De Luca [ON HOLD]

- T I G E R

Once they were done looking, they faced forward now walking up the counter. I found myself holding my breath, not knowing how to react. There was something about these people, something that screamed sinister and evil... like evil that's lurking in the corner, just waiting. 

The three of them reached the counter and looked straight in the eye with me. I blinked less than normal. It was clear that they were not playing silly jokes nor were they here to make a simple coffee order. 

They all wore black. Black t-shirts, black jeans, black shakes to even black shoes. The one on the left looked over his left shoulder, looking out the door. I scrunched my eyes at his action, the imaginary danger bell that I had in my head went off. 

Something didn't feel right. 

I was about to look at the guy in the middle but my eye caught something. Something that screamed vital information. My eyes stay locked on the guy, more specifically behind his ear. I couldn't help but tilt my head the tinniest, trying to read the words that were imprinted horizontally behind his ear. I successfully read the short sentence in my head. 

Moriamo Senza Rimpianti. 

The guy faces me again, clearly whoever he was looking for not joining them. Thank fuck. My mind mentally said. Their beady eyes bore into mine and for a split second, I had to force myself to smile at them. We were all at a stare down, the first to blink loses for a great cause. 

I blinked. Fuck. I looked down in an instant, my eyes moving like never before. I couldn't focus on anything. It was like my mind went blank and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say or how to react. I bit my lip nervously before my eyes once again fell on something. 

This time my eyes were trained on the guy in the middle. On his right index finger was a small but powerful tattoo embroidered on the side. There were three circles, the middle one overlapping the circles on the side. 

What made it look intricate was that there was an arrow going across and what looked like a curvy S letter intercepting just where the two circles met. 

I stared at the intricate tattoo, my eyes moving in action tracing the lines. Instantly my mind got to work. What did it represent? Was it good? Was it bad? What does it mean? Does it have any meaning at all? Was it representing something in particular?

I rolled my tongue across my top set of teeth, my eyes eventually falling on the guy that was on the side. My emotions faltered because it was the same. The same tattoo imprinted in the same position. The side of the right index finger. 

My curiosity got the best of me so I looked at the third guy, more specifically the same position and it was there. The same identical tattoo. I could feel the questions overlap one another in my head but it was killed as one of them spoke, 

"Have you been working here for long?"

My shifted upwards, seeing the middle guy give me a blank look. I blinked a few times before stuttering,