Unit 152

Prologue

She never thought her life would end up here, well she had a good idea, but there are things that even now still surprise her. This place for example, had many surprises. Now, she has been through a lot, that she thinks she has seen just about everything. Anything from a gentle smile and making friends to endless trauma that should have devastated her for the rest of her life. It should be clarified that the ‘she’ you are thinking of is not ‘her’ exactly but the multiple versions of her.

To explain this, you need to dive into her past for a moment. When she was ten years old, she did an assignment in her class. She was learning about myths and legends. Since it was around Halloween, her teacher decided that they should write our own myths. She initially wanted to make her myth a scary one. Not exactly sure why, since just about everything scary gives her nightmares. She guessed she was just trying to follow the hype, and everyone was dead set on basing their story after the famous myth, Bloody Mary. By the time she was writing her story, she based everyone in class as a character. Her closest friends were the main characters, along with herself included, another classmate was the villain, and everyone else was the side characters. When her friend read the story, she ended up making her laugh, same for when her teacher had read it.

He showed her, while he was proofreading, how many paragraphs she could make. A short story that was probably supposed to be only three pages long ended up being five. It was then that she put a big smile on her face and heard herself say, “I like to write.”

She was not always writing since then, at least not stories. She wrote a bunch of random things. Phrases, words, she apparently had a thing for checklists at the time; she just dabbled here and there. Then junior high came around and she wrote her first major story. Now, she could go on about how the technique and the grammar and punctuation were terrible…not completely her fault, she had a slightly ancient computer at the time and Word Pad was not exactly famous for its spell check. However, this story is not about that, in fact it is not about any of her stories. This story goes way down into a world. A world of unknown. The fantasy world.

When she first started writing her first story in junior high, she created her first character, Natasha Carmichael. She looks exactly like her, even today. Straight brown hair, blue eyes, pale skin. She is shy and keeps to herself mostly. Her hobbies involve reading, dancing, and watching anime. The difference between her and Natasha was that Natasha is confident, unspoken, and a hero. Little did she know that everything that she was discovering about herself between then and now, Natasha would become her alter ego. In the stories, Natasha took her job as a hero seriously. Every time she wrote about Natasha, somehow, she sensed that grew stronger and powerful with every battle she fought.

She honestly, thought it was just a story she was creating. Characters, a plot, all the story elements that she wasn’t completely aware of it all yet. She was letting her imagination run wild, which allowed her to see things that may or may not be there. She assumed that they were just ideas that popped into her head and would make a great segment for a story. Natasha helped her realize that she wasn’t just seeing things from her imagination, her imagination became real. The things she imagined came to life and only she could see them. It wasn’t until she created Natasha that she realized she was destined to do more than just write. Natasha is the one that convinced her that her writing talent wasn’t just a talent, but a gift. She was meant to use this gift to protect the fantasy world. She knew this sounded crazy, she even thought she was going crazy…but she wasn’t. Natasha had become her alter ego the moment she created her but after a while she became more. She became her mentor. Next thing she knew, just like the heroes she had heard so much about. Soon she could transform into Natasha and Natasha could transform into her hero form. Together, they fought for many years. Countless villains and threats. As time went on her writing ability became stronger. Once she wrote her visions down, they became real in the fantasy world, and she was the only one that could defeat whatever evil she saw. Natasha grew alongside with her. Soon enough amongst all the stories that she was creating she became a hero, a princess, queen and now she is a guardian.

Now as mentioned, the multiple versions of her have been through a lot. Both good and bad times. Even romance and almost death was in the mix. But nothing prepared her for the new world she was about to enter. In this world that she creates, she was not meant to conquer it, but save it and save everyone within in it. This type of fantasy world takes place at a fast food place, her first job. She could say the real name but like all identities the real ones are kept secret, which is why, for now there are only alias names in this story. This place is called Keg’s and in this world her name is Monica.

Keg’s is one crazy world that she has not figured out yet. Her only hope is that somehow someway it can remain understandable as I tell you this story. A lot has happened within the two years that she had started working there. This is the beginning of their story…

Unit 152--Chapter 1

“Whoa!”

Cody pulled her out of the way just before the ceiling light landed on her head. She stared at the shattered pieces on the ground, frightened. She breathed heavily as her nerves started searing through her, head to toe. Her hands were shaking, and goosebumps crawled up her arms. She took a couple of deep breaths. One of the many ways she tries to keep her anxiety down.

“Are you okay?” Cody asked her.

She swallowed nervously and nodded. She kept staring at the shattered glass, as she pointed at the broken light bulb, back up towards the ceiling at the dangling wires and then towards herself.

“Is it just me, or does this restaurant hate me?”

“What?” he protested, “Monica, Keg’s does not hate you. It was just another freak accident.”

Monica looked at him unconvinced. “Last week, I nearly fell off the step stool when trying to reach for blue gloves, not to mention when I went to go grab cutlery sets the shelf almost fell on me, oh and let’s not forget the time I was replacing the trash bags and one of the bags decided to do an inside out spin and bagged me instead of the actual trash can, which made me trip into Willa and spilled soda all over a customer. I say that this place has more than just freak accidents and it seems like they happen to me.”

“Well if you think about it, those moments can be classified as clumsy moments, which you claim to point out when you first started here.”

“You know, I actually thought of that and I replayed the incidents in my head. First, I was perfectly balanced on that step stool. The only way I would have fallen is if someone swiped it from under my feet. The shelf was screwed to the wall and there was no disruption in the ground. Which means, someone would have to unhinge the screws within three seconds before I got to the back. With the trash bag incident there was gust of wind that took over the bag.”

He became confused. “Meaning what?”

“I was inside, and both doors were closed. Trust me, I know my clumsy moments, those weren’t one of them.”

A short, lightly red hair woman came around the corner and saw the glass spread across the floor. Her brown eyes met theirs in shock. She let out a small gasp followed by an annoyed groan.

“Oh no what happened now?” Barbara asked.

Monica and Cody pointed up at the missing fixture with the dangling wires and then pointed back down to the floor with the shattered glass.

“Not again,” she said flatly, “It’s always something with this place.”

She released a sigh.

“I’ll call maintenance, in the meantime sweep up the glass, please.”

They nodded that they understood and watched Barbara carefully walked through the pile of glass to get to the small space that they called the office.

“I’ll go grab the big broom,” she said.

“I’ll get the dust pan,” he followed.

After the ten minutes of clean up, Monica took the dust pan full of shatter glass and broken bits of wire to the dumpster. Barbara made sure that she wore the protective mesh gloves. The longer ones that reached up to her forearms. She lifted the heavy dumpster lid and pulled it all the way back until it was resting on the edge of the wall. Then she picked up the trash can, with the little strength she had, balanced it on the edge of the dumpster and then tilted it until everything plus glass spilled out. She gave it one last shake, brought the trash can down to her feet and inspected it. The trash can was clean of glass and she wheeled it back inside.

“Well, random freaky moment of the day is considered cleaned up,” she reported to Barbara.

“Thank you, Monica,” she said, “it’s just about one o’clock, get started on the trays, stock up both sides of drive and walk, and you should be able to go for the day.”

“Okay.”

She replaced the trash bag and wheeled it back under the sink. Then she made her way back to the front, picked up the trays underneath the counter, and carried them to the sink. The water looked a little murky and felt cold. She turned the lever to the side and the water began to pour out into the drain. While that was happening, she focused on putting away the clean dishes and pulled out the pile of dishes that were sitting in the sanitizer. She let out a gasp as she felt the water squish between her shoes. She looked at the drain and saw the water beginning to over flow.

She pulled the lever back down, but it didn’t stop spewing out water. She listened to the ice machine right behind the sink. It was making a familiar noise. She lifted the large metal lid and saw cubes of ice falling like hail. Since the ice machine and sink share the same pipes all the water goes down in one place. She released an annoyed sigh and grabbed the squeegee in the small cabinet right next to the ice machine and started sweeping the water into the other drain that lies underneath the prep station.

“Maybe I spoke too soon on the freaky random part of the day,” she mumbled, “I swear this place better be worth $9.50 an hour for only two hours out of the day.”

Then someone came up behind her with the push room and helped her pushed the water towards the drains. She was a short skinny woman, with black hair pulled back into a bun. Her skin was an even dark tan.

“Oh Amaya,” she recognized her. “Thank you for the help.”

“You’re welcome,” she spoke in her Spanish accent. “This happen all the time, just pay attention to how much water you’re releasing.”

“And if the ice machine decides to make ice?” Monica asked.

“Uh…keep drains closed and let ice machine finish.”

She said that as if she was trying to really think of a solution for this kind of moment.

Monica leaned against the squeegee. “That’s the logical explanation, isn’t it?”

She knew with as many accidents that this place had, most if not all of them could be done by coincidences. Especially if two of them happen in the same day.

“Any more logical explanations I should know about?” she asked curiously.

“You’ll find out along the way,” she said, “you are still new after all, you have a lot to learn.”

“Boy, I can’t wait,” she said flatly. “I’m really starting to think this place is cursed or something.”

“Would you believe it is?” Amaya asked her curiously.

“There’s a good possibility.”

At this point, she had only been working at Keg’s for a month and had more than her fair share of ‘freak accidents’ as Cody would call them. Not to mention that after everything she has been through in the past, she’s willing to believe anything.

“Oh no don’t tell me,” Barbara came back in.

“It was my fault,” Monica admitted, “I released too much water.”

“Doesn’t matter how much water you released, we just fixed those pipes last week. They should take in a couple of gallons of water without over flowing.”

“Oh.”

“Amaya, we got multiple orders up here,” Cody called from up front, “and I need a basket of fries, please.”

“Go ahead, Amaya, I got it under control now,” Monica told her.

Amaya didn’t respond, instead she stared off in the distance.

“Amaya?”

She followed her gaze and saw the water bubbling up more and more. Excess water came in like tidal waves.

“Uh oh.”

The water reached and covered their ankles. They both leaped back and made their way to the front.

“So, is it possible that this place used to be built on an indoor swimming pool?” Monica asked Barbara

Barbara ignored her and waded into the water that was now just above her ankles. She headed to the back of the store, to the small cleaning closet, where Monica had grabbed the squeegee earlier. After a moment, the water stopped flowing and the water rippled in place. Barbara splashed her way back to the front. She coaxed everyone up front out of the distance from the deep water.

“Listen up everyone,” she announced, “there happens to be a pipe burst in our building, we need to close down the store and evacuate the building. Cody talk to the customers on drive, Monica, you, and Amaya will take care of the dining room. Everyone else, make sure everything is turned off and removed from the grill or taco bar. I’ll call for emergency maintenance and the supervisors. Once you have completed as much as you can, you all can go home.”

They all did what they needed to do and had the place closed within twenty minutes and emergency maintenance along with the supervisor came ten minutes later. As the others made their way around the store to the main exit, Monica could not help but stare at the water that mysteriously just flooded into the store. She still didn’t have a clear answer of what exactly was happening to this place. Only that these things happen a lot.

“Monica, you alright?” Cody came up behind her.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” she responded quietly, “just soaked.”

“Well what are we standing around here for?”

He guided her back to the front and they both clocked out together and made their way outside. The sun was still warm on her skin as the sky remained clear.

“Well, this is an ironic moment,” Cody said as he stretched his arms as far as he could, “we get off early, but that means our hours get cut too.”

“Yeah, talk about irony,” Monica agreed thoughtfully.

She decided to sit down on the curb.

“You’re not going to head out?”

“I think I’ll wait till my pants dry out a little, or at least my shoes before I get into the car.”

Cody looked at her thoughtfully and then shrugged. “Well okay then, see you around.”

She smiled. “Bye.”

She watched all of them leave, only leaving her and Amaya outside the store with Barbara on her cell phone. Amaya joined her at the curb.

“Well this is another day with freaky random events, I never known a store to have this much bad luck.”

Amaya sat silently.

“You’re going to think this is a little weird, but I think there may be some sort of dark force here.”

“Do you?” Amaya replied eagerly.

“It’s just a hunch, but we both know that’s not true right?”

“What if it was? Would you really want to know what the true cause of Keg’s bad luck is?”

“Even if that was true, do you really know what this place’s issue is?” she asked curiously.

Amaya quickly stood up in front of her. “Come back to Keg’s around midnight. Everything will be clear.”

“Midnight? You want me back here at the creepiest time of the night? Not to mention I can’t just sneak out of my house. My mom has a freaky sixth sense sometimes.”

“I’m sure for someone who used trash bag to tie balance beams and metal rods in place, you can think of something.”

Amaya left her slightly dumbfounded as she watched Amaya walk to her car.

“Oh, and make sure you’re not seen.”

I guess I am going on another mission.

Five minutes to midnight, Monica parked on the street behind Keg’s where she would be out of sight. Thankfully, her parents decided to leave for a weekend and her sister was at a sleep over, so, they would never suspect her trying to sneak out in the middle of the night.

She walked up the hill cautiously and hid in the drive way, being careful of where she stepped, so she wouldn’t run over the sensor in the drive thru. She heard voices and ducked behind the menu. She came in sight with Barbara and Cynthia, the supervisor along with a few other men. They wore blue jump suits, and Monica assumed that they were from the water company or perhaps the plumbers that would have to fix the pipes.

“I just don’t understand,” she heard Barbara say, “our restaurant just flooded. You’re saying there is nothing wrong?”

“Look, you guys got brand new pipes, they were installed correctly. There are no cracks nothing loose. Whatever did happen it had nothing to do with the pipes,” one guy explained.

She shook her head in disbelief.

“What’s important is that we can open again tomorrow,” said Cynthia, “we’ll just keep close eye on the pipes.”

“Oh, believe me, I will,” Barbara declared, “I will have someone come in a record the entire day if I have too.”

Cynthia looked at her blankly for a moment, then she shook her head and smiled.

“Thank you for coming out again,” she said to the men, “we’ll be in touch if we need anything.”

They gave her a curt nod and jumped in their van, Barbara and Cynthia watched them drive off. They gave each other one last look, a look that Monica couldn’t quite make out, then they said their goodbyes, head to their cars and drive out of the parking lot. As soon as they faded into the distance, a purple beam of light surrounded the building and was consumed by ghostly figures swarming around it, making Monica jump a little.

“Whoa!”

She slowly walked a little closer and reached out to touch it. She could hear haunting whispers hum through the beams. She was only centimeters away from touching it when a familiar voice broke her out of her trance.

“Quite a sight, isn’t it?”

Monica became startled as she recognized Amaya. She didn’t even know where she came from, or even heard her pull into the lot. She released a breath of relief and relaxed a little. Then turned back to the odd thing.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting this,” she admitted. “What is this?”

“Five hundred years ago, this land has been considered sacred ground, possessed claim by the witches of Goulburn Land- “

“Goulburn Land?” Monica repeated.

Amaya nodded. “The witches of Goulburn Land did many things here, like casting spells and rituals, making potions and brews. Centuries later the tribe had shrunk down to just one witch. She still held onto the land until her very last breath. Or in her case until a man came and was interested in the land. He felt the land was perfect for him to start his own restaurant franchise. All he had to do was get her to free up the land. She warned him that she did not plan on selling, and even if she were, he would be disturbing the resting place of all the witches who had come before her. He would be cursed, and his franchise would be curse, as long as there was something demon-like on this sacred ground, he would be cursed and everyone following him.”

“So…these witches, were they peaceful people?”

“Depending on the person,” she said thoughtful, “if someone ask for a request and they pay through they usually survive, unlike the man who created Keg’s, who did not heed the witches warning.”

“What happened to him?”

“The man did not believe her. He just thought she was telling him stories to make him think that the land was haunted, and he wouldn’t want to buy something with that type of element. When the man would not listen, and she would not give in to his bribes or tyranny, he forced her out with his own source of power. Arresting her for holding onto land that was not lawfully hers, more so it belonged to the government at the time. That was until the man bought the land and finally created Keg’s. The witch had died in jail and the moment that Keg’s was created, this building had all sorts of issues. Some he fixed with utter confidence, some he could not. Either way, he began to go crazy and died within his store with a poison mind.”

“Okay, although this is all very interesting, how do you know this?”

Amaya gazed intensely into Monica’s eyes and lifted her left hand, letting the sleeve of her jacket slide down to reveal a mark in purple with a weird looking face topped with a six-pointed star. Monica was confused yet curious.

“That last witch was one of my many ancestors,” Amaya explained.

She nodded in thought. “I see. But if the last witch died, how did you gain magic?”

“I never said I had magic.”

“But, how did the generation continue with you?”

“Ah, well my ancestor created a spell, one that cursed the wife of the man who opened Keg’s. With a little bit of male blood and a strong potion, a baby witch was born, and with the instincts and knowledge that she had, that baby continued the tradition and kept the generation going. Which gave me my blood line.”

“Wait…so you’re saying you are related to the bad guy who invented Keg’s?”

“He and his wife would be known as my great grandparents.”

“Oh,” Monica said rather skeptical and added with sarcasm, “that’s not freaky.”

“Any more curious questions?”

“Yeah, just one more actually, why are you telling me all of this?”

She turned away and chuckled a bit. “I was hoping you would ask me that,” she paused for a moment and turned to face her, “reveal thy name if I reveal thy identity.”

Monica looked at her shocked as she recognized the ancient saying of the fantasy world. This saying is meant to be said when someone discovers someone’s identity from one of their alternate fantasy worlds. Only those who were a part of the same fantasy world knew when to use this saying.

“What does Amaya really know? Her part of the fantasy world is a witch of course, but I’ve never heard of this realm, Goulburn Land, so what part of the fantasy world is she from?” she thought.

“A little surprise I see,” she smirked.

“A little…so, are we friends or enemies here?”

“Most likely neither, but I do need your help. Monica, it is possible that you and you’re abilities can break this curse and put my ancestors to rest.”

“Me?” she in disbelief, “You’re a witch, can’t you break it?”

“I’ve tried,” she insisted, “I’ve looked up every spell, every potion I have learned about, but after further research, I discovered that a spell like this can only be broken through its original caster, and the original caster is somewhere floating in there.”

“So, how do you expect me to break it then?”

“A while ago I discovered another way, we could break the curse with someone who has pure of light magic. You have dabbled in light magic, yes?”

“…maybe.”

“No sense in hiding anything. The ancestors know that you have light magic. That is why, they are not fond of you, because you are someone that can work against them.”

“Not fans of light magic huh?” she glanced over at Amaya and then back at the shield again. “I knew this placed hated me. So much for Cody’s freak accidents theory.”

“Listen, the magic of my ancestors is very old and traditional, our magic cannot break the bond of the curse and this place without destroying everything in its path. Your magic is stronger and still pure of light which means you have more research advantages. We may only know one way, but you might know many, understand?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes…just one little problem with your theory, if these people hate light magic, how is my magic going to put them rest if they won’t let me help them?”

Amaya sighed and then looked at her ancestors that swallowed the restaurant. “That I do not have answer, but even though it is a puzzle, one that will take days to solve, there is belief in the guardian.”

Monica turned back to the glowing purple force field unconvinced.

Amaya shoved her hands into the pocket of her hoodie and began walking back to her car. Monica continued to stare the cursed shield for a moment longer, when a thought came to her.

“Hey Amaya,” she called after her, “you never revealed my identity.”

Amaya stopped in placed, side glanced her with a confident smile. “No need.”

She turned and walked back to her car, leaving Monica with the curse that surrounded the building. Nothing but the spirit’s whispers echoing through the still air.