Zoe Moonwright's day was going about as well as a cat in a bathtub. First, her alarm didn't go off, leaving her scrambling to get to her shift at Rosie's Diner. Then, in her rush, she'd managed to put on mismatched socks – one with little cauldrons, the other with broomsticks. At least they were thematically consistent, she mused.

  Now, as she stood in front of table seven, coffee pot in hand, she found herself face-to-face with the most annoyingly handsome man she'd ever seen. He had perfectly tousled dark hair, piercing blue eyes, and cheekbones that could cut glass. And he was smirking at her. Fantastic.

  "Rough morning?" he asked, his voice a low purr that sent an involuntary shiver down her spine.

  Zoe plastered on her best customer service smile. "Nothing I can't handle."

  "I'm Lucian," he said again. When she didn't offer her name in return - just like last time - his smirk widened. "You know, generally this is where you'd tell me your name."

  Zoe plastered on her best customer service smile. "Coffee?"

  "Well, since you're not feeling chatty," he said, still wearing that infuriating smirk, "I suppose I'll have plenty of time to learn your name. I just bought the old arcade on Main Street."

  Zoe's eyebrows shot up. "You bought Pixel Palace? But Mr. Jenkins would never sell! He loves that place more than his own children."

  Lucian's smirk softened into something almost sad. "He didn't have much choice. Medical bills, you know. But don't worry, I plan to keep the spirit of the place alive. With a few... upgrades."

  Before Zoe could respond, a crash from the kitchen had her whirling around. "Oh no, not again," she muttered, hurrying towards the sound.

  She pushed through the swinging doors to find her best friend and fellow waitress, Melody Chen, standing amidst a sea of broken plates. Melody was humming softly to herself, looking dazed and distant.

  "Mel!" Zoe called out, concerned. "Are you okay?"

  Melody jumped, seeming to snap out of whatever trance she'd been in. "Oh! I'm... I'm fine. Just clumsy, I guess." She looked at the mess of broken plates with an odd expression. "I thought I... never mind."

  Zoe grabbed a broom, trying to ignore the strange feeling in the air. Lately, odd things kept happening around Melody - dishes mysteriously rearranging themselves, customers falling into strange moods when she sang. But there had to be logical explanations. There always were.

  "Maybe you should take a break," Zoe suggested, sweeping up shards that seemed to glitter strangely in the fluorescent light. "You've been working too hard."

  "Or maybe," a booming voice filled the air, making them both jump, "she needs to embrace her true nature!"

  Zoe closed her eyes, counting to ten. That voice could only belong to one person.

  She plastered on a smile and walked out to greet her grandmother, Madame Esmeralda. The old woman was a sight to behold, draped in flowing scarves of every color, bangles jingling on her wrists, and a crystal ball pendant swinging from her neck.

  "Zoe, darling!" Esmeralda cried, enveloping her in a hug that smelled of patchouli and cat hair. "I had a vision, my dear. Great changes are coming to Whispering Pines, and you're at the center of it all!"

  Zoe extracted herself from her grandmother's embrace. "That's great, Nana. But unless your vision involves me winning the lottery and quitting this job, I really need to get back to work."

  Esmeralda's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Oh, it's much better than that, my dear. Love is in the air! I see a dark stranger in your future."

  Zoe's eyes involuntarily flicked to Lucian, who was watching the exchange with undisguised amusement. She felt her cheeks heat up. "Nana, please," she hissed. "Not now."

  But Esmeralda was already making her way to Lucian's table, bangles jangling with every step. "You must be new in town," she said, plopping down across from him without invitation. "Welcome to Whispering Pines, where the veil between worlds is thin, and the coffee is strong."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Lucian looked between Zoe and Esmeralda, his smirk widening. "I can see the family resemblance," he said. "You both have the same... spark in your eyes."

  Zoe groaned internally. Great, now her embarrassing grandmother was flirting with the hot vampire. Could this day get any worse?

  As if in answer to her unspoken question, the diner's door burst open, and in stumbled Finn Silvercloud, Zoe's roommate and best friend. His usually perfectly coiffed hair was a mess, his clothes were rumpled, and he had a wild look in his eyes.

  "Zoe!" he gasped, grabbing her by the shoulders. "You have to help me. It's a disaster!"

  "Finn, what's wrong?" Zoe asked, alarm rising in her chest. "Is it a demon attack? Did the Shadowkin twins' food truck war finally turn violent?"

  Finn shook his head, his expression grave. "Worse. Much worse. The MMM group is falling apart!"

  Zoe blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

  "The Monsters, Magic & Mayhem group at Pixel Palace," Finn explained, as if it were obvious. "Dave quit as Quest Guide, half the group is threatening to leave, and if we don't find a replacement by tonight's session, the whole campaign is ruined!"

  Zoe couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. "Oh, Finn," she said, wiping tears from her eyes. "I love you, but sometimes I think you need to get your priorities straight."

  "I'll do it," a voice said from behind them. They turned to see Lucian standing there, an eager glint in his eye. "I've been playing MMM for... well, let's just say a very long time. I'd be happy to step in as QG."

  Finn's eyes lit up. "Really? That would be amazing! I'm Finn, by the way. And you are...?"

  "Lucian Darkheart," he replied, shaking Finn's hand. "I just bought Pixel Palace. Or, as it will now be known, 'Pixel & Fangs.'"

  Finn's jaw dropped. "You're the new owner? And you play MMM? This is the best day ever!"

  As Finn and Lucian chatted excitedly about character sheets and campaign settings, Zoe felt a tug on her arm. She turned to see Melody, her eyes wide with panic.

  "Zoe," Melody whispered, "we have a problem. Grumps is having one of his... episodes."

  Zoe followed Melody's gaze to the diner's front window. Outside, Grumps was standing in the middle of the street, and something seemed... off about him. The air around him shimmered like a heat mirage, though it wasn't particularly hot today. His face was an alarming shade of red, and was that... smoke coming from his collar? Must be from his ever-present cigars, Zoe told herself, though she'd never seen smoke curl quite like that before.

  "Is he... growling?" Zoe asked, squinting through the window. The sound was impossibly deep, making the diner's windows vibrate. Probably just the timing of a passing truck, she decided, even as part of her mind whispered that there weren't any trucks in sight.

  Melody wrung her hands. "He forgot his medication this morning. His, um, blood pressure medication."

  Zoe sighed, untying her apron. "Okay, you keep everyone calm in here. I'll go deal with him."

  She marched outside, trying to ignore how the pavement seemed to tremble with each of Grumps' increasingly inhuman sounds of rage. His eyes looked strange - probably just a trick of the light making them appear yellow and slitted.

  "Grumps!" she shouted, hands on hips. "You're causing a scene! Whatever's wrong, we can fix it without you having another one of your... incidents." She pointedly ignored how his skin seemed to be developing an iridescent sheen. Must be sweat catching the sunlight. Had to be.

  The old man's head snapped toward her, and for a moment, his face looked almost... reptilian. Zoe blinked hard, and his features settled back to normal. She really needed more sleep.

  "You wouldn't understand," he growled, his voice unnaturally deep and rumbling. "They messed up my order! This is 'Werewolf Wendy's Wild Weekend,' not 'Vampire Vixens from Venus'! How am I supposed to know what happens to Vampirella after last issue's cliffhanger?"

  Was he getting... bigger? No, no, just drawing himself up in anger. And that couldn't be scales forming along his neck - had to be his collar catching the light weird.

  "Okay," Zoe said firmly, refusing to acknowledge the way the air crackled with impossible energy around him. "How about this? I'll call around to the other comic shops in the area and see if I can find your comic. But you have to calm down and take your, uh, medication. Deal?"

  Grumps seemed to deflate - literally, though Zoe told herself it was just his posture changing. The strange shimmering in the air faded, and his skin returned to its normal shade. "Fine," he grumbled, voice back to its usual gravelly tone. "But if you can't find it, I'm not responsible for any fi- er, strongly worded complaints that may occur."

  As Grumps shuffled off, still muttering about comic book mix-ups, Zoe turned to see Lucian, Finn, Melody, and what seemed like half the diner's patrons staring at her in awe.

  "What?" she asked, suddenly self-conscious. "Haven't you ever seen someone talk down an angry comic book enthusiast before?"

  Lucian's smirk was back, but this time it was tinged with something else - respect? Amusement? "I have to say, Zoe Moonwright, you are full of surprises."

  Finn nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, that was amazing! He was all..." he trailed off at Melody's sharp elbow to his ribs.

  Zoe felt her cheeks heat up. "It was nothing. Just another weird Tuesday. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have tables to wait and a rare comic book to track down."

  As she turned to head back into the diner, she caught sight of her reflection in the window. Her hair was a mess, her mismatched socks were clearly visible, and there was a strange, shimming residue on her cheek that she firmly told herself was just dust. The logical explanations were getting harder to believe, but she clung to them anyway. There had to be reasonable explanations for everything happening in this town. There had to be.