______*Atera, Apartment 192, two days later, 9:20*______
Syrin yawned as she stretched lazily in bed, she shifted and opened her eyes, she was currently staring at a blank wall and grunted. "I really need to paint this." She mumbled before standing up.
Syrin walked to the door and left the room, she headed straight for the bathroom to clean up, and after a few minutes, she noticed a very familiar bottle of shampoo, she raised an eyebrow at this. "Whatever." She eventually said before turning on the water.
______*ten minutes later.*______
Syrin walked out of the bathroom clean and dry, she saw that Karak was up already as usual, but for once, so was Seth. "I'm surprised to see you awake before ten." She said.
Seth grunted and walked into the kitchen. "Ha ha, don't get used to it, this position isn't permanent, so I'll be back to my lazy self in no time." She replied.
Karak rolled his eyes and walked to the couch and sat down. "Either way, we need to get another couch or chair." He stated. "Unless we plan on having one person sit down every time." He added.
Seth pulled grabbed some things from the fridge and began to work. "I get It, but I won't be able to waste money on that until I get payed." She replied.
Syrin looked at Karak. "I guess you didn't feel like cooking today?" She asked.
Karak rested his head. "No, I just need to take it easy because the restaurant opens tomorrow, besides that, Seth won't LET me cook today." He said as he laid back.
Syrin looked at Seth who was busy making eggs, she then walked to the couch and sat down, she levitated the book she had been reading and settled in.
_____*later that day, 11:42 AM*_____
In his time living in Atera, Shade learned two absolute things, one......Atera was a diverse city with a large variety of people, two, both Seth and Ren were very late sleepers.
Shade was currently walking through the park, he had heard from Seth that there was a memorial to the murdered councilmember here, but that the wife had shown up and made things stressful.
What was strange was that Karak had said that it would be best not to push the subject and that it was handled, Shade decided to take his advice and not press.
So as he walked past the memorial, Shade spotted something peculiar on it, he raised an eyebrow looked at the object.
Unlike everything else, this object was black and shaped like a small cylinder, it had silver trimmings and a delta letter engraved into it.
"Nice pen." Shade muttered as he continued his walk.
Eventually the night wolf found himself outside Hiran's, he noticed that it was open and that people were inside. "Guess business is booming." He said as he walked away.
______*later that day, 7:00 PM, apartment 192*______
Karak sat down on the floor while Seth sat in her chair, Syrin and Shade sat on the couch with Ren in the corner, they were all just watching a movie that had ended a few minutes ago, and Seth then changed the channel. "So, when do you guys start your new job?" Ren asked casually.
"Around seven in the morning, we have a lot of prep work to do." Shade stated.
Seth groaned and laid back. "Well I know who's going to be dead on their feet." Ren joked.
Karak shrugged. "She'll survive, so long as she doesn't fall asleep on the job." He said before looking at the television.
"Shut up demon boy." Seth said quietly.
Syrin chuckled and looked at Karak who simply rolled his eyes. "Let's just watch whatever's on." He replied.
______*the next day, 6:30 AM*______
Shade, Seth and Karak were walking to work together, the air was slightly warmer today, which let them know that winter was ending soon, they were wearing warm clothes but not baggy.
Karak was wearing a simple pair of dark blue slacks that he needed to roll up so that they didn't touch the ground, he also wore a long sleeved blue shirt.
Shade wore a pair of brown cargo pants and a dark green shirt, thankfully it fit him just fine, but it was a little itchy.
Seth was wearing a pair of gray pants, and a white tee shirt with a black jacket, and exactly as Ren said, she was basically dead on her feet as she walked with Shade and Karak to the restaurant, everyone else was asleep when they got up, so breakfast was mostly cereal for them.
More than once, Shade needed to shake Seth to keep her awake. "Give it a little more time, you'll have some energy." He said.
Seth grumbled. "Ten more hours, I'll be just fine." She replied sleepily.
Karak smiled at the little exchange as they neared the restaurant. "Think about it this way Seth, all the aromas that will be in the air, the hustle and bustle, you'll get enough energy if you stop moping." He teased.
Seth growled a little. "Why did you have to mention that?" She asked angrily, yet sleepily.
The three soon made it into the restaurant and looked around, they saw at least five other employees and Denol walking around, talking and getting ready for the place to open.
"I'm going to go talk to my uncle, you two should go get ready." Shade said as he walked off.
Karak nodded and headed for the kitchen, with Seth following him.
The kitchen was roomy, there were two ovens, a walk in freezer and pantry, a large counter to place food on, a large sink and a prep area, as well as other equipment necessary to cook the items on the menu.
Seth walked to a side room and grabbed a clean pair of white aprons, she threw one to Karak and put her's on, she then walked over to the pantry and looked around, seeing plentiful ingredients and food items. "Hmm, Denol put a lot of thought into this." She muttered as she walked back to the kitchen.
Karak grabbed some pots and pans and placed them on the burners, he then got a bunch of plates and bowls out and set them on the counter, he then looked at Seth. "We have some time before people show up, let's make sure we know where everything is, last thing I want is to misplace something." He said.
Seth nodded and walked to the freezer to check its contents.
Karak kept the two of them busy until the restaurant opened, and once it did, Shade walked into the kitchen and stood on the other side of the counter. "Alright you guys, I hope your ready." He said.
"Who's expediting?" Karak asked.
Shade chuckled. "Your looking at him, don't worry, I won't let you guys go off track." He reassured.
Seth walked to the counter and leaned on it. "How many do you think will show up?" She asked curiously.
"Don't know the exact number, but uncle Denol has been advertising this place for a while now, so I think it'll be packed." He replied.
Sure enough, as soon as the first wave of customers showed up, the restaurant got busy quickly, Seth and Karak immediately got to work making breakfast items, including eggs, French toast, pancakes, sausage and or egg biscuits, among other things.
The rest of the breakfast shift went the same way, Seth and Karak working together in the kitchen, Shade keeping things on track, with only one or two mistakes, they finally got to the lunch break and we're making themselves and any other employees that didn't bring lunch some food.
Karak and Seth sat down and ate their lunch with Shade and a tiger waiter called Milo. "That was stressful." Milo stated.
Seth nodded. "It wasn't any better in the kitchen, if Shade wasn't there, it would have been a nightmare to keep track of things." She said as she took a bite from her sandwich.
Five minutes later, the break ended and the employees were back to work as the lunch shift started up.
_______*later that day, outside the apartments, 2:00 PM.*_______
Seth groaned as she sat down on the steps leading to the apartments. "I can't feel my arms!" She complained.
Shade leaned against the wall. "I guess we can hold up a moment." He said.
Karak then sat down a few steps above Seth. "Trust me, you get used to it Sethy." He teased.
"Shut up Storm." Seth replied as she rested her limbs a little.
Shade crossed his arms and looked around. "Hey Seth, mind if I ask you something?" He wondered.
Seth nodded. "Alright, shoot." She said.
"I've noticed that the numbers for the apartments make no sense, usually the meaning is floor, door number and side." He stated. "But here I don't understand it at all." He said.
Seth shrugged. "It's simple, the first number is the side, we live on the south side of the apartments, so it's a one, the second number is the door number, since we go in and out from the back entrance, it's a nine, and the two is the floor level, we have to climb up the stairs, so it's a two." She explained easily.
"Well, let's head up and relax, we won't get much relief out here now will we?" Shade said as he walked to the stairs.
Seth and Karak got up and headed for the apartment, they were at the door and Seth opened it, somehow knowing it wasn't locked. "How did you know that?" Shade asked.
"Ren got some bad habits from her roommates, one of them involved leaving the door unlocked." Seth explained as she closed the door, she then locked it. "Dibs on first shower." Seth immediately said as she ran to her room to get a clean pair of clothes.
Shade walked to the couch and sat down, he laid back to rest a little bit, a minute after Seth got into the bathroom there was a knock at the door. "Can you get that?" Shade asked.
Karak sighed and stood up, he walked from the small table to the front door, he unlocked it and opened the door, on the other side was a Chameleon wearing a white shirt and a brown winter jacket, along with a pair of brown sweatpants. "Can I.....help you?" He asked.
The chameleon took a breath and spoke. "Yes, I am Terrance from the Atera health institute, I am looking for someone that used to be a patient there." He stated.
Karak raised an eyebrow, he had heard of that place, it was a highly respected detox center. "And who would that be?" He asked curiously.
Terrance pulled out a photo and showed it to Karak. "Seth Angelica Fairwind, she was one of our more......violent cases." He stated calmly.
Karak blinked when he saw the photo of Seth wearing her usual outfit, but he looked at the chameleon. "She doesn't look violent." He said.
With a nod, Terrance took the photo back. "You are right, but there is a reason for that, she was a common user of the drug known as Darket......it's a powerful drug that dulls pain, causes a blissful state and eases the mind.....the main downside is that it is infused with-"
"Demon blood." Karak stated, he sighed. "I've heard of it before, the blood itself causes intense anger and hostility, as well as enhanced strength." He added.
The chameleon nodded. "It's good to know you understand the dangers, but have you seen Seth Fairwind?" He asked.
Karak shook his head. "I'm sorry, but no, I haven't." He lied.
"I see.......so you have never seen your roommate?" The chameleon asked curiously.
Without letting his surprise show, Karak replied. "I suppose not, now if you'll excuse me, I just got home and I want to rest." He said as he closed the door and locked it.
Karak sighed and walked to his shared room to get some clothes.
____*later that day, 1:00 AM.*____
Karak stood with his arms crossed as Seth walked out of her room, he flipped the lights on, surprising her. "Karak!.....jeez, you trying to give me a heart attack?" She asked as she collected herself.
"Can demons get heart attacks?" Karak asked, sounding suspicious.
Seth blinked, her face didn't reveal any shock but her arms stiffening gave her surprise away. "I'm not a demon Karak, are you feeling alright?" She asked, her voice slightly off.
Karak narrowed his eyes. "Did you know demons can sense intent? it's like a sixth sense, I can tell when someone is going to attack or run away, but when it comes to you?.......I can't sense anything, i was only able to tell what you wanted to do the other day because of your eyes." He stated. "A demon can't read another demons intent, so logic dictates that you are a demon." He explained.
Seth took a deep breath. "Storm......come on, I'm no demon and that doesn't make any sense." She said quietly.
Karak nodded. "True, but being able to beat up the gang that runs the docks?.......you must have had demon blood in your system, so either you are a demon......or you use Darket." He stated.
Seth froze stiff and Karak spoke. "It would seem I was right, how long have you been using it?" He asked.
In response to this question, Seth looked at the ground. "Ever since the argument with Ren, the docks gang attacked Ren a week later while she was investigating one of their members, I went to the docks and in my anger, I attacked them, I guess the demon blood took over and I just pummeled them." She said quietly.
"You guess?" He wondered.
Seth sighed. "I blacked out, I don't remember actually fighting them, the most I remember is starting to run at them, when I woke up, my hands were bloody and bruised, my body and clothes were bloody as well and I gained this knife scar at the base of my left ear." She explained.
"I....I checked them all, so many of them were.........were dead, only a few of them survived, I uh, I just left them there......dying." Seth's breathing soon became panicked as she shivered, she held her arms and cried from the memories of her actions. "Why am I remembering now?......now of all times?" She said with a broken voice.
Karak walked up to Seth and put his arms around her in a comforting hug, she didn't even seem to notice as she cried into his fur. "Just let it out, I'm not going anywhere.......you aren't alone in this Seth, I've dealt with fighting for control before, and I've done unforgivable things in my past." He whispered quietly, he slowly rubbed the back of Seth's head, her ears were down as she cried.
She had cried for hours, and Karak had stayed with her until she finally fell asleep, at which point he placed her on the couch and covered her with a throw blanket.
Karak sat on his bed and sighed as he laid back. 'How did this happen?.......I just can't get a break.' He thought as he tried to get some sleep.