New Fiction Idea #42

Although the character was floating in my head for a while after hearing a waitress say "I'm [name], and I'll be taking care of you today," her first line didn't show up until a while later: "I sign things Jennifer, I go by Jenny, and everyone calls me Dinah. Take your pick."

Working Title: Midnight at the Iston Diner

Genre: Mystery/Fantasy

Protagonist: Jenny, a 27-year-old woman with frizzy red hair she keeps in a loose bun. She smokes—although never during work hours—and is a little haggish in a sweet way, if that makes any sense. She runs and works at the bar of the Iston Diner, and she takes her responsibility to her customers and her staff very seriously. She has some ice-manipulating powers, although she keeps them well-hidden.

Other Main Characters: Charlie, the chef. He's a pretty big guy, both because of fat and muscle, and he's not very sociable. He does stick by his friends, though, and he makes a mean chicken fry. He has the ability to thoroughly disguise one person for about eight hours at a time.
Les, a waiter who will occasionally help with food preparation if there's a lot going on. He's sweet but has a guilt complex and spends a lot of time daydreaming about a certain girl back home. He doesn't really have any "powers," but he isn't quite human and relies on Charlie to keep him undercover.
There are a few more on the staff and some customers to be noted, although they haven't shown themselves yet.

Antagonist: Unknown, but assumed to be one of the customers.

Setting: A particular night at the Iston Diner, a small restaurant in a small town that gets a little business from agritourism but not much else. It's modern day, though, so there's plenty of communication if, say,  someone who doesn't fit in with the humans needs to get a job.

Plot: The late evening/early night patrons of the Iston Diner—residents and passersby alike—have been inside the building for a while when one tourist wanders off to the restroom area. A few minutes later, Les discovers him dead from a stab wound. The local police being somewhat of a joke, Jenny decides to freeze the occupants inside until she and her friends can find the culprit and keep him or her from harming any more customers. But it won't be easy for them to do so without blowing their covers...

Point of View: Third person, limited to Jenny.

I'm still a little unsure—it seems like this won't be long enough for a whole novel—but we'll see what happens when I get to it.

I'm also starting to think a version of M might sneak in, and maybe a character or two from Suture.