Chapter 1
You stood paralyzed, the sweat on your forehead making strands of your hair stick on your face. Your eyes grazed at the sight in front of you, making your head and swirl around in confusion and fear, all kinds of emotions running around in your mind.
Your friend Vi holds her calloused hand against your mouth, your noises being muffled by it, as she pressed her body against yours, holding both of your wrists together with ease with her other hand, and you notice that she clearly is not using all her strength. You try to cry out, your hands shaking as despair lightly fills your body, and you can see her knee make her way between your thighs as you try to sound out words through her hand.
“Stay quiet for me, okay cupcake?”
Tears start to fill your eyes.
7:30am everyday you come to work, at the small and humble coffee shop in Zaun. This place used to be so scary, the Green hue filled the air you used to breathe as a kid, but now, everything is… Clear. You can see the blue and vibrant color of the sky, the clouds making a beautiful pattern, and the sun shining bright as it illuminates the crowded streets of Zaun. You remember enforcers used to ramage Zaun trying to look for any trouble or reason to throw anyone into StillWater, this small hatred for them still hasn't left your mind, but nowadays, it seems like they want peace after years of war and misunderstanding. Looks like they wanna do their job for once.
As you open the door of the Coffee shop, a bell rings above the door, and you see Jinx talking with Huck, the short and shy middle-aged man who's your manager. I admire the fact that he built something for himself, even if it's a small coffee shop, it's humble and cozy, and it shows how he loves the place. Jinx turns around startled by the bell, but her eyes quickly shine as she sees you walking towards her with a box in your hands. She shouts your name, and it echoes around the shop.
“Jinx, didn't think I'd see you here so early,” - I chuckle as she steps towards me and takes the box from my hands with a bit of a struggle, placing it at the counter.
“Well, I wasn't exactly planning on coming either, but this little gremlin was starving. Well, at least that's the excuse she gave, but we all know she just wanted to see Mr.whiskers over there.” - she grins as she points behind the counter.
You lean over the counter, peeking at an adorable scene of Isha next to the cat bed, petting our cat, the infamous shop mascot, a fluffy orange cat, purring and stretching as Isha continues to play with our store mascot. You can't help but smile as cuteness aggression attacks your brain.
“Aaaww…!” - You smile at the scene, Isha glances at you as she giggles in a breathy laugh.
Your gaze catches your boss, as you step out of the counter, you mention - “is that all for that event?”
“Oh, uhm, Grey air fare?” - Huck stutters, giving you a nervous but welcoming smile.
“Wacky ass name…” - Jinx mumbles, as she rests her elbow against the counter, as she plays with a lollipop with her fingers.
“Where'd you get that- Well, it has to do with all, and everything Zaun went through before getting to where we are,” - he adjusts his glasses as he blabbers about it. - “a-and we can't afford that many lollipops you're taking f-for free, Miss Powder.” - he adds.
“It’s Jinx.” - her tone turns serious and slightly annoyed sounding, but she quickly turns her mood upside down as she replies. - “And are you seriously charging me for cents worth of Lollipops? Silco won't like hearing about this…” - she smirks, muttering the last part just loud enough for him to hear it, in a playful tone. Huck gets taken back by the passive aggressive remark, as he panics and attempts to apologize, you hear the store bell ring.
You turn around, seeing Vi, Mylo and Claggor, all enter the store hands full of heavy boxes. You walk towards them, offering help as you reach your hands to take some of the boxes from Mylo, he chuckles and you nod in compliance. You feel a gaze against the back of your neck, as you carry the boxes to the counter you catch Vi glance over her shoulder to see your interaction with Mylo, quickly looking away as your eyes lock. You lift a brow in curiosity, and as you set the boxes on the counter, you see Claggor helping Huck set them in the back, and you overhear them talking about a new menu and decorations, energy filling your system as you start to feel excited to help around the store.
As Vi hands her boxes to Claggor, you silently walk to her side, tapping her shoulder with a smile. - “Vi! Sorry to make you and your gang carry boxes, especially when it's starting to get hot outside.” - you nod your head to the front door, splashes of sunlight peeking by the windows.
“O-oh, no problem, really. And after all it kinda helps me, maybe I won't get a chance to workout with all the mess that's gonna be in the next couple of days.” - her tone is friendly and calm, as she lightly stutters and gets stuck between some of the sentences.
“Yeah, it lasts a week, well, this means more coins for me,” - I chuckle as I rub my hands together peeking at the cash register. My gaze slides around her arms in her black tank top. - “And yeah, I can see your muscles getting bigger.” - you lift your hand to gently brush your index finger by her bicep and shoulders. Your eyes go up, only to see her eyebrows lifted and eyes shining in a seemingly shy and surprised expression. You let your arm down and stare into her eyes as you rest your arm on the counter as you smile. - “getting Strong huh?”.
“Could say that..” - She mutters, and her eyes stay a second too long on the area of her arm that I touched with my index finger, before she stares back at me. Maybe I'm reading a little too much at this, but it was like she analyzed me for a split second, or maybe admiring? I don't quite know, but something else was on her mind, her eyes sparkled and I could see her pupils dilate around her light blue eyes, her split lips and slightly raised eyebrows. I kept my eyes locked with hers, waiting that something may be added to the conversation, but all I heard was Jinx, Isha and Mylo discussing and mocking each other in the background. Well, Isha and Jinx against Mylo is more accurate.
I broke the staring contest to look over at Claggor and Huck coming back from the back of the store, apparently done with moving the boxes. I gave Vi one final glance, nodding with my head in a chuckle, before heading to the back of the store, and i'm almost sure i heard a muffled ‘fuck’, in an almost frustrated tone, i just don't know from who.
As you get into the dressing room, you meet with your friend Myluri, which greets you with a nod and a small smile. You greet her back in a friendly tone. “Myluri, Myluri… how are you feeling knowing that we're gonna have to work twice as much this week,” - you playfully ask her, as you nudge her shoulder.
“Well, Huck said he's gonna lend us some hours to enjoy the fare too.” - she brushes a strand of her white curls behind her ear. - “I really wanna go to the Ferris wheel.” - she mutters in addition.
“I kinda wanna go to the rollercoaster, i just don't know who to go with.” I glance over, a chuckle escaping my lips.
I open my locker, and as I grab my work uniform, I can't seem to find or see my lipgloss, I raise a brow in confusion.
“Myluri?” - I call out quietly for her.
“Yes?” - she replies as she buttons her shirt.
“Did you take my lipgloss?” - I brought my face to her, by peeking out of my locker door. As she locks her eyes with mine she quietly shakes her head ‘no’. - “I would've told you if I did. Do you want mine?” - her hand ramages inside her locker and she hands me a lip gloss, the case a light tone of pink. I thank her, as I grab and open the lipgloss, I slide the product across my lips, close the cap and hand it back to her.
“You don't think Huck would snuck into my things, right?” - you mumble, frustration and distrust in your voice.
“He's too shy to even send us back to work, even though he's our boss. I can't imagine him trying to rob you,” - she quietly folds her clothes, and closes the door of her locker, and she adds in a sarcastic tone. “And even if. A lipgloss?” - she chuckles, making you fall into laughter along with her.
As she walks out, she stops by the door and gives you a final look and speaks a last time. - “maybe you just forgot it at home, don't stress too much, okay?” - you look back, and give her a nod in agreement.
But it is strange. your things kept disappearing ever since you entered this job, and if you go even before that, you do remember things like, a pack of gums, hair ties, makeup products… and even private clothing disappearing from your house, you only lost one pair of underwear, and you thought it may be under a cabinet decomposing in a funny way, but it's been frequent enough to make you suspect of something, even tho you couldn't prove it. Your doors and windows never seemed different or like someone broke in, everything was in the exact place, except for those small objects in which you could easily buy again cheaply in another store. It still bugged you nonetheless.
I shake my shoulders in an attempt to shake my overthinking thoughts with them. I put on my working uniform, and checked myself in the small mirror on the locker door, adjusting my hair. I close my locker, but I make sure to lock it. My shift for the morning is calm as always, regular customers, families, and even Piltover civilians coming in to get a coffee, probably because it's way cheaper than up there, but i still can't get used to seeing them visit Zaun like this, it's a bit rare, but they do visit sometimes.
Myluri told me the morning shifts would be the same in store, but in the afternoon we'd have to set up a tent, representing our store at the fare, Huck would cover us at night so we can enjoy the fun fare. I'm glad to have him as a boss as he's so understanding and calm, he's shy, yes, but I also never seen him getting mad or showing anger at someone. Afternoon sets, and he prepares the resources, except of course, they are too heavy for me and Myluri to carry on one trip, and asking Vi and her friends for help again would feel inconvenient…
As I'm closing the shop, and our cash registers, the front door bell rings. As I'm counting bills I say a quiet ‘were closed’, before looking up and seeing one of my closest friends.
“Ekko!” - I exclaim as I put the bags of coins down, walking around the counter to greet him, he nods with his head as we lock eyes.
“Huck told me about the hussle it'd be for y'all to get everything to the fare,” - he crosses his arms in a relaxed stance, as he leans back against a table near us.
“Oh he did?” - I lift a brow, as I glance outside to see 4 more people on the front of our store, the fourth one staying more in the distance
“Well, since y'all treated us, and especially me so well with all those free treats, I thought about coming to the rescue,” - he chuckles as he points outside.
“O-oh, Ekko, that 's really…Sweet, wow, thank you. I was getting worried about me and Myluri having to carry all of that on our own.” - I chuckle in nervousness, not knowing how to thank nice gestures like that, giving him a shy smile.
“Hey, don't worry, I know how much you and her work hard to help this store. It's an honor, trust me.” - he says as he stands up walking towards me giving a tap in the back, as i reach for his shoulder, giving him a tap back in return.
I yell Myluri’s name as Ekko brings his friends inside, and I glance back to the door bell as his friends enter the store. I noticed that the fourth person who was watching from across the street was gone, but I didn't give it too much thought. I couldn't even recognize them by the hood of their blouse, but I could see their muscles by their pulled up sleeves because of the sunset light shining upon them.
I wonder who it was.