My Manager, The Demon.

Not only did I have a terrible night last night but I have to get up early so I can go see that scourge.
(Meaning of Scourge:
a person or thing that causes great trouble or suffering: 
"the scourge of mass unemployment"
Not to be confused with Scourge:
historical, a whip used as an instrument of punishment.)
  

I pet Nix
(I called her that because its definition is:
put an end to; cancel:
"he nixed the deal just before it was to be signed"
synonyms: reject · veto · turn down · scrap · scrub · ditch · scuttle

[more]

stymie · call off · put the kibosh on)

 
While I get ready for work she meows and tries to curl around my feet.

"Down girl. I have to get going. I promise to be back soon." I say with a smile as I head out the door.

As soon as I get to work I see Krow waiting for me at the back door. Ugh.. Why?... He probably doesn't realize that I am working here. I hope he doesn't get me fired.
"Hey, you're early." Krow says as he turns around and fiddles with the door handle.
"Stop that. It looks suspicious." I say as I approach him. I realize that he is using a key to open the door. What the heck?!!
"Welcome to your new job, kid. From today on out I will be your manager." He turns and flashes me a smile. Why me?

We get inside and I sit down, waiting for further instruction. It is my first shift after all.
He tosses me a dress shirt and an apron.
"This is your new uniform, do your best to keep it clean. You can change in the store room or the bathroom it really doesn't matter to me just let me know which I don't bother you." He says in a flat tone. I look around this tiny place. Obviously I am going with the safest option available.
"I think I will change in the bathrooms..." I say and head for the door. I hear him chuckle to himself as I retreat to the front of the store. I find the bathroom and I open the door but to my surprise it doesn't open all the way. It hits the rim of the toilet about half way open. This "bathroom" is the size of my closet. -_-  Now I get why he laughed.

I come out of the bathroom dressed for work... Well sort of. My shirts buttons aren't all in the right wholes and my apron is hard to tie. Basically I am a mess.
"How did that work out for you?" Krow calls across the shop. I glare at him. Usually it would be considered rude for him to be yelling and me to be so unsightly but there aren't any customers here yet so its all good. I go and sit down at one of the tables and play with the buttons on my shirt. I never really wore a dress shirt properly before I... changed... I always had it open down the front or a t-shirt underneath or something to the "Scene" effect. Krow comes over and stares at me. I cannot read his face.
"Are you sure that you have had a job before?" He asks as he comes over and straightens my collar and fixes some of my buttons.
"You seriously don't have to do that." I say brushing him away. He shrugs and sits across from me. My shirt is completely fixed, now I just need to figure out this apron.
"So you don't know anything about demons?" He asks in a simple manner. Yep, just a normal conversation like "Hows the family? Did you sacrifice any lambs this year? Oh, we used the kids this time. It was fun, you should try it!" I glare at him again. He is unaffected. I sigh as I get ready to murder my pride. This is a new kind of murder for me.
"I know nothing of the dark arts oh, great and powerful coffee manager." I say with an overload of sarcasm. He keeps his phony smile but I swear that I can see his nose twitching... Oops.
"I am your manager. I can make this job a living nightmare." He says in a threatening manner. I scoff uncontrollably, I'm sorry but come on! I have lived all the nightmares. What can he do to me?
"Do your worst." I accept the challenge. He checks his watch and looks back at me.
"I will show you the ropes today since its your first day however I won't be so nice in the future. I will also be quizzing about what you were doing last night so don't get too distracted." He says and heads for the counter as a customer walks in. Crap, I forgot that he has all kinds of knowledge that I need. The lady makes her purchase and he calls me over to show me how to make it.
"You have made hot chocolate before right?" He asks. I nod my head even though I haven't.
"Well good because this is nothing like that." He says as he continues to start different machines and pour different powders.
I may have bitten off more than I can chew. That reminds me...
He hands the lady her drink and she leaves.
"How is your neck?" I ask. He subconsciously reaches for the spot where I bit him.
"Don't worry about it. You were fighting for your life and you did a darn good job. I just hope you don't have any diseases." He half compliments me again. What is wrong with this guy?
"I am sorry about that though. I wont do it again. You didn't taste very good." I say, I didn't think before I added the last part. Crap. Now my apology just sounds like me being a jerk, then again serial killers aren't really supposed to apologize. A proper serial killer wouldn't have a serial killer boss though. Well, that and he only half-compliments anyway.
"Cole." Krow says. I turn around to see why he is calling me and I am greeted with a face full of water. He has a spray bottle in his hand. I jerk backwards and start trying to dry my face on my sleeve. I hate being wet.
"Good kitty." He says and laughs maniacally. 
He is dead. He is so dead. I'm gonna kill him. 
  
I spent the next few hours making coffees, messing them up, apologizing, burning myself on accident and begging for forgiveness. I am finally off of work and changing back into my street clothes. I notice that these burns are annoying...
"Come here. Let me put some wraps on those." Krow says as he pulls out the first aid kit. He has already finished changing. Surprisingly he is dressed like a normal person, well actually he is a little... how should I put it... Hipster? I don't really know what his outfit would classify as. T-shirt with a suit vest over it. Yep, whatever. I know nothing of clothes... Anyways, I pull my hoodie on and go over to him. I have reluctantly decided to trust him. I slide up my sleeves and give him my hands. Most of the burns are on my hands and forearms. I spilt an entire pot of coffee on me earlier so I have one large unpleasant burn on my chest. Krow just goes ahead and wraps my hands from my fingers to my elbows. I notice how he looks like he has patched many people up before.
"Why didn't you attack me?" I ask out of curiosity. He is capable.
"Well, I am of Rapere variety, that is Latin for bird of prey. You are of Panthera, which is Latin for Panther or large feline. A full grown Panthera can take a Rapere. That's why I hunt in a team. The guy who attacked you happens to be the current moron that I am stuck with. He is a hot head and to be honest I am getting sick and tired of him." Krow explains. I remember how that guy felt when I tried to fight back.. He was all slimy.
"What was he?" I ask. I have a pretty good idea already though.
"He is of Serpens. It means crawling animal or snake. So yeah, he is as sneaky as a serpent. Not that I am one to be talking. I am a varlet crow." He says while packing up the first aid kit. He stops for a second and looks back at me. I clearly show my confusion.
"What about your other burn? Want me to wrap it?" He asks. I instantly want to refuse but I don't have any bandages at home so...
"Uh, yeah sure. Thanks. What does varlet mean?" I ask as I take my hoodie off again. I get my first good look at my burn. It is going to hurt for a while. Krow sprays the cooling spray and starts wrapping me as he talks.
"You don't know very many big words do you? Varlet is a noun so it has two meanings. The first means a man or boy acting as an attendant or servant which obviously isn't what I meant. I mean the second definition. Which is a dishonest or unprincipled man." He insults/explains it to me. He finishes up and puts the bandages back in the case. I pull my hoodie back on and grab my stuff.
"Thank you, for everything." I say awkwardly. I start to head for the door when he stops me.
"Lets go get lunch. Its my treat. Though you do know that after today your work is going to get a lot harder, right? Besides I am sure you have tons of questions." He asks as he grabs his keys and wallet. Looks like I am having lunch with the devil.

An hour later we are in a different town sitting in a Taco Hell... Oops, I mean Bell. I just ordered the same thing as Krow because I have never really tried the food here before. Its basically all beef and cheese in different shells...  Eh, your not reading this to hear my opinion of foods so I will just bring you back to the present.
"You don't talk as much as I thought you would." Krow says as he continues to eat his food. I take a hesitant bite of mine and ignore the insult. I still don't know how much I can trust him. Not that I have much of a choice.
"So why did you offer to answer my questions?" I ask. What's in it for him I wonder? Its not like we do anything without getting something in return.
"Well... I recognized you from the coffee shop. So I thought it might be fun to see how you responded. I thought maybe we could team up for a while... I mean you saw that jerk I hunted with last time..." He lets his statement trail. He looks like he is remembering something unpleasant.
"What happened between you two?" I ask while ignoring his business pitch. I don't want to team up... I like the thrill of being alone, then when your primal instincts kick in. Its sensory heaven.
Krow sits silent for a few minutes. I guess he doesn't trust me either. Not that he is wrong.
"As you saw his methods are low. Even for my standards. I don't harm animals and I don't kill children. Well, if they are complete and utter brats I like to peck their eyes out and dangle them in front of... That's not what we are talking about. Well, I stopped him from pursuing you and in turn he took it out on me." Krow says. The first portion his eyes got that devilish glint in them but then he remembered that we are in public. Ah that situation he just described... That's unfortunate.
"I hope he didn't hurt you too bad." I say. I honestly hope that he didn't. It would suck if Krow couldn't pull his weight at work.
Krow smirks at me and rolls up his sleeves. I note that his arm hair is actually very fine black feathers. He has cuts and bruises up and down both arms. He slides his bangs (Did I mention Krow has longish black hair that covers half of his face?) aside and I can see a cut above his eyebrow and a black eye.
"There are some other minor wounds but I wont show you those... They aren't very decent." He flops his hair back in place and rolls his sleeves back down. Crap... I feel seriously guilty now.
"So uh, how do you kill? Usually I wouldn't team up but I kinda owe you now." I say.
"Don't pity me. I can be just as ruthless and troublesome as you. I have a thing for ripping people limb from limb and scattering them around the property. Though I also have a thing for anything shiny so I don't crush souls all that often. I do enjoy killing, sometimes I don't bother with the trade rules. How do you kill?" He replies with confidence. He might be technically inferior but he doesn't show it.
"I don't know.. I just do. I like framing people, kinda like what happened to me. I also like ripping people's throats out, or the cute noise they make when you choke them. Good times." I reminisce. I suddenly become aware of the people around us staring. Oops. I slide down in the seat a little and try to hide my face. I should have known better than to say something so demonic in public.
"We should probably go now." Krow says as he gets up and throws our trays in the trash can, well not literally the trays just the trash on them. I get up and follow him outside. He drives a green Jeep Wrangler (awesome, right?).  As I get in and start getting buckled he digs around for something in the backseat. I am set and ready to ride. He turns around and puts a baseball hat on my head then starts the car.
"Why did you do that?" I ask.
"Well,  you don't look all that different from when you killed your family not that long ago. Some people might connect the dots. Wear the hat till we are out of town." Krow explains. Dang he thinks of everything. Wait!
"I DIDN'T DO IT!" I yell. I HATE being accused of that. The one time I didn't kill people I get accused. Not that my life hasn't gotten significantly better since that happened but still, its a sore spot.
Krow didn't jump when I yelled.
"I know you didn't. When that happened... It was actually a pretty big deal in the community. Not very many murders can be picked out as supernatural so easily. That one screamed paranormal." Krow sympathizes. I fight the urge to reject his sympathy.
"So you knew all along? You knew I was... messed up?" I ask. I am a bit shy when it comes to my past. I wouldn't say that I am any better now. I just don't like talking about my past, it makes me feel vulnerable.
"Yes. I knew, I knew very well. That's part of the reason I hired you." He admits. Well, that makes more sense to me. I knew I didn't get my job based off of my prior experience. Slim to none.

He finally pulls into the parking lot of my apartment building.
"Thank you. See you at work tomorrow." I say and leave. I watch him drive off. I wonder why he was certain that I didn't kill them. I will have to ask him about that tomorrow.
I dig my keys out of my pocket and unlock my door. I feed Nix and go to bed. I am so happy to get some sleep, its been a long day.

Wait, How did Krow know where I live?

~Soul

(Credit to creator)
I added this here because no one is going to stop me from added creepy cat gifs :}