《The Muse Gang》


 Chapter one

    Prologue


    I''m a sick and non-chnt mammal. A regr victim of ridicule and bully from Victor and co, aka the vi kings.


    The name''s Edward Hanson and calm is the game. A nerd since grade three, stalked and befriended by a fellow nerd, apparently the only friend I had. Not surprised, no one was interested in me. I was just a normal guy in school, known for nothing else except in balderdash.


    I even suffered from agoraphobia!!


    Just to be clear, that is the fear for being in public ces with too many people.


    I live in Norwich, Ennd, an origin of Oxford and the owner of the cutest diary you could find for a guy.


    School is not my only point of rejection. Infact, home is a little in worse, with my elder brother there; Alfred. He does not mind he is older than I am with two whole bloody years. The neen year old just keeps up the work of Victor at home for me, or worse.


    And dad? Well I may not have much of a problem with him because he literally says nothing to me except, "Go get the door you pipsqueak."


    "Make me coffee you scumbag!"


    "Get my mails idiot," or "Feed that twin of yours." That''s the dog.


    Mom is the best at home because at least, she still fakes a smile at me when I wake up.


    Why does everyone hate me?! Even family.


    I even have a regr detention at home, aka get grounded, whenever mom makes it up to my room and finds it messed up.


    However, at a point like this, I''m not depressed. Turns out I''m now used to being ignored. If only everything was done my way. I was not even excellent in school!


    To be general, I''m a total failure in everything. Sneak my way through failure and leave my mates awed.


    Enough talk about about my awesomeness.N?velDrama.Org is the owner.


    Let''s get to my life.


    Chapter one


    It was morning again, kissed this dark hole called life a good morning and ran out to get the school bus. And once again, I missed it by three seconds.


    I could see my equalsugh at me from the back of the bus. How graceful! Walking to school again.


    ***


    By the time I got to school, I had already missed the first ss. Everyone weed me with chuckles as I stepped in, the history teacher giving me a hard re.


    Aardvark, so I called the man because he had a big nose, had us in the most boring subject in the world; history.


    Just so you know, his real name is Morgan. But I''d be referring to him as aardvark so long as I live.


    He held his glower on me, "Hey Mr,ingte to school again?"


    Somewhere from the back of the ss, that scumbag called Victor dered, "Fell asleep in the bathroom again perhaps."


    The entire ss let out a suppressedugh.


    Very funny! Because I was the only one who has unintentionally fallen asleep while using the loo.


    I bowed in shame and walked slowly to my seat. But somehow, that was one gem of a moment. Not because I slept in the loo, but because I dreamt of kissing E while sleeping.


    E! Hah! She was the jewel of my highschool. The one the boys will sell their balls for to kiss. Relishing the moment, I was not aware I was being recorded snoring like a pig. And now, they were reminding me of the bittersweet moment. Aardvark himself joined them, "That''s enough ss. Now as for you young man," he lowered his specs and looked at me, "This should be thest time you make itte to my ss. Or you would be saying hello to a check mark." What was the use? I had a lot of those from other teachers already.


    The dick kept on talking, "Now ss, where was I? Yes! Napoleon, French..."


    He just bbered as I thought of my usual but miserable life.


    Murphy, my fat and only friend bumped my shoulder from beside me,ughing at the asshole he called a friend, "Who were you kissing this time? Liza?"


    I smirked, Liza! E''s main rival. Those two girls really had some attitude. Once I had a crush on E. I walked up her and confessed true love... Or lust, I can''t still tell. She gave me a look as if my face was covered in dog poop. No! To be precise, as if the whole me was covered in dog poop. Nah! She was simply irritated by the nitwit asking her on a date.


    Facially, I was fine. Infact, I was the cutest boy I knew... If it wasn''t still one of my balderdash again. I had this light brown t top hair bringing the glow of my blue eyes. But somehow she still had a problem with me. I don''t think I still need to tell you what it was.


    After what felt like forever, it was time for our break. I was in my usual situation again; Murphy before me, telling me of the various ways he lost his teeth and myself, with my usual treat, burger and apple juice.


    I watched Elizabeth Sand make her way past us to her friends, a group of girls who have made a record of pping me or spitting in my food.


    My mind somehow went back to when I asked her rival on a date. And I was shed out like a piece of used toilet paper. How would it be with her? She might throw whatever she''s eating in the trash.


    I nced at Murphy who seemed to be speaking somenguage, anything but English. Yep, he had a weiner stuck in his mouth.


    I sighed, "Hey. What do you think about Liza?"


    He stopped and watched me strangely, as if I was the one previously speaking some weirdnguage, "Oh no! Please don''t tell me you wanna get your eyes wed out this time. She''d hate herself for letting you love her."


    I rasped angrily, "No I was just thinking. If I somehow got a chance to go out with her, I would get famous here in school. Don''t you think?"


    He waved me off nonchntly, "Forget this dude. There is no way she is saying yes."


    Damn it. He was painfully right, so right he could bet a grand for it. If only I could force her or maybe ckmail. Chee I was thinking stupid again.


    ***


    After school, I got home and grabbed lunch, sitting behind myputer to see if there was anything that would get into my mind. Like making it the zillionth email I''ve sent to E without a reply. There was nothing pleasing in my life. I slept off on myptop. For two good hours!! Chee!


    Later on, the voice of my mom woke me. From the little I knew of calctions, she was halfway up my room.


    Wait!


    My room that was in a mess.


    Pushing myself from the chair, I began putting away the little garbage I could when I noticed there was no way in hell bama that I was going to clean this up before she cleared the few feet left.


    I already saw myself going through another round of week long grounding after I ended thest one yesterday.


    My only escape n was to stop her from getting into the room, errhm... which was a little bit over the edge.


    Still, I ran to the door, opened it and found her just before it, "Hey mo... om. How are you?"


    Mom eyed me and sighed, "I know your room is in a mess, isn''t it?"


    I shrugged and feigned innocence, "I do not know what you are talking about. You know what? Why not go down and see if Dad needs you. I do not think you should expect any mess in this room again. I mean afterst week. It is so tidied


    up."


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    I knew I was lying, but not more than she did. She just tried forcing her way through the doorway but I stopped again.


    One thing I hated was frustration, "Mom no, I told you already, no mess here."


    She gave me a re, making me quietly give way for her to get in. Because I knew the sure stage after her angry look; no allowance for a week. That was thest thing I needed.


    She stepped in and I gasped, saying hello to another grounding after she saw the dumpster my room was.


    Mom nodded, "What do you know? I''m impressed, first time."


    I frowned in confusion and turned to check if she was just being sarcastic.


    And guess what!


    She was not! My room was as clean as my sister''s.


    Oh! I haven''t mentioned Sophie. I know, my lil sis.


    But forget that, I was perplexed. I left that room a dumpster seconds ago and met it in shape just when I was expecting another grounding.


    My mom clearly sensed my surprise too, "You did not do this, did you?"


    I stammered and lied, "Uhmm of course I did. Who else would clean up my room for me?"


    Mom inclined her head, "So why were you trying to stop me?"


    I snickered and rubbed my neck nervously, "I just tried to tell you. You shouldn''t have stressed, that''s all."


    Mom sighed softly and left.


    I stepped deeper into my room and looked around. It was clean and without mom making a big deal out of it. It was not because I escaped grounding that I will tag an incident like this good. It was creepy, frightening.


    I stood agape and rubbed my arms and eyes. There was no one in my room. Even if there was, the time was too little to have done so much.

 Chapter two

    Chapter two


    I shared this story with my only friend in school. Then he gave me the worst look he had ever given my stupidity.


    I shrugged, "I''m serious. I left my room for like ten seconds and returned to find it so unlike it, so clean."


    Murphy mocked, "Maybe it''s a guardian angel that is meant to look out for you so you do not get your ass kicked."


    I rolled my eyes and looked away.


    "Join them okay? Tag me silly," I scoffed.


    Murphy kept his drink and put out both hands in an exnatory manner, "C''mon. I was just messing with you. It is possible it''s something you saw."


    I kept quiet so he could win the


    argument, yet I am sure of what happened.


    But that still left me afraid in everynguage. I knew no one in the world would believe there was a swift, invisible creature that helped me clean up my room under a short time.


    ***


    We were returning to ss after the break and found out that Philip, a fellow underdog in school was bleeding badly.


    From stories, he was walking past, mysteriously fell and God knows how, a stone was in the building. His head hadnded hard on it that he bled like hell.


    Luckily he was still... Alive. Ptss!


    He was rushed to the school sick bay and preparations were made for the blood on the floor to be cleaned. As if the mysterious event of my tidy room was not enough, the blood strangely vanished. Seems you did not get the gist.


    Philip''s blood on the floor was left unattended to for five seconds. And as the cleaner returned with a mop to wipe it off, the blood stains were gone.


    Everybody moved away from the spot in fear.


    The cleaner pointed at the clear ground and muttered, "Did anyone clean the mess here?"


    No one did.


    Infact, no one could do that under such a short time. Everybody walked away afterwards with an unreadable expression. But me, oh my expression was clearly readable.


    I... Was... Afraid.


    ***


    I got home again, thinking of how the two mysterious events must have happened. But damn it, there was no suitable answer.


    However, thinking of that made me realize I had homework.


    Ptss! Normally, I wouldn''t have. But now I did, I picked up my book to attend to it.


    Opening the book, I flipped the pages to the one the job was on.


    Did I...


    No! I rubbed my eyes. OMG it was still there.


    My homework was already done, and in my own handwriting. But I swear I never did it. Like I hadn''t even touched my books until then. Then who did it? He sure did have my handwriting.


    That was it!!


    I smashed the book close and ran downstairs in fear. They said a problem shared is a problem halved. In my family, the "halved" part was "doubled."


    Still, I went to them and struggled between gasps,


    "Listen! I don''t know but strange things have been happening to metely. Mom.. my room was like trash when I opened the door to you. But you stepped in and it was clean. That was why I tried so hard to stop you. Then today, Philip got wounded very badly in school that he bled. "


    "But when everyone took their gazes off the blood for just a moment, then returned it, the blood was confusingly gone. Then today, just now, I opened my book for homework and again, something strange happened. It was already done, and in my own handwriting. I couldn''t take it any longer so I came to air it all out because... I am so confused."


    Mom sighed and did not even look up from her cell phone. Finally, she said to dad, "Sweetie. Whenst did you take the kids for a medical check-up?"


    He groaned and closed the paperwork he had been busy with, "Yunno I''m starting to regret not listening to you. I should have continued that on a monthly basis honey."


    I eyed them in disbelief. They were exchanging cute names when their son was in a state of... Fuck it.


    I hissed, "I knew it. You always think I am silly. I''m as serious as I can be. I did not touch that book earlier!"


    They all shifted their gazes from me as if I was never there. They ignored me!


    How.... Expected!


    I walked awkwardly back to my room, watching my book as if it was some kind of a ghost.


    My life was a sudden nightmare.


    ***


    In school the next day, my maths institutor returned the darn homework scripts just for me to realise I had an A+. For an assignment I knew no shit who did it. My highest grade in school had been a C- until now. How ted I was when I had that.


    I gazed at the script in my hand. This grade when I did not do it was notforting. This was turning out weird.


    Well, I guess I''d just live on and bare everything single thingummy. Because if I told anyone, they would just say I''m stupid.Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.


    Right now, I opened my locker and picked out some books. And for the seventh time, I was just smeared with fudge, another prank from the vi kings.


    Well, what could I do to them in return?


    Nothing! Just walk past the school building in a midst ofughter to the bathroom.


    Even if I told on him, all he would be given is an oral warning. But now, as Victor led his team out, his pants got loose and dropped to his feet, on their own.


    Victor was in his underwear in the midst of tons of students.


    His shame and confusion could not let him pull them up as he stood wondering why something he held tight with a belt came down.


    I chuckled silently, just as confused.


    He caught meughing and made a move to threaten me when the principal, Mrs. Stephanie, came by and was shocked to anger.


    She spat, "What nonsense Victor! You have exhibited actions of immaturity before now but this is madness. Come to my office now!"


    I smiled. That was another mystery yet. But the difference is.. I loved this one.


    Victor finally had a taste of his own medicine.


    Heads down, I walked past, covered in slimy fudge but received smiles of wonder from my mates.


    They thought I had something to do with the disgrace of Victor. But I didn''t.


    I cleaned myself in the school''s bathroom, looked into the mirror and smiled at myself. I then thought of the events that were happening. They were confusing but very graceful. I loved them, well except the disappearance of Philip''s blood. I still wonder who was behind all of them.


    I left the loo to ss, taking a seat. I felt someone beckon on me. I turned and found LIZA! She waved lightly at me.


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    That was not a dream. LIZA WAVED AT ME. I nodded.


    ***


    Again in that boring house! I was weary andzy. I did not even feel like doing any homework. What if?


    I opened my backpack and smashed it open. Yep! It was done again, with my handwriting again.


    Hah. I fell into bedzily. Looking around, my room was tidy. My life had never been better.


    ***


    I was being faced with a tight spot as the Vikings waid me on my way home, outside the school building. The students just watched everything, cheering for me, expecting me to perform my magic again.


    Victor was angry about his disgracest time. And now, he came back with his n for revenge. If I messed up now, I was meant to go back to my life with Murphy alone.


    Victor picked up a baseball bat and flipped it in his hand, nning on using it on me.


    I saw I could not do anything more becausest time, I did not even do anything. Victor raised the bat to strike but it dropped from his hand.


    He frowned, bent and picked it up, only for it to drop again.


    His n just watched him in confusion.


    I walked away quietly in pride of might for something I had no idea of.


    I walked home, ignored everyone in the house, then smashed the door behind me.


    Now I was confused, really confused. What just happened?


    I somehow started thinking of what Murphy had said, "a guardian angel."


    No! Stupid! There was no such thing.


    I grabbed my homework. It was already done, again.


    If it were you.


    Would you like it... Or fear it?

 Chapter three

    Chapter three


    At night, I went to check my mails. Heaven blessed, like a million people just sent emails and E had finally replied to my messages.


    The least unexpected people just sent dm''s. I was getting famous for something only God knew.


    I sighed and swiveled my chair around to find someone. Someone was in my room!


    Clearly not from the family. Still, I did not know him. About my age or a bit older, in cooperate clothing, just sitting, ying my puzzle.


    I pushed myself from my seat and stared at him in disbelief and fear.


    He dropped the game calmly and braced his elbows upon the table behind him, looking up at me, "Why the fear! As though you''ve seen a ghost?" He snickered at thest part of his sentence. He seemed human, so I asked, "Who are you? How did you get here and What do you want?"


    The stranger replied nonchntly, "The name''s Marshall. By teleportation. And I need to speak with you."


    I frowned and eyed him, "What!"


    He stood and sighed heavily. Pacing up and down for a while, he finally faced me and took a demonstrative pose, "Uhmm, okay. This may sound weird but I''m not human. I... am your protector." Iughed wryly, "I''m getting pissed. Stop joking."


    Suddenly, I heard mom climb up the stairs to my room while saying, "Hey Eddy, who are you speaking with?"


    Mom was getting closer. I looked at Marshall seriously. I would be in another tight spot if mom found a stranger in my room at a time like this.


    I managed to whisper, "You have to hide please. My mom would be angry seeing you here now. Worse if I can''t exin who you are."


    Marshall did not seem to budge. He just stood, "She can''t see me."


    I asked again, "What?!"


    He waved a hand and returned to his seat, then watched me again, "Don''t stress. She wouldn''t see me. Only you can."


    I heard mom''s steps get closer that I could smell her. But this Marshall guy did not seem to budge.


    I ran to my door inorder to stop her from getting in when she walked into my room. I immediately changed my running pose to a thoughtful one. I stylishly turned to Marshall who just picked up the puzzle again.


    Mom looked around and nodded approvingly, "You''ve actually changed for the better. Your room is even cleaner than your sister''s. Keep it up. But hey, who were you speaking with?"


    I bent and picked my phone up from the bed, "Phonecall."


    I don''t know why I felt she was pretending not to see Marshall.


    She whispered, "This is 11pm Eddy. Keep it down. Everyone''s asleep. Good night."


    I faked a smile, "Night mom."


    She smiled shortly and left.


    Immediately, I stared at Marshall in confusion, then pointed at the door and back to him. Did mom see him and pretend not to or did not see him at all?


    Marshall shrugged and paid full attention to me, "I told you she wouldn''t see me."


    I bit on my lip, not knowing what to say to this Marshall guy, if that was his real name.


    I tried to find my words, "What, What is going on?"


    Marshall stood up again and walked up to me, "I''m your protector, only you or another host can see me."


    I nodded slowly and curved my lips to a parab, "Uhmm, okay Mr. Protector guy. Did I ever say I needed protection?"


    Marshall raised a brow, "You don''t need to say so. You are such a badass nerd in school that you are always getting into trouble with the Vikings. Dude, you need protection."


    I nced at him and ced my hands upon my waist.


    Jerking my head up, I asked, "How''d you know about the Vikings?"


    Marshall smirked at me, "You still don''t get it, do you?"


    Iughed. I was so not falling for this prank, "Okay. You are some kinda ghost or something who is my protector maybe from the underworld. Yunno, protecting me from the Vikings and all and can only be seen by me." He frowned, "Uhmmmm... ya."


    I turned and started to my door, "Please then, I don''t need your protection. Leave me alone."


    I left the room. All the madness made me realize I was hungry. I had been in my room all day I missed dinner. So my destination was the kitchen.


    I looked round and round, searching for anything possible to fill up my desperate muscle.


    I then sighted a box of pizza. That''s weird. My family was not a fan of that kinda food. So who got it. A sudden voice startled me.


    Marshall said, "Eat it if you want. I know you are hungry."


    I turned around and found Marshall staring at me as if I did not just tell him to leave me alone.


    But one question!


    I left the room before him and never saw him pass me. Then how did he reach the kitchen before me, and the pizza.


    I screamed at him, "WHAT... are you?"Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.


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    He raised his hands to cover his face, then lowered them suddenly, "Peekaboo! I''m a ghost."


    "What?!" I gasped.


    I turned to the pizza box and watched it open, on its own.


    A slice got detached from the rest, floated in air and came towards my mouth.


    Marshall rasped, "Have a bite, it''s beef."


    I stepped back in fear, "Leave me alone."


    Running out of the kitchen, I suddenly lost my appetite.


    I heard Marshall sigh but he still remained there.


    It was just a picture of my imagination. There were no such things as ghosts, protectors, guardian angels, spiritual muses or floating pizza. I was hallucinating!


    I made it to the library and locked the door quickly. After I did that, I turned around and faced the main library.


    Huuuhhhh...


    Good riddens, Marshall stood, leaning on one of the shelves.


    He looked up from my dad''s book and grinned, "You humans have such a great taste of ideas. Yeah, I was saying something and you walked out on me. That wasn''t very nice..."


    I could not let him finish. I ran out of a library and heard him sigh even harder this time. Now I returned to my room and locked the door. I looked around this time and sighed with relief when I did not find him there. My staggering legs walked to the bed when the dick called me from behind.


    He spat, "Edward, you are acting so rude. Who in this world runs from a ghost who can just teleport to where you just n to go to?"


    I then turned and took my time to look at him, except his magic, he was clearly human, "I''m sorry. I just feel it''s a dream. I''m going crazy. You''re not really here."


    Marshall shrugged, "Not surprised. Same way the rest freaked out when they had a rendezvous with their muses."


    "You are not the only muse... Protector? What do you call it?" I yed along, talking to my illusion like a maniac.


    Marshall narrowed his eyes at me in a "what are you talking about" kinda way, "Excuse me! Just like there are humans, there are muses for many of them, good, bad and some who don''t give a fuck about either." Question Two.


    If you were a normal kid and some supernatural stranger met you and began speaking in anguage you knew nothing of, what would you do? Pass out? Most would.


    But me... I was a different kind of kid, in every sense of the word.


    I flowed gradually, "So like every human in this crazy world has a muse?"


    He swayed his head from side to side, "Well, ya but not all are supernatural and spiritual like us. Muses in general are meant to be a source of motivation to their hosts.


    Muses like us... we are the best sort of motivation anyone can wish for. Still somehow, we are far less than the humans in this world. So we are just distributed to a handful. Congrattions on your engagement with the muse society by the way."


    I glowered at him. Why would an awesome muse like this guy be given to a failure like me?


    Just so you know, I do not still believe he''s real. Still flowing with my imagination.


    I bit my lip as I always did when confusion hit me, "So what governs these distributions?"


    Heughed, his shoulders vibrated, "Hah! Nothing! We choose our hosts depending on how we see them."


    "So what do you see in me?" I asked. No! That was a good question. What did he see in Edward Hanson. The guy with a cute diary.


    He frowned, "What?!"


    I inquired again, "How do you see this asshole in front of you. Or do you guys pickme people?"


    Marshall inclined his head and smirked at me, "We do not judge like you crazy humans do. We analyse the inner you. Check for those attributes youck and the ones who need our kind aspany. You are a nerd, timid, non-chnt, crazy, bullied. I''m Marshall, the fierce one. So I noted you needed me."


    I paused. I got the gist now.


    Good for bad.


    Hmm, I nodded, "So there are kinds of you?"


    Marshall began to walk away, "You have a lot to learn and you will, but not today. Go to sleep. When you need me, just call me" he faced me again and took backward steps, lifting his first two fingers to tap his temple, "Up here, in your head. And I wille. Call me anytime since you are the only one who senses me."


    "But I have more questions. I am not even sleepy yet," I rushed to say.


    Contrary to a reply I expected, I found myself tucked up in bed suddenly.


    Okay. That was the fourth weird thing that had happened to metely. I never walked to the bed myself. Then how did I end up in bed while still talking?


    I don''t think there is still room for all those questions when I had an illusionary protector before me who could make pizzas fly.


    He stopped and slipped his hands into his pockets, "I don''t think you should still have all those questions when you know the answer to them. You have a muse, a helper. So I can do anything I think I should do for you."


    I now got it, that exins why my homework was always done, or why Victor could not hit me with the bat. And why he ended up in underwear before the whole school. Marshall did those.


    As if he had been reading my mind, he confirmed, "Yes. I did those. Now go to sleep, tomorrow is another big day. Call me anytime. Goodnight Eddy."


    And then he left. Like all of a sudden, I could not see him.


    Maybe he just vanished. Was it just me or did I just talk with a ghost? Maybe the world was right after all, I was crazy.


    However, I dozed off and concluded it will all be over by the time I woke up. It was all a dream.

 Chapter four

    Chapter four


    I frowned at the saxophone in my hand and the hot miss Jane before me expecting me to y it in music ss. This was my part of some dumb test.


    I had never held any instrument in my life, that is without using it to clean any part of my body.


    Undoubtedly, I was taught. But as always, I did not learn. Oh I was so gonna fail this.


    The test was now or never.


    n.. n... n!


    Jee... Nothing!


    Miss Jane still had that dirty and impatient look she always gave me.


    Avoiding it, I looked behind her.


    And there was the devil.


    I found that creature again who called himself my muse in my dreams. Well, that was how I saw it; a dream.


    I shut my eyes and tore them open again. He, yes Marshall was still there giving me a smirk.


    He left his position and came right beside me. Automatically, I looked around to analyze everybody. Did they see him.


    They seemed not to because they just continued in whatever they were doing, including Miss Jane, looking impatiently at me.


    Marshall spoke, "Should I be begging you to ask me for help?"


    If he asked me that question expecting me to answer, then he was not thinking straight. Because if no one else really saw him as he imed, then I''d be seen talking to myself like a piece of scum.


    As if he read my mind, he stated, "Just muse about it, like up here in your head. As though you''re speaking silently to yourself. That''s how we willmunicate in public. Just think of anything you would have said to me orally right now." I could not believe I was listening to a pigment of my own imagination. Like that was what he was right?


    Still, I mused to him, "You again! What are you doing here? I thought you were a dream."


    He spoke after a big sigh, "I thought we went through thisst night."


    "And I thought I was dreaming," I replied.


    He frowned and retorted, "Of course not," he looked at the instrument in my hand, "seems like you need my help."


    Iughed in my head, if that was possible. He asked me to muse after all, "How possibly can a specter of mine help me y a sax?"


    "Just say please, "I heard him say.


    I shrugged and mused a plea.


    Suddenly, he vanished. Was that part of the help?


    After looking at me for an annoyingly long time, Miss Jane spoke, "Okay Eddy, you know what. Go home and practise the sax for a week. You cane back for your testter."


    She smiled warmly afterwards and patted my back, leading me out of the hall.


    Truly, truly.


    I had never been this confused in my life. Miss Jane, being nice to me. A test that was mandatory there and then for every other person became a week long test for me. What just happened? Did Marshall have anything to do with it? After I had left the hall, he appeared again, with a wicked smile.


    He joined me as I returned to ss and chanted, "Impressed, I know."


    I continued my musing, "What did you do to her?"


    Heughed and shrugged, "Something call initiation. Or should I say, mind control."


    "And how do you do that?" I glowered with a strong determination not to lose my mind.


    He waved his arm indifferently, "It''s a muse thing. Humans won''t understand."


    I stood and looked at him, "So you are really here, really happening?"


    He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, "About time you understood that. I''ve been trying to exin that for the past twelve hours."


    I bnced the strap of my bag on my shoulder and said to him, "So how did you alle about? Are you from another universe or something? Because spirits like you only appear in movies. You are just fiction in folktales." He kept a thoughtful face, "Uhmm. If you can''t see something, it doesn''t mean it''s not there, does it? We are not from another universe, we are dead humans."


    I gawked at him and strode away.... Hmmm... But I doubt I was actually moving from the spot. As if something, as if he held me there with some kind of.... Dunno, maybe humans ma, without hands.


    He rasped again, "Don''t walk out on me again, ever!"


    Fear gripped me to the core. I mean what else?


    My words now were mere stammers, "So, if someone dies, he bes a muse for the living?"


    Marshall snickered and waved his hand, "Puhleez... No. Only those who had this motive in life they could notplete. So they use their hosts in the afterlife toplete that for them. But now it is a little more than that." I did not seem to hear hisst sentence. All in my mind was.. Edward! You were talking to some dead crappy human! WTF!


    "So what is your motive," I inquired.


    He answered with a sigh, "Has anyone ever told you that you ask a lot of questions?"


    So... I was curious, wasn''t I?


    I pushed on though despite hisst speech.


    "So now, you are dead?"


    "Yup. Real dead. And I am your guardian angel."


    My what....?


    I nced at him, "Oh you are many things but... Angel?" I shook my head.


    Heughed, "Hah! d I met you Eddy."


    Really, Marshall was a great guy... Ghost.


    But I doubt his sweetness could reach helping me with every single thing I needed without actually expecting something, "So why are you helping me? What do you stand to gain?"


    "A lot of things," he replied, "we''ll talkter. Aardvark ising."


    Iughed. I surely believed him now. He was my muse.


    I mean like he knew so much about my life without any information from anyone. Soon enough, he vanished.


    I smiled, still wondering of the lot of things he spoke of.


    ***


    Victor was a very desperate dog. Although this time, he was not with his n. He came alone.


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    Walking up to my new friends and I, he asked to speak with me in private.


    I sighed, got up and walked five feet apart from my friends with him.


    Hah! Five feet apart! No that movie is epic.


    I returned my attention to the bbering Victor and tried to make sense of what he was saying.


    Words, words... Yep! Got it!


    "I do not know what has been happening to metely. All I know is it''s not me. I also know that the shit you have been cannot just change overnight."


    He then pulled one stinky finger up to my face, "Watch it! Because I am always one step ahead of you, nning your ridicule."


    A voice in my head suggested I stayed quiet on him. Marshall!


    I just looked Victor straight in the eye with a nonchnt attitude. He made a move as though to hit me. But he did not n to. On the other hand, I did not fear. I just returned his re and scoffed at his attempt to scare me as usual. He eyed me and walked away shortly.


    The old Edward would have been scared. But I had a protector now. There was no way I was falling at his feet again.


    ***


    I was at home again. Fuck!


    Sitting on a chair in front of my table. I braced my elbows upon it and leaned back on it with chips flying one by one into my mouth.


    Well, not really. It was my muse again making that happen. It was so nice when you did not give any effort but you still got what you wanted.


    Marshall was before me,ying on my bed and talking to me.


    Marshall went on, "I told you at school of things I stand to gain from you if I became your muse."


    I chewed and blurted, "Mm, yeah, tell me about it."


    "Well, there''s four of us. The fierce one is me, the rest have their own crazy nature. We came together, in search of hosts to im. The rest found theirs earlier and... Well it was just me. That was until I met you."


    I grinned, "Now what''s the benefit?"


    He seemed to think until he had one deep breath, "We need toplete that iplete task I spoke of and also..." He seemed to hesitate and nce at me, "we have a little problem that we cannot solve without a human body. Infact in case you do not know, you are a bigger help to us than we are to you. And again we cannotst long without a host."


    I stopped chewing then and looked up at him sadly, "That''s so sad."


    He frowned and snarled, "Yuk! Stop that! Girls do that shit."


    After a small tip of snicker, he continued, "And yeah, we have these bad guys who have something we need back. However we are permeable to what we need to get. So we need flesh to control as we go to take it back."


    I released a woah, "So you can actually go into humans and control them?"


    "Yep," he nodded enthusiastically, "to do anything you want."


    I snickered. If I had such power, I would have gone away with a lot of thingummy.


    Just then, Sophie turned the knob and stepped into my room. I was trying to remember when shest did that.


    Marshall gawked at her. And she, well she clearly did not see him.


    She red at me and hissed, "Hey. Momma''s calling you."


    Immediately, she left and Marshall bit augh, "Who''s the devil?"


    "My sister," I sighed, "Sorry gotta go. Momma needs me, maybe to take out the trash."


    Marshall studied me for a while and looked down at his feet, "Your life really needs repairs dude."


    I shrugged and left for the living room where everyone was. Mom was having a pedicure done as I approached her.


    Immediately, she began, "I''ve realized you have improved in everything. I got calls from several teachers today, they could not stop praising you.... sorry your new grades. I''m impressed. What in neptunes happened?" I eyed her angrily.


    What did she mean by they could not stop praising my grades? Like I deserved something too. Maybe if only the praise was given to me.... "Sweetie," she called.


    I ignored the joke in her tone and replied, "Nothing. Just talked to myself."


    She nodded approvingly, "That''s good. Now the main reason I called you. Your dad and I would be off for our twenty third wedding anniversary on a vacation to New York. For a week. Till we''re back, Alfred''s in charge. Understood?" I frowned. Alfred, in charge. That''s literal damnation.


    Or... Maybe not. I had Marshall now.


    I smiled at momma, "Yeah I do, no problem."


    Mom narrowed her eyes at me, "You seem confused."


    "Uhmmm no," I stammered, "I was just doing some calctions. I''m good."


    Momma nodded, "That''s good. One more thing. If I happen to get any funny news when we''re back," she smirked and looked down at her pedicure, "talking is not my kind of thing."


    Yup, my perfect family!


    Mom was as strict as that worst teacher everyone had in their highschool.


    Dad...


    He did not give a shit about us. Just reading old papers as long as he gets to avoid us all day.


    I returned upstairs to my room again.


    Just then, Marshall appeared holding to flight tickets, "Your parents, going to New York, on an anniversary, for a week?! Dude, we can thank the stars. Like they could make love and fuck each other, they will not even know when the week will be over."


    I frowned and pointed at the papers in his hand, "Return those, would you," now the frown deepened, "I thought you were a ghost. Shouldn''t those tickets be passing through you or something?"


    Marshall stared at me andughed, "No silly. I can hold things. All kinda things. But the only thing I need flesh for is that idol we n to find. That''s the only thing in this world that we cannot handle. So we need flesh for that."


    I leaned on my wall, "Yeah true. Tell me more about this.... Mission."


    He smiled lightly, stared at the ground, then returned his gaze to me, "What if I show you?"


    I stood upright now in caution, "No way! What if theye here and cannot find me. And yes, return those tickets."Content is ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    He curved his lips into a parab and let go of the tickets. They then vanished. I guess to my parents'' cupboard.


    Again, he slipped his hands into his pockets, "Do you not trust me?"


    "What does trust have to do with my familying up to my room and not finding me," I asked reasonably.


    He smiled as usual, "What if... I brainwash them," heughed at the shock in my face and continued, "Like make every memory of you in their minds go away. Make them forget they have a son named Edward. Maybe for the next five hours?" Iughed uncontrobly, "Sick! You muses are epic."


    Marshall curtsied perfectly, "Well thank you."


    He stood upright and pped his hands, "Now let''s hit the road."

 Chapter five

    Chapter


    five


    He made us teleport to some strange realm which literally had nothing else except a door before us. Marshall swayed an arm towards the door, "Would you do the honours of opening the door... To life."


    I raised a brow and nodded sarcastically, "You know I''m in pyjamas right?"


    He sighed, shook his head and looked at me,"Now I know you certainly are crazy."


    I frowned in confusion and looked down at my body to prove him darn blind.


    However.... Hmm I just ended up proving myself wrong.


    I was in a suit. A thick, ck tux.


    Okay magic was phenomenal.


    I smiled, looked at him and replied, "Of course."


    He returned the smirk as we faced the door. Putting my hand out, I pulled on the handle and opened it.


    We immediately saw arge, swanky room. When I say swanky, I mean swanky!


    Like expensive and fashionable to the core. They even had a swimming pool in it.


    Clearly expensive, curled sofa, ssic dining set, fur rug, shiny mirror tiles, enormous space.


    #Beauty as breakfast#


    I walked in after my muse and found six others seated on the chaise lounge at the side of the room.


    They all turned and faced Marshall as we approached them.


    Marshall dered, "Hey everyone! Meet Edward Hanson, my host!"


    I gawked at them and whispered to my muse, "They can see you."


    "Of course they can see me you dwid, "he shouted, "three are muses to the other three humans."


    I observed the six carefully. All looked under teen except one, a built middle-aged man.


    He was a muse. Iughed inside. In the midst of crazy, naughty youths like us, he may get worked up soon.


    The youths were three females and two males. A male and a female were muses. The remaining two females andst male were humans.


    I walked closer and slumped down on one of the chaise lounges, smiling awkwardly at them, "Hi everyone."


    The middle-aged man replied first, "This introduction is not reciprocal. Edward, I am Ferdinand, call me Fred you like. I''m the non-chnt muse."


    That looked pretty clear to me. He was so calm I felt he couldfortably text his wife in the belly of an anaconda.


    And then I remembered what Marshall had said. He was the fierce muse. He looked nothing like fierce.


    Then the blonde spoke, "I''m Jessica, his host."


    I nodded and smiled at theirbination. From previous exnations from Marshall, a muse chose his host based oncked attributes. So Jessica, the blonde should be a hyperactive person; if her muse was calm. A ck haired guy beside her folded his arms and raised his brows happily, "I''m Clinton, the cheeky one. Edna''s my host."


    The prim girl at my side muttered, "Hi. I''m Edna."


    I nodded again. She was cute. So this Edna girl was an innocent girl without a taste or knowledge of this world''s prurient nature.


    I intentionally swayed my gaze to my back and eyed the hot, female muse so she could speak.


    And so she did, "I''m Ke, the smart one. Anthony''s my host."


    I raised an arm in a wave. No offence, just to ask.


    Did that mean thisst guy, Anthony was dumb or....?


    Marshall chuckled at my thoughts. Reading my mind? That was some serious sort of privacy invasion.


    Anthony automatically understood and defended, "I''m not foolish. I don''t just know anything..... social wise," Ke frowned at him and made him add "And maybe academically too."


    I snickered and nodded approvingly, "Nice! Fred, Jessica, Clinton, Edna, Ke and Tony, those will stay up here."


    Fred eyed me and sighed cheerfully, "Now that that''s over, let''s go straight to business. Edward I suppose Marshall here has told you everything."


    "Uhmm, no," I shrugged, "Except a mission of finding an idol and the fact that human flesh is needed to hold the idol."


    He red at my muse and folded his arms over his chest, "How irresponsible of you Marshall."


    Marshall faked an apologetic face and scratched his neck, "Sorry Fred, we never really had time to talk."Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.


    From the way things were going, this Fred guy looked like the leader of our n. Well, he was the oldest after all.


    I raised an arm and asked curiously, "Would this mission involve my leaving home and not having time for school?"


    Marshall waved an arm and chuckled, "Yup. A hell lot. But we''ve got you covered."


    He somehow mistook my intentions. I actually wished for that to happen. Like who cares about school?


    I smiled at my nerdy nature and was finally proud of it. Would I have met this amazing gang otherwise?


    "Is there anything I need to know?" I inquired.


    Fred pitched in again, "Well I will leave that to the muse of knowledge."


    Ke sighed and walked around to me. Standing by the side of the others, she began,


    "We are humans who left life because of unfortunate reasons. The ones with iplete tasks in their lives be muses to humans and use their bodies as abodes toplete what we left half." She seemed to pause knowingly, seeing I was taking time to process all she had been saying.


    After half a minute, I motioned for her to continue.


    She went on, "Our qualities now are those of our previously living selves. Normally, the fact of using human hosts for our advantage automatically makes us their helpers and protectors in return," she stopped again and nced at her fellow


    muses.


    My instincts immediately concluded she was about to say something unpleasant.


    Ke steadied her words, "However, some of us do not wish to serve humans for the rest of their afterlife. They want to go back to life. So they took the muse idol for that purpose. We call it Kuma."


    The respect in her tone at the point of the idol''s name was inevitably noticeable. He could actually make any wish true.


    I watched her move those hot lips, "They need a lot of human blood to satisfy this idol inorder to get their wish granted. So they try as much as possible to steal human blood when you guys bleed so they could fill Kuma. We call them the fallen. The mission is to stop them before they do that. Because if the idol grants any wish, it is destroyed. With the muse idol destroyed, the muses left will go too, including the fallen. Unfortunately they do not believe it. The fallen think the end of the muse realm by Kuma is some kinda myth. Now, we have to find that idol before they find enough blood."


    Immediately, I remembered the disappearance of Philip''s blood at school. It now all made sense. The fallen must have taken it.


    "I think I have had a little rendezvous with the fallen before. A friend is school had his blood mysteriously stolen as quickly as I can say stupid. Or even less. While no one was looking, the blood disappeared." Edna gasped, "Well that''s bad because it just lowers the amount of fluid they need."


    Her muse added, "Exactly..... And that means we''ve got no time."


    I nodded in eptance, "So how are we going to find such an idol?"


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    I expected Ke, but Marshall answered, "We have a lot and lot of meetings with different people because the fallen would not just stay anywhere when they are aware muses are aiming for their asses." "Why can you guys hold every other thing except this idol? Like it just sinks through you." I gave Fred a confused frown.


    Fred swayed his head and looked at me with eyes so tired you would feel it took a lot of stress for him to do that, "That''s because it''s Kuma, the muse idol. We are not permitted to touch it or take it because we are not allowed to wish for anything. Any wish from the idol renders it destroyed and it''s our base. If it goes down, we all do."


    Truly, I did not want Marshall to leave. I mean he had been so helpful. I do not need my hands to eat. Food just flies into my mouth. I can get an A+ inb science while being away from school and I stay away from Victor and his trouble. I''m respected.


    I truly needed to help out, "For the fallen to have stolen Kuma, they should own hosts. Can we trace them? Is there any sign we hosts have?"


    "Great thinking, "Clinton admitted, "yes. Check your wrist."


    I looked down at my right wrist and found a circle with a pattern of lines that filled it up. It seemed to speak anguage, "What about you muses? What sign are we looking for in the fallen?"


    Just then, the four muses looked at each other and slowly took their hands to cover their faces.


    Two secondster, they lowered them smoothly. It was beautiful!


    The right halves of their faces had this tiger-like stripes that made me want to be a muse.


    Marshall pouted and snickered, "This.... Is our identity."


    "Yup, "Ke interjected, "the fallen have this on their left half. That happens when a muse disobeys and touches Kuma."


    Anthony nodded excitedly and gave this attitude as if he had been left out for a long time and wished to say even the smallest bit of nonsense, "That''s good so.... This means we should look out for them Orr..."


    "No! Hug them you dweed," Marshall snarled, "That was what Edward just said. Of course we''ll look out for them!"


    Fred, as usual concurred calmly, "That''s all you can do for now on your own. The kids and I will have a search tomorrow. We''ll tell you what we find."


    Hey! We all red at him. Not because he was all forty-ish and experienced he would swoop it up and toss it to our faces like poop.


    He corrected himself, "The four of us."


    I smiled inside. I felt... professional. Like a detective or something. A muse gang,st thing I expected to be in. Finding an idol called Kuma. Ptsss!


    I still had an itsy bitsy question though, "If I am a host, howe I did not see the fallen when they were at my school?"


    Marshall slipped his hands into his pockets like he always did and gave that charming smile of his, "That''s cos I just started helping you then. We did not yet have this muse host thing."


    "So when did you be my muse?"


    "That second you set your eyes on me. That is how it is. Don''t worry about the mark, you got that today. You are now officially a member of the muse gang now Edward. Congrattions." I grinned at everybody, "Thanks."

 Chapter six

    Chapter six


    My parents had just left for New York this morning and I sighed.


    That was so graceful.


    Alfred waited patiently for the second their cab left our front yard. Immediately, he grabbed his phone and made a call. Or several calls.


    Seemed he was inviting his friends over. How..... Hypocritical. It was Saturday morning and I needed to enjoy every bit of my time away from school in silence and privacy. But now... My wimp of a brother wanted a mini party at home. I sighed, "Hey Alfred. Are you guys gonna be here cos I really needed peace and quiet."


    My brother groaned and faced me wearily, "Of course we are. Who cares if you are agoraphobic."


    He then walked away as I helplessly watched him.


    I heard a voice from behind me, "You need a break. Away from this maniac."


    I turned around and found Marshall on the sofa, watching TV, "To where exactly? With who?"


    "Ever tried asking E what she''ll say now?" I heard Marshall bber from where he sat.


    Suddenly, I red at him and leaned on the sofa''s support, "I''m not interested anymore. She and I have approximately the same status in school now."


    He smirked at me and dropped the remote control, "You con. So you just needed her to boost your status?"


    I nodded and stared at him, "Yep."


    Marshallughed. His influence on me clearly passed our muse-host rtionship. It was bad. One that made me so careless and very less interested in everything. "Practised your sax yet?" Marshall inquired and faced mepletely.


    I shook my head and joked, "I wanted tost night," then smirked, "too bad I had to returnte due to the meeting we had."


    Heughed again, "You are really a con."


    I grinned and got up, "But really, I need a break. Somewhere away from my brother and sister."


    "Fred spoke of us muses going on a business search," my muse began, "you can join me if you wanna."


    This was getting fun, "No problem. Shower first for me."


    I did not need to use the stairs up to my room. Marshall teleported us to it. He didn''t want the legs I''d use all through our mission to grow tired before that, did he? Immediately, I grabbed a towel and barged into the bathroom.


    ***


    I left home in the name of going to visit someone.


    As Marshall and I walked along the road, he asked me, "Can you drive?"


    I faced him in surprise, "Yes. Why?"


    He slipped his hands into his pockets as always and replied, "We need to drive to our destination. Duhhh."


    "Why can''t we just teleport?" I asked meaningfully.


    We stopped walking and he looked at me with a sigh, "Every single ce we''ve teleported to is such that there isplete assurance we''re gonna be alone when we get there. How weird would it look if a human just appears before you from God knows where? You wouldn''t want anybody to see us, would you? And that is why we would go there by vehicle."


    That made sense. I nodded. Still, with a muse by my side, I wouldn''t see myself going through that stress called driving, "Well can''t you make us appear in a ce no human SHOULD be?"


    Marshall smirked and walked along, "You say should? How possible is that gonna be. You are aware that some maniacs love being in the dumpsters. How much more a regr, isted area. Please, there isn''t such a ce." And there he was, being right in that weird kinda way.


    But we had no car, "So now I can drive, where is the car?"


    "Why do you still ask such questions when you know what I am?"


    I smiled. True. Due to Marshall''s invisibility to normal people, I held a phone up to my ear so I wouldn''t look like a creep speaking to himself.


    I then sighted a ck Chevrolet feet away when Marshall stopped and said, "Get in!"


    I asked the first question any normal person would ask, "Whose car is this?"


    But I forgot Marshall wasn''t normal, "Ours. Get in!"


    I opened the driver''s side and stepped in to the vehicle. He then appeared at the back. Like that was so easy for them to do.


    "Where are we going?" I asked while looking for the car keys.


    He hesitated, then replied, "You wouldn''t know it even if I say the name. Just drive. I''d tell you where you need to go."


    That was it. I found the keys, hit the elerator and we were off.


    I didn''t mention. But Marshall''spany influenced me to my dress code. I stopped being the least fashionable guy in school and began my life of ck leather jacket and sleek jeans.


    ording to directions my muse gave, I drove till my hands ached. For one, long hour.


    He seemed to notice I was getting tired, "Fine! Just let go of the steering wheel."


    What was he thinking? So we could die! "Then who drives?" I asked reasonably.


    He sighed heavily and snarled at my image in the rear mirror, "This should be thest time you ask a well bred muse such a question."


    I raised my arms in the air in surrender andughed, "Okay Okay! Take control! Yikes."


    I let go of the steering wheel. Guess what happened to me. I went crazy. The wheel steered the car on its own! Well that was Marshall to be honest.


    I heard him say from the back, "Hit some music."


    I switched on the MP3 yer in the car and got weed by the good old fashioned GHOST by that extraordinary guy named n Walker.


    Coming to think of it, Marshall had a hand in the choice of music. Like the song, he made me feel like a ghost.


    We approached the swanky part of Norwich. Skyscrapers, electronic billboards, sleek roads and all the beautiful and expensive stuff you could think of. Nodding to the beats of the music, I adored the beauty of where I lived in.


    Marshall suddenly spoke up after he heard a part of the song, "Ever looked in a mirror?"


    What the...Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.


    "Yes dumbass! Why?"


    He sighed and looked at the roof of the car, "Just so you know you look nothing like what you''d see in the mirror when I possess you."


    I turned to him and frowned, "What will I see when you are in me?"


    "A fierce monster," he began, "aka Marshall Godwin."


    I snickered at that, "You are called the fierce muse. However you don''t look like you could do anything formidable. You are very kind."


    Marshall broke into an endless fit ofughter. After a while, he struggled for breath and said, "What am I? Some nun? Trust me, you don''t wanna see me when I''m fierce. I fold everything into a ball when I''m not fighting," he sighed and smiled, "but never mind. You will see the unleashed beast when I get to control you because it would be you then being all fierce and deadly."


    "I''m not scared," I shrugged, "sounds like something I would love to experience. Being that invincible."


    He agreed with that tone as if a BUT wasing after, "Yup, it''s cool. But just hope my anger would not make me make you do something above your limits. You might die with such guilt." He chuckled afterwards.


    I hid my fear. He sounded different then. Not like the assuring spirit I used to know. Well, I bit my tongue and stayed quiet for the remaining thirty minutes to our destination."


    ***


    I hopped out of the car after we had parked it. Marshall just appeared by my side looking at the building before us. He never missed the chance to show me how cool it was to be dead.


    The building was massive, dark and still under construction.


    "Don''t tell me we''re going in there," I pleaded reasonably.


    He shrugged, "Fine. I won''t tell you."


    Before I could say anything more, Marshall had started walking towards the entrance of the building.


    I screamed after him, "Fine! Go! But there''s no way I am going into that dark, lonely ce. Like who knows what''s in there? Maybe elfs," I waved my arms childishly, "or pixies."


    Walking to and fro, I realised he wasn''t even listening to me. I shouted one more time, "Or even witches."


    The surrounding was lonely and cold except for a few people from different angles watching me as if I had stolen their cotton candy. Okay that was even more creepy than the dark building. No one needed to tell me to go with Marshall.


    Vroom! And I was with Marshall in less than three seconds. We gazed at the entrance.


    My eyes were strained till max to find even the smallest bit of vague light. But holy moly, I couldn''t. It was really dark.


    I faced my muse, "Why must we go in here?"


    He answered nonchntly, "A muse resides here. I''d like to speak with her."


    I panted my fear out. Like this guy had my back right, "You know you have to do something about my sight cos I can''t see a thing."


    Marshall turned and faced me with a smirk on his face.


    Before I could say crazy, he dashed into me, as fast as light. For the first time, my muse possessed my body. I felt... I felt... Stronger, more heartless, more.... Me. As if I was the bravest person on Earth.


    My eyes were a glowing shade of blue and the building seemed like it was lit beyond measure. He seemed to be in control of my speech and actions too. Like this was epic.


    I walked deeper into the building and stopped when I had reached the center of it.


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    Marshall now started speaking from inside me, controlling all my speech.


    I shouted, "ra! ra!"


    This ra of a girl seemed to ignore our call on purpose.


    Marshall made me say again, "It''s me Marshall."


    Then, she listened. She made her way out. She was a muse, her tiger stripes clearly on the right part of her face.


    She rasped, "Last time I checked, the Marshall I know was taller than this."


    I spat, "I''m kinda in my host right now. His name''s Edward by the way."


    She nodded, "Yeah baby. It''s you."


    She came closer to me and hugged. And the nitwit of a muse I had made me hug back. I was not the one doing this. Hugging a muse was never on my bucket list. But hey! If Marshall wanted to do all these with his muse girlfriend, shouldn''t he leave my body first. Like it felt so strange since my flesh was in contact with her. Zapping energy that went deep down to my...


    As if Marshall read my mind, he made his way out of my body and I returned to my usual weak, blind self again. Due to his sudden release, I fell on my hands and knees.


    He said to me as he held ra, "I let you hug my girl. But na! I can''t let you do what I wanna do now. So I''d do it myself if you don''t mind."


    It was dark, so I did not see what they were doing. But from the sounds of it, he was kissing her. Muses do that too?!


    I spat, "Enough already! It''s extremely creepy to see two ghosts kissing before you. Let''s start what we came for."


    He broke the kiss and left her, "My bad!!"


    Then he returned into my body. And I was strong, brave and sharp sighted again, "Now. Our gang isplete. I think it''s left with going after the idol before the fallen make their wish." ra blew a gum bubble and used the next silent seconds to watch it pop. The Edward in me saw that annoying. But the main thing in me, the Marshall part, saw that sexy. Like how.... "That''s so great," she began, "Good luck to you all cos I don''t think I''ll be happy to lose my muse powers and return to nothing."


    I folded my arms as I noticed I was ring at her. Ahhhhh, finally her boyfriend saw something of hers annoying, "How graceful! However, I expected, Wow do you need help. If yes I''m in."


    She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, "C''mon sweetie. You know I don''t want any harm toe to Ang and I want nothing to do with the fallen."


    I looked at her and snickered angrily, "So what''s in for those who want something to do with the fallen. No offence sweetheart but thanks for nothing. I''d let you muses who don''t give a fuck about right or wrong stay unconcerned."


    I turned to leave when I heard her say from behind me, "I may not be able to help you. But I can direct you to someone who would."


    Woah! Chills down my spine! I turned to her again, "Tell me about it."


    ***


    ording to the description Marshall and I got from ra, I drove to an area with a whole lot of tall grey buildings. Slowly, I parked behind one of them and Marshall and I descended from the Jeep. Oh God, I love detective work.


    We analyzed the building she mentioned and observed something crazy.


    Sick citizens! They turned the base floor to a hidden club!


    As we went into it, I received a wink from a tarty girl serving drinks. To her, it was just me. I bet she would have left her job if she could see the better looking muse by my side.


    Through drunk and smelly men, we reached the heart of the club just to find a maniac beating himself up.


    Everyone thought he had drunk quite a lot for one night and moved away from him in disgust.


    But Marshall smirked. Obviously to me, he was more than drunk.


    He... was possessed.


    But why in the world would a muse be making a poor, helpless man meant to chilling in a club to do that to himself so he looked half dead. Unless the man wasn''t as poor and helpless as I thought. Finally, the muse left his body and made his way out of the scene unseen.


    Like duhhhhh.... Obviously.


    The beat up man fell to the ground afterwards, with a wounded face and undescribable pain.


    The evil muse towards me.


    Marshall smiled and raised a brow, "My host, Edward. Where''s yours. David right?"


    A frown rested on the Muse''s face, "He''s in jail, "then he nced at me with a smile, "Hey Eddy. I''m Chris, the evil one."


    Hahhhhh! Looked pretty obvious if you ask me, "Hey. Why is your host in jail?"


    Heughed at my question, "Let''s talk outside, unless they''ll think you are as drunk as that man." He snarled at the one he had beaten.


    We went out of the club, trashing into a building less noisy than it.


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    A group of men were at the corner of the room, smoking their asses out. Consequently, I made a "phonecall".


    Marshall continued the conversation, "Whatsoever did the devil back there do to you that made you do that to him?"


    I nodded in support to his question. I also was that curious.


    Chris sighed and answered, "He''s the one who made David end up in jail."


    "But you could have saved him, right," I asked worriedly. What else were muses for?


    He rubbed his neck tiredly, "As much as I could help him, he deserved it. It''s rule nine in the book. My book. I let my client go through a punishment whenever he does something despicable. Not cos you have a muse you would change the world. And my real reason behind it," heughed and immediately pulled a straight face after," he''s too much of a good tushu for me to handle. The prison friends will change him a bit."


    Oh yeah, evil is the contrast of good. So this evil had a good host! Damn I''m smart.


    Marshall read my mind and smiled lightly, "If David is that good, what could that guy have done that made him end up in jail?"


    Chris replied basically, "The two assholes beat up a police man. That''s my kinda thing. But my host went too far for his standard and I took the opportunity to send him to jail so he''d get worse. When the both of them were confronted, the pussy said David made him do it with ckmail. Such a creep! I promised David I''d get him out after I''m done with his friend. I was just on my way to jail."


    Iughed and nced at the men turning the building into a volcano. Their gazes on me were getting even more creepy,"That''s so thoughtful Chris but right now, I think we should worry more about these smoke bombs in here with us. They''re freaking me out."


    My muse stared at them and grinned, "Are they? Just give the orders, "he swayed his gaze back to me," Chris and I will handle them."


    I would be happier if we left the ce, "Let''s go."


    Immediately I made a step to reach the door, the dudes got up and intensified their threats. I made the second step and I found one of them by my escape way. I looked at Marshall.


    He got the message immediately, "I think it''s time to see my fierce part. Anyone mess with you, he mess with me. Chris, lil hand."


    A big smile returned to Chris''s face and he began the same thing he did to the guy at the club. He possessed one of them and made him start punching himself.


    As his mates watched him in fear, they got out guns and faced the monster they saw, me, who they thought had something to do with their friend''s madness.


    One of them snarled, "Gimme every pound you have on you."


    I smirked at Marshall and answered them, "What if I don''t want to?"


    They looked at each other in surprise and faced me again.


    The robber answered with his previous tone that hade with a little bit of fear this time, "Fine. We''d just take it from you."


    Marshall had been waiting all the while with his hands slipped into his pockets as always. And finally, he thought it was then.


    For the second time, he dashed into me, and by God, it was with the same speed.


    My eyes began glowing that shade of blue again and I watched the robbers move back with a gasp.


    I stalked towards them as they stalked backwards.


    The one who had been talking all along watched one of his men who was still beating himself and returned the fearful gaze to me. He shot his gun at me severally. That little atom of Edward still in me was scared. But Marshall, he overcame everything.


    The bullets hit me and fell to the floor, as though they were candy, harmless.


    He shot more until he had run out of bullets but they hadn''t even scratched me yet.


    I think it was my turn now.


    Steadily, I looked at the dim light from the only bulb the room had. It flickered for some time then went off, by my power.


    I could only imagine how scary this was for them. The only things they could see of me now were my glowing blue eyes. The attacker waspletely invisible.


    I growled and snatched one of them in the dark. His scream alerted the rest and made them move together.


    Who had the scary look now?


    Another robber asked wearily," How are you even seeing us?"


    Marshall made me say, "Deep in the dark I don''t need the lights. There''s a ghost inside me."


    He stole that line from a song I know.


    The robber screamed, "What?!"


    I then finally understood the joy Victor got from torturing people.


    Marshall was the best.


    I dealt with the rest of them until they all looked like pulps and left the room afterwards, into our car.


    Then Marshall freed me and sat at the passenger seat beside me.


    After a while, Chris appeared at the back.


    I panted and eximed, "Damn that was epic."


    I heard Chris add from the back, "It''s just the beginning kid."


    Marshall justughed and gave me the signal to hit the elerator.

 Chapter seven

    The central jail in Norwich was very spacious. I walked alongside the invisible Marshall and Chris.


    How coincidental? We just had toe when it was recreational time for the prisoners.


    As they turned and found me walking past being escorted by a seagearnt, they frowned at me, pulling every face they could to make me scared. No one with two guardian angels by his side would be, so I walked nonchntly along.


    A huge guy, most likely a respected prisoner, cracked his knuckles as he looked sternly at me, wondering why I wasn''t afraid.


    Marshall looked at him. And shortly afterwards, the man gave himself a punch; Marshall''s doing.


    The rest were forced to mind their business.


    The sergeant asked me to wait while he went to call David. It was visiting, right?


    The prisoner who came along with him had a honey brown skin, corn rows hair and a tattoo on his left arm.


    Was this the David that Chris called a good tushu? He looked like a thug to me. Like he even had his arm in a sling probably from going into a fight.


    As he came along, he grinned wildly, "Hey Chris. Long time!"


    The sergeant nced at me in confusion, "I thought you said your name''s Edward."


    Actually, David was not talking to me and my real name is indeed Edward. The cop actually saw no one apart from me, who he then assumed David was speaking to.


    I gave the prisoner a strange look to remind him that muses were invisible.


    Heughed in response, "Yes sir. His name''s Edward Christopher. I call him Chris.


    The sergeant looked satisfied.


    I then returned my attention to David, "How have you been?"


    He rolled his tongue and jerked his bad arm, "Yeah I''m cool. With this arm in a sling, you can see I''m pretty cool."


    "Don''t worry, it''ll end soon. I came to get you out, "I assured.


    The cop pulled his confused face again, "Get him..." He nced at the prisoner he was holding. David returned the look. The sergeant frowned as he noticed David''s eyes lighten to a light yellow color. At that, the man froze in ce and went into some kind of trance.


    Marshall used the opportunity to possess him and David jerked his arm out of the cop''s grip.


    The prisoner then faced the possessed sergeant and spoke sweetly, "Now, go say goodbye to my prison mates. Tell them I somehow got bailed out."


    The man replied, "Okay. Have fun."


    David, Chris and I walked towards the prison gate, backed up by the man Marshall was controlling.


    When we reached the gate, the cop said to the security guard,"Let him go. He is free now. Got trial."


    The guard gave us a stern look before opening the gate. Immediately we got into the car and I hit the elerator, my muse left the man''s body and appeared with us at the back seat. The real sergeant now chased after us with the aim of stopping a MOVING car!


    When he got the brains that he couldn''t, he stopped and examined himself in confusion. Like what had he done?!


    We allughed happily as I increased speed.


    David sighed, "Wow Edward you''ve got one cunning muse."


    Marshall ced a hand on his chest and nodded, "Thank you, thank you. I''m ttered."


    Chris spat cheekily, "I would have done better."


    I steered the car to the highway and looked at the rear mirror, "Yeah you''re great too. Beating yourself up is a unique tactic if you ask me."


    "Heard that Marshall," Chris pped his hands, "I''m better than you."


    "You wish," my muse defended.


    The aura was lovely. After a second or two of mirth, David inquired, "So Chris. What did you do to Alex?"


    "Ahhhh. He''s shaking hands with death right now," he answered him.


    "You killed him!"


    "He wishes. But really, he''s like.. half dead right now."


    "See why I love you."


    Chris made the sign of the cross and bowed his head, "Jeez! No please."


    I smiled at them. Like truly, my life had never been better. I took the road home because it looked prettyte to me. Although no one would have cared if I went home or not, the muse society needed some privacy to make strategy. So... Home, here wee.


    ***


    The door was wide open when we arrived at my ce. I walked into the home with shock on my face, looking around to see if I was at the right ce. It was disgusting! Like they turned the house into a brothel and a club. My brother was drunk, asleep on a couch with his bae, Elina on him.


    Some other dudes were ying video games while some were dirty dancing to music.


    Some were still yet to go crazy, just sitting in the corner, talking.


    Snack wrap and stic cups were everywhere. And all these just got me staring.


    Chris walked to my side and shrugged happily, "My type of life when I was alive."


    I still had to get used to the fact that two of the people with me were dead. I nced at Chris who grinned knowingly.


    David pushed through us and analysed the ce, "Edward you never said you live in a club."


    "Sorry," I sighed tiredly, "I forgot."


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    Marshall seemed to be the only mature one among the three who really understood what the depth of this was, "Your brother needs to learn some manners. Parents are away for a week and he''s fucking with assholes." I turned to him and sighed sadly,"I would have talked to him, really. But I love my face this cute."


    At that, I left the noisy parlor and we all climbed up to my room.


    David then stated genuinely, "You have to do something about your brother so he could stop all the bullshit. Like look what he did down there."


    Chris just released a weary groan, "That prison was all a waste of time. You learned nothing. You know, I still wonder how you got the courage to beat the police man up."


    Iughed. Apart from his appearance, David really was a good tushu.


    "I even had to teach him to say fuck," Chris eximed again.


    Marshall was thoughtful all along while we yed around.


    Suddenly, he asked, "David. What do you know about the fallen?"


    Good tushu guy answered with the flow, "Well. One of them is a mate at school. He has that little thingy we have on our right hand on his left. Remember Chris, the guy who hates us cos we refused to be part of them."


    I watched the both of them with a worried frown, "Think your friend can lead us to the idol."


    Heughed, "If you ask me, they do not joke with Kuma''s abode. It''s safe and secret. And for Christ''s sake, he''s got a muse. Any threats from us are balderdash. She would save him."


    Marshall sighed and paced up and down the room, seriously thinking of a n that could be a little possible.


    David''s muse on the other hand, raised his chin as if he had figured something. He asked David, "Have you noticed anything unusual about him? Maybe, somewhere he goes often?"


    There was silence for a while as he tried to think. Momentster, he came up with something, "Apart from his girl''s home, he''s got this ce he heads to with his muse everyday. Never tried following him. I ain''t need no trouble. Besides, his muse, the cranky one is always there to back him up. Her nature alone gives me the creeps."


    "Sounds like something a hot, fierce muse could handle," Marshall smirked.


    "Or evil," Chris added meaningfully.


    I gawked at the two in awe. How could they be thinking of.... Yuck!


    "No!" I disagreed, "We need the dude alone. And no evil or fierce muse to do whatsoever sins you both are thinking of."


    David chuckled calmly and spoke, "True. Now we have a dead end. Even if we could simply follow them, a big fight may break out and...."


    His muse spat,"Oh shut up! What do you think? That we n to find the fallen and have a peaceful dialogue, win this, shake hands with them and walk away. Take your Earth sized heart somewhere else."


    David rolled his eyes and watched me while I was lost in thought.


    A bulb would have lit up above my head if it were to be a movie. An idea!


    I hurriedly asked, "Chris, Marshall! Do you know any of the fallen muses? Like extremely, extremely well."


    Chris shook his head in denial.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.


    However, Marshall frowned sadly, "Yes I do."


    "Who?" I looked at him worriedly.


    He looked at the floor and folded his arms. After he raised his head to look at us again, he sighed, "My sister."


    Another round of silence ured and we all stared at Marshall. This meant nobody actually knew about Marshall''s sister being part of the fallen.


    First of all, I inquired, "You and your sister are dead! Like what were your parents doing?"


    "Living," he answered, "Well my sister caused our deaths. Leave that. If I know one, then what?"


    I stared at him sadly and sighed. He was my muse, so I cared but if he didn''t want to talk about it, then, "When you both were alive, do you remember any ce, as in any ce at all that she loved to go to. Somewhere she loved and maybe could keep stuff?"


    Chris snarled at me, "She''s in a group now. They wouldn''t just leave it to any member to keep it safe. And let''s assume they did, it will be a ce with maximum security. Not some lonely graveyard someone goes to seek peace." Marshall smiled and looked at me, "But no. He has a point. Not just to find the idol Chris. Eddy, I think I understand you. Muses can detect muse energies till a kilometer away. We could track Amaya down."


    His sister had a cute name. I had to admit. He red at me immediately. Like can''t someone have a bit of privacy. Now I can''t keep my thoughts to myself!


    "How are you gonna be sure the energy you sense belongs to the fallen?" We heard David ask.


    His muse smirked seriously, "I understand Marshall. Negative energy. It''s a muse thing. You pathetic humans won''t understand."


    David and I shot stares so hard Chris felt the impact of what he said andughed to clear the tension.


    I shook my head and asked them, "So that means for any of you not to have ever felt the fallen negative energy, they have never stayed a kilometer or less near any ce you''ve been."


    Marshall thought about it and posed a question at David, "Where''s that ce he goes to?"


    David gave a great grin and patted his chest, "In Oxford. He knows a lot about the state. That''s how I knew."


    "There''s something about that ce we need to find out. Coincidentally, my sister''s so called peaceful abode is also in Oxford,"Marshall stated.


    I sighed happily, "Very good people. We''ve got ourselves some juicy bit of mystery. We''ll have to tell the others."


    "We ain''t meeting till ten," my muse informed.


    I checked my watch. It was still six and we were all hot on the gist. In the meantime, I went to check up on Alfred.


    I stepped downstairs and found my brother awake, sending everybody and everything away from the house anxiously. I just watched him. When everyone was out, he began putting things away quickly. I knew what he was trying to avoid. And there was no way he could finish all this before my talkative sister came home and found the house like that. She was surely going to tell Mom and Dad.


    I asked from the stairs, "Can I help?"


    He turned to me and snarled angrily, "Oh shut up. Even with the hands of ten men, we wouldn''t do this. Sofie will be back in about two minutes and the stench of venom......"


    He just kept on talking something I was not interested in. I slipped my hands into my pockets and narrowed my eyes at him. Suddenly, he stopped and fell asleep again on the couch. I didn''t mean to do that but I had no choice.


    The garbage around the room literally vanished and the furniture all shifted to their normal positions. I had to admit, host powers were great. Unfortunately Alfred wasn''t allowed to see it.


    Sighing and being satisfied with the clean parlor, I teleported upstairs, "Why do I keep helping that guy?"


    The threeughed and I heard Marshall say, "Well he''s a brother. So there''s still some good in him," a frown suddenly settled on his brows as he concluded, "unlike sisters."


    I frowned. He had mentioned something about his sister causing both their deaths. I decided to leave my questions tillter. I knew we could use the remaining four hours to argue if I asked them. Arguing with my muse was thest thing I''d think of doing. Or so I thought.

 Chapter eight

    Chapter eight


    We were in the swanky room again, all ten of us, including Chris and David.


    Fred and the rest of the muses looked tired. I bet just like Marshall and I, they had a pretty funny day.


    Our leader rubbed his forehead and asked eagerly, "Anyone find anything?"


    When the room fell silent and it felt no one was ready to answer, Clinton replied, "Yup. Another blood theft by the fallen. Missed it by a minute."


    Just then, the most crazy idea popped into my head. Suddenly, I rushed to suggest, "Wait. I just thought of something. If the fallen need blood, why don''t we give it to them?" Everybody looked at me like I was one of the bad guys disguised as Edward. They didn''t seem to understand where I was getting at.


    Like Chris was already wriggling his fingers as if he was about to release some magic.


    Until finally, someone got me.


    Ke eximed, "And trap them from there, epic!"


    Everybody immediately sighed with relief.


    However, my muse who knew my intentions all along asked me, "So.... How do we get blood?"


    Major problem, I thought. Maybe we could.... Kill somebody?


    The cute, innocent girl with sses that always gave me goosebumps frowned worriedly, "No one''s ready to risk his life. And again, a fat amount of blood is needed to lure them."


    I looked at her and thought for a while. Wearily, I lowered my head and heard myself say, "Animal blood." I didn''t know when I said that.


    But I received a grin from Fred, "Good job Edward. But when is this going to happen?"


    You know I thought seeing and speaking with ghosts were the freakiest things that would ever happen to me. But hey! Anthony shocked me.


    Somehow, he spoke sense, "On Monday. At Eddy''s school. Like it''s his n."


    "How would Edward take blood to school?" Jessica pitched in.


    Okay and she was trying spoil Anthony''s first attempt at wisdom.N?velDrama.Org is the owner.


    I wouldn''t let that happen, would I, "I wouldn''t. You guys would. Bring it for me then I''d slit my arm a bit. Smear the carcass''s blood all over me. Am I speaking?"


    Marshall hooked his arm round my neck and rubbed my hair like a baby, "That''s my Eddy."


    Was that to make the rest of the muses jealous? Somehow I was proud, grinned satisfactorily like a boy taking chocte from a stranger and listened as Fred still made strategies.


    "Good job everyone. Edward''s school, Monday, 11 am. Split some cow''s ass and get the blood down there..... And one more thing."


    Marshall stopped ying with my hair when Fred said that. I also looked up at him, "What''s that?"


    He folded his arms over his chest and stated seriously, "Let''s n all the way to the end.... Badly necessary."


    "What ns, "Chris''s host asked.


    Fred lowered his gaze and smirked.


    He knew we were very expectant and all he did was create suspense. How sweet. He dragged his stare to the entire n, the ugly little smirk still on his face.


    I walked out of Math ss with my eyes on my watch. It was still 10:40 am. Needed to find a way to get myself injured soon, suchpromise. But I suffered most.


    Grabbing a snack, I sat and ate with some friends, eyes still on the school gate, checking for members of my n. Funny how my friends and my usual apple juice and half a Weiner snack changed in a week. In your face Victor. I belong to a cult now.


    Sooner than not, Jessica appeared walking into the high school surrounding. Immediately, I excused myself from the group and walked up to her.


    She looked... Wow! If a guy like me was seen walking with a girl this hot through the school corridor, I was totally going to overthrone Victor.


    And thank my lucky stars when she decided we walk through the corridor!! And she knew exactly what she was doing. Once she even moved closer to me and bumped my shoulder when she noticed the stares.


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    The back of the building was the best ce for maniacs like us who were trying to lure some bloodthirsty ghosts to my school.


    When we reached there, I panted and asked, "Got the blood."


    She reached in for her backpack and retrieved a sack of cow''s blood, "I almost cried for that cow yunno. Now it''s to wait for the others."


    Almost immediately, Fred appeared before us, "Hey. Am Ite?"


    I looked at my watch, then him, "Five minutes left. But we need the whole n."


    "Tried calling,"he asked me.


    I sighed, "Let me see."


    I closed my eyes and ced two fingers on my temple, trying to find the rest of us. That was possible because we somehow had linked energies. It''s a muse thing. You won''t understand. Finally, I mmed my eyes open, "They''re here already."


    Sooner than not, again, the seven appeared with us. Now, we were ten,plete. Five muses, five clients.


    Fred said again, "Very good. Blood?"


    Everybody raised a sack.


    Fred continued, "Those are my kids, "he gawked at us to notice our reaction to the way he always rubbed our youth in our faces. When we forced smiles any set of kids will give their parents, he continued, "I love you too. Now as we nned. Edward, I got you a knife. Good as new. Cost me a fortune though but thank meter."


    I watched him get a small, sleek de from his pocket that could cut a bone. As sharp as my reflexes.


    I shrugged, "For what?"


    He raised a brow and used his eyes to point at the blood sacks everyone got, "What did you say yesterday? Where do you think all this blood is going toe from?"


    I red at him, "Am I supposed to use that... THING.. on myself? I said I was going to give myself a slit not kill myself!! Yikes... Jeesh!"


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    Fred sighed softly, "I promise to heal you immediately the job''s done."


    I looked away, unwilling to partake in that form of madness.


    My muse buried his head in his hands and faked cries, "I can''t believe the host of the fierce muse is acting like ady."


    I huffed snatched the knife, slipping it into my jacket pocket.... Just to prove him wrong."


    Fred seemed happy and immediately rushed his words like when a girl who has a crush on a guy has the chance to speak to him for the first time, "Uhmm, My name is... I don''t believe this... It''s you. I just like you..."


    Just kidding. Those were not his words. My imagination is crazy. His real words rather were, "Now. Think of a good ce to get wounded. Good! School''s loo. Mirrors are sharp."


    But I swear they did have the same reactions. Who was nonchnt now?


    I snapped out of my world of thoughts and prayed Marshall didn''t get a glimpse of them. He chuckled softly. He did get a glimpse of them.


    I ignored him and contributed, "Let me go and see if anyone''s there. If not, I''d send a signal. Y''all cane then."


    Just then, I began running to the school''s bathroom. A group of males were there. Patiently, I waited as they made it out. I walked up to the door and opened it a bit to see if anyone else had a leaking dder to empty. The coast was clear. Using the same way I connected to them thest time, I ced my fingers on my temple. Momentster, they appeared to me.


    Fred gave anothermand, "Now empty the contents of each sack onto the floor."


    They seemed happy to do it. Obediently and yfully, the eight smeared a certain amount of their cow blood, that quantity that seemed probable to escape from a human with a slit arm.


    Immediately they were done, Philip just had to make his way into the bathroom. Major problem!


    He stood agape and stared at the five weirdos he could see pouring red liquid on the Loo''s floor.


    That was the end!

 Chapter nine

    Chapter nine


    Philip stood agape and stared at the weirdoes pourin meg blood on the Loo''s floor. When we humans gasped and nced at our muses, Clinton dashed into him and possessed him. We just watched and wondered what his intentions were. The other ghosts didn''t seem bothered.


    Slowly, he made Philip walk out through the door. Momentster, he appeared back to where we were.


    Curiously, I gawked at him and bit my lip, "How did that help?!"


    Clinton smiled and gave his cheeky snicker, intentionally popping that cute face on, "I uhhhh... Kinda erased his memory of the past two minutes. Made him forget he was ever headed to the bathroom." "Sick," I heard Edna gasp.


    I just rubbed my eyes andughed. It was not a dream. I was part of the best cult ever.


    Back to our evil ns of massacre...


    Fred broke the mirth, "Edward, the knife."


    God knows I was praying he wouldn''t remember that. Angrily, I retrieved the de from my pocket and stared fearfully at it. Bringing it up to my arm, a sudden emotion ran through me.. fear.


    I nced up at them, their expectant looks urging me to go on. Then... I swallowed, closed my eyes and.. sliced.


    I smashed my eyes open and gasped at the sharp pain in my arm. It was the worst moment watching red blood drip down my arm to join the rest on the floor, "Darn it... Why me?"


    The person I hated the most in the group chuckled and replied to me, "At least you didn''t spend five pounds on cow''s blood." Anthony.


    I gave him a hard re and snarled, "What do you say we switch ces?"


    Edna cautiously stopped our small exchange of words as she stepped between us, "Can you both quit it already? Edward, now you''ve cut your arm.... Scream!"


    God knows this girl was doing something to me. She was the most innocent I had ever seen, with small round sses and cute cheeks and that figure that could make you go bananas. Darn it! Marshall was ring at me!


    Immediately, I shouted, "Help! Someone help!"


    Jessica sighed and spanked her forehead, "Go out through the door you scum!"


    The nine vanished from their position, leaving me as I staggered out through the door with a slit arm to attract attention.


    The janitor was the first to sight me. He rushed to me and held my arm, "What happened to you kid?"


    I screamed in response to avoid answering that.


    Immediately, he rushed me to the school''s nurse and kept me on the bed. The sweetdy closed the door after the janitor had gone and gave me the reassuring smile nurses normally faked.


    She turned to the wardrobe at the corner to retrieve the first aid kit. When she turned back to me, we hadpany. David stood by me and winked at her.


    She just gawked, "Who are you? How, when did you get here?"


    David stalked towards the scared nurse and held her. They then had this long eye contact when David made his eyes a shade of blue. A few seconds of muse hypnosis and she fell unconscious in his hands. As if it was all nned, the rest of my n appeared right on the spot.


    David ced the nurse on the bed after I had left it, then I held my wounded arm in silent pain. Marshall somehow understood me best. And we were a match because of that. He came to me and covered my wound with his palm.


    I felt a little ting of warmth round the spot... Then the healing came. When he removed his hand, the wound was gone.


    He then patted me happily, "You should really go for acting."


    "I''m ttered," I smiled back, "how are we gonna be sure the fallen are aware of the blood?"N?velDrama.Org is the owner.


    Clinton answered instead, "They have a dog."


    I frowned and nced at Marshall, "Is this a real dog or just one of your muse terms again?"


    Marshall widened his eyes at me in surprise and faced me fully, "Well, we call him a dog. His name''s Harold, the sensitive one. When he was alive, he was stalking a naked girl a whole kilometer away. He can smell the lunch you had yesterday in your breath. He.... Is a dog."


    Chris seemed to be done with his oath of silence, "And now I have that little weird feeling that they should be here any second."


    "How about now," Anthony inquired from the cheeky one.


    Clinton stood, arms stretched thirty degrees sideways, eyes closed, trying to sense the tiniest spark of possible negative energy from the fallen. That is, if they were here. I prayed eagerly that they were. All the pain I went through today shouldn''t be in vain.


    Finally, he opened his eyes suddenly, "Library!"


    God I was about to have my first encounter with thes guys. I wonder how they''ll be."


    Chris helped us teleport to the school''s library. I think it was still break time, so no one was meant to be there.... Well except the librarian. Ke immediately possessed the man and wiped his memory thest five seconds he sighted us. Then she put him to sleep from the inside. How did they do that shit?!


    Fred moved around and began throwing orders around, "Ke, Chris. Go to the school''s restroom now. Just in case they go there. Now!"


    They both vanished immediately in obedience.


    When they had teleported there, the janitor was about to mop the floor clean when Chris put him to sleep as they normally did and dragged him aside. Then, there they were, waiting patiently for any trace from the fallen. Back here, Fred asked his fellow muses, "Do you feel that? The energy... It''s so strong from up here. They are here!"


    Marshall looked around casually and replied, "And that means they are feeling ours too. Do you think they''ll run away?"


    I panted fearfully. Cheee! The fallen were around me, "Let''s find them."


    Then finally. Right from behind the shelves, we heard a voice that said, "Ain''t no need for that friend. We ain''t cowards."


    We turned around and found him, Harold, the sensitive one.


    He had this smirk and a deadly scar across an eye. His own stripes were on the left side of his face. That seemed creepy to me.


    He walked towards us nonchntly, "My name''s Harold."


    Marshall who had been leaning on a table, pulled his hands from his pockets and folded them over his chest, "I am very sure none of us cares. Where''s my sister?"


    Harold smirked some more and turned around, "Amaya."


    Just out of no where, a teenage girl appeared by his side.


    Damn it, she was beautiful. Owning the ckest hair I had ever seen. She nced at Harold, turned casually to us and gasped when she saw her brother, "Marshall! You''re a muse too? I wonder what task you left iplete." Marshall smiled at her in disgust and stated, "Getting your ass kicked."


    His sister seemed to fake concern, "Oh don''t tell me you still bear hatred for me."


    He stood upright and moved closer to her, "No I don''t. It''s more of disgust."


    Amaya showed white, pearly teeth and waved her hair away, "Nice to see you again dear. I''m Amaya Godwin, the brave one."


    Marshall snickered seriously and nced at her in surprise, "Brave? You! I''d call it pride if you ask me."


    "Call it whatever you want sweet heart, "she spat, "you must be..... The fierce one if you ask me."


    He seemed to admire her wit. God she sure was perfect... for deceit, "Fierce muse. The wisest you''ve been in ages."


    She looked at the rest of us and grinned beautifully. She seemed polite to me. Again, she faced her brother, "As much as I hate to say this, you were really a fierce one before you died."


    Marshall''s frown returned, "Where''s Kuma?"


    Amaya opened her mouth in surprise and looked at Harold who just smirked some more. When she looked at Marshall, she admitted, "O.... And here I was thinking you came for a family reunion. You want Kuma! God I knew you could never look for me. Well let me break your hopes then.... He is halfway full. And once I go back to life, I''ll ruin that person you made everyone believe you were. And again, did you really think I would tell you where the idol was?"


    If you''re loving the book, nel5s.org is where the adventure continues. Join us for theplete experience all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you! Marshall just bit his lip in anger.


    His sister smiled at his reaction and faced us again, "Who''s your host?"


    Out of little respect I developed for her, I raised my arm, "That would be me."


    She nced at me and said sweetly, "You are so sweet. Why not do yourselves a favor and tell your muse to get out of my way. I mean all of you."


    Okay... Not sweet!


    Clinton frowned in worry and tried to exin for onest time, "You don''t get it. If you make a wish with Kuma, the muse world will be gone and our existence will cease."


    A loud groan escaped from Amaya''s mouth as she turned to him, "Why do you guys say that every single time?" Reluctantly, she sighed softly and continued, "Let''s assume you are correct.... I don''t care. Thing is I''m going back to life no matter who it affects."


    Amaya turned her gaze to every side of the library and looked at her brother. Then she frowned and widened her eyes, "It''s a set up."


    Darn it! She figured.


    And from her worried actions, she was about to vanish away.


    Quickly, she rushed her words, "Harold! Get the blood! Let''s leave!"


    From the looks of it, she led the fallen. And their escape isn''t going to be good at all. In fact, Marshall wouldn''t let that happen, would he?


    Somehow, immediately his sister disappeared, he did too. I think a muse thinks of where he wants to go to and teleports to the area. There was no way my muse could guess where Amaya intended to go. So how did they teleport at the same time? Was it to the same ce?


    Afterwards, Harold left too, probably to the bathroom with blood.


    I turned to Fred and inquired, "Where''d Marshall go?"


    Fred smiled wickedly and looked down, "That was smart of him." He nced at my direction and smirked, "Your muse is a smart one. I think he kinda linked energies with her."


    "Linked energies?"Edna frowned.


    Fred bbered with admiration in his voice, "You all still have a lot to learn about muses. Thing is... We can link out muse energy with that of another muse. With that, we can disrupt and interfere with the powers of the victim. When Amaya teleported while her energy was linked with her brother''s, it made him join her to wherever she goes."


    Clinton added proudly, "Even more, we can control our victim''s powers. Well, it''s both ways. Depends on who''s sharper."


    I was impressed with all these muse talks. Still, the fact they were dead dissolved all the good stuff, Let''s go help Chris and Ke."

 Chapter ten

    Chapter ten


    We teleported to the loo and gawked at what we saw. Ke and Chris didn''t seem to need our help.


    Harold was on his knees, hid head low in surrender and weariness. Ke and Chris seemed to have done that same thing... Yeah linked energies with Harold. Two of them against him was too much for him. And he couldn''t do anything as they controlled his every intention for retaliation.


    I squatted and looked at him, "Be a lucky one and tell us where the idol is."


    Harold dragged his stare wearily to him and smirked again. His scar seriously almost intimidated me... He made his eyes a shade of yellow and rasped, "Do whatever you want. You can''t end me... So there''s no way you would make me tell you anything."


    Ke frowned and made a fist. I think she did something to our victim because the sensitive muse began to scream.


    Fred sighed heavily, "Let him go Ke. We already have a source of information."


    Immediately, they obeyed and freed Harold and he immediately vanished.


    We looked at each other and felt a wave of satisfaction. At least we had Marshall somewhere. He would surelye back with what we need.


    ***


    My break was over and I returned to ss with anticipation. I couldn''t actually concentrate in ss while I was busy thinking of what Marshall would find out. Somehow, I felt someone walking to my seat. When I looked up, I found her... Liza. She sat on my table and smiled sweetly, "I thought you got wounded. Where is it?"


    God knows I did not practise any answer for that if I was asked. As I tried stammering for a lie, she gracefully changed the topic.


    "You''re kinda cool you know, "I heard her say.


    Iughed in surprise, "Wow, thanks."


    She narrowed her eyes at me, "That''s not the point." Slowly, she came down from the table and moved so close I could feel her, "What do you say we date?"


    I looked up at her and realized I was speechless. Liza... was asking me out on a date?


    I chose my words carefully, "I''m in some kinda difficult situation right now. Give me some time," I lowered my eyes to swallow what will soon be mine, "I''d give you an answer when I think about it."


    She knew what I was doing. To that, she smirked and moved backwards, "No problem. You have all the time in the world."


    She then walked back to her seat. Iughed and shook my head. This life was so unpredictable. I faced my front now as the arts teacher came in. At least Liza made me forget about the whole muse thing.


    ***


    Fred had called on all of us to be at the swanky mansion again. This time, we all sat aimlessly, waiting patiently for Marshall''s return. He hadn''te back yet from God knows where since his disappearance with his sister. And somehow, I missed him.


    After half an hour of goofing around, punching my phone and fantasizing on all I would do to Liza, my muse finally appeared with us. He was panting as though he had been running around all day.


    Gently, he took a seat and spoke to us, "Everyone get ready. We''re headed for a party tomorrow."


    Our confusion made us dumb. How could he return after hours and announce a party?


    I began doubting he actually went to stalk the fallen. Maybe he went to see a friend who invited him for a party.


    Again, he red at me,"Seriously?"


    I eyed him angrily, "What''s that supposed to mean? Where have you been all day? What''s this crazy party all about? What did you find?"


    He seemed offended by my questions and ttered when he realized they were because I missed him.


    He tilted his head and continued, "Well, nothing yet. But I know where we can find something and that''s this party. 7pm sharp, formal party.... Like suits and dinner gowns kinda thing. Just get ready. I will do the transportation for everyone since I know the venue. All questions will be answered there."


    We stared at him and clearly showed the disagreement in our faces. But we trusted him right?


    Our leader sighed, "I''m proud of you Marshall. Good job."


    My muse nodded and smiled sweetly. I was prouder than anyone else that he chose me. To that, he returned a grin.


    ***


    I knotted my bow tie the next night. Before a mirror, I admired myself. My suit was wless, thick, ck, ironed and fitted.


    Solemnly, I looked down and picked up my hair brush, smoothening my light brown hair and sinking the brush in. I was enjoying this.


    While I was admiring my reflection, the biggest maniac of a brother barged into my room without knocking.


    He walked to me and touched my suit, "And where do you think you are going to all dressed up like this?"


    I sighed and took his hand off my clothing, making sure to dust the spot afterwards. I turned and faced him, "Mom and Dad may have made you in charge of the house, but not my life.... And hey! Ever heard of knocking?"


    He looked at me with controlled anger and eyed me up and down, "You''ve really evolved some nervestely huh? Why don''t I break your bones and ruin your night for you?"


    I returned my gaze back to my reflection. It was more pleasant to look at, "You wish. Please leave my room."


    He walked to my bed and slumped into it in a manner that showed he was ready for whatever I was going to do, "I am not going anywhere."


    "Fine." He heard me say, "Stay. I''ll go."


    Clearly I did not have time for this. Besides, it was almost 7pm.


    Just then, Marshall appeared, looking as dashing as ever in a white tux. He stared hard at my brother, as if inspecting something.


    Alfred got up with fear in his eyes and nced at Marshall''s direction as if he could... As if he knew he was there. As if he could see my muse. But how was that possible! I frowned, "You can see him?"


    Alfred stammered and managed to look at me, "I was about to ask you the same thing. Do you know the muse?"


    This was getting weird. Howe my evil brother knew about the muse society?


    I answered cautiously, "He''s my muse. You?"


    Alfred was surprised. He looked at me, figuring why I had begun behaving the way I was towards him, "That exins it. Well I also have a muse."


    Marshall and I stared nkly at him, reluctant to believe what was clearly obvious.


    I snickered and shook my head, "Wait. You have a muse. For how long now?"


    "A month, "he answered.


    Marshall narrowed his eyes and looked at my brother suspiciously, "No wonder you reminded me of someone."


    I thought of Marshall''s words and frowned at Alfred, "Who''s your muse?"


    Alfred seemed to be thinking if it would be right to tell us. When we urged him with our desperate stares, he answered, "Amaya. The brave one."


    Shit! Why did I fear he would say that? I opened my mouth and gawked at Marshall.


    He seemed to be trying his best to control his disgust, "Howe I have never felt her energy around? Hasn''t she been here?"


    He shook his head and replied, "No she hasn''t. She always talked about fear she might be caught and shit. She helped from afar."


    I rubbed my face, pacing up and down the room. Then I stopped and looked at him, "Alfred. You are among the fallen." "Let''s go Edward," my muse said before he lost control.


    My brother just watched me, "The fallen? What are you talking about?"


    I could not answer his question. Marshall already clicked his fingers and we both vanished, leaving Alfred in a state of Oblivion.


    We were in arge hotel hall.


    Slowly, we emerged from the curtains where we appeared to. I stared at the big hall, filled with men and women, young and old. I wondered what the whole celebration was for. People were dressed so formally and waiters were passing drinks from ce to ce.


    I turned to Marshall, "Where are the others?"


    "Follow me," he just said.


    We walked through the crowd, with me clearly reminded that I still had a bit of agoraphobia.


    A table filled with food caught Marshall''s attention. Not because of the food, but because of Jessica.


    She was in a long, purple, silk gown, picking chicken thighs into her te with the tongs. Her hair was curled and tucked up with ab.


    This society really had its benefits. I walked to her side and picked up a cherry fruit into my mouth.


    She seemed to notice my presence without turning, "Heard we''re here in search of ady?"


    I frowned and turned to my muse, then back to the cherry, "Cheee nope. But sounds good to me. Who''s she by the way?"


    Edna walked out from nowhere in a white knee-length dress with sparkles. This girl never ceases to amaze me.


    She looked at me through her small sses, "Complicated situation. She has to lead us to someone who will lead us to somewhere that will lead us to the fallen. Marshall thinks he keeps the idol."


    I chuckled softly, chewing the fruits that now filled up my mouth, "Lacks climax. What if I added I just found out my evil elder brother is one of them."


    Just then, Clinton appeared in a velvet violet coloured tuxedo. He always dressed to steal the show huh, "Alfred is a member of the fallen ?"


    Marshall, who had probably been thinking about it, sighed and slipped his hands into his pockets, "Worse... My sister''s his muse."


    "Well that''s some climax," Jessica finally looked up from her food, "Meaning you''ll have to fight your brother."


    I raised my brows and shrugged, "I''m as confused as you all."


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    Turning my back to the table, I leaned on it and crossed a hand over the other, "Where are the rest of us?" Immediately, the five approached us from all directions of the hall, looking as dashing as I was. I loved my life. When we wereplete and ready for whatever, David inquired, "What does thisdy look like Marshall?"


    "Fucked up," he answered. He really was in a bad mood ever since our discovery earlier.


    Still, we all seemed to have a connection that helped us understand what he meant. So, we dispersed, in search of a youngdy who looked FUCKED UP.


    All I knew was... I could only see tons of people talking to one another. And there certainly was no woman in this party who fit my muse''s description. They all looked splendid. But somehow, my host instincts still made me watch this particrdy talking suspiciously on the phone.


    I said to my muse who could hear me from anywhere, "Marshall! What did you say thisdy looked like?"


    I looked upstairs and found him leaning against one of the pirs beside the stairs. He looked down at me and sighed, "Blonde. Thin. Tall. I can''t remember if she was pretty or not."


    It was sweet how we couldmunicate no matter the distance. Still, I frowned, "I think I''m staring at her now."


    She sure did look impatient and ready to leave soon. I said again, "Target escaping."


    He sighed and adjusted his suit buttons, "Expected it. There''s nothing in this boring party to keep her. Do something would you. Lighten this shit up."


    I smirked happily, "Got an idea. But I need your help though."


    Marshall grinned and looked up above him, "You''ve got all the magic in the world.... I can see her too."


    I looked at her again and then at my muse. The crowd seemed bored, "For now. I need this Hall''s attention."


    "Got it,"he replied.


    Marshall bowed his head and closed his eyes, making the entire room go on a ck out. He then put a spot light on me. Now I was the center of attraction.


    I walked deeper to the center of the room and took a stand, "Good evening everyone. Wee to tonight''s asion..." I raised a finger and stretched my arm towards the stage of the hall. The microphone on the stand was drawn to me... Like I was some kinda ma. The whole crowd moved away with murmurs. Telekenesis!


    I raised the mic to my mouth and smiled, "There. There. No need to be afraid. I''m here for a show. Peter''s the name and magic is the game." The aura of the hall was tense and my speech didn''t seem to soften it.


    However, Marshall had that blue glow in his eyes again. Then suddenly, the lights came back again. Still, the blue eyes remained. There was still more magic on the way. At least I still had my attention, "Very well. I would only start the show when all of you brighten up. Now... Give me a grin."


    A few people seemed to nod but the grin was fake. Oh brother, I really scared them huh.


    I nced at our Targetdy again. She looked interested in the show. So I nodded, "Is everyone ready?"


    More murmur crossed the entire hall... Which I somehow concluded to be a yes.


    "Good," I went on, "Now for my first trick, I need a volunteer... Female to be precise."


    A crazy olddy raised a hand and jumped out to me before I could say stupid.


    Still, I faked a smile, "Thank you so much. Now, would you please cover your face with both your hands."


    She looked at me for a while with confusion in her eyes until she obeyed and ced her hands over her face.


    I faced the audience and demonstrated, "Now... Somebody should ce a bet with me. I can make this mama out here as young as twenty."


    Hahhhhh! As you all will have it, theyughed. At least the tension was gone. Somehow, they doubted me. How expected! And I was so going to prove them wrong.


    I ignored the jackasses and watched thedy with the covered face. She seemed excited. Here goes nothing.


    Raising my hand, I touched her hands and lowered them from her face. And yep. Marshall did it! She was as hot as Amaya now... Cough. Did Marshall hear that? He would certainly end me then. I then gave her a mirror. She, along with the entire hall, awed and looked at me in shock. What trick could be behind that. I smirked and gave the hall a big nod.Content is ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    I heard a man shout from the audience, "Bring my wife back you creep."


    Iughed and raised her hands to her face again. When she lowered them after a moment, she became her old self again.


    The entire room pped in excitement and my volunteer left the stage. As normal as they were, they assumed I used some mirror effect, lighting, electrons... Shit!


    It... Was.... Magic.


    "Do you need another, "I rasped and raised a brow.


    They cheered a yes and I nodded to that, "I''m always at your service. But first of all," I grabbed a ss of orange juice from a passing waiter, "I''m thirsty."


    Ignoring their res of impatience, I gulped down the entire cup and sighed satisfactorily, "Woah! That was refreshing. I know you all are anxious, but I swear I need to have more of that juice." Another waiter came by with a second ss. However, that was not my point.


    Solemnly, I touched the base of my empty ss with a finger and rose it gently to the brim.


    As my finger ascended the ss cup, orange juice flowed up along with it, filling the ss from God knows where.


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    Intentionally, I looked up at my audience, watching them gawk at the ss and shake their heads. From their faces, I could guess their thoughts... He came so soon! Oh fuck it, I wasn''t Jesus, "Isn''t that a ss of juice saved?"


    A grin appeared on their faces at my words. And at that, I wanted to give them more.


    I moved closer to the people and waved the cup of juice in their faces, "Yeah yeah. I know. But drinking two cups of orange juice is kinda boring. We''ll have to agree on that."


    The blondedy watched me closely, suspiciously. She didn''t seem to be going anywhere now. I couldn''t hold on to this show forever. I just hoped the n found a way to get her soon. Returning my attention to my people, "We should certainly try a different vour... Say apple?"


    Hahhhhh! Their eyes narrowed and fixed on me this time. If there was to be a trick behind all these shenanigans, they would surely find out now.


    I just snickered and rotated the ss of orange juice gently.


    And gradually, before their very eyes, it lightened to the golden shade of apple juice. I watched the crowd again. Darn it, they loved me. They were pleased, amazed, perplexed.


    The juice found itself running down my throat and satisfying my great excitement. I returned the ss to a waitress and she stalked away with her eyes on me.


    What would you expect.... I just winked.


    "Oh please," I began, "I know this is kinda fun but I''m running out of time.... So I have onest trick."


    I could hear the disappointment from the guests. However, their gazes urged me to go on with thest one.


    Just then, Marshall appeared at my back and whispered, "We''ve been caught Edward. Those guys over there areing for you."


    I looked ahead and watched the blondedy point towards me, talking to two men in suits. Immediately, they squeezed through the guests and approached me, "How did this happen?"


    Marshall rushed his words and tugged at my arm, "Anthony intended to kidnap the bitch as everyone was distracted by your show. Now she has body guards presently after our boys. Now, these pussies are after you because you are clearly suspected for distraction."


    Oh God. Anthony and his foolishness again, "But I promised the guests onest trick."


    "That''s impossible, "he snarled, "you''d be caught before you are done. Let''s leave. These fools are getting closer."


    I looked and noticed them struggling through the guests, paving their way to me. That was creepy but I could not just leave the show.


    I.... had a n.


    "And now people. For myst trick," I seized an empty dish and smashed it on the ground. As expected, everybody looked down at the broken dish in surprise, expecting some kind of magic to escape from it. Even the blonde''s bodyguards stopped for a while because of the loud crash.


    When nothing happened afterwards, all the eyes fell back on me.... Me?


    But I wasn''t there, I was gone... Vanished. A way of escaping from the men and performing myst trick at the same time. Wit!


    I appeared with Marshall at the building top. Apparently, it seemed the men after our boys had chased them to the exact same spot.


    Now, Anthony and David were at a dead end... having nowhere else before them to run to except off the building.


    The only way to escape the men behind them was to jump off the 30 floored building... Outrage!


    They both turned around and gasped at the three men stalking towards them in fear. Then somehow, Anthony... remembered they had muses.


    He screamed, "Ke! Chris!"


    Immediately, the smart one alongside the evil one, teleported to the roof top.


    "It''s about time!" David sighed, "Little help here?"


    Chris cracked his knuckles, as evil as he was, and rasped, "I thought you''d never ask."


    The men wondered who David was speaking with as all muses were invisible. Well, they saw me.. and just me, standing there, posing no obvious threats. Angrily, they ignored me and faced their attention to their targets again.


    I then nced at the three ghosts by my side, "Are you guys just gonna stand here?"


    Ke smirked and winked at Marshall, "Let''s scare them with death."


    The male muses seemed to connect and understand her immediately. As much as the men were three, so were the muses. So each muse picked a man and gave him a smackdown, possessing their victim with utmost pleasure. I studied the men. There was no blue glow in their eyes due to the possession. Meaning that only happened when a muse possessed his own host. Anthony and David joined me where I stood and we watched the show together.


    Now, the muses in these men made them run and jump off... The building! Oh My God! This was thirty floors we were talking about.


    That was death. But I knew my crew well enough to know that their intentions were not to kill the men. Immediately the three bodyguards began falling down to death, the ghosts left their bodies and joined us. Now we six were the ones watching the show tagged; Watch them fly.


    I pitied the devils. Know why? It was because they were totally confused about how they even started falling down. I justughed at them, watching them fall and scream in fear and Oblivion.


    When the three cleared the first ten floors down, the muses lightened their eyes to the awesome glow of blue it always had when they showed magic.


    And suddenly, the show was over and the falling men paused and remained in air, happy and confused at the same time. Like twenty floors were left before they met Jesus.... Or Satan.


    But somehow, I didn''t want it to end so easily. I still needed some fun. And for that, the men had to keep on falling. I looked straight ahead and found another hotel building. One of the rooms had a woman who was getting ready for a shower, aka, she was stripping. At that, the craziest idea popped into my head and I smiled.

 Chapter eleven

    Chapter eleven


    I beckoned on Marshall and Chris, making them shift their gazes from the floating men, "Look straight ahead. She''s taking off her bra."


    At that, Ke gasped and red at us. As all three muses took their attention off the men, thetter continued to fall to their death. Hah! Just the fun I wanted. Marshall gawked at her and shook his head, "Darn it! She''s hot.... Is she about to take off her girdle?"


    Ke scolded, "Can you maniacs give her some privacy?"


    Chris waved her statement away and bit his lips, "God. Just two seconds Ke. It''s thest piece."


    My muse whistled happily at thedy, "Go baby."


    I couldn''t believe some men were about to die just cause we crazy people were distracted by a half naked woman. Ke just glowered with disgust.


    And unfortunately, the show was over. The woman gave us a teasing smirk and turned around to her bathroom, making sure to give the door a hard lock.


    Ouch! When she was just about to take off the underwear!! How disappointing was that?


    With sighs of anger and hidden amusement, the muses returned their gazes to the falling men who were just inches away from death.


    Their eyes glowed again and the men began their second wave of floating. When Marshall felt satisfied with the torture, he clicked his fingers, making the men teleport to join us on the roof again. Iughed happily, watching the men before me shaking like leaves. As far as they knew, they were dead. Marshall danced satisfactorily when David asked him, "Why did you do that to them?"


    He just answered, "Look bro. The fear of death is worse than death itself."N?velDrama.Org is the owner.


    Leaving the roof top, we tracked our n through their muse energies and teleported to them.


    Well well. Seemed miss fucked up was caught in the end. Who''s so pretty now? My friends just sat her in a chair, waiting for the rest of us.


    Marshall walked over to her sternly, bent over and shrugged, "Okay ya. She''s pretty."


    She didn''t look as tough as she did when she red at me back in the party. Now I could harass her, with her looking as humble as a fucking kid.


    "What are we asking her Marshall," Clinton inquired with folded arms.


    My muse, who had still been watching thedy with his hands in his pockets, suddenly turned and faced us, "Where her boss is. He knows where the fallen keeps Kuma. To be precise, he keeps it."


    The silence was inevitably noticeable. There was surprise and confusion. We have been looking for an idol, expecting some spirit dimension as it''s abode only to find out a mortal human keeps the muse idol.


    Anthony snickered and shook his head. He seemed most disturbed, "Why would they use a human to hide Kuma?"


    Another round of silence until his muse broke it, "I think it''s because they knew we would search for anything otherwise."


    "Atta girl," I heard my muse say, "They clearly knew we would strive to find some kinda..... Portal. So they hid it with a human, one of thest things we''d expect."


    Our non-chnt leader smirked, his pose proud, "Okay... wait. I understand. But how did you know this?"


    Yeahhh! Story time.


    He replied, "When I linked energies with my sister, we.. I mean she did a lot of teleportation, trying to make the bonde loose. It had this sequence.... Changing room, loo, hospital... Hotel!" He seemed to stress thest word as he red at our victim.


    Wagging his head back to us, he sighed, "However," taking some steps closer and acting like a critic, "this hotel in discussion never urred in the sequence again. It seemed she went there by a mistake, then vanished immediately. Mainly because she didn''t want me to notice anything. Unfortunately for her, I did. There were two people, this beautifuldy.. and her boss having a pleasant chat. After a little more of teleportation, I let her go, "he turned and gave thedy a grin. The story hadn''t ended yet, "She had this impression I had given up on everything. The rest of the day was used to find out more about the two of them. Somehow, her boss is a secretive man, even when alone... But she, she wasn''t." It took a moment before we realized we had taken a big leap ahead. The most exciting part was that my muse was the reason. Now we were about to know where the God damn idol was, if the bitch would tell that is. But she had no choice, did she?


    Edna gave a big sigh and announced to everyone''s displeasure, "We have already tried asking her some questions. But she wouldn''t even say a thing!"


    I then faced our abductee and bent over her. She gasped in confusion. The look that showed she had no idea of why she was taken.


    "Who''s ya boss," I pushed.


    Turned out she was just as stubborn as my sweetheart said. She just looked at me with the one look I could recognize anywhere; the look of determination.


    She was very young. If she wasn''t teen, she was a few years older.., "Fine," I sighed, "are you married?"


    Her look of determination seemed to soften to that of curiosity, "Yes. Why?"


    Wow, she chose to finally answer. I stood upright and stretched out my hand to Marshall who immediately understood my request. He slipped out a gun from his pocket and ced in my hand.


    I resumed my bending stance and aimed the pistol to her head, "What do you say I end your husband''s misery of this marriage."


    And ahhhh. Just what I needed. The look of curiosity now broke down to one of fear. She shook her head and blinked her tears back, "No! Please, don''t! They will kill me If I I say anything. Those people are more than normal."


    God knew I had no ns to make someone this beautiful cry this way, let alone kill her. But she really underestimated us. Yeah the fallen were more than normal! Then we were freaks, "In that case. Pick one. If you tell us, they kill you. If you don''t, we kill you. But before you pick, I''d emphasize our methods of killing are more brutal."


    I knew I was not helping matters.


    She sobbed some more, "No. Please! Try to understand."


    Somewhere from behind me, I heard Anthony ask her, "What do they give you for this?"


    She looked down sadly at her expensive shoes. And with that, we knew just clearly what the answer was.


    When we all sighed in anger and frustration, she added quickly, "I needed it. I swear!"


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    The fierce muse stepped forward and ced a hand on my shoulder, trying to tell me to quit the intimidation, "Tell her we''ll protect her."


    I rolled my eyes and rasped, "We''ll protect you."


    She seemed to pull the most curious face ever, "How?! Those people have ghosts as backups. They have crazy powers as far as you can imagine."


    Oh, I forgot. She still thought we were NORMAL. Oh how I wanted to prove otherwise.


    I cracked my knuckles and held some of her blonde hair in my hand. She looked down at it and gawked when it deepened from blonde to ck, shivering understandably.


    I smirked and looked straight into her eyes, "We... will protect you."


    The abductee nodded and snickered, "Oh I get it. You are one of them."


    "We don''t have time for this," our leader who had been silent announced.


    Clinton looked to his left and smiled as he got the best idea to, "Hey David. Can I borrow your body?"


    Davidplied silently and opened up his arms while the cheeky one possessed him.


    The possessed David held out his hand to the woman who looked at it for a while. For fear of... bloodshed, she put her hand in his.


    Steadily as we watched, David took her a few feet away from us. We just watched expectantly, wondering what his n was.


    They seemed to be whispering lovingly?! And Davidforted her calmly and asked her for a request she seemed to agree to.


    After a few more seconds of the cheeky Clinton lying to her, David let her leave through the door, to our greatest dismay and confusion.


    He then walked back to us which afterwards, Clinton left his body.


    Fred was the only one non-chnt enough to speak during his state of confusion, "Why did you let her go Clinton?"


    He waved our inquiring looks away and huffed, "Nevermind. She gave me the address of her boss."


    There was a second wave of confusion from our side that even the non-chnt muse stood agape. After our minutes of failure and kissing of asses, he just spoke a few lies to her and she... fell. Like that, "What did you say to her?"


    He eyed me as though I had insulted him, "Excuse me! I''m not a lowlife woman harasser like you. I''m Clinton, the cheeky one. Ady''s man. I know how to sweet talk them into anything."


    "That''s my baby," his host rasped.


    He returned a wink.


    However, the rest of us who were not used to his balderdash still gawked.


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    He chuckled, stating seriously afterwards, "Still. She needs our word... our protection."


    Everyone agreed silently and felt the job for tonight was done. All the madness and stuff...


    Marshall and I teleported back home to my room. He yed that puzzle of mine he loved while I had a shower.


    When I was done and got to drying my hair, I somehow took a walk round the house and realised my siblings were asleep. Damn it! I was hungry.


    11pm and I hadn''t had dinner.


    When I got into my room again, my muse looked up from his game, "So what would you love to eat? Tomorrow''s a big day yunno. You need some sleep."


    I smiled sweetly. He knew me inside out, literally, "Pudding will be fine. What''s happening tomorrow?"


    He swiveled around and faced me, giving me the most serious look he could fake, "On a quest for her boss aka Jordy Hardin, owner of the Hardin kitchen. One of the most luxurious restaurants in Ennd."


    A smile formed on my lips, "You know tomorrow''s my sax test right?"


    And yeah, Marshall broke the serious act, "You haven''t still practised the devil right, have you?"


    I nodded and shrugged innocently.


    He swiveled some more as he stated, "Well, Clinton should go with you. He ys the sax as well as he getsid. He may possess you and make you kill it!"


    "I''m sure of an A+ then," I said as I walked up to him and admired his improvement in the puzzle pieces.


    We both watched the Thor figure that formed out of the puzzle and I heard him sigh, "We are gonna win this. Just like he won it."


    I prayed silently. He would be so broken if it didn''t.


    When he realized the aura was getting a little gloomy, he smiled and got up, "Here''s some pudding," he nced at the bowl of meal that mysteriously appeared on my table. His gaze returned to me, the narrow brown eyes trying to hide the pain his sister was clearly causing him, "I''d talk to Clinton for you."


    Sighing, I patted his shoulders, "Listen bro. We''re in this together. And thanks a lot. You have been a very big help to me. The cool brother I''ve never had."


    He pretended tough at the moment, but I knew he felt that, "And you are the true sister I''ve never had. Trust me dude. You''re a bigger help."


    I chuckled and watched him walk backwards, "Goodnight."


    He bowed professionally and vanished.


    Jeeee. I felt something that I had not felt in a long time... Importance.


    I turned my gaze to the puzzle and made myself a promise. If the fallen weren''t stopped, maybe I''d be damned.

 Chapter twelve

    Chapter twelve


    The entire music ss stared at me in surprise while I yed FADED song by my favorite artist with a saxophone. I was spectacr.... Harmonical... Perfect! Okay time for the confession.


    Bless me father, for I have sinned. I used the sax perfection of the cheeky muse to get an A+ in my music test. Yeah you got me. It was Clinton in me. However now, my ssmates and Miss Jane just blinked at me when I was done. As nned, I pulled the innocent face and returned the stare.


    My music teacher stammered, clearly showing her impression, "Wow! Edward. That was... amazing. I did not expect this much. I''m impressed, really!"


    I shrugged at her, "Thank you ma''am. A week of practice was finally worth it."


    She nodded and grinned prettily. For the first time, it seemed she liked me. And the crazy Clinton just made me wink at her. Jeeesh..


    Well, she flowed along.Content is ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    After the ss, the cheeky one left my body and walked side by side with me.


    I turned to him with pleasure, "Thanks a bunch."


    He frowned and made a displeased look, "Keep your gratitude to yourself. You know what could be a good reward from your side?" He faced me back and clearly saw my confusion. Sighing, he stated, "Long time I gotid. That would be verypensating."


    As cheeky as he was, he put that kitty face on, getting augh out of me.


    "How am I supposed to do that? I''m a full grown male," I grinned.


    He replied with a question, "Who''s the most gullible girl in your school?"


    I think I knew where he was going to and I somehow went along, "Someone named Sandra." Clinton looked very satisfied, releasing a smirk as evil as he was, "I need your body, yunno."


    "So you wanna turn me into some kinda... What''s the word?"


    He smiled because I finally understood, "Don''t me me. Being a muse is so restricting."


    I nodded, clearly understanding him. But Marshall and ra?


    "You could still find a muse girlfriend," I suggested.


    Heughed shortly, "I''m too slutty to keep a girlfriend. However..." He sighed and turned to me. We both stopped walking now and I held his hazel gaze.


    He continued, "I''d make you kiss the hottest girl in school. The only thing I need is your permission. That would be the bestest way to say thank you to me. I''d gain some excitement."


    Serious thinking..


    And even more serious thinking...


    Then I saw Liza, "Fine. The girl over there asked me out on a date. Maybe we could...."


    "Laughing my ass out. She asked you on a date?" He grinned.


    When all I did was a simple shrug, he ced a hand on my shoulder, "Then let''s go kill it."


    Before I could say anything, he possessed me again. I twisted my neck and cracked my knuckles.


    Clinton was a monster. I walked up to where Liza and her friends stood. When I reached them and smirked at her, her friends wisely walked away.


    Gotta admit, this cheeky muse knew his ways, "I''m happy to date you."


    She smiled widely and tucked her hair behind her ear, "Cool!"


    Eyeing me lustfully up and down, she went on, "Can I help you anything now?"


    Jeeesh... Clinton. I returned the lustful stare and replied, "Everything on the menu."


    He was so evil. Making me say things... The ones I secretly wished I could say in real life.


    Well, Liza snickered satisfactorily, "My car."


    ***


    Next thing I knew, Liza was on me, in her car, rubbing her lips all over mine. I sure did hope Clinton was satisfied.


    Not only my lips were being rubbed. Her hands went all over my body, touching everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean everywhere. Even on the most unexpected ces. If you know what I mean. I never actually imagined my first make out to be like this... Or with her. But right now, I was fine with it.


    I took my hand up to her face and stuck my tongue into her mouth. Just so you remember, Clinton was controlling me. Nevertheless, this muse life of mine was pretty cool.


    ***


    After a few more minutes of madness, Liza had given me the best smile ever and offered to drop me home. I guess I really made her day. As I stepped into the house, the cheeky muse made his way out of my body and stretched happily. We bothughed and gave a high five. Our mirth waspletely destroyed when we went up to my room and met Marshall giving us this stern look.


    I looked around the room and back at him, "What?!"


    He snarled, "Liza. Really?!"


    How did he...


    I pointed at Clinton innocently, "He made me do it."


    My muse then took the entire rage from me to the muse by my side, "Really! You just put my host into a whole lot of trouble. I asked you to help me help him. But no! You went to make out! And dragged him into it in the process." Clinton groaned and frowned at him, "Oh the asshole said yes."


    And once again, Marshall''s rage returned to me, "Really Edward! She will liquefy your heart. Crush it into a million cells."


    "Why would she do that, "I shrugged, "I mean, she asked me out."


    He calmed down, his frown lightening into a surprised smile, "Hah! Just listen to yourself. I know you know she is not in love with you."


    He made a point I did not want to admit, "Maybe."


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    Clinton walked to my window, "Can you both shut up!" He turned to us and held out his hand, "We have a night to prepare for. Remember?"


    My muse sighed and rubbed his face, "Oh yeah. About that... Fred suggested an outfit of ck linen. We''ll wrap ourselves up, neat and cool up till our noses."


    "ck is cool. But why?" I shrugged


    Marshall rubbed his hands together and made a dramatic pose, "First of all, to look all muse like and shit..." He quit the act and stood seriously now, "and most importantly, to blend with the dark."


    I sighed out of frustration. Being a host was cool undoubtedly. But it sure dide with a lot of pros and cons. Like you couldn''t even date who you wanted or get a break from hunting the fallen, "Give me a break."


    My muse smirked and looked at my backpack, making it teleport to my table. He then made the heavy jacket I had on drop to the floor, "Clinton and I can help you with that." He nced at the cheeky muse who grinned wickedly.


    I made my lips a parab and shrugged, teasing them to my own gain, "That is if only you could provide the satisfaction I crave."


    They exchanged smirks before staring back at me.


    Soon after, Clinton said as a he clicked his fingers, "Oh you''ll beg us to stop."


    What! Was that even possible...?


    Before I could finish myugh, we all teleported to the back of a fence. I looked through the squares on it and found Hanky''s resort, recreation and yoga, "Woah!" These guys knew just what I needed.


    ***


    Next thing I knew, I was on a sun lounger, surrounded by hot sweethearts. Some fed me fruits, one rubbed my hair, another massaged me with oil, the rest strengthened my joints. Okay I change my mind. Being a host was the most satisfying feeling in the world. This was the best thing you could imagine. The crazy muses who put me into this were in beach shorts, taking a dip in the pool, invisible as hell.


    When I was satisfied with the pleasure, I took a walk with my muses, through a corridor in the resort that led to a banquet table. It was literally filled with eatables. Just imagine anything in this world that could be put in the mouth and you would find it on that table. From questions, it was meant for customers, free of charge. Well I was a customer, wasn''t I?


    It was when I stalked to the table to treat myself that I widened my eyes at what we all saw. It was the devil itself. Deceitful, luring, captivating and despicable... Casseroles!


    "Is that casserole?" I bbered in surprise.


    Clinton sighed and replied, "No dumbass. It''s yogurt."


    "I get it first," Marshall pitched in.


    "Not on my watch," Clinton snarled.


    I shrugged, like I lovedpetitions, "Me too."


    They turned to me and eyed me in such a way I felt so foolish.


    No wait... I was confused.


    The cheeky one actually cleared my state of Oblivion, "When muses are talking, humans shut their crap."


    Damn it. This guy was rude. I knew that.


    But then, my very own muse added in support, "Like really! Muses can just say..." He frowned and corrected himself, "sorry. Muses could just THINK of anything and the casseroles end up in their hands. Like we''ve got powers. Before you walk up to that side of the table, the bowl''s empty."


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    I sighed, obviously not nning to walk around to get the meal. My muse was too busy being judgemental he didn''t read my mind to know my evil intentions. "Call the time," I said.


    They gave me onest look of foolishness before Clinton said, "Fine!.... One, two..."


    When I was in middle school and my teacher would bring a bar of Choco for one lucky student who was fast enough to get it, I never stressed myzy ass to struggle and break bones with them. I used the magic word that we all knew but were too busy fighting to remember. But I always did. The word that was fair and unfair at the same time. The word that automatically makes whatever everyone wants your immediately. And I was gonna use that word right here. ".... Three," Clinton finished.


    Immediately he said "Go," I said, "Dibs." And the bowl was all mine already.


    This was surely faster than the whole magic show they were about to throw on.. like making the meal turn to scorpions that only listen to your orders. Blur!!


    Then once more, they eyed me ruefully. You know the look you get that makes you convinced you are dead already.


    A moment or two of rueful eyes and Clinton gave the biggest growl I''d ever heard, "That wasn''t fair. Using Dibs. Like what the.."


    Before I was really killed, I grabbed the bowl and walked away, "All is fair in love and war. Besides, we didn''t set any rules, did we?"


    They both were in that situation where you were red with anger you could make liquid boil but still could not do anything. Even my muse was still too... backstabbed to speak.


    Was it just me or did the casserole taste even better after winning it?


    Theyter appeared with me after having epted the shock as we admired the outside of the resort.


    Suddenly then, both ghosts stopped walking.


    Clinton gasped, "Do you feel that Marshall?"


    Marshall had a frown on as well. They both turned around and faced the main building.


    "Are they... Are they in there?" Marshall asked.


    I looked at the two of them in curiousness, "What the hell are you two talking...?"


    My muse answered before I finished, "Negative energy."


    I was silent. Trying to think if it was good because we found the fallen or dangerous, "You know they can feel you too."


    Clinton turned around and widened his eyes in shock. Marshall and I did the same, although I did not know why they were that surprised seeing a built middle-aged man in a suit surrounded by bodyguards, "Okay why are we surprised?" "That maniac," Marshall snarled at the man in suit.


    Who was he....


    Clinton folded his arms, keeping clear eyes on the surrounding now, "That man is Jordy Hardin. The boss of Goldy locks."


    The fallen..... Jordy Hardin..!


    That wasn''t good.

 Chapter thirteen

    Chapter thirteen


    "Meaning he must be here to meet the fallen," my muse growled.


    Somehow this was going to be a jackpot for us if we could know what they would say in that little meeting of theirs. Maybe we could find where they keep the idol. But there was no way the fallen would not feel the muses, "If only we could feel them without being felt."


    Marshall and Clinton exchanged grins at my words, "Sure we can." They chorused.


    Marshall continued his exnation, "Human flesh hinders our energy waves from being felt. So if I could possess you..."


    "And what about Clinton," I inquired.


    He shrugged, "He could find a body."


    The cheeky one looked around us in a hunt for someone suitable for his ssy self.


    By the corner of a pool, a brow haired girl in bikini gulped down juice. He danced and went for a try. He could just possess her without anyone knowing and we go on our stalk. But unlike we all will have it, he was not invisible to her. She smiled warmly as he approached, "What kind of muse are you?"


    Clinton jerked and looked back at us. We just returned a fearful shrug. What if she was a host to the fallen?


    The cheeky one returned his attention to the hotty and frowned, "You can see me!"


    Sheughed at him, "Excuse me! Hosts are everywhere." She stretched out a hand and continued, "I am Ang."


    Clinton watched the hand before taking it skeptically. At least the host mark was on her right wrist. So she wasn''t among the fallen, "I know that name from somewhere."


    She seemed to smile again. Shishh, she really loved smiling, "Your friend over there, Marshall Godwin. His girlfriend, ra. She''s my muse."


    His smile returned, "Ahhhh. If she''s the annoying one, I''d suppose you are sweet. Please let me possess you."


    Ang raised a brow, "And why?"


    And for the first time in forever, Clinton quit his flirty grin, "We are tracking the fallen. So I need a body to shield my energy."


    Shock and fear came upon her, "The fallen are here?! No no... ra orders I have nothing to do with those guys."


    He pulled his kitty face, "C''mon. We are trying to save the muse society here, ra included. I just need your body to stalk them a bit. If anythinges up, I''ll take full responsibility."


    She looked at him carefully and thought for a while before she sighed. It seemed right to her, "Go ahead."


    Before she would change her mind, the cheeky one dashed into her. Why did they always go that fast? Like lightning or kid sh.


    When Marshall sighted her walking to us, he possessed me as well.


    She reached us and took that flirty smirk Clinton would have taken himself.


    I snickered, "Ahhh... Ain''t it my baby''s host."


    She spat out what Clinton made her say, "Yunno it''s still me, Clinton. So stop that. It''s weird."


    Iughed.


    Facing the main entrance to the resort, we smirked and walked through. I tried feeling for where the negative energy wasing from. Right.... right.... left.... straight.


    Then baaaamm! A door!


    As we all will have it, it was guarded by some of the bodyguards who escorted Jordy Hardin. Obviously, the devil was in it, talking to the visible part of the fallen. Could Alfred be there? Sighs. It was a very difficult thing to digest when you are the hero in a movie and your bloody brother is the viin. Didn''t mention the fact that the war was meant to be all or nothing.


    We were still thinking of a way to get in when suddenly, one of the bodyguards faced us in suspicion.


    I wasn''t able to act fast, but Clinton was. He made Ang turn me around and put her lips on mine. Was that the best disguise he could think of?


    I had a girlfriend for Christ''s sake. But no! Marshall just had to make me kiss back. Yunno sometimes, this muse of mine could be a bloody asshole.


    This action was virtually Edward kissing Ang, but really Marshall kissing Clinton.N?velDrama.Org is the owner.


    No matter how much I hated this, at least it made the bodyguard shift his eyes off us.


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    At least it worked.


    After a few seconds of my lips on Ang''s, my muse made me stop. I nced at the door behind us and walked through it. Ang followed.


    When we scanned properly and noticed there was no one around us, we teleported, making our destination the meeting ground of the fallen.


    Yeah yeah. We were in the room with them, carefully hidden behind a couch and quiet as my dad whenever he saw me. All we could pray for was luck, so they wouldn''t see us. Cause if they did, things would be really ugly.


    I peeped from my hiding ce and found the ten of them, the fallen; five muses, five humans. And damn him, my brother was there. I was never gonna get used to this.


    Amaya bent towards him and said, "Tell Jordy we need our idol back. Those guys are really creepy. I''m worried they might find something."


    The babe who replied was a muse, brown skinned and rude. Well she looked rude.... Having this badass hair cut with a green spray. She was definitely the cranky one, Evelyn, "Why would you even think of that. I mean the idol has been there for months. Screw the muse gang! How smart are they to know a human keeps it?"


    Okay Ang and I exchanged looks from where we crouched. We had one thought. This bitch needed some manners. And we were going to smash that pretty face.


    Badass hair cut continued, "Besides, in case you''ve forgotten, we are the only ones who can go near Kuma. Remember? He has that field around him that repels those who haven''t touched him."


    Okay that was new information. And a very big problem. Whoever knew Kuma had a force field only the fallen could prate.


    We faced them again and saw Amaya sigh, "I know right. I don''t know. There''s just been this uneasy feeling ever since I met my brother."


    I smirked. Oh! Marshall did.


    Alfred spoke up from his muse''s side," Mr Jordy Hardin. The muses speak of a new abode for the idol."


    This Jordy guy was half German, half Japanese. What a crazy sex that was between his parents? He was a round man, bald to a fault, having a moustache that seemed imported. Okay he was creepy. Taking his coffee up to his lips, he paused at my brother''s statement.


    After shaking his imported moustache in frustration, he dropped his cup and joined his fingers, "Why exactly? Notfortable with the present one?"


    Meenn! We weren''t done with countries. He also had an unmistakable French ent. Typical of a viin.


    A blonde male, host to a Micheal guy, shrugged angrily, "No. Not that. We just suspect a crew''s on our tails." Mr blonde hair was named Peter. He had thatyered hair my sister always liked. And unknown to him, this crew wasn''t just on his tails, we were in the same room, sipping coffee.


    Imported moustache guy spoke again from behind the huge table, "I understand. I''d be at the eatery tonight. I can take it from there and keep it somewhere safer if you want. Is that better?"


    Now. We ain''t done with intro''s. The next bitch was in fact Chinese, Megan. Host to the one and only Harold Ferguson, the sensitive one.


    She looked at Hardin through her pretty little eyes and faked a smile, "Yep. Very appreciating. Thank you Mr Hardin."


    Jordy smiled and his moustache almost fell.... It looked so, "No problem. Just keep my own gaining."


    At least we knew where Kuma would be until tonight; The Hardin kitchen. Meaning we had to act fast lest we miss the idol. That was good news. So now all we had to do was tell the gang what we found. Turned out my rxation wasn''t useless after all. But hey. Things weren''t so easy.


    Amaya smiled as if she knew she was about to break false hopes, "Tell him the idol''s next abode is my decision."


    Did she know we were there. Because I sure did feel like it.


    Alfred who was her mouthpiece to the living world rushed his words, "Amaya suggests a new abode for the idol."


    "And where is that?" Jordy smiled.


    This was the part we opened our ears for, listening carefully for the exact piece of information when she just shattered our hopes.


    My brother''s muse replied, "Tell him we''ll meet at the eatery. I will take it from you there and keep it myself, it''s safer that way. You know, the walls have ears."


    Chinese girl tranted in livingnguage to Hardin, "She says we''ll see at the restaurant."


    Jordy Hardin raised his cup in approval just before the fallen vanished. He and his men then left the room and the resort.


    Afterwards, we went outside and watched him leave in his limousine. Marshall left my body and Clinton left Ang''s.


    "We''ll have to tell the rest. "I said in a tone of finality.


    I had this crazy, uneasy feeling that Amaya knew we were there. Whatever it was, the fallen and I were going to have a head on beat down tonight.

 Chapter fourteen

    Chapter fourteen


    At night, Sofie had to be home alone. Alfred was gone, probably with the fallen, and I, I had my own business with the gang. Most likely my brother and I were going to meet.


    ***


    Ten of us gathered around a table back at the swanky mansion that I didn''t still know the location.


    Sometimes I awed at the building. A building meant for the cream alone, but somehow, we owned it.


    We were all in that dress code that Marshall spoke of, ck pants and hoodies with linens tied around our necks up to our noses.


    Fredid down the blueprint of the Hardin kitchen on the table, "This is the entrance," he pointed while looking at us, "we can''t use it unfortunately." "Why?"Anthony asked.


    I know he''s the only one foolish enough to ask such a question.


    Fred sighed in frustration but answered anyway," We''ll use the roof top. It''s more like dirty theft work. Since we''ll go through the restaurant, I''ll take care of the power cuts the building will experience at certain times. Then, we scurry through the building in ck and head to the main deal," he looked down on the paper and pointed at it, "this leads to Jordy Hardin''s office, probably with tight security.... And maybe booby traps. Then this elevator which leads to a room no one knows nothing about, the office. That''s the most probable ce our idol is."


    Everywhere fell quiet. Seems I wasn''t the only one scared of this.


    "This is creepy," Edna gasped.


    My muse sighed softly and rubbed his head, giving away his nervousness immediately, "Never mind sweeetie. We got your backs. And if attackse from no where, you''ve got this. We''ll possess you all the way."


    I don''t think I remembered our visitors tonight, ra and Ang. Aplete dozen of us. But what I clearly remember is the amount of rebuke we got from Marshall''s girlfriend earlier today.


    "What if something happened to her?"


    "You should have asked me!"


    "You guys are so annoying!"


    "  ....."


    Mainly because I didn''t pay attention to her afterwards. But hey. We had moredy''s men in our n than Clinton alone.


    Marshall''s fierceness did not take away his romance and flirting. He knew how to talk to her. The right spots on the heart to kick. The sexiest words to use. And even the best ces to touch. And before we knew, ra had volunteered to join us tonight.


    I looked at them again and smiled.


    Immediately there was nothing else to be done, we knew it was time. And the amount of fear that came with this was inevitable that we bowed our heads.... I guess in prayer.


    Fred whispered, "It''s time people. We ask for luck." After a slight pause and silent Amens, he continued, "Ke, take us to Hardin''s kitchen."


    It only took a gasp from the smart one and we all teleported.


    ***


    We all were on a roof. If you asked me, I would say we went back to the traditional Japanese era. The roof wasyered just like theirs, wooden and had a structure like different hats on top of each other. It was the roof of Hardin''s kitchen in luxurious Japanese style. It was amazing how our costume blended with the dark and we nned to use it to our advantage of course.


    I tiptoed to the edge of the roof, noticing the rest creep up behind me. Bodyguards were at the entrance, analyzing arriving customers.


    The eatery was big alright and I was pretty sure every metre had two bodyguards at least. Damn we had a long way to go..


    Yunno sometimes I hated myself. Why was I damn scared when I was gonna be possessed by a muse and be imprable to bullets and metal. I shrugged. It was now or never.


    "What do we do now?" I asked out of eagerness.


    Fred replied, "This is where we use that secret passage I spoke of."


    We scurried again round the roof, making it to the part above the back of the eatery.


    Then one by one, the ghosts possessed us and gave us the blue eyes and iron hard skin. Then we slid off the curved edge of the roof andnded down to the floor below, on our toes. Reminded me of ninjitsu. Due to the dark, only the eyes glowed, our bodies barely noticeable. Damn we had this cool crouching position for anding. Then slowly, we stood erect.


    Jessica led the way, given her muse was the leader. We followed her to a tunnel that seemed like an emergency exit from the eatery. It was sealed.... And guarded! Like who the hell were these people?!


    I looked around at my friends, noticing they all had the same question on their faces, "Do we take them out?"


    "Mainly so they don''t tell the others, "Edna rasped,"leave it to me."


    We retreated into the shadows and watched her confront them one on one. As expected, they ced their hands on their guns, gasping at the glowy eyed human approaching.


    All Edna needed to do was raise a hand and the two men paused for a while before they dropped unconscious. Are you serious! And I was here being scared to my toes.


    I led them to the sealed emergency exit and studied it for a while.


    Being the host of the fierce muse, I twisted my neck and cracked my knuckles, fixing my fingers through the squares of the seal. It took half the sandwich I had this morning to break it off. It was that easy.


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    Due to the height of it, we had to crouch through. From what I saw while we moved, this tunnel was made like aplicated maze, having many directions that would confuse any thiefing through. But we had the blueprint so.... easy as pie..


    When we were done being freaks in a tunnel, I could see the other end of it, sealed again. How sweet!


    All of us peeped through the spaces on the seal and could see people walking around. Now it was Fred''s turn to act as he promised.


    Jessica made a fist, causing all lights in the hall way outside to go off. We could hear the people outside murmur in displeasure. But luckily, we could see in the dark.


    Again, I pulled the seal off as every single person made it through.


    When we were all in the hallway, we knew it was time for acrobatics. You know that situation when you are in a crowded room and you must not touch anybody, no matter what? Yeah, that''s where we were. While the guests waited for the lights to get back on, we squeezed through carefully, crouching and tumbling where possible so the guests wouldn''t notice a group of ck clothes ninjas in the building.


    And as any other secret mission, something was about to expose us. A girl picked up her phone to switch on the shlight. That could have been detrimental if David hadn''t seen her. While he still crouched under a guest''s arm, he pped his hand once and the girl''s phone crashed against the wall. What a mystery for her that would be. As she gasped and looked around for any clues, we scurried away into an adjacent corridor. Then again, the lights came back on for them, how sweet! Well that was Jessica.


    The guests sighed and began their chattering as if nothing had happened.


    You know it only takes the really smart ones to know that that wasn''t a real power cut. And somehow, Jordy Hardin had one of those really smart ones as a bodyguard. One of them suspected an intrusion and went straight to inform his boss. This we did not know.


    We kept on stalking through the lit corridor which was fortunately empty, well until the really smart one told his boss and his boss sent a pile of garbage men to stop us. But I had to admit, these garbage men were armed and ready. We stopped, eyeing the men and each other fearfully.


    "Howe," Edna whispered.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.


    I analysed them from left to right. Their armour didn''t look too tough for us to handle, "However they knew, we''ll have to take them out."


    I began towards the group of opponents. And out of caution, they all aimed loaded machine guns at me. However, I did not stop. On the contrary, I increased my steps to a half run, showing this damn eagerness to kick their asses. This action of mine triggered them to shoot.


    An annoying wave of gun fire began for the first time in a restaurant. A wave too detrimental for any human being, one which would have torn me into pieces if I wasn''t abnormal.


    When they seemed to have run out of bullets, they stopped and watched me as the smoke cleared. Maybe we got him, they thought.


    But mehnn, I''m full of surprises.


    And there I was, out of the shadows... or smoke, still half running towards them as if the gun fire never happened.


    I grabbed a gun from one of them and knocked him down with my elbow. Hitting a good number with the gun in my hand, I held another''s face and kneed him on the jaw.


    Fighting a blue eyed humanoid was a lot to handle alone for over twenty men. Although it took some time to understand that, they finally saw that a creep with glowing eyes and immunity for bullets wasn''t for them. Before I was done, they ran off, into an adjacent elevator.


    I smashed a fist on the wall, "Darn it! I was so looking forward to a beat down."


    Ang cat walked to me and stood by my side, "Are you gonna let them go? They will tell Jordy. And Jordy will tell the fallen." She sounded teasingly hot when she was testing my patience. Oh sure. It''s ra in her.


    David snickered from the back, "Isn''t that the point, a smackdown with the fallen."


    Why did that sound weirding from the mouth of a good tushu?


    Well unless he had world''s most evil guy in him.


    Jessica looked up at the ceiling and began walking again, "Before all that nonsense can start, we get the idol." Yeah. Fred and his reasoning.


    We followed behind the leader, this time our steps careful strides.


    "Do you remember any of the fallen Eddy," Edna inquired.


    I smirked at her, "Of course sweetie. Let''s just hope they ain''t here yet. I think I have begun to feel that tiny spark of repulsion from the idol. From this distance, it''s funny it''s already significant."


    My bbering was stopped when more pile of garbage returned, more armed this time. To them, the more the armour and number, the more possible it was to stop us. We paused in our striding position, telling the men they were much of a disturbance than opponents. Clearly, we didn''t have time for this.


    I clicked my fingers and we teleported to an elevator behind the men, one leading to the top floor that was our destination. They looked around and finally found us magically in an elevator.


    It''s called teleportation baby. I guess the fear couldn''t let them shoot at us then. We just smiled in return, with sweet Edna giving them a goodbye wave just out of sweetness.


    It took a while for us to ascend to the top floor.


    And guess what. When we did, we were yet again taken unawares. This time, men and women from the defense force all dressed in their camouge uniforms stood, looking as tough as meat. They held guns I could swear I hadn''t seen before and had this bullet proof suit with grenades in them. I almost was afraid.... Almost.


    But there was something behind this. This could only mean Jordy Hardin knew we were here, and these guys were expecting us, which was nowhere good at all.


    Either way, we''ll fight for what''s ours.


    A heard David snarl from my side, "It''s been a whole two days and I haven''t hit someone Marshall. And it''s giving me the flu."


    "Well said my friend," I agreed because my muse wanted me to. When I looked at the soldiers chewing gum as if they were about to handle some cheap crap, that vexed me and by God I wanted to show them they belonged in the sewers, "Let''s kick some asses."


    We were just about to dash out when Jessica screamed, "No!"


    Damn. Did Fred always have to be this considerate? I mean what was a secret mission without a bit of bone breaking?


    Jessica red at the soldiers and cracked her knuckles, "As much as this is fun, I give the orders here," she looked at us and made a smirk with her lips, "Let''s kick some asses." Damn this bitch was hot.


    The six of us all turned out blue gazes to them, something that broke just a fraction of their overconfidence. Oh don''t worry. There''s more from where that came from.

 Chapter fifteen

    Chapter fifteen


    We dashed out of the elevator with that same speed the muses normally possess us with. Dispersing to different directions, we kinda shared the crew and took our own portions.


    A negro came to me first. And you know how those ones are, mainly tough and manly looking. When he threw a punch, I caught his fist. However, he still used his other fist to hit me on the stomach. Mainly because I wanted him to. I mean he was the one going to suffer the pain of his own hit, not me. When I felt nothing at all, he retrieved a broken hand, moaning in confusion and pain at my iron hard body.


    The satisfaction that gave me was immeasurable. My smirk turned to frown immediately, making me grab his jaw and hit it with a fist. That made him back outpletely. I was probably guessing Marshall was down with his temper again. Because he was making me heartless right now. I guess I wasn''t the only one irritated by their overconfidence.


    David thought it was deadlier to hit everybody with any part of his iron body which virtually gave them a nose bleed. Chris was evil. You know one thing I liked about the whole muse society thing was the pr difference between the muse and the host. And somehow, there was this awesome rtionship between them cos of that. Like look at Marshall and I, the bestbo that could beat the world.


    Ang was mainly good with her legs. As if she nned it, she had pencils heels on today. And I could only imagine how those she kicked felt with all that poking. Ouch! Back to me.


    A brtedy aimed her rifle at me. I don''t normally hitdies though but Marshall didn''t care. That flirty part of him came out now, "Oh C''mon. We can do better things with each other than fighting. If you know what I mean." I winked. She groaned and shot at me once. I smiled, watching her gawk at her bullet that fell to the floor like paper. I was surprised she still had the balls to bend and pick it up, giving it the best analysis she had ever given anything. It was punctured in the middle when it hit my body.


    At the realisation of that, she looked at me with fear in her eyes and turned to run away.


    But I wouldn''t let her, would I?


    I grabbed her hair and pulled her to me, "What," I snickered, "never seen a ghost before? I told you we could have more fun than fighting. But you just threw the chance away. What a turndown."


    She hit me, struggling to get loose, but I just pulled her hair the more, "And where do you think you are going? I am not done with you."


    She began to sob,"Please don''t kill me. I have a family."


    I couldn''t help butugh, "Pts. Who wants to kill you? I can do worse things to you."


    I seized her rifle and ced it on her temple, turning her around to face everybody. When I was tired of watching the disorderly crisis between my team and the soldiers, I shouted, "Hey!!" Cautiously, everybody stared my way. Then I continued, "Back out or I blow her head off."


    The soldiers eyed me ruefully before taking backward steps and leaving my crew alone. When you had the cards, you could y it till your satisfaction. My team walked through and came behind me, eyeing the soldiers with a smirk. "Now drop your weapons," I said, tightening my grip on my victim''s hair, making her groan appreciably.


    They wanted to get her out of that situation as soon as possible and there was this certain sentimental feeling they had towards each other. And it really helped now.


    They dropped down the guns and looked at me.


    Anthony stretched out his arm and made a fist, pulling it back slowly. At that, the guns on the floor vanished, something that probably gave all of em goosebumps.


    "Who are you people," one asked with a shaky voice.


    I showed my teeth in a grin, admiring his question and giving a befitting answer, "The muse gang. And I''m sure you do not wanna be on our bad book. If you wanna leave here with allplete organs, you''d better stay away from us." I yanked thedy''s hair away and she joined the rest. I kept her gun with me and turned away boldly. We all knew they wouldn''t have the balls to do anything. I mean they couldn''t even move.


    We turned left off the lobby. The stretch down thest hallway had the door we wanted; the Hardin''s office. Since this was the main room, we all expected tons of men again. But there was no single soul and I could hear the silence. Maybe it was a trap. So we walked cautiously.


    Well there was one person, a little boy of about ten, standing before the door to Hardin''s office.


    It seemed so easy to be true. Was this kid supposed to stop us Orr...


    We began creeping again, walking down the hallway, inspecting everything around us, in case one of the fallen popped out from no where while they used the boy as a smoke screen.


    This weird boy just kept frowning at us as we reached him.


    But there was something else, something stronger than the idol''s repulsion that I was feeling. It was negative energy again. Meaning the fallen were definitely around. At that realization, we increased our inspection, "The fallen must be around here somewhere, "I rasped.


    The energy was getting stronger as we approached the little boy, which suggested that our opponents were behind that door.


    That was somewhat of luck now. We could meet them, have a fight, possibly win and get the idol back.


    "Why do you think that boy is standing there like that. Possibly a trap from them I suppose."


    Angughed, "If you ask me, he''s the toughest. You know, they always save the best for thest." "Whoever he is, "Edna concluded, "he''s got to move away."


    We had finally reached the boy and the door, making sure he was human before we spoke.


    Ang bent over him, using her taming beauty that always worked on everybody and a faked sweetness from ra, "Hey little one. Could you please move this way. Aunty here needs to get something from behind that door." He frowned harder and returned a baby snarl, "Don''t call me that. The name''s James. And there is no way I am letting you through this door. Unless you wish to go through me first."


    Okay. We stared at this dude for a painfully, agonizingly long moment.


    Confusion and a little bit ofughter were clearly on our faces.


    However, Fred didn''t think it was funny. Jessica bbered, "Okay why are you being so rude?"


    James groaned and retorted, "You dumbasses still don''t get it."


    He lifted his hands to his face and covered it. We sure did know that move. But we just hoped it wasn''t what we were thinking.


    When he lowered it slowly, yeah it was it. He had the tiger stripes on his left half.


    I had no other choice but to express my shock, "You are a muse? And part of the fallen?!"


    He tilted his head with a smirk, "What does it look like," then a frown reced the smirk, "Wait. The fallen? Who are those?"


    We didn''t bother to answer his question. It was then that I realized the name, THE FALLEN, was just something my friends loved to call them.


    Ang quit the sweetness she faked before and gave a snarl, "That exins why you are not afraid of six blue eyed humans."


    This little brat still had his confused look on. He looked up at us and shook his head, "You guys call us the fallen? What the..... So we are the bad guys now? When..."


    "Anyone who wants to ruin others for his own selfish interest is a bad guy,"Edna stated to our satisfaction.


    James closed his eyes and screamed, "Shut up. I''m talking!!"


    Edna looked at me, "Okay I''ve had enough of this infant!"


    I held her back and still had this re on the young fellow. I''m surprised my team had been quiet after all his bber. Like one of the fallen was before us now and we just watched him talk. I guess they were still busy cooking up the same massacre I was cooking for him.


    And damn it, he still had balls to speak, "Forget how young I am. We have the same abilities. Never make the mistake to underestimate me."


    He cast us this daring smirk that meant he didn''t give a fuck if we were mad or not. And heavens knew we were mad.


    The evil one spoke from his host, "It is unlike me to be so quiet for a long time. What''s your stupid name again..... James, "he showed his disgust, "Being a muse does not give you the right to rub garbage on our faces." "And what are you going to do about it," the talkative one, James asked.


    Anthony smartly ignored his question, "So you had the energy we felt. The whole crew ain''t here yet. They asked you to guard."


    "How belittling," Edna smiled.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.


    Clearly we knew if a fight started here and now, things would turn out ugly. And even if this James guy couldn''t beat up all six of us, he was going to be some kinda hindrance and a waste of precious time, the time the whole evil n needed to arrive.


    I pushed through my friends and went for the door after pushing James away, "We do not have time for this."


    When I put my hand on the knob, I felt a little bit of electric shock. James made that happen, that crazy moron. I raised my hand a little bit away from it and gave him this stern look. Marshall knew what he was doing. James hid the fear I could clearly read and took a few steps back, "Get away.... You want to spoil our hopes of being alive again. You bad people."


    Okay Marshall had been trying his best to avoid saying anything to this guy... But the phrase, BAD PEOPLE, really gripped him and he made meugh in anger.


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    I faced the talkative one and said, "Bad people?!; Who are the dicks trying to make a wish from an idol that will render the muse world gone... The entire muse society!"


    He shrugged in pure naivety, "That''s what you always tell us so you get the idol all to yourselves."


    We gawked at him and fought the greatest urge to spank his ass.


    I faced Anthony and sighed, "Link your energy with his."


    James looked around and raised an arm to try magic when Ke was fast enough to link energies with him, then acting to stop his actions. Now he couldn''t stop us from getting in.


    I returned my attention to the door and turned the knob finally. When we walked through it, we brought James with us. This office wasrge. I''d give it that. ss made up a higher fraction of the content of the office. And it had this furniture you would swear was imported.


    Speaking of imported things, Jordy Hardin sat with a coffee in his hand.


    Unlike we expected, he wasn''t concerned at all. He saw us, stared a little and looked away with this look of nonchnce that really hurt.


    Together, we looked round the office and stopped as our eyesnded on the long sought-after idol. This was the first time I saw this Kuma. And damn did it look worth all our search. It was.. magical, adorned and repent. Speaking of which, we really began to feel the push force now. The idol was repelling us. We had limited distance to cover in the office. So now we found the idol, it was a n we needed.


    Yunno I was a bit surprised and expectant. Surprised it was this easy and expectant the fallen would pop out from nowhere right now.


    And hell did they prove me right!


    They appeared, all nine and the tenth James. The fallen, theplete n, in all majesty and strength.


    I recognized Marshall''s hot sister, badass haircut, Mr Blondie and Asian eyes. And yeah my brother too. But mehhn did they look cool. I mean viins were always cool.


    No wonder Jordy wasn''t scared. He knew they wereing. And hell were we ready.


    At that, our muses left our bodies so we could have the introductions. It was then I realized we were two more than them. Was that supposed to be an advantage?


    Their leader, Amaya spoke, much to Marshall''s disdain, "Hahhhhh! I bet you all feel so tough because you got our only kid member." She looked down at James, "I thought you said we could count on you this time. What happened?" That sounded more like mockery than sympathy. James immediately scoffed and looked away.


    The cranky one swirled her head as if showing us how cool her haircut was, "So what do you all wanna do? Take the idol? I triple dare."


    Of course, because we couldn''t even get past that idol''s force field.


    How sweet. Marshall smirked at her through his sses. She winked back. We were at a major disadvantage now. And how much they were enjoying it, we couldn''t tell.


    All we could tell was... They weren''t making that wish.


    And we will fight heaven and Earth for that.

 Chapter sixteen

    Chapter 16


    Fred nced at Ke and sighed softly, "Is there any way we could make it past that repulsion?"


    Ke frowned in thought and shook her head. Still, she had something up her sleeves. ring at the enemy n, she stated, "What if they tell us. I mean they were once victims of the repulsive field until they touched it right?" James announced happily, "Well we have the sensitive muse by our side. He helped us get through!"


    His friends groaned in annoyance. But oh we smiled. He was really talkative, at least it was useful now.


    Ke snickered, "Very good. Well unfortunately for you, you have the talkative muse on your side of the team. On the contrary, they have me; the smart one. At least now I know Harold''s strong sensation can detect the tiniest moment that the idol takes to get the next wave of repulsive force ready. He must have gone through using that. Then he helped you all. Am I wrong?"


    James shook his head, "You monster!"


    Suddenly, the ten of them smirked and watched us in humor. I couldn''t help but feel how belittling that was. And it just makes you wonder what they have in mind.


    Their leader tucked her front hair behind her ears and asked, "Wait wait wait..." Sheughed, "what do you guys n to do?"


    I shrugged and answered, "It seems one of you will have to help us touch Kuma. Even if it makes us members of the sinful race of muses who went close to it."


    "And you really think we are going to do that," Asian eyes asked me.


    I left the questions for our leader to take care of. School or no school, I hate answering questions.


    Fred rasped, "Oh no we don''t...." He smirked and continued, "We will make you. Since Ke has James in her custody, he could help us."


    Amaya eyed Fred and dragged her re to her elder brother, giving him a look that meant she was going to win as always, "And you really think we will stand and watch you do that.." She faced Justin, the strong one andmanded, "Get the idol. Let''s leave."


    Marshall replied to her re, "Not on our watch."


    To be honest, this Justin guy seemed built and strong for Marshall to handle. Or who was I kidding. My muse didn''t even look disturbed.


    Jordy Hardin watched us re at each other with lethal motives and raised his hands in warning, "Woah woah woah. Almost like a fight is gonna happen. Just so you won''t wreck things for me, do whatever you want outside the office." Marshall twisted his head and smirked wickedly, "Oh no. I''d suggest you rather leave."


    Jordy was not aware a muse had said something. But after Marshall had said that, he made Jordy teleport to the doorway. Soon after that, the door shut him out; still Marshall''s doing.


    Justin, the strong one, strode towards Kuma. The fierce one on the other hand, could only fight from a distance due to the repulsive field.


    Due to this, Marshall made a wall of spikes around the idol from where he stood. Justin saw this and scoffed at him, "Silly you. I don''t need to touch it to take it. There is always teleportation." Marshall frowned and shook his head, "That''s not the point."


    My muse made some hand movements that made the idol float to any direction he wanted. And from what I saw, Justin was the main aim. The spiky wall surrounding Kuma wed at the strong one''s face, obeying Marshall''s hand movements. Three long marks stretched from the base of Justin''s eye to his jaw.


    "Now that''s my point," the fierce one stated. Make the idol vanish with you if you can."


    This idea of my muse kept us at an advantage. The fallen posed for a fight with Marshall. And that was going to be very bad for us.


    Fred ordered, "Everybody! Link energies!"


    Four muses from my gang linked energies with the fallen muses. Fred stayed as a backup. ra had Amaya, Clinton with Evelyn, Chris had Harold and Ke was already with James. The main fun had just begun. "You imbeciles," Amaya screamed.


    They struggled to let go but my crew just increased the intensity of the bond.


    Meanwhile, Marshall and Justin kept on exchanging lethal res. No one cared about the idol any longer because they had just gotten mad at annoying opponents. Although my muse still used the idol to pierce Justin now and then, the injuries healed instantly.


    Justin looked pretty angry. In retaliation, he widened his eyes at Marshall. Some kind of force pushed my muse back and made him crash into the wall, making a deep depression.


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    My muse groaned in pain and struggled to get up. He eyed Justin and panted, "I''ve had enough of you."


    Just then, Marshall pounced on him, making them crash into the ss table. He sat on him and hit him severally on his face. Justin screamed and kicked him away. It took only his eyes to make the sofa in the office float its way towards Marshall forcefully. My muse found out a little bitte. Somehow, he could still snap his fingers, making the sofa vanish just before it crashed into him. Wherever he took Jordy Hardin''s sofa to, we couldn''t exin to the man. This pair was not the only one involved in a fight.


    ra took Amaya''s stare as rude and gave her a p. Amaya rolled her eyes and punched her in the face. ra paused in anger, twisted her neck, glowered at her opponent and jumped on her with a scream. You know I was expecting something hot after that. Instead, as seen in everydy fight, there was a series of hair pulls.


    Now.... Clinton.


    As usual, he eyed Evelyn with a flirty look on his face. She was calm, well just until he winked.


    Just then, bad ass haircut nced at a vase. Now it was time for telekenesis. She made it aim at his balls and hit it with all force she got.


    Clinton ced his hands over them and fell on his knees in pain, "You little bitch. How dare you?!"


    I could almost feel the pain myself. It was his turn now. He stretched out his arm and twisted it quickly. A small chair came from his opponent''s side and knocked her off bnce. She fell t in anger.From N?velDrama.Org.


    The cheeky one seemed toughed in satisfaction, "Hah! Crazy girl! Who''s the winner now?"


    Evelyn looked up at him and groaned, kicking his legs so hard he fell as well, just at her side. Just there, she smiled in bigger satisfaction.


    Clinton however sighed, "Oh brother."


    Ke had James across her thighs, spanking his bottom happily. He just groaned with every hit.


    My favorite pair of ghost fighters was Chris and Harold. The evil one, as evil as he could be, just used his mind to move Harold from one end of the room to the other, hitting and breaking everything sharp. Harold couldn''t even get a chance to act back. And Chris.... He was eating Jordy''s chips while he did that. There was no one who followed his nature like Chris did.


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    We hosts just watched them in excitement, standing not knowing what to do. I nced at Alfred at the other end of the office. I watched him sadly for a while until he returned the stare. Then I looked away.


    Fred patted my shoulder and sighed, "Sorry kid. I understand how hard this is for you."


    I snickered, nodding sadly, pretending I was fine with having my family as an enemy, "No problem. No matter who someone is to you, you have to put them in their ce when they are wrong huh."


    Silence fell on the n again and we watched the disorder continue.


    Anthony walked to the Frontline of the whole war and turned to Fred and I, "So we just stand here orrr..?"


    Fred smirked and raised a finger, "Not quite."


    He made a whirling movement with his hands that made six water guns appear from nothing before our very eyes. Each of us treated ourselves with one.


    "Have fun kids," Fred said while he put out his hands and smiled at the fallen hosts.


    Weughed and got the idea. Aiming at the human part of the fallen, we smirked and shot carelessly. From the looks of it, these water guns never got empty. And how crazy was it that we could derive such joy from getting the clothes of our opponents wet, fuck punching and fighting. This was way cooler.


    When their muses saw the madness, they felt they could do the same. Picking a moment out of their fights, they created simr weapons for their hosts as well for them to retaliate. And now we were even. As I shot at Asian eyes, I felt water wet my torso like wave on a beach. Then my hair, and nose, then ear. This did not stop me from shooting back. I know you can. imagine the amount of fun in this.


    Prrrrr!! Water kept on flying and getting everyone and everything wet. From one side of the office, to the other side, and back.


    Just then, the door felt t open and Jordy panted angrily after being forced to break his door down. His frustration turned into something unreadable when he looked around his office. The disorder had stopped now and we all lost our guard. Staring fearfully at him, we joined him to analyze the damage we had done to the ce. Compression in the wall, wet files and Arabian rugs, crashed table, no sofa and broken sses that Chris had used Harold for.


    He closed his eyes and screamed, "My office!" Opening his eyes and looking at our innocent faces, he shouted once more, "Ahhhh. Everyone out now! Take your idol and leave!"


    Both teams had lost their guard, but the fallen regained theirs first. I still don''t know why viins always have the advantage. Ourck of concentration had loosened the bond we had on the fallen. Now they were free, they vanished, taking the idol with them.


    I felt the worst emotion ever. This just rendered all our pride and hard work tonight useless. We actually thought this was the big,st fight. But no! They escaped, once again, right under our noses. I was not the only host disappointed in the muses. Edna and the rest groaned and bowed sadly.

 Chapter seventeen

    Chapter seventeen


    We returned to the mansion all wet and disappointed.


    "Good job," Edna began while squeezing water out of her hair, "letting the bond go and while you looked at Jordy Hardin."


    She hadn''t even looked at Clinton since we returned, her displeasure was clear and real.


    Her muse pleaded, "Oh please. Don''t me us! Holding that link isn''t that easy."


    Jessica shot at him, "Whatever. Now we''ve lost. The fallen just had to be the ones with the cautious muses right?"


    My muse bowed in frustration, "We are sorry. The annoying part is they escaped right under our noses."


    I rubbed my hair and reminisced the adventures of the night. The hope and skill we put in all this that was taken down the drain. I sighed, "Please Marshall. I wanna go home."


    Fred looked around at everyone and still had his non-chnt gaze on. Mehnnn. This guy was full of surprises. Chris wasn''t as evil as Fred was nonchnt.


    He gave a small gasp and whispered, "Thank you guys. Please let''s get them home. We will let you know of any further improvements. Take a break. But it''s not the end of this."


    We were all tired of this. And I could see that. Fred wisely didn''t start lecture then that would have worsened everything.


    Marshall teleported us to my room and pleaded again, "I''m sorry."


    I turned and looked at him, trying to understand he also felt bad about this. He tried his best I know. And I don''t think it would be considerate pouring all on him.


    "It''s fine, "I faked a smile, "It''s not your fault. We''ll get them next time. For now...," I faked a yawn I hoped he understood, "I need to sleep."


    Marshall nodded as his eyes got blind with tears, "I''d leave then. Good night."


    "I''m sorry, "I said, just before he smiled and vanished.


    I sighed and heard footsteps pass my room. Opening the door, I found Alfred. He widened his mouth to speak when I shut the door again, going for a bath. I was already in a bad mood, knowing he was helping those putting me in this mess. Afterwards, I dozed off.


    ***


    Days passed and I still hadn''t heard anything from the gang.


    Now as I got some books from my locker in school, I was thinking about the most probable things the muses must have found out. All we gotta know is their hideout and we got this.


    I shut the locker and turned to head to ss when Liza jumped in my way. Wow, you know I actually forgot I had a girlfriend. What kinda person was I?


    She hugged me and grinned at me. Someone was in quite good mood today, "My birthday''s a week from now. Soooo.." she rubbed her finger on my shirt and looked into my eyes, "I''m expecting the best from you. Be there!"


    I smiled and made a mental sketch of my schedule. When I had given her enough suspense, I grinned, "No problem. I bet I gotta start thinking of what to get you."


    She gave me a childishugh and cupped my cheek, "That''s not necessary. You know you surprised me the other day in my car. Our first make out. I loved it."


    How weird will it seem if I say she loved it that much because what she felt was on a whole different level. I mean I had a mother fucking ghost inside of me. Why wouldn''t it be mind-blowing.


    I looked behind her and found the vi Kings staring inquisitively at my girlfriend as we walked by.


    I''d be damned if Victor didn''t say something stupid now. And my God. He did, "Hey Liza! Looks like Edward has trapped you with some kinda spell in his miserable life."


    His friends and those aroundughed out. I mean that wasn''t even funny. I rolled my eyes and raised a middle finger to him. This made himugh even harder, giving his friends a tap as he walked away.


    Liza shook her head, "Ignore them," her smile returned, "There''ll be a party at my house that night. Be there, I''m serious. Don''t let me down."


    "I won''t miss it for the world," I gave a my assurance.


    She smirked, perked me and we walked to ss.


    ***


    When I got home, I passed my sister''s room and got something more surprising than talking to ghosts. Sofie was crying. I heard her sobs and stopped to listen. When she wasn''t stopping, I realized I had to intervene. Pushing the door gently, I went in and found her on the floor, head bent over her knees. Sofie was crying. It seemed surprising because I had always known her as the one to make people cry. The person who did this to her must be a devil undoubtedly. Although we didn''t really talk, I sat beside her and ce a hand on her hair, "What wrong Sofie. C''mon, talk to me."


    She raised her head suddenly and cried some more, "Nothing is okay!"


    I adjusted and faced her some more, "Tell me about it. Can I help you?"


    She wiped her face and struggled to look at me. It was painful seeing her to vulnerable, "First of all. Peter broke up with me. Secondly... My friends hate me."


    Wow. A hell lot of people of different kinds were having spouses and I just began. And that name, I knew I had heard it before, "What did you do to Peter and your friends?" I asked reasonably.


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    I knew she was half as evil as Chris. She could have done anything. But now, she screamed, "I didn''t do anything for crying out loud!"


    How was I supposed to do this?


    She dried her face some more me sniffed, sitting upright and holding my hand. She continued after a little pause, "We were together for a happy while. I mean everything was fine. Suddenly, today, he walked up to me and broke up. Just for no reason that I know of. When I asked for an exnation, he walked away. He hates me Eddy."


    I frowned. Okay who was this dude. I surely thought it was some overrated melodrama until she said this. I mean what was happening?


    Marshall was seriously gonna deal with this fe.


    I pulled her in and patted her hair, "Don''t cry over him. He''s gone and doesn''t deserve these tears if you did nothing. Are you sure you don''t know what happened?"


    She pulled away and frowned, "I didn''t. Last thing I remember, we were talking on the phone days ago and he suddenly had some meeting with friends he said he needed to attend to. So he hung up. Then today...!"


    I frowned.


    Peter...


    Days ago....


    Meeting with friends...


    "What does this Peter guy look like?" I asked just for confirmation.


    She replied although she didn''t suppose it would help now, "Blonde, tall, brown eyed. Why?"


    Darn it. It was Blondie from the fallen. Peter.! I was sure I knew that name, "Uhhh. I think I know this guy. Leave that," I shook my head, "What''s it with the part of your friends hating you?"


    She frowned and looked down at the floor, "Before Peter broke up with me, there was something else bothering me."


    "And what''s that?" I pushed.


    She gasped in fear and looked up at me in a shaky gaze.


    Okay this was getting even scary for me. And serious. I had to give her a motivating nod.


    She went on, "In my sleep, there is this one guy who haunts me. He has this blue glowing eyes and and a deadly scar across his eye. ck t top hair, a strange smirk. He rasps at me every night, asking me to end your life." End my....


    I gawked at her and felt my heart pound hard. Wait...


    ck t top hair, deadly scar, blue eyed... Harold!


    What in the world did the fallen want from my sister? Asking her to kill me, making her life this miserable...


    What had I done.... Ohhh that wasn''t a question to ask when I was their literal foe.


    Sofie let me get that in and continued, "I decided to talk to someone about it. So I told my friends. As expected, theyughed at me. I mean... Who believes in ghosts."


    She sniffed and wiped her face, obviously getting to the disturbing part, "I swear I didn''t mean to. But suddenly, I picked up the little knife on my lunch table and held it up to them. It felt I was being controlled. I screamed at them, threatened to kill them... All of these that I can''t remember to be my intentions. They were scared of me. They thought I was crazy. I mean... A girl who has a ghost asking her to kill her brother and suddenly pulls up a knife to her friends is certainly crazy right. They ran away. And afterwards, I was wondering how the knife got into my hand. They refused to talk to me ever. Things got way worse when Peter walked up to me today and broke up."


    I stared at her in shock. Sofie had really gone through all of this and had kept all in. Harold had possessed her.


    I hugged her tight and patted her back. I got the message. The fallen were making her feel that way on purpose. But why?


    "Tell me Eddy," Sofie asked me, "Do you think I''m crazy? I held a knife up to my friends."


    I released her and looked into her eyes, "No Sofia. You are not crazy. I believe you and you will never to that to them on purpose."Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.


    She seemed to frown in confusion, "Really? So what do you think happened?"


    I sighed and looked away, "Ghosts are real Sofie."


    I didn''t know when I said that. But I was surely speaking out of experience. You know this. Telling Sofie about the muse society was going to be a serious break of rules on my part.


    So when she asked me to exin with her eyes, I sighed and shook my head, "I can''t exin now. I''ll tell you all about it someday. But just know, if you need someone to talk to, I''m here always. Forget those people okay?"


    Sofie looked at me and hugged me tighter, "Thanks so much Edward. I love you."


    Okay this was beautiful. The fallen had caused this beautiful rtionship between my sister and I. Something that had never happened before. And I appreciated this.


    But messing with her like that was not cool. Like they had an issue with me. What brought Sofie into this whole mess?


    I was frustrated. Frustrated about everything. The sacrifices I made just to make the whole muse thing work out and catch the fallen. I mean I even slit my arm once because I''m now part of something that looked like a cult. But I guess those dudes crossed the line when they thought of my sister.

 Chapter eighteen

    Chapter eighteen


    A day before Liza''s birthday, Marshall appeared again after a very long time... Just two weeks though. My sis was out for ballet lessons. She hade to my room before leaving to give me a kiss. That was new, Marshall noticed. He snickered when she had left, "What happened all of a sudden between you two?"


    I sighed with a sad smile, "We have to talk. Those creeps are going too far. I mean they are after Sofie now!"


    "You mean the fallen?" He raised a brow.


    "Yes I mean the fallen!" I dered.


    "What did they do to her?" He seemed rather serious and concerned.


    I looked at him for a while and put my hands out in exnation, "She was in a rtionship with one of them... Yeah Peter. Then he just broke up with her without reason. Harold somehow makes his way into her dreams, trying to convince her to kill me," I looked up at Marshall then and noticed the deep frown he had on because of thest part of what I said.


    "That''s not all," I pushed on, "They even possessed her and made her almost kill her friends.


    He shook his head and folded his arms, "Wait wait wait! She told you all of this."


    I red at him and noticed I was shifting into a bar mood, "Of course she did. I mean she was crying six days ago all over me."


    Marshall was silent for a while before he groaned tiredly, "I''m sorry. In fact, I came here with their end in mind." "What do you mean by that?" I asked him.


    He half smiled because of the moment, narrowing his eyes at me as though he was about to say something amazing, "Remember your idea of finding a ce in Oxford where Amaya calls secret and loves to keep stuff?" After I nodded, he went on, "Well that''s where Kuma is."


    Now another stressful mission was on paper, "And how do you know this?"


    He sat down and looked at me, "The six of us decided to give our hosts a break. So we did everything ourselves for some time. After we had borrowed anonymous bodies, I took them to Oxford. To be precise, Amaya''s inner circle. Used to be a school before we died. And yeah, we found em, making sure Kuma''s abode was tight with security."


    I shrugged nonchntly, "Well. Lucky for us."


    My muse analysed my mood, "You seem frustrated. But we gotta gather tomorrow night to discuss strategies."


    I almost nodded... But frowned in thought. Tomorrow night? Liza''s birthday? How helpful?


    Shaking my head in determination, I bluntly refused, "Tomorrow? No way! I won''t make it. It''s Liza''s birthday."


    Marshall was dumb for a while, I guess trying to confirm if I had really said that or not, "You''re joking right? Liza, really?"


    I sighed and closed my eyes, rubbing my face and thinking of what to say, "Look Marshall. I understand you dislike her. But we are together now, and I can''t help it. I finally get the chance to be with someone and this muse gang can''t rip that from me. I....." I looked at him making thisst part very clear to him, "can''t miss this for the world."


    But as always, he fought back, "Dude! The annoying part of all this is the girl ain''t even interested in you. And you n to leave the climax of the whole thing for a birthday party, her birthday party?!"


    "What makes you think she ain''t interested in me?" I asked with a tone that demanded an answer this time.


    He paused and got up from the chair. This argument was going to be serious. And if I didn''t stop it now, it wasn''t going to end well.


    But then, he said something that crossed all borders, "You don''t even know her well. A school mate of yours you crushed on but knew nothing about asked you on a date... And you agreed?! She''s a hussy." Okay thatst part, "Do not call my girlfriend a hussy."


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    "Oh did that hurt," he teased with a smirk because he knew he was clearly getting to my anger lobe, "Same way you are hurting me right now. This has been the most important part of the team, the idol. And you got the balls to tell me you''ve got Liza''s birthday to attend."Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.


    I red at him, "Why you being so bossy?! Can''t I decide what I want to do?"


    Marshall rubbed his hands on his face and breathed calmly. Oh but I wasn''t calming down. He was my muse, not my boss.


    He seemed to read my mind and got back to his state of anger, "You think I''m being bossy. All I''ve been asking is for you to make the right decision here, the more important one."


    I faked a thinking bubble and looked at him finally, breaking all his expectations, "Yeah okay. I will. Liza''s party. That''s the more important one to me."


    I had never seen Marshall frown as he did now, "What the... If the fallen get their hands on all the blood they need, we all go. I go."


    I know he said that expecting a change of heart from my part. I mean he meant something to me right? But somehow, the fact he exaggerated the whole muse- host rtionship thing as a method to control me really got to my nerves. I mean I didn''t even have privacy in my own thoughts, "Oh really? That same viin crew possessed my sister, haunted her dreams and made her cry like a baby some days ago. I slit my arm because of that same crew. I missed school and fun time because of meeting and nning strategies. I became the monster who does anything you wanted me to when you possessed my body. Is that what this is all about, controlling me. To be honest, my life was horrible before you came into it. But now, it''s hell. I feel I''m better off without the fallen having anything to do with me anymore. I also don''t want anything that has to do with them."


    There was tense silence in the air for some time. I nced at Marshall who had a sad gaze on the floor now. I never knew myself that I had that much on my mind. Well now I said it, whatever was meant to happen, will happen. He dragged his gaze to me, "And what do you mean by that?"


    "I''m out okay?" I said it before I knew it, "My life and that of my family was very normal until muses stepped in. Before now, I did everything you wanted me to do how you wanted me to do it. My sister''s heart got broken. She lost all her friends. I''ve lost my stand because I''m now handled by some crazy, bossy ghost."


    Ouch! I also could see that really hurt him. I mean I had never seen Marshall this sad and vulnerable. I also remember promising myself never to fight with my muse.


    But now, I thought this all could end for all I care.


    He seemed apologetic now after all the damage he had already caused, "Wait Edward. Do not make irrational decisions here! Are you asking me to leave? You think I boss you around?"


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    I narrowed my eyes at him. He still didn''t feel so and that was the annoying part of it, "Yes you boss me around. At least I would be able to be my own boss again. The fallen are not who I want to deal with." "Please think this through Edward. We need..."


    I cut him off, "So you could put all my family''s lives in danger. I''ve made my decision. Please leave."


    Marshall stood, seeming helpless and confused, as if he did something wrong by arguing with me from the start. He knew that... But on my own part, I exaggerated it. And I also knew that, "I''m sorry. But I can''t help it. I need my normal life again."


    Marshall nodded sadly, "Fine."


    I turned away from him, reluctant to see him go like that. I hated to see things end. But I just lost the best friend I have ever had, brother.


    He read my mind again, somehow feeling my regret. He then asked one more time, "Do you need me Edward, before I fade away."


    I thought for a while and tried to imagine if I wanted the risky, careless muse life or my normal, boring life. Boring seemed more fun than very and death, which were the only things muses could get to you, "I don''t need you. This is where I belong," I turned slowly and found him by the window, blinking tears away. I shrugged, "As normal as Edward Hanson."


    He wiped his face and frowned now, faking strength and superiority, "Then I will take my protection too." Just then a new wave of feeling befell me, something I hadn''t felt in a long time, weakness.


    He continued, "You are no longer my host."


    Again, the little circle on my right wrist vanished. I looked up at him, fighting the tears that threatened to pour out, forcing my shaky legs to stand. He nced at me one more time... And vanished. That was it....


    Marshall was gone, forever. I was Edward Hanson again. It was then I realized the grievance of what I had done. No more magic pudding or floating pizza, Clinton''s madness or Edna''s sweetness. All of them, even Chris and Fred. They were gone. And most especially.... No more Marshall.

 Chapter nineteen

    Chapter neen


    I got an expensive watch with my savings and wrapped in a gift box. It was supposed to impress Liza right. I mean I had to make the most of the friendships I had now.


    In a sweat suit, I headed to her house and knocked on her door.


    She opened up and grinned wildly, looking as beautiful as ever.


    "Sorry I''mte, "I faked a smile.


    She hugged me in response and looked up at me, "I knew you''de."


    I nodded and looked in. Everybody seemed to be having fun already. When we both stepped in and she closed the door, she pulled me to the dining room where the main party was. Without say or warning, she began dancing all over me. Only God knew I was not in the mood. It had just been a day and I was missing Marshall so much. His absence had started proving the impact he had in my life.


    Suddenly, Liza snapped me out of my world of thoughts, "What''s wrong with you?"


    I rubbed my face, shaking my head in frustration, "Nothing.... I just... Lost something valuable yesterday."


    She quit her smile and looked up at me worriedly, "What''s that Eddy? What did you lose?"


    I nced down at her. She was part of me now, making me feel she needed to know what was wrong with me.


    Sighing, I pulled her out of the party and up to her room where it was quiet.


    "What''s wrong," she pushed on.


    I looked at her. Obviously, I wasn''t going to reveal anything about the muse society, "A friend."


    That was all I had.


    Liza gave me a confused look, "She must really mean a lot to you huh."


    "He," I corrected before she got the wrong information.


    I shook my head again, looking straight into her mirror and frowning at the ck rings around my eyes. I hadn''t slept at allst night. It took the most important thing in my life to make me realise I was very vulnerable. "Why did you lose him Eddy?"She inquired.


    Thinking of an excuse to cook up, I knew I shouldn''t also lie to her, "My own rage. I made a crazy decision cos I was mad yesterday. It made him leave. I regret it..... Why did I do that?"


    She hugged me, "I''m sorry love. But you should know this," she looked at me, "never let any feeling get the better of you. Talk to him, he will understand."


    Funny how she thought he was a visible guy I could go to and reason things with. Like she was the reason for the feud yesterday and he was gone forever.Content is ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    If this continued, I was going to cry before her. I shook my head and blinked my tears back, bringing the gift wrap from my pocket. I grinned at her, tearing the wrap open and taking the lid of the box off.


    She parted her lips and gawked at probably the best watch she had ever seen, "Woah,... Thank. Thank you. It''s very beautiful Eddy."


    "A beautiful watch for a beautiful girl," I dered. That was a clich¨¨ no chick was going to get tired of.


    She smiled and hugged me tight. I hugged back. To me, she was perfect. To Marshall, she was a con.


    I was sure he said that carelessly. This Liza here was never going to leave me. It was just left for me to get over him. And that was going to take a while.


    ***


    The next few days were hell for me. It seemed every single object left a bruise on my body. This proved a lot. Marshall was really doing a good job taking care of me when he was around.


    Because now, I was falling, drastically. Slowly, slowly, I was depreciating to my old, nerdy, boring, stupid self again. My friendship circle lost its diameter bit by bit until it was left with Murphy again. My only hope was on Liza now. But then, as things went by, she seemed to get irritated by every little thing I did. If this was a punishment from my muse, it was a very heartless one. My grades in school had dropped badly and the vi Kings were back on my tail. And I really had the balls to throw Marshall away.... For freedom? Well at least this showed me how SWEET freedom really was.


    I was wrong, foolish. But by God, what''s the use. It waste now. He was gone already and there was no way to call him back. Like I was like every other kid who never knew there was a life after death where things got a whole lot crazier, and better. It seemed everybody started hating me again.


    And right now, I was in the principal''s office after being framed by Victor. I somehow began beefing with a teacher in school. Victor took the advantage, broke into the man''s office and stole some items. Afterwards, the office keys were found in my backpack.


    With the whole school knowing I had a problem with Mr Robinson, it was not difficult to believe I was behind it.


    Days from now, I was supposed to be cleaning all lockers in school as a punishment. This was just the beginning. Like it was just one week and I was useless.


    I could not even cry. I was even unable to give Sofie the support she needed from me. She had even started to see me as a pain in the ass.


    I went back to being grounded by my parents who were now back from New York.


    To be honest, I needed a friend, a real one. Marshall was that guy.


    ***


    It was night again and I took a walk down the road, drenched in the rain, sad, angry, useless and alone.


    Who cared if I made it home that night or not. I hated everyone. Was I going to go on like this for the rest of my life. I mean why was it now so difficult to adapt to the life I once was into?


    I needed this loneliness right now. I think it made me think clearly.


    The road seemed to be getting very busy now. Turning out of it, I made it up a bush path that led up to a hill. I sniffed, forcing my legs to push my body away from everyone down there.


    On the hill, I looked up into the sky and gave the loudest scream I had ever given in my life. I mean imagine my muse was still here. We would have been kicking some asses and having casseroles by now.


    "Marshall...!!" I shouted out and paused as I got the echo.


    Now I began to whimper and sob, crumbling down on the grass and crying my heart out.


    My shouts turned to small, honest whispers from the heart, "I''m sorry. Please. Come back. I messed up bro. I know I messed up."


    I wiped my face, sniffing and trying my best to pull myself together, "Just forgive me and I promise to never pick anything over this, over us. I told you I wanted to be the boss of my own life but I ended up being a ve to everyone. I want to be your host again. If you want, boss me around all you want. Juste back."


    I became silent, listening for the faintest sound of redemption from my muse. He was supposed to care a bit right? Or did he not hear me? Was this it?


    I shook my head in refusal, adamant to let everything I had with him be just a memory. He had to hear me.


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    Standing up, I shouted with all might down to the whole city, "Can you hear me?!"


    I stood there for a minute but he didn''t seem to hear. All I could get was a gush of wind drying the tears on my face. He was gone, and he was noting back. What could I do....?


    I turned back and realized how far I was from home. This was hard.


    ***


    The family was having dinner when I arrived. My steps were almost staggers and my eyes seemed swollen.


    Mom looked up from her food and said, "Yes there you are. We''ve been waiting. Could you feed the dog?"


    I dragged my eyes to her sadly. I had to do it right. Yeah she felt Winny should have dinner even before she cared if I did. It was the dog. Afterwards, no one said a word to me, even when I figured Sofie was guilty about it. A knock on my room door made me pray that somehow it was Marshall.


    Alfred however made it into my room. Either way, I was surprised.


    He sat on my bed while he looked up at me, "As much as I love beating you up, I hate seeing you like this."


    I sighed and leaned on my cupboard, "Why are you here?"


    He replied with a question, "Where is Marshall?"


    The big topic I wanted to avoid. End it and make him leave, "He left. Period."


    Alfred frowned worriedly and snickered in astonishment, "He left?! Why?"


    Was I supposed to tell him that. I mean he was the viin brother. Buting to think of it, he still had a connection with the muse society. Maybe he could help.


    I walked to the bed and sat beside him, "I screwed up. I made him leave. Told him he was being bossy and all."


    He chuckled and looked at me with a slight sign of anger mixed with humor, "Isn''t that what this is about? They control your life and help you with anything you want. It''s a fair trade if you ask me. Still, I still feel your muse was cool. At least he didn''t n to leave you in the end. Amaya helps me out. In that case, I am entitled to host her ghost whenever she wants to use me for her crazy trip to life. She ns to leave in the end. Marshall doesn''t. That''s the difference."


    I turned to him and smiled lightly. That was the first time I was going to be proud of him. He made true sense, real sense that I hadn''t used or thought of when I had a chance to do something.


    I sighed and looked away, "I had to learn this the hard way huh? But still, he''s gone now. Thanks for helping anyway."


    Alfred got up and patted my shoulder, "I wish I could help bro. However," he said with a grin, "I can talk to Marshall for you when I see him again."


    That was supposed tofort me but it really hurt. Made me feel so left out of the whole muse society thing."


    I nodded and watched him leave and pull the door close. I wasn''t sure this was going to work.


    ***


    It was Saturday and I felt like giving some of my rusty rtionships a bit of some polish. Starting with Liza.


    Her door was open when I got to her home. Strange...


    Frowning, I tilted my head a bit and walked in. Only to meet more strange things as I went.


    I found her clothes littered all over the ce, from the biggest jackets to the smallest of underwear.


    This brought a strange knot to my chest that made me start thinking stupid. I shook my head, shaking off the first thought that came in.


    I stalked slowly towards her bedroom since the house seemed a bit empty. Some items were out of ce. Like the flower vase on the floor and the couch a bit shifted. More frowning.


    As I reached the door to her room, I found something that confirmed my stupid thoughts. I found male clothes right in front of it. The door was a bit open and I smiled in anger, knowing fully well that whatever I was going to see behind that door was going to break me into pieces and prove Marshall was right from the very beginning.


    Quietly, I pushed the door open and stepped in to get the sight that ended everything in my life.


    And of all people Liza chose to bang with, it had to be Victor.


    I found them under her sheets, moving in the perfect rhythm I knew I couldn''t give her. They seemed to be lost in ecstasy, not still aware I was in the room with them.


    I nodded slowly. He was right.


    And that ended everything I fought for. I mean she was worth nothing. And I lost the only person who was there to warn me against it.


    Taking quiet backward steps, I still watched them reach fruition together. I just nodded some more. Gotta admit, it was a bit difficult to swallow.


    I turned to leave them in privacy when I hit the door to my own displeasure. Now they looked up at me, getting the biggest shock of their lives. Liza seemed the most terrified.


    I raised an arm helplessly, "Hi."


    She shot herself up and pulled the nket to her chest, "Eddy... It''s not what it''s looks like..."


    Okay that was the dumbest thing I''d ever heard. So what was it? Some school project on sperms?


    I held out my hand to her, "Just stop talking."


    She urged closer, but the sight of her clutching the sheets to her chest like that when naked really drew more pictures of what they must have done before my arrival. And even Victor beside her just staring at me like that.


    I was trying my best here to be calm, "Do note near me."


    But she wasn''t helping, "I can exin Eddy."


    I snapped out of control and broke her vase against the wall, picking up a threatening part of the shattered pieces and holding it up to her, "I swear if you make one more step towards me, I''ll kill you." That seemed to calm her down. Sadly, she backed out and let me walk away.


    I looked down on the floor again and found Victor''s clothes. It made me turn back one more time at them, "Next time. Do well to close the door." Faking a smile, I walked away and began my stride back home.


    When I was done pretending I had enough strength, I stopped on my way and panted slowly. This was bad. I mean my muse tried to warn me and all I did was ask him to leave. And now, she just proved him right. Bitch I lost my best friend because of you....


    I was done trusting people. There was going to be a different me from now on.

 Chapter twenty

    Chapter twenty


    The whole day went by quickly. And it was when night fell that I realized I had spent all day up in my room in tears.


    A loud, sudden crash downstairs startled me; it was a gunshot. This life was full of surprises.


    In fear, I forced my shaky legs to take me downstairs. I looked round and found my entire family on their knees. I mean this was the first time in my life I was being robbed.


    When I stared at the robbers silently and fearfully, they raised their guns and aimed at me. And just to remind myself, I had no resistance now. I was mortal.Content is ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    The painful part was that I recognized this n sadly. The same ones that Marshall helped me beat up. I prayed to God they wouldn''t recognize me because that was going to be very dreadful. The leader barked at me, "Hands in the air! Get on your knees!"


    I dragged my gaze to my family who pleaded with their eyes for me to obey.


    As I staggered to join my family, the second robber rasped, "Wait a minute," he tilted his head as he analysed me. This was bad, "Ain''t this the samed who beat us up the other day." Oh shit!


    The leader frowned and widened his eyes, "Oh yes. It''s him."


    The third guy seemed to smirk wickedly, "Yeah. How about a rematch. He ain''t look as tough asst time."


    The one who recognized me cracked his knuckles and stalked towards me, "Oh we''ll break your bones you asshole."


    My family looked up at me sadly, clearly wondering how I was able to beat them all before. Well, Alfred knew. For Christ sake, he had a muse. Unfortunately, she wasn''t thinking of him right now. Just Kuma.


    My hands were pulled to my back and held tight. And for the very first time, Mom and Dad acted like they cared. They both wailed at the robbers for them to let me go. As expected, they were silenced by gunpoint. They just watched painfully as their child was about to be hit with fists by angry, dicky robbers. Thest one went for our money. How I needed a muse now. I would have shown these pussies what death smelt like.


    The robber was ready now, taking his hand back for a massive blow.


    Sulking, I closed my eyes to receive whatever I deserved. ..... Tick tock


    ... Tick tock


    The punch never came even after the impatient moment I used to close my eyes. Slowly, I peeled my eyes open and found the robber nursing his hand in pain with a groan. Meaning he had punched me, I didn''t feel it, but he got a broken fist. I began to snicker. Was this what I was thinking? For this to happen, there was only one exnation.


    A muse was in me.


    Marshall.... Was back!!!


    I heard awes from my family, but a chuckle from my brother.


    With a smirk on my face, I eyed the robber with the broken fist and grinned satisfactorily. Looking into blue glowy eyes was something they had experienced before now. And they knew what it did to them.


    Wisely, they ran out without the money or a beat down. Well except the leader. He had this annoying determination that couldn''t take him anywhere but doom.


    He pulled out a knife. Mehnnn I still had my smirk on, tilting my head left and right, daring him to stab me. I mean I wasn''t ready to fight back. My family screamed again, making me face them in surprise. It was then that they saw my eyes, glowing blue and definitely angry. My Marshall was back.


    The robber brought the knife forward and stabbed me... Well he couldn''t. A clink sound was heard as the knife just hit the surface of my skin, not able to prate through the iron hard flesh.


    The man pushed the de in harder to force it into me.


    Laughing my ass out. In the end, he finished with a bent knife. The fear on his face then was clearly readable and his wisdom came a bitter.


    Turning around, he made a step to run out when I grabbed his hair and gasped into his ear.


    That gesture made him beg between sobs, giving me the best joy I have ever had. I pulled him back, spun and kicked his face, then pushed him out of my house.


    He needed that kick to teach him determination did not always pay off.


    I faced my family, giving them a silent order to get up.


    They gawked at me. Was I still Edward?


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    Momma stammered, "E... ddy. Your eyes. They''re..."


    She trailed off when I gave her a re. Alfred seemed to be the only one in the family not shaking like a leaf.


    He walked to me and held my arm, "Congrattions. Marshall''s back."


    I pulled my arm away from his grip and grinded my teeth, "Too bad you can''t get help from Amaya when you need her. She''s too concerned about hiding Kuma." I leaned closer and whispered fiercely, "You had better warn her because we areing for you all."


    Alfred smiled at my words when I bumped against him and walked past my family.


    They still gawked at us quietly and shockingly, wondering what we were talking about.


    Up in my room, Marshall left my body and gave me a hard, quiet look, his arms over his chest.


    I ced my hands over my mouth in nostalgia and realised I was not dreaming. I ran to him, wrapping my hands all over him like a desperate gay. He didn''t hug back. I really expected that. He had every right to still be mad at me. As usual, he preferred his hands in his pocket than around me.


    After a while of one-sided hugging, I pulled away and analysed him happily, trying my best to blink tears back, "You came back! You came!"


    He still didn''t say a word, just red.


    I ignored his anger and was determined to put things right, "I missed you so much. I admit, my life is hell without you. You were right, I was wrong." I stopped sobbing and bowed sadly. I had never imagined such drama would ever happen in my life. Mehhn I missed this bruh, "I''m so sorry," I pleaded as I looked at him, "Never leave me again.... Please."


    Considering the face of despair and hate he had been putting on, it was surprising seeing a sudden grin on his face.


    It wasn''t funny, "Marshall. You had no idea what I went through without you."


    Heughed out loud, "Hah! I know! I watched every single bit of it." He paused and panted happily to catch his breath. Then he looked at me again and pointed, "Iughed at you."


    I frowned and shook my head, almost getting angry myself by the joke he made with such a serious situation. All the while I went through hell and missed him, begging him toe back, he watched me? He knew?!


    "You watched me the whole time?" I glowered hardly, "You watched me the whole time?"


    He smirked and did a bit of dancing. Okay this was annoying, "You bet. Even the look on your face when Liza cheated on you." He held out his hand and made a fist, mimicking my earlier actions at Liza''s home, "I''ll kill you if youe near me..." Then heughed again.


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    As much as this was vexing, I missed it. A small smile creeped up my face when I tried imagining how foolish I looked while he watched me like that.


    He quit all hisughter and joke, giving me the most professional and cooperate muse I always knew. Like he was always with a shirt and a tie, folding the sleeves up like any other rebellious teenager would do. He sighed, "I knew you screwed up. And I knew you were going to call me back. I just waited for three things. To prove my point about Liza being a hussy,"he nced at me to see my reaction. I nodded in pure eptance, trying not to remember what happened that day. He then went on, "For you to acknowledge and call me back..." Iughed at him. He had that annoying ego again.


    "Lastly," he ended as he made a showman''s pose, "To wait for a point where my return would be dramatic. How was I down there?"


    I was never going to get enough of this. Snickering, I shook my head in disbelief, "I missed you Marshall. Take me back."


    After all his madness tonight, my muse sighed and smiled sweetly at me, "I never left you Eddy." He ced a hand on his chest and stated, "Well you may be foolish, but we are the best duo."


    I went close and hugged him again. This time, he hugged back. The joy I had long awaited, and it was restored.


    After a moment of awkward hugging, he pushed gently, "Okay stop this. It''s weird."


    I chuckled, moving away satisfactorily, "Fine."


    At that moment, I regained the host symbol back on my wrist. I was back in the society, a beautiful grin on my face.


    Marshall went on, "Sooo..." He took a short walk to my desk and sat on the chair, looking up at me, "since you are back to your senses, what do you say we deal with our viins?"


    I stopped grinning and frowned seriously, "Those freaks haven''t filled the idol yet?"


    He swirled his head with a little snicker, "Uhhhh.. while we all waited for you to call me back, we began something. Since they needed blood, we became some kinda hindrance to every source that they had. Tried out best to eliminate all bloody scenes, idents and all. So....."


    I nodded with understanding, "You guys did that without me?"


    Marshall just red again quietly for a very long, ufortable moment before he said, "Yunno I wish it was possible for a host to own more than one muse. I would highly rmend Clinton to join me. He is always ready to leave a girl for as little as an ice cream cone. But no.... My own host just had to y Romeo."


    I waved his statement away, "Yeah yeah. I get it. Can I meet the gang now? I missed you guys."


    Marshall bowed in obedience, "Your wish is mymand."

 Chapter twenty one

    Chapter twenty one


    The whole n stared at me with grins on their faces.


    "Wee back Eddy," Jessica dered.


    Wow. It felt like a whole year.


    David moved closer and gave me a hug, patting my back as he looked at me, "Marshall told us you messed up."


    I nced at my muse who shrugged in innocence. Turning back to David, I nodded, "I know right. All for a girl who broke my trust."


    Clinton seemed the most disturbed as he frowned at me, "You mean Elizabeth? The one we made out with?"


    I tilted my head, "Yep. She''s the one."


    Marshall groaned and red at the both of us, "Yeah you just had to remind me of that nonsense." He stared at the n, "Can you believe Clinton possessed my host and made him make out?" That seemed so fine to me. Until the smart one gazed at us in wonder.


    "A muse and a human?" Asked Ke.


    Clinton pointed his finger out in correction, "Not quite. A human and a half human, half ghost."


    Fred rubbed his face in frustration, ring at Clinton with a groan.


    The consequences of this make out seemed more than I understood, "What is wrong with that?"


    Fred answered, "Intimacy between a human and a muse is detrimental to the human."


    The cheeky one shrugged with a grin, "Not as if I didn''t know about it. I was desperate okay? So yeah maybe I kinda didn''t care about her at the moment."


    This was interesting... But very worrisome, "You mean Liza is in danger?"


    "Health wise.." confirmed Ke, "Serious one."


    I frowned seriously at Clinton, "Why didn''t you tell me this? I don''t understand."


    Our leader came into our teen circle and sighed, "It involves several illusions about muse rituals that kinda puts a picture into her head and messes with her sanity. She also goes down with a bad flu-like disease. Ain''t our fault, it helps restrict our activities. Call it a good punishment for breaking your heart."


    I was about to fight against that when my muse pitched in, "That''s infinitesimal. I want to deal with her." He said with that cute smirk.


    I just had to ask, "What do you wanna do with her?"


    He stood upright and walked away, "Watch me." Just then, he vanished.


    I looked around the room in confusion. What did this creep of mine have in mind? Two minutester, he returned with a wide, amused grin.


    "Oh Marshall, what did you do to her? I asked as I closed my eyes.


    He slipped his hands into his pockets and shrugged, "If I tell you," he leaned closer and closed his eyes, "it''ll spoil the surprise."


    I red at him with my hands crossed, "I''m too curious to wait."


    My muse shook his head childishly, "Nah ah... Me think you have to wait. Cos I can''t share my Glory."Content is ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    At least he dealt with her... I mused to him. He smiled and nodded. One way a muse and host couldmunicate with each other privately. I smiled.


    David pulled out some tickets from his back pocket and held up to us, "Okay people. I got six tickets to Oxford."


    Yayyy! A hunting we will go.... A hunting we will..... Wait! I looked at him in confusion, "What is wrong with all of you. Have you forgotten we have the gift of teleportation? If we going to hunt those guys down, we click our fingers and we go to Oxford."


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    Marshall narrowed his eyes at me in anger, clear disgust flickering in his look, "Do not act like Anthony right now." I could see Anthony raise his hands in the air in pure innocence.


    Marshall continued, "Oxford is my sister''s territory. And as much as I hate to say this, she has some wit upstairs. The fallen can be anywhere in Oxford. And if they find out we are there before we are ready, things may get really ugly." Ang smiled at me and exined less harshly, "Meaning we have to go there by flight. It''s safest. Making us sure of what we are doing and where we are going. We will be more aware when they are nearby in that manner." This was the second bae in the team I loved.


    ring at my muse, I told him with my thoughts how he could have exined things that beautifully and still be handsome. He grinned at me and the whole n just stared, wondering what we were sharing in our subconscious realm. I shrugged, "Fair enough. But just so you know. My parents are back from New York. I can''t be away for long."


    Marshall shook his body while he thought of an idea. The whole n also had their thinking cap on. But as expected, the one who knew me most got the n first.


    Marshall inquired, "Do you remember that magic trick you performed in that party. The first one when you changed how that olddy looked."


    I bit my lip and nodded, "Uh-huh?"


    He went on, "Why don''t you do it again? I get a guy with simr figure and you just change his face to look like yours. He reces you at home and your family won''t know what''s happening while we are gone."


    I loved the idea I swear... But uhhh there was one problem, "What happens to his personality. I mean if he ain''t as awesome as me."


    My muse pointed at me and nodded with a grin, "Ahhhhh... But don''t worry. We''ll let him know of some stuff. Give him your diary. We cool."


    That was going to be embarrassing. He opens my diary to finds out all my stupid and pervetive thoughts. But it was better than giving my parents a clue that I was in a cult.


    I sighed after thought, "So... Who''s this guy?"


    Marshall immediately grinned and raised his hands happily, "This is the point when I go scouting."


    He went to a nearby chair I slumped into it, putting his head down as though he was about to meditate. Well, it''s a muse prayer thing.


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    After a moment, a guy appeared before us. He was dripping in his own sweat and wearing just a pair of sweatpants. He looked like my muse had gotten him from the gym. But I swear he did not have my figure.


    This dude stared at us six humans he could see and gasped in fear and confusion, "Where am.. where am I? Who are you people!" He looked from left to right and frowned even harder, "Wasn''t I at the gym just now." Hahhhhh! Said it! Gym!


    To be honest, the experience must have been very creepy for him. I mean if I was normal person and this happened to me, I would pass out. Like he even had the balls to ask questions. Marshall on the other hand didn''t realize that was rude. Invading in someone''s private life like that and disrupting whatever he was doing.


    He just watched me in analysis then faced the dude again, shaking his head, "Nahhh... Too tall."


    I agreed with a nod. He closed his eyes again, making the sweaty guy disappear. Soon after, another one appeared.


    What the...


    Okay Marshall had crossed it this time. This one was literally naked and covered in soap. Certainly from the shower, still closing his eyes and scrubbing without any knowledge he was not in his bathroom.


    Marshall peeled his eyes open, smirking at the dude and struggling not to burst outughing, or his prayer would be spoilt.


    Fred shook his head with a re, "Marshall! Really! Oh for Goodness sake."


    Okay now, my muse did snicker, his shoulders vibrating uncontrobly.


    Just a reminder, this guy was still scrubbing. The only normal ones in the room looked away in disgust.


    But the abnormal ones... You know who, Marshall and Clinton... Kept staring!


    The cheeky muse even beganmenting on his balls, "The dude''s got a round dick."


    On the other hand, my muse breathed in, trying his best to stopughing. He closed his eyes and gasped, "Privacy Clinton!" But when he opened them again, he sighted the balls and resumed hisughter again, "But you''re right. Oh he is definitely not recing Eddy."


    I wasn''t aware of the moment I started smiling. I mean this was madness, but fun. Imagine he hadn''te back....


    I stopped thinking and the muses stoppedughing when the bathing dude suddenly opened his eyes. This was bad.

 Chapter twenty two

    Chapter twenty-two


    I dropped my hands from my chest in worry and confusion, wondering what we were going to do now.


    I wasn''t the only one with my eyes wide, practically the whole n.


    Well as always, except Marshall.


    He snapped his fingers and the dude vanished away. Well that was graceful.


    Marshall tried some others and this went on for a while I even had to pick up coffee and watch the show. The guys meant to rece me were either too fat, too tall, too short... Or excessively weird. Like there was even one who came on with


    his lips pouted. Marshall just disrupted a kissing booth. Was there any limit to his invasion of privacy. Making random males teleport from wherever they were around the world just so he could find someone to rece me. Even making them leave all atrocity they were doing. Thest one was punching the air vigorously when he came by, crouching over.


    Seemed he really had someone annoying pinned to the floor and beating the hell outta him. Well that could wait and I wasn''t sorry for it.


    When he realized he wasn''t beating somebody, he bent upwards and stood up straight, gasping and analysing all six individuals he could see, "Who are you people? What''s happening?"


    We all mped up with a smirk and looked him up and down. He was just right, the height, stature, colour, size and pose. Everything... Was mine. What was left now was his face which I was going to take care of.


    I hadn''t still answered his question. Neither did I n to. Stalking up to him, I ced my hand on his shoulder and grinned, "I need you to act like me for a few days."


    It was after I said that I realized I was too straight to the point for someone this confused.


    He tilted his head with a big frown, "What?! Did you bring me here?"


    I pointed at him with a mischievous little snicker, "You can say that. Think of me as...." I looked at Marshall who mused an idea into my head. I resumed speech, "As a wizard! Yes.. a wizard who wants to make you rich for a small task." "Wizard?" He asked reasonably.


    My grin never left my face, as evil as it was, "Yes. Exactly. It''s all magic!" I did a thing with both my hands that was supposed to be some magician''s pose.


    He raised his chin but never kept his eyes off me, "Okay?" He nodded for me to continue.


    And continue I did, "I am in a little mess that I need to solve. Could you go home and pretend to be me for a few days... until I solve this.... Mess"


    He shrugged. Seemed it didn''t take long for him to get used to the existence of magic, "But how exactly? I look nothing like you."


    cing both hands on his shoulders, I smiled sweetly, "You can fight. That''s a start. And secondly, I have the magic here. If you agree to this, I can make you look something like me in less than two seconds."


    He analysed me for while, then the others, trying to make if this was a con or not. Still with that doubtful frown, he asked, "That still doesn''t make us alike. I mean you are some magical freak, I''m a store attendant ready to go into a fight with creepy customers."


    "So you were fighting with your very own customer, "it wasn''t part of the n but by God, I had to ask.


    He nodded, "Makes us so different you see."


    I got his weird point, making me fold my arms over my chest and think for a while.


    Marshall pped his forehead and rasped, "This is where your diaryes in."


    I nodded to my replica as though I thought of the n myself, "I''d teach you some things," he raised a brow making me correct myself, "many things I suppose. I could also hand you my diary and phone number if you aren''t satisfied. Anytime you get into a tight spot, you call me.


    He calmed down and tried to reason with me. However he still sighed softly, "I dunno mehnn. Doesn''t this seem weird to you?"


    "I''ll pay you," money always worked right. Gotta admit though it really seemed weird to me.


    He shook his head and shrugged for the millionth time, "How did you even find me?"


    "500 pounds," I tempted, trying to stop him from asking those questions.


    The dick still went on, "Who are you people?"


    "One grand," that was all I had to say to make this dude shut up and look at me in wonder.


    I repeated with my hands on his shoulders, "One whole grand."


    And then he fell for the temptation like I swore he would, "Where do I start?"


    "Good," I grinned. You don''t always need to know where the money is from before you take it.


    I put out my hand. After a moment, my diary teleported from home and appeared on it.


    "Woah!" The dude gasped, "How did you do that?"


    Was I really gonna start exining the whole magic thing to a mere human, "Just concentrate on what you have to do. Impress me, "I shrugged, "and I may double your pay."


    He snickered, cing his hands on his waist. After looking at me for a while, he shook his head, "Well you''vee to the right person."


    I hoped so.


    Afterwards, we stood before therge mirror in the room, covered his face with a cloth and closed my eyes. I don''t know exactly who muses prayed to but I just prayed. Some seconds after, when I had taken the cloth off his face, it looked like I was looking into a mirror. My very own identical twin in a stranger I knew not as little as his name.


    He seemed to gawk at his new image in the mirror, touching his face to see if it was real, "I don''t believe it."


    Neither did I. At the party, my muse was helping. But now it seemed hosts had some abilities as well on their own.


    "I''d turn you back to normal soon as I''m back," I assured him.


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    He frowned at me, then analysed himself in the mirror one more time before saying, "Do I really wanna be turned back to normal?"From N?velDrama.Org.


    I nced at his reflection and shook my head, "Darn it! You''re right. I''m too cute."


    "Meaning I can keep the face?"


    "No!" I rushed to say, "that''s my pretty face you scum."


    He smiled a bit and went through my diary, turning to face all of us and saying, "Okay I''m ready."


    Mehhnn, gotta admit, I liked this dude. He learned fast, "What''s your name?"


    He replied with a wink, "Edward Hanson."


    My friends cheered while I smiled at him. But we weren''t done, were we?


    I tipped my head up to him again, "How old are you?"


    "Seventeen," he replied but noticed I was still not satisfied with his answer. Quickly, he went through my diary again and looked at me with a smile, then added, "-ish."


    At that, I smiled and nodded, "Good job. Now... What''s your role in life?"


    He shrugged nonchntly and answered, "Normal, stupid, nerd, underdog."


    Now for thest and ultimate question I could swear he was so gonna fail.


    I eyed him and rushed my words, "How.... Do you pee?"


    He replied with the same speed and a smirk, "A leg on the seat."


    Ahhhhh, "I like you." I told him.


    Now heughed shortly, "This is so gonna be fun. When am I going?"


    I thought and nced at Fred, "I think it should be now. Go through that diary some more, would you."


    He nodded.


    Fred got my message and snapped his fingers. At that, he teleported my recement to my room.


    Now that''s settled. Oxford here wee.


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    This part was supposed to be some dramatic scene close if it was a movie.


    But Chris just had to spoil it and keep talking, "You pee with a leg on the toilet seat? Mehnnn you sure we ain''t brothers?"


    "You both are stupid." Marshall sighed and began blowing walking away.


    However, I gave Chris a fist bump.


    ***


    Just before our trip, we all went shopping. Hosts and.... Muses?


    Well ghosts also needed some things huh. The bill was on Fred. Somehow, he was rich.


    The mall in Norwich was grand and ssic.


    You needed to see us try new clothes on. Those that suited and those that didn''t. Like looking at little Edna put on a pair of baggy shorts that were three times her size, and Chris in dark sunsses. Okay that was even scarier than a nagging husband.


    The only other muse topete being hot with Clinton was mine of course; Marshall. He had this suit on and arge flowing coat above all.


    While he stared into the mirror, I came by his side and patted him supportively.


    He just smiled and looked at me, "Please take off that pair of shoes. Makes you look like an elf."


    I looked down on what I had chosen, then back at his entire outfit. Shit! What the hell was my problem.


    Ang had the best taste when it came to the girls. I mean look at that bra.... And there I was again, peeping as she was trying new clothes on. That''s when I noticed the bra wasn''t an outfit she chose.


    ra gave me a spank there, "If you wanna talk to her, you go face her. You chicken."


    I wasn''t really buying anything, just going around looking at what the rest were buying.


    And here goes Anthony being stupid again. What did he need a million pairs of socks for when he chose no other outfit to wear them with. Just.... Socks!!


    I know who you''ve all been waiting for. I reached Clinton. Well he possessed David so he could just be able to annoy humans with his visible self.


    He was with the sales person. He would apud a particr attire stacked deep in the shelf and tell the man to get it out.


    After minutes of the sales man faking smiles and trying to get the outfit out, the cheeky muse would turn around and find something else he liked better which was also stacked deep somewhere in another shelf of clothes. Then the entire cycle went on again. To me, cheeky was an understatement. I''d refer to such people as a pain in the ass.


    But they all were my friends, and I was never ever going to leave them like that again. And this time, I mean it.

 Chapter twenty three

    Chapter twenty-three


    We boarded a ne with six tickets. The muses however, hitched a free ride aboard. I mean who would pay for a flight when you could always sneak into the ne and not get seen? Huh?


    During the short flight to Oxford, Ang was my seat partner. The most interesting girl I had ever met.


    I mean I had a thing for Edna but Ang.... She was just good vibe itself. Telling me bout all her past boyfriends who ra helped her deal with just cos they touched her with their shadows. I''m exaggerating. But that exined why her rtionships never reallysted. She made guys scared of her. Well, her muse did. But I wasn''t scared. On the contrary, I found her attractive. It was fun.


    The cheeky muse strikes once again! He would go to the airne buffet and steal muffins for Edna. That somehow, a little bit, gave me a tip of jealousy.


    Then from wherever Marshall was making out with ra, he would appear to me andfort me, having sensed the feeling.


    Once he patted my shoulder and said, "Rx. I swear to you Clinton is an amateur when ites to making out with humans. If we are sessful and return to Norwich, you know I can get youid every single night."


    He winked and I smirked knowingly at him because I knew he was excitedly right. I mean Marshall had flirty blood running through his veins as well.


    When we arrived at Oxford a few minutes past noon, I gawked at the city I was born in. I mean no wonder the fallen loved it. It was even cuter than Edna.


    Fred got us a mind-blowing home since we could not just arrive at the ce at start kissing the viins'' asses. The house was pure pleasure and luxury. Where did ghosts even get money. I don''t still know how he did it till now but all I know is he paid for the house and made the agent hand us the keys. That didn''t matter did it. It was our home now. So we go in and give it a try.


    ***


    Inded hard on the couch with no ns to get up. I was very exhausted, noticing my eyes closed slowly until I heard a voice from behind me, "No Eddy. Shower first, then dinner. Before a rest."


    I grumbled a bit, turning tiredly to him with a groan. I even put my googly eyes on, still it didn''t work on him. He just walked away and scoffed.


    Sighs... It was good wasn''t it.


    Not long after, I let water run down my body in the bathroom, came out after the bath and joined everyone in the dining.


    A lot of interesting food was on the table, much to my excitement and curiosity. I had topliment, "Wow! Who made these?"


    And heavens knew it was thest name I would have expected, "Clinton," Edna proudly said.


    With the potato chips halfway up my mouth, I pushed the te of food in disgust away.


    The cheeky one chuckled and ced his hands on the table, supporting his weight, "Oh... I smell jealousy."


    "Oh no," I defended, "I just lost my appetite. You cook?"


    Jessica dered from my left in a somewhat girly manner for the first time. Fred was doing a good job on her, "Try it! It''s nice, really!"


    I frowned at the te, sticking my tongue out just to annoy the dude. My hands shook as I went for the fork. Using it, I grabbed some spaghetti and closed my eyes, forcing it into my mouth. At that, I frowned some more and looked at at where he stood, not wanting to make the amazing taste obvious to him.


    He still guessed so anyways, "Better than your mom''s?"


    I shook my head and spoke with my mouth full, "In your dreams. Wake up."


    He waved my statement away and turned round the table to where his host sat, "Edna love. Can I feed you."


    She perked her head up happily and gave him a wide grin, "Yes please."


    I raised a brow, frowning seriously at them. I mean we had a father figure in our midst for crying out loud.


    Fred gulped down his wine, shaking his head in frustration, "You teenagers are crazy."


    We snickered at that. I was surprised he even had some tolerance for all our balderdash.. Including making the naked guy appear when we searched for my recement.


    Speaking of that, how was he even doing with that? And again, we really needed to speed things up a bit so I could go back home.


    "So where is this ce the fallen stay?" I asked with a sigh.


    The entire table dropped their cutlery down and gave Marshall their full attention. My muse seemed to have been lost in his thoughts before then.


    Consequently, Chris replied for him, "It looked like an abandoned school when we went there. Buildings are crumbled and crazy. Looked like a battle field if you ask me." "And why would Amaya pick such a ce?" I asked meaningfully.


    Marshall shrugged and said with no clear emotion on his face, "Dunno. Maybe it''s just her being negative again."


    "In that case she''s really a brave one," Ke dered much to Marshall''s disdain.


    He dropped down his wine and chuckled, "The brave one? I''d call it pride if you ask me."


    Fred ced a hand over Marshall''s, consequently clearing all sadistic thoughts he had brewing, "It''s dangerous. No matter what we have to be careful."


    All the hosts turned to Fred and gawked at what he had just said.


    David justughed, "Why would something like that be dangerous for us?"


    Having a muse in us was supposed to make us invincible right?


    Free sighed and stated, "No like I''m serious. Danger that can actually hurt muses in hosts."


    There was a bit of silence as we all tried swallowing reality. Meaning there''s a degree of attack that we are vulnerable to. That was new, "Okay why didn''t you say this before?"


    The mood became gloomy as the muses stared at us silently.


    Marshall braced his elbows on the table and leaned forward to us, "Look. Some hosts have left us before because of this piece of information. It''s not our fault. We are just ghosts, and we were considering the same thing before letting you guys know."Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.


    Edna came from beside me, sighing and speaking for all, "We are in this together. If we are to lose, we lose together. Same goes for winning. And you guys should never think that. Okay?"


    They smiled and nodded, with Fred being the proudest of all of us, "Alright kids. We appreciate. Now everyone, straight to bed. Tomorrow''s a big night, cos it''s gonna define whether or not the muse society lives on or gets washed away." That made it sound even more serious than I thought. Marshall.. Clinton.... All of them. We were going to win. If not for anything, maybe for our youthful craziness to go on.


    When we all rose from the table to retire, Clinton clicked his fingers, making everything on the table vanish, as good as new.


    He then walked to Edna and handed her a muffin, kissing her head protectively.


    Yunno the way those two behaved, one would think they were one. I think they would have been if they weren''t so different.


    Then I turned to my other side and watched Anthony walk up to Ke saying, "Hey... Can you Uhmm, stay with me tonight? I think I''ll really need somepany."


    His muse smiled, bumping his shoulder, "Always ready to help sweetie."


    Okay I was getting annoyingly jealous. Like what was all this about. It was as if they all had me in mind while acting all loving. You know one fact about life...?


    You always see happy couples when you are single and happy singles when you mingle. I got that now.


    And Marshall knew of course what was in my head.


    In fact, he came to me and put his hand across my shoulder, smiling at his girlfriend wickedly, "Hey ra! Any new packages for me?"


    She got the message and walked up to us, taking Marshall''s hand in hers, "A whole lot sweet heart."


    I mean he was my muse, he was supposed to have my back.


    I turned to him and snarled, "You are a monster."


    Heughed, turning me to face him and gripping my arms, "Sorry sport. Would love to help. But I got no girl for you except from the gang."


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    I opened my mouth to mention a name he so damn knew I was going to mention.


    At that, he shut me up and replied, "And I''m not talking about Edna."


    I sighed and kept quiet sadly, watching him continue, "Clinton won''t let anyone near his host."


    I got that clearly. But what was I even doing? It was an impulsive crush like this thatnded me into my first dreadful rtionship. And I don''t think I was ready for another girl doing that to me. Gang or no gang!


    And there he was again... Reading my mind. He seemed serious this time and said, "You were always ready to mingle Eddy. Except this time it''s with a home trained chick."


    What was he even tryna get to. Was HOME TRAINED written on their faces or what?


    I looked around at my friends, analysing the female hosts carefully.


    Edna... Out of bounds.


    Jessica ... Damn. As hot as she was, she was cranky alright. And hot headed. She would certainly beat someone as peaceful as I am one day. So out of the question. David... Ohhh. Sorry that''s a guy.


    Ang.... I looked at her, trying to think of every possible reason she was going to be a bad choice. She had my madness. She was the definition of fun, and crazy. She was the cutest in the gang. And certainly apanion for everyone. Like duhh, I''m talking about the direct opposite of Marshall''s own girlfriend who somehow he fell in love with.


    At that thought of mine, Marshall spanked my head. I mean I almostughed.


    Facing him finally, I shrugged, "Ang''s fine."


    "My Ang," ra asked.


    I red at her and raised a finger, "Okay you sound so gay right now."


    Marshall kept quiet, obviously supporting her and giving me this pained stare, "Dunno mehnnn."


    I frowned deeply and mused to him so ra wouldn''t hear, "You were the one offering a chick right? She''s the best I can think of and now your badass girlfriend has a problem with it. How did you even fall in love with her?" He grinned and mused back, "Remember Eddy. You are my pr opposite."


    Yeah cool. Doesn''t mean that bitch behind him was sweet.


    He shook his head slightly and smiled at me, "Right. I''ll talk to Ang."

 Chapter twenty four

    Chapter twenty four


    Okay! It was girlfriend hunting!


    I went to my room and looked out the balcony. On Ang''s own terrace, she stood with my muse, and he seemed to be flirting with her rather than convincing her to be my next girlfriend. In the dark of night, light from her room bathed the both of them. And it was clearly visible the way she chuckled at his every word and Marshall throwing gestures as if he was in a circus. What was he doing anyway.


    After the circus was over, Marshall hugged her and pointed into her room. She nced at him, smiled and ran towards where he pointed.


    .....


    This is me being confused. Did he forget the n Orr...


    I sighed, looking up to her terrace again and noticing Marshall was still there alone. He looked towards me and grinned, musing to me at the same time, "Am I still a bad muse?" Was that for me?


    I moved backwards in even more confusion because I did not know what he was talking about. By the time I looked towards him again, he had vanished.


    Raising a brow, I shook my head and turned to face my bed when my door swung open. And holy moly, Ang stood by it, gave me one darn... Hot snarl and ran into the room. Before I could understand that Marshall''s flirting was really him convincing her, she pounced upon me and we fell hard on my bed.


    Light fades.... How sweet....


    ***


    I looked out of the ck Maserati and analysed the school gate. So the fallen used here as their hideout huh! Chris''s battle field was an understatement. It was abandoned alright.


    And why would two bodyguards stand before an abandoned school. Jordy Hardin and his paranoia again. It was very very obvious there was something about this school. The first set of viins I''ve seen without wit.


    I pushed the button on the hearing piece on my ear so I could talk to the rest of the gang. Only God knew where they were.


    I swirled my head around, "I''m at the school. And it''s even guarded. Is it just me or are these people nuts?"


    Marshall replied first, "Desperate asses. What a bummer! Now who knows how to pass those guys without the fallen noticing?"


    He was on a building a few feet away from me, a tall one indeed. And as always, he had his hands in his pockets. I wonder the great view that building gave to him. I smirked, watching him stare down at the school before he continued, "Unless..... We possess them."


    My girlfriend was right beside the school in a restaurant, sipping coffee. I nced at her and winked, couldn''t help remembering what happened the previous night. Just so you know, there was no sex. Just forey before Marshall barged into my room and spoilt the fun as always. Screw that dude.


    "Shut up Eddy, "I heard Marshall tell me through the hearing piece.


    Ang smiled at me and watched me over the brim of her cup, "Or we could distract them."


    David had a Janitor''s uniform on, picking trash up around the area. He stopped for a while and looked Marshall, "Can we just teleport to the inside?"


    Marshall replied to him with a rasp, "And what about these fools outside? We can''t just go in without taking care of them."


    There was a bit of silence as we thought of a possible way to be safe in there.N?velDrama.Org is the owner.


    In the mean time, Jessica steered her bike round and round the area. At a point, she parked and took off her helmet. That was one cranky bitch. "Where''s my muse?" She asked with frustration.


    I listened for where Fred was. We hadn''t seen him ever since we left home.


    "I''m here Jessy," he said with a sigh. Sounded like he had really been busy.


    You know what. Considering all we''ve put into this survival mission, we were going to be all shattered if this chance didn''t work out.


    Last time, the muses just had to lose their guard. Charming. I heard Marshall groan at my thoughts.


    "I''m still home, "Fred told us.


    That made sense. We were risking lives spying on a territory that was forbidden and our leader was home, possibly cooking up breakfast because he is the leader.


    His host shook her head and took off her dark sses, "So why exactly are we supposed to wear these shades?"


    "Put that back on, "Fred scolded, "I''m trying to make strategies right here."


    I raised a brow as Ibed my hair. Making strategies didn''t need sses did it, "Exin how those two are rted."


    He sighed and answered, "Each of them have cameras you pesky teenagers."


    At that, I took mine off and tossed it away.


    "Edward!" He screamed through the hearing piece.


    Iughed slowly, taking a bite off my burger, "We are in a lion''s den, watching the actual event. And you prefer to hook cameras to our sses and have your fun at home. Come here or no TV for you."


    I heard him groan loudly and my museugh hysterically. When he was done being a dad, he teleported from home to the school''s gate, facing the two bodyguards.


    Fred raised an arm and clenched a fist. Consequently, both men vanished from the spot.


    He faced my car afterwards and gave me a glower, "I see what you kids had trouble with."


    I ignored him and justughed some more.


    "Where are our love birds?" He continued while he looked around and realised we were just a few around the area.


    I was the first to understand the pair he was talking about, "Hah! You mean Clinton and Edna? Look straight up."


    And that he did. The love birds were actually on a crane. There was nothing I wasn''t going to see in my life. And as expected, they were actually acting all smoochy again. I saw Clinton take his hand up to his ear and smile, then heard him say, "Hey people."


    "Hi, " I replied.


    So eight found. Four to go. And looking at David, he was about to say something from where he stood, "And where is my muse?"


    Then my eyes went up again to the crane, at the cheeky muse and his host.


    Edna took his hair away from his face and replied to us, "In the gym."


    Wow! Why did everybody choose to be annoying today! What an awesome time to gym. And when did they start having gyms in the ghost world, "Wait.... Human gym?"


    Marshall hadn''t still quit his solemn pose and look. He seemed more than ready for this, in an identical ck overall just likest time. Virtually, we all were in the same outfit, except Fred who preferred a long, ck coat over ck overalls. Never missing a chance to define the age difference huh? I mean he never even fought anyways. If so, he won''t have that coat on.


    "Like I know right, " Marshall mused to me, "Always ying dad."


    He said this one aloud when we were done musing, "Nahhh. He possessed a human. So whether the human likes it or not, he has to gym cos the evil muse wants to. Isn''t that right Chris?"


    I smirked and listened for his reply. And there it came.


    "One hundred and fifty five, one hundred and fifty six.... Hey Marshall what was that," Chris said with gasps.


    Wow.. one hundred and fifty six what...? That guy was strong, and crazy.


    Marshall ignored him and asked Fred, "Hey boss. When are we gonna go crash in there."


    Fred adjusted his coat, fixing his hands in the pockets, "In three, two, one... Hey there''s still three of us left."


    "Yeah..." Marshall creased his forehead and scratched his head in anxiety, "Yeahhhh... Ke, Anthony. And... My girlfriend. Hey rabell."


    And there was her annoying voice again, "It''s about time."


    Marshall rasped, clearly to annoy me, "We are so sorry sweetheart."


    Oh I wasn''t sorry. How did he even fall in love with her?


    The smart one came into the group call for the first time, "We are in the bus."


    "We have a bus?!" Ang and I chorused.


    I saw Fred kicking some dance moves as he replied, "Oh you bet we do. I got itst night."


    I ced my hand upon the steering wheel and just.... frowned. And what was that supposed to mean, "Hey Marshall. Do ghosts also use the Pound currency?"


    He justughed in reply as I continued, "Because Fred has been shopping ever since he came here and hasn''t cared to tell us how."


    And our boss was still dancing!


    "Apart from being nonchnt, I''m rich," he replied.


    Yeah sure...


    "You were giving orders?" The gasping Chris reminded him.


    The boss rubbed his face absent mindedly and said, "Oh yeah. Three, two, one. All of you, teleport down here now."


    And that we did, I grabbed my burger and joined him where he stood using teleportation.


    Ang dropped her coffee cup and did the same. Even the two crane freaks obeyed at that instant.


    Then everyone else. This was gonna be serious.


    When the whole dozen had appeared, two other men in tuxedos came from the adjacent street. They looked like Jordy Hardin''s men to me. We all took a pose to strike until Edna waved us off, "They are just recements. I hired them to stand in for the ones we took out."


    Relief....


    n and Thomas took their position as recements and nodded to us.


    We were good to go.


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