Shards of Black Glass

Unsweet Tea

I hear Kelsie yell at me for being late. Barely looking at her, I flip her the bird as I tie my blue apron around my waist. My keys go into my jeans pocket, my notepad comes out of my apron pocket, and my pen comes out from behind my left ear.

    Kevin, a regular, leans against the bar. His white smile goes brilliantly with his pale blond hair and bright brown eyes. He's young, about thirty, to be in this run-down cafe, but I doubt he cares. He calls my name the moment he sees me. I smile at him, and walk over to stand in front of him. "Usual, Kev?" I ask.

Kevin flashes his bright smile and says, "You know me too well, Saira." I roll my eyes and retort, "Only because you always ask for me when you're in here." Kevin laughs, "Only because you're the best." I laugh, and turn around to start making Kevin's coffee.

    I hear the bell chime as the door opens, but don't look around to see who it is. I hear a man's voice say, "Unsweet tea, please." Another man's voice, this one sounding like Alex, says, "I'll just take a black coffee, no sugar." Two more men ask for the same as Alex-sounding guy. My hands work automatically, pushing the buttons and grabbing the cups.

    With three coffees in my hands, I hand them to three black-ish figures I see in my peripheral; I keep my eyes on the white-tile ground, my natural shyness coming out. I turn back around, grabbing the unsweet tea, and pass it to the fourth black figure. I hear a slight laugh, and glare at Kevin from behind my long brown-black bangs.

    "Hey, do you know where we can find someone?" the first man's voice says, and I look up.

    This man immediately strikes me as dark. Black T-shirt, black jeans, spiky black hair, dark hazel eyes. I see flickers of ghostly blue around him, and see faces swimming around in the air. A few dark shapes, constantly shifting black masses, swirl around him as well. Ghosts, my brain whispers. Demons. This man either saved a lot of ghosts, angered a lot of demons, or has a lot of death connected to him.

The man next to him looks like a kind biker. I see smile crinkles next to his dark brown eyes. His bald head reflects the sunlight streaming through the windows behind him. His biker-beard is streaked with about three strands of gray amidst the brown-blond. 

The man next to him looks plain. Brown eyes, short blond hair, nice smile. The next man looks the same, but with slightly longer brown hair.

    I smile shyly at the men, and a strange feeling enters my mind, like I've seen them before. "Depends," I say, "On who it is you're trying to find." The three men exchange looks, but the black-haired one keeps his eyes on me. "We're looking for a girl named Saira Collings. Do you know her?" I almost flinch at the mention of my last name, but restrain myself.

    "Hm, maybe. What is it you want with Saira?" I ask casually, standing in front of the dark-haired one, who seemed to be the leader. "We're with the Paranormeon crew. Alex here called Saira about thirty minutes ago, said that we'd meet her at this cafe. She works here. Do you know her?" he repeats, never breaking eye-contact with me. I see a woman's face appear next to his head, which glares at me, then disappears into smoke.

    "I thought you said noon," I say, meeting Alex's eyes. He smiles, punching the dark-haired one in the shoulder. "This is Saira, Zak. Knew it the moment I heard her." Zak rolls his eyes and takes a sip from his tea. The other two men, whose names I'm sure are Mark and Jae, laugh.

    I smile kindly, and chance a look at Kevin. He's glaring at the men, and his angry gaze meets mine for a millisecond. Wait, is he jealous of these men? I look back at the Paranormeon crew as Zak starts to speak.

"We heard that you applied for the cameraman job two years back. As Alex has already told you, a space is free. We'd like you to come work for us." I blink at him, startled by his straightforwardness and lack of tact. Then, Kelsie ruins my moment to answer.

    "Hello, gentlemen. How may I help you? Saira, get back to work. The trash from yesterday is still out because you were too lazy to take it out." I glare at the back of Kelsie's blond head, which is done in a graceful French braid which runs down her spine like a gold snake. Heat runs to my cheeks, and I consider punching my boss. But a twinge in my back reminds me of the last time I got into a fight, and I turn away.

    Walking towards the door to the kitchen, I hear Zak say, "We were just talking to Saira about a job she applied for two years ago." Kelsie laughs, and says, "I highly doubt Saira is smart enough to operate any of your equipment. I mean, she did drop out high school." My fists clench at the lie, and I feel anger surge through my blood like fire. 

My breathing becomes heavy as I consider fighting Kelsie, but then Mark's voice sounds from the other side of the wall, saying, "Huh. It says here that she graduated college. Master's Degree in Literature. Master's in Architecture. Bachelor's in Filming. I highly doubt that someone who dropped out of high school would be able to accomplish all that."

    I smile as I imagine Kelsie's perfect face going scarlet as her lie is shot down. I hear my boss huff, "Well then. At least you do your research. But I highly doubt that you know what she did before she got this job." Fear clutches my heart in an icy grip, and I stop dead in my tracks as I hear Kelsie whisper, "I hear that she was quite the entertainment to men, if you know what I mean."

Anger surges through my body anew, and I feel my eyes glow with fury. I see a ghost flicker in the corner of my vision, a dark mass with glowing red eyes. Lashing out at it, I tell it wordlessly to attack Kelsie. I see its shapeless mouth smile, then it disappears into black smoke. The next second, I hear a scream from the other side of the wall.

    I rush out, and find a horrifying scene. The black mass has resolved into the shape of a black humanoid, and is crouching over Kelsie's limp form on the floor. Her mouth is open in a silent scream as the creature rakes claw-like fingers across her neck. I see four faint red lines burn bright on Kelsie's neck. The creature laughs, a sound like knives on a chalkboard, and claws the other side of Kelsie's throat. This time, a thin stream of blood appears.

    Horror fills me as I realize what I've done. I yell at the creature to stop in my mind, and it looks up at me with confusion in its red, wolf-like eyes. That's enough, I say to it. It smiles devilishly, and dips one of its claws towards Kelsie's eyes. I scream at it, and then something happens that's only happened once before in my life.

White light shoots from my chest, blasting the black creature straight in the face. It screams, a high, piercing sound like gunshots mixed with fireworks and pained animals. The creature fixed me with a glare sharp enough to cut, and it leaps towards me.

    White light shoots from my skin, now. As each beam hits the creature, it shrinks. When it reaches me, it's the size of a penny. Its tiny, glowing eyes look up at me, anger shooting red sparks from its skin. I glare down at it, and aim one more beam of light straight at its chest. With another scream, it explodes into black powder, which is quickly gone due to an invisible breeze.

    I look up, and see everyone staring at me. Heat rushes to my face. Zak leaps over the counter with ease, and walks towards me, his hazel eyes bright with curiosity and wonder. "What did you do?" he asks me softly. I shake my head in bewilderment, and say softly, "I banished it. I told a demon to attack Kelsie. Then, I forced it to stop. It tried to attack me, so I reacted. I killed it. I killed a demon."

    I look up into Zak's eyes, expecting him to laugh or call me a liar, like the last person I told this to had, but he doesn't. He looks at me with concern, and says, "You definitely got the job. Anyone who can banish a demon is okay in my book." I smile slightly at his poor attempt at humor, and look over his shoulder at the other three guys.

    Alex looks excited. Mark looks scared out of his wits. Jae looks slightly amused and slightly curious. I look back at Zak, and see a small smile curl his lips. "Welcome to Paranormeon, Saira."