'Meet me at Black Bar in the Eastside of Town...'
I reread the message while loud music was playing in the next room but that didn't bother me.
'Who is this person? What does she want?'
I sigh and lie down on my futon.
'Have you noticed you aren't having any nightmares after you dumped Jake?'
This made me sit up. 'Yeah but...it stopped when I announced it in the school's auditorium.'
'Something is off.'
'Yes indeed,'
In school the next day, everyone was whispering as I walked through the corridor and catch Agatha smirking at me through the corner of my eye.
Math class was no different for the Teacher was giving me dirty looks while he taught the lesson. Once class was over, he told me to wait behind for a 'private' discussion.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" I ask.
The scowl he gave me refused to disappear. "What did you tell your classmates?"
"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.
Wham!
My right cheek was burning.
"Don't try to play innocent Emma. I know what you did."
I blink hard to cool my anger. "What do you mean?"
Taking out his phone, he showed me the messages exchanged between the students on a group chat I had never seen. Squinting my eyes because of the bright light, I see the words 'seduce', 'pregnant,' and 'teacher'.
"Care to tell me why you've decided to ruin my reputation Emma?" he asked.
I narrow my eyes at him. "With all due respect sir, if you hadn't decided to seduce me in the classroom none of this would have happened."
"So you are saying this is my fault?" he bellowed.
"It sure looks like it," I reply and catch his hand before it made contact with my cheeks.
"Wha...what the..."
"I'd like to inform you sir that you are not the first man to fall for me and not the last to be rejected. I have a lot on my plate and you are just adding to my troubles with your perverted actions. We didn't do anything and I am surely not pregnant for your child! So shut the f&ck up, be professional and ignore those rumors unless..."
I let go and stare him in the eye.
"...unless this isn't your first time seducing a student."
His eyes went wild, darting from the left to the right while his bottom lip trembled. I am no expert but all these showed signs of guilt. Scoffing, I pick up my bag and walk out of the classroom in rage.
But this didn't tame the atmosphere during the next class. Lunchtime came and sitting with my friends on the bench at our usual spot, I take out my store-bought bento and start eating. No one said a word and when I try bringing up a conversation on their favorite topics, it fell flat.
"Okay, what is going on?" I ask.
Ralph ignored me clumsily eating his sandwich while Brianna avoided eye contact. Brutes looked at with scorn while Andrew? Well, he just had a confused look on his face.
The only person who was normal among us was Aubrey. "Do not look at me. I don't know why they are silent either." she chirped grabbing a morsel of food with her chopsticks.
Andrew sighed. "Come on guys. We all know Emma cannot be capable of doing that."
"Oh really?" Brutes took out his phone and showed me the picture of the teacher and me in the teacher's lounge.
"Got anything to say, Emma?" Brute asked taking the screen away from my face.
"Nothing except he came to me first," I reply.
"So, you two aren't dating," he asked pushing up his glasses.
"No, we weren't." I shove another piece of food in my mouth and chewed but for some reason, it tasted bland.
"You don't seem to be telling the truth," he said. "And I am disappointed."
"So, you prefer to believe the person who sent the picture instead?" I ask.
"A picture speaks a thousand words, Emma," he replied.
"Even if it is fabricated?" I ask again.
There was an annoyed look in his eyes. "The video doesn't look fabricated to me."
"Mmm, it looks pretty realistic to me." Aubrey chimed in staring at her phone.
An awkward silence hung in the air while something stabbed me in the heart. 'My friends were believing this trash?'
Looking at Brutes I shook my head in disappointment and stood up. "For a smart guy who is a short-stack, you have a shallow way of thinking."
"And for a girl who goes both ways, you have a terrible taste in both genders."
His clap back stung because he had a point.
A huge one.
Making my decision, I walk out on them and head to the girl's room to do my business. While I was washing my hands, the cubicle door behind me swung open.
"Willing to take a pregnancy test Milkshake?"
I smirk at the reflected image of Sandra who was grinning from ear to ear. "No, I don't need to do that thank you very much."
"Why not?" she walked closer to me toying with the object in her hands. "It's the only way to prove you aren't pregnant."
"Too bad you are going to alter it to look positive if I do it." I turn to face her. "Forget it, Agatha. I am not crawling back to you. You attention-sucking two-faced bitch."
Just as I suspected, she didn't take the insult well. Scoffing, she tried to pin me to the wall but I counter her attack, turned, and slam her face to the wall. Something cracked and when I let go, a piece of tile fell to the floor but the shock on her face made the damage worth it.
"Oh don't worry," I say opening the door wide as the bell rung. "I will pay for the damages."
Time flew quickly despite the rumors and the awkward atmosphere and I found myself changing my shoes and walking outside the school's building. Blocking the exit was Valarie advertising herself to Jake who stared at her with disinterest in his eyes.
"You should be with someone like me Jake." She said striking a pose. "At least I won't cheat on you like her."
Seeing there was more than one door to get in and out of the building, I choose the door by the left and leave. After making dinner, I dress up and take a taxi to the Eastside of Town aka, the Gambler's den.
"Black Bar, Black Bar, Black Bar...Ah, here it is!"
"You seem to be the only one excited for this meet-up," I whisper.
"Yep!"
Luckily there wasn't a bouncer to question me so I walk in with ease. It was a calm bar with lots of patrons but a few bartenders. Sitting on a bar stool, I take out my phone and send a text to an unknown number.
'I am here. Where are you.'
A few minutes later, I get a reply.
'Sit at the furthest corner of the bar.'
'I will meet you there.'
Cocking an eyebrow, I do as told and wait patiently boring myself with the television in front of me.
'This soap opera is so cliche.' I thought cringing at a scene where the main character embarrasses himself in front of his love interest. 'I should have brought a manga with me. A good thriller would be nice.'
"Hands on the table."
I look in the direction of the voice and see the yellow-haired woman beside me. The same woman who was with Ayano Yamada and the same woman who tried to summon a ghost in the school's restroom.
"Hands on the table," she ordered. "Don't make me repeat myself twice."
'She's the one trying to blackmail me? But why?' tongue-tied, I place both hands on the table and she took a seat in front of me.
"I am sorry but this is the only way I can get your attention." she politely says.
I tsk at her words but don't show it. "Why is that ma'am?"
"Because you will say 'No' to my request."
Resting the urge to roll my eyes was hard but I didn't want to be rude. "What can I do for you, ma'am?"
"Can you communicate with ghosts?"
I shake my head.
"Don't lie. I have proof," she says taking out her phone and showing me a video of me talking to nothing, swinging my weapon in the air, and running down the school halls like someone who was crazy but what stood out from the footage was me being lifted in the air by some invisible force and flying out the window.
"I am sorry for lying ma'am," I say.
She doesn't respond and looks at her phone. "Can you summon them?"
"No ma'am, they summon me."
"That is all I need." there was an awkward pause. "I want you to summon the ghost of my best friend Osana."
"Osana?"
"Osana Najimi. She...she passed away in Akademi High in 2012."
'2012? That was the same year the unsolved murder and missing person's cases took place in that school.'
"Why do you want me to summon her?"
"I want to apologies to her."
"For what?"
"For leaving her alone." she bowed her head in shame. "She is my best friend but we had a misunderstanding and broke things off. One morning I was walking to school with a classmate of mine and she was hanging in the school's auditorium and...I want to apologize for not being there for her."
Then she began to cry.
'She wants me to summon the ghost of her friend so that she can apologize to her for a quarrel they had years ago?' I felt sorry for her but that didn't stop the frown on my face. 'She does know she is a woman right? So any quarrel they had during their teenage years should be considered childish by now. Not to mention her story sounds vague. What instigated the quarrel? Was it the cause of her death? Why can't she do a normal thing by burning incense at her grave and apologize?'
Seeing no logical reasoning behind this, I narrow my eyes and sighed. "You are blackmailing me for that?"
"Hmm?" She wiped her tears.
"I am sorry ma'am but I can't help you with that," I say. "And, I should advise you to book an appointment with a psychiatrist who is a professional with situations like this."
This made her eyes turn deadly. "Why?"
"You are grieving for an old friend and I can understand that," I explain. "So please meet a professional psychiatrist to help you because summoning a ghost isn't going to help with your mental state."
"But you can communicate with them?" she asked in a flattened tone.
"Yeah but..."
She whipped out her phone and started scrolling through it. "I wonder what the police will say about your crimes?"
"I will just tell them I was getting rid of props from the drama club," I reply.
"And you think they are going to believe that?" she asks not taking her eyes off her phone.
"If they don't I can just point out your suspected psychosis," I add trying to be as polite as possible.
"I don't mean the crimes you did recently." she shoved the phone to my face. "I meant the one you did in the past."
I read it and my blood turns cold. "H...how did you..."
"A friend of mine looked into you and found a lot of interesting things," she said taking the screen away from my face. "There is no evidence linking you to the crime but the fact you were the only one in the apartment during your Uncle's death and the victim of bullying from three of the victims murdered in their homes, the police will look at you as a person of interest. You don't want that do you?"
If I wasn't tongue-tied before I was now. What she just showed me was detailed documentation of the death of the victims I killed during the spring break this year but that wasn't all. Anyone skilled police officer or detective will look at the deaths of the victims as a possible homicide instead of death by accident.
"You...you wouldn't dare." I blurt out.
"Try me," she replied.
I swallow saliva. 'According to the law, the consequences of murder or homicide is capital punishment. Rotting in jail is one thing but having your crimes known to the public and dying...'
'Is it worth your life?' asked my inner voice. 'Maybe this can be your pathway towards retribution.'
I sigh. "Okay, I will do it."
She smiled.
"But on one condition. You have to delete the pictures, video, and documents. Permanently."
"How I'm I sure you won't bail out on me?" she asks.
"I was raised to be a woman of my word," I say with sincerity. " I don't go back on my promises."
She hesitated for a while and gave a nod. "Anything to see Osana again."
Right in front of me, she deleted them and led me out of the bar where her car was parked outside. Stopping at the Center of Town, we exchanged phone numbers and I get out of the car.
"Call me if you need me okay?"
I nod and was about to leave when something struck my mind. "I am sorry ma'am but what's your name?"
She hesitated for a while before answering. "I am Raibaru Fumetsu; a Paranormal Investigator."
Then she drove off leaving me to wonder what on earth I had just gotten myself into.