"I have heard that voice for the last few days, so it is Sasha".

Andrew was running and Sophia floated beside him through the school passages. At this time of the night, there was barely anyone on the premises except for guards and a few teachers. The latest anyone could stay being a teacher was nine in the evening while students were supposed to leave by eight. So, by now... Andrew was trespassing on the campus's curfew.

'I was poisoned in that meeting with the detective and died back home. From that very moment... I have been hearing Sasha's voice in my head. I followed hoping that she'd be a ghost just like me, but I don't manage to find her no matter where I go, it is like... she was trying to guide me but something else is stopping me from reaching her'.

"Follow me".

'Help! Please help me!'

They rushed to the source of the voice that became stronger with each step. It was when they reached the stairs, however, that Andrew understood where the problem was. He took the stairs down, but... Sophia took the stairs up.

"Where are you going, Sophia?!"

'The voice is resonating from above us, why are you going downstairs?'

"What are you talking about? I'm hearing the voice coming from downstairs, you follow me, that's why you never find her!" Instead of following along with Sophia's guesses, Andrew attached to his own instinct and ran down the stairs where he had to stop all of a sudden because there was a guard patrolling.

This man had a coat and he could hardly see the man's expression due to the darkness, but he had a lamp and was walking slowly along the hall in front of the stairs. The shrieks were coming from further down but he needed to wait or he would be taken out of the campus if found.

'Where now?'

"Still downstairs, I need to wait for that man to go through or he will catch me and throw me out of the campus".

'Ah? what man are you talking about?'

!!!

All of Andrew's hairs stood on an end; he looked at Sophia in disbelief with shivering eyes. She was just as confused as him. As if to make sure she wasn't wrong, Sophia lifted up from the handrail and took a look at the passage where there was nothing.

'There is nothing, Andrew'.

"S-Sophia, you can see other ghosts, can you?" He asked hopefully.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

'I don't know...' She answered cluelessly, it hadn't been that long since she became a ghost.

"There is definitely a man there walking with a lamp, I'm seeing him!"

'... I will go and-'

"Stay here, don't go!" He yelled in a whisper, taking her wrist and stopping her from doing something stupid. It was then that the 'person' seemed to have heard them and moved the flashlight towards them. Andrew concealed and pulled Sophia into his arms.

Both of them remained silent until the person or whatever went away far into the hallway.

"Sophia, y-you're positive that you didn't see that light just now?"

'I didn't... a-also... you're touching my breast' The girl said with a blush, pushing him away.

"Sorry... that means... you and Sasha are not the only ghosts in this school. Let's keep going... what I am most curious about... is that lantern, how come ghosts can have a... 'ghostly lantern'? it is my first time seeing this".

'I thought as a ghost I would be able to see other ghosts just like me' Sophia stuttered, feeling eerily vibes as she recalled the past incident, something that Andrew could see yet she couldn't... it was giving her anxiety. Not only that but he could also hear the real origin of Sasha's voice which she couldn't.

'What exactly are you, Andrew?'

"I don't know... I was born like this. Get ready, we're close".

Soon after, Sasha's shrieks started again but with way less intensity, Andrew had to do his best to actually hear where it was coming from. They reached the underground floors where the school's storage was located, definitely a spot that they shouldn't be able to enter. There was barely any light in here with no more than a few bulbs.

Inside this storage, there were many doors and one of them led further downstairs into the deepest basement. Sasha's voice was coming... from this door.

"W-What is this black miasma?" Andrew tried to open the door, but it was locked. There was a sort of black aura coming from the edges of the door, like black smoke. It couldn't be anything good but Sasha's voice was most definitely coming from here.

'Sasha is on the other side of this door right?! I'm going in!' Sophia didn't wait any further, if anything she was pissed off that something had been misleading her all this time, taking her farther and farther away from this basement.

!!!

Andrew witnessed Sophia's silhouette phase through the door and she started yelling for Sasha's name right after in the brashest and most unprepared way possible.

"Wait! damn! don't just barge in! open the door from the other side!" He started to frantically try to open the door until it finally opened on its own. He expected to see Sophia in there, having opened the back lock, but there was nothing, instead, there were some dark stairs going down. They looked ancient and misplaced compared to the rest of the school.

"T-This is the old building... please... why am I here again?".

There was silence down there, only the brief miasma coming from above. He took out his phone and put it in lantern mode. The light shone downstairs yet it failed to erase the incoming miasma. No doubt this was the original basement that existed even before the school was built on top of it.

"Sophia...?"

There was no voice coming from there... no nothing. Exhaling deeply, Andrew took one step forward. Then another, then another, until he reached the bottom of the stairs where he found a dark storage room.

'...drew...'

"Sophia?" He could hear Sophia's voice mildly coming from the darkness in front that his lamp was powerless to erase.

'...drew!'.

"What is it, where are you? I can't hear you, speak louder!" All he could see was darkness. Unbeknownst to him. It was that darkness, the shadows that enveloped him, which he had to be careful of.

'Get down, Andrew! that thing is in front of you, GET DOWN!'

"Eh?"

*SLASH!!*