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ironwolfzer0 · 11 months ago

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Chapter 1 - The Visitor

October 25th - Madison Hills, Main St

The telltale arrival of Halloween rode into Madison Hills on the scent of amber and cinnamon, black candles in windowsills, and intricately carved pumpkins by storefronts. BèBè always loved the sound of crunching leaves under her boots this time of year on her walk to the Temple, warmed by the festive buzz about the town despite the autumn chill.

The Western Temple of Collybus ran through her family history like an arrow- straight back to the very founding roots of Madison Hills. It had such a subtle elegance, her temple, her sanctuary, directly facing the town hall’s more ornate front like two siblings with a cobblestone well between them.

The town itself was built as a safe haven from the ancient war between demons and angels- as well as their followers. Steadily, over the years, it shifted from a symbol of resistance to a bustling oddity of tourist fame. But, it put food on the table, so ever-pragmatic, BèBè couldn’t much complain.

It wasn’t until BèBè arrived at her favorite coffee shop just before the temple, hoping to pick up morning treats for herself and her two lifelong friends and fellow Lux, Lolo and Amber, that the most garishly dressed man she had ever seen disrupted the peace of her morning, dressed in furs and gold, and attempting to overpay for a latte by a startling amount.

‘Oh God...’ BèBè groaned internally ‘Not him.’

“Sir, I don’t have change for $300!” the poor barista cried. They had been fighting with this man for several minutes now. “I don’t even have change for $100! We just opened! Don’t you have a card or something?”

The man huffed, frustrated. “Jeez Louise, you people need to do better with your money management!”

BèBè scoffed. The one man she didn’t want to see. Koda Dorado, the Mayor’s very strange and annoying (at least to her) adult nephew. He had no idea how the normal world worked. While he didn’t exactly flaunt his wealth in your face, he would remind you that the gap was there. Rumor has it that he was actually quite generous with his money! Almost to the point where people were concerned that he’d be taken advantage of.

But that’s not reason BèBè disliked him. It was annoying attempts to get her attention. All summer long Koda had been, in her opinion, bothering her. Trying to shower her with gifts, or requesting her to take his confessions as an attempt to strike up a conversation. It started out simple with him just visiting the Temple for service on Sundays or him offering to buy her a small coffee. It was cute at first, then he started to become somewhat overbearing. She tried to let him off gently, saying that while she appreciates all that he’s given her, he’s going overboard. That did get him to back off, but not completely.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in dating, it’s just not what she’s focused on right now. He did stop trying to buy her attention, but he would still come by the Temple for confessions. Her friends said he was trying to wear her down, but she wasn’t going to let him.

After what seemed like an eternity , BèBè finally stepped up to the register and offered her card to the cashier. “I’ll pay for the drink, Marte. And could you get me the usual? Thank you.” She said waving her card over the card reader. BèBè gave a side eyed glance at the other. “Isn’t it a bit too early to be causing trouble, Mr. Dorado?”

“Dollface~!” Koda exclaimed. He immediately perked up, completely forgetting about his order now that his favorite person was in front of him. “I ain’t causing no trouble! Not my fault these guys don’t know how to make change!”

Marte the barista glared at Koda but said nothing. They went about fixing BèBè’s order while silently cursing Koda.

“Well this isn’t like the coffee shops in St. Fortuna where they have money to break $300 first thing upon opening.” BèBè said. She sidestepped past Koda towards the other side of the counter. He followed behind her. He leaned against the counter, trying to look cool in front of her. She thought he looked uncomfortable leaning on that short counter.

“So, uh, where ya heading this early in the morning, hm?” Koda asked.

“You should know since you’ve been stalking me since June.” BèBè said sarcastically. Koda put on a offended expression, placing a hand over his chest as if he just heard the most shocking piece of gossip.

“Stalking? Me? Oh I’m hurt, Dollface.” Koda said, wiping away a non existent tear. “Just hurt, boo-hoo!”

It wasn’t untrue. His previous behavior could be categorized as stalking. Knowing her schedule, her daily route to work, the excessive gift giving. He had no idea why that would get this girl’s attention. He’s lucky he didn’t get a restraining order! That would have definitely put a pin in his plans. Lucky for him, BèBè was nice enough to give him another chance. A fresh start as he put it. This was much more work Koda had ever done to catch anyone’s attention.

Marte the barista walked to the end of the counter and set down four drinks along with a medium sized brown with the shops logo printed on it. The scent of something sweet wafted through the air.

“I’m sorry to interrupt but here are your orders.” Marte said, not sorry at all “A pumpkin spiced latte with whipped cream and extra espresso and pumpkin sprinkles. And two blonde lattes and one decaf caramel macchiato along with three breakfast sandwiches. Thank you and come again.”

BèBè grabbed her drinks, and the bag then strode past Koda without so much as a goodbye. She knew this was rude, but she needed to get to work. She would mind her manners next time. It took the other a moment to realize that he had just been snubbed. He turned around frantically as he tried to catch up with her.

“Hey wait up, Dollface!” he called out. He quickly went back for the coffee he left behind unaware that the lid wasn’t secure. He spilled some of the drink on the counter in his frenzy.

Koda chased after her, running into the door. His head bounced off the glass making the little jingle bells that hung above rattle like maracas. Some of his drink splashed on his gaudy fur coat, but it seemed to magically drip off without so much as leaving a stain. He ignored all this however as he jogged up to BèBè. She was very fast despite all the things she was carrying.

“Hey, Doll, let me help you with that! It’s the least I could do since you bought me breakfast.” Koda said. He reached out to take one of the items. BèBè refuse as she could carry it just fine. She’s done this since high school. But it was nice of him to offer.

“No thank you.” She said “Its not that heavy.”

“Well at least let me give you a ride?”

“But we’re already here.”

Koda looked up. They had arrived at the front entrance of the Temple. He looked between it and the coffee shop, surprised at how close they actually were. Then again this town wasn’t very big to begin with, so he didn’t know why he was surprised. It was weathered brick building that had been around since at least the early 1910s. The windows had iron bars over them, keeping out intruders. The building was simple, and much smaller than the giant glass monstrosity that was the Eastern Temple of Collybus in St. Fortuna.

The building next to it, the old Town Hall, stood next to it’s twin fully decorated in spooky bats, pumpkins and such. The Temple had a few pumpkins near the big stain glass doors at the entrance, but was devoid of any Halloween whimsy.

“Can you get the door please?” BèBè asked, tilting her head towards it. She let out a small sigh a second later. “If you are here to confess then please wait in the lobby. Please do not touch anything or sneak around, ok?”

“Whatever you say, Dollface! I’ll be the perfect little gentleman~!” Koda grabbed the old brass handle, and pressed down in the little switch to unlock the door. He ignored the stinging sensation he felt as he held the knob. The holy power surrounding the building was strong. Strong enough that he could feel it through his human disguise.

“Ladies first!” Koda said with his best movie star smile. He did a gentlemanly bow. BèBè rolled her eyes and stepped in. Koda merrily skipped behind her.

★★★★★★

“So I saw you walking around with your little boyfriend this morning.”

“He is not my boyfriend! Stop saying that!”

BèBè glared at her friend as she giggled to herself. Her eyes narrowed angrily in her direction while the other looked away with faux innocence. It was late into the afternoon, and BèBè was already irritated. Koda had made his 45th? Maybe 46th confession? She wasn’t sure, but she knew he had been there enough times for her to count on both hands and then some. BèBè huffed as she ungracefully flopped in the wore leather chair in her father’s office. It was a decent sized room, filled with cardboard boxes full of old papers, photos, with a big oak desk that has seen better days. The computer was the only modern thing inside the room.

A woman, tall with tan skin, green eyes and blonde hair pulled into a braided bun, leaned over against the desk. She was grinning mischievously as she watched her friend type away on the computer in front of her. BèBè ignored her, keeping her eyes glued to the screen. She was busy going through today’s schedule. It wasn’t a very busy one but occasionally the Temple would host short tours around the grounds. It wasn’t a big place, but people liked taking pictures in front of the decorative statues near the altars. There was also an old graveyard a few feet behind both the Temple and Town Hall.

BèBè skimmed through the scheduling app. There was a meeting later that evening, and a retirement party for the financial advisor on Saturday. Nothing else was booked for the week, which offered some relief. Noe she could just focus on preparing for the retirement party. “Lolo, did you order the banner yet? Brother Franklin’s party is coming up soon. Bastian took care of food, and drinks. So we just need to get the daycare cleaned out, and..”

The blonde woman, Lolo, pouted, “You can’t ignore him forever, you know. Sooner or later, he’s gonna wear you down.”

“Never! I told him that I’m not interested right now.”

“And yet you gave him another chance!”

“I believe in second chances. Besides I think he’s more of an idiot than a murderous stalker.”

Lolo pulled out a foldable chair from the corner and sat it in front of the desk. She twirled a loose braid between her fingers. The silence between them was broken with the clicks and clacks of the mouse and keyboard. “I think you should give him a chance! I mean, he seems like a good guy! Not to mention that he's the Mayor’s nephew so that’s an advantage! Oh! Maybe we could hire him to replace Brother Franklin!”

BèBè let out an airy laugh. Koda? The financial advisor? Just this morning he tried to pay for a $2 coffee with $300 dollars cash! Just from that alone she felt that he could run her family’s legacy into the ground within days of employment. Maybe in seconds! No, he wasn’t suited to do financial work. Never.

“Father already said he has someone in mind so I’m letting him handle it. We just need to handle the party planning. By the way, where’s Amber?”

Lolo’s expression soured a bit. Amber, the third member of BèBè’s friend group, was always off somewhere or worse, running late for work. Both ladies loved her very much, but neither could deny that she wasn’t really suited to be working at the Temple. It was a miracle of the Goddess that she barely graduated high school.

“I saw her trying to flirt with Koda before he left. I don’t know where she went after that.” Lolo scoffed. She pretended to examine her nails. Her sparkly fuchsia nail polish was chipping and her manicure was ruined from her picking the nails into uneven ridges. She peeked out the corner of her eye watching her reaction.

Anger flashed across BèBè’s face. She was always short tempered. Even back in high school, when an angry outburst got her banned from the varsity tennis team for two months. Poor dude need stitches. Now, even as an adult with a temper having been cooled with maturity, you could see that she was close to exploding. Amber had been ditching her job, the job BèBè painstakingly fought for her to do who knows what. It gave her a headache.

“I wouldn’t put it past her if she went to go see Koda. He’s always hanging around Main Street or at the Countryside Club.” Lolo said, leaning back in the chair. “When is she gonna get the hint that he’s taken?”

“Lolo, I don’t want to talk about them right now. Please just help me plan this damn party.”

———-

Prologue -— > Chapter 2

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