Sincerely, Vintage

Part 10

Derrick

Derrick closed his eyes and took a deep breath, basking in the scent of coffee and something baking. The colors of the people around him played nicely for once. Vince, deep in thought, manifested as a swirling cloud of purple gray. Tracey had been a liquid sunshine yellow all morning, other colors surfacing and fading as she talked with Hrida. Derrick felt a soft smile creep across his face as he heard the two of the laughing. In his mind's eye, Hrida's presence, a soothing shade of lavender this morning, swept itself into graceful curves, like the clouds in Asian paintings.

"Derrick."

His eyes flicked open, and the world returned to normal, depicted in variations of the same old colors.

"Sorry, almost dozed off. Did you need something?"

"I'm getting refills. Want anything?" Hrida stood at the edge of their table, holding an empty mug in each hand. Sunlight from the door behind her left gentle highlights on the edges of her hair. For a moment, Derrick almost forgot she'd asked him a question.

"Oh! I'm good, thanks."

Hrida nodded in response and headed for the counter. As soon as she left, Travey grinned at him over the rim of her smoothie cup.

"Smooth."

Derrick rolled his eyes but ignored her. Outside, the market bustled on as usual. The scattered voices of people combined with whiffs of frying food and smoke drifted through the door every time it opened. An unbidden thought surfaced in Derrick's mind.

"Hey, Vince."

Across the table, Vince surfaced from the small pile of wires and unfamiliar objects in front of him. After a few blinks, he returned from wherever he went while tinkering.

"We need to talk about the situation with Kol."

Vince's face turned grim, but he didn't change the subject. The group of them had been dancing around this for a while, trying to find a better way. After everything Kol had done, though...

Derrick closed his eyes against the memories. Tracey had sat up straighter in her seat, suddenly alert. When Hrida returned to the table, she passed Vince his coffee without a word, not noticing anything was wrong until she sat down.

"I think all of us can agree we've let this thing with Kol go on too long."
Vince's statement got expressions of agreement from everyone at the table.

"We're going to confront him?" Hrida's expression had closed off. Derrick could see the worry in her eyes.

"At this point, that's the best option," Tracey answered. In situations like this, she and Hrida were polar opposites. Hrida usually looked for the most diplomatic solution, while Tracey tended to face the problem head on.

Case in point, the recent incident with the monster. Derrick shook his head at the thought.

"We can take him." All eyes turned to Derrick; Tracey looked a little surprised to hear a response like that coming from him. "I mean, between the four of us, we definitely stand a chance."

Sitting there at that simple cafe table, Derrick could almost feel their resolve thrumming in the air. They'd spent way too long being afraid of the scary thing lurking in the darkness of their closets.

"Alright then." Vince sat forward, a familiar glint in his eye. "We make our move tomorrow night."