The store smelled of freshly baked cake the day it happened. Not that that was odd--it was a bakery, it always smelled of cake and cookies. That day, however, the scent seemed almost overpowering to every other dessert . . . almost like it was a warning. Of course, this sounds completely out of proportion to someone just trying to go about their day, but the more I think about that night, the more I connect the dots that I may be drawing myself. My bakery was my sanctuary with my apartment just above it. That day I had been working on the recipe that I found on this blog. First of all, the cake was absolutely delicious. If it weren’t for the memories attached to it, I could guarantee it would be on my menu today. I had been working at the cashier because my employee that was scheduled for that day had called in sick. While I was packing up an order for the girl standing behind the counter, two men walked in. My body immediately tensed up from the mere sight of them. They’d been in here before. Always making crude jokes towards me and the girls at the front. I could hear their snickers before they even got up in front of me. “Hello Miss Erica.” The bigger one says in a sickly sweet voice. “My name is Tate and this right here is my good friend Daeden.” He points to the guy on his right, only a few inches shorter than him yet still towering over my height. “We had a very strong craving for some of the sweetness that you can make.” I recoiled at the way his voice sounded around the word ‘sweetness’. These guys were not giving the impression that they were going to be leaving anytime soon. “Well then, Tate, Daeden, what can I get for you?” I asked in my customer service voice (the one I used towards people who showed up right before we closed). Daedens eyes trailed along my body and I felt the ice that his gaze left behind. Tate licked his lips and replied, “We were looking for something off of the menu.” He hummed with his eyes lined up directly with my chest. It took every ounce of my courage not to cower under these men so I straightened my spine like a steel rod and snapped my fingers, bringing their attention back to my face. “I’m sorry boys but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” And then they did something that surprised me. They turned and left. After only standing stunned for a second they looked at each other and walked out the door, the bell ringing on their way out. It seemed like it hadn’t even happened, although the pounding in my chest was enough to remind me that it did. When it was time to close up I locked all the doors and put the rest of the treats in the refrigerators. Finally, I began to walk through the back door to get to my car. For being such a loud city it seemed like it was suspiciously quiet. I hadn’t realized at the time of course, but I do now. That was when I felt the excruciating might of what seemed like a baseball bat to the head. Before I could catch myself, I was on the ground. I began crawling for something. Anything that could help I guess. That’s when I finally looked up and saw the eyes of two familiar men. The ones who just couldn’t take a hint. But then everything went black-