Shooting That Shot

The automatic doors of the train swished open. The light, cheerful recording announced the name of the station and asked passengers to (for goodness’ sake) let people get out before pushing in. That’s when Ren spotted her, past the platform and across the road, the unmistakable light-brown hair of the café staff he’d had a crush on for the last three months.

“Please step away from the doors.”

The announcement would say it two more times before the doors actually closed. That wasn’t enough time for Ren to make up his mind.

“Next stop, Tech-Circuit station. Please step away-“

‘Screw it’, he thought and, in the spur of the moment, jumped onto the platform.

Renley Su adjusted his tie and set off towards his favorite café, his heart hammering against his ribs.

The café in question was a small cozy establishment called Moonpie. It had a whimsical vibe to it and their breads and pastries were very popular. It wasn’t Ren’s kind of place but a few months ago he went there with some co-workers and ended up being a regular.

Everything in Moonpie was pastel. There were large fake windows with painted sceneries, there were broad windowsills you could sit on, shelves of books and board games, curiously colored succulents in cute little pots, plush toys, and actual cats in a nook of their own. All in all, the place had a magical-girl anime vibe and he wouldn’t have given it a try on his own. But when he stepped in for the first time, he was immediately taken in by the rich smell of freshly baked bread and roasted coffee. Lyla was at the cash register that day.  

‘Okay Ren, you got this’, he told himself, ‘just casually ask if she wants to grab drinks later. If she isn’t single, that’s that. At least you tried.’

He checked his watch, it was 8:35am. The café didn’t open till 10, Lyla was probably going to start setting the place up with the other staff. Once open, the place would be completely crowded in minutes, so this was his golden opportunity to talk to her with some degree of privacy.

Ren fished out a flyer from his bag as he crossed the street. He got it at the café a few days ago, it was for a talent event for local independent artists.

‘Aight, I’ll walk in and ask about the event and segue into drinks or grabbing a coffee. You can do this Ren, stay calm.’

He reached the café door, it was slightly ajar. The large display window still had it’s blinds on. There were people talking inside.

‘Oh good, it’s not just her’, thought Ren. He didn’t want to seem like a creep who followed her when she was alone. Although, now he was even more nervous. Ren pushed the door open and walked in.

“-ehind the cash register”, someone was saying, “must have rolled right under.”

Ren was momentarily confused. There was no one there. The café was empty and the lights were still off. Where was the voice coming from? All he could see was a calico cat on the counter, facing away from him.

“I don’t see it, Cinnabon”, came Lyla’s voice from the floor behind the counter.

‘Oh she’s over there’, Ren started walking over, about to clear his throat to let her know she had a customer. Then, he realized who the other speaker was and froze.

“Well look harder, Lyla”, said what was unmistakably the cat, “where else could it be?”

“What the fff-“, exclaimed Ren before he could stop himself.

The cat screeched in surprise and half-jumped half-fell off its seat. Lyla popped up like a whack-a-mole from behind the counter, her eyes wide. She thrust her hand forward and shouted something. Everything in the shop shut or became bolted, or both. Open drawers, loose lids, parts of the false ceiling that weren’t perfectly aligned, stray caps of pens, open clips, everything. The front door too slammed shut and locked with a click.

It only lasted a second but it happened with such force that Ren was knocked back against the door.

Ren blinked. His ears were ringing.

“Oh thank goodness, you’re okay!”

The ridiculously adorable face of Lyla the café staff hovered over him. Her perfect bangs gently brushing her eyebrows.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to- I was just startled!”, she continued.

“Umm…yeah, what just happened?”, said Ren as he sat up, he was on one of the café sofas, “sorry, the door wasn’t locked, I thought the place was open, didn’t mean to startle you.”

‘Did I trip on something? Did I scare her and she push me? No, that can’t be right, she was standing behind the counter…’, he remembered the feeling of being flung back, and a moment filled with weird noises. Like a hundred clicks.

Ren gingerly felt the back of his head. The spot that hit the door was a little sore, but otherwise, he was fine. Lyla was kneeling on a footstool next to him. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her directly, she was too close. She wasn’t even in the cute café uniform yet and she just looked so pretty. Light blue high-waist jeans, white crop-top, an earring in the shape of a ca-

Ren suddenly looked around, “where’s the cat?”

“wh- what cat?”

“Ms. Layla, don’t insult my intelligence”, Ren immediately softened his tone because that came out a little harsh, “I mean, okay I don’t know what I saw.”

Lyla sat down on the footstool now and started to nervously rub her palms together, “is your head okay?”

It was a poor attempt at changing the topic, she was even avoiding eye-contact.

‘She probably thinks I’m going to sue the café’, thought Ren, ‘good work, champ.’

“Hey, look”, Ren continued in a cheerful voice, Lyla looked up, “I shouldn’t have come in before opening time, I was passing by and wanted to ask about your Halloween event and…” he sighed, “it was an honest accident. Let’s just forget this happened.”

Ren finished with a warm smile but even as he said the words he knew something odd had happened. He was just too confused to make any sense of it. Thankfully, his half-baked reassurances seemed to have put Lyla at ease. She let out her breath and stood up.

 “I’ll be right back, please wait”, she ran off into the kitchen.

Ren got up and picked up his bag from the nearest table. Then, he headed over to the café counter and took a seat.

Lyla was busy brewing something. Moonpie was one of those cafés where you could see the kitchen and watch stuff being made. As he watched her, Ren took out his phone and browsed for faux-tricks. It was a term that was popular among certain crowds.

“Faux-tricks are skills that look like magic tricks but are actually real feats, as opposed to slights of hand or ‘smoke and mirror’ performances. The name was coined by…”

Ren lost interest a few sentences in and none of it sounded like what he thought he experienced. By now, he had already dismissed the possibility of a talking cat. But then, why was Ms. Lyla being so secretive about it? What was she really hiding? Was the café a drop-off point for illegal drugs or something?

While Ren tried to come up with logical explanations, Lyla appeared at the counter with a to-go cup of something that looked like iced tea and two glossy black tickets.

“This’ll help with the, you know”, she indicated his head, “and here’s tickets to tonight’s event. If you want to participate, you can scan that code and register.”

They talked for a few more minutes, Lyla apologized again, and Ren went on his way.

“Please step away from the doors”, said the recording as Ren stood on that platform again; 11hrs later. The display window he saw across the road was nothing like the usual Moonpie. Where it usually showed cute posters and the cozy interiors, tonight it showed…a forest?

Ren was expecting cute jack-o-lanterns with heart-eyes and glitter cobwebs but the display window had tree branches bathed in green light. There was the mannequin of a girl in a corner, her dress waving in a fake breeze. As he got closer, Ren noticed that she was clutching a pumpkin with its innards falling out, like a severed head. He pulled his jacket closer, suddenly feeling a cold shiver.

‘Maybe I should turn around and leave’, thought Ren, ‘something feels off. Think with your upstairs brain, Ren!’

The moment he stepped in, he wished he had turned back. He couldn’t even appreciate the dark aesthetic of the place with the black candles and the people in on-point cosplays, the walls covered in witch’s cottage wallpapers, the tables with the woodprint tablecloths, the ambient background music of a chilly night in the woods... Nope, because the first thing he saw was the stupid, narcissistic face of his freeloader ex. They made eye contact and his ex-boyfriend grinned.

Ren promptly turned around and made to leave but Habi was too quick. He grabbed him by the back of his jacket and pulled him into a playful chokehold.

“What is a man like you doing in a place like this?”, asked Habi, way too loudly.

“Whatever the eff I want”, Ren hissed back. Half his self-esteem issues were because of this prick and Ren did not want to share the same air as him.

Habi, however, snaked his arm around Ren’s waist and pulled him through the crowed cafe towards his band. 

“Hey, y’guys! You remember Renley?”

Ren saw where this was going, he was going to be invited to drink with them and then they’d bail and he’ll have to pay the bill.

“Hey, you’re that accountant guy?”, said some man he didn’t know, “I thought you were all boring suits and whining about money. You clean up good.”

“Was that supposed to be a compliment?” asked Ren with the most deadpan expression he could muster.

“Hey! Mr. Su?”, shouted a woman’s voice from next to them, “you’re Lyla’s friend, right?”

Everyone turned to look. It was one of Lyla’s co-workers, dressed as a Greek goddess. She looked like a cool biker chic even on a normal day, but today she looked divine.

“Uhh, yeah?”, said Ren.

“Ah, I’ll take you to your seat. You have your tickets?”

“Yep”, Ren handed her the tickets (Lyla had said that if he couldn’t find someone to go with him, he could use the extra ticket for a complimentary drink and appetizers).

“Follow me”, she said with a customer-friendly smile and walked away.

One of the band guys let out a whistle as soon as she left.

“Is Lyla the short one with the cute a-“

Ren didn’t let him finish, he pulled Habi’s arm off his shoulder, twisted it against his back and pulled him closer by his collar, “my table’s waiting, goodbye.”

“Whoo, feisty today, aren’t we?”

Ren simply let go and went after the café lady. She gestured towards the only empty chair at a large table and went to get his complimentary food and drink. Rather than read the menu, Ren looked around for Lyla. He swiveled around in his chair and spotted a calico cat staring right at him from a windowsill, wearing a pendant identical to Lyla’s earring.

Cinnabon walked over, brushed against his leg, hopped on to his lap, settled down, and started purring. Ren stroked the cat and whispered, “Cinnabon, was it? I’m not really a cat person, am I doing this right?”

 The cat responded by stretching and purring some more.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in-between”, announced a female voice from somewhere behind the makeshift stage. Ren’s ears perked up, it was her.

“Please welcome our first contestant…Arabella Acapella!”

A group of elven cosplayers filled onto the stage as the room cheered. Ren barely heard their actual performance because he spotted Lyla moving to the counter and was transfixed. She was dressed as a witch, in a comically large pointy hat and a black gown. Was he the only person there who wasn’t in some kind of costume? The closest he came to was to look like an old timey boy band member—Jeans, converse, white tee-shirt, distressed denim jacket.

Ren suddenly felt sad, he didn’t fit in with this crowd. And what about the incident from that morning? It was best to quit now rather than catch feelings and struggle to move on later.

The complimentary beer and chicken popcorn arrived and Ren tried to enjoy the performances. Half an hour and three performances in, Cinnabon sat up as if alerted by danger. Ren immediately looked towards where Lyla was and saw her dash towards the kitchen door. The cat jumped to the floor and zoomed away through the forest of feet. After a few seconds of hesitation, Ren thought ‘screw it’ and ran after them.

The back door led to a narrow alley. The walls were covered in grow-in-the-dark graffiti and one of Habi's bandmates was leaning back casually against the it. Lyla was all up in his face, standing on her toes.

"...because this is our turf. You think you can just waltz in here and use magic on our patrons?"

The guy leaned forward, Lyla didn't back down.

"Aww you called it magic! It's just a few tricks, they'll be fine, chill."

"Leave. Now."

"Make me, little witch", he grinned.

"Ahem", Ren held up his phone, the screen showed the number he was about to dial, "I can call the police or you can leave. Personally, I'd love to see Habi get arrested."

Lyla took a step back, she looked surprised to see him. Like she hadn’t expected him to come to the event.

"Oh?", said the guy and dramatically snapped his fingers.

Ren's phone exploded. He yelled and grabbed his hurt hand, a shrapnel cut across his cheek. The guy swished his arm again, so Ren ran at him, hoping to tackle him before he got a chance to do it again, or hurt Lyla. He ran straight into...glass? No, that can't be right, there was nothing there, but he definitely hit something. Ren put his hand up and felt an invisible barrier.

"Please stay there, Mr. Su", said Lyla, smiling at him.

Ren looked to his attacker, the guy was snapping his fingers over and over, looking confused. His mouth was moving but Ren couldn't hear anything.

"Cinnabon?", continued Lyla, her voice crystal clear, "please take care of Mr. Su."

Ren felt the cat rub up against his leg and he suddenly felt dizzy, or sleepy. He went down on one knee because he thought he might fall. The pain in his hand and face ebbed.

Lyla spoke again, "So, you want to challenge the high witch of the North-Hancity coven?"

Ren looked up and saw the man mouth the word ‘coven’ and lunge at her, throwing a punch towards her head. However, he never reached Lyla. Instead, he was flung back against the wall. He was immediately on his feet again, trying to lunge forward but his arms seemed to be stuck to the wall.

The air zinged with some kind of static, it made Ren’s eyes sting. He blinked the tears away and realized that the man wasn’t stuck to the wall, he was held there by hands. Sickly pale hands sprouting from the graffiti.

Habi’s bandmate was screaming in a mad panic, but no voice escaped the invisible barrier. Lyla walked towards him and gave him a gentle push. He fell through the wall and disappeared.

Lyla walked towards Ren, and took her hat off. The barrier seemed to be gone how.

“Cinnabon? Can you make sure he’s okay and lead him out in about an hour?”

The cat sighed, “sure sure”, it jumped into the hat and was gone.

The high witch of North-Hancity coven put her hat back on, “umm…uh, is your hand okay?”

“Umm, yeah”, Ren was surprised to see that his hand was completely fine. It still had blood on it, but it was completely fine.

“Oh good, Cinnabon’s really good at healing and…yeah”

Ren stood up, there was awkward silence for a few seconds.

“So, is that guy going to be okay?”

Lyla nodded.

“And you’re a…”, he raised his eyebrows at her.

“Yeah…”, Lyla looked away towards the café door, “umm, uhh, it’s- it’s supposed to be a secret. You know, outside of the faux-trick circle.”

“You gave me free tea and saved me from an exploding phone, your secret’s safe with me.”

“Oh”, she looked at his face now, genuinely surprised, “so, it’s okay? You’ll keep coming here?”

This sounded a little odd to Ren, given that the loss of one customer wasn’t much compared to the fact that the Café was RUN BY ACTUAL WITCHES!

“Umm, I guess…I mean, it’s a bit much to wrap my head around straight away but, I like you- your café! I like the café, I’ll probably keep coming back, yeah.”

‘Goddamit Ren, you almost spilled it!’

“So, you don’t mind that I’m a witch?”

“I guess?”, he ran his fingers through his hair, “I mean, like I said, it’ll take a while to wrap my head around it.”

Lyla took a tentative step forward, “So then, maybe we can hang out sometime? Y’know, so you have more time to wrap your head around it.”

“Oh. OH”, Ren smiled, it suddenly dawning on him that he was being hit on “yeah, we should totally do that. Maybe tomorrow? Over dinner?”

Lyla grinned, “perfect.”