As winter concluded and spring arrived, the weather became a bit warmer and the sun stayed out a bit longer. It would occasionally rain for a few days at a time, but it was usually a fresh sprinkle rather than the heavy storms that occurred in Nascenshire winters.

Lucas had had a rough day at school. Having back to back lectures in the morning and standing for four hours in lab class is enough to make any student physically exhausted and ready to collapse at any moment. The cafe had gotten Lucas used to working for long periods of time, but his school day involved walking all over campus and using a lot of mental energy. He hoped that work that day would be less chaotic, as he had already used up a lot of his energy.

But things don’t always go as one hopes and surprises are a part of life. The cafe was also extremely busy when Lucas arrived at work. His eyes strained as he kept up with the influx of customers.

Business slowed down for a bit as it got darker, but then a new rush occurred. There would be customers who grew impatient and yelled at him. Some wouldn’t say anything, only expressing their frustration on their face as they glared at Lucas. Lucas could only awkwardly proceed with his job, working through the humiliation.

A sound came from the mailbox, and Valerie walked over to pick up the letters. She rapidly shuffled through each one, picking out one envelope and throwing the rest out on her way back into the break room.

The crowd of customers died down, and when there were no more people coming in with orders to be made, Valerie came out and asked Emilio to help her with something in the break room. There was a stool behind the counter that Emilio and Valerie would occasionally sit on if they were working on the counter for long periods of time. Lucas dragged the stool over to his place at the counter and sat down for a bit, watching the customers drinking their drinks, eating their food, and silently leaving the cafe. They would open the door, and as the door slowly closed on its own, he watched as their figures slowly disappeared into the darkness as they moved away from the cafe.

Out of boredom of sitting for several minutes, Lucas got up and began walking towards the door, figuring he might benefit from getting a bit of fresh air. When he opened the door, the wind forced the door to swing and fully stay open, startling Lucas. The airstream was strong, making his hair get a bit messed up. Somewhere in the sounds of the wind, he felt like he heard his name being called. It sounded somewhat like a whisper amidst the blowing sounds, and he couldn’t be sure if he was just imagining it. He turned around, and there was no one in the cafe who would be calling for him. It sounded like it was coming from outside. He took a step outside to see if he could hear better. It was completely dark outside but the cafe was casting light from behind him. He continued to hear his name being called faintly in the wind. He kept slowly stepping forward against the wind. The wind began to subside, but just as he felt like he was going to be able to hear his name clearly, every sound stopped and it was completely silent. He turned around to return to the cafe , but the light was no longer behind him. Perhaps he walked too far. Lucas kept on walking to get back to the cafe, but the darkness continued and the door was nowhere in sight. He began to feel panicked, so he began to walk faster and faster, hoping that the light from the open door would eventually appear before him.

Eventually, he started running. He ran and ran and ran, until he became so tired and needed to stop to catch his breath. He was sweating, which made him feel colder in the cold darkness.

Lucas started to walk again and in the distance, he saw two figures. He tried getting closer, but the figures turned to look at him and then vanished. In the split moment that they looked at him, he thought he saw Maria and Irene.

Lucas continued to walk around, looking for anyone who could help him. He scanned his surroundings as he moved, and he bumped into someone.

“Sorry!” Lucas said. He looked at who he ran into. It was Jonathan. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you,” Lucas said, looking a bit askew from Jonathan’s face. Jonathan only looked at Lucas, staying completely silent. “Hello?” Lucas looked at Jonathan’s blank expression, and when he tried touching Jonathan’s shoulder, his hand went right through him. Jonathan’s figure disappeared in front of Lucas, leaving Lucas alone and confused.

Lucas walked some more, no longer remembering what direction the cafe was supposed to be in. He wandered for what felt like an hour, and then he saw his parents in the distance. His heart dropped. He didn’t want them to see him. He didn’t want any questions to be brought up. He flinched when they turned to look at him. Though he was too far to see their facial expressions clearly, their expressions didn’t seem positive.

“Wait!” Lucas yelled as he began running towards them. They vanished right as Lucas got close to them. He looked around, hoping they were still somewhere. But he was all alone. 

“Hello,” said a voice behind Lucas. Lucas turned behind him. A lady wearing a black cloak looked down on him. Lucas sprung up to look at the lady at eye-level. “Did you find what you need here?” asked the lady with a gentle smile on her face.

“What?”

“You didn’t see anything here?”

“Well, I did. I wasn’t looking for anything, though. I’m lost and just need to get back to work.”

“Get back to work?” The lady seemed confused. “You don’t want to keep looking here?”

“Why would I? I never intended to come here at all. It’s dark, cold, and I keep getting left here alone.”

“Hm,” the woman hummed. “Maybe it’ll come to you instead.” She then turned around and began to walk away.

“Now you’re leaving me, too!” Lucas shouted after her, but she kept walking away. Lucas didn’t bother to follow her and just watched her disappear into the distance.