Night Owls

Jerry glanced down at the photograph in his hand, then back up again at the woman sitting alone at the back of the cafe.

The woman was exactly like the photo, but her face was distorted in the photo. The picture was all crumpled in his hand.

All at once a blinding light coursed through the space. Jerry and the woman froze. And then a creature appeared, seemingly from the air itself.

"Jerry," it said, speaking in a soft, deep, raspy tone. "You've commited an act that no living being should have even thought of."