Chapter II: Silver Lining

"Good morning, Sir!" Sylvia cheered as she saluted at the boss of the place, she was currently working in. Over the course of the past few weeks her luck on job interviews have miraculously turned around and she found herself buried in job offerings.

One of which was the being the clerk on one of the famous fashion stores in the city, giving her a chance to marvel upon the lavish and gorgeous dresses that she had ogled from afar.

' If I work hard enough, then after my first paycheck I can buy one of them. ' she thought to herself and happily offered her hands to accept the bags that her boss carried but was stunned when she was suddenly handed a small white envelope.

"... Eh?" Sylvia tilted her head in confusion and looked up to her boss who was wearing a hard to read face yet the aura that surrounded him made her sweat grow cold.

"Porfirio... I don't really know how to tell you this but." he sighed and pushed his glasses back into place before heaving a sigh. "I'm afraid I have to let you go."

"Boss! Why!?"

The sound of glass shattering echoed inside of Sylvia's minds as she clutched the white envelope on her hand before slowly falling on to her knees.

"Don't make a scene out of this please, we really don't have a choice."

She looked up to her former employer with tears on the corners of her eyes, wanting to voice out her dissatisfaction on the decision yet stopped on the moment she noticed the tired look on the elder man's face.

With a sigh, "I understand." she muttered and slowly got up to face him. "Thank you for letting me know."

Sylvia then lowered her head a little and turned on her heel to collect her things from the employee's room. After making sure she had everything with her, she went to her former co-workers to bid them goodbye before walking out of the store in a calm manner.

"... He even put in more than necessary." she whispered to himself as she peeked at the contents of the envelope, discovering that the man had placed in more money than she was promised to get on her salary.

"I can't keep living like this." Sylvia told herself while biting her lips as she stood underneath a red light. The sudden turn on her luck didn't come with a price, as she would immediately get fired a week or two after on the job that she had accepted.

It was true that she still got money even after she was fired, and even got more than what was promised, but she couldn't live like this.

'It would look bad on my record'

A shiver went down her spine just from imagining the scene of her future lover dumping her immediately after knowing she moved from job to job in just a short period of time. With her head lost on the clouds, she didn't immediately notice that she had already taken a wrong turn from her usual path home and found herself lost in an unknown alleyway.

"Uhh... Where am I."

Her voice echoed down the narrow pathway that seemingly loomed with the leftover shadows of last night. The darkness on the corners of her eyes seemed to dance, enticing her to take another step. As she was about to do so, a hand landed on her shoulder and pulled her out.

"Hey there! Are you interested on getting a job!?"

A familiar voice rang on her ears as she turned around to face a mauve-haired girl whose hair seemed to dance on top of another.

"Oh... uh, hello?" She sheepishly smiled and turned back to the alleyway who seemed lighter than it had before.

"Here, we're still hiring." The woman handed her a familiar flyer before slipping away to what she assumed to look for other people.

Sylvia's eyes remained glued on the familiar flier whose fonts had completely changed from the previous black to the same color of her hair and eyes. An address was now also at the bottom of the paper, something that wasn't there before.

"Well... No harm in trying I suppose." she mumbled and slowly forced her legs to walk towards the direction of the address specified on the piece of paper which led her to the slumps of the city.

The name didn't do justice on the place she thought as she gazed at the buildings that still surrounded her. Despite being called the slumps, it was still a very beautiful part of the city. It only got its name from the unusual number of murders and disappearances that happened on the area.

"Well...this should be the place." she whispered to himself as she stopped in front of a modern looking restaurant that was stood out like a sore thumb from its surroundings.

The interior of the building could easily be seen from the outside due to the glass panes that acted as the front walls of the place. Victorian style chairs and tables gave the cafe an elegant feeling that she had never experienced from other cafes inside the city.

"...It seems like...a good place." Sylvia smiled to herself and gingerly reached out to the silver handle of the glass door when somebody beat her to it.

"Oh, excuse...me?" the words died out inside of her throat as she slowly gazed upwards to a man wearing a brown trench coat and had a fedora that covered tuffs of red hair.

"Can I help you." he asked in an unwelcoming tone with his hands tightening around the handle with enough force that the metal had begun to howl in pain.