Baited, Chapter 1

Baited, Chapter 3

Cassie slouched her cheek against the wooden pole of the mop, staring up at the clock that was set above the entrance of the building. It had only turned half ten at night and her shift wouldn't end for another two hours. She usually enjoyed her night shifts, at least when it was busy and brimming with life but whenever the place was empty it always made the time drag by and before long she found that her feet began to ache because she continued to stand still. She rocked on the balls of her feet, along with the mop making her manager laugh. She childishly puffed out her cheeks at the sound but smiled silently to herself, catching a glimpse of how she had looked to him in the reflection of the window glass. Her embarrassment grew a little more and she placed the mop against the wall. She had already wiped down all the tables and mopped the floors so now there was nothing much else left to do. 

"Then I'm going to take out the recycling." Jeremy smiled in the doorway, giving her a sly wink of understanding. Cassie noted that his hands were obviously empty and rolled her eyes playfully. She knew what he meant. Jeremy's long-term girlfriend lived just a few doors down the road and on occasion he would venture over to see her during his shift. Cassie didn't really mind all that much. They had been friends for a long time and his girlfriend had often stopped by to say hi. She seemed pretty nice and so she didn't think much about helping him out now and again, even though they were technically going against the rules.  

"Oh he's trying to escape again." She laughed whole heartedly and he took his leave with his usual appreciative smile on his lips. She sat upon one of the tables, swinging her legs leisurely in mid-air. She really had made some good friends in this town. She smiled to herself, briefly closing her eyes, remembering the day that she had applied for the job. The previous manager hadn't liked her calm attitude all that much and had much preferred intimidating his employees. Back then, Jeremy had only been an assistant and a rather awkward one at that. He always held a goofy grin on his face, even when he had mixed up the paper work putting the manager in a fluster. It really had looked like the manager had been about to explode with anger and just to put an end to her interview; he had reluctantly hired her to start the next day. Cassie had been dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events and had practically swayed over to the door. She hadn't been able to stop herself from taking a look back, just to be sure that she hadn't been dreaming the whole thing but the cunning wink that Jeremy gave her as he continued to be lectured over his mistake made her heart flutter. Even now, she still believed that he had done it for her sake, although he always denied it. She knew he was a good guy.

"Are you sure about this?" Oran asked doubtfully, staring out of the tinted window screen of the car. The night easily concealed their presence, parked up along the side of the road just a few feet from the diner. He couldn't see much from where he was sat, just the faint outline of someone moving restlessly inside.  

"We should confirm it." Alister answered, holding the cage on his lap. He smiled at the creatures pleasantly and they grinned mischievously, their little yellow eyes peering up at him. Oran spied the excited look on his face and he let out a patronizing yawn, slumping back against the leather padding of the car seat. He closed his eyes but the blue light that emanated from the small royal-blue pixies that continued to flutter twitchily in the cage made him wince. He cringe his eyes shut even tighter. 

"Wake me if things get interesting." He grumbled irritably and rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. It may have already been ten years since his rather abrupt permanent relocation into the human world but he couldn't get used to everything, particularly the transport. After all, he had his own ways of getting around. And it was much faster at that. 

Alister chuckled at his words and he pressed the button down to open the windows, opening the cage shortly after.  

"Be careful, my friends." He said softly, watching them intently as they climbed through the open window, scrambling over to the other side of the road.