C O L O R S

J A D E

"Whose soul are we going to collect again?" Leo asks as he gawks at window after window of every coffee shop in Ayala.

"I told you we're going to collect a flower," Eyrin says, evidently annoyed, but her face doesn't show it. She feels too much for the details she's reading in her notebook.

They've been collecting souls for a week now. They're not substitute reapers so getting souls from dying people are not part of their job description. It's their responsibility to collect overdue souls and chasing ghosts 41 days old and up is not the easiest thing to do.

Eyrin slips the medallion out of her pocket. The stone is glowing jade again. It means they're getting close.

"Hey stop," she says, making Leo look her way. "It's here."

It's a quaint cozy restaurant. From across the street,the perspective is that the place can most likely be overlooked by customers as the neighboring coffee shops are much larger and well, popular. The exterior is pretty old fashioned: bricked walls, classical shed, and a typical wood and glass decor, plus the emblem makes the place look like a bar rather than a coffee shop.

"Hot Mugs?" Eyrin opens the door, bell dangling once she did. The interior's ambiance is actually the same as what can be felt outside. Brown couches matching a table for four, wooden tables and chairs, wooden counter, and a laminated menu.

"What cup can we make your day better?" The host looks like he owns the place as well. The barista? He looks like a loyal best friend.

"Can I get a Mango Frappe?" Leo inquires, drooling at the pictures in the menu. Eyrin tries her hardest to ignore him. If not for the people who'll probably thinks she out of her mind, she'll instantly tell him to shut up.

"A cup of dark chocolate will do," she hands the menu over, "but extra mallows will make this day the best," she jokes but seems like the host took it seriously because he gives her that I-got-it kind of look.

"But I don't like chocolate drink in a coffee shop! Might as well get ourselves Milo instead!" Leo still keeps on nagging but since nobody can see or hear him instead of Eyrin, she lets him handle his own tantrums.

There are fewer people than expected. Eyrin silently hopes that this soul won't give them a hard time. By experience so far, there are actually more stubborn souls than those compliant ones. Her fingers are crossed for the latter. The only catch for it is that they can't easily identify good souls as they blend well with humans: the skin tone, the way the move, the way they talk一it's basically as if they're not dead at all.

Like Leo.

But he's a different case. Eyrin thinks he's a lost cause.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight一customers before they arrive.

She takes the seat next to the window exposing the the view outside, next to a two-patron table where a teenage guy and a girl are.

"Kris," the girl speaks but Kris is too engrossed in stirring his cold coffee. Eyrin knows it's cold since she cannot smell or see the aroma.

The girl keeps on talking but Kris keeps quiet. Eyrin thinks it's just another case of teenage lover's quarrel so he averts her attention to her notebook and reads the details of their next target again.

Rose Rizabal, 19. As she gaze at the roof of the room she's confined in, and as she deals with the pain striking her entirety, she pretends that looking up can make her see the stars.

"Rose," Eyrin whispers, and the girl on the next table looks her way. The host arrives with a hot cup of her drink. She giggles when she sees the mallows filling the cup to the brim.

"Thank you. How many guests do you have today by the way?" she asks trying to sound casual.

"You're the eight person at this hour. Enjoy your drink." The host takes his leave and when she doesn't see the girl who's supposedly sitting next to her table, she knows.

"Rose Rizabal," Leo's the one who utters those words. Rose is sitting across Eyrin on the same table. She's just looking at her curiously until she shifts her gaze to Leo.

Leo just smiles a bitter smile. "It's time to go."

To be continued...

J A D E is a special chapter for C O L O R S. It explains the crossover of the timeline from the story IF where Eyrin and Leo are the main characters. This is a teaser for the chapter. The full word count will be available on the paperback issue I will be distributing next month.

Premise: Rose's 40th day as a wandering soul has come and as substitute soul collectors Eyrin and Leo visits the ever busy Ayala to take her. She doesn't get to say goodbye to Kris but in this chapter, maybe she will. Is she really prepared to leave everything behind?

IF is still ongoing. Visit my profile if it piques your interest.

Until then,
ROI