Lucas practically hummed as he made his way to the cafe, his heart dancing with excitement.
"One month together, and I've got the perfect surprise," he thought, carefully balancing the cake box and flowers he had picked up on his way. "I'm going to surprise him for sure."
It had been a month and since Devon and Lucas started going out. When they first met, he never thought he would ever get to be with a man like Devon, but surprisingly, with his impulsive confession one day, just two weeks after he started working there, he actually got to sway Devon into accepting his feelings.
And that was how their ship sailed.
And it had been smooth so far. But they never actually got past that, you know, making out stage.
Lucas, who had never been in a relationship before, always went to social media for his uncertainties and he found it weird that Devon would stop just as soon as his lips pressed on his neck, always giving one sort of excuse or the other.
'He must've been shy all along.' Lucas told himself, not wanting to pry or rush Devon.
But this time, he was going to set the mood right and they would both have a good time at his place, that is, if he finally convinced him to come over to his place.
For some reason, Devon never actually went to his place. Well, maybe it was because Lucas never invited him, knowing it was completely inferior to his condo but he was ready this time and he was very excited.
'I planned this all week. Summer break's ending soon, so I have to make the best of this moment.' he chuckled and got to the cafe.
But as he was about to open the door, Devon's instructions echoed in his mind: "Don't worry about coming back Friday evening. I'll handle the closing." Lucas assumed Devon wanted to plan his own surprise and that made him even more excited.
What did he have in store? What was it going to be?
'Oh no, I want to surprise him before he gets the chance to surprise me.' Lucas almost squeezed his eyeballs deep inside his eye sockets while shutting his eyes. 'Let's go, let's go. I can do this.'
He pushed open the cafe door, a huge smile plastered on his face and he yelled, "Happy One Month Anniversary, Devon!"
But then he realized there was no one. Yeah, it was past closing time, so he did not expect to see any customers, but... Why couldn't he see Devon either?
As he entered the dimly lit cafe, silence enveloped him and he asked, "Where's Devon?" Lucas wondered, dropping the cake and flowers on the counter. He called out, "Devon? Are you here?"
The only response was the creaking of old wooden beams coming from the employee's only passage at the corner.
"Maybe he's in the back, finishing up," Lucas thought, wandering toward the storage room. He noticed the eerie stillness, but his excitement overshadowed concern. "I'll just sneak up and surprise him, hehe. He'll never see me coming."
Lucas approached the back but when he opened the door, ready to surprise Devon, he found no one. But he did find Devon's apron on the chair he usually sat on.
"Hm, he's not here either?"
Then, he caught faint noises coming from the basement direction, and then he recalled rule number two among the two rules Devon had given when he stepped foot into that cafe as an employee, "Ignore any sounds after hours."
Lucas was meant to ignore like he always did because this was not the first time hearing sounds coming there. But this time, curiosity got the better of him. Maybe it was because he was alone but he felt this pull, drawing him to the direction of the basement.
"What's going on?" His voice was etched in his throat as he took slow steps toward the basement door.
The sounds grew louder, compelling him to go further. He reached his hand out to open the door but hesitated, recalling Devon's assurance that it was off-limits.
"Devon wouldn't keep secrets from me, would he?" Lucas's curiosity triumphed. He pushed open the creaky door and descended into darkness. The air thickened with an eerie, pungent scent.
There were long stairs leading down into that darkness, and Lucas gulped. Just what was this leading to?
He wondered and took out his phone to switch on his flashlight.
He had all the more reasons to want to go down there, wondering all sorts of things as he took slow and one-at-a-time steps.
'Devon, what is going on?' he wondered until he could finally see what was going on.
At the bottom, a surreal scene unfolded and the muffled noises finally exploded into loud cheers of excitement by different people. Strange people.
It was dimly lit but for some reason, he could see very clearly.
The strange people he was staring at were pale figures. Their eyes glowed red, dark veins crawling like spiders around their eyes. Lucas's mind went unsteady as he recognized the monsters from his nightmares.
They looked just like it and also gave him that same chilling feeling. That scary feeling.
His hands began to tremble and he broke out in cold sweat. Just what in the world was going on here?
And then, he finally recognized that pungent and musty smell to be blood. In the hands of these creatures were either blood banks or wine glasses filled with the same substances.
It was sickening and Lucas felt like throwing up.
What was this? What was going on?
He needed to get out of there as soon as possible, but a possible question came to mind. Why was such a thing going on underneath the cafe? And where... Where was Devon?
And as his mind asked this question, his iris shrunk as he caught the figure of the very man he was searching for at the center of this boisterous event.
At the center, Devon stood, fangs bare, eyes blazing yellow, and sitting like a king with his legs crossed, a cold expression plastered on his face, and two of these creatures, females, sitting beside him and feeding him with a wine glass filled with what seemed to be blood.
Lucas's thoughts froze, as well as his body: "What...what is this? W-why is Devon...?"
He had horns. Two dark horns that curled at the tip.
Just what was going on? He couldn't understand and staggered back, his legs shaking as he slowly retreated his steps in fright.
But then he stumbled and fell on his butt. His hand scrapped the floor, wounding him and he groaned in silence, hoping they did not notice him.
"Aish, dammit!" He mumbled, looking at his scraped palms.
Little did he know that that little wound would attract all these dark creatures to him.