I hurried through my closing up chores, leaving the place with just minutes to midnight. The cloak came down upon this place at exactly twelve. I had to leave before that happened.
I texted Trace, but there was no reply. He was probably sleeping. What a shame. I was of half a mind to head over and spend my night with him. He was probably getting tired of me doing that, I was almost always at his place now.
I stopped walking, turning my head up to the sky and staring at the moon for a minute. What's the point of going home? There's nothing to do there. Exhaling loudly, I turned right back around. I hadn't even gotten that far from my workplace, it took me a few minutes to return to it. With what had happened to me, I should probably ask Lou to lift the time-stopping effect on the bar so I can spend some actual time there. I was exhausted with how little I had in the way of hobbies to pass time. Maybe I should pick up painting. Maybe I should start taking college classes. With the extra money rolling in, I could always save up for a year and start...
A chill washed up my spine as I reached for the lock. It was followed by a heavy tug in my gut to turn and leave. The compulsion was quite strong. My hand trembled an inch from the doorknob, the compulsion rising in my gut. My body refused to obey me and unlock the door. I was stuck outside.
I exhaled softly, stepping back from the door and feeling the compulsion die. The cloak had settled. It was just a few minutes past midnight, but inside there, the time had stopped. And I was stuck outside of it, my time stretching long into the night.
Pulling up my phone, I walked to the edge of the curb, looking for a place to head to. A few fast food restaurants, a 24-hour cafe, a few other bars. Limited options considering I still couldn't drink for 21-no, it's past midnight,- 20 days. Twenty-four hour cafe, it is.
The barista looked up as I walked in, giving me a tired glance and a tired smile. "How can I help you?"
I shuddered slightly, trying to bring the warmth back into my bones. It was colder out there than I thought. I was not dressed for this. "One hot chocolate, and uh..." I glanced at the display. "How's the brownie?"
He shrugged absently. "I'd recommend it."
I met his eyes, raising an eyebrow. "Would you really?" No aura. Demon?
He hesitated, turning to look at the brownies again. "They were made in the morning..."
"How morning?" He didn't look away from the display case. "Or actually, which morning?" I'd worked at a cafe before. Things could get pretty rank if they weren't sold.
"Today morning." He finally looked up at me. "They are good."
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. I needed something hot and gooey. "Fine. I'll have that with chocolate sauce and ice cream."
"Alright." He bent his head to type it into his screen. "Anything else?"
"I'll order something later if I feel like it."
"Yup. Name?"
"Ryleigh."
"Alright. Card or cash?"
"Cash."
He tapped the screen a bit more, tried to sell me a membership card and then took my money. I took a seat in the corner on a bean bag, near the wall to plug my phone in. I didn't usually have unnecessarily expensive coffee, but I think once is a while is fine.
They misspelled my name. The hot chocolate was good. The brownie was actually better than I thought. I got up after an hour to order another hot chocolate and brownie, asking for extra ice cream and pacing around the empty place to stretch my legs. The door opened and my eyes went to a man walking in. He met my eyes, surprise crossing through his. I gave him a vague smile and turned away. Awkward.
"Ryleigh?"
Fuck. He knows me.
I turned to look at the man, eyes moving over his face for any recognisable features. A faint bell rang in the back of my head. I did know him. Black eyes and no aura. A customer?
"Uh, yes?" I replied slowly, turning to face him. "Do I know you?"
"Oh, yeah." He shrugged, letting the door close and walking towards me. "I just started coming to your bar a few days back. Was surprised to see it closed today."
"Oh, I know." I relaxed slightly. He was a customer. "I decided to leave early and then couldn't walk back in."
"Oh, right. The midnight thing." He shrugged, gesturing around the place. "Still surprised to see you here."
"I didn't want to go home. Home's boring."
"Oh yeah. You're probably still getting used to the no-sleep thing."
Slight panic crowded into my gut as I heard the plate clink on the countertop. My dessert was here. "Uh, how do you know about that?"
"We all know." He walked up to the counter. "You don't just lose an aura. It's not a TV remote."
"Uh..." My eyes flickered to the barista who was watching us. "Right."
"Oh, calm down." He smirked as he reached the counter. "This guy knows you too."
The barista smiled at me, wider than he should have as his eyes slowly turned black. "I don't really get a chance to come to the bar because I have the night shift here. But it's nice to know you're 'the Ryleigh'." His emphasis on 'the' was more like an emphasis someone would put when differentiating a celebrity and a friend with the same name.
"Uh, yeah." I nodded at him, turning away from both the demons standing at the counter grinning at me to pick up my brownie. Ignore them. Ignore them in the hopes they'll let me finish my second brownie alone. I was craving something savoury now, but the fact that the barista knows me is kind of dissuading me to stay here any longer. Don't judge me for my food.
I took my brownie back to my table with the extra ice cream in a separate bowl. I pretended to look at something in my phone, typing rubbish into my notepad to keep up the pretense. It didn't work though.
The demon who'd walked through the door approached my table, forcing me to look up at him. "Can I sit here?"
"Uh, sure." I nodded, turning back to my phone. Please don't talk to me. Please don't t-
"So, how's it going?"
"Good." I nodded, reaching forward to finish my lukewarm chocolate. "How about you?"
"Pretty good. Would've been better with alcohol." He chuckled. "How was the Halloween crowd?"
"Wild." I replied, nodding again. Why was I nodding. "Good crowd. My boyfriend and his friends came over. Got some breakfast early in the morning. That's about it."
"Yeah. Sounds like fun."
"It was." I sat up, something crossing my mind. "How long have you know about my aura?"
"Well..." He shrugged. "I didn't actually start coming to your bar till recently, but you've been talked about for a while." His eyes flickered to the side as the demon barista placed his coffee down. "Hold on."
"Yeah."
The barista smiled at me again as I met his eyes. "So, any plans after this?"
"Not really." I jerked a thumb behind me. "I'll head home. Work out."
"Oh." His smile got wider. "I go for a run after my shift here. Can I join you?"
"No, thanks. I already have a workout partner." I gave him a sheepish smile. "He doesn't like others."
"Oh, your boyfriend?"
"No. A local restaurant owner."
"Oh. My bad."
"You know a lot of people here, Ryleigh?" My eyes went back to the demon who was approaching me. The name on his cup was Axel. "Locally, I mean."
He had really clear skin. The Asian porcelain smooth skin was smooth, and glowing. He probably followed one of those multiple step routines.
"I've been here about four years." I replied after a short silence. "It's the longest I've stayed in one place after leaving the foster system at 18."
"Oh, been a bartender all this while?"
"Not really." I paused. "Actually almost. Before I could find a job as a bartender I worked in a cafe too." I heard a small hoot from the behind the counter. "Then I got a job at this upscale club, worked there for three years. Had to leave for some personal reasons, worked in this place a few times as extra help and then Carl hired me permanently once the previous guy left."
"Carl?"
"The owner."
"Ah."
"By the way-" I leaned forward, starting to dig into the new brownie "-what do you know about me?"
"Apart from the fact that you lost your aura?" Axel replied easily, sipping his coffee. "Nothing, really. We all assume Lou had a hand in this. You're part demon now, right?"
"Uh, almost." I didn't know how much I was allowed to reveal. Best to ask Lou or Mike when I get the chance again. "Less than ten percent, I've been told."
"Huh, interesting." Was that his favourite word? "Explains why your eyes didn't change."
"Lou can turn people into demons?"
"No. Enough demon essence in your body can." He cocked his head. "Slowly though. The procedure can be mentally taxing for humans."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Losing your humanity slowly while not being able to do anything about it supposed to be painful."
"You sound pretty familiar with it."
"I've heard stories about it." He sipped his coffee. "Some older demons told me about it a while back. But apparently that was only until the angels imposed a moratorium on it."
"For all demons or only..."
"All demons." He paused. "Newborn demons can't exactly use their demon essence that freely as there's not much to go around for them, but yeah, it's still prohibited."
So, Lou broke some law. And Mike was complicit in it. "So... are angels also not allowed to do it?"
"They have a bigger disregard for human life than humans or demons." He snickered at his own joke. "So, not only do they not do it. They would also refuse to do it."
Lou broke some law, and Mike broke his ethics? He was pretty anal about that maybe I should give him a pat on the back and a thank you card. "They do seem pretty uptight about rules."
"They are. A lot." Axel sighed, going quiet as he sipped his coffee.
Are there thank you cards for being brought back to life? Should I just give him an Easter card? That was about resurrection, I think. Maybe not about my resurrection. I'll think about it. If Mike comes back alive from the war or this second war council...
"Oh, wait." I swallowed the brownie. The hot and cold in my mouth gave me pleasure each time. "You have a war going on right now. How's that going?"
"As good as any war, I guess." Axel mumbled into his coffee, his relaxed mood falling apart. "We have a short break during the war council."
"Much-needed, I say." I heard the barista yell out from the back. "My injuries need time to heal and my manager is not giving me time off."
"Injuries?" I mumbled to myself.
"Yeah! You can't see them." He came out of the kitchen, drying his hands. "I just put in a fresh batch of brownies. Do you want some more?"
"You make these? You sounded so confused earlier."
"Yeah." He scratched his cap. "The pain makes me bleary."
"What-uh-what happened?"
"Some angel slashed me..." He gestured around his stomach. "Here-ish. I can't figure out where on a human body."
"Will pain meds not help?"
"No." He replied dryly. "Nothing will help but time."
"Deep."
"That's how all our wounds heal." Axel replied candidly. "Angels have some kind of healers. Or they just heal faster than because they're just stronger than us. It feels like a crap shoot sometimes."
"Fighting the angels?"
"Yeah. Fucking winged bastards."
"What do they look like?" I asked, feeling some curiosity rise in me. "Mike's eyes glow when he's angry and it gets really hot."
"You're not far off." Axel chuckled at my description. "They're bright, glowy, hot, mean, and strong assholes."
"With really pretty, blue eyes."
"Only when they're human."
"Oh. And what do you guys look like?" I turned to look at the barista as he looked up as well. "Black blobs?"
The barista narrowed his eyes at me. "My human body is black so I don't know if you're being racist or that's a genuine question."
I gave him a dry look. "Really? You're going to play that card?"
He snickered after a short moment. "Sorry. It's fun watching you humans get flustered over superficial shit." Hilarious. "Anyway, you're not far off. Every demon has a different shape, but essence-wise it should appear as a black blob to you."
"Cool. What do I appear as to you?"
"A meatbag full of blood and bone." The barista didn't even pause as he said, working on something behind the counter. "Actually, there's a lot of fluids besides blood."
"Hilarious." I sighed out loud, eating the last piece of my brownie. "When will the brownies be ready? I'll take some home."
"Uh..." He straightened up, glancing towards the kitchen door. "That's actually tomorrow's batch. Today's batch is already ready."
"Tomorrow's batch?"
"Yeah." He grinned at me, heading back towards the kitchen. "The manager's recipe calls for resting brownies for a day before serving them."
"Oh." I glanced down at my messy plate. "They are really good though."
"I know right!" He threw over his shoulder, disappearing into the kitchen. "How many?"
"Uh, a dozen!"
"That's a lot of brownies." Axel placed his empty cup down. "For your boyfriend?"
"It's for me."
"Oof." His eyes ran over me. "You clearly need it."
I hid my irritated sigh behind my hot chocolate. This was pretty good too. Should I take another one or will it be too embarassing?
I should probably slow down. I can't lie to Antonio about what I ate and he makes me work out a lot 'to make up for your intake'.
"Will the bar be open tomorrow?"
"Yeah." I nodded, putting down my now lukewarm chocolate after a long swig. "It was supposed to be open today but I got locked out by Lou."
Axel snickered, dark eyes glinting with amusement. "You should've been able to pass through."
"I'm still mostly human, Axel." I twisted to unplug my phone.
"Still." He sounded confused. "I'm sure with enough conscious effort you could pass through."
"Not possible. Less than ten percent is practically nothing, I'd assume."
"Who knows?" Axel sighed again. "Lou's essence is the oldest. We can't be sure about anything with him."
I frowned, looking up from wrapping my wire. "He's one of your own. How can you not know?"
"He keeps to himself." Axel paused. "Most of the Early Demons do."
"Early Demons?" Was that a grammar mistake?
"Yeah." Axel leaned back in his seat, leaning all the way bach and stretching his arms above his head. "We call the oldest demons that."
"How many are there?"
"I know only ten. Never met them, just heard about them."
"Lou is one of them?"
"Presumed the oldest!" I jumped as I heard the barista's voice from inside the kitchen. He emerged from the door with a box. "I threw in three extra. On the house."
"Okay..." I raised an eyebrow. "Thanks."
"Sorry, it's this body." He placed the box on the counter. "Some kind of obsessions with multiples of five."
"Why does a human's condition affect you?"
"Well..." He moved to the register. "I'm occupying his body. The mental discomfort affects me to a point."
"He's a new demon." Axel had a simpler answer. He looked at the barista. "Your essence will be able to suppress your human's basic urges eventually."
"I know." He was typing again. "I can suppress hunger and thirst, but it still requires a conscious effort. This brain thing is the most annoying one though."
Axel whistled lowly, pushing off his chair and walking over. "You're still pretty new then. You must be a good fighter to have lasted this long."
"Luck, I'd say." He replied, looking up at Axel. He patted his stomach. "This should have killed me."
"I can see that." Axel scanned the apron. "Very lucky, I'd say."
I sat there in peace for a while more as those two chatted over the counter. It was some more stuff about the war and some random names I'd never heard. I finished my now-cold chocolate, stacking the plates neatly on the tray and picking up a few sachets of sugar as I got up. I tucked them in a side pocket, reaching for my wallet as I walked up. Both pairs of eyes turned to me "Cash." I mumbled absently as I stopped by them.
"Oh, no need." Axel grinned at me. "I paid for you."
Surprise crossed through me as he said that. "Oh, uh... I'll pay you then?"
"No need." He grabbed the box, turning to me with it. "Just let me have a few drinks on the house next time I'm at the bar."
"Uh, what about me?" My eyes flickered to the barista. He had an eyebrow raised.
I nodded, smiling at him. "Sure. Thanks for the extra brownies." I turned to Axel. "And thanks for paying for me."
"No problem." Axel grinned, stepping aside and gesturing towards the door. "After you."
Is this the glory making him act like this? Is the glory even visible to demons? "Thanks." I took the box from him, turning away to leave.
"Come back someday, Ryleigh."
I laughed to myself, turning to wave at the barista. "Sure. I loved the brownies and thanks for the extras again." I should probably learn his name."
"Yup." He smiled back. "Maybe I'll be able to drop by the bar soon."
"Fingers crossed, man. There's a few drinks with your name on it waiting."
"Tempting." He laughed, waving back.
I faced the front, pushing the door open and pulling up my phone. Axel stepped out after me. "Need a lift?"
I looked up at him. "No, thanks. I'm getting a cab."
"You sure?" He gestured to a motorcycle a few metres away. "There's no waiting time. I'm also fast." He flashed me a smile.
He was hitting on me. I shook my head again, giving him a normal smile. "I'll wait. It's not far."
"Fine, then." He walked up to stand beside me. "I'll wait with you, if you don't mind."
I looked down at the tarmac. "Sure. No problem."
"I'm guessing you have no plans for breakfast?"
"Not really."
"Join me for a coffee then?"
"Nope. Not in the mood to head outside."
"I don't mind having coffee at your place either." Oh dear. "I could get it to go."
"No, thanks."
"Oof, cold."
"I have work tomorrow, Axel."
"And I'm not stopping you." He shrugged. "Nothing wrong with a coffee and something extra at your place."
"Hmm."
"Is that a yes?"
"Not at all."
"You got a problem with demons?"
"With them knowing where I live, yes."
"So, not the fact that you have a boyfriend?"
"That too. But I've already mentioned it."
"You did. But it doesn't matter to me if it doesn't matter to you."
"He..." I turned to look at Axel meaningfully. "... does matter to me. We've been dating for a month. It's serious. I'm not going to sleep with you."
"So, it's not because I'm a demon?"
"It would've been if I was single. I also don't date customers."
"Ah." He nodded, rocking his body back and forth with his head. "So, it's not me being a demon... is it because I'm Asian?" I burst out laughing at the sudden switch in gears. I could hear him chuckle with me. "Sorry. I've got a horrible sense of humour."
"And you clearly seem to have picked that one up from him inside." I jerked a thumb at my back. "That caught me by surprise."
"Caught me." He paused, leaning forward to look up the street. "Is that your cab?"
"Uh..." I glanced down at my phone. "Can't see the license plate number, but the model seems right... Yeah, that's him."
"Alright." He took a step to the side, turning away from me. "See you at the bar, Ryleigh."
"Yup. Night, Axel."
"Morning, Ryleigh."
I chuckled again at that correction, shaking my head to myself as I waved the car down.
The ride home was silent. Finally. No more company. Not that I'd hated who I'd been with up till now. Demons were actually pretty good company outside of work. Axel had been nice enough to provide me with some information, as well as that unnamed barista. He'd been so nice to me as well, I felt horrible about not finding out his name. He didn't have a nametag on.
While the chat had been nice and I had gotten some questions answer, ones I'd didn't even know I needed to ask mostly, but it had created a lot of questions. Most of these questions could be answered by Lou. But some of the stuff Axel had said worried me.
Demon essence takes over, and apparently sucks away your humanity while doing so. While I was not particularly attached to my humanity, and I had not made much of use of it during my life, I'd like to think I was pretty attached to it. But isn't that why Mike chipped in to resurrect me? To use angel essence and keep the demon essence in control?
I couldn't be sure. I couldn't be sure of anything. Tomorrow was another day, and another shift with the supernatural. I needed Lou and Mike to be around. There seemed to be a lot more consequences to being whatever percentage angel and demon than I'd figured. I needed these questions answered.
***********
AUTHOR'S NOTE
That Easter joke is completely accidental.
On that note, Happy Easter! I don't celebrate it, but if you do, stay in and celebrate safely!
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