"You're saying that those cats are ghosts too? How can i touch them then??"

"Yes they are, you can touch them for the same reason you can see them, once you unlock the ability to contact the other realm, many things become possible, and you'll get to learn about it with time."

"I can do more than see and touch??"

"Absolutely mister Luke, and now allow me to inform you more about the garden cats, you may find their story interesting"

"Yes Helena, tell me please"

Helena took a seat beside Luke , held one of the ghost cats on her lap, and petted him and stroked his back with her tiny hands, the cat purred ,closed his eyes, and gave up to helena.

"The cats of the fountain garden are a group of ghost cats that recently appeared here , they just play around, sleep, lay here and there, on the benches, fountain side, under tree shades, in the playground, it is said that they are waiting for someone appearance, a last encounter, i am here to verify those facts."

The cat jumped to join his mates, then Helena resumed her talk.

"Basically mister Luke, when creatures die, their souls go to the afterlife, but in some cases, the souls turn into ghosts and roam around in the physical world for different reasons, we dont know all the reasons, but we know that ghosts with strong will who are not satisfied with their lives, who left things undone in life and died without achieving some goals, who strongly refuse to quit to the afterlife before completing their last wish or correcting their life regrets keep roaming around."

"Are you implying that those cats have some kind of wish to fulfill before departing?"

"Quite smart mister Luke, you have some sharp deduction skills."

"Stop your sarcasm, what are you supposed to investigate anyway?"

"I have a job Mister Luke, of guiding the poor roaming souls to their next destination, the methods to do this go differ from each other, for me, i prefer to fulfill the ghosts last wish if it's a possible and ethical one."

"Ethical?"

" You won't like hearing about revenge ghosts last wishes, they wont rest until they hurt or kill someone or some group or execute their revenge anyway"

"And how do you deal with those?"

"I dont deal with them, thats all you need to know for now, if this interest you, you can observe how i'll deal with those cats first."

Helena opened her backpack and got out a newspaper called "THE DOVE TIMES", it was an old edition, 10 months old, she flipped the pages until she stopped at a one that got a picture of a raging fire incident on it, it was titled -LARGE FIRE CAUGHT A SINGLE LADY HOUSE, 20 CATS WERE FOUND DEAD AND THEIR OWNER SURVIVED WITH DANGEROUS BURNS-

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"Now you know why we have all those kitties here"

"If you are implying that the cats we have here are the same cats that died in the fire, why are they wondering in this garden, and what are you supposed to do to them?"

The girl smirked and said:"Mister Luke, dont overwhelm a little girl with questions like this, i can only reply to one at once."

"Cheeky brat"

"And yes, they are the same cats obviously, the garden was their hanging out and playing spot when miss Felindra was alive, that's her name by the way mister Luke, the cats dont know that she's dead already like them, they waited for her at home to see her a last time after departure as that is their last wish and will, and since she was unconscious at the hospital the reunion didn't happen so they headed to their usual spot, the fountain garden we are in."

"Was alive!?"

"She died due to to the severe burns last week."

Silence reigned over the garden for few seconds after Helena delivered this piece of information, as the chance of the cats seeing their mistress for a last time disappeared with the passing breeze.

"I dont know Miss Felindra, i just knew about the cats for the first time today too, but the thought of her pets waiting for ten months to meet her is nothing short of melancholic."

"What's with the sad looks mister Luke?"

"Will the cats just wait here if they dont see their owner again?"

"Normally, they would have stayed for a long time waiting for her, pets have a tendency to wait for their masters for ages, especially dogs, that's why i came here today, to force them into departure to the next world, one way or another, but i prefer the gentle way."

"Which is?"

"Convincing them that Miss Felindra departed before them."

Then, Helena got something from her pocket, it was some kind of circular copper necklace with a feline paw mark engraved on it, after a second glance it seemed that it could be opened and contained something in it, but Helena didn't open it, she just approached the cats and showed them then necklace.

That somehow gained the attention of every cat, and they all moved toward the girl in slow steps, checking the necklace and sniffing it in surprise, then they started to meow collectively, in the most heartbreaking tone luke ever heard from a cat.

"Now it's time kittens,i bet Miss Felindra is waiting for you all there."

"How can they know that from just a necklace?"

"Miss Felindra never took off that necklace, they know their master that well, the only occurence where she'll leave it is her death."

Then the sight that Luke saw that moment left him amazed, the cats started to glow all of sudden and turned into a brillant mist like appearance, then shining dots that floated in the air till they disappeared from our sights like some silver fireflies, one by one, till all the twenty cats were gone.

"Aaaand i'm done here." Helena sighed and smiled.

"I still didn't process what happened well"

"It's fine Mister Luke, you'll get used to it."

Then the girl headed to the garden enterance but before that, she quickly got back to Luke and gave him the necklace.

"I still want to stay with you but i have some other tasks to achieve so i can get back early to home, take this necklace, consider it a souvenir of this small experience, and i hope i'll see you soon enough Mister Luke, dove town isn't that big, so chances of that are high."

"See you next time then, i guess."

The little girl then quitted the garden, and Luke stayed on the fountain benches for some more minutes to assimilate whatever happened this morning.

Life became weird.

He held the necklace, examined closely the pretty paw mark on it and opened it, and found there a picture,a small circular one to fit the necklace, where Miss Felindra sat on the benches of the same garden all smiling facing the camera, wearing a classic old white sleeved red dress, surrounded by cats, on her lap, on her shoulders, on the bench, all smiling or snoozing or playing, they loved their owner apparently.

Luke closed the necklace and put it in his pocket.

"Time for a coffee, i need to clear my mind so bad."