--Tuesday--

Thirty-eight liters of blood, purchased through an underground seller, were painted into lines on the concrete floor. It was a circular diagram that was mirrored onto the ceilings and walls of the tiny room. Inside each of the circles was a square, and inside those, a six sided star. Along the lines were runic letters, though the artist had no idea what they meant.

Where the lines of the circle met square, candles had been placed. Because the room was completely sealed, except for a large metallic door, smoke had started to fill the room. The oxygen in the room would start depleting quite quickly, so the singular person trapped within this room hastedly set a clay skull in the center of the design. He was wearing a strange robe: completely black and with orange markings across it, and a hood, but covering his face was a WWII era gas mask. He was wearing gloves and boots, and the robe tapered off not into a dress, but pants, which were tucked into the shoes. It completely shielded his skin from the smoke, but not from the heat. Underneath, the boy setting up this ritual was sweating.

Of course, it wasn’t only from the heat.

Ern’s only guide to setting up this ritual was the book his parent’s had left him, but it was in German and difficult to translate. Everything was handwritten, and Ern had bad eyesight. This wasn’t a complicated ritual, or at least it wasn’t supposed to be, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. 

A drop of sweat rolled from the top of his brow down to his nose, and he pressed it against the inside of his mask to quash it. 

Bah. It baffled him why he felt so worried. What was the worst that could happen? Loss of his soul and life? Who cares about that, he never used them anyway.

Still, Ern’s shoulders were tense as he overlooked the tattered pages one last time before shoving it into his pocket. He didn’t understand the words written, but they were spell phonetically, and it was easy just locking those to memory. From his other pocket, he pulled out a small knife, then took his right glove off, exposing it to the elements. It felt nice and cool. Drawing the blade across his thumb to draw blood, Ern began chanting off those strange words in hopes that he wouldn’t accidentally misplace them. Who the hell knew what would happen if he messed up? As he continued the chant, the blood fell down to the skull and stained it. After a few seconds, the candles in the room were snuffed out.

Pitch black darkness engulfed Ern, and he held his breath. 

A heavy hand was resting against his shoulder.

This was direct contact, bypassing the multiple layers of clothes he was wearing and pressing immediately to his skin. It was cold, and he felt wind swirling around and rustling his robes. 

Ern coughed, though he didn’t need to, and waited. The weight lifted from his body, and he shook his arm. 

“Hello?” Ern asked. “Anyone there? Oh, wait, that’s not right. I’m supposed to be assertive at this part, aren’t I? Hmm. Okay, well in that case, let’s take this a step back, alright? Hello, diabolic spirit I’ve summoned into my body, hope you’re having a good night so far. Ha! Of course you are. Anyway, my name is Ernest Charles Schweighardt, and I’m now claiming my right as a descendant of Hanz Fergun Schweighardt, the same deal made by your ancestors, for you to pay tithe and submit yourself as my servant. I am taking ownership with my soul.”

Those were mostly the correct words to say, more or less. Nothing happened for a while, and Ern sighed. Well, this seemed to be a failure, but at least he still had his soul. He pulled the gas mask off and tossed it to the ground and went to the door, waving his arms to push the smoke out of his face. 

He stepped into a puddle of something.

“Ouch!”

“Ah?”

“Human…” A dark voice echoed in the room, though it sounded surprisingly high pitched and cute. “I have answered your call. The pact has been set.”

“Hold on one sec,” Ern said, once again stepping into the puddle and hurting the voice. He swung the door open, illuminating the room. The thing he had summoned, supposedly an all powerful shade, was sitting in front of him. Far different from what he had expected, this creature was about the size of a dinner plate, and made out of some kind of black goop. A single yellow eye floated through the center, changing from transparent to opaque every few seconds. It was curled up, almost like a snake. “Huh. You’re kind of tiny, aren’t you?”

“Tiny?”

The shade swelled up, then eyed itself.

“You bastard!” It cried. “What have you done to me? Trapped me in this tiny form!”

“Ah, I didn’t do it on purpose, you gotta believe me,” Ern said, holding his hands up in apology. “I might have messed up some of the lines. I mean, I can’t speak German. Only English.”

“Then I was summoned here...to serve someone incompetent? Did your masters never teach you anything?”

Ern thought about it for a second.

“No, not really,” he said. “A few tricks, but nothing useful. Ha. Anyway, we need to make like, a contract or something now, right? Or did that already happen?”

The shade was silent. For some reason, it seemed far more emotional than Ern had expected, which tickled him. As his new familiar kept itself quiet, Ern shrugged and started disrobing. Underneath the dark robe were white cloth ritual undergarments, and under those were some of his normal clothes. He stripped out of those as well, standing completely naked. It was then that he noticed the markings on his stomach; a circle imprinted around his belly button with lines going inward. A thick dotted line stretched from the center up to his bony chest, where a triangle formed between his nipples. He rubbed at it, as though expecting it to sting, but it just felt like flesh. 

“I assume this is important, right?” Ern asked, reaching randomly to grab his glasses from the workshop table in his basement. His vision was pretty poor, and without these, he might as well have been blind. “Does this mean we’re contracted? Come on little guy, you gotta know more about this, don’t ya?”

It growled at him.

“Huh, for shame, and I thought we coulda had a great relationship here. Anyway, you got my name, right? But just call me Ern. That should work.”

“...you’re being serious right now.”

“Eh, sort of?”

“Damn them all,” the shade said. It made some sort of raspy metallic sound, and Ern could tell that it was a sigh. He could feel the emotions of his shade transmit themselves to him. “Summoned and bound to an incompetent child...in such a form…”

“Hey, don’t worry about your form. It’s cute and cuddly! Like a cat!”

“Don’t patronize me.”

“Yeah, I can’t promise that.”

A few more seconds of silence went by before Ern’s stomach rumbled. He rubbed his belly.

“Yo, shade familiar thing,” Ern started. “Do you eat?”

“...”

“I’ll take that as a sort-of. Anyway, let’s get this over with so I can go find some food.”

“Wait, master,” the shade begrudgingly said. “The contract isn’t complete. I’m...this is serious, you know.”

“Okay then. What do I do?”

The puddle of shadow vanished, then a moment later, it had wrapped itself around Ern’s arm, slithering out of his belly button like a snake. It began to melt into his body, its dark form stitching into his skin and leaving slightly brighter marks than the ones on his torso. Though it was completely weightless, the movements it made tingled Ern in a way that made his hair stand up. Finally complete, when he heard the shade speak, it was directly into his mind.

‘My...master, I am Bezret, and I have heeded your call, Ernest Charles Schweighardt, to pay respects for the ancestral agreement of your bloodline. I will continue to serve until your body or soul has perished, and then, and only then, will I claim the payment owed. For this, our contract is formed.”

“Cool.”

“...you’re supposed to say: I accept.”

“Oh, sorry. I accept.”

“Then the contract will be bound,” Bezret said, the words tapering off at the end. “Call my name when you need me.”

And then it was just Ern, standing alone, completely naked, in his basement. It was a horrific room, filled with the dark experimentational tools of a magus, but to him, it was absolutely normal. None of his normal clothes were down here, so he grabbed the pile of sweaty robes he had just been using and went upstairs. After tossing them into the wash (which he didn’t turn on), he continued to find some sweats and a hoodie. Casual-style clothes, suited for the weather and going out, but not anything too fancy. As always, there wasn’t any food at his house, so if he wanted to get dinner, it’d need to be out somewhere.

“Bezret,” Ern called out. A moment later, in his head, was the response.

‘Yes?’

“What time is it?”

‘...’

“Do you not know?”

‘It is eight o’clock...roughly…’

“Awesome. Thanks.”

The shade grumbled and sunk back into Ern’s mind.

It wasn’t too late to head over to the nearest convenience store and grab something to snack on, so Ern went to grab another jacket to layer over himself. It wasn’t that cold outside yet, but when he peeked through the window, he could see drops of rain starting to fall. There was no reason not to be careful.

“To umbrella,” Ern started to himself. “Or not to umbrella? That is always the question.”

Eventually, he decided to go without one. Sometimes it was nice to get a little wash from the rain; so long as it wasn’t a downpour you probably wouldn't get sick. Even if he did get sick, he could just force his new familiar to do all his homework! Ha! It was genius!

Grabbing his wallet and other necessities, Ern double checked all of the ground floor windows to make sure they were closed, then went to the two suits of armor posted right next to the front door. Inside of their helmets were small seals, painted with blood, and neither seemed to have deteriorated too badly, so Ern decided they were good enough and headed out the front door.

***

There were definitely better days than today.

“Get on the fucking ground!”

The door to the convenience store was kicked in, swinging hard enough to smash against the counter next to it. The glass didn’t shatter, but a large crack formed in it. A group of men started pouring into the store; all wearing different shades of black sweats and strange masks. A fish, a golf-ball, a gorilla, a toucan, and an anime character. It happened quickly.

The cashier, a thin guy with dark skin, immediately tried to reach down below the counter top, but one of the men, a guy wearing a golf-ball mask, leapt over and crashed down on top of  him. There was a crunching sound. While that happened, the remaining men acted. 

“Get down!”

“We have guns!”

“Don’t make me shoot!”

It wasn’t very late, but this store wasn’t very popular. There was no gas station attached to it, so traffic mostly came from pedestrians. Right now, the only other people in the store were an old woman and a teenage girl. When the screaming started, the old woman fell over, gasping out in pain, and started fumbling with her spilled groceries. The thief wearing the fish mask charged over to her and kept her from moving, telling her to stay put. He was careful not to mess too much with her, keeping his gun to his side.

Why was she noticing that?

Caitlyn couldn’t understand why she was paying so much attention to what the old woman was doing. Sure, it was good to be kind to your elders, but there were far more pressing matters at hand. The sound of glass cracking was what really shocked her, causing her to drop the can of iced coffee she was planning to purchase. It hit the ground hard and erupted liquid on the ground, dampening her shoes. Not able to think quickly enough, Caitlyn just stood still, helpless, as the other men went to their places.

The man who ended up in front of her was wearing a gorilla mask. It covered most of his face and head, even going down to cover his neck, but in the small holes where she could see his eyes, Caitlyn could see his lower eyelids rise. He was smiling.

At least someone was happy about this. 

“Don’t worry, little lady,” Gorilla Mask said. His voice was jovial and concealed a laugh. “We’re not gonna hurt anyone.”

She didn’t say anything. 

“Trust me, trust me.”

He took a step closer. 

Unable to keep herself from doing so, Caitlyn flinched back a bit. It was instinctive. The gun right up next to her face was horrifying enough, but there was more. The sound of his voice. The way he was looking at her. In an ideal scenario, she would’ve pressed the barrel to her head and told him to pull the trigger. It wouldn’t work, but it was better than cowering away like she was now. If she tried something stupid like that, would it work out well for the old lady?

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

No, probably not. Caitlyn was having difficulty thinking properly, and decided to just keep to herself as much as possible. 

There was more shouting in the background, but Gorilla Mask spoke over them. He wasn’t particularly loud, but his voice was aimed directly at Caitlyn, and his body was big enough that it almost formed a wall before her. He had lowered the gun, just a bit, but was still standing directly in front of her. 

“Hey, girly,” he started. “What’s your name?”

“...Mary.” Caitlyn lied. It was a natural reflex.

“Mary?” He repeated. Ugh. The way he said it, even though it wasn’t her real name was still creepy. She glanced up to see his eyes searching her, averting her gaze before their eyes met. “Sorry about this, by the way. A man’s gotta eat.”

What the fuck? Was he trying to justify this?

Well, it should be obvious. He was a bad person, so there was no need to think about it. 

But she couldn’t help herself. 

“What about the person who runs the shop?” Caitlyn asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “If you steal from him, will he be able to feed his family?”

It was a stupid thing to say, and Caitlyn regretted it immediately after saying so. She cringed at herself. Fuck. Why couldn’t she have just kept quiet? This creep was literally pointing a gun at her head, and she was trying to talk back to him? Was she begging to be shot? Well, in some dark part of her brain, she thought that might not be too bad, but her sense of self preservation was too strong. 

Gorilla Mask frowned.

“Well…” he said. “Survival of the fittest. This is just how life works.”

Okay, now would be a perfect time to just shut up and not say anything.

“That’s stupid,” Caitlyn said. “Why even make excuses about this? What are you trying to prove?”

“It’s not,” Gorilla Mask responded. He sounded agitated. “And I’m not doing any of that shit. Just shut up. I was trying to be nice.”

“Trying to be nice? You’re fucking holding a gun to my head!”

“Shut up!”

His shout was loud enough to distract Golf-Ball Mask for a second, who was trying up the store’s cashier. “Gorilla! Shut the hell up over there, and don’t talk to the hostages!”

“I’m not!”

“Heh,” Caitlyn laughed, but only so Gorilla could hear it. “Wow, you’re pretty pathetic aren’t you?” Fuck, why was she saying this? She couldn’t help herself. “You’re also pretty dumb. But I guess you’d need to be to try something like this. Trying to rob a store like this? How much money do you think they have here? Like twenty dollars? Honestly, it’s kinda pathetic. You’re gonna spend such a long-”

At that point, Gorilla Mask had had enough. He used the butt of his pistol to smash her across the forehead, snapping her glasses in half and knocking Caitlyn down to the ground.

***

Five minutes left.

Five minutes?

Bleh, it felt like such a long time. Even after having lived for so long, five minutes feels like a really long time when you’re just staring at your watch.

Hmm.

Okay, what’s a good way to pass time? A five minute song! Now, to find one...that’s the most difficult part. Because once you start looking, you can’t stop, and you’re more likely to just waste those five minutes, rather than find an actual song!

Ha!

Oh, wait, a new Kanye release? Hell yeah. This’ll work.

***

Flexing his ability to control the shade like a muscle, Ern summoned it in and out of his body and sent it to fly around the sky as he walked down the road. Strange how it seemed to mimic animals as it moved; Bezret slipped around like a snake swimming through water, and didn’t seem to have much issue passing through solid material, but it seemed to still be able to propel itself against the physical to go faster. Even though it could fly, it was still bouncing around off the nearby fence.

“Hey, Bezret,” Ern said out loud. There wasn’t anyone on the streets this late, but he didn’t care if anyone heard him anyway. “Aren’t I supposed to be able to like, see things through you? I thought that was supposed to be a benefit of having a familiar.”

‘Yes, normally.’ The voice appeared in his head like a whisper. ‘But the ritual was incomplete.’

“Oh. Haha.”

‘That isn’t funny.’

“It’s a little funny,” Ern admitted. “How far away from me can you go?”

‘Not much.’

“Cool.”

Ern could sense frustration from the little shade, but that just made Ern feel happy. Originally, he would’ve thought the summoned creature wouldn’t have emotions, but learning that it did made Ern smile. It was basically a permanent target for taunting, and it couldn’t escape from him like his friends. Ern giggled to himself.

The rain had let up soon after he left his house, but the weather forecast showed that it’d be picking up again later. That meant there wasn’t much time to waste on the road. A bit disappointing, since Ern liked to walk around in the dark, but it was whatever. He took a sharp left down a back alley. This was the residential section of Seattle, and he was a few blocks from the main streets. The sounds of cars were still audible, but infrequent. Going the back way wasn’t necessarily the fastest way to the convenience store he liked, but there were some perks to it.

First off, he didn’t have to deal with the bright lights of cars. Since his parents had passed away before he got a chance to learn how to drive, he hadn’t earned a driver’s license, and the mere sight of cars made him annoyed. He did technically own some, but they just sat in his garage collecting dust. 

The second reason he strayed from the main roads was for work. The Parci Family paid good money to keep the city clean. Small curses and spirits were more likely to appear and live in places like this, and there weren’t many who would take the time to exorcise them. Deaths on main roads happened, but they were often dealt with quickly. Ambulances arrived, and the car crashes were usually done without malice.

But in the dark alleys between houses, things were different.

People killed animals. Parents abuse their children, or each other. And all sorts of other secret atrocities. None large enough to create great evil, but plenty for a minor curse to be born.

While he could probably get away with ignoring it (and he did, to some extent), staying attentive would keep him in the good graces of the Parci Family. With his parent’s gone, he knew they didn’t have much reason to bankroll Ern, but they still did, so he made sure to at least do above the minimum amount of work expected. 

Luckily, tonight was free of anything to exorcise. Lately Ern had been noticing a decline in animus involved spirits in this neighborhood. It wasn’t a bad thing, of course, but it was strange. The city’s hierarchy was already set, so if any new exorcists moved in, he would know. Nobody would just come in and start banishing spirits without announcing themselves, unless of course they were a newbie. That was a possibility. 

And it was slightly worrisome. 

Before he could dwell on those thoughts further, he felt a weight grow in his stomach as the rain started to pick up. The return of Bezret.

‘Master. I’ve sensed something strange.’

“What’s up? There’s plenty of strange things around here, where is it?”

‘Continue forward.’

Forward? Ern looked straight ahead but didn’t see anything unusual. The alley ended just in front of the convenience store Ern was planning on visiting. It was a tiny little place, slightly off the main road, with a clothing store on the opposite side of the street. The lights were on inside, and there weren’t any cars parked outside. But there was something strange about it. It wasn’t anything tangible, but Ern just felt like something was off.

What was it?

A few steps later, he realized. 

There wasn’t anybody inside. Nobody shopping, nobody at the counter, and nobody waiting around. There weren’t people on the streets this late at night, sure. But it just seemed surreal. The longer he stared, the more bizarre that feeling of emptiness became. Because he was a practiced magus, he was able to register what this sensation was.

“A barrier,” he said, reaching his hand forward. Why would this be here? Did it have something to do with the lack of spirits nearby? But that had been happening for roughly a month...and in that time, he’d gone to the convenience store multiple times a week. If there was someone running a workshop here...well, it just wouldn’t make sense. Way too out in the open. So it must have been something else. “Ah crud. Now I’m starting to get interested. Shady, got a second?”

‘I have nothing but seconds.’

“Can you go ahead of me and check out what’s going on up ahead? Don’t worry, I’ll be over in a moment.”

***

Caitlyn was able to stay silent after the first hit, but she wasn’t expecting the second. The blunt end of the pistol bashed against the top of her head, and she let out a cry. She put her hands out defensively, even though it wouldn’t do much if the Gorilla Mask decided to continue. Her head was woozy, and she felt like she was zoning in and out of awareness, but still, a single thought drifted into her brain. 

I’m so stupid. Fuck my life.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

The question came from Golf-Ball Mask, who was surveying the store. The cashier was bound at his feet, with a bloody nose. 

“Nothing,” Gorilla said. “I just...don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

“What did you do? You fucker.”

“I…” Gorilla paused. He looked back down at Caitlyn, who was bleeding on the floor. “Fuck me, man. She was starting to say shit, so I just hit her. Not too hard.”

“She’s bleeding.”

“You dumb fucker,” Golf-Ball said, shaking his head. “What good are hostages if they’re all fucking dead? Here, let’s switch. Gorilla, you take care of the granny. Fish, you watch this guy, and I’ll deal with the girl. And don’t fucking beat up the old lady, okay?”

“It was just a light hit…”

Two hits, Caitlyn wanted to say, but the constant ringing in her head dissuaded her from doing that. 

Golf-Ball mask came over to her, still keeping his head up to survey the store. He knelt down with the gun still in his hand and grabbed Caitlyn by the hair, yanking her up to face him. It was all too blurry from her lost glasses, and she might have teared up from the pain, so she couldn’t make out his expression, but his breathing was quick. He wasn’t as big as Gorilla Mask, but he seemed more confident in his movement. If Gorilla was a lumbering buffoon, Golf-Ball was a practiced athlete. It almost seemed to match with their masks.

“You look fine,” he eventually said, letting go of her. “But you don’t get to speak anymore. Shut the fuck up.” After that, he turned back to the store counter, behind which was a door they had pried open. The man with the anime mask had gone through. “What’s the status?”

The reply was curt. “Working.”

“Hurry up then,” Golf-Ball said. He pulled his sweater down to take a look at his sports watch. “You said it’d take five minutes at most once we got in, and we’re at seven now.”

“Talking to me isn’t helping me focus.”

“Not talking wasn’t helping much either, apparently.”

“Fuck you bro! I wasn’t expecting a safe this nice in a shitty little store. And with you dumb fucks shouting out there, I’m having some difficulty hearing. So just shut the fuck up and let me work!”

Golf-Ball clicked his tongue but said nothing more. He glanced down at Caitlyn, who had basically just stopped moving entirely. Golf-Ball noticed her snapped glasses on the ground, then her unfocused eyes. That was good, at least. It would make it harder for her to identify any of them. Still, he wasn’t the type who liked hurting women, and especially children, so seeing her bleed from the forehead bothered him. If he could, he would’ve tried to stop the bleeding, but right now, it was more important to stay tough and intimidating for his men. Getting out of here quickly would be better for the girl than him staying, anyway.

The sound of a thump and a wheeze shocked Golf-Ball from his thoughts. He turned to see Fish Mask standing over the cashier, holding a knife in one hand and his foot mid kick in the downed man’s ribs.

Holy shit, these guys were fucking terrible. Amateurs!

“Now what the fuck are you doing?”

“The bastard had a knife hidden on him,” Fish said, throwing another kick. The poor cashier doubled over and puked. “He was trying to fucking cut his hands free. Piece of shit. How about you have one of these!”

“Stop kicking him!”

Fish Mask turned to Golf-Ball and snarled, only his pupils visible underneath the mask. But those were the types of eyes Golf-Ball was the most wary of: the feral eyes of someone who couldn’t stop themselves when they got angry. They just stood silent for a second before the cashier cleared his throat and spat a bloody loogie onto Fish’s shoe. 

This prompted a vicious stomping from Fish, which continued until Golf-Ball came up from behind him and pulled the man off. “What the fuck! Stop that, you dumbass! Do I serious need to look after two of you fucking idiots?”

“Who are you calling an idiot?” Gorilla asked, not paying any attention to the old woman he was guarding. “Better not be me.”

“He had a knife bro,” Fish said, voice tinged with indignance. There was no doubt that he couldn’t imagine himself doing wrong. “He was gonna cut himself out, then go call the cops or something. Or even worse, he’d try to fuckin’ stab one of us. You want that to happen? So he gets what he deserves.”

“But he didn’t, did he?” Golf-Ball said. “So why kick him? What the fuck was that stomping bullshit? Calm the fuck down.” Out of all the men hired for this, Golf-Ball was the most professional, but that wasn’t saying much. He’d robbed a few stores and burglarized a home. Spent some time in juvie as a kid. The rest of these guys...well, he didn’t know them. This was a random crew of guys all pulled together, and it was showing. “All you’re gonna do is hurt him. And if he doesn’t have a knife any more, he can’t do anything else. Beating him while he’s down doesn’t do anything, but what if you twisted your ankle or some shit?”

“Twisted my fuckin’ ankle? Bro, are you some kinda pussy?”

“Shut the fuck up. This doesn’t do us any good.”

“That’s not true, fucker,” Fish said. He scoffed. “It does at least one good thing for us.”

“What? Get your sadistic rocks off?”

“It scares the other hostages.”

“As if they aren’t fucking scared already! There’s an old ass lady and a little girl! If you need to go this far to scare people like that, then you’ve got no future in this business you fuckhead.”

There was a visible size difference between the two thugs. Golf-Ball was a few inches taller than Fish, and far more built. Even with their baggy clothes on, you could tell who the stronger one was. But still, with anger overcoming him, nothing could stop fish as he shoved Golf-Ball back a few steps.

“Oh, wow,” Golf-Ball started, throwing up his hands in mock horror. He made his voice quiver. “I’m so scared. What, you gonna stab me? You wanna fucking throw down, right fucking here, in the middle of a fucking job? Grow the fuck up and do what I tell you to do. Be happy you get paid, retard.”

“I’m not joking,” Fish said. “Don’t mess with me, or you’ll get it.”

The only other person in this group with a reputation was Fish. And it wasn’t a good one. He was a psycho, always getting into fights, even if it was obvious he would lose. Fish was the type who would throw himself against a wall and crash. But to him, that wasn’t the end of the fight. No, the end of a fight was when the person who bothered him was spitting up blood.

At least, that’s what Golf-Ball thought. The thought of being stabbed in the back was enough for him to shy away from the hardened criminal, letting the topic drop. It wasn’t worth the trouble. He went back to stand above the girl, who seemed to be staring aimlessly at the puddle of coffee next to her. 

Strange, Golf-Ball thought. What the hell is that in the reflection?

“Alright.” A voice from the back room called. “I’m done.”

Click.

That sound echoed through the store as everything fell quiet.

Many things happened simultaneously in that moment.

The first was that Fish snapped, dropping the knife and reaching out to grab Golf-Ball by the shirt. He pulled him close and was prepared to scream out threats.

But Golf-Ball was too distracted by movement at the storefront: Toucan, who was just standing aimlessly, shifted a bit, and the door swung open.

Toucan was the newest to the world of crime and hadn’t been paying much attention to what was going outside, felt something fly in front of his face. It was just a momentary thing, but everything went dark. Because of that, he didn’t notice a certain person sneak by him and push the door to the store open.

The welcome bells jingled.

Gorilla had been completely unfocused on anything except for Caitlyn. She wasn’t the cutest girl he’d ever seen, but there was something about her fugly nature that he felt himself deeply attracted to. She was probably ten years younger than him, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off her slumped form.

Because of that, he hadn’t noticed the old woman just to his right pull out a large magnum revolver from her purse and aim it at his head.

Oblivious to everything after falling face first into her spilled coffee, Caitlyn had entered a trance. Everything was blurry, so she had just started letting her mind and eyes wander. Sometimes she did that: took off her glasses and tried to make shapes of the distorted world of those with poor vision. It got pretty painful pretty quickly, so she didn’t do it often, but right now, the pain of her head had started dulling, so it wasn’t as bad. Eventually, her eyes focused on something.

A small snake, pitch black, coiled up in front of her. It didn’t look real. More like...it was the shadow of a snake being cast on the ground, except it was standing up inches from her face. It also didn’t seem blurry at all. Rather, the snake was the only thing that kept its shape. Caitlyn wanted to reach out and touch it, but as it hadn’t moved, she just kept still herself. 

Moments before the door opened, it vanished.

***

Ern pushed the door open, ringing the greeting bells, and smiled wide. While he couldn’t hear or see anything, nothing stopped Bezret from just explaining the situation inside. 

But he pretended like he had no idea what was going on, frowned at the strange sight, and scratched his head with one finger.

“Am I, uh, interrupting something?”