Perfect storm

The Meet

After Rosalyn finished buying all her stuff she went home to get ready for work. She had a job at a local cafe. It didn't pay much but she needed the money and it was enough to pay for her house. She always felt lucky when she thought of Mariah and how her mother, Dorothy helped her. They had found and taken her in after what happened to her mother. Rosalyn being 10 and alone, hiding in alleys close to the woods so she could still practice her magic in peace. Dorothy had found her and gave her food. Obviously, at first, Rosalyn was skeptical of the lady but she kept returning with food for her.  Rosalyn grew to trust her and her daughter that would also pass by with her. After about a month they brought Rosalyn home and Dorothy raised her as her own. They even encouraged and helped find ways for Rosalyn to use her magic and gain experience using it.   

"s**t, s**t, s**t I'm gonna be late. Mariah's gonna kill me." Rosalyn exclaimed, grabbing her orange apron and running out the door to her job, she would have to eat something from the cafe when she got there. As soon as she got there she was smothered by Mariah. "Rosa!! Finally, you're here I've been waiting forever for you to get here." Mariah exclaimed happily while jumping to hug Rosalyn."What the hell took you so long? I was about to call my mom to tell her you were slacking off again." Mariah teased, giving Rosalyn a small punch on her arm.  "Hey Mariah, I just had an incident with some creepy old dude. you know how it is." Rosalyn replied hugging her friend and looking at how her eyes lit up with joy whenever they were together. Rosalyn never got used to it."And I'm glad I got there when I did or else next time I visit I have a long-ass lecture from Dorothy about how to be a responsible adult. And we both know how much I love those" Rosalyn joked back. "You gotta tell me all about it during our break. Anyways we got work to do so come on," Mariah laughed as she leads the way to the cash register. "And by the laws of our friendship, you gotta take over the register for me since you were late. My poor introvert self just can't handle talking to those people today." She said with a fake pout on her face. 

"Fine, I'll do it. You're lucky that I'm happy to see you or else I'll tell Dorothy that you aren't working properly." Rosalyn giggled as she started preparing the register. She didn't mind, in fact, she loved it. She loved conversing and seeing people inside the cafe. It was a peaceful day at that cafe that day. Not many people walked in so most of the day was just Rosalyn and Mariah just messing around and eating several different pastries.  

The usual customers came and ordered their drinks. That is until a new guy came in. As Rosalyn saw him walk in and wait in line she couldn't help but stare for a few seconds before returning to her job. He was tall, slightly muscular with defining features. He had jet black hair paired with piercing grey eyes. He seemed to be her age. "Ooh looks like someone is checking out the new guy in here" Mariah joked when she noticed her staring. "Don't be crazy. It's just been a while since we've had a new customer. That's all." she replied with a slight blush. "Stop lying, and he's looking at you too," Mariah said while poking fun of Rosalyn.

The whole time before his turn to order Rosalyn noticed him staring at her as if he knew her. She got a weird feeling while taking care of the few other people in front of him. Then it was his turn to order. "Hello welcome, what can I get you?" Ros asked. He seemed to be staring before he could reply with just a simple black coffee. "Ok, what name should we put on it?" She asked. "Joseph" the guy replied in a slightly shocked tone. Ros wrote it down and told him the price. He paid and left to wait for his order.  Something felt kinda off about his interaction with Rosalyn but she brushed it off thinking it was nothing. However, she knew better than dismiss the feeling she had. 

While the drink was being made Rosalyn got someone to cover her for some time and quickly dragged Mariah into the breakroom. "Rosalyn, what is it? I was in the middle of something." Mariah said after the door had closed behind them. "I have a weird feeling about the guy that just walked in," Rosalyn replied while picking at her nails. She had developed that nervous tick not long after what happened with her mother. 

Mariah noticed and gently took Rosalyn's hands in hers. "Look if you're right then be careful but don't make it obvious that you're worried," she replied. That was when ROslayn got an idea. "I have lunch in a bit. What if I try to lure him away. Get us alone and if he attacks then I was right about him being a hunter." Rosalyn explained "We both know by now I have enough control and use of my magic to be able to fight him off if anything happens. I'll take him to where you and Dorothy found me near the witch woods."

"And if anything goes bad you can just hide out in there." Mariah interrupted. "It's a good plan but what if you can't fight him off? I don't want something bad to happen to you." Mariah's green eyes showed just how worried she was. "Look don't worry. I'll be fine and this will all be over soon. Just give me some time to finish this. 

"Fine, I'll cover for you here until you get back," Mariah said sighing. "Also I'm gonna need you not to tell Dorothy about any of this. We both know how she is and the fewer people know about it the better." Rosalyn added. Mariah agreed and they left to get the plan started.  Rosalyn left to go back to work at the register until her shift was over and Mariah went to prepare Rosalyn's bag with stuff she would need if the plan went wrong and she was left in the woods for who knows how long. 

And just like that, the plan began.