If it wasn’t that holidays were just around the corner he would have passed on the opportunity to work a double shift. But as it was they were already short one server and a cashier. Both David and Nick were sick, one with bronchitis and the other food poisoning, and yes they each sent in doctors notes proving their illnesses.
Truth be told when staff found out that morning they’d be short two people the majority of his co-workers rolled their eyes as if they figured this would happen; apparently the two were known to get drunk from time to time and call out due to hangovers with some far fetched story as a cover up. Not this time. Nope. While Nick was hacking up a lung poor David had been puking his guts out at his parents house after eating some bad sushi.
Either way it worked out in the end. Granted Aiden was a bit tired from running back and forth between bussing tables, serving meals, and filling in as a backup cashier when Emily went on break and after she had left for the day once the dinner crowd thinned out to a manageable number but that was nothing compared to the nights that followed the bat attack at the festival.
Two days and several apologies later, he was lucky to have only been out thirty dollars just so Jenna would forgive him for snapping at her the way he did.
“You be safe out there,” the manager hollered back just before the door shut behind his employee.
Helmet in hand Aiden walked across the parking lot just as one of the street lights began to flicker. Eerie, but not unusual. It’s been doing that for the last month or so.
The sound of gravel grinding beneath an otherwise silent footstep grabbed his attention. Immediately he spun around, eyes skimming the dimly lit area expecting to see someone standing behind him. But there was nobody to be seen save for his manager still inside wiping down the counters.
The air was nippy causing his breath to hang in the air after each exhale. Jaw clenched he listened intently while trying to ignore the almost undeniable itch to power up. Even with it dark outside the area was too open for him to do such a careless thing. “Who's there?” He hollered, unconvinced that he was alone.
A flicker of light in his peripheral grabbed Aiden’s attention and all of his focus, light bouncing off a metal object in a way that he could have swore he saw a lethal blade. But as he turned… whatever, or whoever, was there had already disappeared.
The night was dark and full of terror on a normal night and with Halloween looming in the near horizon the inability to tell the difference between props and youma, or civilian and agents made it just that much more frightening.
While the undeniable feeling of being watched was hard to shake, Aiden finally allowed himself to relax enough to pull his phone out of his coat pocket to send a quick text to his boyfriend to let him know that he was on his way home before swinging a leg over his motorcycle and putting his helmet on. Home was not that far away and at least Alexandre would be there waiting for him; now really wasn’t the time to power up and pursue whoever it was that had been watching him just moments ago.
While you're walking home, the wind suddenly seems to change direction. It gets colder. And if you look behind you, it looks like someone's following you. There, in the distance, a shadowy black figure. If you move towards him, he seems to disappear, but once you turn around again, you can feel him watching you. No matter how far you run, no matter how fast, he always seems to be there when you look over your shoulder. Once you reach your destination and are safely inside, suddenly you can't see him anymore, and after a few harrowing moments the air seems to lift. You're safe, but...what was that all about?
Sleet Tempest Snape
for mention
