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Ghost Lover
Until Nightfall

Until Nightfall

This moment is the most important moment in my life. There are so many new records I've set in my life with just this one moment. The moment when Chloe told me about herself, about Leina, and I learned so much from it.

The first record, obviously, is Chloe being here in my room to tell me her story. In my entire life no one has ever been in my room except my parents. Yes, never a single person means not my cousins, not my big family, even my friends where I also don't have a single friend who wants to come to my house even chatting they don't want to.

The second record, obviously I just heard the longest story told directly by the person without me cutting it. Chloe and I definitely have a lot in common, besides of course we are both humans who can see ghosts, Chloe and I are also curious, the difference is Chloe is more courageous in exploring her curiosity. So, it's hard for me not to cut into other people's stories, even before this Chloe's stories I often cut with questions that crossed my mind. But this time it was different, I listened carefully, appreciated it, learned from it, and was entertained by it.

The third record, obviously the relationship between me and Chloe is getting closer as seen from this record, which is the two of us lying together next to each other on my bed which is only separated by a distance of no more than an arm's length. My breathing goes hand in hand with hers, I can hear them both because we're so close.

In addition to these records, I also learned about Chloe's life. Chloe spends time like a normal person but in between her normal activities she takes the time to study the ghost world, study the types of ghosts, study phantoms, and do not forget that after all the knowledge she gained, she also brave enough to do some experiments or trials without anyone's help. Chloe is a girl who is sweet, beautiful, smart, friendly, brave, very curious, and of course kind.

The first time I manipulate an aura was during my first experiment with Desmon and his friends. At that time, we experimented to manipulate the death aura to make me able to see and read the writing in the letter from Leina. But it failed. Who would have thought, what I just did for the first time turned out to have been done repeatedly by Chloe even she did it alone. This is proof of my saying that Chloe is a smart and brave girl.

Chloe's kindness and courage are not only portrayed in her story that struggles to make a vengeful ghost named Leina to be a phantom by entering and exploring the ghost world alone. But, I have also proven her kindness and courage myself with her sacrifice to come to my house alone during brightning just because she was worried about me.

In addition to Chloe's amazing life, I also gained new knowledge about the ghost world. During Chloe's storytelling, several times it crossed my mind that what Chloe told me especially when she dreamed was more or less the same as my dream lately. My first dream after meeting and witnessing Leina's smile was running endlessly in a very dark and cold place like ice, full of horrible monster sounds, accompanied by a foul odor that pierced my nose with a very thirsty condition. And the dream repeated itself several times, just like Chloe told me. I found out that I had entered the ghost world a long time ago, I just didn't realize it.

The record of my life has been created, the knowledge of Chloe's life and the ghost world has been obtained, which means there is only one thing left, the knowledge of phantoms. If Leina was Chloe's first phantom, then I could probably say Desmon was my first phantom. But unlike Chloe who was brave and willing to trace the traces of Leina's life patiently and carefully, and even dared to confront Leina who was consumed by vengeance, I was far from that. The first time I met Desmon, I ran away. I also didn't dare to bring up Desmon's trauma any further, on the other hand I also didn't find out about Desmon's trauma myself. When compared to Chloe and Leina's relationship, mine and Desmon's was far from friendship. I was embarrassed but I had to admit it.

After telling the story for a very long —even though there were some parts that were cut or shortened— Chloe just fell silent, and so did I. I don't know for sure, but if I glance at her briefly Chloe is looking at the ceiling of my room, just like me.

Chloe's story is so touching to me, there are many valuable lessons that I must keep and understand carefully. So I don't want to rashly move on to something else.

About a few minutes we were still silent looking at the ceiling of my room before Chloe who breaths heavily began to say, "You know, remembering the past is sometimes useful to evaluate the decisions you have made. Whether the decision was right or not, what to fix from that decision, what to get rid of from that decision, all of that is useful to make yourself better."

I knew there was only myself from both the human world and the ghost world at that moment in that place, but I wasn't sure if Chloe was talking to me.

Even so, what Chloe was talking about was very true. But, I seemed to reject it. In my life I've made decisions on many things, and almost all of the decisions I've made have brought me to hitting rock bottom. I remember my decision to go to a ghost and it led me to meet a vengeful ghost. I remember my decision to avoid seeing Xhelone and it made me the most hated and isolated person in school. Almost every decision I make always leads me to a miserable condition, that's why I hate to look into the past, hate to learn history, history is a dark time for me.

"Yes." I answered briefly.

Chloe changed her position, now her face was facing me with her hand touching my hand. "You know, we might be able to hangout today."

I looked at her, "Go for a walk, where?"

Chloe as always gave me her beautiful, sweet smile, "Whatever you want, I'll come along. We can spend some time together having fun if you're not scared."

I was silent for a while, thinking about the meaning of Chloe's words that said fun if not scared. Did she mean something else?

"How?" said Chloe who seemed to be impatient for my answer, by the way she sounded cheerful.

"Hmm... if that's what you want, I'll go along. But where are you going? To the park? To a restaurant? Or somewhere else?" I asked.

This time I was quite confident. No, not because I was getting used to being social or anything like that, but this was the only time I was given access to use my mom's bank card. If it was on a normal day when my mom was at home or at least not out of town, of course I wouldn't be able to go anywhere because of my limited finances. So like it or not, I had to take advantage of this.

"I said whatever, but maybe to a place that is fun but can also be scary." Chloe replied still in her cheerful tone except at the end of her words. At the end of her words, I don't know why but Chloe moved her eyebrows up and down. I knew it was a sign, but what did it mean.

Instead of me guessing which also ends up wrong, I better ask her directly, "What do you mean?"

Chloe smiled and laughed. Not long after, she brought her head closer to me, she brought her face to mine, she brought her mouth to my ear. "The ghost world," she whispered.

For a few seconds, I couldn't breathe. There were a few things that made me like that, first I didn't expect Chloe to take me to the ghost world. Secondly, I thought that if we were going to the ghost world, we would have to sleep together here, in my bed, in my room. Thirdly, I wasn't sure we could enter the ghost world during the day. But of course what I was most worried about was what Desmon's reaction and thoughts would be when he saw me and Chloe sleeping together in my room.

But on the other hand this was a good time. I really wanted to enter the ghost world and explore it, but I didn't want Desmon to know about it because he would definitely disagree and he might get angry with me. Besides, considering that the conditions for entering the ghost world meant that I had to sleep and Chloe who was helping me would also have to sleep near me, it would be very difficult to do if my mom was at home. Actually, my mom might not have a problem with it, but I'm just uncomfortable with the stares and questions she'll give me later. So, you could say that right now when the two people, Desmon and my mom, weren't at home was the best time to try entering and exploring the ghost world.

I weighed all the possibilities that would happen for a few seconds. Chloe had pulled her face away and returned to her original position, lying beside me and facing the ceiling of my room.

"Hmm... I don't think so today." I said finally after much thought.

I knew it was a rare opportunity, but I couldn't imagine Desmon's anger and disappointment if he suddenly came and saw me learning to enter the ghost world. Desmon would be furious and it would be bad.

Firstly, it's most likely that I'll just be given endless complaints by Desmon. Secondly, what is also most likely to happen is that Chloe will be hated by Desmon considering how angry Desmon was when we did the experiment which ended in a dangerous condition for me, he was very angry with Vic. Third, what could possibly happen is that Desmond feels betrayed or ignored. This could trigger the trauma he experienced during his lifetime to resurface. As a result, it's very likely that Desmond's grudge will return, and he might become a vengeful ghost.

Of course from all the bad possibilities that could happen if I still tried to enter the ghost world at this time and got caught by Desmon, I was most worried and didn't want is the last possibility, Desmon becoming a vengeful ghost. So, I unwillingly decided that I'd better not do it this time.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

However, when I rejected her, there was another worry in me. I was worried that my rejection would be negatively received by Chloe. It's not impossible, although I'm sure Chloe wouldn't be that bad, but I haven't known her that long. It was possible that Chloe would reject me when I asked her to teach me to enter the ghost world or the worst and most unlikely thing to happen according to my beliefs was that Chloe would go away from me.

Honestly, I had been alone for too long without a friend and now I had one very good friend, so it was only natural for me to have so many worries about my behavior and words to Chloe because I didn't want her to leave me to be alone again without a friend. I didn't want that so I was very careful and probably too careful to the point of being silly and stupid.

But luckily none of that happened. My ridiculous worries didn't happen. Chloe welcomed my answer, smiling as she continued to stare at the ceiling of my room.

"Are you worried about Desmon?" Chloe said without facing me. I don't know if Chloe can really read minds or if her feeling are too strong or if my unconscious body language makes it easy for her to guess.

I took a breath and let it out, "He doesn't like it when I enter the ghost world and I'm afraid of disappointing him, I'm afraid he'll get angry."

"Then we'll just talk today or do you want to do something else?" Chloe said

I know I should be happy when Chloe is here. However, because we briefly talked about Desmon earlier, it made me miss him. It's true that we haven't been separated for long, in fact the two of us have been separated for much longer than this, but somehow I really miss him.

"I don't know, but do you know why Desmon hasn't come back yet? I mean you said the brightning held him, but now the brightning has passed. Is there something else blocking him?" I said while looking at Chloe with a hopeful gaze, at least that's what I tried to do.

Chloe turned her body around and now she returned my gaze, "Don't worry he'll be fine. If you're still worried maybe we could go for a walk to see where he is? Or do you want to stay here, who knows he'll be home soon?"

"I think it's better here. But, do you want to hang out?" I replied with a question because I had to ask. The reason is easy, if I ask it will make the impression that I am not selfish by thinking about my own opinions and desires, by asking I also know Chloe's opinions and desires. Isn't that so? At least that's what I read from friendship tips on the internet.

Chloe was quiet for a while. Even though she was just silent, but somehow she looked amazing. "I don't have anything to do today, so I'll do whatever you want." Chloe replied with a smile.

"Then do you want to watch?" I asked again.

Chloe nodded and smiled, "Sure. But we'll watch a horror or romantic movie, I like both genres."

I learned again that Chloe liked those genres but I didn't like them at all. The reason is simple, horror movies are not based on reality, I can see ghosts and interact with ghosts, and that is completely different from the ghosts shown in horror movies. It's true that movies are not based on reality, but I dislike the portrayal of ghosts in horror movies that are always scary, frightening, and mainly evil. In reality, there are more kind ghosts than bad ones. I don't like the romantic genre either, it makes me jealous. How could I not, when I had no friends and was always bullied, the romantic genre displayed human affection and love that I never got except of course from my parents.

To be honest, I prefer war and action movies. In those movies you can see the human nature of hurting and killing each other, just like my friends often hurt and harm me. So this movie was very true to reality and just like my life. Yeah, although the fictional part, where the good character always wins, didn't prove to be true in my life, in real life.

But then again, I can't be selfish. Chloe has sacrificed by following what I want, which is to watch movies, which means I have to repay her by following her preferred genre, which is horror or romance.

"Okay, but I don't have any recommendations. Do you have any?" I said.

"Of course," Chloe said and then paused a moment, "But you're okay with a little sex, right?"

I don't know what Chloe thinks of me. I mean, of course it doesn't matter. I was of legal age and this was a free country and we also lived in a time and society where sex was no longer taboo. But maybe, just my guess, Chloe thinks I'm not used to it considering I'm not as social as she is. If it was like that, I could understand it, at least she was trying to respect my personal views.

I smiled accompanied by a chuckle, "Of course it doesn't problem."

"Alright, then the movie is-"

"Wait. Let me turn on my computer first and you can look it up yourself, I'm going to the kitchen for a while to get a snack and soft drink. How about it?" I interrupted Chloe as I got up from my bed and turned on my computer on my study desk.

"Good idea," replies Chloe who also got up from my bed and is now standing next to me.

"Alright, by the way is there anything you want to request in the kitchen for me to bring?"

"Nope. Bring me whatever you want." replied Chloe who was already sitting in my chair and was typing something on my computer.

I went out of my room to get some snacks and soft drinks in the kitchen, after that I returned to my room and Chloe had finished choosing the movie we were going to watch.

The romantic movie I dislike I have to watch with someone I like, is this irony or sacrifice. I don't know.

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The first movie finished and it was followed by the second romantic movie then the third and so on. If it were possible I would have left my own house, I was bored and not interested at all except for one thing which is seeing cheerful faces, smiling faces, sad faces, and various other facial expressions painted beautifully by Chloe. That's the only reason I can survive until it's almost night and the sky is almost dark.

Without realizing it, our position has changed several times. At first Chloe sat in a chair while I sat on the bed, then we took turns, then we were both on the bed but not sitting but lying down, then our positions changed again and again. Until the end of the fifth movie which was also the end of our show, our position ended with Chloe hugging me while we were both lying on the bed. It wasn't awkward when we weren't aware of it, but after the movie ended and we realized it, it became awkward.

Chloe hurriedly pulled herself away from me and so did I even though we were still both lying on the bed.

"Sorry," Chloe said, sounding sorry and embarrassed.

"I'm not... I mean I'm sorry too" I said sounding stupid and silly.

I knew we should say something to make the awkwardness melted away, but instead of us being able to say something, we both stuttered and mumbled something silly.

After the awkwardness peaked with our stuttering, our eyes suddenly met. The look in Chloe's eyes was clear to me as if she was saying that she was comfortable and happy to spend time with me, or was it just my desire to think that way. I don't know.

But clearly our gaze only lasted a split second before we both smiled and laughed. I realized that there was nothing funny about Chloe and I didn't think there was anything funny about me either, except for the awkwardness we both felt.

"Awkward?" Chloe said her first words between laughs.

"Sure." I replied as well, between my laugh.

After we laughed for a few more seconds, Chloe, who was still lying on my bed, looked up at the ceiling of my room. "But I'm happy. I'm happy you want to spend your time to be with me. I..."

I looked at Chloe, I knew she was happy but I didn't know what words she would say next. I just waited in silence to find out what Chloe wanted to say next.

Chloe took a short breath, "I hope-"

Shit.

Motherfucker.

I never expected something bad from him.

We were both shocked as Desmon appeared through the window of my house, which was right in the middle of my bed. Without caring about his surroundings, Desmon just flew through the window, phasing right in to the mattress right between me and Chloe.

Damn.

Damned.

I couldn't control myself and I unconsciously said the words I didn't want to say in front of Chloe, "Shit, you fucking shit."

Of course, those words didn't just attract the attention of Desmon, the ghost with no manners and the bringer of bad luck. But it also attracted the attention of Chloe, whose face showed a lot of surprise, but I don't know whether she was surprised to see Desmon flew through the mattress in the middle of me and her, or whether she was surprised to hear me say those words loudly and firmly, or maybe both. I don't know.

Desmon looked at me for a moment before continuing to look at Chloe. He smiled his silly, stupid smile, "Sorry."

Chloe looked back at Desmon, "You did it on purpose, right?"

While I was still silent because I didn't want to lose control again and say words that I shouldn't say in front of Chloe.

"Sorry, I already sorry. After all, I've been waiting for you guys for hours but you didn't finish dating." said Desmon who even though he claimed he was sorry, his silly and stupid smile said otherwise as if he was having fun making fun of me and Chloe.

"Dating?" said Chloe who looked back at me.

I closed my eyes. I've never said that once in my life. Never.

But that idiot Desmon, who is probably a ghost nature who likes to play tricks on humans, why would he say that in front of Chloe. Shit. Very unlucky.

"No, no. I was joking. But I'm really waiting for you who have been seriously watching for hours." Desmon said again, as if he wanted to save me.

I didn't know if Chloe was looking at me or not, but I knew she had walked to door from where her voice came from, "I know you're joking, but Robert should have explained that. But he just closes his eyes and stays silent."

After Chloe said that, I heard the sound of the my room door opening. I opened my eyes to make sure and it was Chloe going out of my room.

"Why don't you explain it, idiot?" Desmon's words instead of comforting me made me even angrier at him.

"You're the stupid one, why say that?" I replied in a tone that I purposely raised.

Desmon opened my room door, "Then you just want to stay here?"

"So what, you don't like me in my room now? You should have thought, if this is my room it's not yours and you should have thought to enter through the door. You stupid ghost." I said, already very annoyed with his behavior.

Desmon came up to me and he looked at me, "You know, I apologized. I was wrong, yes, I've admitted it and apologized. But now try to think with a clear head. Do you want us to argue and fight here to satisfy your anger or you better go and see Chloe. I know I'm took it too far to say you're dating, but I know you better than you know yourself. I know you like her, you're comfortable with her. So would you be happy to argue with me, or would you rather pursue what you love?"

The words were quite piercing to me. Desmon was right that I liked Chloe, I was in love with her but I never dared to express it.

"Robert! Now or you'll regret it." Desmon said to me again but now he waved his hand and pointed at my open room door. "I said NOW!"

I was still thinking and thinking, I was filled with indecision, but Desmon's shout made me unconsciously step out of the room. Yes, it can't be helped. Although I'm still confused about what to do, but I hope the decision I make this time can have a positive result and I hope I can control myself completely.

I walked out of my room and my bedroom door was closed by Desmon.

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