I work at The Drowsy Spectre, a café positioned in a place sure to never get any business. No human business, that is. Laura isn't a fly anymore, but we didn't exactly make progress. Jo came into the shop to see me (I don't know if she still wants to eat me though). In short, a lot of weird stuff happens. If you want to get caught up, or start at the beginning, then go ahead and check this out.

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I still have the doll. In fact, as I am writing this, it is sitting next to my computer. Oh all the wishes it could grant me, all at a price that I wouldn't have to pay. Selene knows about it now, but just her. She advised me to keep it secret as there are many out there that might want to take it from me. That might seem like an easy solution, but how can I let it go on good conscience? Giving it to someone else would be no different than making a wish myself.

"Make a color that no one has ever seen." I mumbled as the burning sensation became too much to bear. That wish kept it busy for a while.

If you are wondering why I still have the doll, seeing as I said the Eye of Gold destroyed it, then make sure you are caught up. If you are upset at how long it has been since an update, then I apologize. I am pretty shaken by the entire thing, as I think it is fair. We haven't seen John since he took Dan's place (it seems that typing John won't summon him). The store is fixed and back to normal, albeit a bit strange since Richard is working in the kitchen.

Oh yeah. Dan left. It only took a few days before he was gone, off to find the wife that didn't remember him. He hadn't forgotten her, however. Hadn't forgotten the years they spent together, nor the wedding that those years had led to. I really wish him luck, but I know what John said. Payton had no idea Dan existed and, if it were so easy to make her remember, I doubt John's words would have been so dire in his recounting. Dan was entirely unhelpful and unwilling to discuss the time he spent with Rykar. I tried getting answers out of him regarding Amber and her candles, but he was a closed case.

Speaking of; I don't appreciate Amber selling candles inside. Most of the time she is at her table next to the drive thru, not a bother to us inside. But occasionally she comes in to check on her little stand near the front door. I get a wink, maybe she'll come over for a flirty chat. I'm sure it is all to get me to buy a candle, but it all seems so genuine. She really does seem sweet. That is good for business, I guess.

Anyway, we saved Em. She is awake now and even working. So we saved Em, lost John, and also lost Dan again. Richard wanted to be pissed, but when he heard that Selene was all part of the plan, he got quiet and kept his frustrations to himself. That was interesting, considering he was the owner. Perhaps he had so much trust invested in Selene that none of it mattered, or he didn't have the energy to deal with his store's manager. Either way, we were spared his wrath for the moment.

"I read your story." I sat down with Selene. She had begun to hang out in the lobby near her office door, keeping it open just in case the light turned off.

She smiled, but her face reddened. "Oh yeah? Aren't I a great writer?"

"Did all of that actually happen?"

Selene shrugged. "Mostly. Maybe I embellished a little."

She was in too good a mood for me to spoil. I wanted to know about the hand thing, the deal she had made with Amber. It was identical to the one I struck with Rykar, flaming hand and all. Were they the same race? If that was the case, why wasn't she evil like Rykar? And, for that matter, was Rykar evil? Obviously he must be, considering he took both Dan and now John as slaves. I don't know and I didn't think it right to ruin a good day with hard questions.

"It was good." I honestly thought it was. "You almost got killed."

"Eh, I was fine."

That was true. "Seems like we both had a bit of recovery."

"Yeah."

And that was the extent of our conversation. The remainder of my break was spent in an awkward limbo, one in which we both mentioned something inconsequential and nodded about it. I found myself back on my shift, failing at both small talk and interrogation. I also screwed up, by the way. As you will remember, I mentioned 'my deal with Rykar' when I was recounting how we saved Em. Well, Selene read that. She hasn't pressed as hard as I would have expected, but she is very cautious. Selene only asked me once and I said I couldn't tell her. Multiple of you have said I should come clean, but coming clean won't help me break the deal; it will only make her trust me less and currently I am low on friends.

That bitch Heartmin came in again. This time we made her order without the two minute time frame, thank god. After she left, however, came the reason for this update.

"I can't see anything outside." Em said as she refilled our water dispenser by the door. The front of the store was a massive window and she was right, I couldn't see anything at all. Sure, it was night, but the light in the store and parking lot let us see what we needed to.

"Huh."

Barrow went to the drive thru window. "Same here. Selene?" He went around the counter and into the lobby.

"Yeah?" She didn't sound interested, as usual.

"It is pitch black outside."

"Yeah?" We'd interrupted something, apparently. "It is night. That isn't new."

Barrow, unaffected by her irritation, gestured at the glass wall across the lobby. "No, I mean we can't see anything at all."

Finally, she looked towards the window. "Well that isn't right." Selene stood from her seat and approached the barrier that kept them from the dark. "I've never seen this before. Unless..." Moving to the other lobby (yes, there are two separated by three doorless frames) she grabbed the front door. "Stay back, please."

When we stepped away, she cracked the door open and looked down. "Oh..." She mumbled, then let the door shut gently. "So, this isn't good."

"What is it?"

"Well, first of all, don't open any doors to the outside. Even the drive thru."

"What about customers?"

She swallowed. "We don't serve anything here." We waited for her to elaborate. "And our main customer base won't find the cafe. Maybe? I don't know how this works exactly."

"Where are we, Selene?" Evangel, who worked in the kitchen that day instead of Richard, was sure to stay near the kitchen and not take any risks.

"Var'lovya." I've never heard of that, but Selene explained its meaning. "Var means 'eternity,' or for something to happen forever. Lov means 'aimless path.' This is the endless path. This is the void."

A starless sky, like an overcast night. It was somehow deeper than that, as if my eyes could perceive an endless space. I could see nothing for all of eternity, a depth that consumed my mind the longer I stared into the abyss. Endless, yet there was nothing to see. Without bounds, but not one thing existed there with us.

I still think about it, mostly at night when my eyes are shut. There is a darkness that is so great that your mind starts to place things within it so as to make up for its incapability to process it. I saw a face floating there in the depths, one that materialized into someone I once knew. Not them, I could not look upon them. But once my mind knew that, it was not able to bring forth a different image. The haunting visage of a woman with black hair came and went so rapidly that I could not appreciate her face, was fainter than even my memory of her.

Then Em grabbed the door.

"Hey, don't go outside!"

She pointed towards the void. "My father..."

"He isn't there."

"But..." Her eyes were locked in the darkness. "I can see him."

Slowly Selene removed Em's hand from the door. "He isn't there. No one is. Nothing is." She put herself in front of the door, barring our way out. "There is nothing out there for any of us. This is our anchor, this store is our only way home. We are sailing through the abyss and will land. If anyone leaves, there will be no way home."

"How did we get here?" Evangel did not come any closer. "This isn't in the rules, but you know about it. Why isn't it in the rules?"

"Because I've been here before. Not while working here as Richard's manager. We shouldn't be here, I don't even know how this is possible. What I do know is that we can get home if we just stay here. It might take time, but it will pass."

"How do you know?" Barrow asked.

"Experience."

"Hey, what is this about?" Another voice asked.

Right, we had customers in the sitting lobby. "Just a spill, don't worry! Go enjoy your meal!" Selene tried.

Before the lights went out, I counted three cars aside from the employee's. That would be trouble.

"A spill?" The well-dressed man challenged. He pointed outside. "That does not look like a spill. What, did you spill ink all over the store?"

"Yes?" That wasn't going to work, so Selene sighed. "There is an issue with the lights and it isn't safe outside. Please just stay here and stay calm."

"So you're locking us in?!"

A younger man, possibly a student of some kind, came in response to the commotion. "We are locked in?!"

"You know what? You are welcome to leave if you like!" She snapped. "Fall into an endless abyss for all I care! But don't let anything in!" Selene crossed her arms and stepped aside. "But not my employees. No, you all stay back!"

"What is all this about?" A young woman also joined the fray. "Did you say we weren't allowed to leave? Also, why is it so dark? I can't see my car!"

And finally the last of the customers stepped out of the bathroom. An elderly man with a slow way about him. He was very tall, looming over any of the rest of us. Grandfatherly, I'd say; he made me feel somewhat comfortable just by being around.

"What's this then?" He mumbled. "Pretty dark outside, isn't it?"

"You're all human?"

"What do you mean human?!" The business man growled, moving towards the door. "You're all morons! I was an idiot to even come he-" He opened the door.

If it weren't for his grip on the door, he would have tumbled into nothing forever. After a cry and a struggle with the hanging door, he managed to get himself inside with our aid. No one tried to open the door after that.

"What..." He trailed off. "Where... what is this?"

"Again, are you all human?" Selene asked.

"Y-yeah." The young man answered. The others gave nervous nods.

"That is unusual." She was right. Normal people were somewhat uncommon at the Drowsy Spectre. Four of them as our only customers were even stranger. But it would make the night easier, so I wasn't complaining.

Selene lifted her head. "We aren't connected to any actual power. The fact that we have any light at all is-"

Everything went dark. Thanks Selene.

Thump. What was that?

Seconds of darkness followed before a flashlight clicked to life in Barrow's hands. "Glad I have this."

"I have my phone." The young lady, as promised, flooded the area with her phone's flashlight. "My battery isn't full, though."

"Same." The young man pulled his out. "I'll save it."

"I'll be saving my battery, thanks!" The well-dressed man backed towards the sitting lobby. "And I suggest we all keep away from each other."

There was someone missing. "Where is the old guy?" Yeah, that was a rude way of putting it, but I was on edge.

Barrow's flashlight swept the floor until it found something wet. That wet trail led the beam towards the kitchen, where the elderly man lay in a dark pool. Yeah, he was most certainly dead and that pool was most certainly his own blood.

Selene grabbed Barrow's arm. "Make sure she doesn't go out the door!"

"He's dead!" The young man cried out, stating the obvious.

And, just to be certain, Evangel checked. "Yeah. No pulse." She lifted her head as Selene approached. "I didn't hear anything... why didn't we hear anything?"

"I heard a thud." That was all I could offer.

"Who cares what you heard!" The business man growled. "A man is dead! Someone murdered him and we are all trapped in here with whoever did it!"

It looked like I got myself into a classic murder mystery. Well, not very classic seeing as I was floating in a void. You know, that should scare me, shouldn't it? Now that I think about it, I wasn't as frightened of the spider lady either. When you see impossible things every day, I guess you become more intrigued than frightened. I don't know if that is a good thing. Certainly it can't be, seeing as I was curious rather than shocked when we found the dead elder on our cafe floor.

"It could be any of us." Evangel took a step back. "Anyone could have done it!"

The young man screamed. Barrow's flashlight found that he was fine and well. "Sorry... sorry I am just a bit on edge right now, okay?" He'd backed into a chair.

Selene stood up from the body and turned off her phone flashlight. "His eyes are gone." Her face remained cast-down. "Dammit... dammit! How is this possible?!"

"What aren't you telling us, Selene?"

"Nothing." She waved me off. Rude. "But Evangel is right. He didn't trip, lose his eyes, and slit his own throat. Something did so rapidly when the dark came." Barrow still barred the door. "Hook, don't turn off that flashlight. When the lights go, the void comes in."

"Didn't plan on it."

"First order of business is to get everyone in one place. Done. Next, what are your names?"

"Rick." The business man replied. "And I am quite done with all of this. What sort of drugs did you slip in me, huh?!"

"Believe me, no one would want to drug you." She ignored his heated face and addressed the screamer. "And you?"

"Jack." The sudden attention drove him a step back, as if the question were a test he might fail.

Then there was the last one, which did not wait to be called on. "Maggie. Is this some kind of fucked up dream?" She covered her mouth. "Sorry, that just came out. Are y'all-"

Selene didn't care. "You're fine. And all of you claim to be human?"

"Claim to be?" Rick challenged. "How is that a claim? It is a fact."

"Not here it isn't."

"Well how do I fucking prove it to you, huh?"

Selene sighed. "That is the question." Then, she placed the burden on me. On me! "What do you think?"

I don't know anything! My only response was a shrug and a mumble. Only, I did have an emergency out. The doll in my jacket. I felt for it, but it was not there. "Uh, there is a problem." I whispered to Selene.

With everyone staring, she leaned in. "What?" She was a bit harsh.

"The doll is gone."

"Do you need the doll to wish?"

"I don't know!"

"Something you'd like to share with the rest of us?" Maggie pryed. "Something we should know?"

Em joined Selene and I. "I'm better now." She lifted her arms. "Look, I am getting goosebumps. Literally. Look at my arms."

As promised, her hair was on end. "Well you did almost walk into the void." I pointed out.

"Just thinking about it. See!" Again, her arms had not changed. "It is weird out there." She crossed her arms. "Who's that?"

Was she gone, mentally, the entire time? "You missed the dead guy?" Selene asked, confused.

Barrow stepped away from the door, bringing his flooding flashlight closer. "You feeling okay, Em?"

"Yeah." She crossed her arms. "I'm just a bit confused is all."

"What do we do?" He addressed Selene. "You said we'd make it back if we waited?"

"Yeah." Selene scratched her arm as she did when she was nervous. "But how long will that take? This place doesn't like time."

"Doesn't like it?" Rick interjected again. "Make some sense! You still haven't told any of us why you'd ask if we were human!"

Selene snapped. "Because not everyone here is, you dumbass! Shut up and let us think! We are trying to get you home without losing your damn eyes!"

Clearly unaccustomed to being addressed in such a way, Rick was forced to back down slightly. Though I could see clearly on his face that he'd have more to say soon. My phone was at sixty percent, so I turned on the flashlight. I didn't want to rely on Barrow for my life, not with his inability to feel anything. Truth be told, I thought that would go away when I took the doll but he hadn't shown any signs that it had. Then again, perhaps it would just take time for him to adjust. I don't know; maybe I will bring it up with him.

"Are you human?" Maggie asked.

That was a question Selene hesitated to answer. "I didn't kill the old man, if that is what you are thinking."

"Who did?" Jack stood away from the rest of the group, but he had his own flashlight on. He was listening. "How do we find out?"

"Who is packing?" Barrow asked. They all glanced at each other, clearly asnwering his question. "Then I am the only one." He revealed a weapon holstered at his belt. "If this thing isn't human, this might not work on it. But it will work on the rest of you." The lack of emotion in his tone was intimidating, but I did not fear Barrow. They probably did.

But Rick found his voice. "I don't feel comfortable that a stranger has the only gun when there has been a murder!"

"So what, you think you should have it? None of us know you."

"I know how to shoot!"

"Yeah, shoot us." Selene countered. "That's probably what you want to do, huh?"

Too many eyes on him, Rick became nervous. Nervous meant more anger. "Back off! I didn't move! I was in the same spot when that fella turned on his flashlight. Besides, how would a gun help me take out someone's eyes?!" He lifted his fingers. "No blood, either!"

Everyone else raised their hands, including me. Clean fingers. No one clawed out the old man's eyes and there was no way to clean up that fast.

"How do we know it was someone here? Selene said that the void could come in if the lights were off. Maybe something snuck in from out there?"

Selene considered my suggestion. "It would still be here if that were the case. But..." She moved to the other lobby. "But the door is open."

The second lobby, meant for dining in, had a door of its own. Usually it was locked, but we had to bring some new tables and such after the disaster a few weeks back. Turns out we forgot to lock it back. And it was open. It doesn't close right, you see, so you have to give it a good pull. A customer must have come in through it and not realized it didn't close easily.

So it was left open for anything outside to enter.

"Well that puts us back to square one." Selene crossed her arms. "If something came from the void, it has no power in the light. It is, effectively, one of us. But that flashlight might fail before we get home. Our phones too."

"We should pool them all together." Maggie suggested. "So we can ration them. So no one wastes battery on themselves. Rick here has been trying to call people this whole time."

It was true, Rick had been dialing and texting ever since Selene shut him down. "My phone, young lady. Mind your own business."

"This is our business!" She explained. "Not dying!"

While they fought, Selene joined in, Em grabbed my arm and pulled me behind the counter. "I found your reddit thingy."

That wasn't good, but it was only a matter of time. "And?"

"You really remember everything we say?"

I was pretty good at that. "Apparently."

"I read about the doll." She started, then lowered her voice. "And about the deal."

That was very not good. I shouldn't have written about that. In fact, I might have to edit it out. "Sshh!" Em was already quiet, but who knows what magic ears Selene had! "You can't tell here! I have to find a way to break it first!"

"Obviously." She crossed her arms. "Look, mister. I want to be your friend, okay? I know I screwed up but you have to understand that it was my father. I'm not trying to make excuses but I have nothing without him. So... so this is my offer. I'll keep your secret, and we are friends."

I already forgave her and saved her life. But I liked Em. She had a way of lightening a dark mood, even if it was by her own confusion. "Don't tell anyone." But could she be trusted with such a task? Also, what if Barrow read it too? "About any of it. Not even the story."

"Dealio." She held out her hand. "Shake?"

I stared at that hand. Something made me hesitate. I saw myself looking at that mirror, at the goat-headed man within. Hand outstretched, ocre fire engulfing. What was a deal to a pixie, and what sort of binding was I making? I had only to be her friend, and she mine. She had to keep my secret. What was one more bargain?

So we shook on it.

"Can you wish us out, though?"

That's right. She knew I still had the doll. "Did you tell Barrow?"

She shook her head. "No sir, mister. It is a secret now."

Em was a bit too loud, but then Evangel approached. "What are we going to do?"

"Wait for Selene to make a decision." Em answered. "As always. She said she knows about this place and all that."

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With no further progress being made, we found ourselves huddled into our own respective groups. Well, some were loners. Selene and I sat in one corner, Barrow and Em nearby. The customers remained in the light of Barrow's strong flashlight, Evangel sat as far as she could from the front door. Selene and I were far too close to the window, she needed to see if anything came from the deep. I was torn. I feel most safe next to the person with strange magic powers, but also the least safe with only a glass barrier protecting me from infinite nothing.

There is a certain dread you get when looking up into space when there are no stars. When the street lights are too bright, the city drowns out the night sky. It is only black, endless and empty. Some fear tight spaces, but I cannot stand the thought of an endless expanse. It drew my eyes like the depths of the ocean, full of a terrible mystery that made my body ready to scramble away. I was far too alert, fully aware of every beat of my heart, of every second and how many there would be if I were to swim in the black.

Eventually I could not bear to look at it, nor even glance into the depths. I stared into the shop, whose corners were barely lit by Barrow's powerful light. I couldn't fall asleep with a murderer on the loose and there was no sign of who (or what) had killed the old man. Despite the danger, though, my eyelids were getting heavy. I felt safe with Selene, safe enough to close them even though I knew it wasn't wise.

Knock knock

My eyes shot open. I knew I hadn't been asleep long, I'd only just shut my eyes. Had it been part of a dream? No, I hadn't been asleep long enough to have one.

Knock knock

Against my head I felt the vibrations, knuckles on glass. There was a face there, I could feel it. Something stared with such an emptiness; no malice, no anger, not even curiosity. There was just a presence that knocked, one that was simply watching.

It wanted only to be witnessed.

Knock knock knock

I saw Maggie across the room, she was looking in my direction. Past me. Finally, she made eye contact and shook her head. She had no color, so much so that I could tell in the white light Barrow provided. Her eyes were nearly out of their sockets with terror. "Don't" she mouthed and shook her head once more.

"Hey." Came a whisper from behind, from through the glass. So tender, so close. "Hey, are you awake?"

Knock knock knock

"Knock once for yessss." A little thump as something pressed itself against the window wall. "You have the sweet thing that make’st real. Is not my face pleasing? Will thy see it?"

The voice was so thick, so wet, so full of the desire to simply be seen or heard. Again, Maggie shook her head, placing a finger to her mouth.

Knock knock knock

"On four a deal we shall strike. You like deals, I know. Four knocks, and I shall tell you who bled the man. Four knocksss." It licked the window slowly. "Like honey is the deal we shall strike. Like a gentle kiss, I shall tell you, and you shall look upon me. Four knocks, and gaze sweetly upon me."

Knock

Should I look? Maggie was shaking her head no rapidly, whispering to look away. The others seemed to be sleeping too, no one was keeping watch.

Knock

What was one more deal? At this point I'd signed away pretty much all of my freedom. All the thing was asking for was to be seen, why was that a bad thing? Maggie was sweating, raising her voice from a horse whisper. "Don't look!"

Knock

So close, the fourth knock. I would look, I decided. Surely I had seen worse at the shop and out in the woods. Even if I hadn't, every record was meant to be broken, right? Maggie rose to her feet, waving her arms, but she did not want to wake the others. "Don't look!" She risked it, then took a step forward. "DON'T LOOK!"

Knock

My body tried to hold me in place, but I forced it to move. I couldn't breathe, not knowing that something terrible was waiting for me. We had to know, though, if we wanted to survive. Why did I move so slowly? Because I suddenly didn't want to look. After all I had seen, I became afraid. Goosebumps that would make Em proud sprouted across my arms and every hair reached to escape the face behind the glass. No, my body didn't want it and neither did I.

But I turned anyway.

"STOP!"

Maggie's shout woke up Barrow, and failed to leap to his feet. He kicked the flashlight and the beam vanished into his jacket, which sat by his side. Darkness, a void.

But I could still see out the window.

Teeth. It was only teeth. Canine, feline, human. Horse, cow, tusks of pigs. They weren't even lined up to look like a face. Moisture dripped from them, smearing the window and sizzling the glass with such acidity that would likely melt my bones.

"Am I not seen, and am I not real?" It cooed with no mouth. The teeth ground together, but that was not the source of the voice.

I hear the chitting writing this. Thousands of teeth vibrating with excitement, with sheer joy at just being looked upon. I knew at that moment that the desire was not innocent, no. I knew that I'd granted some terrible wish in some way.

"Can a friend be a mask?" It chittered. "Can salt hide underneath something so sweet? Two are not who they say, one loves the juice that beatsss." I could not back away, not even when it pressed against the glass. "A name, it is-"

Finally Barrow got a grip on the flashlight, which had only taken seconds. I was pulled away from the face in the commotion and finally heard screaming. There was a struggle that I missed when the face pulled me into its gaze (or lack of). I wanted to throw up, to pull out my own teeth. They ached, as if they did not belong. No, they were mine! They ARE mine.

Maggie was on the ground, halfway to the kitchen, and Evangel stood over her with one of Amber's glass-contained candles held high over her head.

Only it was not Evangel. It was that damn goblin.

"Bilgoth." I stuttered, thinking he was dead. My tongue touched my teeth. Disgusting things. "It was you?!"

"You killed Evangel?!" Selene grabbed a mug from behind the counter discreetly.

Bilgoth, despite knowing the skin costume of Evangel was no longer working, did not release Maggie. "No, I didn't! I told you I don't kill!"

"Sure looks like you do." Barrow had his gun ready, steady with the flashlight. "Drop the candle and release Maggie."

Two masks, the teeth said. One had been removed. "I didn't kill no one you dumb bitch!" Bilgoth snapped. "She just came at me! Didn't realize I weren't human!"

"He leapt on me the moment the light went out!" She cried. "Get it off of me!"

"Put her down, goblin." Barrow warned again."

A tense hesitation followed. Barrow didn't pull the trigger, but Bilgoth did not immediately release Maggie. All it took was the slightest movement of Barrow's finger for the goblin to let go of both. He held out his arms, surrendering. "I didn't kill no one."

"How are you even alive? I thought Richard got rid of you." Seeing as Barrow had a gun, Selene put down the mug.

"Well apparently he did a bad job." The goblin chuckled. "Cause I am still breathin. But I ain't killing. That ain't none of my business."

Selene motioned for Maggie to move. "Get away from it."

"No." Barrow moved the gun in Maggie's direction. "No one moves."

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Look, you know at least I survived since I am writing this. Call it part one, cause there is plenty more. I'll have the rest for you in a few days, but I didn't want to post too much to chew. Sorry about the long wait on this one, things have been hard on me lately. I reached out to some family and, well... John was right. They don't know who I am. It wasn't as if I was close to them, or ever spoke with them at all. But they would at least know my name and who I am! I guess the knowledge that I had some sort of connection with someone was a comfort, even if I never used it. That is gone now...

Will you all forget me too? I need to keep writing updates so that never happens.