A Little Café

Erik and Nat looked odd in the cute cafe, the goth expression and bored eyes that scanned the walls covered in books. The silent patrons and the display case sat in the middle of this aesthetic room. Nat was focused on her cafe latte that steamed in front of her while Erik rolled his eyes at the rainbow theme LGBTQ literature section; he couldn't determine if this was a choice to promote the group or to market it. It was rather patronizing to him. He turned to Nat, who had her eyes closed and a foam mustache on her upper lip. She moaned in delight at the sweet roasted bitter flavor.

He huffed at her pure expression, reminding him of times long ago that left a bitter taste in his mouth "you must have figured out by now that we don't need to eat, right?" he flickered his fingers at his assistant.

Nat leaned back in her seat with her arms crossed "you must have figured out by now that I don't care," moved her hands around the hot coffee "it's the taste, savoring its flavor" she hummed taking another sip "plus you drink coffee every morning, how is that different" 

"it tastes like immoral souls" his vocal cords vibrate against each other "the best kind" Nat mouthed the last part with him and he glared at her.

Jasper appeared at the end of the couch out of nowhere. "Finally, you grace us with your presence" his necklaces hang so loosely down his open mesh shirt, his painted nails pressed against his temple.

Nat felt Erik's rage boiling, so she smiled at Jasper "Sorry, our appointments ran a bit long". She gave him a sweet smile and Jasper waved it off.

"No worries, darling" he pushed the biscuit that sat on the table towards her.

Erik rolled his eyes and stopped the plate moving to his assistant "enough of the pleasantries, where is this soul you…." he suddenly grabbed her knee "what is that smell?" he clawed into her skin which made her grab his arm "there's a soul near" she pulled his hand off her knee.

"We are in a cafe filled with people" she grabbed her coffee and brought it to her chest, letting it sink into it.

He shook his head, taking in another deep inhale "no, not that smell" he grabbed Nat's chin, pulling her close but still cradled it between his fingers "mmm… this smells like rain and lavender… some…" he was cut off by a cheesy baby doll voice.

"hiya boss" Poppy appeared next to them in a puffy tulle prom dress with an apron tied around her waist, her pink hair which was in two space buns on top of her head, her monoid eyes and golden fawn skin looked like she belonged in a doll store.

Erik pushed Nat's face away. "Poppy, what did I say about carrying so many souls on you" Poppy just struggled, looking down at Erik.

"Don't sweat it, I can carry way more than this. Plus, I was almost late for work today" she gave him a sheepish smile before turning to Nat "hey, Boss lady" she nudged Nat who smiled at the carrier.

She leaned back and crossed her arms "Hey, Poppy, you work here now?" she nodded her head frantically.

"After I realized that stuff costs money in this world" she pouted " so I had to get a job and the lady pays me well but you better order something, my boss is watching" she hopped on her toes and Erik shook his head while pinching the bridge of his nose.

Erik looked up at the woman who had her notebook out "I don't want…" he stopped as he glanced behind her.

Erik's ruby eyes were dilated with black and his body tensed; Nat turned to see what caught his attention and there she stood. Her ginger hair lingered down her back where patches of pale skin sat, she wore a green summer dress with an apron tied tightly around her small waist. She pulled her hair back revealing a bright smile and sparkling jade eyes with freckles sprouting onto her long slim nose; Nat turned back to Erik who looked caught in a haze.

A white veil covered Nat's eyes as she looked at the woman once more and the world turned into a place of color auras. Waving around each person with a soul in the middle of each one, some souls glitched in the middle of the sickle while the other souls started moving in lime green colors. The pure soul somehow draw Nat to its peaceful existence, she was about to stand to move towards it but Erik grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing" he hissed under his breath with his eyes still on the ginger "we can't just approach her so suddenly" Nat looked at Erik dumbfounded when the atmosphere changed like something entered the room.

It caused a murk smell to swirl around her nose and the taste of static to settle on the roof of her mouth. She looked up to find three men entering the cafe they looked like normal people moving in and out of the place but something was off. Especially when they approached the soul with evil grins and determined eyes; before one of them could grab the ginger's arm. Nat had sprung out of her chair and caught the man's arm on instinct.

She pushed the man back while Erik and the other followed behind her. The men before her began to glitch and twitch in front of them; their flesh began to melt to reveal three demons. One had the face of decomposed deer with long inky black hair from its head to its tail, ivory-hazed eyes, and long claws on its feet and hands. The other two had no eyes but their necks clicked around in the air, a huge gaping mouth that fell from its round scalp, spikes on its back, and claws clicking against the fall; while a low vibrating growl moved through their throats.

Nat turned to Poppy whose eyes were focused on the demons "Poppy, get the people out of here" she nodded and began gathering people and throwing them onto her back "Jasper, get Erik out of here" but Jasper growled and pulled Erik's arm.

"no" he stated which made Nat roll her eyes but she couldn't deal with him now.

She turned to very frightened Ginger who was laying down on the ground "ok, you need to listen to me, stay behind the bar and keep still, we will protect you" but before the words could leave Nat's mouth, the ginger took off running.

"oh shit" she sighed as the demon followed her through the back.