The Nook

The skateboard rolled down the sidewalk, its passenger a young kid in a overcoat; he was dressed in black jeans and had on a white shirt. Over the shirt was a necklace with a cross dangling out from it. He had several buttons on the overcoat, and he really looked like a scraggy haired kid, but he had that wise-beyond-his-age look about him.

Darius stopped in front of the Neve's Nook and kicked up his skateboard. He tucked it underneath his arm as he strolled in. Neve's Nook was a breakfast place; it opened early and closed just before lunch.

"Morning Darius," the waitress said as she saw him step through the door. She grabbed a paper off the counter and handed it to him. "You want the usual?"

"Sure thing," he replied, sitting at a table. "I want to shake things up this morning and start with some toast."

"Living dangerously, are we?" the waitress joked and gave him a wink. She turned behind the counter and hit the order's up bell.

Darius opened up the paper and began reading the morning headlines. He thought that he heard the sound of stone on glass, and he glanced around the Nook. That's when he spotted Twofeathers outside the window, looking in, like a ceramic gargoyle. He gave her a concerned look and she motioned her head to the back door.

Darius got up and said to the waitress, "Be right back." He left his overcoat on the chair and the paper unfolded on the table as a sign to others that the table was occupied. He headed for the back door.

"What's going on?" Darius asked as he stepped outside and saw Twofeathers perched on a garbage pin.

"I really don't know," Twofeathers replied. "Just that I have a sense of foreboding."

Darius' eyes widened; he knew when Twofeathers had an uncanny knack of predicting danger. He nodded at her, "What about the others?"

"I haven't contacted them yet," she replied. "I was just about to head over to Dex's."

"Well, let me finish my breakfast and we shall round them up," Darius stated. He turned back to go inside - Twofeathers was just about to ask something but before she could open her mouth, Darius finished, "And yes, I will save you some of my hashbrowns."