A ghost, or a spirit, whatever nomination you preferred, was not simply an apparition of the dead.
Upon their death, some were unable to accept the end, feeling wronged and robbed of a chance to love, to explore and to learn. So, despite their monstrous appearance, Reina listened to their stories, the reasons why they were still tied to the world of the living. She learned the hard way that throwing sticks and rocks at a spirit won't make them go away.
However, vengeful spirits were a whole another level. The longer a spirit stayed on the other side of line, in a world they longer belonged, the memories faded away and they could only cling onto the anger and pain that first tied them there.
And so Reina struggled to flee from the terrifying yet small vengeful spirit – she discovered that her name was Adéline – sprinting along the Seine river. Cold air felt like knives in her throat and chest, her legs aching as she pushed them to their limit.
Throwing a quick glance over her shoulders, she saq Adéline had no difficulty in pursuing her. On the contrary, her dull, grey eyes glistened with determination. Determination to take over her body. Not today, Reina said to herself, I'm not going to lose myself today.
When the young woman returned her gaze to the road ahead of her, she collided into someone, the shock sending her toppling to the ground like a loose leaf. She swore she heard a faint scream – or was it a whistle? – and quickly checked behind her.
Adéline had vanished.
"You seem like you're in a hurry," a familiar voice spoke from above, a hand outstretched towards her. Reina looked up to see that her saviour was Ciel. He smirked in amusement. "Did you come face-to-face with a ghost or something?"
Reina flinched involuntarily, the colours draining from her face.
He laughed. "I'm just messing with you, Reina."
Still sitting on the glacial pavement, staring at the helping hand, she couldn't help but wonder if Ciel was the one who made Adéline go away. As absurd as it sounded, it was difficult to believe that a vengeful spirit had given up so easily and the timing of Ciel's appearance coincided.
Was she finally going crazy?
Taking his hand, Reina mumbled a barely audible 'thanks' under her breath and brushed her jeans. Hoisting her purse further up on her shoulders, she sidestepped Ciel,
Ciel observed her retreating figure amusedly, flipping a silver coin. He had finally found someone interesting who was worth his time.
-¨-¨-
The next morning, Reina was nervous. Each time the needle ticked, it grew closer to 9 AM, the time Ciel usual arrived to order his drink and claim his lonesome throne. At least she wasn't paired with Marie. Now, she only needed to deal with one of them.
Reina watched as the green bean barista struggled calibrate the coffee machine, a beautiful La Marzocco Linea, weighing her shots and whatnot. It was quite amusing to watch the way her face scrunched up as both bitterness and sourness assaulted her tastebuds. She politely refused when Eva handed her a shot to taste. From where she stood, she could already tell that the extraction took too long.
"You need to readjust the grinder, Eva," Reina advised, "You're over-extracting. You shouldn't go over 32 seconds. At least not with Georgette's beans."
"Alright." Eva almost seemed offended at the advice she was given, keeping her eyes on the scale as she put down the portafilter on top of it.
The wind chimes shingled and in came Ciel, still wearing the same smirk he wore last night. Gone was his black hood. Instead, he wore a black ball-cap to match his black sweatshirt and pants. Eva's eyes twinkled in interest, jaw slightly dropping. Reina almost rolled her eyes and wondered how and why each and every women she knew reacted like this when they saw Ciel.
"Good morning ladies," Eva shuddered at the sound of his voice, "Is the machine not yet calibrated?"
"No," Reina replied curtly with a forced smile, "But we have our Moccamaster ready. It tastes better than a regular Americano."
Ciel placed both of his elbows on the counter and leaned towards, forcing Reina to take a step backwards. His eyes checked every inch of her face, noting that the colours had returned, painting her pale cheeks a light shade of pink.
"I see you've recovered from last night. But I must say that I was terribly disappointed that you left so abruptly."
What did he expect? To have tea and crumpets? "I apologise. I wasn't feeling very well in that moment."
"No nightmares?"
Pretending to not have heard his question, Reina spun around to pour a cup of coffee from the large thermos flask. He made her feel uncomfortable. She couldn't tell if he was making fun of her or if he had seen what she saw. But she knew one thing for sure: she didn't one to get him involved.
Ignoring how heatedly Eva was glaring at her, she handed him the beverage, smiling like she always did. "Here you go! That'll be 3.95 euros please."
"It does smell divine," he said, taking a whiff. "Credit card please." When he whipped out his card, Reina could've sworn that name engraved on it was the most bizarre one she had seen.
Luciel Reprobi
Repeating his name inside her head, she wondered why it left her feeling uneasy.