MISOO was staring at her hand with a black fingerless glove on.

She has been wearing that glove ever since she was thirteen years old. And the reason for wearing that? A burn mark in her palm. She was a vain person. Thus, she didn’t like seeing the burn mark on her otherwise flawless skin.

To be honest, she couldn’t remember how exactly she got her hand burned. But she had a rough idea.

It was probably because of her strange ability that her parents forbade her from using.

“Just don’t forget that I warned you when you breathe your last one, babe.”

She bit her lower lip when she heard the arrogant bastard’s voice in her head.

Although she didn’t want to admit it, she also couldn’t deny that an important part of her memory had been erased. No matter how much she tried to deny it, at the end of the day, she knew that her life was in danger.

She almost forgot that she wasn’t normal.

But that arrogant bastard had to show up and remind her that she wasn’t an average person.

I really hate that jerk!

“Misoo?”

She blinked in surprise when her friends Daye, Jana, Elnora, and Wynn all called her name at the same time. She noticed that her friends looked worried, so she smiled at them. Ah, she almost forgot that she was in the classroom while hanging out with them. She remembered that they were in the middle of discussing something. “Sorry. What were you saying again?”

“We’re talking about going to UnderGround for your sixteenth birthday,” Daye said excitedly. “G?”

The ‘UnderGround’ that her friend mentioned was a high-end bar for rich kids like them. It was also infamous for serving alcoholic drinks to minors. For that reason, UnderGround was a famous hang-out place for high school students like them.

Anyone who could afford the bar’s overpriced alcoholic drinks and snacks were welcomed at UnderGround.

“G,” Jana said. ‘G’ stood for ‘game’ or ‘in’ for that context. “I heard UnderGround is like a nest for cute college boys!”

“That place is very dangerous though,” Elnora said worriedly. “I heard it’s some kind of a lair for bad kids.”

“And a den for illegal activities,” Wynn added. “UnderGround has been suspended several times because the bar was caught dealing drugs with minors. But since the bar is backed up by VIPs, they always get away with everything unscathed.”

“We can always avoid trouble, friends,” Daye whined, pouting. “Despite its bad reputation, UnderGround is a very fun place to party.” Much to Misoo’s surprise, Daye turned to her with puppy dog eyes. “Misoo, didn’t you and Nigel plan to celebrate your birthday at UnderGround before?”

Ah, that was right.

“I think Nigel would be glad if you fulfill your plans with him even though he’s no longer with us,” Jana added carefully. “Plus, you’ve been mopping for weeks now, Misoo. We understand, of course. But as your friends, we want to cheer you up.”

Daye nodded in agreement. “Please, please, please? Let’s go there for your birthday, Misoo.” She raised her hand as if she was taking an oath. “Promise, we will be really careful. We’ll go home before midnight.”

Misoo suddenly felt pressured. One of her weaknesses was that she couldn’t say ‘no’ to her friends. So in the end, she found herself nodding. “Alright, we’ll celebrate my sixteenth birthday at UnderGround.”

Daye and Jana high-fived in delight while Wynn and Elnora turned gloomy.

She was about to cheer up her friends when all of a sudden, she felt a burst of strange energy in the air. As usual, it was obvious that only she was able to feel it.

But worst of all, she also sensed Nigel’s presence vanishing fast.

Misoo stood up and bolted out of the room while ignoring her friends calling out her name. Nigel, please be safe!

***

MISOO followed the traces of the energy that she felt.

Well, she didn’t know what it was called. She just knew that the “energy” (whatever kind of energy it was) in the air right now wasn’t normal.

That it didn’t belong to humans.

Dammit.

She should have known that there was a reason why the arrogant bastard was here.

But she had been too complacent because she thought Nigel could hide its presence from the weird “exorcists” that visited their academy earlier. But obviously, she was wrong.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Just a little more!

She took a deep breath when she finally reached the last step of the stairway leading to the rooftop. Hah, she didn’t even realize that she was at the rooftop of Bluebelle Academy’s main building until she was opening the door.

And as soon as she saw the sight that greeted her, she gasped.

Nigel was pinned to the floor while writhing in pain. Worse, her boyfriend was chained. Obviously, those weren’t ordinary chains.

Isn’t that the famous celebrity host of Fearless?

Aries, if she remembered the teen star’s name correctly, was kneeling beside Nigel. The celebrity host was gripping a fountain pen engulfed in a strange blue flame.

She felt a shiver down her spine when she saw the murderous look on Aries’ face. The teen star had a cheerful and friendly personality on-cam. But right now, Aries seemed to be a completely different person off-cam. His dark eyes were sharp and cold, and the smirk that he gave her when they locked gazes was sinister.

“Say goodbye to your dead boyfriend, Miss McCollins,” Aries said cheerfully, then he raised his fountain pen as if he was preparing to stab Nigel with it. “Sorry, not sorry.”

“No, please!” she begged, screaming.

Of course, Aries didn’t listen to her plead. The heartless teen star stabbed Nigel on the forehead with the fountain pen.

Her ghost boyfriend screamed agonizingly.

On the other hand, Aries just stood up and watch Nigel suffer calmly. Heck, the heartless teen star even looked satisfied as her ghost boyfriend writhed in pain.

She felt her chest tighten.

Nigel…

She ran towards Nigel but was instantly stopped when she felt a presence beside her at the same time an imposing arm wrapped itself around her waist. As soon as she felt the light bolt of electricity touch her skin, she already knew who the owner of the arm was.

Misoo looked up at the arrogant bastard with a glare. “You lied to me, jerk!” she accused him. “You said you’d leave Nigel alone!”

“I didn’t say that I wouldn’t drive out your dead boyfriend,” the arrogant bastard denied. “I said I would leave him alone as long as he doesn’t “transform.” He pointed at Aries with his lips. “But Aries is a different story. It’s his job to exorcise evil spirits that shouldn’t be having relationships with the living.”

“Exorcise?” she asked sarcastically. “From the looks of it, you murdered Nigel! What’s with the burning fountain pen? And the chains? You tortured him!”

“Shit, Syndrome,” Aries said in disbelief while looking at her with a shocked look on his face. “She saw my Soul Extension. Is my skill getting rusty because I’m busy with my part-time job as a teen star?”

The arrogant bastard whose name seemed to be Syndrome looked at her with furrowed brows. “You can see Aries’ fountain pen?”

Ah, the cat is now out of the bag.

Misoo peeled Syndrome’s arm off of her waist, then she pushed the arrogant bastard away from her.

But much to her frustration, he barely moved despite being pushed hard.

Argh, his chest is solid!

“I can see it,” she declared, then she pointed at the tattoo on the back of Syndrome’s hand. “I can also see that strange tattoo.”

Syndrome looked shocked by her revelation. “What are you, Misoo McCollins?”

“I should be the one asking you that,” she snapped back, lifting her chin to show the arrogant bastard that she wasn’t afraid of him. “What are you?”

When Syndrome seemed to be at a loss of words, she walked past him.

Then, she dropped to her knees on the spot where Aries was kneeling a while ago.

Nigel was still lying on the floor, unmoving. She also noticed that her boyfriend was now covered with a cloud of thick black smoke.

This is weird…

Nigel was gone for real this time.

She was supposed to be in pain. She was supposed to be reduced to an inconsolable mess. But she felt empty. Was it because this was the second time that she lost Nigel?

No, something feels strange.

Instead of feeling heartbroken, her heartbeat turned loud and erratic.

Then, much to her confusion, unfamiliar memories began to flood her mind.

Different images of the past filled her memory. From the moment she first met Nigel in that school as a transfer student up to the moment that she mourned his death. It was like watching a fast-forwarded movie.

But despite being reminded of the times that she had spent with Nigel when he was still alive, she still felt nothing.

She couldn’t even understand why she acted like a lovesick girl when Nigel wasn’t even her type. It was as if she woke up from a long dream. And now that she was sober, she began to question her “feelings” for her “boyfriend.”

I fell in love… with this thing?

“Syndrome, it seems like Miss McCollins went into shock after she witnessed her boyfriend being exorcised,” Aries “whispered” to Syndrome. “We should erase her memories.”

“I’m not shocked,” she said coldly.

Ah, damn.

She was now wide awake and very pissed.

Now that she was back to her usual self, she couldn’t help but get mad at whoever it was that manipulated and altered her memories for the past weeks.

They also controlled my feelings and made me think that I loved some dead dude!

She glared at Nigel’s “body” that was still covered with thick and black smoke.

There’s still some energy left in him…

And she was right.

Nigel’s pale hand moved quickly as if it was about to grab him.

“Misoo…” Nigel pleaded weakly. “Save me…”

“Get away from that thing!” Syndrome yelled worriedly while running toward her. “Now!”

Well, she could take care of herself.

She stood up and snatched the burning fountain pen from Aries. Then, she stabbed Nigel’s hand with it. The black smoke suddenly burst out at the same time Nigel screamed deafeningly. God, she thought her ears would bleed because of her eardrums exploding.

Thankfully, Nigel’s soul or spirit or whatever finally vanished.

But unfortunately, she just exposed her true self to the kind of people that she should be hiding from.

Dammit.

Syndrome’s eyes were wide open as if he couldn’t get over his shock yet.

On the other hand, Aries’ knees buckled and he fell to the floor while looking at her with a look of disbelief.

Ah, busted.

Misoo bent her knees, gently placed the fountain pen on the floor, and then got the hell out of there while (gently) slapping her cheeks with her hands. “Why did you have to come to your senses in front of those people, Misoo McCollins?”