Twenty Seven

Copyright © 2019 by S.M. TOZER

"This is it... ugh, my legs are going to give" Raven exclaims in exhaustion as he leaned over grabbing at his legs that were finally getting too tired to continue this walking around town. Since they were low on funds they couldn't afford to pay for parking within the city so the entire search was done by foot.

Raven was happy to be done with their search regretting that he didn't save his money better instead of relying on Carson all the time at that very moment. He was so tired he almost became excited to go sit down in a chair even if it was hard and cold. Though looking up at the building he was even starting to question if it were the right place but once he read the name he was positive it was the same one that she had mentioned.

He never imagined a coffee shop would be tucked away almost hidden from the world around it while the other stores were all flashy and open to the street. Before Raven, was a single door within a brick wall with only a flashing red sign above it. Like a scene from a horror movie this was hardly the most inviting entrance, he couldn't help but think no wonder she was practically scouting guest at the game.

"I'm not regretting coming now, are you sure?" Menay huffed asking out of concern wary of Raven going through that door.

Raven paused as he couldn't blame him either, even he got a uncomfortable feeling from the place he was about to enter. What through him off though was that Carson had never brought him to this sort of place. Carson was the kind of guy who knew of every gathering spots hidden in the town so it made Raven wonder what kind of place even Carson would avoid.

He subconsciously hesitates knowing that woman before still gave him a bad vibe though she didn't seem like a mean or dangerous person so he was conflicted on whether he had anything to worry about.

Looking up at the sign he was positive that was the acronym she claimed in her hurry, "It says CFM... yeah it's the place" he confirms finally letting go of his legs, leaning back up taking a deep breath to gather his courage to open the door.

"Hmm" Menay looked at the place and the sign not liking the looks of it by every passing moment almost positive he knew what was on the other side. "CFM huh?"

"Can't Find Me, right?" Menay sneered as he began to poke fun at the shop, "Clever name couldn't imagine there would be coffee in a old brothel" he taunts further while sticking his hands into his pockets looking over to Raven wondering if he was actually going to enter, hoping he wouldn't.

Raven almost bites his tongue to what Menay pointed out having not thought her as a service woman before. "It stands for Coffee, food, and music cut that out..." Raven snarled hitting at Menay's arm for making him think the worst of the woman from the game, "Damn demons, only thinking about that one thing" Raven muttered as he stepped away going through the door.

Only to stop dead in his tracks finding a stairwell in front of him leading to another door only instead of going up a floor it went down below the street level. Raven heard a slight cough catching his attention. Looking over he finds a man relaxed in a chair behind a desk reading the newspaper glancing over to Raven above his paper. The thought that Menay may have been worried for a good reason didn't help Raven feel better because they were in the situation now together if he turned out right.

"Ugh..." Raven sucked it up and went to walk over to the man at the desk to ask him if it were the coffee shop he thought it was but before he could reach the man, he pointed to the stairs.

"Just go down the stairs and the door's on your left it's still slow so there is still space for you to enter" He grunted while he turned the page going back to completely ignoring the world around him.

Raven couldn't be certain what he meant by that statement and was becoming paranoid by how unwilling he was to speak with Raven. He felt that the man and the place were meant for each other, both being refreshingly scary.

Menay placed his hands on Raven's shoulders pulling him back into his chest, "We should go, I'll buy you something instead." he whispered in Raven's ear as he tightened his grip on Raven's shoulders not allowing him to walk away.

Raven almost felt relief with the alternative to going any further till he quickly questioned where this money would come from, "With what money, scaredy cat?" he questioned looking over his shoulder to him, "let go" he demands finding that Menay's grip was making his skin crawl.

Raven was being stubborn as ever but this time even though he knew it was a impossible option he really wished what Menay offered was something they could do instead.

Menay huffed looking down at Raven to the comment made, "Fine" he said with a defeated sigh while he let go of Raven's shoulders though keeping one hand on Raven's arm to make him stay close by. He obediently began to follow Raven's lead down the mysterious, possibly dangerous, stairwell hoping he was wrong.

Raven paused as he got to the industrial double doors that didn't allow anyone to see what resided on the other side. No longer willing to open them Raven hesitated while all the courage he had before was revealed as a mere facade. What ever was beyond them scared Raven even worse than what he needed, rather taking his chances with using his pheromones he debated on walking away.

The door swung open as a group of college students left the building laughing from their prior conversation. Raven tried his best not to bump into them as they almost didn't notice him while they were so caught up with their conversation.

One of the men bumped into him though and before they could even register what happened Menay grabbed onto Raven's shoulders again pulling the red head back into his space not allowing them to get any closer as he place himself between them.

Raven watched as they passed hearing a brief apology from the man and that was it. Even though he didn't feel like he were in danger of being attacked it was strange having Menay being so protective all of a sudden. It worried Raven more wanting him to stop. Looking over at Menay, Raven didn't have to say a word for Menay got the hint and let Raven go quickly.

Though besides being bumped into while the doors were opened the atmosphere in the actual shop sounded completely different than it was on the outside. All the music that was cut off from the doors was inviting followed by laughter and friendly conversation going on within.

Raven caught a glimpse before the door closed, seeing that though it had no windows it was a very warm setting. Not what he expected at all from such an unusual entrance to an underground place. No longer afraid Raven made his way to the door more enticed to see the place than before forgetting all about his surroundings.

"Wait- uhh" Menay spoke up as he tried to stop Raven but it was too late as he was already in the motion of opening the door again and stepping through the threshold. Menay snarled as he shook his head, the place still gave him a off feeling that he couldn't shake. The place reminded him of the hidden bars where his kind and others like them would gather to mingle and feed on the willing. For Raven to be found among his kind he feared only the worst. Though this place looked nothing like one of those bars and for the most part all he could see were average humans.

It was brighter than what Raven had imagined, he even liked the place in a way even though it was underground with no windows it felt as if he had just stepped in from off the street. The warm and inviting atmosphere made Raven venture in further taking in the delicious aromas that smelled a lot better than Menay's cooking, it was like walking into a bakery.

"Well this sure was a pleasant surprise" Menay stated to catch Raven's attention as he stopped behind him. Though when Raven looked over his shoulder he noticed Menay was still looking around like he was suspicious of the normal looking environment.

Menay looked down at Raven who met with his eyes filled with concern knowing he had to change his attitude before Raven caught on, "Well?"

He leaned onto Raven's shoulders after a moment seeing Raven wasn't focused on why they came there anymore. His head close to Raven's he whispered, "Do you see her?" he asked getting Raven back to the plan so they could hurry and leave.

Raven shook his head realizing he had easily become distracted and started looking around the room. He could hardly tell the difference between the employees and the customers, they all seem to dress casual. He couldn't remember much about her though he did know she had dark long hair and as long as he seen her Raven knew he would recognize her.

"Oops," a panicked tone followed by a clatter of glass on a tray turned Raven's head as he heard the familiar voice that followed, "I'm sorry sir" the familiar woman's voice apologized.

Raven found her, she was serving a table their drinks till she had spilt one of them, now trying to clean it up. Raven point to get Menay's attention to look at her, "There she is" he claimed narrowing Menay's vision on her.

"Wow..." Menay exclaimed as his eyes fell onto the young woman having the same reaction as Raven did to the sight of her, "She's really pretty, being a girl's working for you" he complemented Raven lacing it with a indirect insult.

Raven snarled for a brief moment then ignored him refusing to play up the comment. Looking around he wondered how they would be seated since he saw no host and there were some people waiting in line at a counter. He wasn't sure if they order their food then sat down or if they could order at a seated table.

Menay tapped on Raven's shoulder as he pointed to the chalkboard sign telling them to seat themselves. Taking this as a sign that they did have a normal waited table experience. Raven nodded and pointed to a booth away from people since he didn't feel comfortable around so many others just yet.

Once they got into their seats a woman approached them and handed them their menu, telling them their waiter would be with them shortly. Raven let out a sigh as he looked down at the menu having a enough money saved for a coffee he was faced with a dilemma. He didn't like coffee and no matter what else was on the options he knew the thought of drinking anything would make things worse for him.

The only other thing he could afford though was a cookie and that would be too strange to come all the way their to order. While he studied the menu harder trying to find something that he could not only afford but would like, they were approached. The young man no older than Raven stopped by their table and began to run off the specials for the day till he looked over at Raven and paused his speech, staring at Raven for a moment.

When Raven noticed this he quickly became uncomfortable worried that all the walking they had done before was causing him to attract people again. Raven looked away debating on coming up with an excuse to leave the table before Menay cleared his throat. Menay's method worked as it made the young man shake his head and ask Raven what he would like to drink going back to what he originally was doing.

Raven glanced back to the waiter as he seemed to be normal again making Raven let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure if his previous thoughts were accurate now but because of the waiter's staring Raven became nervous, distracting him from finding what he wanted to order.

"Uhmm..." He hummed and licked at his lip skimming his eyes over the menu even faster than before giving up rather quickly, "Coffee, please" he asked giving into the first thing that came to mind.

Menay smirked for a moment while watching how Raven didn't seem to notice that his usual way of acting was causing a distraction for the young man. Menay tapped the table with his nail to get the young man's attention, "I'll have salty pretzel bites and strawberry milk tea" he orders shortly after getting the man to look away from Raven.

Like a switch was flipped the second he looked away from Raven he wrote down the order with ease and went to walk away though the second he looked back to Raven the waiter hit his knee on of the counters causing a small scene. Menay watched the comedy as it unfolded while the young man kept looking back to Raven to make sure he didn't see though Raven was already focused on Menay for the order of food he had just made.

Raven snapped his fingers to get Menay to look at him while he glared at him in a questioning manner having just discussed the lack in money wondering just how he planned on paying for this.

Menay gently looked back to Raven and shrugged, "I had some left over after buying groceries" he explained knowing Raven was questioning the order. He slides his hand into his pocket pulling out his wallet to show Raven had a little cash on him.

Raven began to give him an angered glare for holding onto the money that could have been spent on parking the car closer. Menay chuckled lightly knowing he should change the subject, "He just liked you" Menay lightly informed referring to the waiter as he put his wallet back into his pocket knowing this would be a easy topic changer.

"What?" Raven questioned looking from Menay to the waiter since Menay had caught his staring too he knew it was something to worry about.

Menay scoffed finding Raven's ignorance entertaining, "You're not kicking off any pheromones, he just thinks you're cute don't be so scared. you should really be used to that" He explains then paused for a moment thinking about what he said, "Or at least get accustomed to using it to your benefit"

Raven couldn't help but feel insulted by every word, "I'll pass..." Raven grumbled.

"You'll need to feed soon but I'll let you know when your pheromones start going off" Menay stated folding his hand over one another on the counter.

"How do you know?" Raven questioned wondering how he would be able to tell when he himself couldn't about his own body.

Menay gestured to his nose for a moment giving a light grin, "I can smell it"

"That makes me feel even more awkward around you" Raven muttered as he never knew Menay would have such capability.

Menay chuckled softly as he heard Raven's concern while he watched Raven lift his hoodie in a subtle manner to smell his shirt just encase. This humored him a bit not wanting to embarrass him more by pointing it out he moved onto the original subject, "So how are you going to talk to her?" he asked noticing Raven wasn't going out of his way in the slightest bit to get her attention.

Raven ran his hands over his hair and pulled the pony tail through his fingers while his head practically dropped to the table resting his forehead on the counter, "I don't know" he moaned while leaning back up to look over his shoulder to her finally revealing he had no plan once they got this far. Just as he does though their eyes met and she immediately recognized him giving a smile and a gentle wave while she took some dirty dishes from the table she was at.

Raven's face felt warm as he looked away quickly peering down to the table as if he were trying to hide. Menay snickered as he saw the reaction, "Well that seemed pretty easy" he teased.