Borrowing the dark of the night, a group was sneaking around the container shipyard, loading not inanimate objects.
One woman struggled out of her ropes and screamed, "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US—"
"Shut up..." her kidnapper hissed through gritted teeth while cutting her off with a taser, another one of his accomplices fixing the rope around their supply's mouth.
It was five men, five armed men loading three helpless and immobilized women. One of them had given up struggling, one was knocked unconscious, the other was still writhing from escape after being tasered.
Two men were on the lookout, scouting around with huge guns in hand. One wearing a cap was relaxed, hands in pockets. The last two were the loaders.
"See anything?" the one wearing a cap, who was the leader, asked a scout.
"No, but uh..." He whipped his head round and round, scanning anxiously. "I don't know why, but I feel like something's... there... like a ghost."
"Tsk." The leader scoffed. "Didn't expect you to have shrunk balls—"
CLANK!
"What was that?!"
The loaders also turned to the sound from a distance; it came from behind another container.
"I'll check it out," the other scout proposed and walked confidently.
"Wait, what if it's the Janitor?"
"The Janitor can't be everywhere." And he went without hesitation.
Behind the container was... nothing. The scout scoffed, thinking it was probably just a bird, when the barrel of a gun loomed above him.
BANG!
The four remaining all flinched, with a scout raising his gun in panic. "HE'S ABOVE!"
A dark shadow jumped from one container to another, practically dancing above the four while they desperately fired upward. The bullets clanked against containers, but none ever hit the target.
The leader backed up from the scene, drawing his pistol and firing, but still, the dark figure remained untouched.
BANG!
A perfect headshot landed on one of the loaders, smearing blood all over his supplies, who scrambled backward deeper into the container to avoid the conflict.
"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" the scout exclaimed repeatedly as he reloaded.
The other loader jumped out of the container for a better aim but only made himself a better target.
BANG!
By the time the panicking scout finally finished reloading with his shaky hands, the figure seemed to have disappeared—or at least, was no longer above him. Like a cockroach that had just gone out of sight.
To gain better defense, the scout stepped into the container, back against his supplies and gun pointed at the door. He was already soaked in sweat, gun trembling badly as he panted.
But the container could be opened in both directions.
The scout didn't notice the creaking of the door behind him, nor the horrified women's struggles. They were all muffled by the sound of his own heartbeat.
BANG!
His brain burst open from behind.
The two women who were conscious pushed themselves back away from the dark figure by the door, their eyes squeezed tight, expecting their doom but not willing to witness it.
They didn't even realize when the dark figure reached them. Only when the stress on their jaws was alleviated and their wrists were no longer fastened did they realize: whoever he was, he was here to save them.
The leader, cunning and cowardly, had sprinted out of the scene long ago and was still running through containers, only to be shone on by a blinding torchlight.
"Hey you! Get back here!" The shipyard guard and the leader played cat and mouse until eventually, the leader bumped his head against an electric pole and knocked himself out.
The dark figure returned, standing on a container, out of sight of the shipyard guard, inspecting the unconscious kidnapper.
He was a wrinkled, seasoned soldier in his military camouflage outfit. A robust, custom-made rifle rested in his arms. Noticing that the shipyard guard had called the cops, he backed away.
———
I did want to sit the Jumping Ghost down for a talk, but I didn't want anyone to know about it. Otherwise, I'd never hear the end of it from Yuki.
Rule number one of exorcism: do not talk to ghosts. I break that on every mission I go on.
"It takes more than two buttons to open emails," Jennifer ranted, her entire body completely relaxed on the passenger seat. "Not to mention I have to scroll to find it. You check." She pointed at me lazily, and I complied. One of us had to check.
Emailed to us were the location of the claimant and the Association's history of encounters with the Jumping Ghost.
"Room 4-16. That would be the 16th room on the fourth floor," I explained.
"Alright," she said casually, already opening the car door. "I'm enough; you go grab something to eat."
"Wait."
She slowly turned her head back to me, annoyed. "What?"
"Jumping Ghost has been troublesome for the Association because it's extremely skilled at escaping," I explained while swiping through the history of encounters.
"She ain't escaping me," she responded almost immediately and climbed out of the car.
I held a hand out. "Wait."
"What?" She shook her head, making it incredibly clear she was exasperated.
"Let's not risk it. Jumping Ghost usually utilizes her ghost abilities to their fullest by phasing through floors instead of walls," I showed her the screen. "All her targets so far live elevated, so she could always escape by phasing downstairs."
"Damn." Jennifer raised her eyebrow. "I'll give it to you, you can recognize patterns."
"I think you should camp downstairs at room 3-16. If she escapes me, you'll catch her."
"Why don't we switch roles?"
"Gotta save our ace card for last."
Jennifer grinned ear to ear, then reached a hand through the door, ruffling my hair without my permission. "I like that," she said. "Make sure she escapes from ya."
You're not too flattering though.
I checked my watch. "It's almost twelve; let's move."
We replaced the two inhabitants of the two rooms of operation with dummies, then went into hiding. One thing about ghosts: they rest after sunset (6 p.m.) and return tomorrow (12 a.m.).
So, during this gap is when we exorcists plant traps since ghosts won't be tailing their targets now.
I hid in the closet of the claimant while Jennifer probably fell asleep below.
I had to trap her successfully. I needed this, I needed to sit the Jumping Ghost down for a talk, a therapy session.
If she escaped downstairs, that would never happen again.
I stared anxiously at my watch as it ticked.
"53, 54, 55..." I counted the seconds until 0000. "56, 57, 58, 59."
Nothing audible happened, and I could only see darkness hidden in the closet. The Jumping Ghost was smarter than the last one I faced. Why make sounds by opening doors when you could just phase through them?
Nonetheless, I should still be able to hear footsteps. I also tied a string to the blanket covering the dummy. If she flipped it open, I would know, for the other end of the string was tied to my pinky.
I clenched the dagger in my sweaty palm, ready to pounce out.
I stared at the unmoving string tied to my pinky intensely.
Anytime now... Anytime now...
But still, nothing.
She probably realized I was here then. Maybe she noticed the string. First time dealing with a Special, I was careless.
Jennifer downstairs was staring at the ceiling with her lighter already flicked open. She lay bored on the bed, limbs spread out, watching the ceiling fan creak and turn.
She checked her watch: 12:06 a.m. "What's taking so long?" she muttered to herself.
Jumping Ghost escaped. I pushed the closet open weakly, slightly disappointed when—
WHOOOOOSH
THUD!
A kitchen knife, barely missing me, smashed into the wall furiously.
No one was holding it. No one visible, anyway.
I breathed heavily as I dodged the next couple of strikes, all while writing on a yellow talisman paper. Whoever the Jumping Ghost was, she wasn't good at killing.
I slapped the yellow talisman paper '觸' on my forehead while hopping over a desk to dodge the kitchen knife.
Jennifer downstairs heard the commotion and stood ready in case the Jumping Ghost escaped me.
I kicked what looked like air, but the kitchen knife tumbled back with it. It was just a rough estimate, I probably kicked her spine.
With the Jumping Ghost on the floor, I used this time to complete the final line on the character '封' on a yellow talisman paper I'd planted in the room.
It lit up in flames, as did two others, forming the invisible triangular barrier.
I finally pulled out and flicked open my meticulously designed lighter, and she appeared in front of me.
Long black hair obscured her face as she climbed from the floor. She stomped her foot, probably trying to phase through, but that wouldn't work with the invisible barriers now in place.
"I just wanna talk," I said, still holding out my dagger defensively.
She did the same, pointing her kitchen knife at me with a creepily steady hand. She finally stood back up, pulling her head back as she straightened slowly.
Her messy black hair fell back, revealing who was beneath.
I was frozen. "S... Soph?"
What had been a menacing ghostly face quickly softened. "Mo... mo?"
Footsteps echoed from the corridor outside the room.
We both panicked. In the spur of the moment, I chose to cut down one of the burning talisman papers, removing the invisible barrier.
She didn't phase downward; she had probably discovered our plot. Sophie vanished into a wall instead.
The door was banged on. "You alright in there?" It was Jennifer, the doorknob rattled.
I cut down the two other burning talisman papers. The flames disappeared almost immediately as I dashed to open the door.
"Uh... were you making out with the ghost?" Jennifer asked, tilting her head, trying to see the tossed room.
"No... no, I wasn't." I stood in her way.
"Yeah, you weren't. You two were seriously noisy up here, yet I never received an invite. Makes one jealous, you know?"
I stared blankly at her, still shocked by who I'd just met.
Jennifer waved her hand lazily in front of me. "Hellooooo..."
I shook the overwhelming thoughts out of my head. "Yeah?"
"Why are you blushing? Were you two fucking? What was that?" She chuckled, playfully punching my chest.
"Uh... um..." I dragged a palm down my face. "We fought, but... she escaped. She probably realized you were downstairs. She escaped next door."
Jennifer smirked, patting me on the shoulder like I was a preschool kid who'd just lost his candy. "It's okay. Next time, leave the fighting to me." She whispered, then turned to leave. "Let's go. We'll get her next time."
I lingered by the door, legs shaking, mind full and malfunctioning.
"Soph..."