Reminiscence

Chapter 14

Mazuka brings us out to dinner. It's night again, with the stars crusading across the sky and the moon calling to its children of the dark. The gravel crunches under my foot, signaling the nearing of the diner. It's quite cozy, Elmfaye Diner is what the sign says. Faye, hmm? Matteo squares his shoulders and pushes open the door. Inside, seated at tables carved out of darkwood trees, sit many crews of men and women. Mazuka nudges me forwards and I almost trip. "Easy, this way." He steers us towards a table in the back. It's large enough to seat at least six, but I spot smaller ones, untaken, dotted around the room.

"Here we go, now I'll be right with you."

"Thank you, Madame Fange."

"Of course, of course."

A few voices catch my attention. One is quite gruff, it must be whoever that Madame Fange is, and the other is unrecognizable. A few people here stare at Matteo and me, so I break the silence. "Umm, Hi? I'm Nesra. This is Matteo."

A man pauses a few paces away from us. "Nesra, did you say? We used to have a being of loyalty with that name." He makes his way back to his table.

I contemplate what to reply with. These people are clueless. I'm right here. But instead of admitting everything, I nod. "My mother is a believer in them. I don't think they really die, I just kind of think they stay in the corner and in the shadows until they're all needed again."

"Ha! So naive, young ones these days." One of them bursts

out from another table.

"Leave the kid alone, Jake. It's not stupid and I think Nesra's right. I'll agree." Another man stands and makes his way over to us. "I'm Ripper, that there is bean, bug, and laughy." He points to three more guys sitting with him. They all wave.

Mazuka had come back from getting our food to find the six of us seated around the table. A smile crosses his face, small scars stretching. "Well, well well! Look who's already made some friends!" I take my plate from him and settle down next to Ripper. He's actually pretty cool for the people in here.

"In case you're wondering, the Faye diner is in new care. Misses Faye passed away a while ago and since then, someone needed to keep the business going. So, one miss Evangeline Fange decided to step up and take this place into her care."

"Good to know, thanks Bean."

Everyone lapses into silence again, forks scraping against the porcelain dishes that hold our meal.

Matteo seems lost in thought, and he keeps glancing out the window. I'm not the only one who appears to notice. Bug keeps glancing wherever Matteo does and soon the entire table looks after his gaze, tracking his movements like a lioness in the bushes. Outside, the fires in the sconces blaze, and glow brighter with every burst of conversation. We all were having a debate about the gods, and what jobs they'd have in modern society, when a roar from the woods shakes us to our cores and freezes us in our tracks. It's the kind of sound that shakes your bones and rattles your teeth. The one that seems unimportant until it's upon you, like a thunderstorm gathering on the horizon. People freeze with their forks halfway to their mouths, any conversation dying in the air.

Footsteps signal the approach of someone, maybe several persons from behind the door. The group slams their plates against the table, and abruptly stand. Laughy draws a jeweled dagger from his belt, any hints of his nickname long gone by now.

"We need y'all to stay here. It's Nolan Peter's group again. They're here to stir up trouble. They stop by to collect a so-called bounty from Miss Fange. She never gives in of course, but it brings trouble when she doesn't."

Bug and his crew get up and leave the diner, single file, much like my relationship status.