"I'll serve the food myself, take a break Mrs Alba you look tired." She seemed startled that I was able to discern her poorly concealed fear.
"No Luke, I will take the food out. There's no need to stress yourself." She said that, but she still glanced back at Jonathan before looking at me.
"I insist ma'am besides I know them from school. Take a well deserved break."
"Oh... o-okay, if you say so Luke." I saw her sigh in relief then take a seat behind the counter.
I walked over to their table with the tray ready to serve them. "Here's your food please enjoy." My voice lacking in the enthusiasm of customer service—poor me, they might not leave a tip.
"Ohh thanks man, that was fast!" One of Jonathan's friend commented. He was tall, very tall and for someone his height he did not look remotely lean or skinny, he probably worked out.
"Hey do I know you from somewhere, you look really familiar." I looked at her. She was also tall and had her hair dyed pink and tourcoiuse on each half. A colourful proud facsimile of bright energy.
"I think you're right Jess. Hmm, where have I seen you before... " Her hands struck the table, a bulb going off in her head. "That's right you're the loner, Luke-something." The other girl beside Jess was able to recognise me. Impressive, though I guess I would be easy to recognise. I didn't know how I felt about be identified as the 'loner'.
"You're right Aubrey, you're Lukehiem aren't you." She said confidently. 'That's unexpected.' She even knew my full name. Not many people knew my name and I wasn't particularly fond of it.
There were all looking at me waiting for some form of confirmation. *Sigh* "Yes I'm Lukehiem Fitch. We attend the same school."
"I knew it, my memory is spectacular." Jess said while flashing a bright smile. You could tell she was a bright upbeat girl, the bright pastel colours she wore on her clothes and hair gave that much away.
The tall bearish looking guy looked at me, scrutinising me for a moment, before looking down at his food. I had successfully identified 3 of them now, the only ones who hadn't said a word were Jonathan and the skinny, emo-looking guy next to him.
I felt that cold lifeless gaze again. But this time I wasn't going to back down. I didn't have a reason to be scared. I was strong, wasn't I?
I could easily snap the necks of everyone in this cafe clean off with just a thought in the blink of an eye—Jonathan included.
'I am strong.', I reminded myself before looking over to match his gaze. It was different yet the same today. I saw cold lethality in his gaze and pure unrivalled confidence.
It made me doubt myself. Perhaps I wasn't as strong as I liked to believe. There was a quiet confidence in his eyes—the kind that told you someone believed they were unmatched, that they could do anything.
We stared at each other looked in a battle of dominance. It was a silent agreement, whoever looked away first was yeilding. It was an insignificant thing to fight over, yet it felt so important. A part of my very self rested in this moment.
The cafe seemed to vanish, there was only me and Jonathan at this point. My veil was tucked securely in the confines of my mind no other stimulus reached me.
"Umm guys, is there something we should know about." Jess' voice reached me. I realised how ridiculous this looked, but I wasn't backing down. He was finally revealing his true colours, this an opportunity to get answers.
"Luke is everything okay?" Mrs Alba asked in concern from the counter. That was when it reached me, a silent wave of dark power rushed at me. The feeling of utter wrongness was one I couldn't describe, it poked at my mind like a hand trying to rip the veil.
"Lukehiem what's wrong, are you and your classmate alright?!" Mrs Alba called out again, but I couldn't afford to be distracted right now. I knew that one wrong move was all it took and I'd probably end up crippled.
'I have to do something, but what? I have never been attacked like this—never felt so exposed.' This was turning into an absolute shit show.
Jonathan just smirked at me and for a split second I saw emotion in his eyes, though I couldn't describe it. I was sweating, close by I felt Mrs Alba reach for me, putting a hand on my shoulder from behind.
'Concentrate, damn it! I have to repel it.' I'd never done this before, still I pushed against this thing that tried to breach my mind. I was difficult, like trying to push something that wasn't tangible—like a fictitious sea of dark malice.
It was truly difficult, but the more I tried the easier it became. Until finally I was able to fight back. 'It isn't a one sided battle anymore.' And finally it was my time, it was my turn to smirk.
I pushed harder and harder, veins popped on my head, my heart was racing. I was tired of being afraid of him, he didn't deserve my fear.
Jonathan finally had a reaction—a small one compared to the constipated expression I was making. He didn't look as amused and prideful as when we first started our bout.
The air between us felt charged, Mrs Alba was trying to shake me and pull me away.
Jonathan looked a bit concerned now, 'Heh... not as tough as I thought.'
Jonathan smiled once more before breaking eye contact and retracting his power.
Our little duel was over. Before I could analyse the situation and infer why Jonathan accepted defeat, Mrs Alba forcefully dragged me away into the kitchen. When we were alone she took deep breaths, using the moment to calm herself before turning to me.
"What's going on Luke, you said you knew them, I thought you were on friendly terms with your classmate. Isn't that why you wanted to serve them their food?" She was confused, worried and marginally angry.
"I am on amicable terms with them, Jonathan and I thought it would be a little funny to have a little staring contest."
She didn't believe my lie for even a second, "That wasn't a normal staring contest! There was malice in your eyes," she held my arm, trying to comfort me, to make me yeild to her influence. "Is everything okay Luke? If there's a problem I'm always willing to lend a hand. Did this Jonathan boy offend you, is he making problems for you at school, you can tell me right now and I'll help."
She was dead serious about helping me, Mrs Alba was very kind, the motherly feeling she exhumed tempted me—the same way Miss Adelaide's did.
But I couldn't tell her anything. I'd confirmed that Jonathan was also superpowered and that he very bad intentions concerning me. Telling anyone would put them in some danger. I didn't know how low Jonathan could stoop.
That was the problem: I didn't know Jonathan. I had avoided him till now like the plague. But also researched extensively about him in my spare time, every article, book and new about him and his family I'd gone through them. My search was fruitless, nothing unusual apart from being a bit wealthy.
Mrs Alba was looking at me again with a lot of worry. "I'm fine ma'am, nothing is going on between us. Just a bunch of teenagers having fun and being mischievous." My words didn't allivate the worry in her eyes one bit.
*Sigh*"Alright Luke if you say so. I'll let this go on one condition," I nodded. "Take the rest of the day off."
"There's no need ma'am I can still take some more orders, no need to be worried we would never cause trouble in the cafe." She just smiled at me—it was not a suggestion.
"That's not what I'm worried about, you don't look well Luke. Take the day off and rest, you need it."
I felt the sweat on my face, my lips were chapped, throat dry and the onset of a terrible headache. She was right, I needed rest after that whole ordeal.
"I'll go home, but let me take a few more orders and clean up before I go." She looked out at the group of teens eating and conversing in sharp whispers.
"Fine go home in a bit." She said after giving an understanding gaze. I was left in the kitchen to work while she went out to serve other costumers. 20 minutes later Jonathan and his bunch were finally ready to leave.
"I'll see you around Luke." Jess said, waving at me, before leaving with her friends.
"Hmm... I'll have to be more careful from now on." I had to factor in the possibility that Jonathan's friends might also be a part of his scheme. Though the possibility of them knowing anything was very little. Besides I didn't feel anything from them when my veil probed them.
Then again I could not be absolutely sure that all supernaturals(superhuman?) felt the same. Jonathan was the only case I had to go off of. Even then I didn't know what kind of supernatural he was.
'Lets get some rest first.' The headache was fast approaching and I felt weaker with each passing minute. After cleaning up the kitchen I hung up my apron, picked up my bag and proceeded home after wishing Mrs Alba a good night.
The cool evening air brushed over my skin, and then he emerged from an alley blocking my path home.