The Cafe

[Madame Pandora]

OOC: I have been told to say this is a closed thread. If you want to be incorporated into the story, please email Ravenloft

With well-manicured fingers, Pali pushes the glass door inward. It is smudged and smeared with countless handprints of those who have come before her, but the scent that reaches her is not that of a lard-soaked, smoke-infested greasy spoon. It is coffee. Rich, redolent java. The merciful bringer of sanity, the calming opium of drowsy minds.

And, Pali has begun to think she needs a cup of sanity. Running her hand down along her short dress of rust-colored Chinese silk, she remembers the party. Chinese New Year. The Year of the Snake. She'd bought the expensive dress for the party, and with the dress...

Her hand flies up to her hair, where she finds her long auburn curls are still held into a knot by a pair of designer chopsticks. It was to have been an exciting party. A special celebration. But of what, she cannot remember.

Remembering anything, as it turns out, is becoming quite difficult.

Her slim, willowy figure carves itself through the haze of the cafe. Funny. She knows it must be her disorientated mind, but it is as though there is a blanket of fog wafting through the large room. She can discern threadbare, comfortable couches and coffee tables as well as half-stocked bookshelves along the walls, which should be welcoming but seem, oddly, cold. Unused. Barren.

Further inward she can make out a long counter with stools scattered every few feet. The swish of a human form donning a black cotton uniform drifts amid the mist she knows cannot really be there, and Pali is relieved to glimpse movement.

Someone else is in the cafe. She is not alone.

Relief like none she has ever known before sags through her sinews.

Overwhelming. Overjoyed. Relief.

By the time she has reached the counter, she is trembling. The strength in her knees evaporates, and she more falls upon a stool than sits.

"Please." She whispers to the man she can see, but can't quite define by sight - her vision gone blurry. "I could use a cup of coffee, please."

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

Looking up to see a woman setting at the counter, Dain stepped out from the kitchen area. He wore black slacks, and a tight black t-shirt, an apron over both. He looked fit and most likely in his twenties. His brown hair was tied back in a pony tail and several strands hung down in his face. He brushed them aside as he stood at the counter now. Looking her over, he smiled at her. "Sure thing." Reaching under the counter he took hold of a mug, tossed it into the air, behind his back, and caught it in his other hand, his smile flashing even brighter at his little trick. He set it in front of her and moved off to fetch the piping hot coffee. "Rough night?" He called back to her as he took hold of the coffee and walked back with it. His smile was still there, he tilted his head ever so slightly, his blue eyes showing concern. He poured the coffee till her mug was topped off. There was a towel on the counter. Dain sat the pot onto it and placed his hands on the counter, leaning forward a little. "You like it straight right?"

 

[Madame Pandora]

Rough night?
You like it straight, right?

Even as the stranger utters his small-talk questions, Pali can feel the frustration and dread forming in her belly. Has it been a rough night? Could it have been? She is still immaculate in her party dress and high heels. She has never been a girl to wear a great deal of make-up, has never taken more than lip gloss and eye liner along with her to a party in all her twenty-six years, but maybe a glance in the mirror wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Reaching down, she realizes her purse isn’t with her. It must have been left…must be…it’s…where is it? Yet another question she can’t answer. Damn it all.

The coffee. That question she can answer. She doesn’t like it straight. She likes it double sweet, with a dash of cream. And hazelnut if it’s at all possible. Warm, rich, and sweet. With the apologetic smile she has perfected at an endless string of cocktail parties and office meetings, she lifts her large, almond-shaped hazel eyes to the handsome young man behind the counter and nibbles her bottom lip. “I don’t suppose sugar and cream would be handy? Possibly a dash of hazelnut? It’s okay if it’s not.”

Her purse may not be handy, but she has always kept a fifty-dollar bill in her bra whenever she goes out. Any party. Any dinner. Never know when you’ll need a cab or break down…and she has always been so very organized and responsible. Always. She is not the type of woman to forget…to be unable to remember…yet…

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

"Yep, we got all that, even the hazelnut." Dain said with a smirk as he loaded the coffee as per Pali's instructions. "There you go, piping hot, and just the way you like it." Pushing the mug into her hands, Dain stepped back and ran a hand through his hair, watching as she too her fist sip of the coffee. When she sat it back down he extended a hand and tilted his head forward. "I'm Dain." he offered.

 

[Madame Pandora]

Smiling, Pali shook the stranger's hand. "I'm Pali. And, thank you, the coffee's perfect."

Strange. This introduction. In the midddle of the night at this odd little place. And why does this man seem to have been expecting her?

Dain? An out of place name. Not a John, Mark, or Steve. Just like her own name is not Sally, Jane, or Mary. Out of place names...

Everything is just so out of place...

MP

 

[Miss Demeanor]

Barbara Jean:

::groan::

My, it is cold, and dark. Oh! It's notdark! My eyes are just closed. Do I want to open them?...

Not especially.

::snort:: Momma always said, "Don't put off 'till tomorrow what you can do today."

::sigh:: Momma. "Oh, deah!"

Barbara Jean shut her eyes tightly and grimaced. It was so BRIGHT. Too bright. Like looking directly at the sun. Cautiously sitting up, she dared a glimpse through heavy eyelids. The surprise throws her. It is not bright...just...white....foggy...no, foggy is the wrong word...

Hazy. Like the world is out of focus.

"What the hell?" Barbara Jean's muddled mind accepts that she has been face down on a city sidewalk...a curiously deserted sidewalk. It must be night time, because there simply is no one else around but her...and yet there is a great deal of light. Must be street lamps, shimmering behind the fog. Yes..it must be fog and lamps making everything seem so...disjointed.

Directly in front of her, she can barely make out a closed door. It is the only thing that looks solid and real - this door. It is filthy and nearly opaque with grime.

The strange sidewalk itself is very dirty, slimy...and the familiar feeling of being in the gutter washes over Barbara Jean's cold, stale form.

"Ewwwwwwwwwww!!!" She leaps to her feet, groaning out in protest to the heaving in her stomach. She JUST manages to stay standing, swayinglike a sapling in the wind.

Sweet Jesus! Her eyes are wild, but barely visible; her heart begins to race, and cold sweat drips down the sides of her face. Her head is topped by a crushed velvet hat in a muddy dark color. Funny...all this chaos and her hat has stayed faithfully atop her head.

::gak:: Oh, please! Not that, don't let me vomit out here in the street like some common skank...

She turns and races to the edge of the sidewalk, falling to her knees, and loosing the contents of her stomach.

Now...that was pleasant. If only Daddy and Momma could see me now. The belle of the ball...the sweet southern...

She turns slowly, realizing it is going to get worse before it gets better, and stumbles to the door - the only thing that seems solid and real in this Alice In Wonderland world - and opens it.

Coffee! Oh, yes, there IS a God!

She notices the man behind the counter, and the shaken young woman sitting and drinking. Barbara Jean looks down over herself.

I look like I've slept for days in these clothes and I smell... well the less thought about that the better.

She looks around in desperation...and spots what she needs. With less than a nod in the direction of the other two people in the cafe, she speeds in a near run for the lady's room.

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

"Drink it up Pali, free of charge. Care for some pie or something?" Dain said cheerfully as he walked over to the pie displayed on the counter under a clear plastic lid. He lifted the lid in offering, then pointed over his shoulder to the kitchen. "I'm not the best cook but I can make a few things..." Just then another woman rushed in, paused to look about her then rushed to the ladies room. Dain offered this one a smile as well and tilted his head with a look of concern as she dissapeared into the ladies room. Turning his eyes back to Pali he was just about to say something when over in the corner of the cafe a juke box sparked to life. Its neon lighs flickered slightly as a record was pluched from its selections and placed on the turn table. Dain rushed over to it before Pali knew what was going on, batting his hand along side the machine. He looked up at the ceiling and spoke with irritation. "She's not ready for this just yet! Give her just a little more time. Don't force it on her please!" He stopped speaking when, in answer, the music began to play. Pali knew the song imediatly, it was like a physical blow as a sudden rush of memories assaulted her...

 

[Madame Pandora]

At first Pali could only stare dumbly.

The crazy, sick-looking older woman’s shocking entrance had been one thing. Then Dain’s nonchalant reaction, only to spin out of control over the automatic jukebox incident.

And what the hell was he talking about? Who wasn’t ready? Who needed more time?

Came the last night of sadness,
And it was clear she couldn't go on,
Then the door was open and the wind appeared,
The candles blew then disappeared,

The oversized coffee cup began to tremble in her hands. So much so that she had to put it down.

She’d been in the car. Driving to the party…and BOC had begun to play on the classic rock station. She’d turned it up full blast and instinctively leaned into the gas a little more. It was one of those songs…like the Boss’ Born to Run. You just couldn’t drive slow to Don’t Fear the Reaper.

It had been an unfamiliar route, back in a rural suburb of the city, and Pali had been grumbling about the sudden sharp turns in the dark. Some idiot had spray painted over the caution reflectors on the road…she really should have slowed down…

And then she’d come upon another 90 degree angle in the road, her Camry had fishtailed, but recovered after swinging widely into the oncoming lane. She’d felt relief and then realized she was right on top of another zigzagging turn…now with less time to compensate, still going way too fast for the road…and she saw headlights coming from around the bend…

The squeal of tires…blaring of hors…the unmistakable crunch of metal against metal – of machinery grinding down.

Bolting from her chair, Pali runs to the glass door. The way she came into this bizarre café, but it won’t budge. The knob won’t turn. She’s trapped in this place.

“Where am I?” She demands frantically from Dain, slumping back against the door. “What is this place…and how did I get here? I know you know!”

The curtains flew then he appeared... saying don't be afraid

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

"Maybe you should come back to the counter. Set down or something..." Dain held out a hand, he seemed nervous. He took a step forward. "I, I do know how you got here... And I have an idea what your gonna have to go through but thats about it..." He frowed as he looked over to the book case along the far wall, then back to Pali. "Stay for awhile and I will tell you what I can." He was moving back behind the cafe's counter again. The juke box playing the song still, seeming just to mock Pali. Dain shot it a scowling glance, he some times hated this place, and the pain it inevitably brought with it.

 

[Madame Pandora]

Pali shook her head. “Just tell me how to get out of here.”

She didn’t want to go back to her seat. She didn’t want to listen to anything he had to say. The eerie, calm resignation in his sympathetic glance knifed fear up her spine.

Come on, baby, don’t fear the Reaper…

“Isn’t there any way to turn that off?” Trembling, Pali tried to stand on her own, and her shaking knees failed. Grasping the doorknob again, she began to bash her open palms against the glass.

And suddenly it struck her.

She had seen handprints on the glass door before, when she’d first come into the café. The smudges and smears had tickled the back of her mind. Only now she understood why. They were all on the inside. Even though the door swung in and there was no reason to push from this side…the handprints were all on the INSIDE.

Eyes wide with horror, Pali stared at the scuffs left by her own hands – her own frantic pounding. So much like the other handprints there…

“Where is this place?” She moans softly. “Where is this place?”

Turning back to Dain, she can see his soft, pitying eyes, and it terrifies her all the more. Even though she knows somehow instinctively that this is not his doing, she needs to lash out at someone. Lashing out is better than being afraid.

“Are you doing this? Are you keeping me here? Let me out!” She is yelling now, storming over to the counter where he waits patiently, nonplused by her ranting. “Open the door. What are you, some crazy psycho? LET ME OUT!”

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

"You have to remember what happened to you before this place will let you leave... I've seen it before... I've been here so long." Dain said with a bitter turn of his lips. "Its gonna play out, i'm sorry, I can't stop it from playing..." He said, refering to the juke box. He couldn't bring himself to reply to her when she asked what the cafe really was. His lips just trembled for a second and he lowered his head, staring at her nearly empty mug.

He lifted his gaze to meet her as she marched up to the counter. His eyes regarded her with such a look of empathetic sorrow that it suddenly gave her pause. "I can't... I don't have the power to let you go... All... All I can do is try and help you... Please, let me help?" As long as that damn song played he had a feeling she would be hard pressed to listen to him. He remembered vaguely how he had spent nearly a half a day pounding on that blasted door, only stopping when the futility finally struck him.

He'd come to realize that there were things he needed to face, the book case held them all neatly in a thick leather bound book. How convenient that was, He had attempted to read it once. Guilt, hatred... He couldn't handle what he had to do, so he simply didn't do it, and had in a way doomed himself to this purgatory of sorts because of it.

 

[Madame Pandora]

His penitent sympathy is not the response she is looking for. Glancing back toward the door, she whispers hoarsely, “You can’t leave, either?”

Pali doesn’t have to turn and see him shake his head. Somehow inside, she knows the answer.

Blue Oyster Cult fades off the juke, and there is a moment of relief in her sagging shoulders. Then, a familiar tune begins…softly with guitar only, and the eerie implications of that song turns her blood cold.

“How can you help?” She nearly moans, her knees growing weak once more as she slips slowly to the floor...crumbling to a fetal position and rocking to the dreaded music.

On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas
Rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

Hopping up onto the counter and spinning his legs to the outside, Dain scooted off and crouched down next to Pali. "In the book case there is a book you have to read... It will help you remember things... Things you need to remember... Once you do you will be free to go onto what comes next..." One hand was on his knee and his other touched Pali's chin, he lowered his eyes to catch ahold of hers. "I know how confusing, how frightening this all must seem to you. And this place has a way of making it none too easy at times..." He glared over at that damn Juke Box, then softly into Pali's eyes. He let go of her chin and placed that hand on his other knee.

 

[Miss Demeanor]

Barbara Jean:

She hears the faint sounds of an old hit coming through the bathroom door. She looks again at herself in the mirror of the old one stall restroom. After using the soap and water available her heart shaped face looked clean, but nothing was going to help her lank and unwashed long hair. Well, Babs, you don’t look very respectable, but at least you don’t look like death warmed over anymore. She shoves the old velvet hat back in place hiding her hair.

She wonders if she should go back out into the café and face meeting these new people. The residual smells of coffee have been pulling her since she came into the bathroom.

The sounds of hands pounding upon a glass surface are coming from the front of the café. “Are you doing this? Are you keeping me here? Let me out! Open the door. What are you, some crazy psycho? LET ME OUT!”

What the hell? That’s a woman’s voice. She paces back and forth, fighting against her need to stay out of situations that are “none of her business.” She paces to the door and pulls it open just a bit.

The sound of another song is coming from the old jukebox.

My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'

She can barely see the young woman in the gorgeous party dress curled up on the floor. The man is kneeling at her side.
She immediately opens the bathroom door wide and walks out. “Hi. Is everything all right? I don’t mean to intrude, but I heard some yelling.”

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

"Everything'll be alright Pali..." Dain whispered just before her stood and turned to face the girl that had just come out of the bathroom. He took a quick, nervous glance at Pali before speaking out loud. "I can honestly say that things are going as good as they can be under the circumstances." He said dryly. "Care for some coffee?" He asked, then looked down at Pali. "I'll get you a refill as well..." He extended his hand down to her to help her up, giving Barbara a bright smile over his shoulder as he does so.

 

[Madame Pandora]

Pali

“Once you do you will be free to go onto what comes next..."

Dain’s manner had been so calm. As though that explained everything.

Bookcases and coffee. If this place was…what she thought it was…Pali didn’t want to read any of those damn books. She certainly didn’t want to know what came next….

Glancing up, Pali stares at the woman who has emerged from the restroom. She isn’t as old as Pali had first thought. A quote from Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Arc begins to echo in her head. [/I]“It’s ain’t the years, baby, it’s the mileage.”[/I] Whatever road this woman had been on, it had been long.

And if you think the road getting here is bad, wait til you hear what the guy behind the counter has to say. The ironic thought bounces through Pali’s mind and she can’t help but giggle. It is, possibly, the first stage toward a hysterical giggling fit. She has to swallow several times before the urge to crumble into a ball of frantic laughter passes.

The realization of where and what this café is begins to dawn, only to drift back into comfortable denial. It’s too much like some impossible scenario out of a Twilight Zone episode to bear.

How they dance in the courtyard
Sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember
Some dance to forget


With a growl, Pali gets to her feet and brushes off her dress. “To think, I used to like this fucking song. Dain, I need pie and coffee…and possibly a shot of tequila.”

Another burst of giggles escapes her, and Pali trembles with them as she takes a seat.

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

With that same old grand smile of his Dain moved with purpose. He fetched a plate, scooped a nice solid piece of french apple pie onto it and served it with a fork and napkin before Pali just as she sat down. Her coffee was refilled only a moment later. "Sorry, it would seem this place doesn't keep the Jose stocked..." He joked, with a comical shrug.

He looked over to Barbara. "You want anything? I'm not the greatest cook but I can do my best. Lay it on babe!" He said, trying on a funky New Yorkish accent, it was badly done though, and he smiled sheepishly at his attempt.

 

[Miss Demeanor]

Barbara Jean:

Dain and Pali. They seem all right. But, something really weird is going on.

Babs, my dear, you need Coffee and food. Whatever is going on, it’s not your problem.

She smiles slightly at the thought, feeling better about the whole situation. Though, mabey the tiniest bit of guilt may be eating at her.

Why should I offer to help? It’s really not my problem. Yes, that’s the ticket! ::sigh:: My father did raise me to be an honorable girl. It is a REAL pain in the ass sometimes. I am going to have to offer to help. Cheer up old girl, they might not need your help.

She smiles slightly and looks at Pali and Dain. “Pali, and Dain, right? My names Barabara Jean, but please call me Babs. I would do almost anything for a cup of coffee. Just keep putting sugar in until you think “Yuk! I would never drink that.” and then add some milk.”

“And by the way, things are going as good as they can be under what circumstances? Can I be of help?”

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

With that ever pleasant smile of his Dain fixed up a mug of coffee for Barb, just as she had instructed.

He frowned though and looked to Pali when she asked if she could help. "Its more up to Pali than me..." He stated. It seemed as though his eyes kept going back to her, as though his focus couldn't escape her for more than a minute at a time...

 

[Madame Pandora]

In their master's chambers they're gahthered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knifes but they just can't kill the beast.

Pali's eyes meet Dain's. She can't quite decide. Is he trapped here as well, or is he the puppet master? Whatever, whoever he is, he has a concept of this place. The new one, this woman...she has no idea, yet she offers help.

"Have some, pie, Babs. I think we'll need all the strength we can muster. As for what is up to you or I...I'm not certain quite yet."

Then, turning to Dain, Pali sips her coffee and arches an eyebrow, "So, how long have you...been working here? And what exactly are you supposed to do?"

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

"Me? I've been here for a long time... I can't really say how long really... Its just felt like a long time..." He offered as he lowered his eyes to the mug he was washing.

"Seen lots of people come through... More than I care to think about... You two are the first two I have seen in quite a while."

 

[Madame Pandora]

The jukebox mercifully fades off, and Pali's shoulders feel as though a great weight has been lifted from them.

She is not going to let Dain get away with that clever evasion.

"And why have you never left, Dain? Have you always worked her, or were you once a patron, like us?"

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

"I was like you..." He lifted a soft sorrowful gaze up to lock on Pali. "You don't want to end up like me... You will have to face your past sooner or later.." With that he pointed at the book case again.

 

[Miss Demeanor]

Barbara Jean:

She cradles the cup of Coffee in her hand. "Dain, you make a good cup of joe, but then again I would probably drink 3 day old coffee at this point."

"When you say "face your past," are you saying that there is a book over there with all of the oh-so beautiful details of my life in it?"

Barbara gets a very sour look on her face. "If so, I'm all for enjoying some coffee and food before facing that mess."

"Can you make me a grilled cheese?. I will go get "my" book after I eat. Cross my heart and hope to die."

 

[Ravenloft]

Dain:

With a nod Dain went about making Barbara a grilled cheese. He refreshed both the girls mugs then leaned back against the wall. He couldn't help but stare at the two of them. It had been some time since he had had company here.