After Matthew hung up the phone, I turned to Sophie, still in my dining room while I prepared my daily black coffee. "I'll get the address tonight. Come to me tomorrow for it."
"You mentioned her name. Who are we killing?" Sophie asked, quite casually. That's what happens when one becomes a ghost for too long, her empathy was clouded by desperation to live.
"Lila Powell. A skinner who got off with fake tears and an excellent lawyer," I explained as my steaming cup of coffee was served.
Sophie looked around my apartment, which I've quickly swept clean earlier, getting rid of signs of my unhealthy obsession. "What are you doing right now? Aside from… exorcism."
"I'm a therapist. I've got clients today… Wait, no, I don't... it's Sunday." I sipped my coffee while walking to the table where she sat.
"That's cool." She nodded. "So you're doing alright?"
"Doing average." I sat across from her at the table. "How about you?"
"I, uh… I'd rather not talk about it." She chuckled awkwardly, one hand twisting her hair.
"I see. Sorry for asking."
"Don't feel that way." She waved, then looked around my apartment again until her gaze landed on a receipt from yesterday.
"Caitlyn Winters…" she whispered. "Waitress gave you her number?"
"Yeah."
"And you kept it?"
"Matt insisted I keep it, if you remember him."
"Yeah, I do. Matt, a stubbornly good guy who'd get mad because someone said bad things about another someone, he doesn't even need to know who either of them are."
"He's a cop now. How fitting is that?"
"Suits him so well." She smiled, but only faintly, and only briefly. "It's crazy how you two maintained contact after so long."
"We could've too, you know?" My coffee cup clanked against the saucer, and silence followed.
I chose the absolute worst words for that situation, not very psychologist-y of me. Sleep deprivation was catching up.
Sophie cleared her throat before speaking again. "So, uh… this Caitlyn… you interested?"
"I haven't even called the number."
"Why not?"
Your turn, Soph. Terrible choice of words. Of course I'm responding to that with silence.
"This is really awkward." I just blurted out without care now. "Just… where do you live now?"
"Right here."
"Norves?"
"… Yeah." She hung her head, disappointed, fingers drumming the table. "Somehow, we never met."
"I did send you messages… fifteen years ago, but… did you not receive them?"
She only looked more bitter, more uncomfortable after that question, so I stopped pursuing. "Sorry."
"It's okay." She waved it off again. "I did receive them. I just didn't know if I… if I wanted to see you." She averted her gaze.
A dagger struck my heart hearing that, but nonetheless, my resolve wasn't shaken. "Just so you know, you're being actively hunted, not just by me. Be careful when haunting Lila."
"Got it…"
BANGBANGBANG.
"Hellooooooooooooooo!" And the doorknob rattled. The sleeping beauty has zero patience, I see.
"Hide." I whispered, and Sophie vanished into the wall behind me.
Flicking closed my nefariously appealing lighter, I unlocked the door. "Ever heard of privacy?"
"Good morning to you too, friend. We gotta report what happened back to the shrine."
"And I'm driving?"
"You're driving." Her short hair wasn't tied in her usual ponytail, it was clear she came straight here after waking up, judging by the bed hair and the messy uniform.
But even then, there's still something so attractive about her. She's not the sleeping beauty for no reason.
Her face suddenly tightened when she peeked over my shoulder into my apartment. "Wait." She pushed me aside and barged in.
"Oh my god, privacy—"
"Shh." She pulled out her lighter and flicked it open. Thankfully, Sophie wasn't revealed by it. She was hiding in the bedroom.
"What?" I kept my voice steady. If Jennifer saw my face, she'd see my internal panic.
"Shhhh." More aggressive this time, as her feet started pacing straight to my bedroom.
Jennifer entered as Sophie vanished through the floor, while I waited anxiously by the front door.
"What are you doing?" I approached.
"I sensed something." She closed her lighter. "You're being haunted."
What the fuck. "How'd you know?"
"I just do. Sixth sense. It's probably the Jumping Ghost." She scanned my apartment cautiously, her left hand hovering near her dagger.
"Sixth… sense?"
"And it's never wrong. Come on." She turned suddenly, grabbing my wrist and dragging me to the door. "We need to report this."
"Wait, wait, wait. At least let me lock my door." I shook myself free from her grip.
"She's going for men now, an exorcist too." Jennifer said, "Did you two actually fucked yesterday?"
"What? No!"
"Then she's got balls, and she wants to have balls... your balls." She tied her hair back into her usual short ponytail before grabbing my wrist without permission again. "Let's go. You're still driving."
She didn't sleep during the long drive, staying cautious the whole time, fully convinced the Jumping Ghost was on me.
Hopefully Sophie's smart enough not to do that, not to follow me.
For once, the sleeping beauty was fully awake, scanning her surroundings warily as we climbed the stairs to the shrine abreast.
Ear wasn't on his podium on the first floor, something big was probably happening upstairs.
Upstairs: Yuki Kobayashi, Ear, her A team, her B team, and her C team, us.
"What's happening?" Jennifer asked the room.
"Was the Jumping Ghost successfully exorcised?" Yuki shot back.
"Uh… no. His fault though." Jennifer jabbed her thumb at my face.
"It's okay. I don't expect you to do well on your first encounter with a Special," Yuki comforted me, even though I didn't need it. "House and Khairul will be taking your case."
Huh?
"W—what?" That elicited a much larger response from Jennifer than me. "W-w-w-why?"
"The Ghost Ghost was a false assumption. The invisible serial killer was just a man. Thus, there's no need for the GEA to be involved anymore." Yuki explained, then turned to her B team. "Page and Jackson stay on the Driving Ghost."
"And we're just dismissed?" Surprisingly, the sleeping beauty used "we."
"Yes, you will return to exorcising regular ghosts," Yuki said flatly.
"I'll take over." Jonathan, Jennifer's brother, walked over. "Don't worry about it."
"Tch." She wouldn't even look him in the eye. "Jumping Ghost is haunting him!" She gestured exaggeratedly toward me.
For some reason, not an inkling of doubt showed on anyone's faces. Their faces displayed only immediate concerns for me.
"The Jumping Ghost chose you?" Yuki asked.
"I… I'm not sure." I shook my head lightly.
"I'm positive," Jennifer insisted.
"That's fuckin' stupid," Abdul scoffed, but not at Jennifer. "She's completely fucked now, haunting a goddamn exorcist. A dude too."
B team chuckled along with Abdul, who was nicknamed 'class clown' despite there not being a class.
"Well then," Yuki continued, "all four of you will work on the Jumping Ghost, as your expertise is needed here." She nodded to Jennifer.
"We'll shadow you. The Jumping Ghost won't know we're there." Jonathan immediately devised a plan and immediately explained it too. "Jennifer will sense if she gets close. Then we'll surround her and take her down."
Well shit.
"Yeah, nah." Abdul extended a big thumb toward Yuki. "Jumping Ghost is already six feet under."
"Good. Now Ear has his announcements." Yuki stepped aside, giving Ear the spotlight, or the sunlight.
"The victims of the Janitor have all become ghosts," Ear explained in a hoarse voice. "GEA is understaffed. Please work overtime. I've already sent the addresses of your targets to all of you." And he left just like that.
B team also left without a sound. Yuki stared into the horizon, as she always seemed to do. Leaving just the four of us, me, the bait, and my three fishermen.
Except, I'm trying to save the fish.
"Just go on with your day now." Jennifer patted my shoulder. "You wouldn't notice us behind you."
I kinda want to be able to do that, though.
Jonathan and Abdul, the two stars of the sixteenth division, were already sharpening their daggers. Jennifer's sixth sense had also proven itself. If Sophie even gets close to me, she's gone.
Now I'm walking the busy city streets, not willing to return to my apartment. Sophie might be there. Sophie might be here too…
Far behind me, in an inconspicuous car, my three fishermen waited. "You feel anything yet, Jen?" Jonathan asked from the backseat.
"No… not yet, at least."
I walked with unsteady steps, squeezing around the crowd with my eyes down.
What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? Please don't find me. Please don't find me. Please don't find me.
Then, I came across a shop selling headwear.