Grey’s mother had just finished yelling at lecturing him in the morning.
See, the day before, he had arrived at his house late. Usually he was supposed to go straight home after school ended, but if you go back a few chapters, you’ll remember that he now had a job. One he was not supposed to have. And now he had to hide it, so he came up with a few things.
He said that he had a club that lasted for 1-2 hours after school ended, and since he walked home, his parents never had to pick him up from the school.
Though he had gone far past 1-2 hours. When he finished his job, he walked home with Winter, or at least, that was the plan. He wanted to take a shortcut through the plaza, yes, the shopping plaza… and then he got distracted by all the cool things there.
There was everything. Food to die over, a technology store with the latest phones, and a cute little shop with alternative clothing. However, after a couple hours, they figured they were definitely lost.
Winter didn’t know where to go, as he had just been following Grey.
Eventually, though, they got out of the plaza and found their way back to the shop, and Grey decided just to walk home past the normal route. At this point it had been past the four hour mark, and the time was seven o’ clock.
The sun had just dipped below the horizon, and Grey knew he was going to be late to his house, but just ignored it and talked with Winter as they went home. They were bound to arrive at his house at a quarter past seven.
Though what made him arrive at eight o’ clock was far worse than getting lost. The shadow spirits.
Of course, he explained all that happened to his mother when he came in through the door. He was being completely honest, too, minus the whole having a job thing. He still didn’t know why he wasn’t allowed to have one, but he didn’t want to get in more trouble, so he omitted it and just said it was the club again.
She believed most of what he said, even the club part, but didn’t believe the shadow spirits thing.
She didn’t get it. She didn’t have the spirit sight, the ability to see all of the ghosts and apparitions that roamed the world.
Everyone knew spirits existed, which was why exorcists were so respected, but most people didn’t see as many, and they appeared much less frequently to those that couldn’t see harmless spirits.
It was like if someone told you they got chased by a person dressed as a killer clown. It was possible that a person could dress as a clown and chase everyone, but unless it was 2016, it wasn’t a very frequent sight. No one would believe the person spewing nonsense like that.
His mom surely didn’t believe him.
And she was still mad that he got home late. Justifiably, of course, any worried mother would be mad, and maybe tell their kid to stop, or talk to them for an hour or so about why it wasn’t a good thing to do.
Grey’s mom? She wasn’t just any worried mother.
She lectured him for FIVE HOURS. When the morning started, she continued her lecture too. Man…248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0TVjEkgxRP
He definitely wasn’t feeling it, and plopped down in his seat and put his head down on the desk.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctnsI1AidT
Ms. Kim said a name foreign to him, and walked over to his desk. “You’re late, are you okay?” 248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5qT53GKFl
He looked up at her, and flashed a tired smile, one that hid his teeth. “Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry I’m late.” 248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XFQeFiGvo
Ms. Kim shook her head and gave him a paper, one with lots of foreign symbols on it. Math. “I’m going to have to mark you tardy, so don’t show up late next time, okay?” She said it quietly so less people could hear, but those next to him definitely could. The rest of the class could basically guess what was going on. They stared, eyes focused on anything but their paper.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQjqvxEI5U
Grey sighed, bit his lip, and glanced down. “Okay. Sorry again.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7okMcUpFq
“It’s fine. Like I said, don’t do it again.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡreq66tydvW
“I’ll try,” was all he said as she left, and he could feel all eyes on him. Usually no one would care about students being late, but this was an honors class, and he had also gotten pegged as the class troublemaker. 248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6puu2WF0D
After all, if he had a dime for every time the teachers called his name disappointedly, he wouldn’t be rich, but would have a lot of dimes. A lot.
Ms. Kim resumed teaching, grabbing a half-dried out dry erase marker and writing down numbers and symbols on the whiteboard in blue ink.
The rest of the students started to look away from him and kept writing in their packets, and Grey tried to keep up with them. He glanced at a familiar dark-haired girl, Vesper, looking at the paper with hazel eyes. She was the only one that kept working on her packet when Ms. Kim had talked to him.
He bet she got all of the answers right.
Vesper. She was so good at everything. Or math, at least.
But he bet she was never a troublemaker like him, her hair all tied up in a ponytail and tidy, with so many brains it was practically bursting out of her head.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYVPZwv9Nr
Her parents must’ve loved her very much for how perfect she was.
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After his first class, Grey had left to go look for Mika, and tell him all about the shadow spirits that had roamed free.
He couldn’t find the exorcist, let alone some of the ghosts he saw once or twice. For some reason, they seemed to be slowly disappearing.
Where was he? Where would Grey find him?
The answer could be heard when he heard squeals of excitement, gasping, and over-dramatic noises coming from the corner of a hallway.
“OH MY GOD!”
“IT’S MIKA HIMSELF!”
“I’M GONNA FAINT!”
That was easy. At the sound of over-dramatic students all clamoring to get a look at the red-headed exorcist, Grey turned around to find a huge crowd of people. You’d think that it would be someone famous, like a youtuber, but no, it was simply Mika.
Right. He was an exorcist, but he was also one of the most popular boys in the school, and barely got any time with himself. That little moment alone back in chapter one was only because his fanclub was in their classes, unaware of what happened.
Grey swallowed, and looked at the sheer size of the group around him, all packed tightly like sardines.
Goddammit, why did the only available exorcist happen to be the princely character in a shoujo manga!?
Whatever, he’d have to try anyway. Grey stepped towards the crowd, and started pushing through the tons of people, immediately starting to regret his actions. They were ruthless, pushing and shoving and shouting. He got tossed around like a ragdoll, and then, with no control of his movements, fell out of the big group of people, landing on his butt.
“Ow,” he muttered, glaring at the group. Come on, this was important! He actually needed to talk to the guy about something serious!
Suddenly, like the red sea, the group parted to make way for the very boy they were crowding around. Mika. He waved his hand dismissively, and made his way through, the expression on his well-structured face neutral and uncaring.
He kept walking while glancing at the clock at one of the walls. Class was soon.
Grey just sat there as the very person he needed to talk to strided past him. Come on! He needed to say something!
Suddenly, Mika’s golden eyes met with Grey’s green-ish ones, and they held awkward eye contact for a few seconds while the shorter boy sat on the floor. Please say something. Did he at least remember him?
Mika looked away and kept going, hands in his pockets, and Grey could only watch as he walked away. He didn’t know what to say.
Then his eyes widened. What was that blur, floating right behind Mika? It almost looked like- a person.
But as soon as he saw it, the fanclub followed after him, pushing past Grey, (who was still sitting on the ground, by the way). He was kicked, shoved, and eventually, alone in the hallway. Well, there were still some kids there, ones that were simply getting to class and looked at him weird, as he was now laying on the tiled floor.
By the time they were gone, so was that blur.
Ow. That happened fast.
Damn though, what did he have to do?
Grey sighed. This city relied on exorcists to keep them from danger, though. So how did one of the only ones he knew become so unapproachable?
The bell rang, and everyone quickly got out of the hallways and into the classrooms.
He’d have to try another time, though the three days were running out fast.
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Later on, during lunch break, he found Mika again, still surrounded by tons of people. This time he was determined to get the message delivered.
Confidently, he shoved past the kids that crowded him, ignoring their protests, and sat down right in front of the exorcist, who was mostly focused on his lunch. Two or three girls sat next to him, but they seemed to be more focused on talking with each other, minus Vesper, who tried her best to talk to the crowds of people.
Mikaela stared at him with raised eyebrows while he ate some rice from a thermos. “Yes?”
“Hey, you can’t talk to him!” someone in the crowd yelled.
“You can’t sit at his table either! They’re only for the super ultra mega cool kids that we love!!” another person shrieked, yanking on his arm.
Grey pulled his arm back, rolled his eyes, and turned around to face the people affected with the mass hysteria.. “This is ridiculous! He’s a person! Leave him alone!”
They gasped in unison, and Mika simply sighed, holding up a hand. They shut up immediately when he did so. “Let us talk.” He had less of the charm and smoothness that he had when they had first spoken- instead, he simply seemed tired. That crowd must’ve worn him down.
Their silence was odd, considering the crowd, but Grey was just glad that they had shut up for once.
They stared for a second. Grey cleared his throat awkwardly, opened his mouth, then closed it again, not knowing where to start. Yeesh.
He looked at Mika, who was staring back at him, and Grey flushed. Shoot. This was embarrassing. What was he going to say?
“So, what is it?” Mika asked, taking a drink from a clear water-bottle filled with coffee, little ice cubes clacking around as he did so.
“Well, my name is Grey, and…” Grey was still a bit lost on where to start, but soon, all of the stuff about the shadow spirits came tumbling out. Mika simply listened as he did so, nodding his head once or twice. When he was finished speaking, the shorter boy looked up expectantly.
“Thank you for telling me,” said Mika. “I’ll look out for the shadow spirits, and when I find them, I promise,” a slight smile grew on his face as he said this: “I’ll eliminate it.”
“No, thank you,” said Grey. “You’re the one who’s been keeping this whole place safe. Will you be able to find and exorcize the spirit before the three days are over?” he asked.
“Of course,” the exorcist replied, without a hint of uncertainty. “I will be able to.”
With a smile, Grey said “good-bye,” and such, and got ready to leave, but when he got up, there it was again. A dark flash in the corner of his eye, not exactly a shadow, but a blur. Like trying to see underwater. The shape was so undoubtedly human too, right behind Mika-
“Is something the matter?” His eyes were averted back to Mika’s face, only for a second, but when he looked back, the blur was gone. He must’ve been getting paranoid over these shadow spirits.
“No,” he replied, and got up from the table just as the bell rang. “Sorry.” He pushed past the crowd of people surrounding Mika and left.
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At the end of the day, after Grey and Winter had worked their shifts, they stopped at the warehouse again, where the three delinquents had been staying.
They must’ve come there every day, because when the duo opened the door to the place, there they were, just chilling and doing whatever they usually did during the day.
“So for the skate tournament…” Then, at the sound of the door creaking, May stopped talking, and the trio in the warehouse looked at the two expectantly. “What?” asked May. She was laying on her back on a stack of crates, throwing a small ball, maybe a baseball, up in the air repeatedly. Up, down, catch. Up, down, catch.
On the opposite side from May, the green-haired boy and May’s little sister were practicing tricks on their skateboards, using their homemade ramps.
“No updates on the shadow spirits yet. How’s the lady doing?”
“...” No one responded.
“You didn’t check in on her yet, huh?” Grey asked, slowly exhaling and closing his eyes.
“Not my problem,” May said, piercing the silence.
“It’s your problem if she dies and you don’t tell us for days.”
May dropped the baseball on her face. “Ow!”
“He does have a point,” the black-haired girl said, and May sighed reluctantly.
“Fine,” said May. “Let’s go check on her right now… but only because Vee wants to.”
“Vee?” asked Grey. He had no idea who that was, and soon he realized that he hadn’t actually learned the names of the other two people. The green-haired guy, and May’s little sister.
May sat up and pointed at her younger sister with her thumb, saying: “Vee. My sister.” The girl in question raised a hand, smiling, and Grey smiled back.
He knew her. He definitely knew her from somewhere, but he didn’t know anybody by the name of Vee. Oh well. “Anyway, should we go into the house?”
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When they checked, she was still alive, thankfully. Her breathing was slow and even, chest rising and falling as she did so, but her eyes stayed closed shut. Still unconscious. Still with part of her soul taken. Winter had even confirmed that it was still gone.
Her breathing had gotten slower than earlier though, and so did her heartbeat. The color faded from her skin, too, like it was just seeping out of her.
Inside the woman’s house, it had faded wallpaper, some depressing rugs, and a couch. A family portrait hung on the wall, yet there was no one other than their group and the lady in the house. A giant, full length mirror hung against the wall, with beautiful engravings in its frame. It was so beautiful, it stuck out in the old, run-down house, and so shiny that it reflected every last detail, down to the hairs on his arms.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNF2FQu0b30
The deep curtains in front of the windows were drawn shut, causing the only light to come in from the open door, and he could hear rain hitting the ground outside.
May crossed her arms and looked at the woman’s motionless form. “Okay, we checked, what do we do now?”
“Hell if I know,” said the guy with dyed hair.
Grey pursed his lips. “We just have to hope we find the shadow spirits, I guess,” he said, and Winter nodded.
With the shake of her head, May headed for the door, the green-haired boy trailing behind her. Vee hesitated for a second, and looked at the unconscious woman, then made eye contact with Grey. Her eyes were hazel, a really pretty shade.
Then she followed her sister, too.
“Where are you going!?” Grey asked.
“Back to the warehouse. What else are we supposed to do?”
He glanced at the ground. She had a point. This situation really, really sucked. A sigh passed his lips, and May turned the doorknob, walking outside. The rainy weather had caused the ground to get muddy again, squishing and squelching under the blonde girl’s fancy boots.
“Well… we might as well leave too,” Grey said, looking at Winter. “What do you think?”
“Sure.”
They both left too, and Grey closed the wooden door behind him, making sure Winter was with him too.
A pointless endeavor. The first day was almost up. No idea what to do. This whole thing was really starting to suck, and Grey ever wondered if there’d ever be a spirit he met that wasn’t lost, confused, evil, or dangerous. They all seemed that way.
Not knowing what to do, he just followed them, walking forward in the rain.
Ahead of him, he could hear the conversation of the trio.
“Aw, Vee, you’re gonna have to fix your makeup.”
A groan was heard from Vee. “I know. I didn’t use the waterproof one today, I ran out. Had to use the cheap ones I stashed.” She wiped at her face, but more rain kept hitting her, also causing her spiky hair to sag down straight behind her back.
“The cheap ones? Oh, my old makeup, right?” May asked.
Vee nodded. “Yep.”
“You can borrow mine if you want,” said the green-haired dude.
“Thanks, Alex,” said Vee.
“Oi! You never let me borrow your makeup!” May chimed in, giving a light shove to the green-haired guy that must’ve been Alex.
He scoffed. “That’s ‘cause I don’t want to let you.”
She shoved him again, causing the two to laugh while Vee simply smiled lightly, turning to look at her friends arguing.
When she turned her head, and her makeup was running down her face like shown before, Grey squinted hard. With a lot of the dramatic makeup gone, it was easier to see the round features of her face, and he was even more sure that he had seen her before.
“Winter?” Grey asked his friend, and looked at his icy-blue eyes that were constantly staring into nowhere.
“Mmm?”
It was probably a stupid thought, but he was just curious. “If you can sense souls, you can sense familiar ones or those you know, right?”
“Yes. I can sense your soul, too.”
Grey’s eyes widened with excitement. “Really? What’s my soul like?”
“Big. Yellow. Very round.”
Grey cocked his head to the side and put a finger to his lips. “Sorry if this is rude, but if you’re blind, how can you know what the color of the soul is?”
“I used to see. Not anymore. I can imagine the soul based on feeling.”
“Oh, right… sorry about that,” Grey mumbled, and Winter shrugged.
The rain kept pouring, and by then, Grey’s curls were drenched and reduced to soft waves of hair. They stood there for a second, before he remembered. “Right. I was going to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Can you like… sense the soul of Vee? I think I might know her, but I don’t know from where. Maybe school or something?”
“Hm.”
A few seconds passed, and they nearly reached the warehouse. The trio had gone to the place already, and had turned on the electric lantern there. “What do you sense, what do you sense?”
“Patience.”
“You sense patience?”
“No. Have patience.”
He huffed and kicked a muddy rock. Patience always took forever.
“I sense a familiar soul that was at school. There.” Winter raised a long arm covered by a striped sleeve and pointed. In the opposite direction of Vee and her friends. Instead of pointing at the girl, it was aimed to the right, and as Grey’s eyes followed it, it led to a boy with hair the brightest shade of red you could imagine, holding a black umbrella with gold accents above his head.
“Mika?” Grey said.
“Hello,” said the boy. One of his hands was in his pocket, but Grey could see the tiniest flash of gold sticking out of his pocket. “I heard about shadow spirits that were in this place, and a woman who was a victim of them?”
“Yeah, I told you that.”
His eyes widened slightly. “Oh, that was you?” He quickly wiped the expression of shock on his face. “Well, thank you. I’m here to check it out.”
“Great! I’m glad we have someone to get rid of the spirits!”
“Well, it’s my job as a member of the Crowmore family,” he said, placing a hand over his heart. “Do you mind if you show me where the victim of the spirits are?”
Grey nodded, running his hands through his wet hair and adjusting the glasses atop the dripping brown waves, and Mika held an umbrella over the two of them.
“Oh, thank you,” said the short boy, and Mika simply nodded in acknowledgement. “Before I show you the place, you should also meet my other friend, Winter…” he trailed off when he turned around only to find the empty air beside him. “Oh. He was here before.”
He looked left and right, but there was no Winter in sight. “I can’t find him,” he said, squinting. “It’s so… so hard to find him in the dark.” Grey didn’t recall it being that dark. He hadn’t gotten lost at the plaza like last time, so it was only five o’ clock.
Mikaela’s breath hitched, and his expression hardened. He pulled out the golden thing that was sticking out from his pocket, and sure enough, it was the scissors. “Get behind me.”
Oh. They were surrounded by shadows.
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“How do you fight a shadow?” Grey asked, while Mika was holding scissors threateningly at the spirits. He knew what he was doing. Probably.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmEft7hTFc
“Just don’t do anything and I’ll take care of it,” he said, looking at all of the shadows that surrounded them. The spirits and the exorcist stared at each other for a few seconds, then all hell broke loose.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtWCsN4qZs
Coming from the left, and coming from the right, they all soared down towards Mika and Grey. However, like before, Mika dodged perfectly, and the shadow spirits failed to touch a single hair on his head.
Gracefully, he spun and jumped as they shot out dark, shadowy tendrils, and the attacks of the spirits got progressively sloppier as he did so.
Evading the attacks of all of the monsters, (and doing so in a very pretty way, too), he got close to one of them, clutching his shiny golden scissors tighter than ever. The spirit he was facing shot out a tendril, but in one swift move, he ducked, making the shadow miss, and reached straight into through it and into its heart.
“ACH-!” A sound escaped him as he made contact with the ghost, a sound of pain, but that didn’t stop him. He ripped out its heart quickly and snipped the red string that connected it. The creature roared-
Then collapsed.
While Mika kept doing that, Grey was also holding up, though not as well as the trained exorcist. He dodged quite sloppily, and fell over a few times, but he always managed to get back up and keep living.
The adrenaline soaring through his veins was through the roof, and his heart was beating fast, but not because he was scared. Dodging these monsters actually was a bit exciting.
A tendril shot out towards Grey, and it just barely missed him by an inch as he spun around, trying to imitate Mika’s moves. The redhead caught sight of him doing so and yelled out: “Stop that! It’s dangerous!” He looked away for a second as he ripped out yet another heart of the spirit, snipping the red string. It screeched and fell to the ground.
Grey caught yet another glimpse of- what even was it- the weird blur behind Mika, before it disappeared again. What was that?
Right, probably more shadow spirits.
“I’m fine!” Grey yelled back, running to make the spirits chase him, then jumping to the side last minute, like he used to do when he was a kid playing tag. -He really didn’t need to worry about him. It didn’t matter if they caught him or not.
He needed to know where Winter was though. That boy seemed to have a tendency to disappear when spirits came around, and for someone who claimed to be a guard to a magical library pathway to everywhere, he seemed to run away a lot.
Grey started getting so lost in thoughts that he ignored another warning that Mika shouted out to him. He slipped on the wet, muddy grass and fell, hitting his head on a rock.
The last thing he remembered was that it really, really, hurt.
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Grey woke up in the house of the woman who was unconscious, and put a hand to his head. Ow. He had a pounding headache, and it seemed to get worse when he sat up.
“Ugh…” he groaned, bringing his fingers from his forehead to the side of his head above his temple, where he fell down and hit his head. Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, exhaled slowly, and then lifted his eyelids to glance at his surroundings once more. The house was still very empty. The unconscious woman lay on a couch, still not awake, showing that whichever spirit took part of her soul was still out there. Grey was hastily thrown on the carpet.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKSEDbBdvH
Mud streaked his right side, supposedly where he fell down. It was smeared over his grey pants, his puffy vest, and the arm he fell down on. With a horrifying thought, he ran his fingers through his wet hair. Well, it was more damp than wet, as it had some time to air dry.
Damp, frizzy curls, and a thick, nasty substance… mud.
Ugh. He’d need a shower after this.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfxj52ZZ5P
Then, he realized he didn’t know how long he was out for. For all he knew, Mika could still be out there fighting shadows, all alone. He stood up quickly and nearly hurled as the world started to spin, likely because of the sudden motion, but he stumbled over to the window anyway, ripping open the curtains.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5CGp1gSo5
He had a clear view of the grass in between the house and the warehouse. Rain poured even harsher than before. There were still a lot of spirits, and Mika was still fighting them, his actions still just as swift and graceful, but he was breathing heavier, and Grey could clearly see he was starting to get tired. The sun was starting to go down, and fighting shadows in the dark would be the worst possible situation he could think of. 248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUEuIXnSyV
He looked down at the ground. He wanted to help, but didn’t really know how to fight spirits.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8eu5swzlD
Whatever. He ran to the door, put his hand to the gold-tinted knob, and yanked it open, running outside. The wet feeling of rain started to pummel him, and he ran straight toward the dark apparitions.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPRBUKtQl3
Mika slashed one of the last ones, and ripped out its heart too, eyes widening at the sight of Grey yet again, the boy rushing in without a second thought for his safety.
“Get. BACK!” Mika yelled at Grey, breathing heavily due to the fight. His breaths were sharp, and raggedy, but his movements were all the same, coordinated attacks. Or at least, he was trying to keep his movements the same. They were getting sloppy, more rigid, like he wasn’t the real one moving. More akin to a puppet hung from strings, dancing across a stage.
“I want to help!” Grey called out at the top of his lungs. He hated feeling useless, and had nothing to lose, so what the hell? Why not? Plus, there were way too many spirits.
“What are you even going to do!?” yelled the exorcist, slashing yet another shadow’s red string at the last second. “You’re not trained! You’ll get hurt!”
That was a reasonable concern, but there was one thing: Grey didn’t care if he got hurt or not. He just flashed his best grin and said: “Doesn’t matter! I’ll distract them!” It was obvious Mika needed help now. There were so many shadows- shadow spirits that were supposed to be alone, supposed to be rare, towering over one teenager as he tried his hardest to keep them at bay.
A frown was thrown in his direction, Mika’s perfect brow scrunched up as his lips formed a line. He opened his mouth to shout again, probably more words to just let him handle it, but that meant that his attention was turned. One of the spirits touched Mika on the shoulder with a tendril, and his golden eyes immediately widened.
He took a deep breath in and looked at his shoulder. Color seemed to drain from his dark skin and bright hair, and he took slower and slower breaths of air.
His soul was being drained.
Grey took a step back, and started jumping, waving his arms. “UH- WHAT’S UP SPIRIT THINGS!? I’M RIGHT HERE! TAKE ME INSTEAD!”
“You dumb…” Mika mumbled, stepping forward and stumbling as the spirits started to surround the small, attention-grabbing boy instead. It was hard to ignore someone who was yelling, leaping, and waving their arms frantically while wearing such a bright jacket.
It worked though, and the spirits started to follow him, including the one that had been taking parts of Mika’s soul. It left, leaving the boy tired, and without parts of himself, but still mostly intact.
“What the hell is he thinking?” Mika muttered to himself, bending down and leaning on his knees for support. He held his golden scissors tighter than before while watching Grey carry out whatever his plan was.
Grey, upon seeing the spirits begin to crowd around him, turned his heel and ran. Rainboots and wet mud weren’t ideal for running, especially considering his PE grade, but what the hell? It wouldn’t hurt to try.
They screeched and chased him, and it felt like he was smack dab in the middle of a horror game. They stumbled, squirmed, and reached out in unnatural ways as an attempt to follow him, causing his legs to move faster than ever before.
Run, run, run. He splashed through a puddle, causing the brown sludge to splash all over his black cargo pants. It didn’t matter. There was enough mud there already from the previous fall. 248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1uPuUZDUA
He wasn’t the best at running, or at least, endurance running. He would always tire out too fast- but he definitely excelled at sprinting short distances.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOeS7LPV8k
Fatigue was starting to take over him, and he knew he had little time left to sprint. But where was he supposed to run? There was grass, a tree, a warehouse that was way too far, and-248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvcD7ALXmVe
“THE HOUSE!” Mika shouted at the top of his lungs. He was too far to fight the spirits anymore, but the least he could do was shout out instructions for Grey to follow and hope he wouldn’t get killed.
Grey turned to the right and sped in the direction of the unconscious woman’s house. He could feel himself start to tire out, but he just kept running.
His lungs felt like they were on fire by the time he passed through the door, and he slammed it shut the second he entered the rickety house. Breathing heavily, he leaned against the door and slid down to the ground, knees to his chest.
As he took many, many deep breaths, he waited for them to burst in through the door and take his soul as well. Or simply phase through the nearly-cardboard walls. They already saw him go in there, after all, so there was no point in hiding.
Despite his waiting, they never came. In fact, there wasn’t even a sound outside.
The rain had stopped pouring. The shadow spirits were no longer screeching.
A groan came from over on the couch, where the unconscious woman lay. Well, she wasn’t very unconscious anymore, rising up to a sitting position and leaning her face in her hands.
Then she stretched, and gazed around her home, somewhat in a daze from still waking up. However, she seemed to get out of that trance pretty quickly when she caught sight of Grey in the room with her.
“What are you doing in my house!?” she yelled, surprised and awestruck. She grabbed the item closest to her, a book that sat in the middle of a coffee table, and chucked it at him. Grey yelped and dodged as the tome hit the mirror beside him and shattered it.
His gaze lingered over the shards of glass, and then the woman.
He looked at her like he had just seen a ghost, which was pretty ironic considering that he was one of the few civilians that could actually see them. She was awake. Alive and thriving, even, with most of the color returning to her skin.
The shadow spirits… if the lady was awake, did it mean what he thought it did?
He didn’t answer her and instead moved over to the window, gently pushing the curtains apart to peek outside.
They were gone, not a single spirit in sight. The sun had fully disappeared, but it was odd. Even though it was nighttime, everything seemed… brighter, without them.
In his mind, he thanked Mika for being so competent, and being able to get rid of all of the dangerous spirits on his own, while missing a part of his soul as well. No wonder he was one of the top exorcists.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTAUE9M1oc
He turned back to the woman, who was staring at him expectantly while crossing her arms. “Well?” she asked, a frown on her face. “Explain or I’m going to call the cops.” She seemed to have calmed down enough to not throw books anymore, at least.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIsFTNTJxN
“Ah, I…” he was at a loss for words, and explaining what had happened would take a while. “Do you remember anything? When you knocked at that warehouse?”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1sxfOBE7E
“Um…” her eyes trailed to the ground as she tried to recall previous events.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0beGY6d0L
He backed up towards the door. “Okay, you go work on that,” he said, and ran outside to check on the others. She called out to wait, but he had already closed the door behind him, and was too focused on the person standing in front of him to pay attention to her words.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5RrVkCT1f
The person’s long, black hair flowed in the gentle breeze, illuminated by the full moon above.A familiar blindfold was tied around his face, as well, and Grey simply tilted his head and smiled softly. He had no idea why he was here, but it was nice to see him.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOC01wmTrl
“Ah. Hi, my guardian angel.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVr2SuXPBK
His angel smiled back, a soft one. He practically seemed to be glowing in the lighting, and the scythe he was holding in his pale hands disappeared into black particles. 248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMzuQl5Utr
They stared at each other for a bit. Or, Grey stared at the angel. He didn’t know how the other boy saw him through the blindfold, at night, too. Or if he even saw him at all. Grey noticed that he was wearing the same white dress the first time they met, more akin to a nightgown, really. 248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWESezRUUBK
The faint noises of nighttime filled their ears, and neither of them spoke until Grey cut through the quiet with his voice. “I’m going to go check on Mika. I’ll be back soon though, I have a lot of questions for you.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXtDz4Sntqg
His angel nodded, and Grey ran off to go and talk to the exorcist, and see if he was doing okay.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpANempFBfJ
He found Mika leaning against the wall of the warehouse, trying to pick the mud off of the hems of his jeans. When he gave up on that, he lifted the edges of his pants to stare in dismay at his black combat boots. If the jeans were bad, those boots were even worse.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHRmMjcrE4
“Are you okay?” Grey asked.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7yyP5tWvR
The red-haired boy sighed. “Are you alright? That was extremely reckless of you to do.” Despite his worried words, Mika spoke as if it was more of a hassle that he had to go through rather than genuine concern.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazw879PNmF
“I’m asking about you here,” said the boy. “You’re the one that got part of your soul taken.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjxnVGGxFo
There was a frown on the exorcist’s face, but he inhaled and replaced it with a smooth smile. “That is a fair point. I’m perfectly fine, though. Leave this up to the professionals next time so you don’t get hurt.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffHEoFDAeX
Grey nodded, even though he had the full intention to ignore that last bit. Who cared if he got hurt? “Well, anyway, thank you for getting rid of the rest of the shadow spirits. I don’t know how you did that, there were so many.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE65YLNZ5HE
“I did-? Ah, right.” He cleared his throat and held a hand up to his mouth. “You’re welcome. It just takes practice.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBTUBrXu3n
“It’s still pretty cool, though!” Grey said with a smile. “I wish I could be an exorcist!”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXF6B01yHN
Mika stayed silent for a bit, but nodded. “Yes, well, only those with the sight can be ones.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMpNBMMPB5
Well, Grey definitely had the sight, as he could see every spirit, hostile and not hostile, but he didn’t mention it. “Yeah. Ooh, but you need training too, right?”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEXpkmoNkS
“That’s correct.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7gyb3w2jm
“Who trained you to do the heart thing? Where you just rip it out and cut the string? I’ve never seen it, or heard of it before. And how does it work?” Questions started bubbling up at the tip of his tongue, and Mika simply backed away and held up his hands.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUQVRPB1OS
“Don’t worry about it, it’s not of any importance,” he dismissed, but then looked up at Grey. “If you’re really curious, just think of it as me… cutting off their connection to energy. So their soul can no longer manifest in a physical form.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu3jWSC6kC
It only made Grey more curious, but Mika spoke again before he could say anything else.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgiUuYs2mK
“Well,” Mika said, standing up straight and no longer leaning on the warehouse, “I’ll be off. Call me again if you need me… erm…”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0N4XY60qLm
“Grey,” said the other boy. This was the third time he had told him his name.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTAqajBJiA
“Of course, Grey. Well, see you later.” He put his hands in his pockets as usual, patting the one that held the golden scissors, and left, walking back to where he came. As he got further and further, Grey looked back to where the angel was standing.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOt1kXvgzo
Gone. He was gone. 248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXInY8unw8
The boy sighed, casting his eyes to the ground. Aw man. He had so many more questions to ask… oh well.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsQjrojJJS
Now, where was Winter? He had been missing for the whole ordeal.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTygptX6uy6
Creak.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfI220qd7tr
The door to the warehouse swung open beside him, which allowed him to hear the music inside a little clearer, and a head peeked out. May was staring at him, partially out the door, with a hand on the doorknob.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzWmRXmLsl
“Yo. You’re still standing here?”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMU59SIex3
Grey nodded. “Yep.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dgRtbg3gZ
She glanced around the grass that surrounded the warehouse with grey-blue eyes. “Aren’t there shadow spirits out here?”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9RxutxwZr
He shook his head no, looking at her with a bit of confusion. “You really didn’t notice?”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoABK1Gdsfs
She blinked at him.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2lm7rqRh4
“We had a whole exorcist fighting them… how did you not notice? They were everywhere.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzsCVYqBSC
May shrugged, and another face appeared beside her, Vee. Her makeup was gone, presumably cleaned up after the rain had caused it all to drip. “The shadow spirits are gone?”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73KgToWycV
“Yes,” Grey said, and elaborated on how that happened and all he remembered. “Ah, but Winter disappeared, I wasn’t able to find him after all this…”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4hXhguqP7
May snorted, and Vee chuckled a bit to herself, pointing behind Grey. He frowned. “What’s so funny?”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTRoKiT5DL
“Behind you, idiot,” May said, and he turned around. Winter was towering over him, as always. 248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbHA59V4Mf
“Winter!?” Grey exclaimed. “Where were you this whole time!? I have so much to explain!”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hL4Y34a4S
Winter simply shook his head and smiled gently. “Doesn’t matter. No more spirits.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJJmCP7xen
The brunet definitely had more he wanted to ask, but he didn’t say anything, and just wrapped his arms around Winter. “Well, at least you’re okay.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRLsA1mvOh
His tall friend hugged back, and they stood like that for a few seconds before Grey pulled away from the embrace. “We should probably get home though…” With a glance at the darkened sky, he knew that his mother had another lecture planned for him.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcUlHWD1x2
Winter nodded, and Vee spoke up. “Yeah, I should probably head home too.”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8OSfQg25c
May sighed. “Already? You rarely spend time with us anymore…”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKRhtVZhYL
Vee shrugged. “I told Mom and Dad I had debate club, but that doesn’t actually open until a few months from now. I do have a lot of homework to work on, and some people to tutor.” She saw the look on her older sister’s face. “Ah, but… I can try to come back later tonight?”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMLVz9p7Nx
“Hey, twinning!” Grey blurted, and held up his hand for a high-five. Everyone looked at him weird, and he nervously chuckled. “Ah… because I told my mom I had a club, too? So that I could actually work at my job? Er…” Explaining himself just made it more awkward, but eventually Vee lightly returned the high-five, and he was able to look at her for a bit without makeup.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcl23hhTxwq
She had a very round face, and almond-shaped hazel eyes. Grey stared at her, and she started to look a little confused.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIhjybeXxC
“Uh… is something the problem?248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoXbY9xsyP
“Oh, sorry,” he said, but then his eyes widened and he gasped. “OH MY GOD! YOU’RE VESPER!”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEL1lK2EgwR
She gasped as well, and leaped forward, holding a gloved hand to Grey’s mouth. “Shh!” He let out murmurs behind her hand, but she kept it there. “I don’t want anyone knowing about this, or anyone blabbing! So shh!” She looked at Winter. “That goes for you, too!”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9rdsvXKWc
Grey nodded, and she released her hand with a sigh.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK61MrK1YXn
“All right May, I’m going to start walking home,” she said, and her sister reluctantly nodded. Grey did the same and also went home, Winter next to him as always. Vesper side-eyed him. “You walk this way too?”248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jfYvWHXZv
“Apparently,” Grey said.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWIhDykCsL
They talked the rest of the way home, and May closed the door to the warehouse again. The rare shadow spirits were gone, people had gotten parts of their soul back…248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxe9sAx7eRd
However, there was one thing.
248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCTFaPRkPF
Back in the house, a woman sobbed over a mirror, one that she had broken herself.
To be fair, it wasn’t her fault that she got startled and threw the book at an intruder. Anyone would be scared.
She still hadn’t got the explanation she wanted, but her memories were beginning to return to her, about the shadow monsters that attacked. She remembered a woozy feeling overtaking her as she was being carried by multiple people, and being placed on the couch, where she wasn’t able to move or do anything.
But that didn’t matter. What truly caused her heart to pound was the broken mirror.
Her finger traced the intricate carvings in the metallic frame, and then she picked up one of the shards, staring at her reflection in it.
This was her mother’s mirror. That woman was a treasure hunter, an artifact gatherer, whatever you wanted to call it. One day, she found this mirror, and gifted it to her daughter. Her.
Now it was simply pieces of reflective glass and a frame.
Her heart was heavy, but the tears started to cease falling down her face as she calmed down. She gazed at her reflection again, seeing herself in the shard she held. Not ugly, not beautiful. Just…248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCn6lg9lHg
She drew in her breath and dropped the shard from shock.
The reflection she saw was not hers. It was a strange, unfamiliar girl.
She could only watch as something that made her feel downright mad happened. Like sand being shifted upwards, some sort of matter rose from the shards, and formed a girl.
Girls never rose from shards of glass, but this one had.
She looked perfectly normal, but she acted like she had just gotten out of a cave after hundreds of years.248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSW0rZHJNKL
The new girl looked around. Then she glanced at her hands, flipping them back and forth, like it was a marvel to see them. She then started touching everything, the walls, the tables, flicking the lightswitch.
A smile grew on her face, and the girl from the mirror smiled at the woman.
“Hello,” she said, leaning down so she was at eye level with the lady sitting on the floor. “Do you know where I am- and when?”
248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrPgCutMSY
