When I wake up, I am already in my room. “Are you okay?” My mom asks as she places the breakfast table in front of me. She then puts a bowl of soup on the table. I nod, “what happened? I do not remember going home..”

She raises an eyebrow. “But you did go home. I saw you walk inside the house. You even hugged me.” I pause, I cannot remember doing all those things. I just know that I was in Lucas’ apartment. I pause again, someone called me when I was there. I look around the room and a smile appeared on my face.

Lucas smiles at me and waves. My mom looks at me confused while I just start eating. “Thanks, mom.” Once my mom leaves the room, Lucas walks to me. “I’m sorry I disappeared.” I wanted to hug Lucas so badly but I know that I cannot. “I want to help you, Lu. I am doing everything I can to.”

He sits in front of me. “How? I don’t think I can return to my body. I stayed in that room, hoping I can remember anything, but I can’t.” I am about to reach for his arm to comfort him like I always do, but I remembered that he is now a soul. I stop midway and sigh. “Let’s do this together, Lucas.”

I know that I am not a detective or whatsoever but I know there is something that I can do with this. “Hey, everything okay?” Annie, my co-worker and friend, asked me upon seeing me search about murder cases online. I sigh, “well, I’m just into these things.” I lie and turn to her. “Really? I love watching crime series too!”

“Oh, really? So how do they usually find the killer?” I ask. Annie smiles widely, she usually does this whenever she talks about something that she likes. “Well, I noticed that it is usually someone who is close to the victim. Someone who has a deep grudge.”

“I can’t think of anyone.” Lucas says as we both head to the location of my next assignment. “Me too. But I guess Annie was right. It has to be someone who has a deep grudge. Otherwise, why would someone do that to you?” He nods. “I’ll just think of something. Anyway, where are we going?”

I pause, since Lucas knows I can see ghosts, I have no choice but to bring him along. This way I am sure that he will not disappear again. I turn to him, “Lucas…” the driver turns to the rearview mirror to see if I am talking to someone. I fake a smile and continue looking at Lucas.

“You know that I can see ghosts and souls, right?” I say in a low tone, making sure that the driver will not hear me. He nods, but I know that he is concerned about me. I sigh, I never imagined that telling the truth to Lucas could be this hard.

I take a deep breath. “Look, I am not normal.” I start with my hands trembling. “I can see ghosts and souls. I used this “gift” to send them to the afterlife. I get paid to do this.” I close my eyes, I do not want to see his disappointed face. “Well, you have been doing good deeds.”

I opened my eyes to see his smile. “I am proud of you, Quinn. You’ve been helping a lot of people.” “Ghosts” I correct him. He chuckles and nods. “But no, Lucas. I only help those who can pay my fee.” He tilts his head in confusion. I sigh, “I only choose who I help, Lu…” He nods in understanding. “I understand. Thank you for telling me this, Quinn. I just hoped that you did tell me earlier, I could’ve helped---“

“No!” I answered, a little louder than I expected. The driver looks at me while I just fake a smile. “I can’t let you go there. It is dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Lucas smiles, “But remember that time when I have to save you? You almost died.” I wanted to tell Lucas what happened to me a few days ago but I refused to. “I just… can’t let anything happen to you.” I answer, as if Lucas will know that I care for him more than friends.

“Well, now you are stuck with me. I will go with you 24/7 until I get back to my body.” He happily says, though deep down I know he is having doubts about his situation. I look at his trembling hands. I wanted to hold them, but he is a soul now. I just smile and nod. “Okay. After my shaman work, we can proceed to find out who attacked you.” He offers his transparent hand to me, “deal”.

After a few minutes, we finally reached our destination. We both look at the location and for the first time in my shaman career, I ended up in an orphanage. “So we just need to send the soul to the afterlife, right?” Lucas asks as I scan the area. I nod, “and you have to help me convince the ghost that he or she needs to go. Otherwise, we might end up sleeping here and I do not like the place one bit.”

The orphanage looks old and abandoned. I expected to see kids roaming around with a bright and fresh atmosphere. Instead, we are facing a sad-looking place that not even adults will like to stay. “Are you sure that this is the right place?” Lucas asks me while I check my phone. “Yep. I guess we should not judge an orphanage by its looks?”

When we reach the door, I pressed the doorbell. But it seems like no one is home. “Hello? Is this the Holy Angel Orphanage?” I call. “I guess no one’s here.” Lucas says as he looks around. I am about to call my client when the door suddenly opens.

Lucas and I turn to each other. For some reason, I feel like I am risking my life and Lucas’ soul again.