The ring of the door's bell startled me out of my trance. I wasn't exactly sure how I had arrived back at Luc's shop, but here I was. I could remember walking, hidden under the heavy black sweatshirt, but everything else—crosswalks, street signs—was a blur.

"Rachel? Is that you?" Luc asked, his back to me as he loaded things into a duffel bag spread open on the desk. He was busy winding some fine chain around his fingers.

"Yeah," I said, the single word coming out hollow and distant, like I was hearing my own voice through a long tunnel.

Luc must've heard the strangeness in my voice too, because when he finally turned, one brow was arched. It took only a second for him to look me over and another for his eyes to widen. He tossed whatever was in his hands on the desk and rushed to my side.

"Shit, Rachel, what happened to you?" he said, his hands working gently over my body, checking for the source of the blood that was splotched over my clothes. "Are you okay?"

"There was an accident at work..." I replied, my voice still flat and emotionless.

"An accident? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. It was Anne..."

"Anne?" His green eyes fluctuated. "Is she okay?"

"I-I don't know. She cut her hand and... and it was bleeding so much. They took her to the hospital and..." I gave a limp wave of my hand. "I don't know."

Luc seemed to realize that there was something off about the whole situation. He led me to one of the armchairs and sat me down. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I nodded. Some distant, logical part of myself knew that it was silly to be so worked up over something that didn't even happen to me. But for some reason I couldn't shake the chill that had burrowed under my skin. It was like I was seeing everything through layer of ice.

"Why don't you tell me what happened?" Luc said, taking hold of my hand. "Take your time. There's no rush."

"O-Okay," I mumbled, taking a deep breath to brace myself for describing the gruesome scene. "Well, I was about to leave, when Anne called me over. She wanted to talk. She said she had something to tell me, so—" 

I froze, my voice falling to nothing.

Something to tell me... 

Suddenly, I was pulled out of my fog. In the frenzy of the bloody accident, I had forgotten exactly what Anne had said to me.

It all came rushing back now.

"Rachel?" Luc asked, leaning in close.

"Anne said something strange," I breathed, my gaze focusing on him.

Luc's brow folded in, like he didn't understand what that had to do with the blood I was covered in, but he humoured me. "What did she say?"

"She said there was something wrong with my arm." I gripped my wrist, pulling my scarred arm to my chest. "She said she could see it in... in my aura."

"Your aura?" Luc echoed.

"Yeah. A-Are auras actually, like, a thing?" I asked. I half hoped they weren't, so I could forget about everything she had said. But after all that I seen in this world, that didn't seem likely...

Luc glanced away for a moment before finding my eyes again. "Yes."

Damn. "Okay, then. So, Anne could've actually seen my... my aura?" No matter how many times I said it, it still sounded crazy.

"I'm not sure," he said. "Psychics who can see auras are actually pretty rare. So I'm not sure if Anne's the real deal, or... Well, it doesn't take a genius to know something is wrong with your arm."

"Okay, but let's pretend that Anne is the real deal. Would she be able to tell if something was physically wrong with me?"

Luc's eyes darted away again. "I've known only one aura reader," he said, his voice strangely soft. "But they were able to detect illnesses or abnormalities through what they could see."

The chill that taken hold of me seemed to deepen. I shuddered. "Then she could be right? There could be something wrong with my arm?"

Luc shrugged, but his eyes looked everywhere but me.

I pulled back the sleeve of the overlarge sweatshirt. The angry interwoven lines that made up the scar were as horrible as ever.

Luc looked at it too. "Has it felt any different?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I mean, aside from the tingling I get whenever one of those ghost girls is near... But I got that before they started showing up."

Luc nodded knowingly, still staring at my scar. He rubbed at his lip, deep in thought. "Maybe we should defer our plans for tonight..."

That energized me. I leapt out of the chair. "No!"

"Rachel, you've already had a stressful day," he said. He had that look on this face—the one he always had when he said he was protecting me. I could never exactly put my finger on what it was... Worry? Pity? Whatever it was, I hated it. It made me feel like a helpless child.

"I'm fine!" I countered. My determined words were undermined by the obvious shaking in my legs. It took some effort, but I brought the shaking in my legs to a stop. "I don't want to put this off anymore."

"There's no harm in waiting one more day..."

"Yes, there is!" I almost shouted back. That was partially true—I didn't want to give Luc time to come up with some reason to keep me away again.

Luc stared at me, his expression tight and unreadable. Then he sighed. "Alright," he said. "But you should shower first..."

"Of course! I'll be quick," I said, frantically pulling at the black hoodie. "Then we can head out and—"

For the second time that afternoon, the bell of the door jangled.

"Excuse me?"

We both turned towards the door, expecting some clueless passerby who had stumbled off the street. There had already been a few of those, despite the "Opening Soon!" sign taped to the door.

But it wasn't just some unobservant stranger.

It was someone much more unwelcome.

Rick.

I shot a glance at Luc, not sure what to say. Did he know who this was? No, of course not. How could he? I had never shown him a picture or anything. But he was a psychic... Could he sense it, feel the awkward tension that infused the air between us?

If Luc did feel anything, he didn't show it; his mouth was just set in a line, like he was annoyed at the interruption.

"Hey," Rick began, giving a small wave. He had a small brown paper gift bag gripped in the other hand. "I was—" Then he froze, his eyes going wide as he saw the stains on my clothes. "Oh, I... Did I come at a bad time?"

Luc ignored the question. "Can we help you?" His low voice was quick, impatient.

Rick's gaze finally settled on Luc, and his eyes widened again as he looked him over. Underneath all the knots of worry, there was a small rush of pleasure as I compared the two. Rick wasn't an unattractive guy, but next to Luc... There was no contest and it was obvious.

"I, uh, I just came by to apologize to Rachel," Rick said, his eyes darting nervously between us. "For breaking her phone."

Luc's eyes slid down to me, expecting some explanation.

I cringed. In the wake of everything else, I hadn't had a chance to tell him about that particular disaster. Though I could feel my cheeks radiating heat, I kept my eyes focussed on Rick. "How did you even find me?"

"I'm in the neighbourhood now, remember? I saw you come in here when I was leaving the coffee shop," he nodded across the street, "and I had picked this up for you," he jostled the little bag he was holding, "so I figured it was a good time to come by and say sorry—"

"That's not necessary," I said icily.

"It is," Rick said, taking another tentative step towards me. He glanced quickly to Luc to see if he might try and stop him.

Luc just watched him, but didn't move.

"I wanted to give you this," Rick continued, handing over the paper bag. "As an apology."

I was cautious, but I took it. There was no wrapping or tag on the bag and inside was just a slick white box. I pulled it out...

Immediately my mouth dropped open. It was a new phone. The latest and greatest one that everyone was talking about. The one that cost a not-so-small fortune.

"No," I gasped. I was surprised, but I really shouldn't have been. I knew from our days together that Rick had a penchant for extravagant, over-the-top gestures. After I caught him cheating on me, he had sent me five hundred roses... while I had been in class. "I can't accept this!"

I tried to shove the box and bag back at him, but he raised his hands like I was pointing a gun at him.

"Sure, you can," Rick said with a small smile. "Or, at least, I won't take it back."

"Well, I can't take this!" I snapped.

Rick just shook his head, looking downright smug now. He was an expert at this game. "If you really don't want it, you can give it away or something."

"Rick, I'm serious!"

Next to me, Luc bristled. 

I realized then that Rick's name hadn't been said until this moment—if Luc didn't know who he was before, he did now.

"Rachel, we should be getting ready to go," Luc said, his voice like marble—smooth and cold. "We have somewhere to be."

"Oh, sorry," Rick said, though he didn't look all that sorry. "I didn't mean to hold you up." He backed towards the exit, still glancing at Luc every few seconds, like Luc might lunge at him at any second.

As he reached the door, he lingered. "Hope you decide to keep it, Rach. Don't be a stranger." And with one last smug smile, he slipped out the door again, leaving Luc and I in the fog of my past.

It took a few seconds for me to gather the courage to look at Luc.

His face was impassive, stony and still, like nothing had happened—like my ex hadn't just busted in and pushed an expensive gift on me. After a moment that felt much longer than it was, he looked down at me... then smiled. 

Something about it made my heart stutter, and not in a good way. "I—" I began.

"We can talk about it later," Luc said, still smiling. "We have work to do. But first..." He pointed at the ceiling. "Shower."

"R-Right," I said, cowardly pleased to avoid the awkward conversation for now... "I'll be quick."

Luc just nodded.

I walked quickly from the room, pausing at the door, wanting to say something—anything. After all my talk about being honest with each other, I felt like a hypocrite. But Luc was busy again, his back to me once more. And though I couldn't see what he was doing, I thought I heard the shuffle of his tarot cards.

+ + +

Dang it Rick, can't you take a hint? What do you think he wants?
And what might Luc be thinking?

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
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As usual, I'll be posting the next chapter on Patreon next week (find the link on my profile!) and then on Wattpad the week after that!