The line weaseled out of the cafe filled with morning commuters, students, and the retired alike spilling out onto the busy sidewalk of the city’s financial district. The clock by the register inched towards 8:30 AM and emitted a distant ticking noise when it reached its destination causing some of the soon-be-customers to glance at their phones wondering if they could get their first caffeine fix of the day and still make it to their offices on time. Most accepted with silence that their beverage could cause a grimace from their boss when they walked in at 9:02 AM but a woman wearing an obviously expensive red suit decided to not follow the crowd this morning. The heels of her black stilettos clacked against the tiled floor every two seconds as she alternated between sliding her finger over the screen of her iPhone and looking up by the register and purposefully letting out a sigh of exasperation.  After what must have seemed like an eternity for the woman she reached the counter and demanded her drink and insisted it “better be ready in a hurry.”

The order went to Knack, of course. She had been working at this little cafe, one of the few non-franchised left in the city, for almost three years and made most of the beverages as if on autopilot. Knack barely paid note to what she was doing as her hands went to work but her eyes stayed fixated on the woman in the red suit who had progressed from small signs of annoyance to audibly complaining about the wait time and the terrible baristas with an increasing volume along every phrase. As the soy milk churned inside the metal container thanks to one of their faithful machines Knack’s eyes shut for a moment plummeting her into her own thoughts. In this space, Knack envisioned jumping over the counter in one seamless leap and using just her bare hands reaching through the woman’s throat and pulling out her vocal chords as blood poured down her neck staining the suit and blouse beneath it and pooling on the ground all around her. A booming, “Is my drink ready, yet!?” yanked Knack from the sinfully enjoyable daydream and back to the bustling environment around her.

Unlike her actions in her mind, Knack merely poured the liquid into a travel cup, passed it to the woman, and even thanked her for her patronage with a fake smile plastered across her face. The woman scoffed as she yanked the cup away from Knack and vowed never to return. Hiding her hands away from the sight of the customers Knack dug her fingernails into her palms as she tried desperately to allow the blood lust that had built up within her to diminish. She looked up at all the people still waiting. People blissfully unaware of the danger Knack presented. Lucky for them the true danger had passed until the next full moon made its journey into the night sky.