I shifted my gaze, staring at him sharply. "Life aura? What do you mean by life aura?"

Desmon's lips moved slightly, it's like he was struggling to find the right words. But he didn't say a single word, not even a murmur.

I was pretty surprised when Desmon said the life aura. Desmon for sure knew about the life aura after I told him what I heard from Chloe's story.

But there was something odd. How could a life aura prevent Desmon from approaching me? I mean, I've been living with him for several years now, and even at this moment, Desmon is close to me. And if what Chloe said is true, I have a life aura.

Could it be that it's not my life aura that's keeping Desmon away, but the life aura of the teenage boy before? But if that's the case, then what's the difference between the life aura that boy had and the life aura I have? Don't we both possess a life aura?

And if the life aura can keep ghosts away, then why have I actually met ghosts all this time, even meeting more than dozens of them? Even if I remembered Chloe's story correctly, Chloe's phantom was attracted to me because of the life aura I gave off.

Are phantoms actually attracted to a life aura, while ghosts are attracted to a death aura? And is it true that ghosts can't get close to someone with a life aura? If so, does the opposite apply to phantoms, meaning they can't get close to someone with a death aura?

However, once again, Chloe's story doesn't explain that. What I remember from her story is about vengeful ghosts and the phantom being attracted in Chloe because of the death aura she possessed, and the phantom also being attracted to the life aura.

As far as I can remember, I've never get any information about ghosts avoiding the life aura. There were a few ways to repel or prevent ghosts from getting closer to you, but the concept of the life aura was never mentioned.

Back to Desmon's statement, if what he said is true about him being blocked by the life aura, then the only possible explanation I can think of is that life aura is different from mine or maybe that life aura is much stronger than mine.

But when I think about it, just by its name only, I understand why Desmon might not be able to get close. I mean, Desmon is dead. In other words, he lost his life, that's why he can't getting close to that life aura. Or in other words, the death can't getting close to the life, they belong to different realms.

And specifically about phantoms, if I remember correctly from an article I read, it stated that phantoms are an other entity and different from ghosts that were once alive and then dead. But that contradicts what Chloe told me. According to Chloe, the phantom is nothing but another kind of ghost.

Confusing. Mind-boggling. Full of ambiguity.

It seems I'll have to ask Chloe a lot of questions about the life aura, hoping she knows about it.

"Don't you know anything about it either?" I broke the silence between us.

I'm sure Desmon also has many thoughts about the life aura, just like me.

"Yes, you're right. I also don't understand what's happening. How to explain all of this." Desmon replied, leaning back on the rear seat of the car next to me.

"It seems we need to ask a lot of questions to Chloe."

"You're right. You're absolutely right. So when you meet her, ask her directly about it and don't start dating." Desmon joked, smiling towards me.

In any situation and in the middle of confusion like this, it seems he still has thoughts to mock me.

"Stop it," I replied, "By the way, do you know I met someone earlier?"

"Chloe?"

"No, someone else. Someone pretty weird."

"How weird?"

"Yeah, weird because I could feel a life aura from him."

Desmon faced me completely. I mean, he wasn't sitting next to me anymore, instead, he was sitting through the chair in front of me and looking directly at me. Ghost style.

"Perhaps that person's life aura is what's keeping me away." He said it with a tone as if to surprise me with a statement like in movies.

It seems I need to cut back on watching movies, especially with Desmon around.

"Maybe... but if that's true, what makes his different from mine?"

"I think maybe his mastery of his ability is much stronger than yours."

I furrowed my brow as I raised both eyebrows. I didn't realize I was doing that, but I could see the reflection of my face barely in the mirror in the middle of the car.

As you know, every Let's-Ride car is equipped with a makeup mirror in the middle of the car between the two front seats, and another hidden mirror in the dashboard in the front passenger seat that can be opened by pressing a button or voice command, depending on the type of car. A feature pretty essential for those who care about their appearance.

"Whether you're mocking me or praising him by saying his ability is much better than mine, but is a life aura really an ability?" I asked. No, I wasn't annoyed.

"To be honest, when you talked about the conversation with Chloe about you having a life aura, I didn't believe it." Desmon silent for a moment, "I mean, if indeed you have a life aura, I should have realized it from the start. But until now, I haven't felt it."

What Desmon said had a point, and it's true. But I feel something strange about everything related to the phantom, life aura, death aura, and all that. I've had the ability to see ghosts since I was seven years old until now, but why are all these things only coming to my attention now? Even Desmon, who is actually a ghost, doesn't quite understand. There must be something still hidden, something we don't know.

"Don't you know any ghosts who are older or more experienced?" I asked.

"Unfortunately not. If I had, you'd know I'd have asked them by now," Desmon replied.

"All of this is truly confusing, as if I'm just born into this world, knowing nothing."

"Same here, except I'm not born but rather recently dead." Desmon smirked again.

I liked his vibe. When we were surrounded by thousands of questions we couldn't answer, thousands of confusing thoughts, at least we could still joke around to cheer each other up.

During the rest of the trip, which wasn't much longer —about ten minutes until I reached home— we spent time teasing each other, with Desmon now making new jokes about my relationship with Chloe. It didn't bother me, as long as we could have fun.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

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We arrived at my house when the sky was dark, but not too dark as usual.

I just walked up to my house's front door, planning to open it. But it wasn't needed.

The door opened from the inside. I could hear voices talking. At that moment, my initial thought was that it might be my mom's friend visiting or her colleague discussing office matters.

But I was wrong.

The first person I saw when the door open fully was Chloe.

"Hey, you're back?" Chloe stood by the door, greeting me.

"Honey, you're home?" My mom, in the living room, walked towards the door. "Chloe was looking for you."

Desmon glanced at me, as if to ask, 'Weren't we supposed to meet her at Maneuvers coffee shop?' Unfortunately, I couldn't turn my head to explain or signal back to him, at least not for now.

"Um, yeah, hi," I messed up. I was really surprised to see Chloe at my house, so don't imagine I prepared an explanation words.

"Alright, you two can talk inside," said my mom, already outside. My mom then came up to me and whispered, "Go talk to her or take a walk, she's been waiting for you."

It was hard for me not to glance at my mom. What was my mom thinking? Was she thinking something odd about my relationship with Chloe?

Why were there so many weird things in one day? My brain couldn't handle it all. Hehe.

My mom slipped something into my pants pocket, then she turned around. "I've left you both alone now. See you later, Chloe."

"See you," Chloe replied.

Then, my mom reentered the house and seemingly headed straight to her room.

Meanwhile, Chloe closed the door behind her and walked towards me. As the distance between us was only a meter, she shifted her gaze towards Desmon.

"So, this is your Quoranic?" Chloe asked, directing her face towards Desmon but her eyes towards me.

I felt like I've heard that word before, but I couldn't remember when or its meaning.

"You know about Quoranic, right?" Chloe turned her face towards me this time.

"Of course, he knows, right, Robert?" Desmon said. "You can hear me, can't you, Chloe?"

Chloe turned back to face Desmon. "Sure. Didn't Robert tell you?"

"I did, I've told him," I shot back, responding to what Desmon had said earlier because he answered instead of me.

Desmon adjusted his position so that the three of us could talk without needing to change our view. "Just making sure."

"By the way, could you explain Quoranic? Sorry, but I forgot," I said.

"A ghost's friend or companion that's called Quoranic in the ghost world, right, Desmon?" Chloe replied.

"Perfect score for you," Desmon replied.

"Sorry, Chloe, I didn't expect you to come to my house. I thought we agreed to meet at the Maneuvers coffee shop in the Ventus sector," I said.

"Oh, right. Actually, I should apologize, especially if you've already reached there, the traffic was terrible," Chloe replied.

"Extremely bad, as if it wasn't moving at all," Desmon added.

Chloe glanced at her smartphone briefly, "How long were you waiting there? I'm really sorry, but honestly, I intended to go there, but because of the traffic, I changed my mind and just came to your house to inform you. Turns out, you were already gone. Sorry."

"No worries. What time did you arrive here?" I asked.

"I left for the coffee shop at two, but due to the traffic, I canceled and headed to your house. If I'm not mistaken, I reached your house around three," Chloe replied.

I could say we left at the same time, but the difference was I continued the journey to the Maneuvers coffee shop, while Chloe turned back.

Maybe, without us realizing it, we might have crossed paths on the way, but unfortunately, we had no means of communication, so we wouldn't have known.

"By the way, I just realized something," Chloe said.

"What is it?"

"When we're chatting like this, you and I can freely talk to Desmon without worrying about being seen as weird by others," Chloe smiled at me, a sweet smile.

I understood what she meant, although a bit late. Desmon and Chloe had already smiled and laughed, and not wanting to be left out, I joined in the laughter too.

I never thought about it, I only needed one human friend to appear 'normal' in the eyes of people. With that, I could freely talk to any ghost as long as there was that one human friend.

Like now, Chloe and I, a human, and Desmon, a ghost, gathered together. The three of us could talk freely, and others wouldn't find us weird or think much of it. They'd simply see me talking with Chloe, and that seemed normal.

If there were no Chloe or me, then one of us wouldn't be able to speak with Desmon this freely. Because those who saw us would think that either Chloe or I was talking to ourselves like a crazy person.

We continued our chill chat filled with jokes for a while, then Desmon said, "You didn't want to invite her inside, Robert?"

After hearing Desmon's word, my attention immediately turned to Chloe, as did hers.

"Do you want to come in?" I offered with a smile.

"Sorry, not to be rude or anything, but I seem to be getting bored indoors after chatting with your mom for so long," Chloe replied, also smiling.

"What were you talking about?" I asked, curious.

Until now, I never knew or never saw my mom talking for such a long time with any of my friends, even before I had this ability. Usually, it was small talk when they met on the street, but beyond that, there was no conversation at all.

So, I was a bit confused and curious about what was actually happening.

Did Chloe have a special trick for talking to someone? If so, it seemed I needed it.

Or had Chloe cast a spell on my mom? I knew that was impossible, I was just kidding.

Or the most likely explanation was that my mom was super excited that her only child finally had a friend after years of being alone, especially a girl with such a sweet smile as Chloe's.

Desmon clapped his hands in between us, "Sorry, but I think I'll head inside now."

Desmon stopped for a moment, first looking at Chloe, then at me, before continuing, "Since Chloe doesn't want to be indoors, why don't you take her out for a walk tonight? It's brighter than usual."

Both Chloe and Desmon had smiles on their faces, but I could clearly tell the difference between the two kinds of smiles. Chloe might have been smiling because she was happy or embarrassed, I wasn't sure. However, Desmon's smile definitely showed an annoying smirk, the kind he often used to mock me.

"Why not?" Chloe replied. "It's a good way to burn calories, if you don't mind."

I thought for a moment. I didn't mind taking Chloe for a walk at all. In fact, I wanted to. But I still wasn't sure. I had to make her feel comfortable during our walk because I was afraid that if I failed, Chloe might not want to meet me again.

"I don't mind at all. Not at all," I said. "But where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere, we could just stroll to the park. If I'm not mistaken, there's a park nearby, right?" Chloe replied.

"Hmm... Okay, if you don't mind."

Desmon clapped his hands again between us, "Alright then, you guys go for a stroll in the park. I'm heading to my room now. See you later, Chloe."

"See you," Chloe replied.

At that moment, I desperately wanted to punch Desmon's face because he was clearly teasing me, or at least I thought he would use this to tease me later. But, on the other hand, I was also grateful to Desmon because of him, I could walk alone with Chloe without feeling awkward about inviting her.

Before leaving, Desmon took a moment to pat my pants pocket. The same pocket where my mom had slipped something earlier.

I think I understood Desmon's intention. So, he was just following my mom's orders to take Chloe out. It seems he overheard when my mom whispered to me.

Thanks to Desmon for that, because I almost forgot to check what my mom had slipped into my pocket. So when Chloe's attention turned to Desmon, who was walking or flying into our house, I took a moment to check my pocket.

I didn't need to take it out and see it directly with my own eyes, I could tell what my mom had placed in my pocket just by feeling it. I could clearly feel the numbers and the symbol of a bank on the card where it was issued. Yes, a bank card.

This is crazy, absolutely crazy.

In my entire life, I never imagined my mom would give me her bank card without any warnings for its use like 'Remember, don't buy anything weird,' 'Only for school purposes, nothing else,' or 'Only for one item as a gift, nothing more than that.'

Was my mom so super excited to know her child had found a friend? I don't know.

"So, are we going now?" I asked.

"Of course," Chloe replied.

Before I could take a step, Chloe lifted her face towards the night sky, "It seems what Desmon said is true, tonight is brighter than usual."

I already knew that, long before Desmon said it. Yet, I lifted my face towards the night sky too, "Yes. Absolutely beautiful."

"Bright as if illuminated by the aura of life, just like how you illuminate my darkness with the light of your life." I never thought those words would come from Chloe.

I looked at her, smiling.

Chloe replied by looking at me, smiling back.

I would never forget her sweet smile. Very sweet.

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