Nicolas, possibly the coolest and most popularest guy in this school, suddenly sat down in front of me and… talked about my ability?? And he told me to call him Nico. I didn't even get the chance to tell him about my nickname, and he started talking about hunting ghosts?? And he wants to do that with me??
This is nonsense. Everything is nonsense. He is absolutely lying. He probably did that to lure me into a dark corner and then rape me. I can't believe this.
But, after hearing him talk about the spirits and demons… I know for certain that he understood the realm of the dead to an extent. He knows about the invisible things around us, and he even knows that there are some 'ghosts' that can harm humans, to the point where it is actually serious.
He wasn't wrong when he said that my ability is rare and important. If used right, I can be the world's greatest exorcist or something, since I can literally see the demons. But I don't want to, because why would I risk my life for such stupid things?
Helping others… has always brought me disaster. And yet, I have agreed to another task of helping someone.
For sure… this will not end well.
But if I don't go, then he will go in alone. And if he went in alone, the demons might actually hurt him or even kill him.
This isn't just a matter of someone's dad losing their job. This is genuinely a matter of life and death.
I have to help. I'm obliged to, because otherwise, someone will die and it will actually be my fault.
… Damn it. Why are you doing this to me, Nicolas Class?
"Must be nice to feel special, huh?"
A voice was heard suddenly right next to me, and a student walked past me as she went to her seat on the front row. Funny thing was, I don't even know her name. She was one of the lackeys that was behind Peach earlier.
And as expected… jealousy is a very powerful drive towards hatred.
Hah… Nicolas Class, your handsome face just made my life so much harder.
After lunch break ended, class continued normally. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until the final lesson ended, and everyone packed their bags to go home.
Some students stayed for the class chores, while some others were so busy rushing with their preparations to leave. Mainly because they are curious about the next event that will happen at the front gate.
Because everyone knows that he, who shall not be named, will be there.
Unnie, they don't even care about me. They just wanted to see the pretty boy Nico.
But of course, It's not like I cared about what they see out of me. I just have to go with my own flow and not let anyone go in my way.
After preparing, I left the classroom and began heading for the front gate. During the walk, I didn't really feel any excitement for what is about to come, mainly because I know that the things that will happen will only result negatively. So, if anything, I feel really afraid.
If it was the truth, then we might be dealing with actual demons that can kill us. Worst case scenario, what he said was false, and he was actually kidnapping me to rape me and kill me. Either way, both options will result in me dying in the end.
Maybe I shouldn't go, after all…?
"Elizabeth!!"
Suddenly, my name was called. I was still in the lobby of the building, and I turned my gaze behind me towards the staircase. I can see a lot of students going down the stairs, but there's one guy who stood out because he was lifting his hand up towards me.
I-It's him??
"Glad I found you here! I thought for sure you would ditch me and just go straight home!"
He said while approaching me, and I shook my head at him.
"On second thought, I have to reject it, after all."
"W-Why!? Come on, I haven't even told you the method to fight them yet!"
He suddenly reasoned loudly, and I can't help but notice the amount of eyes watching our every move here in the lobby.
Also… hearing him talking so enthusiastically made me feel bad for making assumptions that he would kidnap me. After all, looking at his expression now, anyone can tell that he is just as childish as other boys with their hobbies.
Ghost hunting… is it really that fun to do?
"It's too dangerous... It's not worth the risk."
"Please!! It'll be so boring if I do it alone!!"
He reasoned, and I cannot look more annoyed. I noticed that if we kept on talking like this, people might make assumptions about me. I don't care about what other people think of me, but it's a different story if they start to do some negative actions out of jealousy.
I should… just go with him, huh?
"… Once."
I said to him, and he quickly looked at me with confusion.
"I'll go with you just this once."
Immediately, his expression turned bright again. Without thinking, he rushed forward and began grabbing my arm.
"H-Hey--"
"Come on! I'll show you the location!"
Nico said confidently, not caring about my existence and simply pulled me with him. To my surprise, his hand that is holding my arm isn't pulling so rough, and it's weirdly nice to be pulled like this.
This feels… funny.
During the walk to the gate, we came across quite a lot of students that were Nico's friends. They said hello, and could only watch in awe as Nico was pulling me on the arm with his right hand. We walked past them very quickly without stopping, so they could only exchange a few words before we went very far away from them.
Nico stopped pulling my arm as soon as we left the gate, and he began taking out his phone from his pocket. He played around with it for a while, and I waited until he finished.
"Okay. The place is about two kilometers away from here. Hope you have the energy to take a walk."
"… Sure."
Two kilometers… that's quite far for a walk. Looking at his body, it seems like he is hiding quite a lot of muscles underneath those sleeves. Meanwhile, I was just a shut-in that watches dramas all day long. I don't do exercise.
Beforelong, we started walking towards the location. During the entire walk, Nico is holding the phone in his hand that is showing the GPS, so we don't get lost as we make our way there. When I saw the GPS, I realized that I knew nothing about the location that he was talking about, so I tried asking him.
"What kind of place was it?"
I asked him, and he turned his grin towards me.
"It's an abandoned construction building! Wooo~, scary, right?"
Not… really?
"Why is it haunted?"
"Why wouldn't it be? A lot of haunted places were abandoned unfinished buildings, after all. There might be some like an abandoned hospital or an abandoned house. Either way, abandoned buildings are bound to be haunted!"
That's not necessarily true. I've seen largely crowded places being haunted. Even a public train station can be haunted. Even a modern mall can be haunted. In the end, it's only scarier when the building was eerie and abandoned, when in reality the ghosts could've been everywhere.
Demons always have a reason to stick into one location, which then turns that place 'Haunted'. Sometimes, people always analyze why the demons haunted a place. And most of the time, their guesses were correct.
It may come from a grudge, or a regret that came from an unfulfilling life before death. Demons are still people, after all. And they too have emotions.
"From what I read, the construction site has been haunted ever since a worker died during construction. After the worker died, the construction work continued normally, but with the exception of other workers started seeing some terrifying sightings."
Nico explained as he stared at the GPS, and I understood the gist of it. The demon that was haunting the construction building must be the worker that died, and the reason why it stayed there is to haunt the other workers.
As for the reasoning… Well, I have one powerful guess.
"He was killed?"
I told him my guess, but Nico shook his shoulder.
"Not sure. Most likely, though. It is what the internet people suspected as well. But, we don't really know for sure as to why.
But, it was all thanks to him that the entire construction site got shut down. The owner of the building felt bad for the death of the worker that he ended up stopping the construction work completely for quite some time now. By the way, this story made it to the news. Have you heard of it?"
He asked me, but I shook my head.
I don't watch the news. I watch handsome actors playing a drama.
"Anyway, since the construction site was left alone, it will be fine for us to just hop in. Nobody will be there to yell at us, so don't worry!"
"… I'm more worried about something else."
"Oh, relax~! We'll be fine!"
He turned back to the GPS on his phone, and I turned my eyes towards the road next to us. The amount of vehicles that are moving next to us has decreased significantly since we are now entering a housing complex, and most likely the ones that pass by us are only the home owners of this area.
It's going to be a rather silent area, huh?
"Anyway, I've been wanting to ask you about something."
Nico suddenly said during the walk, and I turned to him with curiosity. It seemed like we've been walking for a while now, and the location shouldn't be that far anymore.
Nico memorized the GPS and turned off his phone, and he placed them back in his pocket. As soon as he did that, I knew immediately that he was going to talk about something important.
"What… happened to you during class, earlier?"
Ah… there it is. The wallet incident.
"I'm sorry for asking if it's too much for you, but I can't help but feel the pressure when I was talking with you earlier. It seemed like you got entangled in something rather… bad, right?"
"It's funny to me that you don't even know about it, even though I saw you talking to Emil yesterday by the gate."
"Oh, I know that it was about Emil's wallet. What I didn't understand was… why you, specifically."
Fuahh… so he really doesn't know?
He came to the classroom earlier with the full intention of asking me out to hunt ghosts. Unlike what everyone thinks, he did not come to interrogate me at all.
What a… funny guy. Too bad, because he will like me less from now on.
"I stole Emil's wallet."
I lied coldly, and that fully startled him.
"… Weh!?"
"What's up with that reaction…?"
"N-Nothing, it's just…"
Nico ran out of words and simply shrugged the back of his head. Meanwhile, I can only turn away from him.
Yeah… be silent, then. As I expected, you are just like everybody else--
"But you returned the wallet, right?"
I turned quickly to him, and found him smirking at me like an idiot. Quickly, I can feel myself burning up in the face of a pretty boy like him.
"W-What?"
"You returned the wallet to Emil. That's why everyone found out, it was because you returned the wallet. Right?"
Hearing him speak about this topic so brightly made me sense that he was fully supporting me. It's as if he was never going to blame me for it, and still supported me even knowing that I was the one who did it.
He… is he just being nice?
"You don't have to be nice about it. I stole the wallet, so you should just hate me like everybody else."
"Huh? But, why? You returned the wallet, so why should I hate you? If anything, I should be glad, because now I know that you're not actually a bad person!"
I opened my eyes wide at him out of pure shock, and he must've noticed the surprise that is written all over my face. Very quickly, he grinned stupidly again at me.
Man… being next to him is just… dangerous for my poor soul.
Then, what would he think if I told him the truth? Will he continue to support me? Or will he think of me differently?
Is it right for me to be… enjoying this?
"… Nico, I-"
"Ah, that's the building!"
Nico suddenly said as he pointed his hand forward, and I quickly followed the direction where he was pointing.
Right across the road not far from our position, was a single tall unfinished building that is being covered by thin metal walls. The building is about twenty meters tall, and it was just a hollow concrete box with three floors. There were no buildings next to it, so it was just a standalone building on a corner of a block.
As soon as I saw the building, I knew immediately that this place was haunted. It gives off the aura of fear that wants me to go nowhere near it.
I shouldn't… get closer to it--
"Elizabeth? What is it?"
Quickly, I turned my eyes to Nico who was staring at me with confusion.
"You called my name just now. What was it?"
"Huh…? Oh, it's nothing."
"Then, let's go!"
All of a sudden, Nico started running, leaving me, and I panicked seeing him moving so quickly. I started running after him, but to my surprise, he is still very fast even though he's already slowing down for me.
Damn it… How can I stop someone like that from getting into that kind of place??
I turned a glance towards the empty building as I ran, and I can't help but have a bad hunch about that place.
I hope… things don't go wrongly.