The twins and William finally make it home. Silence had blocked out every conversation William could muster up. Bullying was always as issue—Will had some experience as well— but the time did not call for a fight. He knew those two were reckless enough on any normal day and did not wish for a bloodbath. They still continued onward with weak steps.
Just then a friendly voice approached William.
“William! Hey!”
“Huh? Mrs Jones?”
He immediately let go of his exhaustion and put his hands together in respect.
“How have you been?”
“Oh, I’ve been great! Just wanted to tell you that rent will be paid later next week!” She immediately fled the scene with a smile.
“Oh, okay! I’ll tell my mother then.” He waved bye.
But it seems she still had more to talk and came back from her apartment with a plastic box as big as her own mass.
“These are for you and your mom. I don’t see her around these days she must be busy with work. Make sure you eat these before they go bad!”
“Uh… so big…!” He mumbled to himself. “Thank you for the gift!” He awkwardly grabbed the box in his arms.
He then turned to the twins to tell them to go on ahead, but it seems they didn’t need that instruction they were already a floor ahead.
“Sigh…” Demi moodily unlocked the door.
“Looks like Will got held up by the tenants… when will Mrs Krause be coming?” Dylan seemed distracted.
“Dylan, I don’t think she would appreciate you using that last name to address her.”
“Oh my god! My bad, how could I forget?”
“Old habits die hard, I suppose. As for when she will be coming—beats me! She’s never been around since Will entered college…”
“Hmm…” Dylan had nothing more to say.
Demi opened the door and immediately noticed the familiar black and blue sneakers near the entrance. She looked up and was greeted by Ray raiding the fridge.
“You certainly make yourself at home here…” Demi let out a nervous laugh.
“I could say the same about you two.” He sipped his drink.
Dylan curiously peeped from behind and noticed him holding a can of soda. He freaked out and pushed Demi forward to get a better view.
He glanced the living room and noticed the untidy sofa and the coffee table still a mess from before and the same books that Will used to trap Forsyth.
“Where’s Angus?!” He screeched into Demi’s ears.
“He’s right there, behind the sofa.” Ray pointed.
The two frantically scurried into the house and made sure they locked eyes with the cat.
The cat sitting on its buttocks without a care in the world and its tail swaying gently, lifted one of its fore paws and waved at them.
Demi waved back in disbelief.
“What are you doing?!” Dylan hollered as he slapped her hand down. “Grab him!”
“Okay, I didn’t wish to ask but you are really pushing it. What are you doing with the cat? Does William know of this? Because I’m sure he wouldn’t let you torment it as you please…”
“We are not tormenting Anggy!” Dylan protested. “Did you free him from the bucket?”
“Yes, I did.” He noticed Demi scooping up the cat in a frightful manner.
“Explanation. Now.” Ray crossed his arm and looked them straight in the eye. Those sharp eyes will make anyone feel fear.
“U-Uh…” Dylan was malfunctioning.
Just then the front door opened once again.
William entered not paying much attention and talking all the while, “Guys, is Forsyth still here? Hopefully she is, because I’m not ready to go on a wild goose chase again.”
Even with his monologue he managed to lock the door with the latch this time and noticed the silence in the room.
“Guys…?” He turned around and met face to face with Ray.
“Ray?! Not you again!” William frowned on seeing his face but kept going, “Who said you could come in whenever you want?! Like, at least tell me beforehand-”
Ray interrupted him halfway and held him by the collar and dragged him out the door, “Let’s take this outside.”
Ray forcibly shut the door and the twins flinched from behind the sofa.
“A lover’s quarrel?” Forsyth contemplated in Demi’s arms.
“Maybe?” Dylan answered.
The cat sprung out of Demi’s hold and onto the sofa.
“I assume you have some questions?”
“You didn’t do anything to Ray did you?” Demi asked almost certain of her words.
“Hmm… I guess not.” Forsyth fiddled with her claws.
“Huh? I’m mildly surprised..!” Dylan sounded relieved.
“But don’t think you’re excused from earlier…” The foreboding aura of doom spread the room.
They both gasped in horror and broke a cold sweat.
“So? What news do you bear? Did you find the source?” She quickly moved on to the questionnaire.
“Um… maybe?” Demi replied a little unsure.
They eventually narrated their entire excursion from the spider to its shadow’s unusual journey and till the drain through which it fled.
“Killed itself you say?” Forsyth went into deep thought.
She turned to them, “Say, what did the shadow look like? Did it in some way not resemble your own shadows?”
“It somehow detached itself from the spider and slithered off on its own… besides that it was no more than any regular shadow—black and dark.” Demi claimed.
Dylan did not have anything more to add.
“I want you to take me there.”
“What?! We escaped a major risk and barely managed to come back as legal citizens!” Dylan shouted.
“Dolores, do you fear imprisonment more than your own life?”
“Dolores..?” Demi sounded weakly. “I thought you knew our names…?”
“Well, you don’t have your identification cards on you today, so I really can’t tell the difference between you two…” the cat shrugged.
Dylan and Demi blinked profusely in synchrony.
“Anyway, what say you, Dominique?” She looked over to Demi.
“It’s Demi! And I’m Dylan!!” Dylan groaned from frustration.
“Why should that matter now?! Both of you are hopeless, when is blondie coming?” Forsyth realised these two weren’t the best at decisions as she hoped them to be.
Meanwhile, outside the door, William still holding onto the box was struggling to maintain conversation from his own eruption.
“So?! Why are you here now?” He was still angry and was ready to face the consequences.
Ray remained quiet until William finished his outburst. “Are you done?”
“What?”
“Are you done venting?”
“Why would you assume I’m venting, when I actually want you to fix your habits?!”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
“You’ve been tolerant of my habit until now. So, I assumed you were just angry from me getting involved in your little detective game.”
“That..!” William felt defeated by his own actions. It finally hit that what he’s been doing was slightly unjust.
“Or is it that you are hiding something else..?”
William’s silence was all the answer Ray needed.
“Spill it, what have you been up to? What happened on the 5th and why are the twins involved? Why haven’t you replied back to my messages?” Ray seemed to have lost his cool.
“Sigh… guess I hid it long enough…” Will reached across his shoulder and dragged him inside. “Come on...”
“W-What are you…”
William opened the door and interrupted the conference between the twins and the cat.
They noticed them stuck close and rejoiced.
“Have you made up?!” The twins screamed in unison.
“Haha! No.”
“Seriously what’s going on?” Ray was completely stupefied by what was going on.
“Hey! If we’re telling it better be only you talking!” Dylan stormed off to the kitchen.
Ray took a seat next to Demi on the sofa who was busy on the phone and William rested on the coffee table in front of them while the cat sat behind.
“This is going to be long so peel your ears…” Demi gave Ray words of encouragement.
“So, where do you want to begin?”
“The 5th, what happened then for it to interest you?”
“Where do I start…? The security footage…”
He started vaguely from the security footage they had procured together and showed him a picture of the monitor he took that day. A blurry picture, barely identifiable.
“What am I seeing?” Ray squinted his eyes as he drew closer to the screen.
“This right here is me.” Will pointed his index finger at a greyish figure in between some trees.
“This actually came on the newspaper on the 5th ...”
“You mean the one about that mentally unstable person on the loose?”
“Oh? So, you do know! Did you do research?”
“I did some digging…” Ray looked away.
Demi, who was pretending to be busy on the phone, only had ears in their direction. She couldn’t help but comment on their interactions.
“Aww? Were you concerned Will was up to no good again?”
“Demi.” Will said sharply. “Hush or are you willing to continue this explanation?”
“No thanks. I don’t want to be branded as a cultist.” She kindly declined his offer.
“Cult? I knew you were up to no good…” Ray was disappointed.
“Ugh! I’m not part of any cult..!” William was starting to get a headache from all this.
“And... that’s you..?” Ray was slightly off put by the image. “Why… are you naked?”
“No! That’s not me. It’s just a creature that has my face..!”
Demi’s phone started to buzz. She immediately got up and went outside for some fresh air.
“Hello?” She started.
“Hey…Demi.”
“Hm? What’s up? You don’t sound very good.”
“Do I? I actually had an enjoyable day… haha!”
“Really? Working minimum wage is enjoyable for you?” She joked.
“Hey! It’s for my family, how could I refuse? Also… I don’t even get paid.” He immediately felt his plight. “Okay…! Maybe it wasn’t as enjoyable. But it was eventful, I guess.”
“Mm-hm… are you going to tell me about it? Since it’s the reason we couldn’t meet today…” She was obviously playing with him; she was grateful that they didn’t have to cancel because she had to go on the excursion. They were both busy today, so it evened out.
“Wait a second! Didn’t you say you were busy today evening as well..!”
She chuckled. “I’m just messing with you… so how’s Gabbie?”
Demi was never informed of how heavy the situation really was. Lin had only told her that he wasn’t able to see Gabbie for a long time because she lived a long way from home. Something that Lin was surprised to know was the fact that Demi was the first to talk with Gabbie after she had left home in person.
They met at their previous café building and had a small conversation with each other. It seemed to have left an impression on her and remembered Gabbie for her very speedy and one-way conversations.
“She’s doing well, thank you for asking. But I feel our time was cut short this time. And it will take a long time for us to meet again…” Lin felt down.
“Lin… but you finally got to see her after so long in person. I’m sure you’re happy about that…”
Lin thought for a second. “…I’ve been meaning to tell you a lot of things, but I just can’t…”
Demi gave a long pause.
“I didn’t mean to make it sound weird..!” Lin instantly retracted his words.
“I can wait.”
“I’ll wait until you want to tell me whatever it is you want to say. How much ever time you need, I’ll give.”
“But eternity doesn’t count!”
Lin couldn’t help but laugh at how easy and refreshing she makes him feel when she’s around.
“Surely I wouldn’t make you wait an eternity.”
“That’s what I thought too. Anyway, besides not telling me your secrets… how about you tell me things I haven’t heard yet come out of your mouth?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Hmm..? I don’t know, like… how pretty I look right now?” She had no shame with that suggestion.
“H-Huh?! And what am I supposed to say when I can’t even see you?” Lin felt a billion complaints coming his way probably from watching too many shows with girlfriends asking them how they look and there will be only one right answer. He clearly missed his chance.
“I guess you’re right.” Demi let him off easy or maybe she just didn’t notice how much she put Lin on the spot.
But Lin still wanted to answer. He may have held back for a while now, but it was time things changed.
“…Even if I can’t see you right now, I know that you’re just as beautiful, especially when you smile.”
“GOSH! You gave me goosebumps! That was so cheesy..!” Demi fumed from that comment.
“Cheesy?! But I meant it..!” Lin revolted.
“Enough of that! Go back to whatever you were doing!” Demi impulsively cut the call.
“Hey-”
Demi rested her hands on the windowsill and immediately melted to the ground.
“Shame on me for falling this hard for that cheese…” Her face was completely red from the embarrassment that she brought on herself.
“Sigh… I’ll just message him, so I don’t make him feel like a villain…”
After much thought she sent a message.
“How about a date tomorrow? I expect only one answer! Get some rest. Good night!”
Along with a sticker of cute fictional character oversleeping. It proved to be quite accurate to Lin’s habit of oversleeping, especially on the weekends.
“Hm?” Lin saw a text and immediately let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goddess she’s not mad…”
He then replied, “I won’t be late, I promise!”
“Really? I expect you to still be late regardless.”
“You sure do have the guts to joke when you clearly cut me off just now.”
Demi chucked softly, “And what will you do to me in revenge?”
“No entry in the café for a month.”
“WHAT?”
“The cat talks?!” Ray screamed loudly, enough for Demi to hear from outside.
“And these blanks are linked with Forsyth, who is in control of Angus!” William kept going.
“You know, if I had to imagine Anggy talking, I would have expected a middle-aged butler with a British accent..!” Dylan gave his unwanted opinion with no ounce of awareness.
“And how exactly is that comment relevant?” William sighed.
“So, blanks… can copy humans and that picture you have is the image of the blank that copied your face. Sounds like a movie plot…”
“Isn’t the cat’s existence already a living proof of this supernatural reality!”
“I understand the situation and I also think that this problem has yet to cause any problems..?”
“Nothing major has happened yet, as far as I know…” William was a little unsure.
“I don’t think it’s okay for you to assume nothing is already happening… like impersonation in real life is probably worse than on social media...”
“You’re not wrong.” William ruffled his hair in frustration
“So? How can I help?”
“Huh? I never said anything about you being part of this?”
“And you let the Harts in?”
Dylan was having a moment of realisation. “Did I seem that unreliable?” He thought to himself with a stoic face.
“It was a matter of circumstance!”
“William, this whole thing is too dangerous, and you can’t take the kids. For all we know, the blanks could be behind the spider suicide…”
“I…” Will was quickly interrupted by the touch of a soft paw.
“Enough. Before I rip your tongues out.” She cautioned them in the most vulgar way possible. She could have left for all she cared but it seems she couldn’t because her vessel disintegrated. Forced into listening to their endless rambling and arguing was really the last straw. She didn’t have much time to spare before the cat’s body rejects her entirely.
“Bring in Diana! This is important.” Forsyth sounded to Dylan.
At this point, they’ve given up on ever correcting her.
“Stick out your ears. I’m going to be saying this only once you incompetent fools.”
“These blanks that you’ve been calling might not be the same kind as the vessels I use. A vessel—given to every afterlife who was a sinner in their previous life—has special properties and carries its own characteristics. Each afterlife will have their own specific vessel made to carry only their spirit.
Imagine it like this: Try fitting a thick slice of cake into a measly test tube. What would happen?”
“The cake would start oozing out and cause a complete mess?” William answered.
“Why?”
“Because a test tube can’t fit a cake slice…”
“Because the surface area of the cake is comparatively more than the test tube, therefore it cannot hold the cake. Alternatively, the cake would require an appropriate box to hold it in place and keep its shape.”
“I see… so the cake is the spirit, and the box is the appropriate vessel.”
“And the test tube is the wrong one?” Dylan asked.
“Not wrong, in the sense of the example, sure it might be wrong but in the spectrum of real life, an afterlife can also inhabit the inappropriate vessel. Depending on the energy mass of the spirit, the vessel may either explode from an overload in containment or not function at all if the energy mass doesn’t fill up every corner of the vessel.”
“Is that what happened to you?” Demi recounted her mentioning she had exhausted her vessel.
“Yes, when the unmatched pair of spirit and vessel become one, both tend to lose power. The vessel withers and the spirit loses significant amounts of energy trying to maintain form. Ultimately the spirit is rejected out of the vessel and can no more contain any other spirits. The vessel that I had been using that resembled blondie here, is now exhausted and I can no longer use that appearance.”
She paused for a second and looked intently at the four faces. They were clearly overwhelmed but she was desperate for a vessel and was the only one capable of handling this task. Mortals should never have been involved in the first place but something about them made them aware of this predicament.
“Sigh… I don’t expect for you lot to be the saviours of this world or anything. As far as I know, you guys have only accidentally involved yourselves with surprisingly the right course of actions on your own.”
“I think we’re aware that everything happening is beyond us and it’s not our place to get involved unless this minor issue one day turns adverse and that’s the day I don’t wish to see or experience. We are now at a point where we can’t turn a blind eye, so let me help…”
William was gambling with his life and betting on something he wasn’t even certain of. He was convinced things will take a dark turn and wanted to play the hero.
“Blondie, you’re selfish aren’t you?”
“H-Huh?” William was suddenly taken aback by that thoughtless comment.
“What do you mean?” Ray revolted at the idea of such a statement, it was completely alien to what he’s used to.
Forsyth let out a soft snicker and muttered, “You seem to not realise that you not only volunteered yourself but didn’t even consider the other three?” It wasn’t what she wanted to say but deep down she knew it was something he had to figure out by himself.
“Them…? They’re not…” He stopped and looked at them one by one. “I see what you meant, I’ve been overlooking their opinions on this matter… Guys, do you want to continue this mission?”
The twins looked at each other. There wasn’t much to say their eyes mostly did the talking.
“You seem set on this, and I also won’t dare think that this problem would solve itself.” Demi glanced at Dylan. “We already agreed to stick around, so I don’t see what’s stopping us?”
“Yeah… I had character development just so I can agree to today’s mission. I’ve earned myself a new resolve and plan to keep it going.” Dylan said with confidence but still full of concern.
All the heads turned to Ray, hoping for something motivating to come out of his mouth for the first time.
“Why is everyone staring at me?”
“Hmm… I’m just here to make sure none of you die.”
“Haha! That’s enough motivation for me, really!” Demi laughed at his seriousness.
“It would be weird to hear him say anything positive.” Dylan joked around as well.
William rejoiced and said, “Well, that settles it! Also… I promise that you’re my responsibility and make sure to not put you in harm's way.”
“Okay, that’s enough of your cringe. Last time I checked we’re not kids and certainly not sneaking off from a school field trip to hang with the older kids…” Demi seemed to be referring to an old memory from when they were still in primary school.
“Yup! Certainly not being a burden to you this time! We’ve grown and it’s time you treat us that way!”
“Wow…” William was stunned. “Well… I’ll respect that!”
“Is this happy tangent over? Because it’s time I tell you my plans to eradicate those parasites…”