The battle was getting intense each passing second.

Louise’s fist and Ozul’s hair were meeting blow by blow. Each blow sent a shockwave, and small strands of hair floated away. Dalton was getting second thoughts of trying to intervene. If he stepped in, he would be crushed by the weight of their blows.

He touched his bowtie. Unlike the ones Maya gave him, this one a normal black one. She made sure that he looked like a butler. He hadn’t asked if there was a protection spell in this one, but he didn’t doubt there was one imbued in the bow tie.

Louise deflected another hair tendril, and it blew by Dalton, leaving a small cut on his arm. Dalton mechanically looked at the cut, and then back at the very intense battle.

Maya forgot.

He was as defenseless as a baby chick was to a boot.

Well, he still had the ring, and he put the damn thing on. But he was no fighter.

The possessed Ozul caught Louise’s wrist with his hair. A twisted smile emerged from his pale face, as dark tar dumped from it.

“i gOT yOu!” His voice rung, shaking the air. Dalton fell to his knees from the shock. Unlike him, Louise stood her ground, giving him a defiant stare in her ocean blue eyes.

“No, I got you!”

She grabbed the hair, and pulled Ozul forward, making him flip in the air. She punched him and he flew back. She rinse and repeated, reeling him in and punching him.

Even as his face disfigured from the constant barrage of punches, Ozul laughed, not caring for the pain and blood that dripped down his face. A tooth clattered at Dalton’s foot.

And then it was there that Dalton remembered.

“He can regenerate.” He could feel the color drain down his throat.

That caught Louise’s attention. “He’s what now?”

And it was for that brief moment, that the possessed Ozul found his opportunity. His hair wrapped around her like a snake and constricted her movement. She was lifted into the air, and she opened her mouth in a silent scream.

“i shALL eAT yOU!”

He opened his mouth, and Dalton saw something transparent get ripped from Louise and sucked into the dark hole that was Ozul’s mouth.

Louise was dropped, and Ozul licked his lips in satisfaction.

“deLIciOUS!”

Then as he savored the taste, he turned to Dalton. Hunger still tainted his blackened eyes. It felt like being looked down upon by a starving lion. Dalton took a step back.

Sensing his weakness, Ozul leapt, hair trailing behind him, his mouth wide open to devour him.

“What is this!”

Dalton screamed, holding up his hand in a vain effort to protect himself.

An ice bubble formed around Dalton, and Ozul bounced off it, hitting the ground. The ring on his finger grew cold. When Ozul looked up, half of his face was frozen, and a large fissure ran down his right cheek.

“Oh, thank you.” Relief washed over Dalton. He kissed the ring, hoping to do the same to Maya later.

Seeing his chance, Dalton ran to Louise. Ozul did not attack him, instead he watched him carefully like a cat did to a bird.

Dalton flipped Louise on her back and cupped the base of her neck and lifted her head. Her eyes were white, devoid of her iris, and her mouth was agape, no air going in.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

His fingers shook as they touched her neck.

She was dead.

Dalton dropped her in shock. He caught Ozul in the corner of his eyes, leaping at him once more. He was met with the same resistance and bounced right off. Ozul righted himself in the air, landing on the roof of the door. He growled, a chunk of his face fell and shattered.

Then, he crawled into the exit, vanishing along with the net of hair.

#

The Bureau was quiet. Though the lights were on, but the usual hallway filled with people walking to their destination was empty.

Dalton carried Louise, making his way towards the elevator. At times, Dalton would see hair blocking a door. And he also saw a bloody handprint on the walls. It was eerie, but Dalton knew the cause was without a doubt Ozul.

His thumb played with the ring on his finger, turning it as a way to comfort him with its protection. If it wasn’t for this, he would be in the same position as Louise.

He turned the corner, and the elevator door was blocked by a hair net. Dalton quietly cursed his unluckiness. He turned to towards the stairs and saw three silhouettes at the end of the flickering hallway.

“He-hello?” Dalton called out to them.

They didn’t answer and continued to stand there.

As much as Dalton didn’t want to go that way, the stairway was right behind them. Dalton took a step forward.

“I would not do that if I were you.” A voice whispered in his ear.

Dalton turned to see Louise.

“You’re alive!” Dalton said.

“No. Remember, I’m the ghost.” Louise turned her attention back to the silhouettes. “Those people are possessed by ghosts. They have become ghost users.”

“Ghost users?” He remembered Maya mentioning them.

“Yes. You must be careful. They are dangerous.”

The silhouette in the middle stepped forward. A threatening atmosphere spread through the halls. The lights started to flicker like dying flames.

“Prepare yourself.” Louise left Dalton’s back and stepped to his side. “This is about to get weird.”

“Two people. I see two of them.” The man stopped. The light above him stopped flickering. He suddenly made a pose, leaning back. “Two people that will be dead.”

The man was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt with two big holes. One to show his midriff, and the other to expose his chest. He also wore a broken handcuffs on his wrists and wore tight hot pink jeans. He had three lines of paint going down his right eye, and his lips were painted purple.

“You are a prisoner, and now it is time for your execution.”

“What? Wh-what is happening?” Dalton looked to Louise and to the mysterious, weirdly dressed and fashionable gentleman in front of him.

“Behold my ghost, Light Show!” There was a transparent blur behind him. “With its ability I’m able to have any lights flicker on and off!”

“That’s…just useless.” Dalton shook his head.

“You did not let me finish. Light Show also control the intensity of all light bulbs.” The mysterious man held out his hand, the light above him grew brighter. “You won’t be able to see me, when I cut your faces with this razor.”

He flipped open a razor.

“Why a razor?” Dalton crossed his arms, his eyebrows knitted together. “Wouldn’t it be better to use a knife? And why are you even here?”

He took a bow. “We are the disciples of the great Ozul. We have come to do his bidding, and to kill the ghost user who can use an ice bubble?”

Dalton looked to Louise. She was nodding, following everything they said without a hint of confusion on her face.

His head was hurting. There were so many questions here.

“Wait Ozul? It’s only been thirty minutes since I went up to the roof. How does he even have disciples?”

“We died from a truck, and he offered us power to take control of our destiny and destroy this cursed Bureau. This was five minutes ago.”

Dalton felt a connection get lost in his head. He felt like all of this was just a dream. He leaned against the wall.

“It took five minutes for you to be his disciples? And just like that you’re going to kill me?”

“I can see that you are much like me. A corporate slave. Corporations need to be destroyed. They serve no purpose except sucking resources for those that need it. I am a kind man. If you call off your ghost, then I shall give you a quick death.”

“This isn’t a ghost,” Dalton said, pointing to his ring. “It’s magic.”

“So, you choose a hard death.” The ghost user lifted his hand, and the lights in the hallway turned off. “Prepare yourself.”

Something scrapped against the ice bubble protecting him. It did no damage. He doubted that the ring would break from a mere razor.

A second man stepped into his view. He was short, had crazy spiked hair, and had golden teeth.

“My ghost gives me the ability to destroy all rings.” He pointed and Dalton’s ring broke. “My ghost is called: Marriage Ender.”

“What kind of specific bullshit power is that?” Dalton yelled.

Movement came from the corner of his eyes. Dalton turned to see the first disciple come within his space, razor already in mid-swing. He wouldn’t be able to dodge it.

Louise shoved the man aside. She turned to Dalton. “Run!”

All the lights turned off. Dalton covered his eyes, squinting at the third man at the end of the hall. He was a skinny man, wearing a leather jacket, shirtless underneath that, and short pants. He held down a giant ball of light between his two hands. Stray lightning bolts tore the wall around him.

“My ghost is Sky High. It allows me summon lightning in my hand and toss it.” With that said, the third man freed the energy like a bird in a cage. It started slow but gained traction as it went down the hall. It tore the wall and the light bulbs shattered.

Dalton couldn’t escape this.

The last thing he saw was the brilliant light as it consumed him.