Crying At the 24/7 Store

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The store was all quiet. The dimly lit doors with various cold drinks and refrigerated foods lay untouched as a skinny looking teenager in poorly taken care of clothing jammed out to Metal Music as he swept the last spot on the floor. He set the broom against the wall in it's proper hook as he started headbanging and rocking out to the music before going to put the dustpan away. As he took off his headset the broom fell off it's hook. He jumped a little at the sound, but assumed he hadn't placed it on the hook quite right. It fell off yet again as he picked it up and placed it back on the hook. Once he tried to pick it up again he felt a strong force shove him to the ground. He scrambled into a crawling position and then onto his feet as he shouted out in surprise at once had just happened. Stumbling away he tried calling for the manager, an old lady who appeared grouchily saying "What, what what!" over and over again. He tried explaining it to the old woman, but she disregarded what he said as he poured out words tripping over many of them in the process. The manager went back to her office and sat down at her desk mumbling something about children being too hyped up on drugs and flipped through her paperwork. Paperwork she had just set in a pile scattered across the room as if someone had violently hit it with their hand at that moment. She shouted in surprise and backed up against the back of her chair, she screamed for the Lord himself to save her as papers swirled around her. The teen who had been cleaning before heard her scream and ran into the room, only to find her still from having had a heart attack.

Milly's eyes lingered as she found herself staring at the alcohol in the 24/7 store. Being open all day she found herself in there just to be around the occasional person. The people around her sometimes appeared hazy, she had never noticed that it was only specific people, other people who were dead or a demon until she saw a family person who had passed away long ago. They weren't malicious like the others she had met, and explained what had happened to her exactly. Unable to pass on, she found herself lost in the world of the restless spirits of this town. She had to run from the spirits around her at times, and even from darker beings known as demons. Thankfully she had a spirit gun that could stun them for a few moments to escape.

Her head snapped up at the sound of screaming. There was a reason she came here besides the fact it was always open. Her grandmother was the manager and she heard the familiar woman's scream from her Manager's Room. She dashed for the room, only to find a dark figure standing next to her as the boy shook her in a weak attempt to revive her. The figure was a malicious looking woman with a twisted smile. There was a knife in her left hand and she had nappy blonde locks with completely dark eyes. "Another spirit, here!?" Milly thought as she saw the dark spirit laughing at the old woman and the boy.

"Get lost!" Milly shouted at the spirit. The fact she had done this to her own grandmother put a rage inside her she could not quite control. The woman turned towards her and approached her without touching the ground once. She moved quickly and Milly was face to face with her before she could even blink. The hot aura that came from the mysterious woman cause her to instinctively pull out her spirit gun. The woman cackled and vanished through the wall before she could shoot and she shot a bullet at the wall making a cracking sound. The boy jumped and dialed for the police with a shaking voice explaining all the details of what had just happened. Milly watched sadly at the still figure of her grandmother laying back in her chair with a shocked expression stuck on her face. Her hands hung at her side. She'd seen the darker spirits but had never seen one actually frighten someone to death.

The distant sound of Police sirens became closer and closer as they approached to take the old woman away on a stretcher. The news was very hush-hush about the topic, only stating she had a heart attack, but rumors spread from the story of the teenager who was working there and rumors of the sound of a young woman who could be heard crying in the store ever few nights.
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Milly rubbed her eyes as she stared at the white light coming from the section with the chilled drinks. The buzzing sound of the glowing wire words spelling out 'beverages' above could sink into anyone's head eventually and was becoming a nuisance. She sighed and wiped the few remaining tears away. She had been mourning her grandmother's death for a while now, feeling like she could have been there. Milly still had regrets from her death. She now resented alcohol, but even more she resented the dark spirits lurking about town. She could see the foggy figures wandering down roads, into buildings, and through rooms and hallways. She hated them, seeing they needed to be wiped out. There has to be a way. At least let me find the woman who killed my grandmother!

The door creaked open as a flashlight shone through the small store. It had been closed down early now because of the mysterious crying people had been hearing. It's probably those stupid teenagers again. Thinking they can talk to me or find some ghost here. I'm not here to talk to them! She clenched her fists and wondered if she should chase them away, but remained hidden as she debated on completely showing herself instead of phasing out of their vision.

Milly nodded at Alison, but merely gave Kyle a dark look. "I trust the girl, but not you. The woman goes around town, she stays in the corners of rooms. And just watches. She watches people. Especially the elderly. She watches and waits for them to die. She hopes for it." Milly scowled and an angry aura came off of her. "I want revenge. She's powerful. Very powerful." Her eyes darkened. "You won't see her though. Unless she shows herself. I can always see her. She has a disgusting smile on her face."

"Owch!" Kyle shouted rubbing his head, "And I'm not threatening her I'm just telling her what I know." Kyle walked over to the front desk and asked, "Where did she kill your grandmother, If she showed herself then I can track her by her scent." His expression darkened. "Everything has a scent, it just depends on what they do, like for example, when me and Alison turned into our demon forms we left a certain scent, ghosts do the same, but only when they show themselves, and humans, well they always have a scent."

Alisonm sniffed the air trying to catch a scent. "Something isn't right, I smell something and it isn't plesent." she said covering her nose.

Milly pointed to the hallway. "The manager's office." She said. She phased back out, invisible to those around her once again. "I need to stay hidden now. There's someone else here." Milly said, despite not being seen, they would still easily be able to hear here. When she phased out, the world gained an otherwordly feeling. Everything around her was a distinctly different color. A light shade of blue covered the whole area, even tinting the flickering signs the hung over the refrigerated section.

"Alright just stay near us if you can." Kyle called out to Milly just before she vanished. Responding to what Alison said he took a sniff of the air and made a disgusted look an his face. "Oh man that's probably not good to breath in, and that is the smell of death." Kyle explained, " Ghosts can take on a certain role once they, well turn into ghosts. Some ghosts can turn into demons, but not many. Some into free floating spirits, like Milly, they don't really do much other then look over family or well be free. And then there's good ol' death, the ones who kill and collect souls and stuff, but mostly kill." Kyle started to sniff around a little bit trying to find out where the target had gone. "Yup we've got a problem." He mumbled.

"Could it be the crazy Blond?" Alison asked not fully sure. She started walking towards the manager's office.

"That could be possible, only one way to find out." Kyle retorted as he followed Alison into the office.

Alison came to the manager's office, "First we should head to the Securaty Room. The camera's are still rolling." she said pointing at one of the camera's. She started to walk in the other direction.

kyle walked over to the camera taps and took them out and busted the tapes up, and smirked "What tapes?" he laughed. Suddenly he felt cold, he called out to Alison, "Get ready, I think little miss crazy is her."

Alison laughed as she felt the temp drop. "Be careful we don't know what she can do seeing as how she killed a human." she said staying calm ready for anything to come their way.

"True, just keep your eyes peeled. I don't want to get killed today, just doesn't feel like a day to die on." Kyle joked as he leaned against the wall.

Alison let out a small demonic growl, "Something is coming. But i can't fully see it." she said in frustration. She squented her eyes to try to see into the darkness.

Kyle got into a fighting position and growled a little. "I see it, just not enough, Damn it!" He shouted. "We have to wait until it is almost completely visible or else we won't be able to hit it." He called out to Alison as he started to pull out his swords once again.

Alison grabbed her Braclet, the cross slowly began to change into a sword. Grabbing it with both hands Alison was prepared to fight what ever was coming their way. "Here it comes."

"I still can't see it!" Kyle shouted. He got into a fighting position and got ready to move or strike, whatever he needed to do.

"Use your ears!" Alison said closing her eyes trying to listen for the Dark Spirit.

"Great idea, let's hope it works." Kyle replied as he closed his eyes and tried listening.

The suddenly had a chilly feeling to it. A black mist slowly moved across the floor, starting to rise into a form. It stayed a foggy cloud, a deep gray to black color that had the form of a human and moved through the store, unknowing to the two demons paying close attention by using their hearing. A sudden crash from the store caused Milly to jump as she caught sight of the foggy figure, she had a more defined view of it because she was phased out.

It was the woman from before. She had shoved over small shelf full of chips and other snacks. Not even noticing Milly, the shrouded figure hovered through the wall. Milly gritted her teeth, following the foggy figure as she phased through the wall. It hovered in the far corner of the room, watching the two demons before sending a strange pulse their way. The kind of pulse that would give someone a chilly feeling, then a hot feeling, altogether making them nervous, uneasy, and scared as she started to form and phase into a solid figure that could be visible.

She sneered as her head tilted to one side. Her wide solid black eyes and twisted and messy blonde hair moving only slightly as her smile widened to show fang-like teeth all around. She cackled and raised her hand, creating a shadow on the ceiling. Something black fell from the ceiling, as if falling through a hole. A large, disgusting skinny cat-like creature appeared. It had several knives jutting out of it in odd places. It looked similar to a malnourished panther with twisted fangs and claws that dripped an odd blue liquid. The rubbery looking black skin was second to be noticed, next to the odd tail which had a hand at the end with several sharp claws. The hand seemed to flex and move on it's own. The creature let out a gurgling snarl and charged at Alison first. Milly panicked and shot it with her spirit gun, only to make it stagger slightly, enough for an opening at the least.

Alison felt the air change again then there was a loud crach somewhere fron in the store. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a strage cat-like creature. "Well aren't you the most ugliest thing's I've ever seen." she said bluntly;well not the ugliest things she had seen. Alison quickly shifted to her Demon form and let out a minacing snarl while baring her teeth.

The Wolf demon heard a gun fire and figure that it was a car from outside. She charged at the Cat creature ready for any thing.

"What the hell is that? Your probably the ugliest thing since the Mullet!" Kyle taunted trying to attract it's attention so Alison could attack it. This probably isn't a good ideaHe thought as he threw an empty can and a small jar he found on the floor next to his foot.

The woman cackled as she faded away. Her voice echoing into the room. "Yes my pet. Get rid of them Ateriete. Make sure they don't interfere anymore." Her shrill voice cried through the room, it was enough to make even Milly cringe slightly from the high pitched voice.

The cat showed it's scraggly fangs. Its claws scraped across the ground, the neglected, dirty, and twisted claws leaving tracks as he moved with agile movements despite its sickly look. The creature didn't hear Kyle's taunt as it fell upon literal deaf ears. Ateriete was deaf, unable to hear despite the small black ears that protruded from the sides of it's face. It inhaled as if choking, and spit out a blue liquid straight at Alison. The liquid was a paralyzing one that was intended to seep into the skin of the enemy and paralyze it for the predator to kill. The liquid sprayed at the unaware wolf demon.

Alison felt the strange drool hit her eyes she closed them to get it out. Using her paw to try to wipe the substance away. Then it felt as it her eyes were gone. "What did you do?!" she snarld at the cat creature.

Kyle ran at the creature at full speed. He jumped into the air and threw a sword downwards at ateriete.

Ateriete cackled at the confused Alison. His laugh was cut short as he let out a screech of pain, he had been hit in the side. His body writhed in pain and his claw-like tail whipped around to grab Kyle. The speed of the movement was incredibly fast, a self-defense reaction. The hand grabbed Kyle's arm, digging it's sharp claws into his hand and trying to rip into the creature attacking Ateriete. He let out a strange mix of a screech and roar, emitting more of the liquid across the floor. Not to injure anyone, but it would do with making the floor slippery enough to make it hard for his prey to stand up.

Milly let out a surprised gasp at the fact Alison couldn't see. She hovered over to her studying the wolf demon. She seemed unsure of what to do. "Are you alright?" Milly asked Alison. "Can you not see or something?"

Kyle broke free of the grip and was thrown across the room and slammed into the wall. He tried to get to his feet but kept sliding around and falling over due to the liquid that coated the floor. "Alison can you still hear?" Kyle shouted out towards the wolf demon. he smelt a small hint of iron and a slight sting when his left arm touched the strange goop on the floor. "Damn, I can't feel my hand and at this rate I'll lose too much blood I'll be out in a few minutes." He cursed under his breath finnaly getting to his feet.