Adam and Charlotte left Jerry’s house, now standing outside near the road—his back to her.

“So… your dad. I kind of know a little based on what I learned in my investigation.” Charlotte sighed, walking around Adam to face him directly. “You up for telling me more?”

Adam did not answer directly, yet nodded slowly as he began to head back toward his house. Charlotte was still for a moment before swiftly catching up—her pace matching his.

“My dad, huh…? Well, he works for some company—I don’t even know what it’s called. He’s always gone—is rarely home. When he is, we barely say a word to each other.”

“Hmm… So you’ve never had a close relationship?” Charlotte rubbed the side of her neck anxiously. 

Adam nodded. “Recently, ever since… well, earlier this year, it’s like he vanished. Money’s still sent to me, and the bills are paid, but…” He shook his head, cursing at himself.

“I think I get it. You don’t have to say anything else right now, that’s fine.” Charlotte patted Adam’s shoulder, causing him to flinch. “I’m sorry, should I have not…?”

“Oh, you’re fine. You hand’s cold as hell, though. Even with my shirt on, it’s like you placed an ice cube on me.”

“Right…” Charlotte looked down at her palm. “I’m a ghost… Listen, Adam. There’s something you need to know going forward.”

“What now?”

“When I need to sleep to recharge my energy… I need to really sleep. I’ve been doing a lot ever since yesterday—transforming into my true self twice, and fighting you. I’ll probably be completely out of it for… a day or two? At least that…” 

Adam noticed Charlotte had already begun to get groggy—almost tripping on her own feet. “Well, I guess you can stay at my place and rest. You don’t have an actual place to go, right?”

“I… I usually fade away to rest. When I ‘wake up,’ I’m usually in the spot where I vanished. So… I often hide in the woods or something.”

“But you were sleeping like a normal human being earlier?”

“Yeah… I seemed to keep my form stable enough to remain in this world. Is it the World Mirror’s doing…? That was rhetorical—I know you wouldn’t know.”

“In any case, just stay with me. Like I said, my dad’s never there, so we shouldn’t have to worry about that. I doubt you’d want to sleep in his bed, and the couch sucks, so… “ Adam took a deep breath. “Listen, this is hard to say… I’m allowing you t-to use my bed.”

“…I know I lied in it earlier, but I sort of… passed out on the spot last night once I brought you home. Sharing a bed is—”

“No… I’m relinquishing m-my bed completely. It’s yours. I’ll… use the shitty couch, I guess…”

Charlotte stared at Adam in concern. “…This really is hard for you. It looks like you’re about to cry.”

“I’m already crying on the inside, don’t you worry.” 

“But…” Charlotte stopped. Adam turned to her as her gaze lowered toward the ground. “Thank you… I…” She stuttered, growing much more bashful. “I-I-I’m sorry about attacking you… seriously.”

Adam waved the check she had given him in her face. “Don’t worry, apology accepted.”

Charlotte stomped her right foot hard, switching rapidly to an angry mood. “Is money really all it takes for you!? I did something inexcusable! I-I know it was to get your power out, but—”

“Relax,” Adam said bluntly. He looked around them—a cool summer breeze rustling the leaves of the trees next to them—the same trees that belonged to the forest they quarreled in, north of the town. 

“I understand why you did what you did. I try to look deeper into the meaning of things, cause most of the world is too lazy to even try.”

Charlotte could only stare at Adam as the wind blew right through her. She looked down at her body—although mostly solid, she sometimes had things like this happen. Unable to feel its temperature, the gales left a peculiar feeling in her—one that could not be described to a living being. 

“If you can understand an unorthodox being such as myself… then…” Charlotte sighed, walking right through Adam—spooking the hell out of him.

“H-Hey, careful!” Adam looked around frantically to make sure nobody had noticed what she had done. His teeth began to chatter while his eyes glowed for a brief moment.

“We’re fine, don’t worry,” Charlotte assured him. “Anyway, let’s get back. I’m exhausted.”

Later on that day, Adam had messaged Brandon to meet up with him. He was sitting at a booth inside a diner, known as Mona’s Quality Burgers. Being close to his house, Adam usually frequented the place. He shuffled through the songs that were listed on the tabletop jukebox—all of which were too old for his tastes. 

Taking a sip of apple soda—gleefully grinning at the taste—Adam stared inside his wallet. After cashing the check Charlotte gave him, he could not believe how fat it had become. He had left the majority of the money at his house, yet he kept a few hundred requid on his person.

Adam noticed that Brandon had walked in. He was walking over to Adam’s table at a slow pace, seemingly exhausted. 

“Oh, I forgot. You had practice today, didn’t you?”

Brandon sat opposite of Adam, head hitting the table. “Yeah, after my freaking dad kept me up half the night making me help him out with some car.” Brandon let out a tremendous sigh, echoing off the table. “Honestly, kicking that stupid black and white ball around is therapeutic.”

“Therapeutic, huh?” Adam paused. “Oh, wait! That reminds me, I should schedule another appointment with Jerry’s dad. Although… I gotta proceed carefully.” 

“You’ve gotta frequent that place, don’t ya? Cause of your situation?” Brandon mumbled.

“Yeah… They won’t let me speak to an actual therapist, which is scummy, but at least it’s Thomas. He helps… I think?”

Adam took out his phone to check the date, only to be reminded that his screen was cracked.

“Dude, what happened to your phone!?” Brandon asked. Adam looked at him, nervously. He wanted to tell his friend what had happened the night before, yet he was waiting for an opportunity after they ate—a non-public location preferable.

“I, uh… dropped it. On the…” Adam looked to his side toward the floor. “On the floor!” He pointed at the red tiles that were shiny enough to see one’s own reflection.

“Did you drop it off a freaking skyscraper? I didn’t think that kind of phone you have would break that easily!”

“It was… a very powerful floor.” Adam put his damaged phone back in his pocket. “Anyway, I have to go get another one. Probably going to head to Nexus City, seeing as though no stores in town really sell them. Jerry mentioned you should probably get a new one, as well?”

“Right… I would love to.” Brandon sighed, leaning back in his seat. “Money’s not looking too hot at the moment.”

“Well, as your friend—” Adam pulled out his wallet, showing Brandon the cash inside. “I think we can both afford a nice one with this much.”

“Woah!” Brandon almost jumped into the ceiling. “Where did you get that much cash out of the blue!?”

“Well, you see…” Adam pondered what excuse he could say to Brandon for the time being. He figured out that, in a way, he could be truthful here. But more importantly, he could mess with Brandon.

“I got it from a girl I slept with last night.”

Brandon did not say a thing. His face was frozen, no ounce of emotion able to rise to the surface. Adam waited, slowly taking a sip of his soda. Several moments passed before words were finally able to escape from Brandon’s mouth.

“You. Tell. Me. All. The. Details. Now.”

Adam sat his glass down on the table. “Obviously, I was joking. Sort of. Eh, anyway—”

“Sort of!? What the hell is that supposed to mean!?”

Adam raised his hand in front of Brandon’s face, trying to get him to calm down. Brandon did, noticing that Adam’s expression grew serious.

“We can’t talk about it here, but… a lot happened last night. I went to Jerry’s earlier to talk to him about it a bit. And I want to tell you too, of course.”

Brandon let out a sigh. “Well, it’s absolutely out of character for you to do something like that in the first place. Now, something you went to Jerry to talk about… something with a girl… and money… hmm…” He was trying his best to connect the dots in his head, but there was no way he would be able to do it. 

“Let’s go for a walk, Brandon. I’ll tell you about everything.”

Brandon could not help but feel nervous toward what Adam was going to say.

“…Y-You’re not part of a gang now, are you…?”

Adam’s glare—one that tended to appear when Brandon said stupid things—answered the question for him.

Next: Chapter 11

Previous: Chapter 9

Table of Contents

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE HEROES OF REQUIEM ON PATREON:

Novagirl93

Adam and Charlotte were outside walking within Prelude. His house was on the east side of town, while their destination was on the west. For the time being, both of them decided to leave the situation with the woods alone. Charlotte managed to check and confirm that everything was, in fact, mysteriously restored, like their fight never occurred.

“I would investigate it further, but my energy right now… There’s no way I could fight back if some conflict arose.” Charlotte cursed at herself. 

“It’s cooled down a lot since yesterday. You don’t seem as crazy wearing a sweater. Still a bit, but not as bad.” Adam commented, obviously steering the subject away from the matter.

“I can’t feel temperature, so it doesn’t really matter to me either way…” Charlotte was examining her clothing. “I could always steal something else to wear.”

“Steal…?” Adam asked under his breath. “Anyway, we have to do something about these memories you’ve lost.”

“And you think Jerry would help? I know he was the valedictorian of our class, but I’m not sure if that means much.”

“He’ll get us on the right track, at least. He can explain everything about ghosts much better than I can. Explaining… It’s in their damn blood after all…” Adam muttered the last sentence. He seemed to begin pondering something. “The Ouderkirk family. It was for sure in our curriculum, but nothing aside from the basics. I tried to do a report on them once, but there wasn’t enough info to make anything good.”

“Probably more than I know. I genuinely don’t remember much of anything. Aside from knowing about my powers and the World Mirror. Everything else feels like it was lost somehow…”

“How long… have you been around, exactly? And what have you been doing all of these years?”

“I can’t really give you a precise amount of time… it’s as if I was a newborn. You hardly remember your earlier memories but begin to become more aware of your existence as you grow up. About a hundred and twenty years ago, I’d say I started to notice things around me.”

Charlotte stopped walking. Adam could hear the strain forming in her voice.

“Still… I just stood there. I couldn’t interact with anything around me. It was as if I was frozen in place. Anywhere my body decided to appear. Countless locations all over Requiem. I’ve seen so much.” Charlotte paused and started to look around.

“It was only a few years ago when I was finally able to move on my own… and I’ve been attempting to figure out what I can, with the power I have. I recalled memories of the World Mirror… and how it’s supposed to—somehow—help me… So, I put my time and effort into searching for it.” 

Adam sighed. “Well, we have a lot to figure out, it seems. Let’s take it one step at a time. We don’t need to wear ourselves out too quickly.” 

“You’re right,” Charlotte agreed. “Although it is frustrating.”

“That’s life for you. It’s frustrating.” Adam stated bluntly. 

A few minutes later, the two had entered a large two-story yellow house—the home of Adam’s friend, Jerry Peck. They met him in his room, where the spiky red-haired boy was working at his desk. There were five large monitors on the surface, which took up about half the room. The actual computer was massive, lit up in bright blue light, and took residence underneath the desk.

Adam took a seat on Jerry’s bed, which was difficult to do. The rest of the room was cluttered with many electronic devices and chunks of metal—bed included. Charlotte remained at the door, unable to figure out how to walk inside in the first place.

“No need to be shy,” Adam beckoned. “Nothing in here will hurt you… I think.”

Charlotte slowly nodded, walking carefully around a red toolbox on the ground. Adam moved a laptop-looking device over so she could sit down next to him.

“So, what can I do for you guys?” Jerry turned around—his hazel eyes now focused on them. “I didn’t know you two were friends?”

Adam rubbed the side of his neck. “Well, let’s see. How to explain this? There were some… events that transpired last night. And, we need to figure some things out.”

“By… ‘events,’ what do you mean, exactly…?” Jerry narrowed his eyes.

“Not what you’re thinking.” Adam sighed. “Look, I don’t know how to explain this that well. So, just… Charlotte, do something to show him?”

“I can do that,” Charlotte responded. She took a look around Jerry’s room, figuring out what to do. After a moment, she looked to the side of Adam’s head. Shrugging, the ghost girl put her arm right through it. 

Jerry’s eyes lit up immediately. As Adam jumped back from the awkward sensation going through his temple, Jerry shot up and grabbed Charlotte’s arm.

“NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY! DID YOU JUST DO WHAT I THINK YOU JUST DID!?”

Charlotte answered the question by pulling her arm away, phasing right out of Jerry’s hands. 

“This… this sensation!” Jerry curled his fingers, putting great focus into the coldness he now felt. “After all these years, I’ve finally met a ghost! And it was you, Charlotte!? How? How?”

“Well, she’s not an ordinary ghost, to begin with,” Adam stated.

“Well, obviously! There’s no natural way your average ghost could completely act like how she’s acted.” Jerry raised his finger as if he was a teacher. Adam could tell the beast was about to be unleashed.

“Ah, shit. Well, this is what we came here for…”

“Ghosts were confirmed to be entirely possible, but there are limits…” Jerry started giggling, almost uncontrollably. Adam believed that his friend was perfectly capable of becoming a mad scientist.

“What would those limits be?” Charlotte asked, somewhat concerned about who they decided to come to for information.

“Where do we begin…” Jerry rubbed his hands together. “Let’s see… when it comes to the phantons within us, they don’t necessarily disappear after one dies.” Jerry pointed toward his window, which Charlotte just took notice of, considering it was hiding behind the computer monitors. “They can do certain things. The event that happens most of the time is that they rise and head upward toward the sky.”

“To… to heaven?” Charlotte was intrigued that such a thing could have been discovered to exist.

“Well, we’re not sure what it does exactly. We do know that in between the exosphere and thermosphere, the phantons form a sort of barrier referred to as Xavier’s Ceiling.”

“—Named after the guy who discovered the phanton, Xavier Ouderkirk, in 1959,” Adam added nonchalantly, glancing over at Charlotte. 

“Precisely!” Jerry gave Adam a thumbs up. “What happens within this barrier is totally up for debate, however. It does not seem to affect technology at all, as we’ve been able to launch rockets successfully. It’s peculiar, as normally there can certainly be disruptions due to phantonic interference.” Jerry sighed. “Technology also cannot get any specific readings on the dang thing, unfortunately. We can just detect where it is, as we can track the phantons that leave the Earth’s surface.” 

Charlotte was entirely focused on Jerry’s explanation, becoming enthralled in learning about what he was discussing. 

“Well, I’m sure that is informative for her. But how about what happens with those phantons that don’t leave?” Adam asked.

“Yeah… those phantons still need a lot of research. But what we do know is that they like to—well—create ghosts. The phantons can travel to anywhere the deceased person had been in their lifetime. They then proceed to sort of ‘re-create’ events of that person’s life; that’s the most common thing to happen. It’s referred to as a ‘residual occurrence.’” 

Jerry pointed at Charlotte. “Now, with you…” Jerry paused for a moment and let out a sudden squeal. “I can’t believe I’m actually conversing with a ghost, this is the greatest day of my life!”

“Well, I’m glad you are enjoying your first encounter with a ghost,” Adam stated sarcastically. Jerry looked at him in a questioning matter, but he shook his head. “I’ll get to that part soon.”

“Anyway, continuing on. Charlotte—in your case, you would, for sure, be at least considered something known as an ‘intelligent occurrence.’ This is when the phantons can create an entity that is able to do whatever it wants. There is also a massive increase in phantonic power compared to a residual occurrence.”

“She’s plenty powerful, that’s for sure.” Adam winced in remembrance of the pain. “That freaking hurt a lot.”

“What? Did she attack you or something?” Jerry seemed concerned. 

“Yep, right after she kidnapped me,” Adam stated, rather bluntly.

Jerry stared at his friend. “What the hell happened last night!?” 

Charlotte stood up, stretching her body. “He’s right, regarding the power thing. I think it would be simpler to show you.”

Realizing what Charlotte was about to do, Adam grabbed a pillow off of Jerry’s bed and held it up for protection. The azure aura lit up around her body, although nowhere near as powerful as the night prior. Jerry was staring in complete awe as Charlotte revealed her true form to him. 

He fell to his knees, taking hold of Charlotte’s hands. She looked down at him in confusion while Adam lowered the pillow he was holding up.

“My god, you’re an Ouderkirk!? Absolutely amazing! This day…” Tears had begun to fall down Jerry’s face.

“All right, buddy. Easy now.” Adam stood up and got Jerry back on his feet. He turned around and looked at his desk. All of the monitors were glitching out; the images unrecognizable. 

Wiping his tears, Jerry picked up a device that looked like a tablet. He tapped it furiously, wanting to get something to work.

“Thank goodness this is still operational… here we go!” Jerry analyzed the tablet in silence; his mouth slowly opening. “My god… these readings! Adam, if she has this much power and she attacked you, how did—”

Jerry looked up at Adam and stopped talking when he noticed his friend’s eyes. They were glowing precisely as they did the night prior.

“Adam? What… what is that?” Jerry pointed at Adam’s face.

“What are you talking about?” Adam was confused. Jerry tapped the tablet a few more times and showed the screen to him. It was a camera, pointed in his direction. Adam was able to see his own eyes glowing for the very first time.

“What the… hell? Is-Is this the—”

“That is a sign that the World Mirror is active, yes,” Charlotte answered Adam’s question before he could finish it.

“What’s a ‘World Mirror’?” Jerry asked.

“It’s why she freaking attacked me last night…” Adam responded, still staring at his eyes. “Apparently, I have some weird-ass power. Not sure if it can be considered a Concept or not…” He let out a loud sigh. “And this kidnapper right here has been waiting around to find it.”

Charlotte nodded. “Yes. Most of my memories seem to be missing. All I’m aware of is my Ouderkirk heritage and the fact that the World Mirror can help me.”

“Adam… World Mirror…” Jerry seemed to be rooted in thought. “Your memories missing… something doesn’t seem right. My dad’s been working with you for a while now, Adam, to figure out just what the issue was with you not having phantons.” He folded his arms. “Is this why…?”

“We have no idea… It’s why we wanted to see what you thought. If I’m gonna be honest with you—”

“You don’t really want my dad to know, right?” Jerry smirked at him. Adam nodded in confirmation.

“I don’t really care if it just involved me. But Charlotte’s mixed in, as well. With Unity, and how they are… I don’t know how they’d respond to an Ouderkirk who’s a ghost.” 

Charlotte was surprised at Adam’s concern about her safety. Logically, however, it did make sense. She held her tongue for a moment while Jerry nodded, clearly brainstorming something serious.

“…Hey, can I ask something?”

“No shit. We’re here to ask and learn, after all.” Adam answered.

“…My family. Are any of them around still? You said the guy who discovered the phanton was an Ouderkirk, but seems like that was years ago.”

Jerry shook his head. “Well, no… That guy, in fact, was one of the last ones.”

“I see…” As Charlotte glanced to the floor, Adam noticed Jerry seemingly fidget upon answering—an oddity for him, as Jerry tended to answer questions with steadfast confidence.

“Anyway—Charlotte. Are you able to get out of that form for me? I need to use the computer.”

“Sure…” Charlotte, somewhat upset by the answer she obtained, breathed in slowly. In a flash, her body reverted back to her previous state. Almost immediately, Jerry’s computers were back to normal. He sat down and began typing away. 

Adam’s eyes also returned to normal, having been active the entire time, as well. He noted that he seemed to feel a strange sensation—the center of his head and the nape of his neck simultaneously felt like they were being tickled. Looking at the tablet with the camera, he realized the change. Charlotte took note of this as well.

“You noticed that, huh? That should be the first sign that you feel the World Mirror’s power. And the fact that it’s not causing you severe headaches anymore is great as well.” 

Adam held his head. “You may not know what the World Mirror is for, but you do seem to know some details surrounding its power?”

Charlotte pondered for a moment. “Yes… I-I can really understand why I know certain things, yet I am in the complete dark about the rest.” Charlotte sat back down on the bed. “I knew how to get the World Mirror to work. I’m also aware of the great power it holds, along with the fact that the power seems capable of healing wounds you receive.” 

Jerry chimed in. “It seems that the memories you do have hold importance. Not substantial importance, but enough to get you on the right track.” Jerry turned around. “I’ve got a lot to think about and research. Also…” Jerry pondered something.

“I think it’s worth it to finally do that.”

Adam and Charlotte looked at Jerry questionably. He raised his fists up into the air, getting himself pumped up.

“I’m going to hack into the Requiem government’s servers!”

“Woah woah woah, cool it.” Adam went up and held Jerry’s shoulders. “I don’t want you getting in trouble and throwing your life away over some simple information!”

“Relax, you know who you’re talking to, right?” Jerry smirked. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to do this. Not necessarily for information on the Ouderkirk’s, but for other things.” Jerry sat back down at his computer.

“As I’ve studied Phantonics growing up, there have been quite a few holes I’ve noticed in certain areas. We’ll be here for another five hours if I were to explain it to you guys, but… just…” He paused.

“It’s important we find breakthroughs in the field. I want to help others, and I don’t want anything or anyone getting in the way of that.”

Adam smiled softly. “Right, that makes sense. Just be careful, all right?”

“Don’t worry about it. It takes some time anyway. You two look into what you can in the meantime, and let me know if you figure anything out.”

“Well, will do—” Adam pulled out his phone, remembering the screen was busted. “Ah, crap. Can’t really do much with this in its current state.”

“You too? I had to fix up Brandon’s phone this morning. It’s not gonna last much longer, though, so I told him he should probably just get a new one.”

“I think I should, as well…” Adam poked at the screen. “Even you probably could do much with a shattered screen.”

“It would be kind of annoying, but I could probably figure something out.” Jerry grinned at his own confidence.

“Nah, I needed a new one anyway.” Adam shrugged, putting the phone back in his pocket. “I just gotta dip into the funds and see if—”

Charlotte pulled out a slip of paper and held it in front of Adam’s face. “Here, I think you should have this.”

She gave the paper to Adam. He looked at it, realized quickly that it was a check, and had his jaw almost drop to the floor.

“Wh-Wh-What is this!?”

Jerry stood up and looked as well, instantly forming the exact same expression. “W-Why are you giving Adam a check for six thousand requid!?”

“I’m a ghost. I don’t need a home or anything that people living really need. I figured I owe it to Adam anyway, after last night.”

“S-So, you really only had that job for surveillance purposes, I’m guessing?” Adam asked. “And… you don’t have a home?”

“I should probably quit that job… Although, I can’t really disappear out of the blue, especially after the manager has been so kind to me.” Charlotte looked down at the floor. “Even though I used such means to obtain the job in the first place…”

“Ignoring how you worded that—” Adam began to walk toward the door. “Thanks, Jerry. I gotta figure out how I’m gonna tell Brandon about all of this. I figured I’d tell him, but probably just him…”

“That’s… probably a good idea.” Jerry nodded. “Since everyone else has ties with Unity. Even if they purposefully didn’t mention anything, who knows… There are always ways to extract information.”

Adam glanced nervously around the room. “I just hope your dad isn’t too deep, either. If anyone can secretly gain info, it’s him. I can see him placing hidden cameras, mics—all of that…”

“I know he wouldn’t do that.” Jerry chuckled.

“…You really trust your dad, huh?” Adam asked as he walked out, waving back at Jerry. Charlotte slowly followed behind, feeling the uneasiness radiate out of Adam.

“Must be nice…”

Next: Chapter 10

Previous: Chapter 8

Table of Contents

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE HEROES OF REQUIEM ON PATREON:

Novagirl93

Adam awoke, as he usually would. He found that he lied in his exact bed as well. It took him a few seconds before everything flooded into his mind. 

Jumping onto the floor beside the bed, pain rocketed through Adam’s body. It was strong enough to cause him to fall right back down. He lied there with his feet dangling over the edge.

Taking a glance to his left, he noticed Charlotte had been lying there this entire time, eyes shut. She had returned to her original appearance and seemed to be wearing a navy blue sweater and black pants.

“Why… what the hell?” Adam stood up a second time, this time with his weakened body in mind. He still had to hold onto his nightstand next to his bed to keep his balance. “Why are you sleeping in my bed!?”

“I must recharge my energy, especially after that act I was doing last night.” Charlotte’s eyes opened, and she rose up from the bed in a robotic-like fashion. “I have to make sure my body doesn’t fade away, so moments of rest are required to stay existing.”

“Uh… whatever. ANYWAY! What was all of that!? What happened last night?” Adam looked down at his hand. “I think… Yeah—I used some crazy power? World Mirror… right?” He held his head. “It’s kinda fuzzy… although I DO remember you attacked me.”

“Correct. I couldn’t be nice. You didn’t know how to use the power, so I had to physically and emotionally beat it out of you.”

“T-That’s messed up…”

“But now that you have accessed that power, I’m going to help you figure it out.”

“…It sounded like you needed this power for yourself, though. I wanted you to tell me about it.”

“You collapsed before I could.” Charlotte shrugged. “But… I have to apologize…” She fidgeted around, clearly distraught. “I’ve had my memories altered with, it seems. While helping you, I hope to uncover the things that I have forgotten.” 

“Are you serious…? Of course, your memories were messed with…” Adam had the energy to start walking around his room. “If that’s the case, then how can we be sure this World Mirror stuff is accu—”

Adam stopped walking just in time. Pieces of glass were scattered all over his wooden floor. A glance up revealed that an old, small television that he barely even used was broken. Someone had thrown a remote directly into it—the device still lodged inside.

“I have to apologize…” Charlotte began. Adam turned around and noticed she was facing away from him. “I didn’t know how to get the television to work so I could see that news thing…”

“So, you threw the remote into it?” Adam seemed more disappointed than angry. He carefully walked along his floor so he could reach behind the television. Picking up a cord, he waved it at Charlotte. “You could have just plugged it in. I’m pretty sure it still works decently enough.”

Charlotte turned slowly back toward Adam, seemingly glaring at the cord to the television. She turned back around a few moments later.

“I have to apologize—”

“Enough apologizing.” Adam sighed. “Now, here’s a question. How did you manage to get all of that information on me if you barely know how to work a simple TV? I assume you would have to look up things on a computer and whatnot.”

Charlotte lied back down on the bed. “Since I’m a spirit, I can do things such as pass through objects, as you saw last night. Or possess people.”

“Possess? You can do that too?” Adam was puzzled. “How did you manage to use that to get info?”

“Well, it’s quite simple, really…” Charlotte began an explanation but paused. The next thing Adam noticed, she was fast asleep.

“Uh, hey? Wake up?”

“Must… recharge… energy…” Charlotte was able to mumble those words before the walls started to echo her loud snores.

“What the hell is even happening at this point?” Adam glanced over at his nightstand and noticed his cell phone and the envelope Pam gave to him were there. 

“Damn… this envelope is covered in my blood.” Adam looked down at his clothing. It was torn to shreds, covered with dirt and his blood. “I need a shower.”

Adam opened up the envelope to check the damage done inside. There was a note folded up but was miraculously not covered in blood like the outside was.

“I could open it now… I figure almost dying last night was considered a low point. But…” After hesitating for a few moments, Adam put the note back inside the envelope. “Not yet.”

Setting the envelope down, he picked up his cell phone. Cracked, but seemingly still functional. Although it was difficult for Adam to read what was on the screen. He sighed, putting it down as well.

A few minutes later, Adam was in the shower. He had his head lowered, the water flowing through his hair. The dirt and blood on his body were starting to come off, but he figured some extra scrubbing was necessary.

“I don’t feel that pain I felt when I woke up.” Adam looked around on his body. There did not seem to be a scratch on him. “That… World Mirror power. Did it heal me?”

Adam raised his hand, almost touching the showerhead. “I guess I can consider this something along the lines of a Concept…? How do I even use it?”

Adam peeked outside of the shower at the bathroom door. He had locked it, yet knew that Charlotte could just phase through it if she wanted. Or bust it down simply with her strength.

“I’m not sure if I can trust her. She did beat the hell out of me last night, after all. If I do have some incredible power, I need to figure out how to use it. Just in case…”

Adam closed his eyes and held his hand in front of him.

“World Mirror, ACTIVATE!”

…

Nothing happened.

“Well, that’s all I can think of.” Adam was calm on the outside but was dying of self-embarrassment on the inside.

Adam turned off the shower and got out. After drying off with a towel, he put on clothes that matched the ones he wore the day prior.

Walking out of the bathroom, he was met with Charlotte standing right in front of him—her eyes seemingly empty.

“Uh, hey. Did you enjoy your nap?”

“I have to apologize…”

Adam sighed. “Not this again.”

“When I woke up, I used my phasing ability to pass through the walls to look for you. I ended up in the restroom for a brief moment…” Charlotte bowed. “Please forgive me, I didn’t mean to look!”

“Huh? I don’t care. It’s fine. You’ve been acting really freaking meek ever since I woke up.” Adam lightly patted Charlotte’s shoulder. The cold that he felt jogged his memory swiftly on something he had seemed to lose focus of.

Charlotte was, in fact, a ghost. A spirit—Adam was interacting so casually with someone who was no longer considered alive.

“Hey, so… How much do you know about ghosts?” He asked her.

“I know Phantonics has rounded up quite a bit of detail on them. I was much more focused on trying to search for the World Mirror, however. So… I didn’t have much time to look into it.”

“Right… Okay…” Adam scratched his head. “Well, why not start there? If you learn more about ghosts, you’ll learn more about yourself. Maybe how and why you ended up as one?”

“That could be…” Charlotte nodded—a tiny smile forming. “Let’s start with that, then!”

“All right. I have an idea as to how we can teach you all of that stuff. I’ll have to see if he’s available.” Adam walked back into his room—Charlotte following closely behind. He picked up his phone and sat on his bed, staring intensely at the screen as he pressed it.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to see what these texts I’ve got say. Kinda hard to, since someone smashed up the screen.”

“I ap—”

“Stop,” Adam stated bluntly. “Okay… They’re from Faith and Brandon. Both of them are talking about the same thing, actually…” He glanced up at her. “About the noise in the woods last night…”

“That was definitely our little bout, wouldn’t you say?” Charlotte giggled. 

Adam seemingly became unnerved—Charlotte noticing his body tense up.

“What? You don’t have to worry, I made sure nobody was around. There’s no trace of my energy there, as well—and they don’t have the means to detect your power.”

“…How exactly did you remove all traces of your power?” 

“Huh? I’m an Ouderkirk. I have complete control over phantonic energy. So making sure I didn’t leave any behind was easy. I just… absorbed it back into my body. Pretty simple.”

“…We were in the woods north of town—literally behind my house,” Adam began to explain. “After hearing the strange noises, Faith said people went to investigate it.”

“Yeah…?” Charlotte was puzzled as to what was upsetting him.

“You would think they’d find obvious evidence that there was a fight…” Adam paused, looking intensely at Charlotte.

“They found nothing.” 

Next: Chapter 9

Previous: Chapter 7

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