Gray didn't look up from the cash register when the front doors slid open right on time, just as any other weekday when he was at work, and the kids had school.
"Gray!" Jade called his name cheerfully.
"Gray," Emrys said right after her.
"Uh...hi from me too, I guess," an extra voice deadpanned.
He looked up with an eyebrow raised in confusion to see three students coming in through the doors instead of two. The new addition, dressed rather differently from the red and gray academy's school uniform that he came to recognize, was none other than that girl they met yesterday.
"Kameron Flair," he said flatly.
Kameron flicked a strand of her dyed-hair behind her shoulder and crossed her arms in slight annoyance. "Aw, come on. Don't you know it sounds kind of rude when you say someone's full name like that?" she replied bluntly.
"Whatever," he snorted.
She sighed, readjusting the strap to her small backpack. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." She followed Jade and Emrys to their usual study spot right on the counter just a few feet away from where Gray stood.
Emrys went to pull out a few stools from the back while Jade went to hoard the snack section, leaving Gray and Kameron alone for the moment.
"You know," Kameron said to Gray, "I thought you were lying when you told Wrenley you were a cashier."
"What'd you think I was?"
"I'd be lying if I said you didn't look like a serial killer."
"..."
"..."
"...right. Now, what are you doing here?"
Kameron plopped her bag on top of the counter, at the same time observing the little, kempt store with interest. "I was bored," she answered truthfully. "And I didn't want to go to a club with my classmates. So I skipped my last period and waited at the front of the other school."
"Underage people can go to clubs?" Gray asked, surprised.
She shrugged "Well, some."
Emrys appeared from the storage room dragging three stools and Jade scurried back to the counter with an armful of drinks and chips she took from the aisles, spilling it all over the empty countertop.
The corner of Gray's mouth twitched involuntarily. "Kid, are you trying to get me fired?" he said through his teeth.
Jade smiled innocently up at him. "But Miss Althea said we can take what we want for free!" she jested. "Besides, we're not taking them every day..."
Kameron snickered when Gray groaned and buried his face in his hand. "Hell, do what you want," he grumbled in the end, and Jade beamed.
"So what do y'all do here every day?" Kameron asked curiously, reaching for a lollipop. "Go on your phones? Just chat? Eat?"
Her jaw dropped when Emrys and Jade suddenly pulled out a total of three heavy textbooks, notebooks, papers, pencils, calculators, and more from their bags, utterly shocked. "Homework?!" she exclaimed, baffled. "Are you serious?"
Emrys and Jade both turned to give her dumb looks. One was the top of the entire school, the other was determined to get into university, and both never missed a single assignment. "Of course," they said at the same time. "Don't you have homework too?"
"W- well, yeah," she stammered. "Yeah..."
Gray sneered when she sat down next to Jade and pulled out a few rolled-up folders from her small bag and a pencil, almost nothing in comparison to her friends' many workbooks. "U- uh, let's get started?" she suggested, a bit embarrassed.
The doors slid open once more and the real customers filed in, chattering amongst their little friend groups. Gray carefully watched as mostly students slipped into the aisle, and he rolled up the sleeves to his gray sweater when one girl came up to the register with only a drink in hand.
It was pretty much like every other day. He'd manage the entire store when Althea was out, and after the kids would help after they finished their homework...maybe Milo would drop by for a few things.
There was never really a problem.
About two hours later, the number of customers died down, and Milo really did appear. He entered with his usual sunny bright smile, today wearing a light hoodie that matched his pastel pink hair. "How's it going?" he asked as he walked up to the counter.
"Hm...alright," Gray answered.
Milo's eyes widened in amazement, and he grinned, showing his teeth. "Aw, Gray!" he burst. "Are you smiling for once? It's not one of your creepy, evil looks?"
Gray didn't even realize it, and he quickly dropped the closed-lip smile before the others could see. "Do you want to die?" he threatened, his eyes gleaming through his hair.
The med student reached over the counter and yanked Gray close with an arm over his shoulders, completely ignoring his threat. "At least show it to the young ones!" he pleaded. "A smile from Gray would be a great serotonin boost- who are you?"
Kameron blinked up at the random, extra-cheerful dude that popped out of nowhere. She darted her eyes between Milo and Gray, one all sunshine and rainbows, and the other like a moody devil. She couldn't help but snort at the black and pink contrast.
"Don't. Laugh," Gray scowled.
Kameron held in her giddiness and Jade turned away to keep from bursting.
"Er, I'm Kameron," she said. "Y'all know each other too?"
"Of course!" he hummed, pulling the annoyed cashier even closer. "I'm Gray's next-door neighbor, Milo! ...Oh yeah, Gray, do you have paintbrushes here? My dad is asking for more."
"Let me go and I'll get them for you," he grumbled, and Milo released him.
Gray leaped over the counter and disappeared into the center aisle on the search for paintbrushes, so he didn't notice when the front doors slid open once more.
But the others did.
Jade choked on the water she was drinking when she saw who it was, and Emrys paused halfway through writing his equation. Only Milo's expression remained unchanged.
"Oh, if it isn't Mister Kinoshi!" he beamed. "Long time no see!"
The teacher gawked at them in surprise, still dressed in his teaching attire and a messenger's bag hanging from his shoulder. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a few incoherent phrases came out.
Jade's face burned red from accidentally inhaling a huge gulp of water and hid her face in her hands as she said, "T- teacher, what are you doing here?"
Mr. Kinoshi scratched the back of his head, still in shock as he didn't expect to come across his former and current students in a tiny store as such. And they were all together, nonetheless. "I- I came here to purchase a charging cable since I accidentally broke mine at the school," he said slowly.
"Oh!" Milo said, turning around. "Gray, where are the cables at?"
Gray's head finally popped up above the top of the low shelves with a pack of paintbrushes in hand, and that's when he made eye contact with the teacher standing at the door. "Tch, what the hell?" he muttered under his breath.
He turned away from Mr. Kinoshi's skeptical expression upon seeing him and pointed at the other end of the store. "Cables are over there," he said flatly. He made his way back over to the register and leaped over the countertop, earning himself another look of disapproval from the older man.
"Sir, I'll pay for you since I'm buying paintbrushes as well!" Milo offered.
Mr. Kinoshi snapped out of his trance and began to protest, but it was already too late since Gray already received his money. So he had no choice but to thank him.
The teacher cautiously made his way to the counter, clearly still having doubts about Gray. He cleared his throat, and asked, "Son, are you the store owner here?"
"No, I simply work here."
"O- oh. That's...surprising."
"Right."
The five fell silent at Gray's dry remarks, and none of them dared to speak up as he clicked away on the register machine. It wasn't until Jade's cellphone rang that they were saved from the awkwardness.
"Hello?"
They all watched as Jade's expression changed, her brows creased with confusion.
"What do you mean? My aunt left to work last night, I saw her. Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"
"..."
"You...you saying my aunt...never arrived to work yesterday?" Jade's complexion pale and her hand flew to her mouth, and Gray froze.
"..."
"O- okay. Thank you. Bye."
The phone call ended, and Jade seemed to shrink in her seat, her eyes suddenly filled with fear. She nervously darted her eyes between her friends, who looked back at her with concern, and she bit down on her lip in uncertainty.
Kameron shot up from her seat. "Is this where we need to call the police or something-"
"No," Jade quickly interrupted. "L- let me call my aunt first." She hurriedly dialed her aunt's phone number as fear began to build up in her chest.
What if her aunt was really missing? What was she going to do? What if it's because her aunt got herself caught up in the recent gang activity going on? Going alone at night is really dangerous-
...what if she got murdered?
A whimper escaped Jade's lips when the dial tone sounded. Her aunt didn't pick up, and she was just beginning to panic.
"Alright, that's it," Kameron declared, fishing for her cellphone. "I'm dialing the cops. What's your aunt's name? Where does she work?"
"Wait," Gray said. But they all ignored him, and they all didn't notice the dangerous, stone-cold look that suddenly filled his dark eyes.
"R- Reena Deyi," she stammered, fidgeting with her hands.
Milo pulled out his phone as well, saying, "I know someone who works at the station, maybe I can get them to help-"
"I said. Wait." The panicked atmosphere that started to build up quickly died down as Gray forcefully interrupted the conversation. This time, the looming, dark aura around him didn't go unnoticed.
"Call you aunt again," he said eerily, sending chills down their spines. "Put it on speaker."
Jade did as she was told and dialed the number, putting the call on speaker mode so they could all hear the slow, suspenseful ringing. A minute passed, and once again, they were met with the dial tone.
"Again," Gray ordered sharply.
The rest protested in agitation. "But it's obvious no one's going to pick up-"
The room darkened immensely, a clear warning from Gray."Dial...the number...again."
They clamped their mouths shut, shaken by the shadows that fell on them. Not even Milo could say something to lighten the place up. They've all seen Gray act seriously before with his powers, but other than Emrys, this was actually the first they've seen him angry.
It wasn't like the 'normal' anger, however. Anger, in no way, could explain the murderous yet chilly sensation that filled the store, the physical darkness that enveloped the air around them, nor the calm yet stormy expression on Gray's face.
He looked more like...a psychopath.
Jade squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth, trembling as her phone rang for the third time.
Tenth ring... eleventh ring...
The phone clicked, and they jumped to their feet in amazement as someone really picked up.
But it wasn't Jade's aunt.
"Geez, calling relentlessly, eh?" a gruff voice said mockingly, and Jade let out a shaky gasp. "What's the name of the contact say? Who is this person?"
"The contact read Jade," a thinner voice said with a nasty chuckle. "Must be the woman's daughter or something."
"Dear heavens," Mr. Kinoshi breathed, grabbing onto Milo's arm.
Jade seized her phone, her eyes brimming with tears. "Who are you?!" she shouted. "What'd you do with my aunt?"
"Hehe, girl. Calm down, we haven't done anything to your aunt, nor do we plan to do anything. We simply borrowed her- hey! Give back the phone!" A few thuds sounded at the other end of the line, and the man with the thinner voice emerged over the other.
"Actually, we want some money," he admitted. "Five hundred grand sounds about nice."
"What are you doing? The old man said no money," the deeper voice hissed.
"Shut up! Who even cares? I want my money!"
Jade bit down on her lip, hot tears rolling silently down her cheeks. "F- five hundred thousand dollars, right?" she repeated bitterly, holding in her sobs. "You want that much?"
"What? Is it too little? I can add more if you want."
Jade flinched. "No-!"
She didn't get the chance to finish what she was saying when Gray snatched the device out of her hands. "Hey," he said darkly. "Where are you?"
"Ooh, a new voice!" the voice jeered. "Are you the boyfriend? I'll tell you where we are. XXXX Building in the slums. Please do come with the money!"
Gray fell silent as the two voices bickered with each other at the other end of the line. It's been two to three weeks since the crime rate has gone up because of these people, but he never really was bothered by it until now. He figured as long as they didn't bother him, he'd live as they never existed. But...
He cast a look down at Jade; her eyes were red and her face tear-streaked, and she looked up at him with helpless eyes as she gripped Kameron's hands until they turned purple.
"Hey! Aren't you going to say anything?" the familiar voice shouted. "Five hundred grand, make sure you count the money! Are you listening?"
Slowly, Gray allowed his lips to take the form of a sharp grin, baring his pointed teeth. Before he could stop himself, the monster he tried to bury away for the past month was unearthed, breaking to the surface.
The steady, sinister laugh that escaped his mouth frightened the others around him. Their faces fell with horror, but he didn't care.
"This man is crazy, he's laughing!" the thin voice exclaimed incredulously. "Are you good-"
"Clay," Gray suddenly said, and the talking stopped abruptly.
"Titus," he added.
The line fell silent.
Gray smirked, running the tip of his tongue across the top row of his gleaming, white teeth. "This is my only warning," he rasped. "Stay where you are...if you don't want to die today."