A clash of thunder shook me from my sleep. I looked around and took in the surroundings of my office. My head was throbbing. I checked my phone to see what the time was.

"Ugh, four in the morning?" I scolded myself.

How had I fallen asleep? Then I recalled the strange dream I had. What were those creatures and why did it feel so real? But something like that couldn't be real…it had to be a dream. After thinking on it some more, I chalked it up to being overly tired. It would probably be best if I went home and got some sleep. As I walked from the office to the front of my shop I noticed the orange rose I had finished. That's when I remembered the two cakes I had to finish before Saturday. I couldn't go home just yet. I needed to work on the pearls that go on the cake.

I was kept so busy running the shop and creating April's cakes that the time passed by quickly. Saturday came before I realized it and on the morning of the wedding I was just putting the finishing touches to the groom's cake. April's cake had turned out better than I could have imagined. I smiled brightly as I took in all my hard work. I loaded the cakes into my van and made sure they were secure. I would literally die if anything happened to the cakes I had worked day and night on. I stopped briefly at my apartment to get dressed and fix my hair. I donned my favorite strapless dress and matching flats. I pulled my hair back into a messy bun at the nape of my neck. My makeup was still in perfect condition from this morning so I didn't bother touching up. I did a once over in the mirror before I deemed myself suitable for a wedding. The wedding was taking place in Massachusetts and would take roughly three and a half hours to get there, so I packed an overnight bag. I would just get a hotel room and stay the night so I didn't have to drive the three hours back tonight.

I double checked everything, almost forgetting to throw my sketch pad into my bag. I skimmed through it to make sure I had enough blank paper. I knew I would want to draw some things from the wedding. I stopped flipping pages when I came across my most recent sketch. A sketch I had done when my cakes were baking. It was of one of the creatures from my dream. He reminded me of a turtle, but was more humanoid than anything. He had a blue mask and just beyond it were his deep brown eyes. I managed to capture the emotion in his eyes in the drawing, they were filled with worry. I shook my head as a chill ran down my spine. What? Why did that happen? I placed the sketch pad in my bag and threw it over my shoulder. Once in my van I placed my She and Him cd into the player. The song Thieves filled the van as I pulled out to the interstate. This would be a long three hours.

I arrived at the house where April's wedding would be taking place. It was perfectly shabby looking and I immediately fell in love with the little country house. There were lots of cars in the driveway and I knew I was in the right place. As I was unloading the cakes a man with shoulder length black hair approached me.

"You must be Mindy." He stated.

"That's me, and who might you be?"

"Casey Jones, I'm the groom. Came out here to see if you needed help with the cakes." He replied.

"I do actually. Can you be careful enough to carry the larger cake?"

"Yes mam!" He exclaimed.

He carefully took the three tier cake in his arms and walked to the back of the house. I followed him with the groom's cake in my arms. The back yard was decorated gorgeously. There were rows of seats, each chair adorned with yellow and orange roses. We placed the cakes on a table in a beautiful gazebo.

"These decorations are gorgeous." I stated as we walked from the gazebo and toward the house.

"Could you wait out here for just a moment?" Casey questioned, as he pulled the back door open.

"Uh…sure," I replied simply.

When he went into the house I heard a small commotion and several hushed voices. I tried to understand what they were saying but they were too quiet. I glanced around the backyard and to the woods around me. It reminded me of being back home. I love living in New York but there is still a part of me that desperately misses Kentucky. My thoughts of the bluegrass state were cut short when Casey opened the door again and motioned me inside.

"Some of our guests aren't exactly…uh, well…they're different." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Can you promise not to scream or anything?"

I was taken aback. Surely he didn't think I was rude enough to scream at people that might look a little different.

"I'm a little bit insulted. Of course I won't scream. I do have manners after all." I replied.

"Alright then," He paused. "Come on out guys."