Of Bones and Darkness

Ruin Symbols

~Present Day~

The bell chimed, announcing the arrival of another customer. Catherine pulled her knotted hair back into a messy ponytail as she made her way through the crowded bakery into the backroom. She listened to the bustling of footsteps as people came and went, their voices muttering simple "please" and "thank you's" for their purchases as some cursed under their breath about their favourite treat already being sold out even though the store was only opened for a matter of a few minutes.

It was the busiest bakery in town for it had the freshest loaves of bread and all the pastries and cookies that anyone could imagine. Catherine smiled, her apron covered in flour and sugar as she quickly followed the recipe to create more cinnamon buns. It was every few days that the cinnamon buns would be the best seller and those days were always Catherine's favourite. She would remember her father always wanting to make cinnamon buns when she was younger— when her mom was still around— and when everything seemed to be normal for a typical family living in a winter wonderland half of the year.

She sighed, pushing the thought away. She kept reminding herself that it's been two years since he was taken to the asylum and she was only allowed to visit on Saturday— her only day off— and the only day they allowed family visitors, which was strange.

Her head snapped up as she realized her name was being called, "Catherine, you've been standing still for a few minutes, you need to get those cut and into the oven. People are starting to complain," her manager instructed, looking concerned for a minute before masking it with a blank look.

She nodded, muttering a quick sorry before rolling out the dough and putting the cinnamon on before rolling them up and cutting them into pieces. She placed them neatly onto parchment paper and placed them into the oven. Someone else would come and get them out to icing half and leave the others plain.

Catherine quickly gathered the measuring cups, and bowls and placed them into the sink. She smiled sadly as the young boy groaned at the massive pile of growing dishes. Their dishwasher broke and since then, the poor boy had to do all the dishes and have them done for when the next batch needed to be ready.

"Think about it," she whispered, " your hands are always clean and you can still get the girls when you tell them you work at the busiest bakery in town," Catherine smiled, patting his back before running back into the front to see what else needed to be made, or what else was running low in supply.

She made a mental note to take out their secret cookie dough that they make every night before and put them into the oven, as she noticed a strange hooded figure staring into the bakery. She squinted, as the sun reflected on the icicles hanging outside glared into her, making it hard to see who the hooded figure was.

"Catherine!" Her manager, Troy, yelled, "stop staring out the window at people. You know it isn't very nice to stare and you scare the potential customer away," he pointed to the retreating figure.

She nodded, watching the hooded person leave, feeling a sense of curiosity and understanding of who the person was, but not quite knowing who exactly. She sighed, shifting around the others to get into the back. She couldn't shake the feeling she felt after seeing the hooded figure as she began portioning the cookie dough onto parchment papers. She has seen him a few times over the last few years, but couldn't remember the first time— or why he was always randomly appearing everywhere she went.

As the day rolled on, her shift was coming to an end. It was the early afternoon when she finally was able to take a deep breath and move at a slower pace. She hung her apron up on the rack, grabbing her jacket.

She quickly bought a freshly made cinnamon bun— courtesy to her— and made her way to her second job.

The bakery only paid enough for groceries and other essential items she needed for the month. Her job as a forensic investigator paid for the bills. The bakery and her forensic investigating always coexisted. She would work the early morning shifts for a few hours at the bakery before heading off to the police station for her next shift. Both had the same day off: Saturday.