[Spirit of Lust] Chapter 76: Reina and Ruth (part 1). (Patreon)

The many salts on Reina’s warm bath were not helping her relax as much as she hoped for. Thinking of William was enough to get her restless, but now she had to think about some prankster damaging the building for a joke they were taking too far. The scratches on the door couldn’t be anything else, after all. Will’s claims of being possessed by a spirit at least had some backing she had experienced in the flesh, but believing some ghost monster had damaged a door for no reason was maybe a little too much. It was probably just a kid getting a kick out of getting everyone’s attention or someone had pissed off the wrong people. Sadly, the latter theory had more weight than she would’ve liked. Her neighborhood wasn’t exactly the best.

“Aaaaaah, I need a drink!” she groaned to no one.

She finished her bath, dried herself and, still with her body and hair wrapped in towels, she grabbed her phone and made a call.

“Hello? Reina?”

“Hey, Ruth. We haven’t spoken in a while.”

“Yeah, and I don’t need to think too hard about what you’re calling for.”

“There’s that, yeah, but I also just want to talk. Will cancelled on me, so I have my night free. Come over to my place. We’ll drink, talk, complain and maybe discuss Will’s little secret if there’s time.”

“Ahaha! Sounds good to me. My shift ends in 30 minutes. Send me your location and I’ll be there in an hour.”

“Great. See you then.”

After the call, Reina went back to her room and got dressed in a loose red t-shirt and blue jeans. She cleaned up around the place to make it presentable and then went to check the cabinet where she knew she still had a bottle of tequila. And yeah, the bottle was there, but it had less than a quarter left.

“Wait, how long have I had this?”

Oh well, she’d just have to go out and buy some more. It was just about time for Ruth to get here, so after checking on her with a quick message, Reina left her apartment to wait for the blonde at the front of the building.

She saw her approaching, stylishly dressed in black jeans, brown boots, a brown light leather jacket and a white t-shirt underneath.

“Didn’t you say you were coming straight for work?” Reina asked as she eyed the woman up and down. “How come you look like you’re ready for a date?”

The women greeted each other with a quick kiss on the cheek, and Ruth had to pull away for a moment to look at Reina. “Some of us have to put in a little effort to look nice all the time. What I want to know is how you can pull off a t-shirt and jeans and still look like you’re ready for the runway. I should expect as much of a professional model, I guess, but I’m still jealous.”

“You know what? I’ll take that compliment, thank you.” The two women shared a good laugh, something Reina was in serious need of right now. “I know I promised you drinks, but it turns out I don’t have much left. Let’s go to the store.”

“I thought you’d be better prepared,” Ruth teased.

“I never drink alone, so I thought I had more left, okay?”

The trip to the store was quick, and not willing to get absolutely wasted on a weekday, they only bought one more bottle of tequila plus a couple of other things. They started making their way back, and in the way, Ruth asked, “Hey, we’re not drinking shots, are we?”

“Of course not. What do you think the orange juice is for? I also have grenadine left, and yes, I know I do. I saw it in the cupboard.”

“Ooooh, that means tequila sunrise, right? Fancy, I like it.”

“Fancy?” Reina laughed. “Hardly. It’s just three things mixed together.”

“Fancier than drinking beer out of a can, at least,”

“Okay, that I can agree with.”

The girls arrived at the front of the building, but as they got closer, they noticed someone was standing at the front, looking at the gates and up towards the roof. It was a woman with straight, gleaming black hair nearly as long as Reina’s, reaching slightly above her lower back. The woman simply stood there, and it creeped out Reina a little, especially considering what had happened at the building not long ago. Nevertheless, she still asked.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” she said as she approached.

The woman turned around, and Reina could now clearly see her face. She was an incredibly beauty. Asian, though Reina would be ashamed to admit she couldn’t say if she was Japanese, Chinese or Korean. Her skin was flawless, her eyes sharp and dark brown. She was extremely well endowed with a perfect hourglass figure and an air of maturity around her that almost made Reina want to look down in deference. William would definitely like her.

The woman’s eyes softened, and she gave Reina and Ruth a gentle smile as she spoke. “Hello. I’m sorry, I was in the way, wasn’t I? Do you happen to live here, miss?”

“Yeah, I do,” Reina nodded and answered without thinking. There was something about the woman that was both inviting and intimidating at the same time.

“Would you happen to know how many people live here?” the woman asked.

“…How many? Five to eight by floor, with seven floors, so… Between 30 and 50, I think, but I couldn’t really say.”

The woman frowned with something like… regret. She had a sad smile on her face as she nodded her thanks. “I see. Sorry for the strange question, but I appreciate it. And… though I don’t expect you to trust empty words from a stranger, I’d advise you to stay inside your own apartment, and tell everyone else to do the same. Do this even if you hear strange noises.” Her frown deepened. “Hopefully that’ll keep you safe.”

A chill ran down Reina’s back, and she felt Ruth shake from similar chills beside her. Something about the woman’s tone, her eyes, her… aura, if such a thing existed. Reina had heard outlandish things today, and yet the woman’s words, a stranger’s words, somehow seemed to carry more weight than anyone else’s.

***

Author's Note: Next chapter coming this weekend.