Night Owls

Jerry glanced down at the photograph in his hand, then back up again at the woman sitting alone at the back of the cafe.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, though his fingers tightened around the worn edges as if bracing for the weight of what came next.

All at once a blinding light coursed through the space. Jerry and the woman froze. And then a creature appeared, seemingly from the air itself.

And with a voice that seemed to echo from both nowhere and within their own minds, it whispered, “I’ve been waiting for you.”