Alyssa's POV

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Please, explain."

Misha looked to the side, clearly uncomfortable by the subject. After a while of thinking, she opened her mouth to speak, but Mila suddenly exclaimed, "We are going to be late!"

The woman checked the clock and saw they had little than thirty minutes left to go to their workplace. The twins packed their things and said their goodbyes before going to the garage and driving off. I've never seen them move that fast. It was like they were looking for something to avoid the topic of my father. I still had a lot of questions, but because of this, I've grown more curious.

Is my father someone of a high rank? I wonder what authority he holds.

Seeing as the ones with information about my parents had left, I have no choice but to wait for them to return. I finished eating and washed the dishes.

I walked towards the living room and sat on the couch that was across a television with a table in between. Picking up the remote, I switched the channels on the T.V. to save myself from boredom. I arrived at the news channel, and my ears perked at what the reporter said.

"Breaking news: a twenty-seven-year-old man was found dead in an alleyway. The police could not find any wounds nor injuries on this man, marking it as a kill from 'The Ghost'."

These killings had been happening more than ten years ago, and they haven't found the killer yet. Some say that the killer wasn't human, thus its name - The Ghost. It was a mystery why the killer was so hard to catch, and I heard the police didn't have at least a single clue on what the killer's targets were. There were no connections between the victims. What's even unsettling about it was that the killer managed to kill its victims without a single cut on the skin.

As the screen displayed the crime scene, I turned the television off. Taking a glimpse at the clock, it was around 8:45 in the morning. I had a job at noon. The twins said I shouldn't worry about the money as they were willing to provide for me. Nevertheless, I wanted to help with the financials. It was a secret of mine that I was working at the local coffee shop in our town - Beanylicious cafe.

I still had some time left before my shift, and the dream from earlier didn't bring me my needed rest. I figured I'd sleep some more. I'll just get lunch at the cafe.

I stood up to get a blanket. I came back to the couch, laid down, and made myself cozy. I closed my eyes and relaxed my mind. Moments later, I didn't notice that I fell asleep.

_________________________________________

It looked like I was sleepier than I thought.

My eyes struggled to open, slightly stinging from the nap. I pushed myself up with the help of my elbows. I stretched and yawned, shaking the drowsiness away. When my gaze met the clock, I practically leaped and sprinted to my room.

11:59?! I only have a minute left to go to work! My boss won't be happy if I'm late.

I knelt in front of my bed and pulled out a white box from underneath. Inside was my work attire - A white polo t-shirt, a brown apron, a white hat with the cafe's logo printed on it, and brown pants.

I tossed my current outfit to the side and hurriedly wore the uniform. After that, I bolted towards the front door and put my shoes on. I grabbed the keys and locked the house. The coffee shop was a fifteen-minute walk away, but maybe if I run, it would hopefully take me about five minutes to get there.

And that's what I did. Thanks to my years of training, my stamina was good, but not great. I had to catch my breath at some point.

I placed my hands on my knees as I panted. I was almost at the cafe. I saw that I stopped beside an alleyway. Regardless of it being noon, the alley was dim and gloomy. It radiated a bad vibe, giving me a sense of dread. My powers felt intimidated. It took every ounce of control I had to calm it down.

As I stared into the void-like area, I spotted a person leaning against the brick walls. It was a boy wearing a beanie, his long, black locks of hair peeked out and fell in front of his stormy gray eyes. It reminded me of the clouds in my dream. He had a black turtleneck on, tucked inside his black pants. He had a belt wrapped around his hips and a maroon coat over it all.

I actually knew him because he's one of my classmates - His name was Pierre Fernandez. Everyone in school steered clear of him, not wanting to be involved with the delinquent. The boy kept getting into fights. He would also skip class at times. And the scowl on his face was enough to scare people away.

His infamous reputation also made him unapproachable. He was two years older than me, yet he was my classmate. That meant he wasn't taking his studies seriously.

My eyes landed on the white cylindrical stick with a burnt end that he pinched between two fingers. He brought that stick to his lips, inhaled, and... puffed out smoke.

A cigarette?

He really was living up to his image. What was he doing in this alley anyway?

I didn't realize I was staring at him until his eyes collided with mine. He narrowed his gaze at me as if he's trying to identify who I was. Then, a flicker of recognition caused him to speak, "You..."

At the sound of his voice, I held my breath, which was funny as I needed the air a few minutes ago.

"... What do you want? Quit staring."

"I wasn't." I turned away. "I was just taking a break here."

"Hmm. Whatever then," He said and began to walk deeper into the alley. Once again seeing the cigarette in his hand, I called after him. "Smoking isn't good for your health! I suggest you stop."

He halted in his tracks. I could see him huff in annoyance by how his shoulders bounced.  He didn't even face me when he spat out, "Mind your own business."