A slender and tall figure with blond hair was lost in thought looking at the sky. He seemed to be waiting for someone special that Sunday morning.
The breeze was cool and the sun was just bright enough. Just when things were brimming with positive energies, it didn’t cloud his vision yet as it was quickly disrupted by the person who he was waiting for eagerly.
“Are we there yet?” Dylan muttered exhausted from last night.
Demi didn’t even have to stamina to answer, it seems last night was a tough one to get by. Both were incredibly sleep deprived.
“Demi..?” Lin looked over confused.
“Oh..? Hey…” Demi waved malnourished.
They hugged each other, but Lin felt Demi slipping from his arms every second. Her head sank below his shoulder and refused to move.
“Guys..? What’s going on?”
“I feel bad for you. Demi, give this man a proper date would you?” Said the man that is currently third wheeling theirs.
“I’m… sorry…” Demi mumbled under his arms and seemed to have grown quiet.
Lin looked down and tucked her hair away only to notice her asleep.
“Dylan? Seriously what’s going on?” Lin was concerned and demanded an answer.
Dylan then vaguely explained how they couldn’t sleep at all last night because they watched a scary movie and now they’re here totally sleep deprived. This excuse was perfectly orchestrated beforehand by Demi herself.
Dylan yawned profusely, while still on high alert unlike Demi who really could use some sleep after the unfortunate turn of events last night.
“Sigh… you could have just cancelled, why did you have to drag yourself out here in this condition?” Lin complained but wasn’t even sure if Demi was listening or not.
Demi snapped out of her trance and finally opening her eyelids.
“Because we haven’t had a proper date ever since we started dating… it’s always been school, taekwondo, go home and repeat.”
“Yeah, you’ve got to work on your schedules. I know school is important but you could have squeezed in a few dates somewhere…” Dylan sure had his fair share of complaints as well.
“If you have so much to say, then go to some other coffee shop!” Demi yelled with her exhaustion and frustration jumbled up into a volcanic outburst.
“But I don’t like any other coffee place..!” Dylan started to whine.
Lin felt like this date that he was promised was turning into a babysitter’s nightmare—whiny, groggy little kids throwing a tantrum.
“Dylan, I don’t really mind that you’re here and I can tell both of you need some coffee and I’ll get it for you.”
They somehow make it to the store in one piece.
“So, how was my lying skills?” Dylan nudged Demi who was trying to catch some z’s on their table.
“Huh..? Good I guess…”
“God… why did we have to clean up the glass shards..?” Demi uttered.
“Because we were there when it happened and it’s only natural to help out..?”
“You sound self-righteous, I saw you bolting a mile away when the window broke.”
“Fine! But damn, sleepover in the living room wasn’t all that comfortable.” Dylan gave her a glance with the indication of him going too far.
“And WHO had to sleep on the carpet because someone kept pushing me off the quilt..?!” Demi was losing her mind.
“Jeez, your face is scary when you’re pissed…” Dylan looked away.
“Four americano’s, there you go.” Lin kindly brought over their drinks and took a seat.
“I’ll be off after this, so take your time and have some fun..!” Dylan took a sip.
Demi looked at him without a word.
“See you later then!” Lin answered.
“Somebody’s eager to see me off…” Dylan joked.
Demi chuckled at the comment.
“Single people wouldn’t understand the pain, isn’t that right', Lin?”
Lin looked away a little flushed.
“Of course, talking shit about me, classic Demi. Anyway, I’ll be off now! See you tomorrow, Lin.” He got up and decided to leave.
“I’m done too. Let’s go.” Demi quickly rushed to Dylan.
She then whispered, “Will you be fine on your own?”
“I’ll be fine. I’m going home anyway. You should watch out instead.”
She patted him on the shoulder and said goodbye.
“Feeling better?” Lin approached from behind and held her hand.
“Coffee really does the trick.” She readily locked fingers with him.
“Where are we headed anyway?” Demi was curious.
“Hmm… I don’t know. Do you have anything in mind?”
“How about waffles with ice cream?”
“This early in the morning? It’s only 9!”
“Not enough information to convince me otherwise. What do you say?”
“Fine! Wherever you want to go!”
People swarmed in every direction and the noise of traffic filled the air but even with all these distractions Dylan could only hear his own thoughts—loud and clear.
“I really don’t want to go see the situation at home… those slimy bleached monsters… were more terrifying than I imagined. Maybe I should be glad Forsyth was there. Just when I was getting used to seeing her in cat form, she just had to turn back to her scary and intimidating form again.”
He then instinctively perked up his head and turned around.
“Yeah, there’s no way they would show up in broad daylight… I hope.”
He kept walking forward regardless of his worries and wanted to get to his room quickly and take a long nap.
His mind wandered off into fantasyland and became completely unaware of his surroundings. Just then he bumped straight into a woman turning the corner.
“O-Oh! Sorry!” He politely backed away and apologised in a fidgety manner.
The lady whose face was not visible from his angle didn’t have much to say and kept walking. Her stride was weak and her back hunched over probably from exhaustion. She didn’t look up nor acknowledge him and shuffled away.
“Um… okay??” Dylan was baffled by her apparent rudeness. But something about her was familiar to him.
He turned, “Hmm? Maybe it’s just the blonde hair…”
The boy still had things to mull over instead of being upset over strangers. He reached home and went for the gate. To the right stood the well furnished apartment building and the root of their current mishap— a shattered window.
The notably damaged bay window led straight to the makeshift sun room area in Will’s bedroom and scattered the entire floor with glass shards and the timber sill crushed into pieces.
“Damn… what a wreak. How is Will going to explain this to his mom..? More importantly how did that monster even climb up three floors and why break into our apartment.” After a deep sigh, he decided to go pay them a visit.
Glass clinked and crashed into the trash bag and handled carefully with caution. Will was busy with this huge workload and mostly having no idea what he has to do in this situation. He didn’t recall learning how to handle accidents like these properly from anybody.
He stretched his back and knotted the bag and was currently pulling it outside.
“There! Now that that’s done, time to see the actual mess…”
Just then he hears footsteps approaching from the staircase and jumped into high alert mode.
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“It’s just me, chill...” Dylan said while putting his hands up in a display of innocence. “And I have coffee!”
William gasped at the sight of caffeine and gladly took a sip.
He exhaled calmly, “This coffee was worth crashing a date for…”
Dylan walked across and entered the humble abode—although not so humble anymore— still had the usual chaos and confusion like always.
Duct tape and newspapers scattered the floor and beneath those untidy papers was Ray tearing up the paper to stick onto the window.
“Ray? Coffee..?” Dylan lifted off the newspaper covering his head and handed the drink in his hands.
“And what about mine?” A lazy but bold voice spoke from on top of the kitchen counter.
“Why are you still here?” Dylan turned disgruntled.
“Why shouldn’t I be? I wasn’t aware you were making the rules… I don’t know if you know but I don’t get along with authority figures…” Forsyth happened to be the only one who had been benefitted from all this.
“Why aren’t you helping…?” Dylan asked.
“Be mindful little one, you wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for me…”
Dylan slowly backed away in cowardice. He then went to the room of the accident and inspected the damage.
The floor was now clean, and some sections of the window were sealed off with cardboard. Not the sturdiest cover but it was only a temporary fix. Looking at the aftermath, he couldn’t help but recall that traumatic moment.
“It’s time I tell you of my plans…”
“First, I need a vessel and the only place we can rely on is the school. We must go there now.”
“Now?! You’re joking!” Dylan screamed.
“I’m terrible with jokes.” She proclaimed without batting an eye.
“Please reconsider, we might already be blacklisted from our visit today and it would cause more trouble for the twins since they go to the school.” Will acted on their behalf.
Forsyth was frustrated by their demands for being more useless than animals requiring clothing.
“Look here, imps. I’ll only say this once: Do you wish to die early not experiencing what life has to truly offer and forget who you are, what you are, where you’re from and who you’re related to, or live out the minuscule mortal lifespan without regrets?!”
The four look up with mortified faces and realise that this was transitioning into some personal views of Ms Afterlife.
When the tension started to run high and everyone clenching to think of a safer way to navigate this problem, a soul-shaking crash burst through the window from one of the room’s from behind.
The frightened heads turned at once to the noise of glass shattering and crumbling.
William was the first to rise, he knew exactly where the sound came from. There was only one room with enough glass to make that sound—his bedroom.
“What was that..?!” Dylan spoke with the worst possible scenario in mind.
He was immediately shushed by Ray, “Quiet.” He followed Will with careful footsteps.
William was almost at the door but hesitated, Ray joined from behind. “It couldn’t have been a bird, right?” Ray asked almost sure of the danger now.
“No way, it’s tempered…” Will held his ear against the door and listened closely.
He heard continuous clinking from the glass and faint thuds. He looked at the people in the room and ascertained with the look of his face that this was something to be afraid of.
Gently applying pressure to the handle, he pushed it open with only a minute clicking sound.
Through the opening, towards the farthest corner of the room, stood a dark figure directly on top of the glass shining in the moonlight. Will knew exactly what it was as soon as he laid eyes on that grotesque white entity. But just when he could collect his wits and back away, the door creaked completely open.
The disfigured blank turned to their side and brought its mangled face forward as it’s neck grew longer. It’s arms spread wide and reached for the floor, whilst the legs remained glued to the floor. The deformed arms now took shape into fingers as it reached for William’s head.
William, panicked and fear-stricken, impulsively reaching for the door handle that he failed to hold onto. His vision had also failed him. His room felt like a void of darkness. Seeing the blank approaching, Ray put his arm across Will’s chest, and gripping his shoulder, he pulled him back.
The twins immediately ran to their side but was stopped by a blaring voice.
“YOU TWO, DOWN!”
The cat pounced past the sofa and hurried past the guys who were now on the floor. She came face to face with the blank and went straight for its head. She dug her claws into its face and immediately brought it down.
A few moments pass and the blank twitches uncontrollably and finally falls to the ground. Not only did the blank stop moving but also the cat.
“A-Angus..?” William weakly called out.
The blank was starting to reconstruct and regain its shape again, it’s arms retracted and head back on it’s drooping shoulders, and the twisted limbs now had a proper framework. However, not only did it regain shape, it also had a drastic change in appearance.
A dark luxurious coat and black leather boots, topped with a wide brimmed hat and long burgundy hair. It was unmistakably the very appearance the twins feared.
It eventually rose and rested on their knees, the eyes opened to reveal a deep pool of blood red retinas.
“Hm? That’s better…” she brushed off her coat and tidied her hair.
“Who…are you?” Will muttered still on the floor.
“That’s Forsyth…” Demi looked up almost mesmerised.
“Here’s your cat back.” She politely handed over the cat to William.
“Angus!” William rejoiced on finally reuniting with his pet.
“Meow?” The cat wasn’t aware of what was going on but wasn’t as reluctant of cuddles this time.
“The vessel’s activity has ceased, rest easy.”
The long coat flew high as she turned to the scene of the attack.
The window cracked completely open and flung shards all across the floor and bed. The curtains torn hastily and the rod holding them bent from the impact. It was obvious that the blank found the curtains to be an obstruction and plummeted straight to it. Smooth timber sill now smashed through the middle left dangerously protruding spikes of wood.
Forsyth navigated through the shards and peeped outside. Traces of smudges were seen directly below the window.
“Board up this damaged window quickly. We are not out of danger just yet…” she cautioned as she fled the scene swiftly.
William was absolutely devastated at the sight of his room in shambles. The damage was not something he could even comprehend added to his first face to face encounter with a blank he was really at his wits end.
Ray reached from behind and said to his friend, “Will, get up. It’s not safe to sit around. Do you have any materials lying around here?”
“Materials..?” Will got up and looked around but he couldn’t remember anything that fit the description.
The twins glanced at each other with unsure looks. They wanted to help but didn’t really know what was to be done.
“What about cardboard?” Ray provided as much assistance as he could.
“I might have something… let me go find it.” He stomped off to another room behind the kitchen.
“So how did you take that thing down?” Demi looked behind at Forsyth who was on the sofa in deep thought.
“Shifted my spirit from the cat to that creeper. The process itself is simple but requires a lot of power. I might not be able to spring back into action for a while now.”
“Right…?” Demi was amazed at the level of professionalism she showed with the same lazy attitude.
Her hat sprung up from the sofa as she instructed them, “Also, nobody leave this house for now…”
“That makes sense…” Demi nodded along to her command.
It seems her instructions were yet to finish. “We are elevated by three floors from the ground and there were two other windows below it could have broken, but it chose the farthest option— us.”
“So, we are being targeted?” Dylan found himself more things to worry about.
“Extremely likely.” She did not hesitate to water that worry.
The mood quickly fell into despair. The sunken heads weren’t able to keep their mind off of what just occurred. An unfortunate but timely incident happened to be exactly what the afterlife needed to revoke on her search for a vessel any time soon. But just as she adapts to her new body, she finds something strange about it.
Ray, who had just left Will’s side, zooms past the kitchen and into the living room. He quickly makes an attempt to clean up the mess on the coffee table.
The twins catch him during his work while they were seated on the carpet.
“Do you need help, Ray?” Demi politely asked if she could be of service. It caught Dylan’s attention since he’s been wanting to help out as well.
“It’s dinner time, aren’t you guys hungry?”
Both the twins had completely forgotten about hunger from all the bizarre things happening around. They realised they hadn’t eaten anything since lunch—which wasn’t filling either.
“What’s on the menu?” Dylan enquired as he felt his hunger returning.
“Dunno. Whatever is in Will’s fridge…”
They didn’t have to worry about the fridge being empty. For a college student living on his own, Will never stayed true to what he was branded as— he was a great cook and would occasionally cook meals along with his mom whenever the twins were in their care. The twins didn’t really mind having to stay at the Krause residence, and weren’t picky eaters at all. They enjoyed their time in the household of their father’s close friend— Mrs Krause. Even though they can very well live independently now even when their father isn’t around all the time, they still pay regular visits to Will’s place—be it for just a little meeting or full on family gatherings involving food, of course.
Demi turned to Forsyth who was sitting reserved on the sofa. “So… do you eat..?” She felt this question could very well turn offensive but she found no reason to sugarcoat something that everyone had a need for.
“No.” She turned with an unimpressed expression.
“If you want the science behind it, don’t bother. I’m a ghost, we don’t fall under the rules of science…”
Demi looked away and noticed Dylan eagerly waiting for another question.
“Can you fly?”
“…I can. In my own vessel, I suppose. I can also pass through atoms in my spirit form.”
“What happened to your vessel anyway?” Another question popped up.
“Confiscated.”
They clearly had to ask every nosy question there is about her vessel, like— why was it confiscated? Who confiscated it? Is there afterlife police? Are you a criminal?
She simply answered all of those questions with, “I don’t wish to elaborate.”
“Hmm… touchy topic I guess. But we’ll eventually hear about it one of these days, once we become close enough…” Demi conveyed to Dylan, who also agreed to her statement.
“‘Close’..? With mortals… how deluded must you be to associate me with someone you can get close to.”
Her words weren’t wrong. In her life as an afterlife and a sinner at that, she knew she had to pay a huge price for what she had done in the time she was alive. She regretted something and compensated for a life she did not remember anymore. Frustration and anger combined made the person she is now— no ounce of sympathy and companionship that makes humans humane, and burdened every day to hunt for karma that she had developed within herself as a mortal by the hatred and resentment of others.
“Whatever you say, Ms Afterlife… but y’know you’re still stuck with us until we figure out the blank situation…” Demi shrugged.
“I’ve been thinking, this vessel is certainly not the ones I’m used to. It’s made by impure means, surely, but the sensation I feel emanating from this body is uncanny and hard to recognise…” The more she mulled over the thought, it was risky to say that this cannot be treated as a vessel and came to terms with calling it a blank, like the mortals.
“Why do you call these vessels, blanks?” She proposed a question right away.
“No clue. Will was the one who gave it that name. Is it some pop culture reference?” Dylan looked at Demi in order to confirm his claim.
“I see. Regardless, I’ve come to the conclusion that these new form of vessels will be blanks from henceforth.”
“By the way, why do you have such a deep scar? Or was that also a sensitive question..?” Dylan tried to be respectful but there was just too much to know.
The scar that ran down Forsyth’s left eyebrow till her cheekbone was quite unusually structured. It was not a scar rather a crack. Like a shattered piece of ceramic, it broke through her skin. It wasn’t very visibly but in the dark when her eyes shine the way one could clearly see the bloody scar.
“This scar…? It’s a crack actually. Sinners like myself have these cracks on their spirit. It’s a sign that shows how much we must pay. Heal the cracks, we are released from the shackles of afterlife and possibly get reincarnated, or commit more atrocities for your name, you crumble and disappear…”
“Damn.” Demi didn’t have much to say.
“Ghosts don’t have it as easy as they show in cartoons, do they…?” Dylan began to worry of what will happen to him one day.
“Sins… doesn’t everybody have a fair share of them?” Ray appeared to ask a question of his own.
“Yes. But how they are judged upon is the true meaning of being a sinner.”
“And who judges them?” William finally joined from behind Ray carrying boxes.
“God..?” She answered questionably.
“Why do you seem unsure?” Will posed another difficult question that Forsyth found tedious to answer.
“I can not make assumptions nor can I give assurance. Even as a wandering afterlife I still believe that finding the whereabouts of God to be an eternally path-less journey…”
Eventually the questionnaire session came to an end. Everyone in the house helped out with shaping up the room again. It was not perfectly done but they tried their best and set it aside to finish up in the morning.
By the time dinner time was done, it was already past 9:30 pm. They were exhausted but couldn’t sleep a wink that night.
“Demi, Dylan! Move the sofa back, we’ve got to place the quilt…” Will ordered them while carrying a huge fluffy blanket that he had gotten from their other house just a floor above his own.
The apartment where the entire family lived together before they split was on the top floor with the largest rooms. But unfortunately after the divorce, Will and his mom moved to a different location altogether. After much pestering and begging, Will was finally able to move back here. As much as he wanted it to remind him of the old days, he found that it would be holding him back just like his mother, so he sought to a different apartment instead.
“Did you… perhaps, see anything on the way?” Dylan gulped as he pulled the sofa back along with Demi.
“No… but it was dark..? And there were some noises actually.”
“What kind of noises..?!”
William chuckled, he didn’t like anything more than teasing Dylan on any given chance.
“Not to worry, it was just the guitarist down the hall…”
“Dylan, do you need the Noodle plushie so you can sleep soundly tonight?” Demi looked at him with a displeased look. But the plushie did possess powerful properties. Any heated fight would soon disperse in the presence of the mighty penguin with a bow tie.
“Tch- Fine, I’ll stop caring about you lot’s safety and if there is danger I’m certainly not waking you up!”
“There, the bed’s ready, pick your sides now before it’s too late.”
In this competitive situation with a two high schoolers and a fellow friend, Ray quickly retracted and made his way to the sofa.
Ray’s slyness was immediately drained at the sight of Forsyth taking over the entire thing.
“Why did I even bother ..?” He mumbled as he accepted defeat.