I can make demands."

Kit labored a breath with her mouth hanging open. Her eyes moped upward and then she circled her hands around each other in the air. Her heart hammered in her chest. She told him, "you're scaring me. Get to the point."

"The Collector wants you," he told her, at long last lifting his gaze, "he may kill you. I'm here to take you to him."

She froze, pressing herself back against the wall. Maybe if she closed her eyes, she could will it to be her bed and make this all a dream.

To think last time they saw each other, she flirted with him.

"I'm not in a position to refuse the order," Silus repeated. Kit was unsure whether he was asking for her understanding or saying something else. He shone a light on the grey areas soon after, telling her sternly, "you need to get out of here. Take your family, whatever things you need, but do it quickly and run far away and hide. Because I will come after you. And however much I want to, I can't spare you again."

Kit covered her mouth with her hands. Her eyes grew so wide, it felt as though they wanted to run away. She inched toward the door that led to the back entrance, but then she jerked to a stop. Why was he telling her this? What if he wasn't helping her? What if he was only toying with her? She caught on her step and breathed hard as she glanced back at him, the questions swirling around her.

Silus stayed on the other side of the counter. If she still had her eyes on right, he looked about ready to vomit. He looked back at her. It took him a while to unravel the confusion cloaking her aura, but he could.

"I like you, Kit. I don't want to hurt you. But I have to in order to get back what was taken from me. I will come after you. I'm giving you this chance because it's all I can do to save you from me. So please go. Go somewhere far away where my partners and I can't find you," he begged.

Kit stared back at him. She couldn't tell if this was truly a kindness or not, but her eyes flashed back and forth to his gun and she couldn't stay here any longer. She felt her way along the wall until she found the doorway. With one last look back at Silus who watched after her, Kit slipped out of the back of pastry shop and started running.