There, across the room and seated at the bar was what I could only assume were three daemons seated, staring at their table. To avoid being obvious in noticing them, I turned my attention elsewhere, but Violet was still staring right in their direction.

"You alright, Vi?" I asked nervously.

"Those three dudes there, at the bar," she whispered back. "I'm not getting a good vibe from them, and they won't stop staring at us."

Could she see the daemons too? No, there were other people at the bar, right? I tried to see if any of them were staring in our direction as well, but the crowd of waitresses and other patrons kept shifting too much to get a clear look.

"Which three?" I asked, squinting as I tried to get a good look at the rest of the bar.

"Those three, right--" Violet then stopped speaking. "You know what, I think I was just seeing things. Don't worry about it."

As Violet said this, the three daemons got up from where they were sitting and made their way over to our table. I did my best to act natural, sipping my drink and pretending to be interesting in the inane office gossip that Carol was still going on about. Jonathon appeared to be doing the same.

"We got trouble," I could hear Ping whisper, but like before they were nowhere to be seen. And then there, behind Carol and Jonathon two of the daemons stopped and took a closer look at the table. Their skin was a mottled green and their mouths were far too wide and full of way too many teeth. Their heads were even more broad, with their foreheads looking to be absolutely full of eyes, yet only the two in the middle were actually glowing yellow. Each moved about with an unnatural smoothness, and their broad torsos tapered off into thin stalks, as if they had no legs. I looked behind me casually and could see the third was standing behind Violet, who was looking as uncomfortable as ever.

"Now look at this little party," The daemon behind Carol sneered. "Buncha office workers, don'tya think?"

"Nice, young, and fit," the one behind Jonathon said, licking its lips with a long tongue. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', boys?"

"Nothin' like a lil' snack, eh?" the one behind Violet said with a chuckle. "You don't think Middle Management would miss a body or two, do ya?"

"I'm sure the job market could use a lil' opening myself," the first said. "Couple o' these still have their soul lines in some condition, too! Like this young chap, here."

The one that stood behind Jonathon examined him more closely. "Oi, you're right! He's jus' barely holdin' on there, though. Still, could be like one o' those lil' gourmet meals where you get like a bite or two and thas 'upposed to tide you by."

"This one's still got a lotta soul in 'er," The one behind Violet said, and I could feel the sweat dripping down my neck by now. "But it's weird." The daemon took a few, hearty sniffs of my friend and made a grossed out face. "Like it's gone stale or somethin'! Freezer burn or whatever, no thanks!"

"Stale?" I whispered to myself, and then covered my mouth without thinking, as if they didn't already know that I was sitting right here.

"This one, though," the daemon said, moving towards me. "She's fresh like a strawberry! Nice and ripe, I don't think middle management's doin' their job very well."

I couldn't see Ping, but I felt a very nervous energy surround me, like they were desperate to get me to transform but knew that doing so right then and there could be a very bad idea. I started to tap my leg nervously as well.

"No, I think I heard about that one," the one behind Jonathon said. "Yeah, somethin' from a lil' imp, works for one o' the local bosses. They're gearin' up to squeeze this one dry, so I think they'd notice if she was to suddenly be missin', know what I mean?"

"Then it's decided," the one behind Carol spoke. "These two, the chipper young lad and the nosy bitch!"

"But she ain't got no soul!"

"Sod off! Meat's meat, you know what I mean? Now, let's toss lots and see who gets what of each. I could go for some leg myself."

"S-sorry, excuse me!" I said, a little too loudly to the table and everyone went quiet, and I realized I didn't know what it was that I was going to say. Warn them? They would think I'm crazy! I needed to think, I needed to save them. Could they die? Well of course! They said meat, these daemons were definitely going to eat them! "I... need to go to the bathroom!"

"Well you don't need my permission," Carol said with a wave, and quickly I pushed my chair away from the table and scrambled in the direction of the restroom. "What a rush? You think she got the runs?" I could hear Carol say to a light chorus of laughter behind me.

Once inside the restroom I closed the door tight and Ping appeared immediately.

"Okay, okay, I just," I said, slapping myself on the cheeks to come to my sense. "I just, need to know: can they kill us? Even if we can't see them?" I definitely had never seen anyone disappear with a bloody bite taken out of them or anything.

Ping's worried expression didn't put me at any ease, however. "You know when people just, die suddenly from a heart attack? Or a stroke? Or something else very sudden?" I felt a pit fall in my stomach and nodded furiously. "Let's just say... it's not always a heart attack."

I took a deep, shaky breath and looked at Ping with a determined glare. "I hate that I'm going to do this, but we need to transform."