In the span of a week, the world has entered a state of limbo. People don't really acknowledge that anything has changed. At least, not verbally. But, everyone has a look about them now. This primal fear in their eyes as they walk the street, watching over their shoulder everywhere they go. Jumping at any little thing that wouldn't have frightened them before.

Though, to say the least, we haven't been much better. Mel's parent's barely acknowledge the black dog murders and if we'd bring anything up, they steer the conversation away. So, we too, ignore it. We keep going about things like everything is normal.

"Hey, stop looking so distressed. I bet everything will be fine." Rodger grins as he looks at me through the rearview mirror. "Come on, I'm sure everyone's having a tough time getting a job. I mean, it ain't like Mel's parent's are gonna throw you out. They love ya like family."

They do, but that doesn't mean they want a freeloader either.

Robbie's arm slips from the side of his face as we go over a bump in the street, his head hitting the back driver's seat, instantly waking him up. "God," he grumbles, casting his eyes around the car. "I was sleeping so good..."

Rodger looks back to him and rolls his eyes. "You really should get more sleep. All of you guys should. Even Sal. I think she's pretty close to ending that sister of hers."

Robbie rolls his eyes. "Hard to do that. Mom's been feeling really sick lately and then I have school... and work besides. These daily chauffeur things are literally the only time I can get some sleep between everything." He leans back into his seat, his head lolling to the side as he stares at me. "Mel says anything about the... incident in the alley?"

I shake my head. "She's been tight lipped about it. Any time that I try talking to her, she just shuts down and gets upset." I rub my forehead. I could still hear the door slamming on my face when she locked me out of our room last night. "I should have shut my mouth after her outburst at school the other day. She finally had enough and we got into a pretty big fight yesterday. And now I'm stuck in the guest room."

"Well, that explains the scowls and grumbling earlier," Robbie says, patting me on the shoulder. "Don't worry, she'll be back to normal in a day or so."

A sigh leaves my lips. I almost doubt that.

Robbie shifts, getting comfy in his spot before he crosses his arms and closes his eyes. Instantly falling asleep.

"Rodger, can you drop me off here."

Rodger pulls to the side of the street. "Is this where that job is?"

"Yup, I'll walk home after this."

The man begins to protest, but he lets it go fairly quickly. "Fine. Just be careful."

I nod and step out of the car. Seconds later, Rodger pulls off, leaving me to walk a few doors down. To where a large plank of wood sits above the entrance. Even with the weathered paint I can still make out 'Jade Dragon Corner Store.'.

This place is so close to home. Why haven't I ever come here. It seems so nice.

A lump feels like it begins to settle at the bottom of my stomach as I take a few deep breaths. This is the last of the eight jobs Sally had told me about before she left. And it feels like it's honestly one of my last chances at getting a job. Ten jobs. Maybe eleven if this goes south. All of them had the same result. They'd say "expect a call or email in about a week" but, I knew instantly that it was fake. It was just a courtesy that they had to follow through with. I had no experience. I wasn't out of school. I wasn't strong looking. There was something that they saw each time. Something that made me the last person they'd hire.

The only one who ever gave me a straight answer was Rodger. But, I never really expected to get a job from him considering that not even Robbie was supposed to work there. Especially not unsupervised like he had been before this whole mess started up.

I force out the thought and take one last deep breath as I open the door, causing a bell to jingle.

The store is quiet, almost completely empty besides a little old woman checking out and a pretty asian woman running the register at the back right of the big room.

My eyes roam around the store. It isn't too small, or too big, but still bigger than the station Sally worked at for her dad. Twelve aisles are lined up like dominoes across the left side, with more shelves lining the back walls from the door to the middle of the back wall. To my right there is a huge section of flowers. And then right between the flowers and the three registers is an old wooden wagon with a heap of stuffed animals.

Below the cart, a black cat sits, its eyes surveying the room like a guard dog. For the slightest moment, the animal closes its eyes seemingly satisfied that nothing worrying is here.

Slowly I walk down the middle of the store to stand behind the old woman.

My eyes move back to the cat. Its lemur-looking tail flicking as it stares dead at me with narrow eyes. The faint sound of a growl rumbling through its throat.

I return my attention to the old woman and the cashier, they're both talking but I can't really understand what they're saying. It's like they were speaking a whole different language. But, a few words would occasionally crop up. Something about a cat. And then something about a garden — which makes sense with all the gardening tools, cat food, and litter in her cart.

For some reason, I can feel someone else staring at the back of my head, but as I turn around all I can see are two white cats with similar lemur-like tails. Something moves in one of the aisles and as I turn to look, a brown cat pops out from behind some knick-knacks.

I turn back as the black cat rushes past the registers and into a small hall at the very back. My eyes briefly lock with the cashier who gives me a small smile before she takes the woman's money and bids her farewell.

"Hello!" The woman's greeting is excited and almost too happy. Though, when she doesn't receive a response other than a "Hi" she lets out a small laugh.

I take a few steps forward. Each step almost seems heavier, like I am walking through an impossibly thick fog, my eyes feel hot and I blink the pain away, but when I focus on the woman, I nearly jump. Her pupils aren't round like they should have been, but slitted. And a lemur-like tale sways behind her.

"You sure are an interesting human. Most can't seem to tell my true nature through the magics. How can I help you?"

She's really way too happy about this...

I attempt to shake away the vision, but when it stays, I suck in a deep breath. "I was... looking to get a job here."

The woman's face contorts into a frown for a split-second as another cat darts into the back room. "Alright, I'll tell Mrs. Satō you're here." Her frown becomes a small smile as she turns and trots over to where the two cats had gone moments ago.

I look back to where the white cats had been laying on top of one of the aisles, and they're both there. Still staring, but every so often they take glances at one another. Like they are talking among themselves.

Anxiety claws its way into my heart as I give a small hum in an attempt to calm my nerves. But, it feels like an eternity before the shorter woman comes walking out from the hall with the black cat in her arms.

The green-eyed woman stops before the register. "You wish to have a job here?"

I swear, everyone and everything here has to be a supernatural. Not that I mind, but the way they're looking at me is so off-putting.

The woman's eye begins to glow as she looks into my eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispers, her voice so quiet that I almost can't hear her. Though, when I do, I wait to begin walking away. At least, she's honest about it. "I cannot hire you. There is darkness within you. You would only invite more into my establishment."

As I attempt to leave the store, the woman grabs a hold of my wrist. "Before you go... I wish to warn you. The darkness of our world is beginning to fester again and it will come after you until you are lost in the void. Something is different in this cycle, it's more dangerous than last time... It will leave no one around you untouched. Stay safe, little raven."

What is she talking about? I frown as the woman allows me to go and then the Bakeneko woman comes back giving me a small wave as I walk out of the store.

As soon as I get to the bottom of the three stairs leading into the building, I sit down on the last step. "I'm really not gonna get a job anytime soon." I shake my head at the thought and look up to see a familiar figure walking away from me.

"Mel?"

I get to my feet and rush over to her. Yet, the closer I get to her, the farther she seems to get from me. I falter as the girl rounds the corner, my heart beats so quickly that it hurts. Like if I take another step I'd completely collapse or maybe the organ will beat all the way out of my body. I'm not sure. But, when the horrible feeling dies off, I stagger over to the corner and peek around to see the sidewalk completely empty.

Maybe, I'm just... not getting enough sleep or something. Yeah, that's it. I'm seeing things, chasing after people who aren't there. Mom used to — I swallow down the lump forming in my throat. She used to get like that sometimes.

"You think too much."

A large hand lands on my head, ruffling my hair into a big mess, causing some strands to briefly obscure my vision. My eyes move up to see the giant of a man staring down at me with curiosity glinting in the green orbs beyond the plague mask's goggles. He has to be above six feet, by a lot.

"Mr. Petrov... it's good to see you."

He shakes his head. "Call me Andros." He pats my head, a muffled laugh coming from beyond the bird-like mask. "But, it is good to see you too."

"What were you thinking about?" Andros takes off his mask, attaching it to his belt where a range of different vials and bottles hang.

Hmm, I wonder what those are for. I think he's the first plague doctor I've seen carrying vials of strangely colored liquids. They don't use magic, do they?

I blink and let out a small laugh. "I dunno. Kinda a little bit of everything."

"You Columbians sure are strange..." Andros mutters.

I tilt my head at his statement. "You mean, Americans, right?"

He groans. "Yes. I forget you do not go by goddess of your land."

Goddess of our land— Oh, I get it. "Columbia, the goddess of America... or one of them, at least. I forgot about that."

"Many have. So little of the past is remembered." He crosses his arms and looks off into the distance for a moment, his eyes moving across the empty street, the hallucination had disappeared down.

I attempt to see what he might be looking for, but eventually give up and let out a small sigh. "Hey, Andros, I have a question... Did you or the police find an abandoned car in the alleyway close to the bar?"

"By Rodger's Bar?" he questions. The way he looks at me is slightly worrying to say the least. It's like when someone knows you shouldn't have knowledge about something like that. "Yes, in fact, we have. But, how did you know?"

"I saw the car when we went to the bar... I didn't really — I dunno. It didn't seem important to anything that was going on. That's why I didn't bring it up. But, it's been bothering me a bit. I thought it was abandoned, but I think someone might have been living in it."

Andros looks at me for a moment, his eyes almost unhappy. "So, why bring this up now?"

I rub my arms. "Well, is the owner okay? Are they involved in the murders."

"Not quite. But, possibly."

Before he can even expand on his statement, a police car pulls up beside us. The window quickly rolls down to show Ms. Johnson. "I was wondering where you went to, Andros." Her eyes move over to me. "How about you hop in. I wanna talk to you. As I'm sure Andros does as well."

Andros lets out another groan as he pulls the back door open for me. "It was handled Anna," he mumbles as I slide into the back seat of the car. "If I would have had more time—"

"It was handled poorly."

Andros slams my door shut and then gets into the car himself, grumbling at the woman.

"You can't go questioning people in plain sight. We don't know who could be listening." She only rolls her eyes more when the man doesn't stop grumbling under his breath. The two grumble at one another for a few seconds before Ms. Johnson turns back to me. "We're going to take a little drive. What is said in this car is not to be repeated anywhere. Got it."

"Yes, ma'am."

For about two blocks no one says anything, Ms. Johnson occasionally looks up like she wants to say something, but she only begins talking when we pass the garage where Sally's cousin is standing outside smoking a cigarette with one of the mechanics.

"Two days ago, a man by the name of Alexander Montie attacked a man coming out of my building. He came out of the alleyway near where the car was. Did you notice anything about the car?"

"Well, it might have been inhabited. But, other than that, I dunno."

She sighs. "Well, that's not too helpful. Was there anything else about that day that you think might have been important or interesting?"

I should tell them about the cat. I dunno if it's connected to what they're talking about, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it was— Just tell them. Stop thinking and just tell them. I take a deep breath. "There was something about that cat that we saw in the alley. The feral Mel saw... I think that it might have been dead."

Andros finally stops his grumbling and looks my way. "Dead? Are you sure?"

I swallow hard. "I dunno. It just the way it looked was wrong and it was limping around really funny. Not like a cat should when it's hurt. And Mel's been so touchy about it all week and I finally asked if we should try getting a professional's help to take the animal in for treatment, but she said: "It's too late." So, when I asked if she thought it had already passed, she got really funny. Like defensive and angry, kind of funny." Letting out a small sigh, I lean back in my seat. "Mel's been really strange since then, but this was different. She never got like that — not even when we had bad fights. And it was all because I mentioned that it died. How would she know it was too late, unless she knew it had something like Rabies."

"If the animal had rabies, no vet can really cure that. She probably just assumed that."

"No, she didn't. Mel was confident that it was. Just the look in her eyes said it all."

By the way the two of them seem to hush up at that, I almost feel like I'd hit the nail on the head or something. Once again, the car goes silent until we reach the house.

Ms. Johnson sighs. "Listen kid, call one of us if anything else comes to mind. Anything. No matter the time of day." She looks genuinely worried as she speaks. "Something screwy is going on here and I don't like it."