"No way. How..." Mary's voice trailed off.

"It's ok, don't freak out on me," Maya said gently.

"I'm sorry," Mary was successfully ticked off. "But this is a lot to take in. This could be an elaborate prank for all I know!"

"I assure you it's not," Maya persisted. "Anyway, please be careful. I saw a strange person- if you can even call it a person- out here."

Mary shook her head. "Ok," she sighed. "Say, if you can travel out of your body... would you happen to know where Ted is?"

Maya's face lit up. "Of course I do! I went looking for him before I saw you. He's in the news van. You know, the one parked on X Street?"

Mary pressed her lips together and nodded. "Mhm. Ok. Thanks!"

"No problem," Maya beamed.

Mary jogged away. But of COURSE Maya already went looking for him! That girl really knew how to get on her nerves.

"Well, Maya. I guess it's you versus me for Ted!" Mary muttered to herself as she ran.

She didn't expect to see so many people when she arrived. There were so many people, yet no sign of Ted. Unless... he was INSIDE the news van. Mary walked around the crowd, looking for a way in. She made her way to the opposite side of the van just in time to see Ted exiting.

"Ok. Thanks for everything!" Ted waved goodbye to the people inside the van.

"Mary?" he and Mary jumped when he turned around.

"Hi Ted," she said nervously, "I just came by to check on you." She also didn't expect to find him. Would he be bothered?

Ted smiled. How sweet of her to worry for him, even though they'd only known each other for a day and a half.

"That's very kind of you, Mary."

Mary blushed and smiled back. Ted's heart beat faster, just by seeing that lovable smile. He laughed softly, subtly bringing a hand up to his face to hide the roses on his cheeks.

That cute laugh! Mary looked away and tried to hide the smile growing larger.

"Ahem. I guess we should be heading back to work now," Ted broke the moment.

"Right!" Mary nodded, putting on a poker face. She smoothed out her dress. "Let's go."

***

Mary attended a customer as Ted washed the dishes. She couldn't help but wonder... what sort of mysteries lied within this place? She'd seen enough to know it wasn't just a normal restaurant, they weren't normal waiters, and definitely not normal uniforms.

If Maya had the ability to wander outside her body, then did everyone else have a power of their own too? Even Ted?

After serving the last customer in line, Mary made her way to the break room.

There she greeted Maya, Britney, and Lena.

"Did you find Ted?" Britney asked.

How did they know she went looking for him? Unless Maya told them. But Maya wouldn't know because she was passed out. She didn't know how to respond without spilling Maya's secret.

"Don't worry, they already know about my powers," Maya grinned.

"Do you, Britney and Lena, have a power?" Mary wanted to know.

"No. Sadly, only you teenagers seem to have them," Lena answered.

Mary's eyes widened. "Does that mean Ted has a power?"

Maya coughed. Lena suddenly felt the need to smooth out her apron.

"Well..," began Britney. "We think he does, but he's never actually told any of us anything about that."

"Yeah," Lena agreed. "Whenever we asked him about it, he would always switch the topic."

"Or pretend he didn't hear us," Maya added sadly.

"Eventually we quit asking," Britney said.

Maybe I could try asking him, Mary thought.

***

Tomorrow, she thought as she laid sleepily on the couch in Ted's house, she would ask if he has any special abilities. Hopefully, he wouldn't get mad at her. This was some risky business, according to the three waitresses.

***

"Good morning Mary. I see you woke up early," Ted yawned as he entered the kitchen.

Mary turned to face him. "Good morning Ted. I woke up early to make you breakfast. You made it yesterday, so I wanted to repay you."

In an instant, the tired expression on his face was washed away and replaced with a kind smile. "Wow thank you, Mary."

"You're welcome," Mary grinned. She'd never seen anyone so happy over a plate of eggs.

She took a sip of her orange juice as Ted dug into his scrambled eggs.

"Ted?" Don't make your voice so high-pitched, Mary!

"Yes?" He sipped his orange juice.

"So uh... Yesterday, I found out that Maya had powers." Another sip.

"Oh?"

"Yeah... So I um wanted to know... if maybe you had powers too?"

Ted put his drink down. Mary stared at him, anticipating an answer. He stood up, pushed his chair in, and left the kitchen.

Mary stood with her mouth open. That was NOT meant to happen.

***

Once again, Mary and Ted were the first to arrive at the Harlequin. Mary watched silently as Ted unlocked the entrance.

"Ted," she began carefully, "I'm sorry about this morning..."

Ted sighed. "Its ok," he said, turning around to face her. "Let's just forget anything happened."

Mary gulped. "Sure."

***

"Excuse me?" A gentle voice called from in front of the counter.

Ted looked up. "Yes? How can I help you?"

He saw a beautiful short lady who looked about the same age as Britney and Lena; dressed modestly in a loose grey dress with a small black cardigan.

"Money for the church, please. We'd appreciate some donations," the woman said.

"Sure, one moment please." Ted reached into the cash register. Feeling generous, he selected a ten dollar bill and handed it to the woman.

"Thank you so much!" she smiled graciously. "Have a wonderful day."

"Thanks, you too," he grinned.

The bells above the door jingled as the light blonde woman exited. She decided that her next stop would be the hospital, praying that the people there would be safe.

***

"May I take your order?" Mary tried to put on her best poker face as she stood next to a strange looking man sitting at the table. He wore a stained-with-who-knows-what green sweater along with ripped and muddy grey shorts. He wore no shoes.

"Glurg garble hachsm jacha," he responded, his eyes half-open.

Mary felt the blood drain from her face. She did not understand a word he said! Perhaps he was speaking a foreign language?

"I'm sorry? I didn't quite catch that..."

"Duck ham jam! Fried syrup turkey." His eyes were definitely open now. In fact, they looked like they'd pop out of his skull!

Mary gasped. "I'm sorry, but we don't serve that here."

He crossed his arms and mumbled something under his breath. At this point, Mary wasn't sure if she should risk asking again. There was only one option she'd consider...

"One moment please," she attempted a sweet smile to cover up her fear.

She quickly walked to the kitchen.

"Maya!?" she called out, ready to enter panic mode.

"What's wrong?" Maya ran up to her.

"There's a weird costumer and I can't understand a word he says! Wait- why are you laughing?!"

"It's ok," Maya giggled. "I know exactly how to handle these situations."

"You do?" Mary blinked innocently.

"Mhm! Follow me."

Together, they made their way back to the odd man's table.

"Watch and learn," Maya smirked.

"May I take your order?" she asked sweetly.

"Laki duck sauce," the odd man said, staring blankly into the distance.

"Hmm... Sorry, but we don't serve that here. How about you try our new meal?" Maya said excitedly.

The man focused on the happy girl in front of him and reciprocated the excitement, eagerly nodded his head up and down.

"Great!" Having said this, she turned around to face Mary. "And THAT'S how it's done."

"Wow, ok," Mary responded, feeling a little disappointed in herself.

***

"Hello. May I speak with your mother?" The modest young woman regarded a young nurse in the empty hospital cafeteria.

"Yes, Miss Charlotte. This way. Follow me, please."

As they walked, Charlotte noticed the cracks in the walls, the gridded ceiling and the dim yellow lights hanging from it.

"Thank you, Nora."

"You're welcome," the nurse left when she completed her task.

"Nice to see you here again, Miss Charlotte," a pale-skinned doctor with short black hair greeted her.

"Thank you, you too, Doctor Snow."

"What brings you here this time?" She breathed, feeling apprehensive.

Charlotte pulled an envelope out from her black cardigan. "I brought money for the hospital."

"I don't think we need money anymore, Charlotte!" Doctor Snow's eyes widened as her voice rose.

"Yes, you do! This hospital is in grave danger," she warned sternly. "Including you and your daughter-- all your patients and all your doctors and nurses."

The pale doctor began to whimper.

"Please-- just take it!" I can't stand being in this wretched place, she didn't dare say aloud.

Charlotte's eyes focused on a movement behind Doctor Snow. A distorted human figure full of stitches and without a face was beginning to stand up.

Charlotte covered her mouth, suppressing the urge to scream.

"Charlotte?" Doctor Snow cocked her head. She followed the direction of Charlotte's eyes and turned around... to see nothing.

By the time she turned back around, the light blonde woman was gone.

"Charlotte?" She called out. "Miss Charlotte?"

Her daughter, Nora, hearing her frantic voice, went up to her.

"Mother, Miss Charlotte left."

Doctor Snow blinked, suddenly feeling light-headed.

The daughter had a good idea about what was going on. "Don't tell me she came to drop off the donations here!" Fear crept into her own voice.

"I'm sorry sweety," her mother responded weakly.

"No!" she clutched her own head. "I thought we were finally safe! She told us we were safe last time!"

"Please honey, calm down. We'll be fine. I'll protect you."

Nora ran to her mother's arms. "Oh, mother!" she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

Neither could Doctor Snow.

***

"My work is never over!" Doctor Holly sighed, entering the hallway.

A woman's painfully shrill scream suddenly echoed throughout the otherwise empty hall.

"What the hell was that?" Doctor Holly said out loud. There weren't supposed to be any more patients on this story.

THUMP.

"Oh shit, I better check it out!"

She put one foot in front of the other and froze. No. If there's one thing horror movies taught her, it's to never investigate the origin of strange sounds.

She decided to walk in the OPPOSITE direction. When she turned around, she saw a stitched-up body with no face standing at the end of the hall. Her eyes slowly widened, taking in the gruesome sight.

It sprinted towards her.

"Holy moly!" she squeaked. The doctor ran into a random room and slammed the door shut. She also locked it.

"Take that, freaking monster!" she yelled.

At last, she turned away from the door to catch her breath. She panned the room, just to make sure it really was empty.

Why... why did she get such a strange feeling? It all felt too familiar...

But of course. This was the room of the boy who died six years ago. His name was Max. He committed suicide by jumping out the hospital window. The date was June 6th. He was proclaimed dead by 6:00 p.m.

Doctor Holly's face paled, and her body went cold all over.

"Max..?" she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.

A young boy stood next to the bed, wearing a blood-stained patient gown. He stared at her silently for a few seconds, before turning around and running towards the open window.

"Noooo! Max! Don't do it!!!" She called out, unable to move.

Finally, her feet detached from the floor. She sprinted to the window, as he lifted his body over the ledge.

"Stop!"

He knocked over an empty vase before he left, glass shattering across the floor.

"NO!!!!!" Holly screamed, her knees collapsing.

The door swung open.

"Doctor Holly! Are you ok?!" Doctor Snow shouted.

Holly went on her hands and knees, just to feel the floor holding her up. She shuddered as tears slipped down her face and onto the floor.

"Holly," Doctor Snow approached her.

She sat down next to Holly, pulling her trembling body next to hers.

"I- I... I saw Ma- Max..." she sniffled.

Doctor Snow stared hard into the ground.

"So then he's back..."