After a few minutes of looking and finding nothing related to…drinks? To Alice? To Arcanus Abyan? I suddenly realized I didn’t even know what I was looking for in the first place. What kind of note did she hint that I should look for? if she did intend that with what she said anyway. I brushed my bangs aside, figuratively wiping off the stupid mystery idea I had for a short time and literally cupping my face with my hand in disbelief. It’s stupid. There’s nothing I should be looking for here, it’s just a coincidence. Lines of convincing myself through logic circled my thoughts.

My laptop opened as I wallowed in my self judgement and was relieved to see my desktop flashing on screen. I sat down on my chair, clicked on the folder where I exported my video and for the next 40 minutes of checking if there are typos in the text I placed in the video, if the audio fit the scene, if I cut the clips properly as I intended it to be, at last, I was done.

With a few clicks on the mouse, my video is already being uploaded online, scheduling it exactly next week so that I don’t have to manually change the settings from unlisted to public. I spin my chair a bit to stare out blankly to whatever I would see around me and, yet again, I’m reminded of the messy room that I got used to for the longest time now.

A few minutes of taking a break from managing my online content, I spun back to face my laptop just to continue to research on this Thousand year woman for a future video. What can I say? This is a hobby and a career at the same time, if I have free time, might as swell spend it here.

After minutes of scrolling through different sites, the information about this creepy story going around ranges wildly from old stories of kidnapping children, a made up story of her tragic past, black magic of a witch from years passed and a couple of fan-fiction people with plenty of free time did for a ghostly character. Weirdly enough, all the information I found about this dates back to just yesterday. The latest one I found was a rumor posted on a social media site that was just an hour ago. I check back to the comments on my video requesting about the thousand year woman and all of them were only yesterday or today. No cases. No legitimate reports about it. So why are people suggesting this to me? And why did this story get this popular in just a day?

Not that getting outlandish requests are new, but most, if not all, requests I get are about mysterious events that were reported to police investigations that were never explained or given a proper close to the case, so what’s up with everyone pushing this fictional creepy pasta to me? I scratch my head, a bit frustrated with confusion as the kick-starter of my day.

I continued my research, writing down things that could prove helpful for my video if ever I find any reason to cover this story at all, with a few breaks to play some mobiles games, eat some snacks, lunch and taking calls from my sisters who keep planning outings that they always seem to cancel last minute.

Time passed so quickly that the last time I checked the time on my phone was 2:20 pm and now it’s already 9 pm.

A few minutes before I go out to finally end this tiring puzzle of a day and hear what Alice has to say, I got another call. Peaking at the screen, the name Ginia in big letters can be seen. It’s from my youngest sister. I hesitated to pick up the call, remembering how unpredictable this girl can be. A face of an angel but the skills of a con-artist is how I could summarize her. I got tricked by this girl so many times while living in the same roof with her, but nothing I couldn’t endure.

I picked up the phone and answered the call.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hey, are you busy right now?” She asked in a hushed tone. I could hear cars in the background. She must be outside.

“Sort of, I’m just about to go somewhere. Why?” I asked, shifting my gaze to the tiny part of my laptop that flashes the time.

“Nothing important, I’ll tell you when you get back. It’s kind of a long story.”

She replied. For some reason, she sounded different. No weird inflections or references, no witty jokes or banter. I waited a bit if she was going to say anything else, but she didn’t.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Call you back. Bye.” Is all she said before hanging up the phone. She didn’t sound alarmed or anything. I shrugged it off thinking how I’ll be having another ranting session with her later tonight, hearing about her professors and work load and all those university things she’s going through.

I placed my phone in my pocket and went off to go to Arcanus.

I didn’t bring a jacket this time, expecting it to be hot like yesterday, but it’s surprisingly cool. Now I’m wishing I brought I so that I could warm up. A thin shirt and pair of jeans didn’t do it for me. Every step I took that brought me closer and closer to Arcanus felt like I was walking in snow, heavy and chilling. Eventually, I got to Arcanus and the cool breeze from the inside was not something I welcomed happily. I shivered a bit when the air-conditioned air touched my skin as soon as I pushed the door open. I went inside, anticipating the same scene I previously saw, one waitress on duty and one woman near the window with a hood still covering her head. I expected a lot from this visit because I didn’t know what I should expect. Sadly, I didn’t see the dog anywhere. The guard dog’s shift probably ends earlier than Alice’s.

All the lights were still open, lighting up the place even though there’s no costumers, not even staff except from Alice who was cleaning up the place. She was the only one here. No one other than her in sight, meaning, no woman with a hood.

“You’re here already?” She asked, not looking the least bit tired.

“Uh, yeah. Around 9:50. Just like yesterday.” I shrugged my shoulders. I kept talking as Alice continued to wipe the tables. “Can I help?” I offered.

“Aw, that’s sweet.” She replied. “Thanks but I got it. Take a seat anywhere and I’ll be with you in a bit.” After saying that, she finished up, what I assumed to be, the last one to be cleaned because she went straight to the back of the cafe as soon as she finished wiping it and I was left, yet again, to wonder. I feel anxious and I don’t know why. Maybe that’s why I feel so uneasy, because of the unknown. Usually that’s something I read and see on a daily basis so that I can share it with others who indulge in the obscurity of spirits, but now I’m involved in a mystery of my own, it’s surprisingly nerve-wracking.