3:29... any minute now... Alex's eyes fluttered up to the clock, hanging above the coffeeshop's tacky entrance. Working the nightshift had been dull, but it paid well. Other than a few drunks here and the occasional night owls, nothing happened in this little town. Until a week ago when they'd had a change in menu, from upper management. The drinks were... special, to say the least. Alex didn't question it, it took them a while to get used to making these new coffees, which didn't really resemble coffee- and smelled putrid. But whatever. Coffee is coffee and money is, and always would be money. Ever since the new menu came out, the nights had grown... darker, a heavy silence pressed down on the coffeeshop, only the soft ticking of the clock interrupting it's tension.. tik... tok... tik...tok...TIK
3:33 am, the time Alex somehow knew the door would open, and a shadow would ooze in, followed by shiny black snakeleather shoes, expensive looking, and a black suit. The face of this customer was unrecognisable, it seemed to shift ever so slightly, the face changing slowly, cycling through faces they almost recognised. Only the eyes remained the same. Cold icy blue pits that gave Alex a deeply unsettling feeling in the pit of their stomach.
Quickly averting their gaze, Alex cleared their throat and said "Hi, what can I get you?" Staring down at the counter, they could hear the heels of the being's shoes click on the black and white tiles, which were due a good clean.
"Uhhhhh yeah can I get a uhhhhhhhhh Frap- no... no you know what, I thought I was going for something else today but I've changed my mind, I'll stick with the Dark Lord's Latte please"
The voice changed from a woman's, to a child's to a man's, cycling through accents as if it wasn't sure what fit right, what would work best on this Barista.
Alex nodded and quickly whisked around to start working on the drink, steam hissing and the dark liquid oozing out of the machine, a tarry scent wafting up at them. The sooner they'd get this coffee right, the sooner this.. customer would be gone. Swallowing down a lump in their throat, they glanced back quickly, not quite making eye contact and asking "anything else?"
"No... no thank you, that would be all" the chilling voice said, now with a foreign accent, before switching to a youthful, happy voice.
The voice felt like a stab of a knife, that was Laura's voice, or at least it could have been a very close match to that of Laura's, from 8 years ago. That was when she was last seen, just around the block from the movie theatre. Alex and her had gone to see some blockbuster film, and she had ran back inside to grab her forgotten beanie, which had dropped underneath her seat. She never came out, she had vanished. Police investigations had been thorough, Alex had gone through investigations, sleepless nights, but no trace.
Alex was staring into the customer's eyes now, the voice haunting them.
"Can I get my drink, please?" Said Laura.
With shaking hands, Alex picked up the coffee, the drink sloshing over the sides of the paper cup, scalding hot against their skin, and set it down in front of the customer, who's face had begun to resemble Laura's almost perfectly, apart from the eyes.
A dark, oozing hand placed money on the counter, more than Alex needed for this coffee, but they were stuck, staring in horror at the icy blue eyes, until an eerie thought popped up, and for a split second Alex couldn't remember who they were.
The thing laughed, a cold, harsh sound, the voices mixing again "Oh you'd be a delight to consume Alex, you could join your friend Laura, but then I'd have no one to serve me my coffee, would I now? And you do make such a delightful brew" it picked up the coffee, and with a heel clacking sound, the door creaked, the customer gone, and the clock ticked once again.
Tik.. Tok.. Tik.. 3.34.
Alex's eyes fluttered as they were trying to remember what just happened. Manually grabbing the money, and stuffing it in the register, they turned around to make themselves a small cappuccino. Huh.. I guess the late nights were getting to their memory or something. Ah well, time to scroll through reddit, sip their coffee, and wait for the next late night customer.
Chicken_Bytes t1_iufqzxg wrote
Reply to [WP] You are a barista in a 24 hour coffee shop. Every night at 3:33am a demon appears for the Dark Lord's latte. by WarturtleWitch
3:29... any minute now... Alex's eyes fluttered up to the clock, hanging above the coffeeshop's tacky entrance. Working the nightshift had been dull, but it paid well. Other than a few drunks here and the occasional night owls, nothing happened in this little town. Until a week ago when they'd had a change in menu, from upper management. The drinks were... special, to say the least. Alex didn't question it, it took them a while to get used to making these new coffees, which didn't really resemble coffee- and smelled putrid. But whatever. Coffee is coffee and money is, and always would be money. Ever since the new menu came out, the nights had grown... darker, a heavy silence pressed down on the coffeeshop, only the soft ticking of the clock interrupting it's tension.. tik... tok... tik...tok...TIK
3:33 am, the time Alex somehow knew the door would open, and a shadow would ooze in, followed by shiny black snakeleather shoes, expensive looking, and a black suit. The face of this customer was unrecognisable, it seemed to shift ever so slightly, the face changing slowly, cycling through faces they almost recognised. Only the eyes remained the same. Cold icy blue pits that gave Alex a deeply unsettling feeling in the pit of their stomach.
Quickly averting their gaze, Alex cleared their throat and said "Hi, what can I get you?" Staring down at the counter, they could hear the heels of the being's shoes click on the black and white tiles, which were due a good clean. "Uhhhhh yeah can I get a uhhhhhhhhh Frap- no... no you know what, I thought I was going for something else today but I've changed my mind, I'll stick with the Dark Lord's Latte please"
The voice changed from a woman's, to a child's to a man's, cycling through accents as if it wasn't sure what fit right, what would work best on this Barista. Alex nodded and quickly whisked around to start working on the drink, steam hissing and the dark liquid oozing out of the machine, a tarry scent wafting up at them. The sooner they'd get this coffee right, the sooner this.. customer would be gone. Swallowing down a lump in their throat, they glanced back quickly, not quite making eye contact and asking "anything else?" "No... no thank you, that would be all" the chilling voice said, now with a foreign accent, before switching to a youthful, happy voice.
The voice felt like a stab of a knife, that was Laura's voice, or at least it could have been a very close match to that of Laura's, from 8 years ago. That was when she was last seen, just around the block from the movie theatre. Alex and her had gone to see some blockbuster film, and she had ran back inside to grab her forgotten beanie, which had dropped underneath her seat. She never came out, she had vanished. Police investigations had been thorough, Alex had gone through investigations, sleepless nights, but no trace. Alex was staring into the customer's eyes now, the voice haunting them. "Can I get my drink, please?" Said Laura. With shaking hands, Alex picked up the coffee, the drink sloshing over the sides of the paper cup, scalding hot against their skin, and set it down in front of the customer, who's face had begun to resemble Laura's almost perfectly, apart from the eyes. A dark, oozing hand placed money on the counter, more than Alex needed for this coffee, but they were stuck, staring in horror at the icy blue eyes, until an eerie thought popped up, and for a split second Alex couldn't remember who they were. The thing laughed, a cold, harsh sound, the voices mixing again "Oh you'd be a delight to consume Alex, you could join your friend Laura, but then I'd have no one to serve me my coffee, would I now? And you do make such a delightful brew" it picked up the coffee, and with a heel clacking sound, the door creaked, the customer gone, and the clock ticked once again. Tik.. Tok.. Tik.. 3.34.
Alex's eyes fluttered as they were trying to remember what just happened. Manually grabbing the money, and stuffing it in the register, they turned around to make themselves a small cappuccino. Huh.. I guess the late nights were getting to their memory or something. Ah well, time to scroll through reddit, sip their coffee, and wait for the next late night customer.