Beyond the Headline

A group of fifteen people walked inside the small cafeteria. They looked tired, like they hadn’t slept for days. One of them came to the table and ordered coffee for the others. They all sat down and waited for the waitress. Nobody said anything. After a couple of minutes, she took their drinks and put them in front of them. Her attention was caught by a shadow that she saw outside the window.

“What is happening out there?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about that. Soon you won’t remember anything,” said one of the men from the group. He had messy brown hair and dark brown eyes, and he was very hard to approach.

“What do you mean?” she asked again, but they just ignored her and enjoyed their coffee. She walked away and left them alone.

Then, somebody else came to their table. A man in a hoodie and jeans pulled a chair close to them. Jefri, the same man who had spoken to the waitress, now looked at the man like he was waiting for an explanation.

“How do you know that we will forget?” asked the man.

All of them sighed.

“Look, we are exhausted. None of us has slept for a couple of days and the last thing that we want to do is explain something that you will not believe anyway,” said Tiffany, who was sitting closest to him. Tiff seemed self-confident and strong. She had green eyes and long, dark chestnut hair.

“I’m sorry. I overheard what you said to the waitress. My name is Jason. I’m a journalist, and I have been gathering information about many strange things happening lately, but they don’t make any sense. When I saw you all, not even blinking because of the shadows and noise, I was sure you had the answers that I was looking for,” said an excited Jason.

“How much time do you have?” asked Felix, who seemed to be the oldest of the group. Everybody looked at him with surprise.

“Are you serious?” Philip asked him. “Are you going to tell him everything?”

“Not everything. Only what I know. The rest I’ll leave for you to tell.”

Jefri took a napkin and wrote down something. Then he gave it to Jason.

“Come to this address tomorrow evening at seven. We need to get some sleep first, and then we can talk about everything,” Jefri said and stood up to leave. All the group followed him. Jason stared at the napkin and then looked at the door, where the group disappeared from his sight.

When the group was outside, everybody started to talk at the same time, questioning what had happened inside the cafeteria. It was Oliver who quieted them.

“Can you all shut up! We are all way too exhausted to do anything now. Let’s go back to the Base, get some sleep, and talk tomorrow. If he comes back to us for answers a, we will find out what he actually wants.”

Next morning, everybody was sitting in the dining room at the Base when Jeff walked in. Alex and Daniela were sitting with Philip and Felix. Tiffany, Oliver, Leo and Nick sat at the next table. The last and the youngest part of the group was sitting next to William: Katy with Marcus on one side and Simon on the other. All of them looked at Jefri and went back to what they were doing before.

Jefri made a cup of coffee and sat next to Daniela.

“How do you feel? I know that this was kind of new for you,” Jefri asked her with concern. Daniela looked at him with a smile.

“It was different from the way we used to fight, but you trained me well. I did not appreciate it then, but now I’m thankful. But I still think that you have absolutely horrible people skills,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

“Thank you. I know. You are not the first person who has told me so. I remember how Seli hated me when I trained her,” admitted Jefri.

“Well, I remember how it was when I met Daniela. She was so stubborn,” said Alex and kissed her on the cheek.

“It’s good that you two have each other. My partner sent me away because she didn’t want to have creatures from the Underworld around the baby. It took seventeen years,” said Felix nostalgically.

“And now she is one of the biggest worriers from all of us,” pointed out Philip proudly.

“We should keep the stories for Jason,” said Ryan, who came to their table still chewing his breakfast.

“Do you think that he will come back? And if so, are you going to tell him everything about who we are and what we are doing?” asked Ella with her bright blue, wide-open eyes. She was the youngest member of the group.

Leo, a tall, skinny, friendly-looking guy, stood up behind Ella.

“Are you sure it is a good idea to tell Jason the truth? What if he publishes the story?” he asked.

“I would say that it will be the end of his career and reputation. We all know what we are dealing with. This is not something you just tell people without expecting them to call a shrink,” said Nick. And he knew what he was talking about because he was a shrink. Kind of.

“Katy, are you okay? You and your boys are too quiet. Something happened yesterday?” Felix asked her.

“No. I mean... I know that for you it is normal, but for me, it is hard to process. But I have no idea why these three are so quiet,” she joked at the end and looked at Simon, Marcus, and William, who were giggling in the corner.

“We are trying to imagine Jason’s face when you tell him about all of this,” they laughed.

“You are unbelievable,” Tiffany shook her head.

“Alright. If he shows up, Philip and I will talk to him. Felix, stay close, please. We will see Jason’s reaction. Everybody else can have a day off. I’ll find you if I need you. Have a rest. And Katy, if you need to talk to someone, don’t hesitate,” said Jefri, and finished his coffee. After that, everybody slowly left the dining room. Jefri, Felix and Philip were alone, looking at each other with concern.