CHAPTER TWO

“So” Lucas says as he takes one big bite of his cheeseburger. “What are your plans for the weekend?” I open my phone to check my schedule. Hmmm, well I do have a special shaman work, but I cannot tell him that. “I’ll just go out of town for a while” I look away and cut a slice of my pancake. I take a bite and smile at him, hoping he will believe me.

Lucas watches me as I cut my food symmetrically. I like it when the pancake is cut into the same size. I fold the sliced pancake and put in my mouth. “What?” I ask, while he just chuckles. “Nothing. Have a great time. Send me photos!”

Aside from my usual day job, which is actually posting facts about our brand on different online platforms, my mind is stuck in my shaman work. This is my first time doing a work out of town, and I just could not say no as the client is paying me a huge amount.

“Business trip? Alone?” My mom asks as she helps me pack my bags after I told her I will be gone over the weekend. “Yes. Will you be okay?” I am more worried about my mom being alone for two days than me facing who knows what for 48 hours. She smiles and places a towel in my luggage. “Yes, baby. But please do update me, okay? I will be worried about you.” I nod and zip the bag.

I love my mom more than anyone in this world. It has been only us for so many years and never was there a time when I wanted to leave her. She always say that she knows everything about me, but I am afraid to tell her that I am not normal. I am not like those girls who just date any guy they like and just spend their nights with their friends drinking beer. I cannot tell her that I would rather send souls to heaven and earn than spend money on the things that I actually like.

I would love to bring her to the trip, but I do not want any bad spirits around her. A shaman like me is the least favorite person of souls, especially those who wanted revenge. I am sure that the moment I enter a room full of souls, they will do whatever it takes to bring me down.

“Will you be staying at a hotel?” I would love to say that I am staying in a nice place, but I already checked the location and the only available accommodation is a small motel.

Once my mom and I finished packing, I bid farewell and head out. But before I leave, I went up to the rooftop to meet a friend. “Hey” a voice popped out of nowhere beside me. “You do not have to hide, okay? I can see you” I smile and Rose, my ghost friend, appeared.

“How are you, sweetie?” she asks. Rose is a 40-year-old ghost who is living in our condominium for a long time. “I’m good. Look, I need you to do me a favor.” I smile, hoping she will say yes. For some reason, Rose is the only ghost I trust. She cares so much about the people living here. Rose smiles, “You need someone to look after your mom? More shaman work?” I nod and sigh. “I am just worried about her.”

Rose smiles and pats my shoulder. “I got you. But sweetie, please do take care of yourself. Not all ghosts are like me.” I nod, “I know.” She sits beside me and looks at the sky. “Why don’t you just quit on being a shaman? Let other deities do the job” I turn to her, “You know I can’t do that.”

“How about you? Why don’t you go to the afterlife? Do you need my help?” I ask her. Rose looks at me, “I still have some things to do. But don’t worry, I’ll let you know when I am ready” I never had the chance to ask her why she is still staying here. Years ago, I thought it was just because she cannot accept the fact that she is dead, but after some time, I realized that she has something important to do or protect. I do not like meddling with someone else’ business.

Rose gets something from her pocket. It is like a small paper with a unique symbol on it. “Keep it. It might come in handy” I look at the paper then back to her. “Thank you, Rose. I will make sure to buy you your favorite soup. Promise!”

The bus to the old province lasts for 3 hours. I know that I will be bored so I brought a book with me. Despite being a shaman, I still enjoy reading horror stories. As I am busy with my book, I notice a child ghost looking at me. “Hi” she says and waves her little hand. She is wearing a white dress with pink ribbons.

I tried to ignore her but she will not stop getting my attention. She even plans on disturbing other passengers on the train. The man in front of me almost got a heart attack when his book suddenly flew away. I face palm and the kid happily looks at me.

I sigh and looks at her. “So, how long have you been here?” She slowly walks to me and jumps in the small space between me and the old woman beside me. “Will you help me?” she asks while I chuckle. “I only help those who can afford me” She signs and checks her pockets, she does not have anything. Not even a single coin. “Well, then, I am going to enjoy my book” I turn my head back to the book.

The child tugs me again, this time with her trembling hands. “I just want to go back to my mom, please. I do not think she knows where I am” I sigh, “I’m sorry but I cannot help you. I have work to go to and ----“ I pause when I see her crying. Oh no, not this again.

It is not like I do not have a soft heart. I do, but not for ghosts. I am not the kind of person who will do everything to please everybody. The world does not work that way anymore, not in this century. People do whatever is beneficial for them and as much as I hate to admit, I do that too. I only help souls go to the afterlife because I need to the money.

I went back to reality when the child holds my hand. Instead of normal tears, her eyes are full of blood. “Please” Seeing her in that state is already my cue that she is not a normal ghost. I can feel the hair on my skin stand up. I hate vengeful ghosts.

They turn into scary-looking people who would do anything just to harm others. I need to think of something to avoid this situation. Just then, as if God heard my thoughts, my phone rings. “Lucas?”

“Are you wearing a blue hoodie and your favorite skinny jeans?” he asks with a playful tone. My heart starts to beat loudly. I can feel the adrenaline in my body as I search for him in the train. Where is he? Why is he here? He should get away. There is a vengeful ghost here. “w-where are you, Lu?” I ask, my tone is a mixture of panic and worry.

He chuckles on the other line. “Calm down, Quinn. Turn around” I immediately follow his instruction and see his wide smile at the end of the row. He looks so happy to see me while I try my best to look fine when deep inside I just want to tell him to leave. “I’ll go there” he says but before he stands up, I stop him. “No!” He looks at me with puzzled eyes and I turn to my side hoping to see the vengeful ghost but she is not there. Where is she? I look around once more, my heart beating fast every second that I do not see her.

Please, please, do not go to him. My phone rings again, startling me too much that it falls to the floor. God, why now? Why must Lucas be here, right now? “Let’s just stay in our places for now. Okay? You remember the bracelet I gave you? Are you still wearing it?”

I watch as Lucas looks at his right hand. He shows me the bracelet and smiles. I nod and felt relieved. It was 2 years ago when I gave him that bracelet. I was afraid that one day his life could be in danger and he would need protection from those vengeful ghosts. I made that bracelet based on what my grandmother told me. I also have the same bracelet so I think it was the reason I was still safe despite encountering tons of vengeful ghosts, including the one I met earlier.

After a few hours, the train reached my stop. I turn to Lucas and waves good bye without waiting for him to respond. I know he wants to talk to me and maybe ask me where I am going but I cannot risk it. I do not want him to go with me. I cannot let him get hurt.

Funny thing is that even if I am a petite girl who has a weight of 45 kg, I have a hard time running. Maybe because I hate doing sports or I just do not like moving AT ALL. But in this kind of situation, I know what I must do and that is to run away from Lucas so his life will not be in danger because of me.

I try my best to blend with the crowd, hoping that my bright red hair will not get seen by Lucas. But who am I kidding? He knows me too well. My phone starts to ring again. I’m sorry, Lu, but this is for you. I turn my phone off and continue running away.

After a few minutes, I reached the exit of the train station. I catch my breath for a minute and get the paper in my pocket. Good thing, I wrote the address of the “haunted” house before riding the train. The location is not far too. If I can estimate it correctly, it will just be a 15-minute walk.

My client is a 35 year old man who is planning to sell his house. According to him, he cannot sell his house because his wife is still lingering there, which rarely happens to those people who suddenly died. He offered me a huge amount of money since I will be traveling from the city. He also said that I could stay there but I refused. I already booked a nearby motel.

In just a few minutes, I did arrive at the house and it was worse than I expected. It is dark and full of molds. If I can visualize what’s inside, I can say that it will be full of spider webs and dust. I hope I am wrong because I hate spiders. I take a deep breath and open my phone to contact my client.

As I wait for him to answer the call, I heard some footsteps. I quickly turn around and looks for who knows what. Could it be the ghost? My client? The footsteps are getting closer and my heart starts to beat fast. “Hello?” I ask, making sure my voice is loud enough for that person, or ghost, to hear.