"My Grandfather left me this place. I never much liked the idea of running a restaurant so I closed it. It's been sitting for a few years."
The man fumbled with the keys to the front door, and finally found the one that unlocked it.
Dust covered every surface and all the cobwebs collected tiny mountain ranges of dust. The counters still held old metal napkin holders and bottles of ketchup. The windows were boarded up and the only light came from the cracks between the boards.
"Don't have most of the equipment anymore. Some kids broke in a few months back and trashed a few things, so I sold the rest of it, you wont have to worry about cleaning anything like that. Now I's got a business man interested in buying the place, So I need it cleaned up a little, mostly getting rid of the dust and wiping everything down."
The woman set down her cleaning supply box and looked around.
"It's just this main room and the kitchen?" she asked.
"And the bathrooms and there's an office area behind the kitchen." He tilted his head and looked at her name plate.
"Mary, I'll be back by 6 to lock up and pay ya. You have my number if you need me."
The man turned and briskly shuffled out the door.
Mary grabbed a few more things from the car and went to work
*****
Mary was sticky with sweat, her clothes were dusted with dirt and grime. She took a long drink from a water bottle as she sat on the clean bar stool. The cobwebs had left the ceiling and corners of the room and now clung to her hair, clothes and broom end. The counters and floors shined with a dingy yellow of there age. She glanced at the clock and sighed, an hour until 6. She set the water bottle down and grabbed her tote of cleaning supplies, the broom and walked towards the bathrooms. She entered the door to her left, the men's room and set her tote down. While the floors did not shine, the bathroom was not plagued with dust and dirt, a filmy haze covered the walls, floor, and mirror, as if someone cleaned them with a dirty cloth. She grabbed a spray can from her tote and covered the urinals with the can's thick blue foam. She walked towards the only toilet stall when she heard a wet dragging noise and a small splash. She tentatively pushed open the door and saw a small figure with long grey-green hair, sitting on the edge of the seat, with it's feet dipped into the toilet basin. Her spray can fell to the floor as she watched the creature, it slowly turned it's head to face her, it's grey eyes staring through clumps of it's grey-green hair. It's skin was pale with a greenish tinge, a small dirty loincloth covered it's lower half, its chest bare with small breast partially covered by it's unruly and matted hair. It's tongue snaked out of his mouth quickly become the length of it's body and flicked towards her, snapping the door closed. Mary screamed and ran, tripping over her tote of supplies, and stumbling forward out to the door. A dry cackle followed her out the door, then a splash and silence.
The building owner walked towards Mary's car with her supply tote and broom in hand.
"I didn't see nobody in there Mrs. Like I says you probably scared them as bad as they scared you, you sure you wont go in and finish?"
Mary nodded her head and he put the things in her car and pulled out his wallet, counting out his bills, then handed her the money.
"It's $10 less then I promised because you didn't finish, I think that's fair."
Mary took the money and rolled up her window, made the sign of the cross, and drove her car out of the parking lot.
"Crazy woman." The man said as he turned back to the restaurant to close up.
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A friend of mine showed me the obakemono project and the Aka-name was one of the first monster I had read about, it caught my interest, I can see these creatures being master spies if they really wanted to, at the very least I could see them overhearing some juicy secrets. I'm sure I'll use them again, probably in a novel, I just find them really odd and mysterious.
This story felt like a nice intro into October :) it's just the beginning.
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