Twenty minutes 'til closing.

The remaining customers hadn't been nearly as memorable or problematic, but the onslaught of difficult conversations had slowly frayed Celeste's nerves. Fielding questions and de-escalating arguments had become a normal part of her routine.

What did she think about the city?

Was it better than where she came from?

Where did she come from?

Was she available after work?

Had any of the other customers said anything interesting? (The answer to this one was always no, because Celeste liked living.)

Please take any disagreements to the back.

She'd never wanted so badly for a shift to end. During a lull in activity, she began the cleanup process.

And then her favorite sardine-breathed customer threw open the door to the meeting room and stormed out, face bright red, a river of obscenities tumbling from his lips as though they couldn't wait to be free. The specter, whose name she still did not know, followed close behind, eyes wide and jaw clenched.

"Just calm down," she hissed, but before she could finish her sentence, Darren roared at her.

"Don't tell me to calm down! Those fuckers are in there playing us like fiddles, and you want me to just sit there and take it up the ass? Fuck that! You let Josie walk all over us! Josie, of all people!"

Oh, great. Just pretend like you're not here, Celeste. Maybe he won't approach the counter. Maybe he'll —

"Celeste!"

Damn it.

Celeste turned toward him and smiled. "Hello again, sir. How may I help — "

"Cut the shit. Glitch Trip, pronto. And no smart-ass remarks this time."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Comin' right up."

"No," the specter protested, shaking her head. "No, absolutely not. Do not make that for him, Celeste. Not until he apologizes and speaks to as he should."

Oh no.

Darren's eyes went wide. "Excuse me?"

"It's no problem, really," Celeste said. "Please, don't fight over this."

But she wasn't sure either of them heard her through the sound of the wars raging inside their own minds.

The specter lifted her chin at her counterpart. Celeste wondered if this was what David looked like against Goliath.

"You heard me." The specter's voice was trembling with anger. But not with fear. "Apologize. Ask nicely. Then tip Celeste for being so rude. I already told you, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything. At all."

Now Darren was trembling with rage. And that rage was about to come crashing down in a tidal wave.

"Please handle this matter in the back," Celeste warned, trying to raise her voice loud enough to pierce the veil of the couple's fury.

"How dare you," he seethed, sneering down at the specter. "You think you can tell me what to do? What sort of dumbass are you? I'll —"

The lights around them flickered, fast.

Celeste barely saw the specter move. She flicked her wrist, and some part of Celeste's mind filled in the blank with what she thought she happen next. A crack as her hand met Darren's cheek, leaving a perfectly shaped pink imprint.

Instead, her fingers slid into his mouth.

And then blood, everywhere, spurting out of Darren's mouth and onto the counter and floor. Pinched between Morgan's fingers was Darren's bloody tongue. Her eyes glowed with venom.

"I told you," she said as Darren screamed, "to speak kindly, or not at all. Stop screaming. I said STOP screaming!"'

She grabbed him by the throat, and once more Celeste heard the tiny whir of mechanical fingers.

CRACK!

Blood spurted from Darren's mouth. A twisted, horrifying gasp leaped from his crushed throat as the specter released him. He fell to the floor, clutching at his irreparable throat as he breathed his last, dying gasps.

The door to the back room opened, and curious onlookers poured out to see what had happened. Angelo merely pressed his lips into a thin line and shook his head, as though to say, I knew this was coming.

The specter turned away from them all, shaking her head. And then she looked at Celeste and smiled pleasantly.

"I'm so sorry about that. I shouldn't have brought him here. I will take what he was having, though. And you can have whatever's in his wallet, as compensation for conducting business outside of the meeting room."

"I…I…th-that'll be…"

Celeste's mind spun, first, and then froze entirely.

All the while, the specter smiled at her. And then her eyes shot toward the clock on the wall, and she frowned. "Oh, my goodness! It's time for you to close shop! I'm sorry, I should've been paying attention." She reached out and took Celeste's hand in one of her own, and squeezed it gently. "Goodnight, Celeste. See you tomorrow."

The specter turned. Planted one heel firmly on Darren's crotch and brought her full weight down on it. Were he not already dead, he would have screamed. Celeste wanted to scream when she heard the horrifying crunch of something breaking.

Angelo nodded politely at Celeste as he passed her by. "Goodnight, Celeste."

Josie tipped an imaginary hat at her. "Seeya tomorrow, Cee."

Celeste nodded at them, too stunned to pull her eyes away from the sight.

"Thank you all for coming to the Black Cat," she said. Her words were emotionless. Mechanical. "We hope to see you again soon."