Because of Dr. Klio's instructions back then, I couldn't do many activities outside the house. Actually, I didn't really enjoy being outdoors, but because of the ghost girl, I wanted to meet Ryan or Chloe if possible, to ask something about the ghost girl or what Desmon referred to as the Phantom.
That day, I didn't go to school again, my mother was very worried about my condition. So, I could only stay active at home. Unfortunately, Desmon wasn't home either because he was still out looking for information about the Phantom, or maybe he had already followed or talked with Ryan.
In the morning, I just had breakfast and watched my favorite show on the streaming platform, "Beyond Infinite." While in the afternoon, when my mom had left, I searched for something on the internet related to information about the Phantom. I found three interesting articles.
The first article discusses the Phantom world, which is different from the ghost world.
> Author: Hunain, B.I.S
>
> People generally uses the terms Ghost and Phantom interchangeably. This happens because people do not know the etymology of both words.
>
> According to the Official International English Dictionary or OIED, "Ghost" comes from the Old English word "gāst" or "gǣst" which if traced further originates from the Proto-Germanic language "gaistaz" meaning soul or demon. Therefore, ghost leans more towards describing the soul of a deceased person who still roams this world.
>
> Meanwhile, "Phantom" comes from the Greek word "phantasma," which means apparition or image. Thus, scientists nowadays tend to use the term phantom to describe something that appears but does not have a tangible existence in this world, including illusions and spectral appearances.
>
> So, although society uses these two terms interchangeably, the meanings of these two terms have significant differences...
>
>
The first article clearly distinguishes between the terms ghost and phantom.
Maybe because the phantom does not originate from this world at all, it's difficult for ghosts to see phantoms. This is different from ghosts, which originally came from this world but their souls remain trapped when they die.
I continued reading the second article from my favorite site. The "Ghostpedia" site often features news about ghosts. I learned a lot about different types of ghosts from this site. Although this might be just my assumption, there's a high possibility that the writer on Ghostpedia is also someone with special abilities like mine.
> Author: Dhifa Kemal
>
> Ghosts have often interacted with humans. Some of them help humans, like the warrior ghosts in the Middle East who killed the union army of the EU, but there are also ghosts that harm humans, like the death of the Al-Shadiqo family a few years ago, who suddenly threw themselves under a fast-moving train.
>
> However, phantoms are strange entities, both to ghosts and humans. If you search for phantoms on the internet, there's very little correct information about phantoms because most phantoms are associated with ghosts. However, what's certain is that phantoms cannot be seen by anyone, and many scientists and followers of the spiritual world claim that phantoms are just fake news.
>
> Jamel Salauddin once stated in one of his interviews on a streaming show that he could see phantoms even though he couldn't see ghosts. Salauddin also mentioned that he was very scared when he saw a phantom.
>
> While many people argue that he was lying, some believe his statement. Unfortunately, we can't confirm this further because he mysteriously died about ten hours after his statement, and what's stranger, Salauddin before his death was sitting and spacing out as if disconnected from the real world.
>
>
The Ghostpedia writers cannot be entirely reliable, some of them lie or make up stories. However, this article, especially the part about Jamel Salauddin, is very similar to my experience when I saw the ghost girl, like when I was just staring blankly before my mother took me to the hospital. I'm grateful my fate wasn't like Jamel's.
> Writer and Editor: Yarn
>
> Phantom is an entity that has never been thoroughly researched due to the difficulty in building a bridge between the human world and the phantom world. Scientists nowadays advise humans to be cautious about phantoms and to stay as far away as possible if they see one.
>
> Scientists from various countries and even scientists from the ghost world all agree that the ability to see phantoms is very rare and very dangerous for its owner. Therefore, anyone who possesses this ability, which we call "The Exception," should avoid phantoms, which can be easily identified by their appearance as vengeful ghosts. If you don't recognize them, they usually don't move at all and their gaze is focused on one person, always following that person. But what distinguishes phantoms from vengeful ghosts is the attraction and death aura like the feeling of intense coldness, darkness, stink, thirst, hunger, and complete silence.
>
> Update: I found one of my friends who is "The Exception," and it seems he just saw a phantom, and he was blank all day. I don't know what happened next, whether he's okay or not, but I hope he recovers soon.
>
> Update: I got information from one of my informants in the healthcare industry that my friend, who is "The Exception," has been cured, although he still has to have frequent treatments. Thank goodness.
>
>
This article contains many updates, but oddly enough, the last update happened a few hours ago. I couldn't read it because the latest update is paid. Unfortunately, I don't have enough money to pay for it right now, shit.
I frowned as I felt a sense of déjà vu while reading this article. Everything written in the article, including the description of Phantom appearances, the strong attraction of Phantom, and its death aura like coldness, darkness, stink, and thirst, I really experienced all of that a few days ago. Except for the feeling of silence, I didn't feel that in my dream. On the contrary, I heard a clamor of monster.
I was also puzzled by the updates provided. The date of the latest update matched with the dates when I saw the Phantom, when I was hospitalized, and when I was allowed to go for outpatient treatment. Was this person observing me? Moreover, his name is Yarn. There's something strange about it, but I don't know what's strange.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
After reading and thinking about all of those articles, my head started to ache again, and my body felt tired, a sign that I needed to rest again and sprinkle the ghost salt that Desmon gave me all over my body. I chose to sleep to rest.
###
I blinked several times, my body felt as if it had lost its soul. No, it's not that I couldn't control my body anymore, but I was just tired.
A silhouette appeared in the corner of my eye, Desmon. I didn't say anything and didn't want to move anything. Eventually, I just closed my eyes again to continue my sleep.
"How long are you going to sleep?" Desmon's tone moved from low to high, "HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO SLEEP?"
"Shut up..." I replied softly. Desmon had it easy; he could speak as loudly as he wanted without being heard by anyone else, but if I replied loudly, my mother would definitely hear it, "Yeah...yeah...I'm awake. What's up?"
"Don't you want to hear my story?" Desmon raised and lowered his right eyebrow several times.
"What?" Now I changed my position to sit at the edge of my bed.
"Ryan. I got some interesting information about him."
I immediately kicked Desmon out of my seat and took turns sitting in it. Meanwhile, Desmon stood up as he started to tell the story.
###
First, I immediately went to my friends. Don't take it personally, Robert. I do have friends, unlike you, sorry.
I asked the exact same question to each of my friends. "Have you ever heard of someone named Ryan who attends tutoring at a place called 'Central Intellectual Assistant'?"
I did this for several days, and I also posted it on Ghostube, just in case someone knew or was familiar with him or what I hoped for a companion ghost, also known as a 'Quoranic' in my world.
However, after waiting for a few days, I found so many absurd responses. Some insulted me, some told me to go to the tutoring center alone, and some even claimed to be Ryan. But don't worry, I sorted through all those responses and found five that I believe are credible.
Firstly, from my old friend Ghibrial. He said he saw someone leaving the tutoring center over a week ago, resembling the description I gave, but Ghibrial mentioned he never met that person again.
The second response was from someone I recently met a few days ago. I'll call them 'they' not because it's people, but it's just one person, so you get what I mean, their name is Thiffano. They claimed to have seen Ryan at a school not far from the tutoring center.
Relax, I've already visited that school, but I'll tell you about it later.
The third response was from a friend of a friend, a pretty girl. Maybe I should chat with her more. Anyway, back to the topic. She said she met someone resembling my description entering a house.
I asked for the address, but she couldn't remember the exact location, she only gave me the last location she remembered. We could trust this because the location given by the girl was close to the school mentioned by they and also near the tutoring center.
When I said I would investigate, she stopped me, claiming the person had a protective spell. However, oddly enough, when I went to the location she provided and searched all the houses and buildings around it, I didn't find any protective spell. FYI, ghosts can feel protective spells even from several tens of meters away.
My conclusion about the girl's statement is either she lied, or the person suspected to be Ryan removed the protective spell, or the person suspected to be Ryan has already moved away from that location.
The fourth response I got was from an anonymous person on Ghostube. They said they once met someone resembling the description I mentioned at the hospital —the same hospital you were treated at. The person suspected to be Ryan was seen conversing with a man in his thirties in one of the morgue rooms, according to the anonymous person.
This statement from the anonymous person was the closest to reality. Because I immediately went to that hospital shortly after reading their post. And yes, I found the person suspected to be Ryan, but unfortunately, I only saw his back because something odd happened. The person I suspected to be Ryan suddenly disappeared after a passing car momentarily blocked my view, just like in movies.
Lastly, the final statement I received from Ghostube. I forgot his name because he just replied to me a few hours ago. Actually, this ghost's response isn't related to Ryan except for their attitude, similar to Ryan's as you described.
He warned everyone to be careful because there's a phantom in our area. Moreover, he instructed all Quoranics to notify their human friends with sight abilities to stay away.
It wasn't his request that felt strange to me. But he mentioned that there had been attacks of ghost curses performed by the phantom on humans. Besides, what added to the strangeness was when they informed that the person had survived even though the ghost curse still remained.
Coincidence? How did they know? That's what I'm pondering.
By the way, before you ask me a lot of questions, let me continue my story.
Besides asking for information about Ryan, I also asked some of my friends to check out your tutoring center, the area near your tutoring center, and the area at the school mentioned by Thiffano.
Initially, I wanted to investigate the school myself. However, even before a single step, I almost lost control of my body. You know, my trauma still held me back. Even though I was still puzzled, why when we first met, when I lost control of my body, but managed to regain control afterward.
But, back to the point. All the information my friends obtained gave no clues about Ryan, except for someone who looked a lot like Ryan at the school mentioned by Thiffano, but his name wasn't Ryan, it was Ronald.
My friend who investigated was quite certain that Ronald looked exactly like Ryan, except for the name difference. However, my friend said they didn't see Ronald directly, it's just that Ronald's classmates showed a photo of Ronald because Ronald reportedly disappeared a few days after the phantom attack incident.
Is Ryan actually Ronald? Or are they twin brothers? I'm still pondering that.
Alright, that's all I can tell you. What about you, Robert? What have you found? Are you looking for information about Ryan too?
###
I told what I found on the internet to Desmon. Desmon confirmed the truth of the first two articles I read, while for the third article, Desmon just smiled.
"Yarn and Ryan, don't you realize their similarity?" Desmon still smiled when asking me.
"What?"
"Anagram. Don't you know what anagrams are? Don't you know Harry Potter?"
"So outdated, the series you watch. Haven't you watched the latest series in the ghost world?" I replied.
"Oh my... what's wrong with this era. Alright, let me explain. An anagram is basically a rearrangement of letters..." Desmon took a ghost book and a ghost pen and wrote down the name Ryan, "So, first, we write Ryan, then we change the order of the letters, let's say the 'y' becomes the first, followed by the 'a' becoming the second, then the 'r' becomes the third, while the 'n' remains the same..."
I didn't need to hear Desmon's further explanation to realize that Yarn had been Ryan all along. No wonder I felt something odd about the name Yarn, but how did Desmon know? How foolish of me.
"Wow... you are indeed smart." I praised, applauding.
"No, you'd realize it if you read Harry Potter."
"Meaning watch it, right? I just praised your intelligence and you turn foolish again."
"Seriously?" Desmon's eyes widened as they looked at me with raised eyebrows.
"What's up? Are you just realizing you're dumb?"
Desmon slapped my forehead, "Harry Potter is a novel. Sure, Harry Potter was made into a movie and even a series, but those were adaptations of the novel. Oh my."
"Sorry," I replied, "Can you wait for a moment? I want to get a drink."
"Wait, hold on."
I stopped my step right before I opened the bedroom door.
"I just rechecked the name of the fifth person who replied to my Ghostube a few hours ago. Can you guess the name?" Desmon continued.
I opened my mouth wider not because I was thirsty but because I understood Desmon's conversation direction this time, "No, but it's surely another anagram of Ryan."
"He... he... You seem to have understood. Yup, you're right. That account's name was Nyar."
"So, they're all the same person."
"Seems like it. But we have to investigate further."
"Desmon, this is getting more interesting, but can you wait for a little bit? I'm really thirsty. I won't take long."
I immediately opened the door and headed to the kitchen without waiting for Desmon's approval.
####