up. I needed to start putting myself out there as available again. The nights were starting to get lonely, and Leeva had her own life; she couldn’t be expected to keep me company as often as she did just because I was too gun-shy to trust myself with someone new.
“Dori!” the cook, Philippe, shouted from the back. “Are you on the clock?”
“Almost,” I called back and got my tush into gear, clocking in as quickly as possible, before adding, “Okay. Whatcha need?”
“Get some more rice from the supply room, will you, sweets?”
“On it.”
Time to save the day again. One bag of rice at a time.
I hurried to comply, then got to work, taking over for Babette, who was ready to go home.
Our café wasn’t one of the bigger-known establishments, but the locals were beginning to really enjoy what we had to offer. So I spent the next few hours on my feet, traveling from table to table, making sure everyone had what they needed.
It was satisfying work as long as the customers went away happy, so I usually made sure to shower them with the charm. The healthy tips told me I was doing a good job, aside from the few outliers that were impossible to please.
I was only about an hour away from the end of my shift when a commotion at the front drew my attention to a handful of people rushing through the entrance as if seeking a safe haven inside. More outside went flooding past on the sidewalk.
Pausing with a plate weighed down with a half-eaten meal, I asked, “What’s going on?”
“Riots,” one woman panted, out of breath as she clutched her diaphragm through each wheeze. “Over on Royal.”
Royal? Wasn’t that where Leeva said she’d be?
“No!” Setting the dirty plate on the side of a nearby table, I called to Anthony, “I’ll be right back!” And then I streaked toward the exit, chanting, “Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe.”
Most of the marches were peaceful, full of people with good intentions, but on those occasions that a bad seed entered the fray, they could turn scary and violent and life-threatening at the drop of a hat. I’d seen it happen. And I didn’t want my roommate anywhere near that.
Shouts and car horns sounded ahead as I raced down the sidewalk. My mask flew off as I sprinted, but I didn’t even pause to retrieve it. I had to find Leeva.
Flying around a corner, I skidded to a stop as I took in the chaos before me.
“No,” I breathed.
A mass of people surged one way, while another horde scattered, running in all different directions, protest signs waving madly in the air as they fled. Not far away, a car sat in flames, and glass broke in a nearby storefront as a brick sailed through it.
In the crux of it all, the police deployed smoke bombs and tear gas. I couldn’t say if the uproar had started because they had shown up, or they’d shown up because an uproar had begun. I guess it didn’t matter either way; this just needed to stop.
“Dori!” I heard a familiar shout.
Turning toward the call, I spotted my roommate rushing toward me, only half a block away, and relief flooded my veins.
I shouted back, crying her name just as something hit me on the side of the head.
It hurt. A lot.
I think I even blacked out for a bit because I felt myself falling but I don’t remember landing.
The next thing I recalled was this strange suction-type, flying sensation. Wind whipped at me as I flew—because I’m pretty sure I was flying, or maybe falling—at an incredible rate. When I managed to slit my eyes open, I saw darkness—like outer space kind of darkness—but there were also these crackling lights around me as if I were traveling through a tunnel of pure electricity.
It reminded me of the Bifrost bridge in the Marvel movies, except not quite as colorful. The electricity was mostly just a white-ish blue tint.
Tipping my head toward the warm wind rushing at me, I caught sight of the end of the tunnel approaching. It was full of blue sunlight, green vegetation, and a brown dirt road.
“Oh, God,” I groaned, bracing for impact because if I was launched through the opening of the tunnel at the same speed I was currently traveling, my landing was going to be painful. I squeezed my eyes shut and curled myself into a ball, bracing for impact.
If I’d just been sucked into