The flight out of the cafe was a hectic one.
Out of all the people who were hit badly by the magnitude of what had just happened, the worst was Erica.
She now sat on the pavement outside the cafe, slumped against a wall, in some kind of apparent shellshock. Alex would have comforted her, but he wasn't doing much better himself.
She had always been the stronger one, so he wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to comfort her, especially in a situation like this.
His bones felt cold to the bone, like he had just been swimming in deep arctic water. Someone was gulping air like a panicked fish and upon closer examination, he realised that it was him gasping for her.
A gentle but firm grip on his shoulder grounded him in reality, the owner of the hand being the burly man who carried them out.
"The name is Mattias, we talked on the phone?" His eyes shone with concern as he looked Alex up and down. "You're not hurt are you?"
Alex took a deep breath to settle himself, "Yeah... No, I'm okay... I think..." He looked at his sister in the corner, mumbling to herself. "What the actual fuck was that?"
Mattias grimaced, "It's a long story, we don't have time to talk about it-"
He was cut short by Erica, hell hath no fury like a scared Erica and by god, she was terrified. "No! Explain! Now! I feel like we could have died." A faraway expression entered her eyes and she gripped herself with both hands.
"Hate to break it to you, bud." Alex gestured at the man, then at the patron they had dragged out who now snored obnoxiously on the floor. "But she's right. We do need some kind of explanation after all that."
The burly scowled, more to himself than anyone else, "Fine, fine. Look, I got here in my truck we can go and sit there and I'll explain."
Erica protested immediately, "Yeah, sorry, no way that is happening. You could be some kind of creep."
Alex tutted, "What's he going to do? Kidnap us? Murder us? It isn't like we almost just lost our souls in a weird cafe that was apparently run by mannequins with an IQ lower than room temperature."
"The sarcasm was unneeded, you know? I get it." She retorted and then gestured at Mattias. "Lead away."
The guy was surprisingly proactive, he had already been lifting the unconscious man up and was now hoisting him the short distance to his truck, Alex dashed after him, hurriedly helping him lay the man into the truck bed in a semi-comfortable position.
Erica trailed behind absently, her mind was elsewhere, but she couldn't help but notice that the street was not exactly empty, yet no one seemed to be alarmed by what I had just happened.
Up ahead, Alex was sitting in the truck bed, Mattias sat opposite him with a somewhat sad expression on his face. Erica pulled herself from her musing and resigned herself to sit on the asphalt. It would probably be a long while if ever before she would trust this man.
Sensing the question gazes of the twins, Mattias cleared his throat and began, "It first popped up around twenty years ago, back then it resembled a small stall that sat on the street corner. There was always ever one server and their back would always be turned to the incoming costumers-"
Alex snorted, "And no one noticed that something was wrong?"
Mattias shrugged, "It wasn't that odd compared to the other stuff that happens around here. Besides, the stall let people take products for free, so people weren't complaining." He cracked a wry smile, "And then one-day people woke up to see that the stall had become a cafe. Given the dimensions of the street, it should have been impossible. There wasn't any space for an additional building, and yet here it was, somehow fitting. It wasn't exactly small either."
Erica looked up, puzzled. "It somehow fit?"
Mattias nodded, "The cafe was always full. We had no idea where the patrons were coming from. There were no new residents on the island." He smirked. "We figured it out when a local farmer, one Bobby Fulan, was seen inside the cafe. The only problem? Bobby had died three days earlier, I had personally helped carry his body to the morgue."
Alex narrowed his eyes, "I don't like where this is going..."
"Three people went into the bar, they dragged him out. He fought them all the way, that thing watched the entire time, he kept rambling about needing to pass on. Once they crossed the threshold though, he was alright. Mellowed out, looked around all confused like, said the last thing he remembered was going to sleep three days ago."
"Wait," Erica almost whispered, "You can't mean..."
"The dead come to the cafe," Mattias confirmed, "The recently deceased. If you get here in time, you can catch them and bring them back to life permanently."
Alex gazed at the sleeping man in the back of the truck, "Then he-"
"He's dead," Mattias responded flatly. "Has been for the last week. It's why I responded so harshly on the phone."
"How did he die?" Erica inquired, her voice soft and understanding.
"He had been complaining of nightmares, said something had been plaguing him, trying to talk to him. I brushed it off because it sounded crazy, maybe I should have paid attention to him and the matter though."
"Why? What happened?"
"Last week, he got his shotgun, sat in his shed, put the barrel under his chin and pulled the trigger. I was the one who found him, he didn't have much family, and even fewer friends, I think I was the only proper friend he had on this whole island." The big guy looked like a cloud had crossed his face, in a word - shattered.
"I am so, so, so very sorry," Erica said, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze. "I am sure he appreciates this now. You can keep him safe now."
"I wouldn't go that far," Alex scoffed, "Delusion induced nightmare whispers aside, isn't this wrong? Isn't life and death a fragile line that shouldn't be crossed? Maybe we should have let him walk into the light."
Mattias growled under his breath but Erica held him back, "Alex! He lost his friend!"
Alex gestured angrily at them, "That is terrible, really tragic and all. However, forgive me if I'm wrong, but the dead are not supposed to come back to life. Not like that anyway."
"Hey!" Mattias shouted angrily, "You know nothing! You're just a snot nosed brat that I have never seen around before, you don't understand how this place works!"
"And you do?" Alex scoffed, "The dead are supposed to stay dead, otherwise death would not be that permanent final thing."
"Alright, guys!" Erica yelled, standing between the two of them, who had now gotten up and faced each other, glaring. "Calm down! I see your points, both of them, they are both very good points. But that doesn't change the fact that what has happened has happened."
She sighed and then continued, "The cafe probably brought him back for some reason, it can't be good, nothing in life comes free." Mattias moved to talk, but she shushed him and pointed at Alex, "On the flip side, this man's friend committed suicide and has been given a second chance. Just because you're disconnected from your emotions doesn't mean everyone else has to be."
"Fine," Alex conceded. "What now?"
"Now we help the nice man get his friend home." She sighed, it was obvious to her, should have been obvious to him.
Mattias stretched, yawning all the while, it looked like he had been having a very late night. "Don't worry about it, I'll drive him back home." He eyed up the twins. "What are your names? Rude kid or not, I'd like to thank you guys at a later date."
Erica smiled, "I'm Erica, Erica Drake. And this…" She pulled at Alex, "Is Alexander. The rude brat himself."
Alex scowled, pulling himself away from her grasp. "Yeah, don't do that again. It was unnecessarily cringy."
Mattias chuckled and hopped out of the truck bed, turning only to check on his friend and then lock the bed. He carefully slipped into the driver's seat and looked at the twins. "Listen, you guys are new here. What you saw was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, it gets weirder around here. Weird and dangerous." He pointed at Alex, "You're a brat, but you helped me save my friend. You have my number now, you ever find yourself in a pickle, you give me a call. I'll help you sort it."
"Thanks… I guess…" Alex replied. Mattias responded with a curt nod, rolled up his window, and slowly pulled off down the road.
Alex watched in silence, Erica savagely elbowed him in the ribs.
"Hey! What did I do?" He protested.