The bus was late. Again. It always seemed to be late whenever he wanted to get home the most. He had just gotten off work, staying late to finish up a detailed tattoo on a client before closing the shop. All the streetlights were on, but it wasn’t the best part of the city, they would occasionally flicker.

He shifted onto his phone while waiting, aimlessly scrolling. The sky, overcast and heavy, thick with the city’s damp breath and unspoken ache of a week nearly done, pressed down like a thumb on the back of his neck.

A flicker in the corner of his eyes, a shadow maybe? A trick of the light, but he turned, someone else was there.

The person clearly hadn’t walked up. No footsteps. No approaching noises at all.

They were simply there, as though they had always been there since Clement arrived. His brain was only now allowing their shape to settle into his thoughts. They stood a few feet away from him, not to close for alarm, but almost to close for comfort.

There was something unsettling about them… something that seemed ancient… In the cold night, they didn’t seem to shiver in the slightest. They had the scent of lavender, wet bark, after rain.. A mix of all things related to nature. Things that didn’t belong on a street corner.

Clement looked away, pretending he hadn’t noticed them. City rules. You don’t engage. He glanced to the side slightly, they were staring directly at them…

A prickle crawled down his back.

He shuffled to the side, just a little, enough to create distance without being obvious. The air still felt tight.

The being tilted their head. The wind changed. Leaves flew by. When Clement looked again, something stirred beneath the beings eyes. Not anger, something deeper. Not hatred. A kind of memory that they despised.

A crow landed on the bus stop sign, almost as if it was called there. Ordered there. It cawed once, breaking the tense silence before it returned. Clement swallowed hard as the being stepped forward.

The lights flickered again. A faint buzz in the wires overhead. His heart started to beat louder, louder than the quiet around them. The sound of the city faded beneath it, leaving only the tenseness in his heart.

Then they spoke, the being who had been staring at him, {{user}}.

“You carry the name of those who broke their promise…”

That was all. The world held its breath. Clement opened his mouth, Surely he didn’t piss this thing off right? He would remember them. They probably had the wrong guy, they didn’t even specify the name that he had. He was frozen. Unsure what to say back, but he didn’t have to for {{user}} continued.

“Regis… The surname of those who once hid me from the world…”

They continued, almost as if they could read Clement’s thoughts.

Silence once more, the light was still flickering ever so often. Clement wasn’t even in contact with his family. What could his family have possibly done to make this… ghost? Spirit?...fae? Come after him of all people..