Spectral Strangers

       The first time Akira came across the man, it was a rainy Sunday evening, and she was already running late. Deadlines were fast approaching, and if she wanted to be able to put out cupcakes on the table, she'd have to hurry up. She almost missed the man, about her age, if not slightly older, in the grey dress shirt and nice dress pants. There wasn't anything about his features- his dark hair that resembled dark chocolate in form and colour, or his inquisitive grey eyes, or his high but filled cheekbones- that set him out from the ordinary. It was the fact that despite the pouring rain, he was perfectly dry, clothes immaculately wrinkle-free. 

       Akira didn't pay much mind to it; she herself was too busy trying to keep a grip on her umbrella, which just kept slipping away. Much too busy, in fact to see the grey eyes watching her in mild interest.

       By the time she made it to her single-roomed apartment, Akira was soaked to the bone. Her eyes glanced at the pictures on the walls of people she didn't know, as she slipped to her bathroom. After taking a warm shower, she settled down to work. Cracking her knuckles, she started up her laptop, when her eyes caught the balcony across from her. Just as the door was sliding closed, she saw it. The brown hair. The grey dress shirt and dress pants. The sneak of a smile. 

      For a moment, she blanched. The same person? She waved the thought away. It wouldn't be surprising. After all, Thanato was a pretty small town. And even then, the chances of it being the same person wasn't likely. She continued punching in words to her computer, until the numbers on the corner warned her it was far too late to keep trying. 

      She awoke with a blanket draped across her shoulder. She didn't remember doing it, but as far as Akira could tell, she was far too tired to retain any memory from that night. 

     Akira worked as a part time accountant for a company - Vieux- to make money and help out with her cupcake business. She mostly did it for fun, but when she found her knack for it, she couldn't give it up. Her phone rang, and she hopped over to it, happy to pursue a new customer. "Hello, this is Kira's Cupcakes, what may I do for you?"

    The call ended before she could finish her sentence.

    Akira stared at her phone screen to the unknown number. Thoughts of the man she saw yesterday kept fluttering back to her. The way his clothes were free of water, and they way his eyes looked just a bit too pale to be real. She wasn't sure of the last detail; she hadn't gotten a good look at him. 

    Throwing the thought out of her mind, she tied her hair into a ponytail and grabbed her earphones. A little running was always nice for the head. 

    She was going through her usual track, down the garden, around the fountain, and to the bakery, where she usually grabbed a snack. She panted lightly, as she came to a stop, gripping at the stonewall edge, trying to catch a breathe. That's when she saw him again, leaning on the wall of the corner store of the plaza, smiling bemusedly at her. He tossed her a salute, before lazily turning the corner. Akira took a final breath before running to catch up with the man, legs burning with exertion. He was gone before she caught up. 

    "Why!" She screamed in frustration, pounding her fist into the rough stone, not caring at all for her knuckles. She hadn't even felt it. 

    She ended up going back to the bakery. The bell jangled as the door opened, and Akira slumped into her usual both, the fabric on the seats frayed as it always had been. Her usual server, Mindy came along to take her order, looking as young as always. "Usual order Hun?" the slight Southern accent snuck into her words, and Akira felt her shoulders droop, as she sighed. "That would be nice."

    The usual happened to be a cherry-cheese Danish that Akira had loved since forever ago. She gratefully took a bite, but alas, it did little to pick up her mood. "What's wrong, sugar? The day not treating you well?"

    Akira blew at her hair, which honestly did nothing. "There's just someone I keep seeing everywhere. But every time I try talking with him, he vanishes. It's frustrating."

    "Oh dear, did you get yourself a stalker? I was reading about it on the paper the other day."

    "No," Akira said, mildly disgruntled, "it's not like he's interested in me. Just looks at me, smiles, and vanishes."

    Mindy smiled knowingly, "Honey, we've all disappeared sometime, it's no biggie." She walked away before Akira had the chance to ask what she meant. There probably wasn't much to it though. Mindy always had been a little abstract. Old-timey. She usually got offended and pointed out that she was retro.

    Akira finished the last of her danish, clapped her hands together, and went out the door. 

   She went on with her day as usual. Hours turned to days and days turned to weeks, and she couldn't ever catch up with him. It was always the same outfit. The same hair. The same smile. 

   The next time she saw him, the guy was standing right outside the bakery, the same clothes, the same hair and the same smile. 

   As for Akira, she couldn't care less to be polite. "You!" she screamed, moments away from tugging at his usual collar.

   "Yes me," he replied, looking at her without much interest. "Is there something I could do for you?"

    "You could tell me why you keep following me, 

    The man smiled scornfully. "You really don't know?"

    "Know what?"

     The man sighed, tipping his hat slightly backward so Akira could truly see his face. His eyes weren't faint grey. If anything, they were far too piercingly dark. "The name's Camden Everton. I died seven years ago, pleased to meet you."

     The words didn't register. "Stop pulling my leg. This isn't a joke. Are you stalking me?"

     The man laughed - actually laughed and Akira could feel indignation pour out from her ears and nose. "Stalk you? Please, I have better things to do with my afterlife. If you are so dull as to not understand, I am a ghost. I go by the terms Unseens. I merely see you around all the time, flittering about like you have a life to catch. It was," he paused as if to regain his words, "amusing."

    "What do you mean?" Akira snapped again. She was getting really tired of this. 

    "See that waitress? Mindy? Has she aged at all since you've met?" 

    Akira paused, baffled. "Some people are just good looking for a long time."

    The guy, Camden, rolled his eyes, "You honestly don't know? Ugh, of course they leave the stupid ones to me. Here's the deal. You're dead. Think about it. The city you live in? It's called Thanato. The cafe you love so much? Nothing changes. The waitresses, the booths, everything's the same."

    "You're wrong," Akira said, voice wavering ever so slightly. "There's no way."    

     "Yes way. The company you work for? Search it up later. I can tell you here and now that you'll get results of a long gone company. It literally means "old" in French, for goodness sake. Accept it. You're dead."

      Mind reeling with just the audacity of the situation, Akira felt her knees give out. Mindy's statement rang in her head. "Honey, we've all disappeared sometime, it's no biggie."  The way the fraying couch never frayed any further, and the way she couldn't remember how long she' liked her cherry-cheese danish. 

     "Was it you? The blanket?"

     At this, Camden waved a hand at her. "No, you put that on yourself before you went to sleep." Akira frowned, but didn't argue. 

     "The phone call?"

      "Probably someone alive getting a wrong number." The stranger turned to leave, tipping his hat at Akira slightly. For once, his smile wasn't the same scornful one as always. "It's been nice talking to you again Kira."

      Akira's head perked up, confused. "Again?"

     Camden stepped over and patted her head, "Go look at the photo frames at home when you get the chance."