Dance with Darkness - Ghost Dance

Chapter 2

The next day at work seemed to move by incredibly slowly, as days are wont to when they know you’re just itching for them to be over with.

I worked as a receptionist at Breaking Bread, a dessert catering service known for their delicious pastries.  My co-worker, Maggie, was as bubbly and bright as ever, which I normally didn’t mind, but that day her mood grated on my nerves and I had to stop myself several times from snapping at her.  I mixed up files, nearly lost important documents, and had to redo paperwork several times.  The worst part, in my opinion, was that I didn’t finish in time to get any of the delicious leftovers from our big event of the week that the boss had brought back to the company kitchen.

Maggie had eaten a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing at the desk across from mine as I had tried in vain to organize my work area that afternoon.  I love the red velvet cupcakes.

And yet, before I knew it, the horrible, never-ending work day was over, and I was standing in front of my bedroom closet, debating what to wear to this initiation thingy.

Was it formal?  Business casual?  Informal?  I had no clue.  Why didn’t I think to ask these questions beforehand?

If I were to live by the wise words of my sister, it would be that there’s no such thing as being too dressed up.  It was a nice thought, but I’d never really been comfortable with the idea of being the only person in a dress at a party.

The next option was to play it safe and take the middle road of business causal.  This route appealed to me the most, until I began replaying the word “initiation” in my head and realized that it sounded a lot more like an induction at a fraternity or sorority than a welcoming to an esteemed business.  What if this event was rather like a hazing, and I had to jump through literal hoops in order to prove I could work my way to finding my sister and cousin?

Then again, I had never been good at running and jumping, so it wouldn’t matter much whether I was wearing business casual or more sporty attire.  I would still be unable to exhibit any extraordinary athletic prowess.

I sighed, picking out a light blue blouse.  The hunters were going to be sorely disappointed in me.  At least I had fairly good hand-eye coordination.  That counted for something, right?  I’d be able to…catch things.  Was that a good demon-hunting skill?

~*~

A half-hour later I found myself in front of the dreaded Hearne Hunting House, staring at it with a mixture of fear and contempt.  For what seemed like the thousandth time, I checked the inside pocket of my black shoulder bag for the ring box.  It was still there—just as it had been the other nine-hundred and ninety-nine times I had looked.

As there weren’t many people around, I glanced down at my watch—I had fifteen minutes to spare.  Was that too early for a meeting like this, or too late?  I squinted up the path, but of course, couldn’t find anything that told me how many guests would be coming to my initiation.

“Hey, are you the new person?”

I spun around at the voice, finding a sandy-haired man about my age walking up the sidewalk.  A sinking feeling grew in my stomach as I noted his sweatpants and jacket.  If he was here for my initiation, I was so overdressed.  Maybe I would be required to do some running after all.

“Yeah,” I said unenthusiastically.

“Cool.  I’m Kaden,” he grinned.

“I’m Lynnette.”

“Cool.”

I gave a halfhearted smile in response, not exactly fond of his overuse of the rather dull adjective.