Hannah had met Luke in the graveyard where he had been working. At that time, she had been escaping from her life, yearning for something exciting. Ironically, it was in that very cemetery where she had rediscovered her zest for life.
Luke and Hannah had encountered a wise sage deep within a crypt. This sage taught them how to harness all sorts of powers. To master these abilities. Hannah learned to use psychic energy, and to see ghosts, just like Luke.
She then retreated to the mountains, training with the ghost of a veteran from the Great War.
Now, she knew a myriad of survival and camouflage techniques.
While her reinforcement abilities weren't as developed as Luke's, her so-called 'projection' skills were off the charts. Thanks to a kind of psychic web, she could pick up on events unfolding miles away from her. Luke gave her the nickname 'radar' because of this unique ability.
But collecting a flood of information at high speed was useless without the capacity to process it.
That's why she trained herself in cerebral reinforcement, despite Luke's warnings about the dangers of the technique. It allowed her to process information multiple times faster than the average person, turning her into a living computer, connected to thousands of sensory cameras.
Yet, this ability didn't help her find the killer.
Spreading her web over the entire campus was so draining that she couldn't maintain it for more than twenty minutes. She could watch a smaller area for hours, but hoping that the next murder would conveniently happen in that specific zone was a desperate gambit. Like Luke, who couldn't fully utilize his powers against this enemy, Hannah was stuck.
It was as if the only way to find the target was if the target chose to be found. The hunters were forced to play by the prey's rules.
Meanwhile, Luke's ability to read emotions was still too experimental to be truly reliable. He'd only used it a few times, on a handful of people. But on this vast campus, he was seeing emotions he'd never encountered before. He began to doubt the effectiveness of his method.
"Blue and gray, mixed with another color... what does that mean...?" He mused, sitting on a bench, watching the passing students.
In the midst of his thoughts, a figure suddenly sat next to him. A figure, or rather, a ghost.
Before Luke had control over his powers, he couldn't differentiate between the living and the dead. This issue led him to talk to ghosts in public, only realizing his mistake when he noticed the bewildered stares from the living. But with training, he learned to tell the difference. Now, it was obvious; ghosts had a thin, light blue membrane around them. Impossible to miss.
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When this ghost sat next to him, Luke turned his head to look at her. A young girl in a white dressing gown, with long, wavy brown hair. Her large brown eyes regarded Luke with curiosity. "Your eyes are shining, can you see me?" the ghost asked in a soft voice.
Luke remembered how ghosts, unaccustomed to being seen, had strong reactions when they felt observed. Some became aggressive, others fled, and some were drawn closer.
He pondered whether to engage her in conversation or shut off his psychic senses to neither see nor hear her. "Talking to myself might draw attention... And if the killer realizes that there are agents here, he will flee. The mission will have failed, and at that point, what will the Lab do to me? Is talking to her worth that risk ?" He thought.
Furthermore, he had stopped questioning the campus ghosts about the killer since the answers were either disappointing or a total waste of time. Some ghosts, starved for attention, made up stories, leading Luke on false trails. After several fabricated tales, he concluded that the ghosts weren't reliable enough to aid the investigation.
He was about to 'unplug' his psychic senses when the girl spoke up again. "It seems like you're looking for someone. Can I help?" she asked, her legs crossed and chin resting on her hand.
"Maybe talking won't hurt..." Luke decided as he studied the young girl, noticing her attire and mannerisms. "A dressing gown... she probably died on campus, in her dorm. Her odd way of speaking, and that lace gown... she's been dead for a long time. Twenty years? Maybe thirty? She must have seen and heard a lot..." His thoughts raced.
But the girl was growing impatient, possibly even doubting if Luke could really see her. She began to get up, preparing to leave.
That's when Luke decided to engage her. He solidified his psychic body and grabbed her arm.
She spun around, her eyes wide open. No living person had ever touched her.
"Wait," Luke said quietly. "Follow me." He began to move towards the rooftop where he liked to have lunch.
The ghost silently followed without a word.
About ten minutes later, they found themselves alone on the rooftop. The ghost was sitting on the roof, legs crossed. Luke paced back and forth across the rooftop, while the ghost watched in silence, probably eager for him to speak.
Finally, he stopped pacing.
"I'm looking for a killer, one who's caused the death of several students. Do you know anything?" he asked.
The ghost seemed disappointed by his question. She leaned back, resting her hands on the roof behind her, her shoulders slightly raised.
"All this time, I've dreamed of talking to a living person, and all you care about is the rise in ghost population on campus? Are you writing a thesis or something?" she retorted sarcastically.
Luke sat down in front of her, looking her straight in the eyes. "It's really important. You tell me what you know, and then we can talk about whatever you want." Luke was bargaining with not much to offer.
But luckily, her eyes lit up at his words. "Deal!" she said, slapping her hand into his, then standing up. She turned towards the partially visible campus from the rooftop, her fingers knitting together. "I don't know who's been causing all the deaths here..." she paused for a few seconds, tapping her fingers together before continuing, "But I've seen something."