Chapter 1

Madison

P ushing on the bag to compress the garbage inside it, I tied the ends, then heaved it out of the bin. It had been another busy day at the restaurant. If things continued moving this way, I might be able to move this place into the black this year.

Of course, with more customers, the amount of work increased too. It was nearly midnight already, but Claire and I had just finished cleaning the kitchen.

"You can go home," I said, dragging the bag to the back door. "I'll finish here and lock up."

"Are you sure?" Claire grabbed her purse from the counter but lingered, not rushing for the door as she usually would. As a single mother of a teenager, she always seemed to be in a hurry.

"There isn't much left to do," I assured her. "Just to take out the trash."

Taking the garbage out to the dumpster behind the restaurant was not in the job description of the Head Chef, or the General Manager, or a few other positions I held as the owner of this place. Sam was supposed to do it, but his shift ended hours ago.

I really needed to hire more people. It'd be nice to have this place open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, including Mondays. But good employees weren't easy to find, and I had no time to look for them. Meanwhile, I ended up picking up the slack, not just cooking and running the kitchen, but also doing everything else that needed to be done.

Claire shifted her weight to her other foot, still not leaving. "Maddy, sweetie, can I borrow a hundred or two until payday?" She put her palms together in a pleading gesture and sang, "Pleeease."

I set the bag on the floor by the back door and shoved my long, dark hair out of my face. My high bun had all but exploded during the vigorous cleaning.

"I'll give it back when I get paid," Claire promised. "You know I'm good for it."

She was. Mostly. Sometimes it'd take Claire far longer than "until the next paycheck" to repay it. Often, she simply forgot, and I never reminded her. Claire was a good friend and a loyal employee. The last thing I wanted was for money to stand between us.

"Sure. How much do you need?"

"One...um, no." She winced. "Make it two hundred. Josh needs new shoes. Again." She rolled her eyes. "I swear this kid grows too fast for me to keep up. And you know how teenagers are, he wouldn't wear just any shoes out there." She sighed. "I can't get away with buying secondhand for him anymore."

"Okay, but I don't have that much cash on me," I'd dropped whatever we had in the till at the bank that afternoon. There wasn't that much to begin with as most transactions were cashless nowadays. "I'll stop at the bank on the way to work tomorrow, after I drive my mom to the dentist. Unless you want me to do a transfer?"

"Nope. Cash is good. Thanks." Claire beamed, grabbing me into a quick hug. "Don't stay too long. Work isn't everything." She rushed to the door, talking over her shoulder. "You really should meet my neighbor. He's a long-haul truck driver, always on the road. You guys are made for each other. With him, you can work as much as you want. He'd just fuck your brains out once in a while whenever he's in town."

If only I had any time to date even such a low-maintenance truck driver as Claire's neighbor. I spent every waking minute here. Even on Mondays, when the restaurant was closed, I had plenty of marketing and admin stuff to do every week. No one had "fucked my brains out" for over two years now.

Claire blew me a kiss before disappearing behind the swinging kitchen doors. "You're a lifesaver."

A lifesaver.

That was exactly what Sam had called me today when signing me up for a contribution to his second cousin's wedding gift.

"Can I put you down for five hundred?" he'd asked. "They don't have a lot of money but have this amazing honeymoon planned. It's like a once-in-a-lifetime thing."

Not that I had a lot of money either. I'd spent every penny of my grandma's inheritance to lift this place off the ground. After two years of struggling to get our name out there, the restaurant had just started making some real money. The word about our tasty food had come out. There were lots of glowing reviews all over social media. We had waiting lines for each dinner service. Yet the more money came in, even more went out.

People often assumed I was "a woman of means" just because I owned a restaurant. In reality, there was a lot of debt to pay off before I could even think about moving out of my mom's basement one day.

But Sam, and Claire, and every one of the eleven people who worked for me were vitally important for my business. More than that, my employees were my friends, and I couldn't refuse helping friends, could I?

"It's just money." I brushed off the concerns and dragged the trash bag out into the dark alley behind the restaurant.

Squeezed between several high-rise buildings, the alley remained in the shadows even on a sunny day. At night, it was nearly pitch dark, especially since the light above the back door had gone out again. Or maybe some kids broke it. I sighed. Another thing to add to my "fix-it" list that already had plenty of things to fix both in the restaurant and back at home.

Thankfully, there was just enough light coming from the windows and from the street at the end of the alley for me to find my way to the dumpster.

A weird purple-green glow appeared from behind the dumpster as I approached, as if a bright neon sign was hidden there. People often dumped things here illegally. It wouldn't surprise me to find a broken storefront sign. Except that this one clearly wasn't broken. How was it even on?

"This world does not look the same as Pandora's box," a deep, grumpy voice said suddenly, coming out of nowhere.

I squeaked in shock, dropping the trash bag, then turned around, frantically searching for the source of the voice.

"And it smells," it complained with a strangled cough. "What the fuck is this stench?"

"The human world always stinks, some places worse than others," another voice replied, sounding just as low and eerie as the first one. "Now that I've got what I came here for, let's head home."

"Wait, Avar. It's my first visit in decades, and all you let me see is this dark, stinky place? What is it, anyway? Where are we?"

The surreal voices echoed all around me, but I couldn't see anyone in the alley. There was only darkness and the weird pulsing purple-green light coming from behind the dumpster.

Would they attack if I ran back to the restaurant?

Fear chilled my limbs. I grabbed the bag again. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it was all I had. Backing away in the darkness, I stepped on an empty soda can. It crushed under my foot, then rattled away as I jumped aside.

"Did you hear that?" the first voice asked.

I froze mid-step with my foot in the air.

"There is a human here." The second voice stated the obvious.

I'd been discovered. Now what?

Run?

What if they chased me?

And who the fuck were they , anyway?

"Who's there?" I shouted, trying to sound firm and assertive, and definitely not scared out of my wits.

"We should leave. You said it stinks here, anyway."

"Wait, let me see the human," the other voice insisted eagerly.

The green glow grew brighter, expanding from behind the dumpster and molding into an oblong shape.

My heart jumped into my throat.

Aliens!

What else could they be?

I stumbled back, tripped on a piece of trash, and fell on my ass, the bag landing on my lap.

"I have a security system here," I warned in a shaky voice, using the garbage bag as a big, stinky shield. "Leave now or I'll sound the alarm. The police will be here right away. "

"A live human," a voice said breathlessly as the green light grew. "It's been a while since I saw one up close. Isn't she precious?"

The purple glow extended from behind the dumpster too. The mix of both proved blinding in the dark alley. I squinted, unable to see a thing.

"I know who she is," the other voice said with undisguised animosity. "Trust me, Invi, she isn't a good soul."

The accusation was unfair and simply outrageous.

"Hey!" A flash of indignity burned through my fear. "You don't even know me, asshole."

"See?" The voice said triumphantly, as if I had proven his point. "I may as well take her with me."

The purple glow grew brighter, flooding the ugly dumpster with a brilliant shimmer that was hard to look away from.

"Oh, hell, no!" I tried to scramble to my feet, but the garbage bag got in the way. I tripped over it in a hurry and fell on all fours. "No one is taking me anywhere."

"Her body won't survive her soul's journey, Avar, will it?" the other voice asked calmly.

"All humans die." The reply came serene and gentle, as if it wasn't a life-and-death situation they were discussing, my life and death. "She'll just get a chance to amend her ways a little sooner. And I will get a real human body for my collection."

"Is it my body you're talking about?" I jumped to my feet and swung the garbage bag at the approaching purple glow. "Stay away from me!"

The shimmer spread like ink through water.

Holding the bag in front of me, I backed all the way to the door until my butt slammed into it. I hurriedly felt with my hand for the handle behind me. One push, and I'd be safe. They wouldn't break through the fireproof metal door, would they?

A thick, undulating tentacle stretched from inside the purple light, and my insides dropped with terror. A scream stuck in my throat.

"What a rare treasure her body will make," the ethereal voice growled with anticipation.

Then, the world went dark.