The Venator: Among The Frogs

Chapter 2: Bound by Contract

On a cloudy day in Los Angeles, California, Darby was standing behind the counter as he was delivering a coffee order to a customer. "Here you go, sir. Have a nice day." Darby said with a polite smile as the customer left the store. After that, he let out a yawn as he leaned over the counter.

"Hey, you're okay?"

He perked up before looking at his partner, who was a seventeen-year old girl with blond hair that had the left bang dyed in pink color and the bottom in light green. "Yeah, I'm just a little bored, don't worry."

The blond-haired girl frowned as she knew he was lying, she even could notice the bags under his eyes. "Come on, Darby. I know you're feeling tired, didn't you have some sleep last night?"

Darby didn't answer as he just looked away.

"Tell you what, you can go home early and get some long rest. I'll take the rest of the shift for you." His partner suggested as she brought his dark hooded jacket to him.

"I-It's okay, I can still work for two more hours." Darby replied, waving his hand with a hesitated look.

"Don't be silly, by the time you'll get all the night to rest, I can guarantee you'll be fully recharged! Now go on!" She insisted before pushing Darby away from the counter

"Alright, alright, you win." Darby laughed as he took off the apron before putting his jacket on. "Thanks Molly, I owe you one."

"You don't have to, see you back at the apartment!" Molly, his roommate, said with a wink.

After getting out of the coffee shop, Darby made his way across the urban city towards his apartment. He still thought that he should repay Molly for her kindness, maybe stopping by the bakery to buy some pastries would be good enough.

As he stood in the corner to wait for the pedestrian crossing light to turn green, he noticed a group of girls across the street heading to the other side. But the moment they passed by, Darby began to notice something familiar to them as he squinted his eyes. In that moment, his breath caught in his throat once he saw their faces he didn't see for a long time.

"Anne? Sasha? Marcy?" Darby muttered until his tone got louder. He was completely stunned to see how grown the girls looked now.

They didn't seem to notice Darby however as they were now crossing the street. At that moment, Darby thought about catching them up before he'd lost sight of them as he crossed to the same direction they're heading hurriedly before the traffic light turned green.

Darby followed the girls from the other side of the street, as much as he wanted to call them, he thought it would be a good idea to see where they're heading and surprise them. Plus he needed a moment to consider if they haven't forgotten about him. It's been six years since he left LA to live with his uncle in Australia, he didn't even get to say goodbye to them, but... that was during the worst time he had. He wasn't sure if they would recognize him, but he's not gonna rule out that possibility.

He came to a halt when he noticed they were standing in front of a small, yet grime and aged building with a sign at the top that says "Thrift Shop". Out of all the places he thought they could go, he was curious to know why they would stop by the thrift shop.

Darby saw Anne going inside and he could spot her through the front window, as Sasha and Marcy remained outside while watching her. Something didn't feel quite right, that's what Darby was thinking right now that he had to hide behind the pole and watch closer.

Anne was seen standing in front of a shelf, but to his shock, she grabbed a music box from top and put it inside her backpack before striding out of the store. Once outside, she, Sasha and Marcy ran away while laughing.