Luna Punched Mr. Alpha!

Fight, Fright, and other F's pt. 4

COURTNEY

Only three more hours, I let out a loud sigh, only three more hours and I can head home.

"Courtney!" I turn around to find my manager holding a box of the new shipment.

I let out another sigh, turning back around to face the front of the store. I work at a small organic herb shop in downtown Vermont and let me tell you, it's one of my least favorite jobs. I've been a waitress, store clerk, secretary, and a dog walker, and the amount of labor put in them don't compare to how painful this job is.

We rarely get customers, and when we do, it's usually potheads looking for "stress relievers" or want to be witches. I've only been in this job for, like six months and honestly, I think it was a bad idea.

"Courtney, could you please do some work instead of dazing off," Shia, my manager, her annoying airy voice breaks me from my thoughts.

"What work is there to do in A Witches Brew?" I sigh once more before turning to find Shia with a lit sage candle, using a large white feather to fan the smoke around the room.

Did I mention that Shia, her sister Elfie, and her mother, the owner of this place, believe they are Mediums and witches? They didn't plan on telling me this after they hired me and I signed a contract to stay for a year unless I have a reasonable reason for leaving. Who knew "because you guys are nut jobs" wasn't a reasonable reason. So, imagine six months of late shifts with the Sanderson sisters chanting in the basement.

"You can go get the rest of the shipment in the back and put out the new arrivals," Shia coos as she walks around the shop.

I stare at her for a few minutes before rolling my eyes and head to the back door. I open the door to find the small boxes of shipment sitting on the pavement.

As I reach down for the boxes, I hear shuffling at the far end of the dead alleyway. One of the many reasons I hate this job is to do with the weird stuff always happening in this alley. There's this creepy black cat, I've named him or her Chesh after the cat in Alice in Wonderland because of its eyes. They were big and wide, strange for a cat, and were a sick yellow-green color. It was also a little big for a cat, almost the size of a small dog. The creepy thing about is that it would just "happen" to always be sitting a couple feet away from the back door as if it was waiting for me.

Right on cue, Chesh is sitting on his back legs, watching me.

"Chesh," I say dryly before grabbing the packages.

I stand straight, and Chesh is hissing at something behind the door. Without thinking, I step out to take a look at what had Chesh in attack mood.

I wasn't expecting to find harsh glowing gray eyes staring past me, down at Chesh. My heart flutters and I'm stuck staring at those glaring eyes.

A growl breaks the silence and I slowly step back into the shop, not taking my eyes off the menacing thing. Chesh hisses once more before the shadow gives out a loud growl, sending me running inside the store, pulling the door behind me.

I hold my breath, feeling as though that thing was still there. A few moments go by without a sound. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding back. A hard thud against the door causes me to shriek and has Shia running in with her sage candle in hand.

"What happened?" Shia's overly drawn eyebrows arch.

I move away from the door, "Uh...there was this cat and--"

Shia snorts, "I didn't know you were scared of cats, Courts."

"I-it wasn't just a cat. Th-there was something back there," I snap back with a weak voice.

Shia has a grin plastered on her face before she walks past me, opening the back door, "You dropped the box in a puddle. There's...oh!"

The door closes behind Shia and I reach to open it, hesitating before placing my hand on the door only to have it swung open by Shia.

"This little fella' scared you?" Shia passes the door threshold with Chesh in her arms, scratching behind his ear.

"Chesh wasn't the only animal out there," I state, staring at the strange cat, who is starring back at me.

"That's a cute name," Shia mumbles before walking back to the front of the shop with Chesh's head resting on her shoulder, still staring at me.

Not knowing what to do, I roll my eyes and follow Shia as I whisper to myself, "Things are always going bump in the night around here. This shouldn't have surprised you."

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Kinda' a filler scene but I felt like we needed to know what Courtney's up to! 

Hope you enjoyed!