Visionary and the Vampire Tracker

Chapter 12

The day jogged on, it was one of those days when we weren’t busy, but we also weren’t bored out of our minds. Rachel and I spoke at the coffee station and poured some for ourselves. Extra caffeine was needed, especially when I had woken up so early, and had an intense encounter with Conrad again.

He wasn’t here. He said he wouldn’t come, but I wasn’t sure if he’d keep his word.

His absence felt strange after seeing him every day since I first met him. But it was better this way, I convinced myself. I was less distracted. I hardly thought about vampires all day. It felt like a normal shift, a normal day of chatting with Rachel and pouring coffee for new strangers.

A light pitter-patter sound echoed the diner. It had started raining, and that almost always meant people would vacate the diner.

Hands shot up to signal for the cheque while Rachel and I tore cheques off and on to their tables.

It seemed like almost everyone had left for the day. We decided to leave early, when 3 men came into the restaurant all wearing sunglasses. The sunglasses were strange, especially considering the downpour outside and the fact that the sun was hidden away by overcast clouds.

The men looked, for a lack of a better word, rich. You could tell that their business suits were well-made and their Rolex watches didn’t exactly whisper wealth.

“Ugh really?” Rachel moaned.

“I really thought we’d cash up early today,” I shrugged.

“Zoey please. I know they’re sitting in my section, but I really don’t want to serve anyone else today,” she cried. “I already had that creepy couple trying to convince me to come to their hotel tonight, I don’t think I can deal with 3 more douchebags.”

“And you think I do? I had that old man who comes in every 6 months. Had to dodge his hands every time he went for my legs,” I retorted.

Rachel sighed and said, “Rock paper scissors?”

I looked at her and cracked a smile. It somehow always came down to us rock paper scissoring who would be stuck with the last table.

“Okay fine,” I exclaimed, “One, two, three!”

I looked down at Rachel’s ‘paper’ hand as she covered my ‘rock’ hand.

“Dammit,” I muttered under my breath.

I walked over to the booth where the 3 men had decided to sit. I didn’t bother bringing them menus, there was already 1 in the middle of the table, and I could almost bet they were just here for a coffee fix.

“Hi,” I said cheerily. At least I hoped it came across that way.

All 3 men looked at me at the same time. With their sunglasses on, it almost felt more imposing.

“So,” I stammered, “what can I get for you?”

The one in the middle spoke first, “Just a coffee, caffeinated.”

The other two said, “Me too,” at the same time.

Nodding, I walked away. That was strange. Nobody ever stipulated a caffeinated coffee, it was known.

Thinking it all felt strange, I put all 3 coffees on a tray and brought it to their table and set the drinks down. Before I could ask if they wanted cream, the man in the middle said, “Thank you, that will be all.”

I backed away from the table, unable to shake the feeling that this was very strange. Their imposing aura felt odd, and I realized I’d only ever felt that way when I met Conrad. They gave me the same feeling he had, not so long ago.

But surely these weren’t vampires too? Conrad was protecting me. But he wasn’t here, I had told him to stay away, at least for today. Did that mean I was vulnerable to other vampires now?

No, no, I was being crazy. This wasn’t happening. Conrad said when I was ready he’d take me there. So why would 3 vampires come here for coffee? Maybe there were more vampires around than I thought. Maybe I’d met some before.

But I still felt that uneasy feeling.

Now was the time I wished Conrad and I had swapped phone numbers. I could simply call and ask him if these vampires were friendly or not. But I had never felt the need because he was always here. Except for today.

Rachel was cashing up at an empty booth when I slid into the booth beside her. It was the first time I felt worried about locking up on my own. I had a weird feeling about these guys and didn’t want to be left alone with them.

‘Hey,” I said to Rachel, “Why don’t you stay here with me, and we can head to Jerry’s right after?”

I prayed she would accept my offer.

“Yeah, but I could meet you there. I could really do with a shower before a night out,” she said.

I scrambled, searching for something that would keep her here.

“We could have pre-drinks here?” I said.

“Zoey, we don’t even have a liquor license,” Rachel laughed, “I don’t think there’s any alcohol on the premises.”

“Yeah, but I know where Joe keeps his stash of whiskey,” I blurted out. That was true. Joe only came once in a blue moon to his namesake diner, and whenever he was here he couldn’t stop his drinking. He always poured his whiskey into a mug and called it ‘tea’. But I knew he stashed the whiskey under the floorboards in the office. Once, I’d gone into the office to get some Advil for a migraine from my bag that was hanging there. I must’ve stopped over his treasure because I felt the floorboards' creek. It sounded hollow in just a section of the floor, so I peeked down and saw a chip in one of the floorboards, the perfect place to lift them up. So I did, and there was his Jack Daniel’s, sitting quietly below.

Rachel’s eyes lit up. “Oh my god, yes!” She squealed in delight.

“Phew,” I thought. I didn’t want to tell Rachel yet. About anything. And if I had to explain why these guys made me feel weird, I was afraid I’d have to explain everything.

I eventually dropped off the cheque at the booth of the strange men.

I didn’t wait for their payment, I did the closing up duties alongside Rachel. She was cleaning off the empty booths while I went to the back to grab some chapstick from my bag, hanging in the office.

I decided to grab the whiskey from the secret stash while I was there. About half a bottle left, I didn’t even want to think about how much Joe usually had to drink each day.

I put the whiskey behind my back, in case those customers were still there, and walked through the swinging door separating the seating section from the back kitchen.

Empty. They had left, and the money was on top of the cheque in the now empty booth. Glad that they had left, I looked around for Rachel. The bottle of sanitizer on a table with her bag beside it. Weird. She must be in the bathroom. I sat down to do my cash up. The time ticked by. And the growing uneasiness was setting off my anxiety. “Rachel?” I called out. I went to the bathroom, eased the stall open. Nothing. Oh no. I had a bad feeling.

Suddenly the front door swung open. “Zoey!” Conrad said.

“Conrad! What are you doing here?”

“I thought they took you, I thought you were gone I-“

“What do you mean? Who would take me?” My eyes grew wider. “No,” I whispered out.

“What’s wrong, Zoey?” Conrad whispered.

“Oh my god, they took Rachel.”

I felt the tears pouring out as I crumbled down, but not before Conrad caught me.