The automatic doors gave a mechanical hiss as they slid shut behind the invisible girl, her presence fading into the cold, midnight breeze outside. Only the soft hum of the ceiling lights remained, buzzing quietly like the afterthought of an odd dream.
Kaidren leaned back in his green plastic chair, the kind that had lost any right to be called comfortable. His elbows rested against the counter, hands still lightly gripping the sides of his blue phone. The screen glowed dimly in the otherwise muted store.
He didn't say anything at first. Just sat there, eyes blank, letting the silence settle.
Then, after a moment of reflection, he muttered in his mind with the same dry flatness that had come to define his inner world:
"Weird first shift."
A small pause.
"Should've known."
His coworker's words echoed from earlier that evening—"Night shifts aren't always stable." At the time, Kaidren hadn't thought much of it. He assumed it was just a harmless joke to haze the rookie employee.
