The Northingham Public Park is close to my house. Walking along the main road takes about half an hour or less, but my housing complex has a shortcut path that reduces travel time to ten minutes.

During the way, Chloe and I talked about many things, especially related to my mother.

I knew Desmon had been pushing me to ask puzzling questions about things like the life aura. However, I thought those questions required serious answers, and serious answers required a serious place, or at least not while walking.

So, I kept all those questions to myself, and we only chatted about light topics.

But unexpectedly, light conversation on the topic of my mother led us to a sad conversation.

Initially, I asked Chloe the same question about what she and my mother talked about.

Chloe answered by telling a story that started when my mother was cooking when Chloe came for a visit. Then, although not asked for help by my mother, Chloe felt uncomfortable just standing by seeing my mother struggle with her cooking.

Admittedly, my mother isn't a cooking expert, far from it. That's why both she and I often order food. Even so, my mother still tries to learn cooking on her own.

My mom's main reason for cooking was so she could put her love into my body through the food she made, at least that's what my mom said.

And indeed, I have to admit her skills have been improving over time.

Back to the story, Chloe finally helped my mother with her cooking, even though Chloe admitted she wasn't good at cooking either.

According to Chloe, that's when their interaction became more intense. They weren't just communicating stiffly but started exchanging jokes, and all of that was because they began to unite through the process of working together in the kitchen, Chloe said.

After explaining what they did and discussed while cooking, including how their final dish turned out surprisingly terrible in terms of both taste and appearance, Chloe told my mother she still enjoyed it.

That's when the tone of the story started to shift. My mother, who was curious, finally asked about it, and Chloe began to explain the fate of both her parents and her own situation after being abandoned by them in an accident.

After the accident, Chloe lived alone mentally for several years. Yes, only mentally alone, because Chloe had been well taken care of by her grandparents. However, Chloe felt the love from her grandparents was different, especially considering they didn't believe in Chloe's abilities.

From Chloe's story, I at least learned that Chloe had a similar phase in life as mine, feeling mentally trapped alone because a lot of people didn't really understand her. I could relate to that with my father.

Chloe continued her story by saying she was glad because my mother seemed to replace her parents who have passed away, especially since Chloe had told my mother about her ability to see ghosts. Chloe felt happier because my mom recognized and accepted her ability.

I was happy that she was happy.

"Then I told her how I got that ability, how I lived with it," Chloe continued telling, "And you know what? Your mother just smiled and praised me."

"Yeah, that's my mother. She always has that kind of nature," I replied.

"That's why I'm really happy to have met and talked with your mother. So, maybe someday I can visit again just to talk with your mother. Is that okay?"

"Of course, of course. As long as my mother allows it. But I'm sure she'll allow you."

Chloe smiled, a very sweet smile.

Chloe's story was really interesting, especially seeing her happy expressions, which made us forget and only realize again when we were already at the park.

###

The Northingham Sector Public Park is usually open at all times, except for specific areas that require permission from the management, such as the performance fields.

So, we could enter the park even though it was already night.

When we arrived, the park was bustling with people. I forgot that today was Saturday night, the perfect time for couples. And the park was one of the most visited places, besides being free and easily accessible —it also offered refreshing breeze from the trees, and, most importantly, everything was natural, not artificial.

"I forgot that the park gets crowded on Saturday nights," I said.

Chloe looked at me, "Does it bother you?"

Initially, I thought Chloe would be bothered, but when I glanced at her, I realized she wasn't bothered by the crowd at all. Instead, it was me who felt uneasy in the middle of the crowd.

"Honestly, I feel a bit uneasy," I admitted.

"I can see that. Do you want to go back?"

"How about we go to a nearby restaurant instead? It should be quiet there, and the food is good. Would you like that?"

Chloe's face was directed towards me, but her eyes were scanning the park as if she was looking for something. "Okay, but wait here just for a moment."

Chloe then walked into the park, leaving me alone.

I tried to catch up with her but didn't call out to her. I just followed her.

For some reason, it seemed like something suddenly caught Chloe's attention or something she was searching for.

Chloe even sped up her pace and paid no attention to me.

I was curious about what Chloe was doing. Was it related to the ghost world? Or the phantom? Or something else? Or maybe Chloe just wanted to play a prank on me.

I ran a little to catch up as she was quite far ahead of me.

Shortly after, Chloe stopped in front of a building. A building that was usually used for performances or community activities.

I managed to catch up to her and wanted to ask what Chloe was actually doing, but Chloe's gaze was entirely fixed in one direction, ignoring my.

"Do you know how to get inside?" Chloe asked without turning her face at all.

I looked around the building to realize which side I was facing, "Yes, there's a door on the right the building from here. But we can't enter it right now as it's probably locked."

Chloe turned her body to face me, her expression serious. "Can you help me?"

"Sure, what can I help with?"

Chloe approached the building's wall and then sat leaning against it. "Sit."

I tried to guess what Chloe was really doing. Why was she sitting and leaning there? Especially sitting on the obviously dirty ground. There must have been something serious, otherwise, why would she want to sit on the dirty ground?

Because I was sure it was something serious, I didn't ask her anything, afraid of disturbing her focus. I just followed her command and sat on the ground next to her.

Moments after I sat down, Chloe's hand started searching for mine. Once she found it, without waiting for any signal, Chloe's hand instantly grabbed mine.

As our hands held together, my heart raced as if I had broken the sprinting record. My breath started acting weird and uneven, it seemed like my breathing was off. Moreover, I started sweating a lot, soaking my entire body, as if I were standing in a heavy rainstorm.

Throughout my life, I had never held a woman's hand, except for my mother. I had touched a woman's hand before, but never held hands like this. Moreover, I could feel Chloe's grip, so tight as if she didn't want to let go.

"I don't have time to explain, so please protect me," Chloe said before leaning her head and body onto my shoulder.

I didn't know, didn't understand, and really didn't get what was happening.

Seeing Chloe's body and head leaning on my shoulder actually made my heart race even more, my breathing even weirder, and I was already sweating a lot. And now, I felt an extremely cold chill throughout my body.

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I tilted my head to see Chloe's face, trying to figure out what she was actually doing. However, all I found was an expressionless face and tightly closed-eyed Chloe.

It was calming to see her so peaceful, making my heartbeat return to normal, as well as my breath. Although I was still sweating and feeling cold.

At first, I thought Chloe had fallen asleep or pretended to sleep. But after looking at her face for a longer time, I realized something was amiss. Worried and trying not to assume the worst, I moved my free hand towards Chloe's nose.

She wasn't breathing. She wasn't breathing at all, there was no airflow coming from her nose.

Realizing this also made me aware that the cold I felt was coming from Chloe's body touching mine, especially from her hand that was still holding mine.

Suddenly, I felt another rush that made my heart race.

It can't be! It can't be!

I knew exactly what was in my mind at that moment, but I rejected it and tried to push away or even get rid of that thought. IT CAN'T BE!

I had to think positively, stay positive.

It couldn't be that Chloe suddenly passed away. She must be okay, there had to be something my foolish brain couldn't understand, I had to stay calm.

I wanted to let go of Chloe's hand and change my position to face her. To look at her closely, to make sure she was okay.

But I immediately remembered Chloe's last words, '...please protect me.'

I was sure Chloe must be okay.

I was sure she must be okay, she knew something I didn't. She must have planned this.

I ensure myself, I reassure myself that everything is fine. Slowly, my heartbeat began to return to normal, my breathing had already returned to normal, and my sweating had stopped. However, I still felt cold on my shoulders and hands, as if holding onto blocks of ice.

Thinking it over, Chloe seemed to have done this intentionally. I mean, she suddenly leaned back, asked me to sit beside her, held my hand, and now her head rested on my shoulder.

Could she be teasing me? I mean, Chloe did all these things quite suddenly. And after thinking about it more, anyone who saw us would probably have the same idea, thinking we were dating.

Especially Desmon. If he saw Chloe in a seemingly sleeping position on my shoulder with our hands held together, he would surely assume we were dating. And that could be bad for me because he would definitely mock me endlessly until maybe he could live again —because there's no way he could die again.

Chloe still hadn't woken up. And I was still in a state of confusion, whether Chloe was really dead or doing something I couldn't understand, though at the moment I leaned more towards the latter possibility.

I stared at the sky, waiting for Chloe to wake up. I might have been gazing at the sky for more than ten minutes. Because Chloe didn't wake up even after waiting for a few more minutes, I started to get anxious again.

But luckily, my blank mind while staring at the sky brought me back to the past, to the time when my father passed away. At that moment, when my father died, he immediately became a ghost, leaving his body in this world, and that was when he realized my ability was real. So, that reassured me once more that Chloe wasn't dead.

I mean, if Chloe was dead, I would definitely be able to see her as a ghost in the ghost world, even if only for a short time. But this time, I didn't see Chloe in her ghost form at all. So, I made sure that Chloe was still alive.

I was still looking at the bright moonlit night sky. However, the longer I looked, the darker it felt. Was the moonlight starting to dim?

The cold chill that Chloe's body gave off had spread throughout my body and was getting colder.

I also just realized something that was actually very easy to notice, the bustling park had now become quiet, very quiet, I couldn't even find a single person. There was silence all around me.

I reached for my smartphone with my free hand to check the time. Without realizing, Chloe and I had been in this park for more than half an hour, and most of the time was spent just sitting here.

My stomach started growling, I hadn't eaten anything since noon except for drinking coffee and ordering snacks that only helped fill my stomach temporarily. This wouldn't have been a problem if Chloe wasn't like this because we should have been in the restaurant by now, and my stomach would have been full.

Shortly after my stomach growled, I smelled something bad. Immediately, I tried to remember what I was feeling from the darkening sky, the spreading cold, the crowd turning into silence, my hungry stomach, and now the foul odor piercing my nose.

The death aura.

Whoosh!

A dark shadow darted from behind me to in front of me, right on my left side. It moved so quickly that I couldn't identify whether it was a black cat or something else.

Whoosh!

Another black shadow also passed through the same path.

This time, I could easily identify the second black shadow because it stopped right after it crushed the first black shadow.

Both shadows had a human-like form. The first shadow, which was pinned down, had a quite large body, while the second shadow, which was pinning the first shadow down, had a rather slim body.

When both shadows were right in front of me, I felt a powerful death aura from them. Strangely, I also felt a slight life aura gradually disappearing until I could no longer feel it.

The first shadow suddenly jerked its body, as if trying to break free from the second shadow. However, slowly but surely, its movements weakened until it came to a complete standstill.

Seeing this odd scene in front of me, as a normal human being in general, I wanted to escape or at least hide. But unfortunately, I couldn't control my body.

I didn't know why my body couldn't be controlled was it because of the two shadows in front of me?

All of my life, I've never felt paralyzed except after Leina came up to me that one time. I immediately blacked out, and when I woke up, I couldn't control my body in the hospital.

That's why, for a moment, I thought that both shadows might be Phantoms. Moreover, I felt an extremely strong death aura from both shadows, making me even more suspicious.

But, if that were true, another question that came up was why were they fighting?

Not long after the first shadow stopped fighting back, the second shadow released the first. Then both stood up, and the first shadow walked away from me until it was out of sight, while the second shadow stay motionless in its place.

When standing, I felt like I knew about the second shadow, as if I could recognize it even though the second shadow was facing away from me.

I don't know why, but when I didn't feel like running away anymore, replaced by curiosity to know the second shadow, suddenly my body could move again.

As I said, I no longer wanted to run away, so I just stay silent when the second shadow turned around to face me.

Chloe.

I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't mistaken. Turns out, I was right, the second shadow was Chloe.

Still in disbelief, I looked at my right shoulder, checking if Chloe's head was still leaning on it. Then I shifted my gaze to my hand, checking if I was still holding Chloe's hand. Then I moved my head forward, checking to my right side, if Chloe's face was still looked innocent and expressionless.

And the answer to all those questions was yes. Chloe's head was still leaning on my shoulder, my hand still held hers, and Chloe's face still looked innocent and expressionless.

Still puzzled, I looked back at the shadow, double-checking that I wasn't mistaken. And the answer still same, the shadow was Chloe.

Different from Chloe, who leaned on my shoulder without any expression on her face, the shadow that looked like Chloe was smiling and chuckling.

A sweet smile.

"I know you're puzzled, but relax, it's me, Chloe," The shadow looked like Chloe spoke in the middle of her chuckling, then she pointed towards the body of Chloe on my right side. "And that's my body-"

"What do you mean?" I shouted a bit while continuously glancing between the shadow that looked like Chloe and Chloe's body. Which one was real?

"Calm down. I want to explain it, but you need to stay calm."

Right after saying that, the shadow swiftly moved towards Chloe's body. Instantly, the death aura I felt disappeared.

The night sky became bright again.

The cold chill had turned into a refreshing breeze, and I could feel Chloe's warmth again.

Sounds of people chatting, singing, and laughing from a distance can be heard again.

The foul odor was gone.

All death aura disappeared, except for my growling stomach. Turns out, I was truly hungry, not hungry because of the death aura. Hehe.

As everything seemed to return to normal, Chloe's body stay in the same position. Except now, I could feel her hand that was holding mine starting to squeeze.

"Thank you for looking after my body," Chloe said softly but startled my soul.

Yeah, I was shocked to death. Even accidentally, my body's reflex made Chloe's head hit the wall of the building we were leaning on, and my hand let go of Chloe's hand.

"Hfft. I'm sorry," I said, followed by my hand gently touching her bumped head, without me realizing it.

Chloe didn't seem angry with me, she giggled and then smiled. "I did intend to startle you, but I didn't expect karma to hit me so quickly."

I smiled back and chuckled lightly.

After all the consequences of Chloe's prank were over, Chloe held my hand again, and her head leaned back on my shoulder.

Chloe standstill, staring at the sky. "I'm sorry if I puzzled you. I didn't have time to explain to you because there wasn't any time. But I will explain it now."

I was glad she was finally explaining it, something that made me feel like riding a rollercoaster. Tense, fast heartbeat, and difficulty breathing, then calm again, then tense again, and so on. But it all seemed to have ended. I had gotten off the ride.

"Firstly, I want to explain that earlier I entered the ghost world," Chloe continued, "You should have seen my soul leaving my body, but because it was rushed, my soul exited backward, penetrating the wall. So, you couldn't see my soul leaving."

Chloe silent for a moment. Although her body had been here by my side without moving at all, it seemed to me that Chloe was trying to control her breath.

Chloe continued her explanation after catching her breath, "So, you might have been puzzled when my body suddenly seemed lifeless, felt cold. That's how it is when you enter the ghost world, your body will feel lifeless."

"But why did you suddenly enter the ghost world?"

"Because... you must have seen the shadow I pinned down earlier, right? He's a ghost who would turn into a vengeful ghost, and I had to rush to prevent that. Do you know why phantoms and vengeful ghosts share similar traits?"

"No. Why?"

"Because they're actually the same. There's only one thing that differentiates them, and that's phantoms are created from vengeful ghosts whose grudges have faded as they accepted what they went through. That's why I rushed, I had to make him accept what he had gone through so he wouldn't become a dangerous vengeful ghost but become a protective phantom."

"But how did you do that?"

Chloe didn't answer, but she breathed out from her mouth, "Huff."

Then Chloe said, "Sorry, I want to explain, but can we move to a warmer place first? I'm feeling cold."

Chloe's body seemed weak, so without hesitation, I stood up and helped her to stand. "Sorry, I didn't know you were feeling cold. Let's head straight to the restaurant."

It seemed Chloe's body was also not strong enough to walk, she seemed unsteady when she started to take steps. So, I supported her by offering my shoulder, making it easier for her to walk.

"Thank you. Actually, I feel cold because of the effect of entering the ghost world," Chloe said while still trying to walk.

"It seems like you often enter the ghost world," I replied.

Chloe could only smile. Her energy seemed completely drained.

I spoke again, "Actually, I wanted to enter the ghost world. But Desmon didn't allow it." I silent for a moment, "Can you teach me?"

Chloe glanced at me, her smile never fading. "Sure, but after I recover."

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