Store

"Does is kale?"

The voice was swimming in and out of Nick's head. He had been hoping that no annoying customer would visit him, but the obnoxiously bright apron he wore made every person draw attention to the boy in the bright hair and bright clothes with the miserable look on his bored face.

"Does is kale?" The voice repeated again. Nick snapped to attention.

"Sorry." Nick said, turning around. "What was that?"

"I asked," The lady repeated snappily. She was quite short so Nick had to bend his neck to look at her. "Where the kale was."

"Oh yeah." Nick yawned. "I'll show you, follow me." He could hear, from behind him, the lady muttering about ignorant teenagers. Nick didn't care as much as he would have. He was tired. Last night, he had the strangest dream about something sneaking into his house, and all night, he had wandered around, looking for whatever was in his house, until his father had woken up to ask why Nick was in the living room, looking behind the TV.

Going back to sleep had been a real chore because the feeling of being watched never left, and it wasn't until 5am that Nick jolted to the sound of his alarm, and the realization that he hadn't gotten any rest.

The strange feeling followed him as he rode the bus to downtown, it followed him as he arrived late at his work, the Kalian Market, and he could feel the feeling now, as he was leading the women down the aisle to help her find what she was looking for.

"Young man, where are you leading me? This is the freezer aisle, not the fresh produce area."

Nick stopped dead in his tracks, and looked around him. Running on the adrenaline that only 1 cup of coffee could have produced, his eyes were drooping and he was having trouble focusing on the signs that pointed to where the product was located.

"Ma'am, I am so sorry. The fresh produce should be right over here." He said, leading her to the open aisle filled with crates of fruit, seeds, and other produce.

"Took you long enough." She huffed, before sauntering away.

Nick rubbed his eyes. He hadn't even been at work for half an hour, and already he felt drop-dead tired.

A short man called him over, the man stating that he couldn't reach the top of the shelf to get to the crackers, and another woman immediately interrupted, stating that she couldn't find her child.

"Ma'am, would you give me a second? I'm trying to help someone else, there are other people here who can help you." Nick said wearily.

The woman was breathing hard, and seemed ready to collapse with fright, but stayed steady on her feet. "So you think getting a gnome his treats is more important than finding my kid? Some people you are!" She said savagely, her voice unwavered by the venom in her words.

"I mean, I was helping him first." Nick said blankly.

"Does it look like I care? My child could have been stolen!" The woman screamed.

"Umm, if you mean this kid, ma'am, he's okay." A timid voice sounded from behind Nick. Looking behind his shoulder, Nick saw Sam, a fellow coworker and Nick's best friend, a young boy shivering by his feet, his face tearstained and sullen as he hid behind Sam realizing how much trouble he was about to be in.

Instead of a scolding, or fearsome words, the woman held her arms outstretched and the boy ran into her, and she covered him in a warm embrace. Nick wished he could know how safe this boy felt, but it had been a long time since he had felt the same way.

Nick's mother had died years ago, around when he was six or seven, but he would never forget how much he loved her, or how much he wished she were here now.

Sam obviously saw the expression on Nick's face, for he put his hand on Nick's shoulder and steered him to the storage room that was open only to employees.

"What about-" The short man started, but shut up instantly once he caught the look on Sam's face.

Sam continued to push Nick into the storage room, and shoved him into a sitting position on one of the towers of boxes.

"Allright, what's wrong with you?" Sam said. Nick's head was drooping, and the whole room was spinning, so it was hard to look Sam in the eye.

"What do you mean?" It came out as a strangled whisper. The feeling that someone else was in the room, besides him and Sam, was overwhelming.

"Really? You look like shit! What is up with you? Even you don't look this beaten down."

Nick was about to respond, before he stopped dead. There was something behind the boxes on the other side of the room. Nick could have sworn he had seen a head retreat from behind the shadows, and his fear began to increase.

"We have to get out."

"Wha-?"

"There is something in here, we have to get out." Nick grabbed Sam's arms, and hauled him out the door. He ran past the Deli section, past the fresh produce aisle, and he ran past confused person after confused person, dragging Sam behind him.

Nick stopped dead, feeling like he couldn't breathe anymore. Between not having any sleep and running from one end of the market to the other, Nick felt exhausted.

"What is up with you? There was nothing THERE!" Sam shouted, snapping his wrist out of Nick's grip.

"D-d-did you not see it?" Nick stammered.

"See what?" Sam was beginning to look more scared than pissed off.

"There was someone else in that room." Nick said, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

"No, there wasn't."

"You think I'm going insane, don't you?"

"Nick." Sam said, his voice becoming lower and softer. "You look really tired. Whatever you saw was probably-"

"No." Nick cut Sam off. "I am tired, yes, but I know what I saw."

"Then let's go back there." Sam said.

"No." Nick shook his head vigorously. "We can't. I have this feeling that. . .Whatever I saw was bad."

"Bad in what way?" Sam's voice was taking on an amused lilt, as if he didn't understand, and maybe he didn't.

"It's been watching me." Nick looked Sam dead in the eye, and Sam must have seen the fear in Nick's eyes, for the faint smile on his lips slowly faded away.

"Well, if we go back there and we see whoever has been watching you, then maybe we can chase them away."

"Chase them away? How? Just hope that they're allergic to grain and slap them with a piece of bread, or throw a box at them? Last time I checked, cardboard isn't harmful, and neither is a baguette." Nick said angrily.

"Hey, stale bread can be quite sharp sometimes."

"This isn't funny."

"I'm not laughing, I'm suggesting we just go back there and double check if there is something there."

Nick didn't want to go in that room, just in case it was there. The feeling of being watched had left him, but the fear didn't seem to be going anywhere, but Sam would go by himself. And Nick really didn't want to be left alone.

"Fine, but if it kills us, I'm blaming you."

"Fair enough." Sam shrugged, before grabbing Nick's wrist and dragging him through the aisles. "But we should probably get you some coffee, I don't think the boss would be happy if he found you asleep in the Cereal aisle."

Or dead, Nick thought.

"Ready for the grand reveal?" Sam said, nudging Nick's shoulder.

"Whatever." Nick sad, pushing past him and slowly inching the doors open.

His chest was pounding, the blood roaring in his ears, and the fear gave him more adrenaline than the caffeine, which was quickly wearing off.

Looking around the storage room, it was normal. It was abnormally dark, and boxes piled up in the corner looked like a group of hunched over figures, but other than the smell of dust and the creepy darkness, it was disappointedly normal.

Sam shoved Nick aside and walked in the middle of the storage room. He turned his back to a pile of crates and shelves filled with products, and reached up to turn on the light. After a few tugs on the string, the light finally lit up. Sam looked around from his spot, then turned to look at Nick.

"Nothing in here, see?"

Despite Nick's anxiety that there was still something in here, he had to agree with Sam, there really was nothing.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You're all knowing bla bla bla, now will you please get out from there, and grab that box. We need to restock aisles 1 and 2.."

Sam walked up and patted Nick on the head. Before he opened his mouth, Nick slapped his hand aside.

"And don't you dare say I told you so." Sam clamped his mouth shut and they kept walking. The gray concrete of the storage room faded away into black and white tiles that needed to be replaced.

The feeling of being watched had also left, as well as the mounting fear that something was wrong, which confused Nick.

Maybe I'm just crazy. Nick thought to himself, bending down to pick up a box of cereal that fell. Out of habit, he looked behind him. Nothing there except for Sam who was getting supplies out of the box he had carried from the storage unit and putting them into the wooden shelves. Sam bent to pick up a box, and it slipped out of his hand multiple times before Nick sighed and walked over.

Their fingers brushed as Nick grabbed for the box, but it slipped through his fingers as Sam jumped away.

"You do know how to hold a box, correct?" Nick said. Sam just huffed and grabbed for the next item.

As Nick went up to put the box on the shelf, something caught his attention. Through the other side of the shelf, he could see a pair of eyes watching him. He jumped back with a yell.

Sam hopped out of his way. "You do know how to act normal, correct?" Sam mimicked, but paused when he saw the look on Nick's face.

"You good?" Sam asked. Nick could only point to the shelf where the eyes had been moments before.

Sam got up and looked at the shelf. He then peeked his head around the corner, then looked at Nick with a quizzical expression. "Are you okay? That's the second time you've freaked out today."

Nick shakily stood up, waving away Sam's hand. "I'm okay, I just-" Nick broke off, Sam would think he was insane if he told him that he had seen someone watching him from the other side of the shelf when there was obviously nothing there.

"Uh-huh." Sam urged. "Do go on with whatever insane thing you were about to say."

"I thought I saw something, but it was just a box."

"Nick." Sam started. "I see you as the kind of person who would be afraid of a knife or of the unknown. Not a cardboard box."

Nick huffed in annoyance. "Your judgment seems to be very off, then."

The rest of the day passed in a blur, and Nick's head was spinning by the end. He was about to walk through the double doors of the exit of the store when Salem shouted Nick's name.

"Yeah?" Nick responded, halting but not bothering to turn around.

"Have you seen Chase lately?" Salem asked, forcing Nick to face him.

Chase? Nick had never been close with him and barely knew anything about him save for his first and last name.

"Chase Lycans?" Nick asked.

"Yeah."

"No."

"He hasn't shown up for a few days and nobody else seems to know where he is."

"Huh." Nick shrugged. "I'm sure he'll turn up." Turning back around, he headed for the exit again.

The last thing he saw before he closed the doors behind him was the uncertain look on Salem's face.