The Terror That Came To Amber

Chapter 1

Amber Alberta Canada, October 20th 2020 4:00PM Meteor Cafe

"Claude! Can you go get the dishes on tables five and seven?" "Sure thing Sarah" Claude the busboy responded to the waitress and put down the plate he was cleaning on the counter next to a dish rack and grabbed a basket and walked through the kitchen to the cafe area and made his way to the dirty tables, picking up each plate and putting it in the bus bin. Behind him Sarah was greeting a family walking in and taking them to a table. He had worked at the Cafe for nearly a month and he enjoyed it, even if he was just washing dishes and cleaning tables. It paid okay, his coworkers were nice, Sarah Baker and Phil Lockman anyway. Pete and Dave Brooks, the twin cooks not so much, pretty big dickheads most of the time. The boss Fred Daniels was pretty nice. When Claude was walking back to the kitchen with the bucket of dirty dishes. Something flew past Claude's face just missing his nose and landing with a splash into a mop bucket "What the-" Claude spoke being cut off as a frozen chicken wing landed in the bus bin and the two cooks went nuts cheering. Claude ignored them and threw the frozen chicken wing in the trash before putting the dishes in the sink, by the time Claude cleaned the last of the dishes he looked at the clock and saw it was a quarter after four. His replacement for the night shift Benny was supposed to be in at four but was late, again. Benny was a pretty useless dishwasher.

He usually let it all pile up until Claude's shift at ten in the morning. The back door of the restaurant could be heard slamming shut which meant Benny was probably just arriving. Claude turned to look at the far corner near the back door entrance and sure enough Benny stumbled around the corner. He looked drunk and had apparently shaved his head bald since the last time he saw him. Benny was a scrawny white guy covered in tattoos who would normally stink of booze. If Amber had a local drunk it was Benny. "Hey Claude buddy. Nice and tidy as always." "As always Benny. Do you think you can keep it this clean tonight?" "I'll try my damndest buddy." he said slurring the words as he threw an apron over his head and made his way towards the dishpit clapping Claude on the shoulder as he stuttered the word "buddy". "I believe in you champ." said Claude with a grin throwing up finger guns as he made his way to the front desk. Next to Phil who was manning the register. "Hey Phil, Benny finally showed up, am I good to go now?" "Sure thing Claude. Let's go see how Donny's doing. He's been an absolute sweetheart all day. Sarah and I have been letting him eat leftovers from breakfast. It was that or let Pete and Dave make a damn mess again throwing it around like morons." Phil Lockman was taking Claude to the second coatroom. It never got used for coats so Claude put a spare Kennel in there to keep Donny his rottweiler, so he wouldn't be home alone and making a mess which Claude struggled to prevent time after time. Donny was usually pretty quiet and if he did get loud, somebody would bring him some pancakes to keep him quiet. Was it a health code violation? Probably. But the extra coat room was near the back door so he never actually came through the kitchen which was a plus. Phil opened the door and Donny let out a small whine as he started to wag his tail hitting the inside of the kennel every time he moved it. "Don't forget to punch out." Phil said with a grunt as he bent over to unlock the kennel and Donny, still wagging his tail, got out and stretched. "Oh big stretch." Claude heard Phil say as he clocked out for the day and turned to grab Donny's leash, which the dog was already holding in his mouth as his tail wagged harder. Claude grabbed the leash and scratched his dog's head as he clipped the leash onto his leather collar. "Alright Phil I'll see you tomorrow." "I doubt it Claude, my vacation starts tomorrow. Gonna be gone till the end of the week." "oh, in that case have a good trip, and if you see her tell Sarah I said bye." Claude said, putting on his heavy winter coat and opening the door. "Sure thing and thanks, I'll see you at the end of the week Claude." Claude waved and shut the door and made his way out the back door and onto the sidewalk. The walk went fine for the first couple minutes until a dirt bike drove by on the road, passing them quickly. Claude could barely make out the dark clothes of the rider but the white and red bike sped loudly past them throwing snow at them as it passed. Donny did not take kindly to this. "No boy don't!" too late. Donny had yanked free of Claude's grip and tried to chase the rider who disappeared around a corner and could be heard fading into the distance until they were gone.