It's around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and I'm walking around this city in the daylight; a rare activity for me. Still slightly groggy from the night before, I make my way to the tea shop where the masked woman said she would be.

As the tea shop comes into view, I realize, silly enough, the closer I get, the more anxious I am to meet her. I realize I've never seen her without her mask. “Should I really be meeting this girl today?” I ask.

“You are doing what feels right to you, Danny. Don't question it.”

“Yeah, you're right. As usual. Do you think we'll know when we see her?”

“I'm sure she will be apparent,” Dorothy finishes her sentence as I walk through the door of the shop.

At first glance, every table is filled. So I take another look, and on the west end of the shop, next to the windows sits a woman at a table set for two. This is the only table in the shop decorated with marigolds, and the late noon sun, glimmers upon her. The woman sitting at the table looks up and invites me to come and sit.

I sit down and she pours me a cup of tea. “It is only polite to know the name of the company that shares one's tea,” she quips with a smile. “Danny, Danny Flint,” I say as I chuckle, “and what name belongs to my hostess?” She smiles, this time very warm, “ you can call me Penelope Piedra. I hope you like Bai Hao Oolong.”

“It's actually my favorite,” I say taken off guard. Every nerve in my body begins to tingle.

After the formalities we sat and conversed. As the hours flew by we became enchantingly comfortable in front of one another. I explained everything from my training with Master Yang, to the one who killed my mother. She told me stories for an organization she works for named Plain Sight. She was sent here after reports of a man in a silver suit had been seen masquerading around the city. Her orders were to eliminate if needed.

The time passed quickly as we sat. The closers practically had to push us out the door of the tea shop.

Now standing under a street light on the corner of the street as we say our goodbyes, Penelope takes off her necklace. The unique stone at the end of it has a brilliant green and blue fire lit inside of it. She leans in to hug me and wraps the necklace around my neck. “This stone is called labradorite, Danny, do not remove it. I sense a demon looming in your shadow, and this can protect you,” she whispers into my ear.

“Don't you need it?”

“This demon is close, and you're going to need all the protection you can get.”

She then kissed me on the cheek and walked off into the night.