Nightfall ✓

Chapter 12

This soul whose body was shed at the wrong time doesn't belong to any world. It doesn't belong to our world, nor does it belong to the ethereal world. Hence, this soul only has some supernatural powers which the ethereal creatures have.

These powers include the ability to posses someone, to move objects around, to control the wind and storms and mighty waters of the seas, and to extract energy from someone, among other things. Not all souls have all these powers.

What the soul can do, and how well the soul can do it, depends on how much energy the soul has. In the beginning, all ghosts have plenty of energy, but as time passes, they weaken. Although with time they can control their powers better, their energy decreases and they start to disintegrate. Their energy goes into their surroundings.
Some ghosts prevent themselves from weakening by taking energy from other souls. This is called Fracturing a soul.

It is known that they are stuck on the earth because they have unfinished business on earth. This unfinished business is the task they were sent to do. But some entities may start to believe that the unfinished business is killing their murderer. They believe that if they kill their murderer, the Portals to Hell and Heaven will open.

But this unfinished task isn't something that they want to do but couldn't do. It is something that they were predestined to do but couldn't do.

In order to use their powers, the ghosts have to make their mind entirely blank. Some ghosts, however, are so full of anger and other emotions churning inside them that they cannot make their mind blank, which doesn't allow them to perform any task easily. They—'

"What are you reading?" someone asked. I looked up. Liam stood there with a book in his hand.

"Oh, um." I shut the book and put it back on the shelf. "It was about ghosts and all. You know. What happens to souls after a person dies and stuff."

"Oh. Okay." He nodded. "Have you read this book? It's great." He handed it to me. Song of the Sparrow.

"No, I haven't."

"Then you should."

"Okay." I opened the book to a random page and sniffed. It smelled like words and ink and paper. I loved that smell.

We went to Starbucks after buying the book. There wasn't a seat empty, so we got hot coffees and took them to a bench outside. I wrapped my fingers around the warm cup and watched the passers-by.

"They're in such a hurry," Liam said, nodding towards the people. "Everyone is in a hurry these days. No one has the time to sit and rest for a minute." He looked at me. "Once dad told me that when he was my age, he used to do nothing during the summer. Like, there was just nothing to do. He would sit on his bed and get bored all day long, or go to his friend's garage to play the guitar with him. Can you imagine living in a time like that?"

I smiled.

A girl with pretty, curly hair rushed by, a phone pressed to her ear. "Her hair is amazing," I said.

"I don't like curly hair. Straight is better."

I grinned. "I like straight too, actually."

"Ahem," he said, running his fingers through his hair. I laughed.

We sat for some more time, then he took out a pen from his pocket and started scribbling on the Starbucks tissue paper. I tried to peek. He folded the paper and put it in his pocket.

I frowned. "Why don't you ever, like, let me see what you're writing?"

"I wasn't writing anything."