‘San Guines Harbour’ is a peculiar name, he hasn’t ever heard of it before. The name is neatly painted, along with stylistic waves and trees, on a weathered wood board held by two pillars. The welcome sign stands on the side of the road leading to said place, so anyone driving by would easily see it. Or in Kyle’s case, walking by. San Guines Harbour is even prettier up close, with the charming picturesque buildings all attached side-by-side, the dainty street lamps and benches on the wide sidewalks, and the immense amount of pink, purple, and red flora growing in pots and planters. It must be a popular tourist location, he might be able to pass off his inexperience here as being one. Kyle strolls through the town until something catches his eye. A little cafe, with a baby blue exterior, and a cute hanging sign right above wide open doors. He hasn’t noticed the growing emptiness within his stomach until now, but the sight of pastries in the windows leaves him drooling. Without another thought, he walks right in.
There are several circular and square tables with cushioned seats in the cafe. Small pictures, paintings, and fairy lights are hung on the wall, adding to the cosy atmosphere. The barista is slumped over on the counter, with their head down and unaware of Kyle’s presence. He spots a display case connected to the counter, filled with delicious desserts. He walks over to the sleeping barista and tries to wake them up to order something. After a little nudge on their shoulder, they begin to stir.
“Eh? Who’s there, and… what time is it?” they say, blinking their eyes and getting off the counter.
“Hi! Uhm, it’s just me, Kyle. It’s around nine AM right now. Can I… get something?” He tries his best to sound natural. The barista vacantly stares at him for a moment before processing his words.
“OH! Right. Sure! What would you like?” They snap right up and transition into customer service mode. Kyle points at the glass case.
“Chocolate muffin, please.”
“Alright! That’d be three dollars.” They hold their hand out and smile.
Kyle reaches into his jacket pocket, only to realise he has nothing. Right… he doesn’t have anything at all. He lets out an awkward laugh, unsurprisingly making the situation even more awkward.
“Ah, I don’t have any…” He tugs his cap down nervously and avoids eye contact. The barista raises a brow, unconvinced.
“Pfft- really?” Kyle makes no response, feeling very embarrassed. They immediately drop their smug face. “Oh. Well, maybe you can have a muffin for free.”
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“Actually?” He looks back at the barista.
“You can have the leftover muffins from a few days ago, I’m supposed to throw them out but they’re not expired or mouldy, so…” They trail off and wait for Kyle’s opinion.
“That would be really nice! Thank you!” The barista nods and goes through an employee-only door to retrieve the muffins. Kyle turns around to find a suitable seat to enjoy his meal in.
Kyle sits down at a small square table and breathes a heavy sigh of relief. He was worried that people would notice something was wrong, but his lacklustre disguise is somewhat working. He had washed his clothes the other day in a little stream to get rid of all the blood and adorned the jacket and cap from the cabin to hide his… peculiar features. It was a close call with the lack of any cash, but thankfully the barista was forgiving. Speaking of which, the barista swings open the door with a plate of muffins and sashays over to his table.
“Here you go! They might be a little stale, but perfectly fine to eat,” they chime while placing the muffins on the table. Kyle takes one of the muffins and takes a bite. They weren’t wrong about the staleness, but he’s just happy to have something to eat.
“Oh shoot, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Bailey! Thanks for waking me up, by the way,” Bailey takes a seat with Kyle and takes a muffin for themselves. “So, are you new around here? Vacation?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m just travelling,” he says, a bit anxiously. It’s not an obvious lie, but still a lie nonetheless.
“Nice, haven’t had a bunch of tourists in a while, how long do you think you’re gonna be staying here?” Kyle stalls for a bit by munching on the muffin. He hasn’t thought of a full cover-up story yet.
“Probably… a couple of weeks? Not really sure.” Kyle takes another bite, then changes the subject, “Do you know any fun things to do around here?”
“Absolutely! There’s a bunch of things you could do here. Hiking, fishing, camping, shopping, swimming, yadda yadda,”– Bailey stops for a moment to put their muffin down and then leans closer to Kyle with a smirk– “but most people are here for the ghosts and spooky stuff.”
“Spooky stuff?” Kyle asks, listening intently.
“Mhmm, stories of ‘underground cults’ and ‘satanic rituals’ are pretty popular, a lotta weird stuff goes on in San Guines Harbour,” they say with an ominous tone. Bailey then leans back nonchalantly and munches on the muffin, “I don’t believe any of it, though a coworker of mine certainly does.”
“And who’s your coworker?”
“That’d be April, she's part of this whole ‘paranormal investigator’ club. They’re pretty much accepting anyone into it, so if you want to join, feel free to. They usually meet up at her place, Baywood Street, the light green house, you’ll know when you see it.”
“Huh, thanks for telling me,” he says after finishing his muffin. Bailey smiles.
“No problem! I’m just doing my job.”
“I’ll go check out this ‘paranormal investigator club’, I guess. Thank you for the food!” Kyle gets up from his seat and waves.
“No problem, have a great day!” Bailey does so as well, returning to the counter and going about their duties. He leaves the cafe and scans the street signs for a ‘Baywood Street’. If anyone knew anything about his situation, it would probably be April and the paranormal investigators.