The knock on her shop's door was sudden, strong but desperate, rather than demanding. Mira glanced over her clock. 11 pm. No soul should require her services in this hour. Nevertheless she wrapped her green blanket scarf around her arms and looked outside trough the peaking hole.

There was a man standing there. Young and handsome, yet not the model type. He had a fashionable haircut but his curls weren't styled neatly. On the contrary, he looked quite messy as if a bear had attacked him.

Mira opened her door. She was cautious, staying inside the protective threshold of her property. If the man had any intend to hurt her, he wouldn't have been able to walk trough.

However, he did. He stepped right in, looked straight ahead and then around. The brown eyes scanned her shop, though they were devoid of any emotion. Except for bewilderment.

Welcome the travelerwith a hot brew of lavenderto calm down the racing heart and let the parley start.

She whispered the words and could hear the kettle land on her stove with a clunk. The kitchen was on the other side of the shop's wall. No way for the newcommer to see herbs and water dance in the air to a silent symphony to form a steaming cup of tea.

"Sorry, what did you say?" The man snapped out of his daze and looked her right in the eye. Before Mira could find an excuse he shook his head and reached into his pocket. "I'm sorry to bother you at this hour. My name is Daniel Mendosa, I-" he halted, only for a second to catch his breath. A frown passed from his brows, as if he had trouble proceeding.

Mira waited patiently. Whatever was up with this man, he must have been there because of her love spell. She's never experienced a spell working this fast on the first try, but had no complains. Still, she couldn't survey the man that well. She was too busy sensing his shock, despair, confusion. So she waited.

"I know this will sound crazy, but I think, I think God told me to come here" he announced and handed Mira her own flyer. It was damp from sweat and wrinkled.

"You found my shop, alright" she sighed. Great. What a wonderful spell to bring church promoters into her life. That's what she needed: someone to tell her 'despite all the pagan things she surrounded herself with, there is still chance for redemption'. Because she never heard that before.

"Look...Sir" she scoffed. With a tight grasp on the doorknob she swung her door open once again. "I am with different management. I don't need a new one, thank you very much. Now, if you excuse me-"

"Wait! Please."

Mira raised a brow, but remained silent.

The man took this as a sign to continue. "I just... I really don't know where to go. I think, I suppose I think I'm being haunted."

His voice turned coarse, he tried to fight the dryness in his throat but to no avail.

Now he had her attention. Not because ghosts were capable of Hollywood levels of hauntings, but because she was curious about why this man was asking her. It could not have been the spell, but then what?

"I have nightmares, sometimes I can't move-"

"Yep, that's sleeping paralysis, I have that too, go to your GP."

"No, listen... There is this feeling of, of guilt! It consumes me..."

"That's what confessions are for, no?" Now Mira was getting increasingly irritated. It was late, this man was clearly delusional and she wanted him out. Yet the desperation oozing from him grasped her by the heart and wouldn't let go.

"I see things. Things I don't want to see, but they turn out to be true and I'm... I'm so tired"

"Seeing. As like, halucinations?" Mira could almost see the crossroad ahead. Yes or no. It was a simple question yet an important one. She knew a mysthic parasite capable of producing such symptomps. But it also could have been an illness of the brain. Should she wish this man was mentally ill and thus not her responsibility, or hope for the parasite, in which case at least she can help him? She wanted to help him.

"No. More like- Like someone was showing me things. Whispering secrets into my ear. Things I'm not supposed to know..."

She noticed how the man looked down, maybe to the bulking pocket on his chest. Mira saw a ringbox perhaps, but she wasn't sure. The object didn't carry to intention of a proposal. However, it had a strong 'smell' of betrayal.

Mira closed the door. In deafening silence she walked back to the house and got the tea. On her way to the kitchen her phone buzzed, a message from her dating app. Some guy named Damien wanted to grab coffee with her.

With a faint smile she sat down Daniel and handed him the drink. "I think I can help. Tell me more."

This man was not there because of the spell. The message was, probably. She ignored it for now.

First work, fun later.