The Careful Implementation of External Pressure

Case #9: Rose Eastwood.

- Chapter written by Qween -

Case #9: Rose Eastwood.
Tuseday/July/16/2019/ 2:07PM

Rose Eastwood mindlessly organized a group of books on a small shelf in the corner of the thrift store, she had already aligned them by tallest to shortest, and then again by colour, and now alphabetical. She had only gotten her job at the small thrift store two weeks ago but quickly realized that it was a slow business and that the only thing she really needed to do was to look busy- if only to keep her sanity. It was a relatively small store and the owners didn't bother having more than one employee to work during the week so she was alone more often than not; not that she minded it.

The bell above the door chimed loudly, her only warning to the explosive entrance that followed.  Her heart pounding heavily against her chest from the sudden break in calm, she dropped two of the books she was holding, fumbling to catch them before they hit the ground, letting out a sharp sigh and spinning around on her heel in a way that made her just a little dizzy to see the small group of people who had just entered.

Her eyes were first drawn to a tall brunette who was still near the door, but walking towards the others with trudging, almost reluctant steps- very unlike the group's messy entrance.  Rose straightened up and placed a smile on her face when she met the eyes of the other and crossed the short distance between them.

"Is there anything I can help you with today?" She spoke clearly and would later think was that it might have been a bit loud, replaying how the brunette squinted their eyes slightly at the beginning of her sentence in her head.

"Hah, no, I'm good. Thankyou, though."  They said, straightening up as if just her offer for assistance had taken a little weight off their shoulders. Rose was struck by her accent and spent a moment trying to pinpoint what it was, but shelved it for later when she realized the silence between them had lasted a beat too long.

Before she could speak, however, the other was inclining their head to the rest of the group and talking, "Also, I'm sorry for them." They turned away from her a little and fixed the stand near the door, which Rose assumed one of the others had knocked over.

"They're a little-" The conversation was cut off after a loud exclamation of "DAD!" Snapping both their heads in the direction. Rose hadn't meant to look, but the sound jarred her. The brunette though, quickly walked in the direction of the call, as if beckoned, giving her an apologetic look over their shoulder.

Rose fidgeted with the fabric of her black T-shirt, wondering if she should speak to the others or not.  She was slightly surprised to see so many teens in the shop at once as it was usually adults, either alone or with very young children. It was also very rare to have more than two people at once.

She snapped out of her thoughts after noticing a girl standing at the counter which she was supposed to be attending and quickly walked over, sliding behind the counter. 

"I'm so sorry for the wait," she spoke, smiling and hoping it looked natural. The girl standing in front of her had shoulder-length, ginger coloured hair, and was slightly shorter than the last person she spoke to. 

"Not a problem," the girl said, something off and cold in her tone.

Rose paused for a second at the British accent, not expecting something so different from the previous voice. She shook her head slightly, looking down and smiling as the girl in front of her started placing random objects onto her counter. She placed two black candles and a stack of books, the top of which was a thick book with a pentagram on the cover. As she laid out the items and Rose began checking the price stickers on them, a second redhead appeared on the other side of the counter, clad in black leather, and wrapped her arm over the other. Not speaking to Rose, the new girl peered to the side of the counter, her arm shifting slightly and returning to its original place at her side.

Rose looked up, finished adding the price of the items in her head, to the two of them smiling. She must have looked confused for a moment, because the shorter redhead winked at her and lazily picked up the top book as the two walked away, the taller carrying the rest, and talking in hushed voices.

There was a loud crash from the far side of the store, causing Rose to look away from the retreating backs of the two in time to see the last flying trinkets of an entire shelf knocked down.  She stood there with her mouth open, shocked into stillness for a moment before she moved around the counter in the direction of the fallen shelf.

Turning the corner, she saw a stuffed bunny lying on the ground and had just thought about picking it up when a hand appeared out of nowhere, grabbing it and she watched it disappear out of thin air. More confused than she was earlier, she leaned over the shelf looking for the object, as well as who the hand belonged to. Rose reached up, tugging at her hair wondering if she was just going crazy before she began fixing the shelf with a frustrated sigh.

"Cookie, watch it!" was called out in an unfamiliar voice, and was soon followed by what sounded like a gunshot and laughter.

"Dumbass! Look what you did!" a new voice said. Rose could hear things falling over and shouting back and forth from the group, as well as more laughter and cursing. Another girl, who she didn't notice earlier, with shoulder-length brown hair and matching brown eyes, climbed over one of the shelves and hid behind it.

While Rose was zoned out and trying to understand what was happening, the store had somehow turned into a warzone around her. 

She ran to the back of the store to where she left her bag and phone but slowed down when she found the stuffed bunny from earlier slouched against the wall next to the bathroom door with a young girl sitting across from it, who was seeming to be having a conversation with it.  Neither of them seemed to notice she was there, and she was almost afraid to linger.

She was about to move, to where she hadn't thought of yet when there was a loud clap from behind her, punctuated with a sense of finality that left it ringing in her head until she was dizzy, and she didn't even feel it when she collapsed to the floor.

-0-0-0-0-

Mini looked down at Rose, lying on the floor. Her long hair had fallen out of its bun when they'd cast a knock-out spell on her, and it curled around her on the shockingly clean floor.

Cookie looked over to Shwam, smiling even as Jay, who Cookie was holding bridal style, did his best to light the cigarette between the redhead's lips. Shawm brought her hand up to the bridge of her nose, sighing irritatedly, despite the fact that she knew it would be her who was going to fix the problem as soon as Cookie started.

Really, it didn't have to be this hard. Get in, get the spellbook, maybe feel a little spark of vengeance as the book that was stolen from them years ago returned to their possession, get out.

She watched as Fanta and Mini lifted the worker's unconscious body off the floor, each throwing an arm over their shoulders so they could more easily drag her body back to the register, and found that, as usual, her only condolence was that Fanta shared her pain.

-0-0-0-0-

Rose awoke to a hazy, titled world, and, once she blinked herself to awareness, found herself leaning over the counter where she had apparently been sleeping. She jolted up as the memories of a rowdy group of customers returned to her, and looked around at the store quickly,  expecting to see the war zone from earlier.

However, all she saw was that it was as if the strange entities never entered. She went through the security footage and found nothing, other than her sitting down at the register and slowly slumping over until she was in the position that she had awoken in. She let out a breath of stale, thrift-shop air, confused, and ran a hand through her hair, dully wondering when she had taken it out of the bun she had lazily thrown it up that morning.

The only sign the group might have ever been there was the missing book and candles.