THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT

As the cafe was beginning to pack up for the end of the day, Zakuro said, "Well, looks like it's near closing time." By now, Zakuro, Ryou, Keiichiro were the only ones left.

As Zakuro began cleaning a table, she heard a knock on the door. "Hello," someone said. "Can I place an order?"

"Read the sign, please," Zakuro replied.

"I'll have a-"

"We're closed. Sorry."

"Okay then, I'll go take my yen somewhere else."

"Yen?" Ryou shouted. He then ran over and said, "You mean, you'll pay us if we serve you after night?" The customers outside that had gathered nodded. "Well then, welcome to the night shift. For tonight only, Cafe Mew Mew is open for the night." He had needed the money to upgrade to Windows XP from Windows 2000.

"What?!" Zakuro replied, before 7 people rushed in.

"Well then," Ryou replied. "I gotta go. You and Keiichiro will take care of everything. Got it? Bye."

"Ugh... Now I can see why Ichigo and him don't get along."

At 8:25, Keiichiro delivered another cake to another table. He then said to Zakuro, "I can't believe we're working 'till the next day, continuously."

"Yeah," Zakuro replied. "It's a drag."

"Anyway, I need you to take out the trash to the back."

"Alright." Zakuro then grabbed a trash bag in the kitchen and proceeded to walk to the back door. However, when she looked outside, she suddenly stopped. "You mean out there?"

"Yes, that's where the dumpster is, Zakuro-san."

"Umm... Maybe you could do it?"

"I can't, I'm baking stuff in the oven."

Zakuro then took another look. "Alright..." She then whispered under her breath, "Screw it, I'm going out there." She then rushed out and threw the trash bag in the dumpster. As she did, she saw numerous shapes in the night. After staring further and further, she then spotted what looked like eyes. She saw them get closer and closer. Then, she felt something grab onto her shoes.

Then, she screamed and ran back inside as soon as she could. She looked again and then realised that they were just car headlights in the distance. She looked down and inferred that an insect had attached to her shoes, but had flown off when she started running.

Not wanting to show that she was afraid, she said, "That was too easy."

"I see," Keiichiro replied. "Now, wash your hands and deliver this cake to Table 5."

Now, it was 3 AM. The cafe was completely empty. Zakuro said, "Oh for Christ's sake, open for the whole night?! Who would seriously want to eat a cake at 3 in the morning?!"

Pudding's alarm clock at home went off. She said, "Alright, 3 AM!" She then ran down to grab something from the refrigerator.

Back at the cafe, Keiichiro was cleaning the floor. Zakuro was almost asleep. To wake her up, Keiichiro said, "Are you awake?"

Zakuro screamed and said, "Don't startle me like that! Anyway, it's like a freaking ghost town in here. I swear, Shirogane-san's getting it this time." As she said the last line, the lights began to flicker. "Very funny, Keiichiro-san, very funny. The lights will flicker on and off like that Spongebob episode. Har har."

"Huh?" Keiichiro replied. "I'm not doing anything with the lights. Speaking of that, how are you doing that if your hands aren't on the switch?"

"I'm not. It must be the wiring. This place ain't built to run 24/7." Then, the phone rang. "Hello? Who is this?" Zakuro answered. "Hello? What do you want?" She then hung up. "Stupid prank-caller. I swear, this is getting creepy."

Keiichiro replied, "What the hell's going on?" Then, a bus pulled up in front of the cafe. "Hey, a bus. I didn't know our route ran this late."

Zakuro, wide-eyed and scared to death, said, "They don't."

Then, a passenger got off. The passenger then pulled out what appeared to be a bladed surface. "Holy..." Keiichiro said. "You must be pulling my leg, Zakuro-san. I can't believe you would go through the trouble of hiring someone to scare me."

"Keiichiro-san, there are 2 things wrong with that theory," Zakuro replied, trembling in fear. "First, I hate pranks. Second, how could I hire someone, when I've been here the whole time?!"

Then, the man walked in. He said, "Hey guys, can I submit an application for a mechanic position? I brought a wrench and a toolbox. I saw the ad in a newspaper. I tried calling earlier, but I hung up because I was nervous."

Zakuro sighed in relief and said, "Well then, you can talk to Keiichiro-san over there. He'll get you all set up. Wait a second, if that was you on the phone and you on the bus, who was flickering the lights?"

"Oh yeah," Keiichiro said. "We put an ad in to fix the electrical wiring. That explains the lights."

Then, the lights flickered again. The 3 of them looked and saw a familiar face flicking the light switch.

"Nosferatu, you sneaky bastard!"