《SupraNatural》 Tale One: Blind Butterfly ME ¨C Main Character, Detective. CLAUDIA ¨C Childhood Friend, Afflicted. ¡°Ghosts do not exist. They are but a product of the human imagination, as are all the other supposed paranormal entities.¡± That is a statement proven true time and time again, and it has been globally accepted for centuries. However, there are still people who keep denying the undeniable. Me? I¡¯m not one of them. You¡¯ll find me dead in the ground before I admit to their existence. Actually, I have had so much experience with supernatural entities that I can say without the shadow of a doubt that they do not exist. All events related to the supernatural are, without exception, tricks our minds play on us, with the simplest possible explanations. However. Yes, even with that said. As much as I loathe everything that can¡¯t be explained with logic and hard facts, common sense is indeed the least common of senses. Or maybe it is my definition of ¡°common sense¡± that is flawed, and that¡¯s the reason it is so uncommon in my surroundings. It¡¯s almost been a year now since people have started coming to me with seemingly absurd, illogical ¡°supernatural issues¡±, every one more stupid than the previous. And, inevitably, solving these issues has granted me an undesired reputation as an ¡°exorcist¡± of sorts. An unpleasant thing to be known as, certainly. Especially for someone whose only desire is to finish his high school education and move on to pursue his life-long dream of being a movie director. Regardless, this time I shall tell one of many tales featuring paranormal happenings, in the hope that they can at least be entertaining to whatever audience they find. There¡¯s no particular reason why I chose this story in particular, nor do I remember it especially vividly, save for the beginning and end of it. It was 2:45 PM, school had just ended and I could not wait to get home and devote myself to my usual procrastination. Just as I thought of playing videogames, watching TV or any mundane thing of the sort, I felt someone shouting at me from behind. Or well, maybe they were calling out to someone else ¨C I thought before that hope shattered the moment I realized who it was, and the fact that there was nobody else in that direction. The closest thing I ever had to a female childhood friend was right there, running towards me with a worried expression on her face. When she finally reached me and started recovering her breath, I was too dumbfounded to say or do anything. Actually I wouldn¡¯t notice until later that I had stopped walking. After all, she had spent months without ever talking to me in person. And it had been my fault, exclusively mine, so mine that you¡¯d wonder if anyone else was even involved ¨C which they definitely were. But that¡¯s a story for another day. ¡°Please, I need you to come with me¡±, she said. ¡°What is it?! What happened?!¡± ¡°No need to be so worried before I¡¯ve even said anything. I just need your help is all.¡± ¡°¡­ Okay, I¡¯m sorry. What do you need?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to like it¡­ It¡¯s another one of those. How did you use to call them¡­ ¡®Paranormal nonsense¡¯ or something.¡± ¡°¡­ You should know better than anyone, better than me even. Those don¡¯t exist.¡± I was ready to turn around and leave her there. I wanted nothing to do with any of that stuff if it wasn¡¯t unavoidable. ¡°Please. I know they don¡¯t exist, and that¡¯s the reason I¡¯m asking you. Please.¡± ¡­I wanted to refuse. But. She was trusting me, just like she had back then. Maybe this time I would be able to not let her down. I accepted, reluctantly. *** Ten minutes later, I was entering her home ¨C an average sized apartment in a five-story building. ¡°Excuse the intrusion¡­¡± A middle-aged woman I knew well enough by now welcomed me. She was, of course, my friend¡¯s mother. Her face was that of someone who had been crying recently, although her attitude didn¡¯t show it in the slightest. Now I really wondered what the heck was happening to them. ¡°Welcome! It¡¯s been a while since the last time you came.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been pretty busy¡­ But today your daughter came looking for me needing help. Has something happened?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let Claudia explain. After all, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll do better than I could.¡± She left us all alone as she went to cook something. ... She wasn¡¯t doing us as big a favor as she thought. Regardless. I asked Claudia to explain. I just wanted to finish quickly, honestly. ¡°Starting a few days ago, a few items with no apparent commonalities have been disappearing in the house. They just vanish out of nowhere. My two little brothers, my parents and me have all been affected by this.¡± ¡°Are the items of any particular importance or value?¡± ¡°They are all things we would never want to lose, though their exact nature and monetary value isn¡¯t consistent at all. They just seem picked at random.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°And you are sure this isn¡¯t just bad luck, or you people not searching properly.¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡­ I¡¯ll trust her, I decided. I began my investigation. I got Claudia to make me a list of all the missing objects with a brief description for each. And I started looking for cl- oops. I should probably say hello to everyone while I do that, I reminded myself. Since I apparently had to examine every room for missing objects save for the bathrooms, I would inevitably come across the rest of the family in the process. *** The investigation proceeded smoothly. One by one, I went checking the spots where the objects should have been placed. And as Claudia had told me, they had no relation between them whatsoever, or at least none that I could discern with the information I had. The list included books, videogames, pictures, toys, tableware, and some more than I feel no need to mention. What stood out to me, rather than the objects, their locations, or their apparent lack of connection, was the mood of the different members of the family when I went to meet them. Claudia¡¯s father, not unlike his wife, showed signs of having cried not long ago ¨C although these signs were much less noticeable in him than they were on Claudia¡¯s mother. He wasn¡¯t in a very bad mood, however, as he insisted on chatting with me for a while, as well as giving me something to eat ¨C since it seemed I wouldn¡¯t be getting home in time for lunch. Which I had already, preemptively, informed my parents about with a text message. The kind man appeared to find our idle talk relieving, but after that was over, he kept on with the work he was apparently doing. Claudia¡¯s two little brothers, who were so similar to one another that I could not help but wonder how many times I had confused them before, were the most upbeat out of all of them. According to Claudia, this had all started not even a week before, so they either didn¡¯t pay any mind to the disappeared objects after the first few days, or they hadn¡¯t noticed yet. Overall, it felt nice to meet all these people after so long. It was also a strangely nostalgic experience, the way Claudia¡¯s family welcomed me as if I was an old friend of theirs. They all gave me the same treatment save for one exception ¨C Claudia¡¯s grandmother, who I hadn¡¯t known was living with them. ¡°She¡¯s my grandma. She has been feeling very tired recently, so she¡¯s asleep right now. Please don¡¯t bother her unless absolutely necessary.¡± Claudia commented that as we walked by her bedroom¡¯s door. ¡°I understand.¡± And so the most I got to see of the grandmother was the small peek I got into her bedroom through the half-open door. *** Other than saying hi to my old friend¡¯s family, which felt refreshing after so long, there wasn¡¯t much else to distract me from my main task. After a little over twenty minutes, I had finished examining every single place where objects had gone missing. My objective being to go back home as soon as possible, I didn¡¯t wait around to tell Claudia that I was finished; rather, I was almost running when I went looking for her. ¡°My investigation has concluded. I¡¯ve looked everywhere I needed to, and seen everything I had to.¡± I told her, to which she reacted with a surprised expression, probably shocked that it had taken so little time. It was true that my usual investigations tended to took longer. ¡°So? Did you reach a conclusion? What is happening to us?¡± She seemed too overexcited for her own good, though I don¡¯t blame her. I actually found it a relief. So I didn¡¯t beat around the bush. ¡°I have got my conclusion, and I will tell you right now.¡± Her eyes glowed in expectation. ¡°Every object you¡¯ve lost¡­ is exactly where they were before. They haven¡¯t moved an inch.¡± And just as quickly, her face turned into one of sheer disbelief. I couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat sad for her, although I tried to hide it. She, and all her family, had been victims of their priceless possessions disappearing before their eyes, while in actuality they were just there, as always. Can¡¯t imagine that being any reason for happiness. ¡°But¡­ that can¡¯t be¡­ How? Why are we not noticing? There has to be a reason, right?¡± ¡°Yes, there is. Undoubtedly. And it is bit by bit the action of one of those so-called ¡®paranormal entities¡¯ you know are false. But as is tradition and because I consider it a nice pastime, I came up with a name for the ¡®entity¡¯ that possesses you all.¡± ¡°¡­ Do say it.¡± ¡°The Blind Butterfly.¡± ¡°Huh? Why a butterfly of all things?¡± ¡°The butterfly is often associated with the mind, the psych and, above all, change. The blind part is pretty self-explanatory. And since the issue is related with your ¡®minds¡¯ and ¡®change¡¯, I considered it most appropriate.¡± ¡°¡­? I don¡¯t understand. How is this issue related to change?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see soon enough. Please have a bit more patience.¡± ¡°Okay. Also¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Thank you so much for your help. You don¡¯t know how much this means to us.¡± ¡°If you keep talking like that, I¡¯ll get the wrong idea.¡± ¡°¡­? What are you talking about now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Don¡¯t mind it.¡± It would have been pretty anticlimactic if she had noticed what I meant, so I decided not to press the issue any further. If I did, all the foreshadowing may be for naught. ¡°What I do want you to do for me¡±, I followed up, ¡°is gathering everyone in front of your grandmother¡¯s room. I¡¯ll explain everything there, but I¡¯d prefer it if I only had to say it once. Is that okay with you?¡± ¡°Yes, of course. Although¡­ is it impossible to do it in any other place? I really don¡¯t want to bother grandma¡­ She¡¯s very sick, and I absolutely do not want to disturb her¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a must. I¡¯m really sorry, but it''s not a thing I can concede on. The truth behind this affliction that pains your family must be revealed.¡± She didn¡¯t want to agree, I really knew she didn¡¯t want to. But I was not going to give up on that one. After all, this was my ¡®job¡¯, and if I had to do it even when hating it, I¡¯d do it right. No concessions allowed. After staring at her in silence for a few awkward, very awkward seconds, she agreed to do as I said. ¡®You¡¯re the expert, after all¡¯, she said. *** A few minutes later, everyone was already gathered in front of the grandmother¡¯s room. We were a tad too many people for a space so small, but it would suffice. As I carefully stood right next to the room''s door, the father asked me the question that everyone must have had in their minds at that moment. ¡°And¡­ what are we supposed to do here, exactly?¡± His voice was a whisper, just loud enough for me to hear it clearly in the otherwise completely silent apartment. I was pretty sure that, deep within them, they knew what that ¡®truth¡¯ I was about to show them was. Their nervousness spoke volumes. ¡°I¡¯m going to tell you how to exorcise the being that haunts all of you. As I am sure your daughter has already told you, it¡¯s a being I have decided to call the blind butterfly.¡± My reply was spoken in a similarly quiet tone, if mostly for the sake of respect. "And must we do this here of all places? I would very much prefer if we didn''t disturb my mother-in-law with our chatter." His tone surprised me. It was obvious he was struggling to keep his tone down, and that he meant those words as a threat. Still, not like I could do anything. ¡°You will be freed from the curse you all possess right now, but for that, doing exactly as I say is a must. I will also have to ¨C and I won¡¯t sugarcoat my words here ¨C slap each of you once." ¡°¡­¡± They were all speechless, as was natural. I would actually have been worried if they agreed to it just like that. ¡°I assure you it is necessary. But please don¡¯t worry, I obviously have no intention of hurting any of you. It¡¯s a formality, if anything, but one that cannot be skipped.¡± ¡°¡­ Okay, so be it.¡± He then reluctantly agreed to my terms, and with the rest remaining silent, I interpreted that as everyone being fine with me proceeding. I got closer to them, and commanded them to close their eyes and follow my orders without fail. ¡°Now you will all enter the room in front of us with your eyes closed, and I will proceed to slap all of you. After I finish, I will tell you that you can open your eyes. Until then please do not open them under any circumstance.¡± I proceeded. One after another, as I helped them enter without stumbling, I slapped them all, as gently as possible. And once I finished, I spoke again, this time at a normal volume. ¡°Now, please, open your eyes.¡± And there they saw the bed, empty, as they stared in shock and realized the ¡°truth¡±.That their grandmother, who should have been right there - was no longer among them. *** ¡°Thank you so much for your help, really. What you have done for us and how thankful we are is not something we can simply express with words.¡± Claudia spoke to me with tears in her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I literally did nothing, as you surely know. So no need to thank me.¡± ¡°Still. I know, but still¡­¡± She came close. ¡­ She couldn¡¯t do it. I didn¡¯t expect her to. But it was still somewhat painful. She waved at me as I left, tears on her face and a smile on her lips. ¡°Goodbye, and see you tomorrow at school.¡± BLIND BUTTERFLY: THE END. Tale Two: Coward Crocodile (1) ME: Narrator NICK: Friend, Messenger PHILIP: Kid, Afflicted. I know full well how many times I¡¯ve said that my hobby as a supernatural expert is nothing but a bother. Even then, saying that I actually believe that would be kind of a stretch. Most times, I do enjoy helping people with their issues, and it¡¯s a nice change of pace from my boring school life. Believe it or not, some incidents are genuinely very hard to solve, and they give me a much-needed excuse to use my brain. Still. There is no way in hell someone could come and call me for one of these ¡®jobs¡¯ during exam week and for me to be okay with it. It¡¯s not like my life depends on this unwanted hobby of mine. I don¡¯t make any money off of it and it won¡¯t ever qualify as a job even if I did charge for my services. So why in hell did I agree to that ridiculous petition, the day before my last exam and with all the pent-up stress inside me at its peak? I¡¯m not even sure I understand myself. If anything, it might have been just a whim, a way to evade thinking about my impending doom. Regardless, the story that came from that reckless decision of mine is one that I consider worthy of being told, so I shall do just that. ¡°Everyone, please, open the website I¡¯ve written down on the blackboard with your phones. You will take a test to revise for tomorrow¡¯s test.¡± ¡®Ha. Joke¡¯s on you, teacher. My phone is far too old to display that site properly.¡¯ ¡­ Ugh, I really could use that revision though¡­ As I swallowed my childish pride and went to ask the teacher to use the class computer, my phone started to vibrate. Luckily for both me and the person trying to contact me, it was a message and not a call that had arrived. And the name of said sender was one I knew very well. ¡®Hey, I need your help with something after school real quick. Meet me in front of my class, will ya?¡¯ This guy truly was a bother. But of course, I had no reason to believe he would cause me any major inconveniences. So, like any friend would have done, I found myself standing in front of class 2-D right after the bell rang for the last time that day. ¡°Yo! Thanks for coming, dude! I knew I could count on you!¡± Nick called to me, the last of his group to come out of class. ¡°Hi man. Do you not know any other way of saying hi than just ¡®yo¡¯¡­?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Never mind. Anyway, what do you need?¡± ¡°Ah, nothing major, sorry if I scared you. Wanted to know if you could come by a friend¡¯s house today. She has a computer problem and I said you could be able to fix it.¡± It really wasn¡¯t something I could afford to do today. I should just tell him I can¡¯t and go home to study, I told myself. But then again, tomorrow¡¯s exam is a computer science test, so¡­ Thinking something along the lines of ¡®screw it, what could go wrong?¡¯, I finally replied to my friend waiting for an answer in front of me. ¡°Yeah, sure. I¡¯ll do it. Just walk me there after I get lunch and I¡¯ll do my best.¡± ¡°Heh, can¡¯t imagine you saying no to anything involving a computer¡­ Well then, see you in an hour at the usual place. That should be enough time, right?¡± ¡°Yah, I imagine it should be.¡± ¡°Perfect then. See ya!¡± I parted ways with Nick, and went straight home. I had just enough time to get there, eat, explain to my parents that I would be ¡®going out to study at a friend¡¯s house¡¯, and gather all the basic stuff I might need to fix a computer. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. And when I finally went out, just as he had promised, Nick was right there in front of my door. ¡°Let¡¯s go then, shall we? I imagine you¡¯ll want to be done quickly after all.¡± ¡°I mean, preferably yeah. I¡¯ve still got theory left to study.¡± Walking casually with Nick was something I hadn¡¯t noticed how much I missed until I got to experience it again. As nosy as he could sometimes get, he was the easiest to talk to from my group of friends. After all that had been going on recently on my side, it was relaxing to have someone with whom you could just laugh it all off. But sadly for me, that pleasurable talk didn¡¯t last nearly as long as I had wanted it to. Only fifteen minutes after leaving my apartment, Nick suddenly stopped in front of a discreet small house. ¡°Here it is¡±, he said as he rang the doorbell. Moments later, the door opened, and a girl our age I also knew from school - though I hadn''t seen her around for a while - welcomed us in. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you, Nick! I¡¯m glad to see you her¨C Wait, who¡¯s your friend?¡± From the moment this cheery girl came into view, I already knew coming here was a mistake. This feeling of being right in between two people who¡¯d rather be alone with each other¡­ Ugh, gotta hate it. ¡°Ah, hi. I¡¯m Nick¡¯s friend. I¡¯m the computer guy.¡± I blurted out, still very obviously uncomfortable. ¡°Computer guy?¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one with a broken computer or something? That¡¯s what Nick said just a while ago.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah! Yeah, my brother¡¯s computer has been working weird recently. So you think you can fix it?¡± ¡°I can take a look at it and try, yeah. Hope I can be of any help.¡± ¡°Thank you, really. It¡¯s been bothering us for a while¡­ Please, come in, make yourself at home. Nick, you¡¯ll get him to where Philip is, right?¡± ¡°Yeah of course, no problem.¡± While this exchanged was happening, I caught Nick giving Emma quite a few nervous glances. A horny idiot, he was. Or rather, the both of them, seeing as Emma had been replicating that exact behavior. He had no better idea than to call me over to help in the worst day possible, just for him to have some alone time with his crush. Not that I would dare say it out loud. I¡¯d just let this one slide and use it to torment him later. The two of us followed Emma inside her house. The girl went to the kitchen to bring us a snack ¨C despite my insistence on having eaten mere minutes before ¨C and Nick led me to one of the bedrooms on the back side of the house. From what I could see of the house, it seemed this family was quite a modest one. The house itself wasn¡¯t too big, nor did it have any piece of furniture or decoration that stood out. It actually felt like a really comfortable place to live in, unlike most of the other houses I had been to in the area. After passing by some other rooms ¨C most of them closed ¨C, Nick stopped in front of one particular bedroom. It just took a quick glance at the door to figure out what kind of person it belonged to. Old worn-out posters of some animated TV show were taped to the wooden door, a small handwritten piece of paper accompanying what was most likely a gift in some old kid¡¯s magazine. ¡®Philip¡¯s Bedroom¡¯, it read. After two fast knocks, the door opened. We were invited in by its owner, who told us to sit down ¨C though Nick politely refused, and instead went back to the living room. Guess I should let him have his fun and do as he pleased. ¡°Okay so, could you explain me what¡¯s wrong with the computer? Give me all the details you think are important.¡± I was met with a reply, but its speaker didn¡¯t bother looking at me. ¡°It¡¯s just working weird lately, sometimes when I try to open an app or a webpage it just turns off or does weird things. It¡¯s kind of scary to be honest.¡± Even before I had laid a finger on the machine, my mind was already racing trying to figure out the problem. I could think of a few possibilities based on that description alone, of course ¨C but saying any of them came close to convincing me would be a blatant lie. I wasn¡¯t really given much detail other than the mentioned above, so after getting permission to handle the computer myself, I started testing out possible scenarios to try and replicate the errors. ¡­ But it was weird. No matter how much I tried, I could not get the PC to crash. If anything, it looked like it had been cleaned and optimized to perfection a very short time ago. ¡°Hey, I am not getting that error you mentioned, and I¡¯ve tried all I can think of. Can you come here for a bit?¡± My young client looked confused at my confusion, as paradoxical as that may sound. ¡°It¡¯s not like this. You need to open a specific app or web for it to die. Look-¡± After looking at what I was doing on the screen, the computer mouse was taken from me, and the cursor was made to click on a very particular app ¨C one that didn¡¯t look any weird to me. In fact, it was a well-known messaging service I myself had a habit of using, and that had never once given me issues even in much less powerful hardware. But just as it opened- ¡°Ah!¡± As it was about to finish loading, I heard a sudden short scream behind me. The computer had completely shut off by itself and started booting again, like it would if you pressed the physical ¡°Restart¡± button on the front of the case. ¡°What the¡­¡± Maybe the app had a recent update that broke it this badly? It would be weird, but nothing unheard of. I opened my own laptop I had brought from home, opened that same app and ¨C absolutely nothing. I closed it and opened it a second time, wondering what the issue could possibly be, and- ¡®FATAL ERROR. THE DATA FOR DISK C: HAS BEEN CORRUPTED. THE OPERATING SYSTEM CANNOT BE LOADED.¡¯ ¡­ What the actual hell?? My own laptop, one I knew like the back of my hand after years of using and abusing it, had crashed on me completely, and was now giving me an error message that made me break into a cold sweat. ¡­ ? ??! Why wasn¡¯t it turning on now? What the¡­.?! I really didn¡¯t have time for this. I was supposed to fix this damn computer, and go back home to study. I¡¯d figure out how to bring my own machine back to life later. Now not even bothering to hide my anxiety, I quickly went back to Philip¡¯s PC and opened the app once again. And as if to confirm my worst premonitions, that computer was also left completely unusable. It went on a cycle of infinite restarts without ever getting to the login screen. By this point, I was completely sweating bullets. And when I opened the bedroom¡¯s door to let some fresh air in, I heard Nick running around, shock and confusion all over his face. The moment Nick saw me show my head through the door, he began shouting at me. ¡°Hey, come here right now! This is really really bad!¡± ¡°What¡¯s up? I¡¯m pretty freaking busy over here!¡± It was Emma who replied, also looking extremely nervous and almost ready to collapse. ¡°All electronic stuff in the house has stopped working at the same time! Boom, bye, kaput!¡± Tale Two: Coward Crocodile (2) ¡°What did you say?!¡± ¡°Even random appliances like the refrigerator and the TV have gone mad! What the heck is going on?¡± Emma looked shocked, so shocked in fact that one might question if that was even natural or an overexaggeration. ¡°Like I¡¯d know! Why in hell would everything just break, all of a sudden, without any logical explanation- Ah.¡± An idea had crossed my mind all of a sudden. An idea I wanted to reject at all costs, but that given these completely crazy developments, I could no longer shake off as nonsensical. Maybe, and only maybe ¨C this had just devolved into one of those cases. If so¡­ If so, I wanted nothing to do with any of this. I asked for pen and paper, and wrote down a phone number. It belonged to a friend of mine who owned a computers and electronics repair shop. I gave that paper to Emma, and, my face as inexpressive as my body would allow, gathered my tools and headed for the exit. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, Emma, but this much is already way more than what someone like me can try to understand. I¡¯d suggest is that you call that number and tell the person who answers that you¡¯re a friend of mine. He¡¯ll do an amazing job at fixing the issue, and should give you a pretty big discount.¡± ¡°¡­ I see. Thank you very much for your help, and I¡¯m sorry that this all had to happen when you had come only to help.¡± Nick looked dejected. His sole excuse for spending the afternoon with Emma was gone, and even if that weren¡¯t the case, I could guess he felt guilty ¨C as if the incident had happened because of him, directly or indirectly. Of course, I knew for a fact that wasn¡¯t true, just as much as I knew there was no way of talking him out of his feelings of guilt. I could probably solve this issue. In fact, I most certainly could solve it. But something inside me was telling me to avoid getting involved at all costs. After having apologized again to both Emma and Nick, I headed out and right towards my house, without as much as waiting for Nick to come with me. When I had walked far enough for my sudden anxiety attack to dissipate, I slowed down my pace. ¡­Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have run away after all. It¡¯s not their fault that anything happened. In fact, I should be pitying them¡­ And even then, I decided to run. I am being a coward. Just like that time. ¡­ I decided there was no longer any point in thinking about it, and started playing some music on my headphones to distract myself. ¡°¡­!¡± Hm? ¡°¡­Hey! You there! Don¡¯t go away!¡± There was definitely someone shouting from behind me. I saw nobody else in the street, so I instinctively turned my head to look. ¡°Ah! What¡¯s up?¡± The poor teen whose computer I had failed to fix was completely out of breath, running towards me. ¡°Please¡­ Come back¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go away, please¡­ Help us¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but my knowledge of computers can only do so much. I think you should call an expert and¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that! Please listen to me, okay?! I know you won¡¯t believe me!! I know you¡¯ll say I¡¯m crazy!! I don¡¯t give a fuck, you hear me?!¡± I was taken aback by such an unexpected violent reaction. But it seemed like, after all, it had come to this¡­ The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I know the truth. Nothing¡¯s actually broken. Stuff simply stops working when I come close. I¡¯ll get away for a bit and you try turning on your laptop, okay?¡± And so it went. This person, so obstinate as to try and make me go back after I had given up ¨C walked backwards for around ten seconds, and stopped. I quickly took out my laptop and tried turning it on and, to my surprise- I was greeted by the desktop I knew so well, not a single issue in sight. I started walking towards the only other person on the street, laptop in hand, and when the distance between us was of around five meters ¨C the computer turned off again. I could have said it was a coincidence and continued to play dumb, but at that point, might as well- Might as well play along. With this farce of theirs. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll try to help. What is the issue then, if it isn¡¯t a mass malfunction?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you know that better than anyone?! It¡¯s the work of a ghost. Nothing like this would actually happen logically.¡± ¡°Hmm. Okay, I¡¯ll go back. Though you¡¯re mistaken in one point.¡± ¡°And that is?¡± ¡°Supernatural creatures do not exist. It¡¯s impossible for a product of anyone¡¯s imagination to break actual physical objects.¡± Both of us ended giving up on our sudden stare contest at around the same time, and started walking back the way we had come. Realistically, I had no other option than to follow along. I had accepted that ridiculous petition, and now I had to expose the being behind this curse. Without so much as speaking a single word to each other, we walked our way back to Philip¡¯s home. To anyone watching it might not have looked any strange, but I was so tense that the smallest disturbance could have made me jump in shock. We arrived after what felt like an eternity to me, but was in fact closer to ten minutes after I had originally left. At the front door, Nick was waiting with a worried expression on his face. I was invited in for the second time, and I was told to sit down by Emma. ¡°First of all, I¡¯m really sorry¡±, she said. ¡°We had known from the beginning that nothing was actually broken, but I never imagined one of these massive failures would happen while you were here. Even then, and even though I know you''re busy, I¡¯d like to ask you to please help us with your knowledge of the supernatural. Of course, we would be paying you whatever you would usually charge.¡± ¡­ Who did these people take me for? What kind of idiot had they assumed I was?! I was so offended by this whole situation, so angry at every single thing that had happened so far, that I could only say one thing regarding her proposal. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll do everything I can to get rid of this curse you¡¯ve been forced into. Leave everything to me.¡± Emma¡¯s face lit up immediately, seemingly genuinely surprised that I had accepted without opposing any resistance. I had probably let my anger slip through just a bit too much before. Oh well. Without waiting for Emma to bring me a snack ¨C this was the second time already ¨C I snuck out of the family¡¯s living room and went straight for Philip¡¯s bedroom once more. I made sure neither him or Emma had seen me leave, and I gestured to Nick so that he would keep quiet. I needed to make sure of something ¨C and I wanted nobody to disturb me. I tried turning on the supposedly faulty computer ¨C and just as I had predicted, it booted flawlessly. Now I had full access to all the data inside it. ¡­ Apparently, the machine was set up with Emma as its main user account, but it was set to automatically start in Philip¡¯s. I could guess this computer had simply been passed down when the older sibling had gotten a newer one. I looked through the files in search of the irregularities that might prove my theory. And it was even easier than I imagined. I could find all kinds of data stored on that hard drive. ¡°Sister¡¯s tenth birthday¡±¡­ ¡°Middle school graduation¡±¡­ ¡°High school second year homework¡±¡­ Several folders like these, containing anything from Word documents to photos and PowerPoint presentations, were all over Philip¡¯s hard drive. I tried looking at the dates to see if I could find a pattern of some kind. ¡­ And there was one. The files suddenly jumped from a few weeks back all the way to two years ago. This discovery and its implications left me thinking for quite a while. While my mind went through the details of what I knew so far, I took a moment to inspect the room I was in. Other than the plain-looking bed and closet, there were a few more posters ¨C from music bands, movies and videogames. There was also an old Wii right next to a small TV ¨C both of which I had missed the last time I was in this bedroom. My hurriedness and later panic attack were surely to blame. The previously mentioned closet, which I took the liberty to open, was mostly empty, except for a small pile of men¡¯s clothes that didn¡¯t seem to have been used in a while. The whole thing seemed to be starting to develop a sizeable layer of dust on top of it, further confirming that nobody had laid a finger in this part of the closet for months. Other than that, there weren¡¯t really a lot of important details worth mentioning at this time. So, seeing as I had already been gone from the living room for close to ten minutes, I decided it was time to go back and begin my actual investigation. Up until now, all I had seen were confirmations to my theory and information that expanded on it. But there were still many things that remained unknown to me. I slipped out of Philip¡¯s room and into the living room, where Emma and Nick were kindly waiting for me. The latter immediately ran up to me and started whispering into my ear ¨C so loudly that had Emma not heard it, I would have told her to go see a doctor. ¡°Hey, what do you think you¡¯re doing? Didn¡¯t you accept to help investigate?¡± ¡°What do you think I¡¯ve been doing? I have an exam to study for, Mister Bad Timing. I can¡¯t waste my time waiting for a snack. I¡¯ll just get this done as quickly as I can.¡± ¡­ Nobody spoke. What an awkward silence. Maybe Claudia had been right when she said I speak too edgily for people to properly understand what I¡¯m trying to say. Seems they thought they had angered me by bringing the snack, so I had to clear up that misunderstanding and explain myself more clearly. This seemed to serve to alleviate the tension quite a bit. Coincidentally, I ended up accepting the orange juice and the cookies Emma served me. Nick¡¯s death glare had nothing to do with it. ¡°Okay. Even though I have already confirmed some very basic stuff I needed to make sure of, my investigation will officially start right now. Anything I should know before I get into it?¡± ¡°Hm? No, not really. I can¡¯t think of anything right now¡­¡± ¡°Good to know, thanks. In that case, I will start by asking you. When did these incidents start happening?¡±