[color=7ee3b5][i]… I have the day off.[/i][/color]

He shouldn’t have even been having that thought. Luke didn’t dare look at his clock, but he knew with the amount of light streaming through the window that it was early yet. Too early to be awake on what was now a day off. Too early by far. And yet… It seemed his body had grown used to his new daily schedule, whether work was open or not. Worse yet, he wasn’t able to will himself back to sleep.

[color=7ee3b5][i]But I have the fuckin’ day off.[/i][/color]

There was no justice in the world. 

He was of course referring to his lack of sleep, not the missing mayor’s daughter. Even worse, his new workplace had decided to close up shop for the day- which was fine and dandy aside from the fact that it meant he would be losing a day’s pay. Luke didn’t have the luxury of keeping a well-stocked savings account: And that meant he’d need to eat a little cheaper for the rest of the month. Where was the justice in that? Absent.

Groaning, he finally gave up and dragged himself out of bed. A quick shower and change of clothes later- his usual “I don’t care how I dress but business casual is all I own” look- Lucas stepped out of his front door and into the unjust world. In spite of the protests of his bank account, his fridge really needed restocked. And his cabinets. And his bathroom. Surely there was at least one soulless corporate dollar store that was open in spite of the town’s recent tragedy.

[center][b][h2]* * * * *[/h2][/b][/center]

Of course, there was. It was rare that Luke was thankful for corporate America, but every dog had its day. Still, he hadn’t yet bought all of the groceries he needed. For one, he wasn’t mentally prepared to make that level of purchase yet, and he may as well wait until he was ready to go home for the day anyway. Instead, he’d settled on a couple granola bars, a cheese stick, and a cheap little bottle of maybe-orange-juice. The breakfast of champions? No, but it was at least cheap. It’d be his lunch too in all likelihood, so he may as well try to enjoy it. 

It was then, chewing on half a mouthful of granola, that fate intervened as he was trying to figure out what to do with the day. A familiar flash of red hair from down the street accompanied by a face he hadn’t seen in several months. He and Pepper had been coworkers for some time at his old job, but while the two had gotten along he’d been too embarrassed by his firing to visit the place in the months since. Not that the easy going Lucas ever [i]admit[/i] that, but unfortunately facts never reworked themselves for his convenience. Still, running into her meant this day had a chance at being salvageable. 

“[color=7ee3b5]Hey Pep! Fancy-fucking-meeting you here![/color]”

Luke called at her from across the street with a wave from the hand that was holding his orange juice. Unbeknownst to him however, his greeting had caught the attention of another who looked on from the shadows. A creature that he was unfortunately familiar with, and seemed by this point would hound him until his dying days.

[color=AC58FA][b]STARE[/b][/color]