The Creepy Little Toaster {Lyndee}

[MARY SANG]

The tea shop was quite nice in all actuality. Peaceful, quiet. The murmur of people was somewhat comforting, and a wide variety of people came in. So Mary wasn't greeted with strange stares and stutters when she smiled from behind the counter. Her black hair was wrapped up at the back of her head, leaving only her bangs to hang in front of her face, and she was rather toned down from her usual attire. But there was something very dark about the pasty girl with the shadows beneath her eerily clear eyes. Even though her skin betrayed her, Mary never seemed to be tired at work. She enjoyed tea, as stereotypical as it was. It was a wider variety than Starbucks offered--puh-leez. Tea was not meant to be put in a cup of ice and shaken around like a margarita. Served hot with a side dish of ice cream for a hot day, maybe. But shaking it like some stupid novelty--no.

Plus, Starbucks' tea was just glorified water. You couldn't taste the flavor of the leaves at all, and that was about ten dollars you just wasted on a very expensive "tall" cup of tea. But this place...from the moment she walked in she knew she was home. It smelled warm, and had that nice steeped smell of the dry tea-leaves. These weren't just packets of tea--sure you could get them in the packets to dip into boiled water...but the real magic was when the leaves were put into the strainer and steeped. Pipin' Hot Tea indeed.

Almost immediately, Mary had taken to the tea-shop, putting in as many hours as possible. Cleaning, serving, and generally being friendly. Some of the customers seemed to really enjoy the fact that there was an English goth-girl working the counter, and stopping by their tables on her long legs to see if they needed anything else. This was her home away from home, with the only flaw being the ridiculous amounts of shiney shit hanging around. As long as she didn't look directly at the silverware, and as long as she focused on anything other than the shiny sides of the teapots she would be just fine. Mary had become a queen of avoidance, and it was now a second nature.

When she went to the back with a few empty jars to restock the tea, she hadn't expected things to go downhill quite so fast. There was a loud clang nearby that made her head shoot up. It was in the small closet she was in where the boxes of tea were neatly organized. She hesitated for a moment, her small lips turning downwards in a slight frown as she waited for it again. Nothing. She turned, her boney fingers pushing the packets of tea into the jars when she heard it again. Clasping the lid on the glass jar, she stepped away from the shelf. "Lyndee?" She called quietly. The clanging was in that small closet, and had there been another person, Mary would have been squished against them.

Her chest started pounding, her boots tapped on the ground as she tried to finish stuffing the jars before that clanging could continue. It was a metal sound, and she didn't like it at all. A loud crash caused her to jump backwards, and only by the grace of God, the jar in her hands didn't smash to the ground. She clutched the jar to her chest, and stared at what fell to the ground from the top shelf. A toaster. A shiney...metal toaster. Mary held the jar tighter, wanting nothing more to go running from the closet and back to the front counter where there were the happy murmur of people. But if the boss or a coworker saw her run away from a mess, it could be bad.

Slowly, Mary put the jar of tea on the edge of the shelf and squatted next to the toster picking it up quickly and trying to find a spot empty on the shelf to shove the wretched thing onto. When she found a spot, she shoved it in without look--but her fingers hit it just right that it turned and she caught her reflection. And that horrible, grotesque face appeared behind her shoulder. She hadn't been expecting it this time, and it sent her crashing into the shelf behind her with a scream. Her fingers shooting up to her mouth. But she was still in view of the toaster. To her, the lightbulb flickered overhead, and she was caught in the dark with absolutely no refuge. In her ears, she heard the door slam shut, and the apparitions fingers stretched out of the dark and grabbed her from around the throat, screaming for an infant that Mary didn't have.

The girl collapsed to the ground, her boots kicking at the ground while she struggled with the invisible fingers, her screams muffled by her own desire to not cause every person in the restaurant come rushing to the back. It would be over soon. It would be over soon, it had to be. It was a dream--however it felt real. Mary's struggle with the figure caused a boot to kick the wall, one of the jars fell to the ground, glass bursting all over the floor.

To anyone else--it would appear that Mary was struggling with thin air. And though she felt as though she were in complete darkness....the light was on, shining bright.

--

Tags: Dani / Lyndee / Olley / Mary
Words: 936
Notes: I enjoy writing for Mary. c:
Outfit: I'll change this when Dani comes up with a uniform. But I like this a lot. c:

[/color]
[/left]

[LYNDEE PRIEST]

Lyndee had never been one to judge, so when Mary Sang came in for her interview dressed quite darkly, Lyndee said nothing on the matter and went on like she normally would. She was astounded by the amount of judgmental people she’d met since moving to New York, and especially since opening the tea shop. Mary was in fact a very sweet girl, if not a bit sleepy. Lyndee certainly noticed how she tended to avoid shiny surfaces. What kind of boss was she if she didn’t notice? Perhaps she’d ask about it someday, if things got out of hand. Until then, Lyndee was perfectly happy to let Mary work as often as she liked, as often as she wanted so long as she wasn’t falling asleep on the job. Lyndee honestly worried about the girl sometimes, with how tired she looked.

Mary had just gone to the back to refill some empty jars (and Lyndee knew this because she kept an eye on all of her employees to make sure they weren’t slacking off), which she very much appreciated because the shop was quite busy today. It was nearing lunch time and it was much more crowded than usual. It may have been to do with the hot weather. It was much worse than most Spring days and there wasn’t even any wind to relieve them of the heat. The streets were surprisingly empty, people having rushed to the nearest business to take refuge in the air conditioned buildings. There weren’t even very many orders for hot tea, their lemonade and pastries were selling fast. Lyndee had already asked for two of her on-call employees to come in early.

Lyndee hardly had time to interrogate her customers. She was properly working, brewing tea and plating pastries, cleaning tables and running the cash register. Lyndee liked spending half her time with the customers and the rest of her time properly working. This was almost strange to her. However, it was thanks to her properly working that she heard the rather loud bang from the back. Lyndee lifted her head, pausing, freezing. She’d been washing dishes, wash, rinse, and sanitize, before handing them off to her dryer. She’d always thought it faster to have somebody manually dry the dishes as opposed to waiting for a machine to finish its cycle. (It was mostly with small things, anyway, that they needed immediately). They were giving her a curious look when she heard it again. Just loud enough.

“Did you hear that?

” She asked, pulling her hands out of the soapy water and wiping them on her apron. “Hear wh—” Before they could finish, it was there, again, louder than the last two. “Finish up here, alright?[/color]” Lyndee’s smile was too bright and to anybody who knew her well enough could tell in her eyes how worried she actually was. Wringing the fabric of her apron in her hands, Lyndee made her way farther back into the shop, where Mary had just gone to refill the jars. “Mary?[/color]” Lyndee called, standing on the very tip of her toes to peer above tall cupboards. The room needed organizing, she’d been telling herself that for days now. It was almost dangerous back here.

Luckily, finding Mary wasn’t difficult. Lyndee knew, of course, where the boxes of tea were. She navigated her way to the closet, not liking the sounds she was hearing. Terrifying, really. The sounds of a struggle, but Lyndee would have seen if somebody else came back here. Wouldn’t she have? Had she been too distracted to notice? No. No, no, of course not. “Mary![/color]” Lyndee said once again, sounding much more panicked, wishing that the girl would at least answer in some way or another. She swung around the corner and, having expected Mary to at least be standing, was confused when she saw nobody there. Her brain caught up with her then and she was down next to Mary in seconds, careful to avoid the glass of the broken jar.

“Mary! Honey, what’s wrong?![/color]” It seemed as if nothing was wrong. She was struggling, but there was nothing there. Nothing to hurt her. Frustrating with the limited room, Lyndee reached further into the closet, knocking away what she could, boxes that still needed unpacking, a toaster that honestly needed to be thrown out, all the while trying to grab hold of Mary somehow or another to hold the girl still. If she wasn’t careful, if she kept kicking, more jars would fall, more glass, more danger. “Mary, please, listen. You’re fine, honestly.[/color]” Her voice thick with tears now, frightened, not sure what she could do, Lyndee somehow managed to hook her arms underneath Mary’s and she pulled, trying to get Mary out of the closet (because maybe it was the closed in space?), out where she could breathe.

outfit!
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/color][/size][/font]

[MARY SANG]

It was enough to break the spell at least. The second warm hands clutching her; warmth, safety. Not the chilling, cruel hands attempting to squeeze air out of her throat. Lyndee's voice pulled Mary to the surface when she was hauled out of the closet, and Mary gasped suddenly for air. The apparition was gone, and she saw the mess of glass on the floor, the old toster uptop, and....gulp. Her boss.
Mary's chest heaved once she was clear of the closet, her eyes wide, pupils were nothing but frightened pinpricks and she was shaking from head to toe. She wasn't entirely aware that her makeup was running down her face, making her look like a very drowned racoon. "I'm okay--I'm okay. I..." Mary managed to breathe, but then she caught sight of the glass, and was aware of slight pricking against her legs. Glass had managed to spear her black jeans, and it itched her palms where her hand had slapped the ground. Hopefully...there was no blood. Hopefully.

"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry. I'll pay for the jars, and the tea. Did anything else break?" Mary quickly struggled to stand, her wobbling legs much like a newborn calf; awkward, wobbling, and refusing to hold her weight up. She girl only ended up sliding back to the ground, and she dipped her head down. Bleary-eyed, she glanced around, her face red from struggle and embarassment. Of all the people that had to come and find her, it was the boss of the whole place. Mary's eyes flickered upwards towards Lyndee's face without lifting her head, looking much like a child that had gotten caught taking cookies from the cookie jar.

She was going to get fired. Or Lyndee was going to be pissed. Granted the woman seemed nice enough, she was the owner of the place. Her boss. Not to be mistaken for a buddy-buddy friend, no matter how friendly she seemed. Carefully, Mary lifted her palms, picking out the tiny shards of glass embedded in her pale hands. No blood, at least. That was good. Her heart was still pounding, and she was very certain that she could hear a distant, cruel laugh that was only heard by her own ears. Her eyes were still leaking fresh tears; in the one place she thought she could avoid it easier, in the one place she felt like home in, that she felt relaxed in--she was still being haunted. What made her think that the warmth of the tea shop would make any of that stop?

Her red lips parted slightly, still trying to catch her breath. To even it out so the tears didn't fall down to her pointed chin all over again. If it could just stop for once. If it could all just be over and done with, she could have at least one day of a normal life. "I'm sorry, I thought I saw....a rat?"

[/b] Her brows knitted together while she lifted her large eyes back at Lyndee; Mary was a horrible liar, but she couldn't tell her the truth. That was a surefire way to get her laughed right out of the place. How typical. Poor little goth girl saw a ghost. It would receive an eye roll, and possibly a one-way ticket to the funny farm. Her face paled, and she swallowed hard, looking down at her jeans while she started to pick out the glass that she felt the tiny pokes in. "It's...it's probably gone now. I think. I overreacted, it won't happen again, I promise." Maybe if she grovelled enough, Lyndee would be merciful and let her keep her job. Hopefully.[/blockquote]


--

Tags: Dani / Lyndee / Olley / Mary
Words: 936
Notes: I enjoy writing for Mary. c:
Outfit: I'll change this when Dani comes up with a uniform. But I like this a lot. c:

[/color]
[/left]