Mirrors & Shadows

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝐗𝐕

յօ 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔥𝔰 𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔯~ 𝔑𝔬𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 k𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔪𝔞𝔫 y𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔢𝔢𝔱 𝔢v𝔢𝔯y𝔡𝔞y

Days passed and everything seemed normal. No vampire at her doorstep. No trees catching on fire for no apparent reason. Everyone was oblivious to what was stirring right before their eyes. It was almost as if they just didn't want to see it, almost as if they were choosing to ignore what didn't make sense, what simply didn't fit into the rules of their world.

Edmond had since removed her stitches, leaving a neat line of dots on either side of the wound. She was free that afternoon. Edmond and his team weren't in need of her for now and she had finished classes about an hour ago. So she found herself wandering around Paris again, fiddling thoughtfully with the pieces of her mother's fountain pen still in her pocket, every now and then, she would check that the piece of paper her mother had written her name on was still there.

At one point, she decided to order a a drink at a nearby bar. At the largest table at the end of the room, a group of men were playing blackjack rather noisily. She may have been manic or something because it really wasn't like her to want to socialise but nevertheless she walked up to them and asked if she could join.
"Do you have the money?" One of them challenged.
She took out a hundred euro bill. Ok. She was probably manic. One of the boys whistled in admiration and another pulled a chair over from one of the other tables for her to sit.
"The game's on." He grinned welcomingly. Blackjack was easy. It was all math, a question of probability.
She stopped counting cards and calculating probability though when their grins started turning into frowns as her money started piling. However, she hid her own malicious grin by pretending to sip on her drink (although she had finished it a while ago).
"May I play?"
All of them turned. A small man with a military style haircut stood holding out a fan of hundred euro bills, exposing the heavy metal rings around his fingers. The boys' eyes widened and no one made an objection when he sat across from Luna. His black gaze did not leave the cards. She swore she could see numbers, diamonds, hearts, spears, kings and queens flashing across his eyes. He was playing her game. Soon it was all between the both of them.
"That's it. I surrender." One of the boys stated, laying down his deck.
"Me too." Another said. And soon they all set their cards down in defeat, not wanting to lose anymore money to these crazy strangers.
"Yeah." Luna agreed. "I'm done. You can keep the money," she resigned, standing up, still retrieving the hundred euro bill she had initially put down.
"You're not finished." The stranger stated. His voice had an accent she couldn't seem to identify.
"The game didn't end."
"For me it did." Luna retorted coldly not liking his tone. And she walked away, ignoring the other clients' stares.

Checking her phone, she noticed the 23 voice mails all from Jeremy. She sighed. Maybe she hadn't made it clear enough. She pressed the button to change her voicemail.
"Hi Jeremy," she told her phone into the speaker and let the recording go on for about a minute before saying "No." loud and clear. That way if ever he would call again—and she was sure he would—he would hear her voicemail and think she had answered the phone. He would then give her his usual lecture and then he would hear 'no'. Maybe that would discourage him from calling her again...

After that she walked for about an hour, arriving at the Champs-Élysées. The sight of the lit up trees leading up to the Arc de Triomphe made her smile. She strolled along, letting the sounds of the city fly in the cold October breeze. It began to rain lightly and Luna wondered if it was her or just Paris being well you know Paris: its old rainy self.

Next to one of the trees, a young man with a guitar had set up a beach parasol that he was using as an umbrella and was singing 'Aux Champs Élysées'. Some people stopped to listen. A young couple even started dancing to it. Soon their lips joined with the Arc de Triomphe standing proudly in the background. Luna bit her lip repressing a snort of laughter. Kissing in the rain. What a cliché. Then, a chorus of honking broke out. The two lovers stopped and looked around to see what the commotion was about, apparently realizing they weren't alone in the 'capitale de l'amour'.