Eyes Full of Wonder

"Miss Maya, shouldn't you be going down to Savannah's?"

Alphonse normally came after the five o'clock closing to check in on us. His guests would come downstairs and mingle, have a nice cup of coffee, and not feel as cooped up for a moment. Normally, his guests were on the run for one reason or another. However, they weren't bad ghouls. Some had a family member killed by the GCS or their hunger felt out of control. I didn't ask Alphonse how he fed his guests, I just knew he wouldn't kill someone in cold blood.

"I will. I have a few more tables to clean and then I'll be on my way. How was your day?"

"Uneventful, but I prefer it that way. Being old is a double edged sword. I can't do as much as I used to and yet I have to always remind myself that you young ones are who will change the world. I just have the pleasure of watching now."

Alphonse was always formal. His speech was eloquent and his manners were impeccable. His salt and peppered hair was mostly silver now, but I could tell he was once a handsome young man. Mature women loved him when he would help serve the customer's coffee. His tendency to flirt was entertaining to watch as women almost swooned out of their chairs. However, he always received great tips. Better than most of us young ones.

"Maya!"

I could hear my name being yelled by a familiar young voice. Yuli was an orphan and a permanent resident here. Her parents were killed in a ghoul turf fight when she was five years old. Alphonse took her in without a second thought. I remember that night because that was the night I learned he was a ghoul. Taking her broken and battered little body to Alphonse, he had to help me as well. We were on one of our early dates when the fight broke out in the neighboring district. I only had a concussion, so he brought both of us here not knowing where else to go.

Little arms wrapped around my waist as her face slammed into my stomach. "I missed you! Alphonse said I had to finish my lessons before I could see you so I tried extra hard."

"You sure did! How did you do?"

"I'm an ace. Obviously."

We both laughed as she let me go and smiled without a care in the world. Her big brown eyes were full of wonder, her pale skin wasn't even scarred anymore from that night. I was jealous of her healing rate. I had scars everywhere from my youth that I wish would go away. However, they were also proof I could die easier than them. Once they were proof I lived, now they were proof I was weaker on the food chain. My fingers touched her cheek gently and she touched my hand to keep it there. Her eyes shut and she leaned into my touch.

"You're so warm."

I was surprised by her words, as she normally wasn't so quiet. Yuli had a peaceful way about her this afternoon and I looked at Alphonse who was already leaving the room. No doubt he was called away by Reggie who was in the back pantry area.

"Well, yeah. I was holding hot coffee all day, silly Yuli."

Sticking her tongue out at me, she smiled and then skipped her way to go back upstairs. Turning around before walking up the stairs she smiled one last time. "Stop up sometime. I actually have more of a lesson to do, but I really wanted to see you. I miss you, dummy."

"Sorry, I will when I have a day off. How about a whole day of just you and me?"

Her eyes lit up. Nodding, she bounded upstairs and I could hear her cheering for a day with Maya. She was a silly kid, but sensitive when she felt left out. I never meant to stop coming by for visits. It was just harder without Tyson there. He was like a big brother to her, and I was her sister. I could only imagine how she felt after his death and losing me in a way too. Sighing heavily, I continued cleaning until I heard the front door open.

"Sorry but we're closed."

My voice trailed off as I turned and saw Kyler again. His demeanor was more serious this time, if that was possible and he didn't even look at me. He knew were to go to the back pantry. I just let it go since he was Reggie's friend. Maybe he knew Alphonse too.

"Hey, Reggie I'm all finished."

I called out but I heard a crash. Rushing back to the pantry where the sound came from, I paused when I saw Reggie holding his fist above Reggie and Alphonse trying to hold him back. Kyler's eyes were red, almost glowing. He was a ghoul. He was hungry.

"My dear, I think you can go now. We will handle it from here."

Alphonse was a master of controlling a situation, but when my legs moved they were not of their own accord. They did it against my will, but I couldn't stay. I knew how a hungry ghoul could react. They were dangerous and super human with their strength and agility. If he wanted to kill me, I'd be dead.

Walking down the street to The Crow's Nest, Savannah's bar was going to be slow tonight. My body was still shaken by what I saw, but I didn't want to over think it. My breath was difficult to catch although I knew I wasn't moving quickly. My feet plodded forward, I bumped into other pedestrians until I finally found my destination. Walking inside, I felt a bit more at ease. My pulse was going down finally, and my head stopped spinning.

"Evening, dear. I hope you're in for a slow night and lots of girl talk."

Savannah always knew it was me. She could smell me in close proximity as much as I felt weird about it. Her humor was always welcomed and most of the time so was her blunt personality.

"Sure am, ma'am."

"Call me ma'am one more time and I'll pull out your spine."

She laughed as she blushed finally turning around to show her face. She hated that term, but I was the only one who she wouldn't do that to. We had an understanding like that and her friendship was one of the few I had. Another quirk she had was she always knew if I wasn't myself.

"So, gonna tell me what happened at the café? Alphonse called worried. He usually doesn't so that made me wonder just what's going on."

Stopping what she was doing, she leaned forward on the bar and waited for me to gather my thoughts. As I slowly gathered them, I sat in front of the seat she was leaning towards. That guy, Kyler, was new to me but yet seemed very familiar. I had known most of the ghouls I was introduced to from Savannah or Tyson. Alphonse would tell me people to trust only as far as I could throw them, but I never heard of Kyler before today with Reggie.

Her eyes were fixed on me as I explained the situation as I knew it. I told her about my dream and her face stiffened for a moment before reaching out to touch my hand. Tears were brimming from my eyes as I told her about everything on my mind, pouring it out on the dark wooden bar top. This bar had seen many tears, but only two instances of mine. When Tyson died, and now.

"Honey, if you need anything, just ask. You poor thing. Keeping it all up inside is no good for you. Tyson was a good guy, and he would have never wanted you to be this miserable for this long. As for Kyler, yeah I know him. He's a trouble maker and if he's going to Rouge then that must mean he's out of the ninth district. He was there for a while for chaos control. Some ghouls that were causing trouble and needed someone to dismantle them a bit. Took him three years, but we have some heat off our back from the GCS because of it. So stupid, it's not like we're the majority and yet so many ghouls think they can just take what they want. Most of us just want to live in peace, the others want to watch everything burn. But even with all of that, I fear humans more than us."

Her eyes glazed over as she talked, but after shaking her head slowly she turned up the corners of her mouth into a sad smile. Sighing, she patted my hand before releasing it. We had a job to do and this was a topic that was a soft spot for both of us.

"You don't like humans, but somehow you tolerate me. Maybe someday we will have a fragile peace, but until then most of us don't know about your kind. I'm happy I know you, Alphonse, Reggie, Yuli, and knew those who I cared about. Humans have their own kind of monsters, but it's mostly because we're desperate. Desperate for answers, desperate to know, not caring what we hurt in our wake when the tides roll in."

I went to the back to pick up the list she put on the side of the bar as always. Picking through the items, I hoped it would be a slow night. Girl talk was fun when we could but it seemed the place was too busy for that these days.

"Where is she, Vanna?"

Slamming of the front door made me jump as I covered my mouth from the jolt. The voice was threatening and dark. I wanted to look, but my instinct told me to hide. I went as far back as I could, we had some spare boxes. One big enough to fit me. Slowly curling myself into a ball with my knees on the floor, I lowered it down as softly as I could down and all sides touched the floor.

"She's not here. Get the hell out, I'm running a business here. I sent her out, she looked like shit after the stunt you pulled."

"Bullshit. I've known you long enough to know when you're lying. Where is she?"

"Oh, all tough now that you had some time on ninth district. If you got something against her, take it up with me. She's not your problem, unless if you like being the big bad ghoul to beat up a small human woman. I can imagine that would inspire some hatred with the guys at Rouge. At least with me I can give you a fight. I'm good to knock your head around a few rounds."

Quiet, a piercing quiet echoed. The emptiness made my head dizzy as I waited for someone to say anything.

"You really are loyal to that human."

His words spit like venom. What did I do to him? I wanted to cry, but I put my hand to my mouth and let the hot tears stream down my nose and fall to the floor.

"Got that right. She deserves more loyalty than you. Now, go. I have a business to open in ten minutes and no time to waste on your stupid self made problems. I mean what I said, your problem isn't with her and you know it."

Nothing again until the sound of the door banged shut with less intensity than the first time but still loud. There was her voice, but much quieter. Phone call? I waited until I heard her voice, but that felt like an eternity.