Chapter 10 – Grocery Run of the Damned
Rowan stared into the fridge like it had personally betrayed him.
Three eggs. Half a jar of pickles. Something that might have been cheese in a previous life.
He shut the door.
"Right," he announced to the apartment. "Grocery run. Who's coming?"
Every single hand, tail, wing, and orbiting star shot up.
Rowan sighed. "Cool. We're taking two carts."
Twenty minutes later, the neighborhood supermarket looked like a very expensive cosplay convention had collided with a natural disaster.
Rowan pushed one cart. Seraphina rode in the child seat like a crimson queen, legs crossed, critiquing the lighting.
Mila (human) pushed the second cart and kept sniffing everything like a drug dog with commitment issues.
Wolf-Mila trotted beside them on all fours because the store manager took one look at her and decided health codes were more like guidelines.
Kagerou had illusioned herself a perfect 1950s housewife dress and was using two tails to hold a shopping list that wrote itself.
Isolde walked like she was offended by linoleum and kept growing tiny apple trees in the produce aisle "for quality control."
Nyx floated above the carts, glowing softly and rearranging the overhead lights so Rowan never had to squint.
People stared. Phones came out. A small child asked if this was Disney.
Rowan just yawned and started filling carts.
First stop: cereal aisle.
Rowan grabbed his usual off-brand sugary garbage.
Seraphina sniffed. "This is peasant food. We will buy the blood of virgins instead."
Rowan put three boxes in anyway. "It's $2.99 and has a cartoon raccoon. We're living the dream."
Kagerou's tails sneaked twelve more boxes in when he wasn't looking.
Next: meat section.
Mila (both) went full predator. Wolf-Mila actually drooled on a pack of steaks. Human-Mila started calculating how many pounds of beef six immortal women could eat before Rowan noticed the bill.
Rowan noticed anyway. "We're not buying the entire cow, ladies."
Wolf-Mila whined.
Isolde grew a perfect filet mignon on the spot, handed it to the butcher, and said, "Consider this payment for the rest."
The butcher fainted.
Nyx, bored, turned the freezer section into a soft aurora borealis because the fluorescent lights were ugly.
Rowan added frozen pizzas and kept moving.
Dairy aisle: Seraphina tried to drink straight from a milk carton labeled "Type O Negative – Limited Edition." Rowan swapped it for normal 2%.
Bakery: Isolde declared all bread inferior and grew artisanal sourdough out of thin air. The store manager started crying tears of joy and offered her a job.
Snack aisle: Kagerou filled an entire shelf with limited-edition strawberry Pocky using illusions. Rowan didn't notice the cart was suddenly heavier.
By the time they reached checkout, the total was somewhere between "small mortgage" and "down payment on a house."
Rowan pulled out his debit card and prayed.
The machine beeped: APPROVED – HAVE A BLESSED DAY.
The receipt printed a tiny smiling raccoon and the words "On the house. Please come again. Or don't. We're scared."
Rowan blinked. "Huh. Must be my rewards points finally paid off."
Behind him, six immortal girlfriends beamed like they'd just pulled off the greatest heist in history.
They left the store pushing two carts so full the wheels groaned. Nyx lit the way like a living shopping-cart lantern.
Halfway home, a city bus pulled up beside them, doors opening by themselves.
The driver took one look at the parade and whispered, "Get in. Free ride. Please."
Rowan shrugged. "Sweet. Thanks, man."
They loaded the carts onto the bus. The suspension gave up and lowered two inches.
The driver hit the gas and took the most direct route possible, running red lights that turned green out of sheer self-preservation.
Ten minutes later they were home.
Rowan yawned as they hauled everything upstairs.
"Next time," he said, "we're ordering delivery."
Six voices answered in perfect unison:
"Yes, Rowan."
He didn't notice the bus driver was now parked outside, engine off, writing a resignation letter that simply read "I believe in God now."
He just wanted to put the groceries away and maybe nap before someone else fell out of the sky.
The fridge, now magically twice its previous size inside, accepted everything without complaint.
Rowan closed the door, leaned against it, and muttered:
"I need a bigger hoodie."
Somewhere in the living room, six women and one orbiting star all thought the exact same thing:
Soon.