Lexi listened as they bantered with one another. She appreciated their closeness amid their personal diversity. She could tell they respected and understood one another. She turned to Mr. Hottie,<br/><br/>“I keep hearing them refer to you as Neo. I don’t think we have been properly introduced.”  She reached across her body awkwardly to hold out her hand for him to shake. “ Nice name, Neo.”<br/><br/>Face flaming, what an idiot, she said to herself. Mr. Hottie Neo must think you are totally a moron. Clearing her throat, she said,<br/><br/>“The sound in the Sound. Well, no one really knows where it comes from or what causes it. We have a large population that believes it is alien life trying to communicate, the Greenpeace people think it is the Navy doing some kind of sonar testing. We have had some odd happenings with whales, dolphins and something that looked like a creeped out looking mermaid man, whatever. Anyway. There is a fringe group that thinks these sounds are the harbinger of a major fault in the Earth giving way, which for Seattle could be devastating with tidal wave activity and such.”<br/><br/>Lexi’s eyes strayed around the room as she talked. One by one, the people began to leave, until it was only their small party left at the table and the henchmen, as she thought of them. Finally, her crab cakes made it to the table and she nibbled at them. Under other circumstances they would have tasted good, but she couldn’t taste anything but foreboding right now.<br/><br/>“You mentioned Neo has eclectic tastes that encompass death. Lots of people that come into the store do, but most of them into Goth stuff or think they are black arts witches. They like to think that they are buying ground up bones, which is what I indicated to you in those packets. Most of them as spooky enough that just a mention to the back room and they decline.”<br/><br/>She smiled at Neo,<br/><br/>“Unlike you, who took me up on the offer. So we always cater to the healthy and not so healthy interest in the occult. I don’t think I believe in it, myself, but many people do. I don’t judge. To each his own, but<br/><br/>She dropped her voice to almost a whisper,<br/><br/>“I never had an idea that Sid was like this, man, he is usually mellow. Something is really weird about him and this whole deal.”<br/><br/>She sat back in her chair and took a bigger bite of the crab cake. In a louder and mostly normal tone she said,<br/><br/>“I told you. This recipe for these cakes is a secret. The chef here won’t share it with anyone and that is why these cakes are the best on the West Coast. Ummm, this is so good.”<br/><br/>The two across the table from her looked confused but Neo was still as a stone when Sid and two men who were two ax handles wide apiece joined them.<br/><br/>“Glad you like it, Lexi,” Sid said, tightly. “Take your plate if you like, but we are all moving over to the seating by the rail".<br/><br/>Lexi swallowed but felt ice in the pit of her stomach. She did as she was bid and jumped as the lights went out, one by one, until the only light that shone was from the distant shore and the watery moonlight.<br/><br/>Sid crossed his arms and addressed Neo,<br/><br/>“We are here because you are not what and who you seem to be. You are not just some normal nosy guy that Lexi wanted to hit on for a drink after work. Your aura is too strong for that. So, you are going to convince me of why you wanted to see the skull in my back room.”