a.u.

Chapter Seven: Week

Damian hummed in response.

"There's also an office in the back where the owners do their bookkeeping and stuff."

"You didn't mention that first?"

He shrugged. "Guess it didn't seem like that big a deal."

"Let's go in there."

Alexander hesitated. "I don't know about that, dude. I'm not really allowed back there unless I absolutely have to get something out of there."

Damian's lips flatlined. "I'm sure you can make a reasonable justification for going back there this time."

Alexander let his head roll back and sighed. "Sure, fine. Let me go get my keys." He left for the front of the store.

"Hurry up," Damian called after him. "I don't know how much longer we have left today."

In just a few seconds, Alexander reemerged with a ring of keys in hand. "Alright, this way." He started walking down the hall in the other direction, briefly eclipisng the entrance back into the storefront.

Damian followed eagerly behind.

They approached another door at the end of a shorter hallway. Alexander fumbled with the ring, trying to find the correct key.

Anticipation started to eat at Damian. "Come on, come on, come on."

The employee picked out another key. "Hey, relax. I don't work well under pressure."

This key worked, and with the turn of the handle, Alexander was able to slowly push the door open and peek inside.

The back office wasn't anything exotic. It looked like it hadn't been renovated in thirty years. It was far more akin to a makeshift office you would see in a trailer on a construction site. There was a single desk and a couple file cabinets.Hanging on the walls were some certificates and family photos.

The owners appeared to be a photogenic couple with two young children--an older boy and a younger girl, specifically. The room was littered with school pictures and family photos of the four of them together on vacation. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Are they nice?" Damian asked while observing a picture of the four in front of what looked like a waterfall.

Alexander shrugged. "Yeah, they're nice. I don't really interact with them outside of business. They're always running around somewhere."

"Did you ever ask them about what was happening here?"

"I tried, but I don't think they got what I was trying to say. Not that anyone else ever really seemed to either. I don't know, they just never gave me a vibe that would make me suspect them of anything."

Damian walked over and peered at the papers still on the desk. Just a bunch of business documents. He moseyed on over to one of the file cabinets and opened it up.

"Dude," Alexander protested.

"What? I'm curious. I'll put everything back when I'm done, don't worry."

He grumbled, but ultimately didn't respond.

Damian thumbed through the files. Nothing out of the ordinary. He pulled out a couple pages just to get a closer look. Just some invoices and quotes from a local painter. It was all pretty standard stuff. He put them pack in their rightful place, then crouched down to get to the lower drawers.

The first rumble came.

"Uh, Damian?" Alexander called nervously.

"Hold on," he waved him off. "I just want to look at a couple more things."

"Come on, let's make sure we're somewhere safe."

Another rumble vibrated through the carpeted floor.

"Hold on," he repeated, pulling out a couple more files to observe.

One of the pictures hanging on the wall fell down.

"Damian," Alexander pressed.

Damian was too busy flipping through more business documents. "In a minute." The files started to rock back and forth within the drawers. The base of the cabinet began to wobble.

"Jesus--" Alexander reached out and grabbed Damian's wrist as the file cabinet began to tip in his direction. He pulled him away as it started to fall.

Damian tripped over his own two feet following Alexander's lead and escaped the range of the heavy file cabinet.

But the cabinet didn't hit the ground. It didn't sound with a heavy THUD that the two had grown accustomed to hearing during this tumultuous period.

Damian looked back to see what happened.

Alexander gasped audibly.

The file cabinet was still falling. It hadn't stopped or settled back into place, it was still hanging in mid-air. Like it was falling in slow motion.

Or, well, that was exactly what was happening.

Everything around them, not just the cabinet, seemed to be moving at a tortoise pace. The ground shook, but it felt more like the gentle rocking of a boat. The pictures on the wall swung side to side like a light breeze was rolling through. And the file cabinet was still falling.

"What the hell?" was all Damian could muster.

Alexander shook his head. He ran both of his hands through his hair.

The scene rapidly sped up. The file cabinet hit the ground with a loud and expected THUD. Another picture fell off the wall. The shaking reached the point to where the two couldn't see anymore, and then--

Damian dipped forward, suddenly standing on his feet. He was back on the street again.

Of course he was.

A wide breadth of emotions swelled within him. On one hand, he was excited something new had happened. On the other hand, he still didn't feel like they'd made much progress.

He looked inside to meet Alexander's gaze.

The barista mouthed first. "Wednesday?"

Damian nodded. He started on his way to work, not even bothering to check the time this go around. One week down, he reminded himself.

One week down.