The Curious Case of Casity

Chapter 3. 

Casity fidgeted in her seat, watching people move through the restaurant like clockwork. Waiters and waitresses carried food to and from tables, customers laughed and chatted, babies made gurgling noises in their parents' arms. It was all just the same as any other restaurant. And it made Casity nervous. 

"There's a lot of people here." Casity murmured, watching the other costumers carefully. She had only ever been in public parks with this many humans in them, and that wasn't nearly as frightening with all the open space to run. If someone walked in a building and wanted to cause trouble, it would be significantly harder to get out than if the same thing had happened at a park. 

Bennett looked around. "It's not too bad. Usually, this place is packed to the rafters right about now. The weather's keeping a lot of people indoors and off the streets." He smiled, waving to a toddler who stared at him as she stumbled along behind her parents. 

Casity made a face, pushing herself as far into the corner as she could. Thankfully Bennett had gotten a table by the window, so she could at least pretend she had a clean escape out of the building if the need for one arose. "I would probably die if I had to be in a room with that many people. I hate crowds." She muttered. 

Bennett nodded. "I can see that." He chuckled. He had a menu open across the table in front of him, and he had already ordered sodas for both himself and Casity. As she nervously sipped her drink, he noted her every move, nodding ever so slightly at each sound she flinched at and every pattern she absently traced on the table. He seemed fascinated by the moves she made, taking every little detail of her manner into some account of her he was building in the back of his mind.

"How long have you been away from home?" He asked, breaking the silence between them abruptly. 

Casity looked up at him, surprised. "Why do you want to know?" She asked, more than a little suspicious. The last person to ask her that had been a cop looking for a reason to drag her back to her father's house and strongly suggest he keep her locked in her room for a few days. She wasn't planning to fall for that again. 

Bennett shrugged. "No reason in particular. I'm just making conversation." He said, grinning kindly. His clever eyes were cast in shadows momentarily as he spoke, resulting in a cold glimmer that made him look almost demonic for a split second. 

Casity swallowed, shuddering a little. Something about his presence felt both comforting and extremely alarming at the same time, and she wasn't sure she liked it. "Odd thing to bring up for no reason." She pointed out, huddling closer still to the window. "Why don't we talk about the weather, or whatever it is people make conversation about when they don't want to actually say anything." She suggested, doing her best to make it seem less like a question and more like a warning that she wasn't going to talk about anything personal. 

Bennett chuckled. "Alright, have it your way." He leaned back, staring out the window and avoiding eye contact just as pointedly as Casity was. 

Casity let out a little sigh of relief. "It's foggy." She mumbled, hoping that would be enough conversation to satisfy Bennett. Unfortunately, it was not. 

"Indeed it is. It's been that way for a couple of days, but it only got really bad this morning. I expect it to storm before tomorrow." Bennett said, watching gray clouds rolling in the heavens overhead. 

Casity nodded, grimly. "That'll be fun. The rain isn't so bad, but it brings the river higher than it usually is and makes everything damp." She glared at the already wet ground outside. "We could use some sun. The whole world seems to be getting moldy and slimy. Well, more so than usual, at least."