Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The murmurs and whispers erupted the moment Zuri appeared.

"Isn’t that Khan’s daughter?" someone whispered to a nearby student, who nodded in confirmation.

Annoyed, Zuri chose to ignore the stares and continued marching down the hallway, impatiently waiting for the bell to ring.

"Hey, Zuri!"

Her hopes sank. She knew that cheerful voice all too well—Elizabeth, or Lizzy, as everyone at school called her. Rolling her eyes, Zuri let out a deep sigh. Whatever was coming next, it wouldn’t be good. The way everyone turned toward Lizzy as she called out made it clear they expected trouble too.

"What do you want, Elizabeth?" Zuri sighed, rolling her eyes again without bothering to meet Lizzy’s gaze.

"Aww…" Lizzy cooed in her usual irritating tone. "Come on, we’ve been besties for years, haven’t we?" she added, her voice dripping with fake enthusiasm.

Zuri rolled her eyes again. They weren’t friends—much less besties—and everyone at school knew that. Even before high school started, Lizzy had made it her mission to get Zuri in trouble time and time again.

Zuri could still remember the overwhelming sense of dread when she realized they would be attending the same high school. She knew exactly how this would play out, just as it always had.

Lizzy draped an arm around Zuri’s shoulder, only for Zuri to shove it off.

"So…" Lizzy started, her grin widening. "Has your father finally remembered you exist?"

Zuri’s fist clenched tightly.

"Hm… guess not," Lizzy teased, and the giggles of nearby students confirmed she had hit her mark.

"Fuck off, will ya?!" Zuri snapped, letting her British accent escape accidentally as she twisted toward Lizzy and shoved her backward.

Lizzy giggled at the reaction before continuing her taunts.

"So..." she started again, and before she could say another word, Zuri’s fists clenched tighter. She knew Lizzy would keep pushing until she finally snapped—or until Lizzy got her into trouble.

"Have they found anything about your mother yet?" Lizzy mocked. "Or is she still mis—AHH!"

Lizzy’s sentence was cut short as Zuri’s fist connected with her face. The loud crack echoed through the hallway.

Lizzy tumbled onto the ground, blood gushing from her nose as stunned students stared in wide-eyed silence.

Zuri wasted no time. She lunged, preparing to strike again, but someone grabbed her fist, attempting to yank her away. Without a second thought, she shoved them off, sending the student crashing into the lockers.

Her focus snapped back to Lizzy.

Zuri’s fist slammed into Lizzy’s face, earning a choked gasp.

She grabbed a fistful of Lizzy’s hair, yanking her head off the ground before delivering a brutal left hook.

Lizzy’s face collapsed against the floor, but Zuri wasn’t done. She threw her elbow down hard against Lizzy’s nose.

Blood splattered. Lizzy coughed, spitting red onto the floor, before Zuri seized her by the collar, dragging her up only to throw another punch across her cheek.

Lizzy crumpled again.

Blow after blow, Zuri kept swinging until strong hands grabbed her arms and yanked her back.

This time, more than one person held her—two adults, overpowering the furious fifteen-year-old.

Zuri fought against their restraint, struggling to break free, but it was useless.

Now forced to stand still, she finally took in the damage she had done.

Lizzy’s nose was a shattered mess, broken beyond recognition. Deep bruises darkened her cheeks, and her swelling eyes were already turning shades of purple. Her mouth hung open—not in shock, but out of necessity, since her broken nose made breathing nearly impossible.

Nearby, Dora Krasnova—Lizzy’s actual best friend—slowly pulled herself up from where she had been shoved earlier.

She rushed to Lizzy’s side, eyes full of worry.

"Lizzy?" she called softly, checking for any sign of consciousness. A wave of relief washed over her when Lizzy gave a weak response.

"Do you think she’s alright?"

A voice called out from the crowd—Vanessa, a newer student.

Dora nodded.

She gently lifted Lizzy off the ground, supporting her limping frame. When her gaze briefly met Zuri’s, the heated glare she received was enough to make her look away.

"I told you, stop messing with her," Dora muttered to Lizzy. "Dis never ends well for you." She said, her Russian accent slipping.

Zuri barely registered the glare Vanessa shot her way. She didn’t care.

Instead, she continued glaring at Dora and Lizzy as they disappeared down the hallway toward the medical room.

The adults restraining Zuri loosened their grip slightly—just enough for her to rip her arms free.

She stalked off in the other direction, fully aware that she would be sent to the principal’s office yet again.

Not that she cared.

Without hesitation, she flipped everyone off as she stormed away.

After leaving school and being suspended for yet another week, Zuri arrived home and immediately tossed the warning paper meant for her father into the trash—alongside the countless others she had long stopped keeping track of. Without a second thought, she made her way to her room, opened the door, and shut it behind her.

She headed straight to the bathroom. Her fists were still bloodied from repeatedly striking Lizzy. She removed her gloves, turned on the tap, and watched as water rushed from the faucet. Briefly, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

Her purple eyes almost seemed to glow against the glass—or at least, they would if they truly reflected light. Instead, the mirror only showed her round face.

Zuri was tall, with light brown skin, an athletic build, and a slender hourglass figure. In Copper, being tall meant something; the town had a notably above-average height compared to most places.

She wore a black sleeveless shirt beneath a light black hoodie with wrist-length sleeves that fell just to her waist. Her high-waisted jeans hugged her frame, secured with a small black belt. Her black boots, accented with purple details, completed the outfit. Covering her hands were black fingerless gloves, still slightly bloodied from the earlier fight. At the top of her head sat a small beanie, a lighter shade of black.

Her hair, which cascaded past her waist, had been dyed a dark purple years ago—a tribute to her mother. Before her disappearance ten years ago, Zuri’s hair had been black. Now, a long streak concealed one of her eyes. It wasn’t hard to see why people might call her gothic.

After finishing washing her hands, she shut off the tap, slid her gloves back on, and threw herself onto the bed, sprawled out in exhaustion.

She had tried to stay out of trouble—tried to keep herself from fighting—but when people constantly mocked and belittled her, when they twisted the knife deeper into her misery, who wouldn’t snap?

Lizzy knew one thing about her: she never backed down. Maybe Zuri had started avoiding fights, but that didn’t mean she would run from them. And Lizzy knew exactly how to press her buttons.

Her mother was always the easiest topic for them to exploit—and Lizzy never hesitated to use it to her advantage.

Honestly, Zuri would have fought harder to break free from the adults restraining her. Getting in a few more punches would have been fucking satisfying, especially after everything Lizzy and her slutty right arm, Rebecca, had put her through. Years of torment.

And yet, there was always someone trying to stop the fight.

This time, it had been Dora. At least she had tried, but in the end, Zuri knew exactly what she was—a spineless bitch.

One week later, after hearing a bit of name-calling—nothing worth paying attention to—Zuri ignored it. Seriously, "nerd"? That was the weakest insult anyone could come up with.

Between the usual petty taunts, however, Zuri overheard something different: talk of a student’s death. Not that it shocked her—Copper wasn’t exactly a stranger to tragedy—but that didn’t stop the rumors from spreading like wildfire.

"I heard he died in the hallways."
"No one saw who did it."
"They said he was strangled, but there were no hand marks on his neck!"

Bullshit.

Zuri couldn’t care less.

She made her way through the crowd, pushing past the gossip until she finally reached her arts classroom. As usual, she dropped her bag onto her designated seat—front row, right next to the entrance door.

She was always isolated. Not because there weren’t enough students, but because they had made sure to sit at least one seat away from her. That was just the way things were.

Which is why she was surprised when she saw one of the new kids sitting beside her.

He glanced at her briefly, gave an awkward little wave, and muttered a quiet "hi" before turning his focus back to the lesson.

Yeah. He didn’t know shit about her, did he?

If he did, he wouldn’t have bothered. No one who knew did—either that, or they ditched her the moment they had the chance.

Still, she recognized him.

One of the Elliots.

Vanessa’s younger brother.

There had been plenty of whispers about him since his arrival this month, and it was impossible not to notice him—a ridiculously tall, blonde, light-skinned kid. Like his sister, he had half the girls in school drooling over him.

Rebecca was one of them.

Not surprising. She loved dating popular guys—just to dump them a week or two later. Over the months they’d been here, she had cycled through multiple boys. If she ever got her hands on this one, Zuri doubted it would last.

Still, Zuri didn’t want to be the bad guy here.

So, she gave a small wave back.

Zuri had finished her notes and tried to fall asleep at her desk—but failed.

There were still ten minutes left before the bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

"Hey,"

A whisper caught her attention, making her instinctively turn toward the voice. It was Nathan.

"So…" he started awkwardly, "my sister is throwing a party at our place since my mom will be out for the night and let her."

‘…Alright, and?’ she thought sarcastically.

"Yeah?" she responded, keeping the sarcasm to herself.

"You can go if you want to," he said.

Zuri tilted her head in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

"Alright, I shall think about giving it a bash," she lied.

She had no intention of going to a party—especially not one thrown by a student from this damned school.

Finally home, Zuri tossed her bag aside and sprawled onto her bed.

She had almost forgotten Nathan’s invitation, but she had already decided she wouldn’t go. She never went to parties—mostly because no one invited her, but the point still stood.

So why should this one be any different?

She doubted Nathan’s kindness was genuine. She had dealt with people like this before, and every single time, she fell for it—like the idiot she was.

For a long time, her only real friend at that damned school was Thad—Thaddeus, if she wanted to be proper about it. Ironically, Thad was Lizzy’s older brother. The most popular jock in school. But unlike Zuri, Thad had plenty of friends, which meant he didn’t always have time for her. She didn’t hold a grudge, though—hell, even she wouldn’t hang out with herself.

She had heard that Thad quickly became friends with Nathan, just as Vanessa had wasted no time befriending Lizzy.

Not that Thad even noticed how much of an asshole his friends—or his own sister—were.

She liked Thad. But obliviousness was one of his defining traits.

Which was exactly why she doubted Nathan would be any different.

That kind, awkward guy act wasn’t going to fool her—Nathan was a damn good actor, she could admit that much, but he wouldn’t get one over on her like everyone else had.

Unless it wasn’t just an act?

No. Contain yourself, Zuri. She knew how things ended when she let her soft side take charge.

The party itself was probably just another way to mock her. Maybe that sounded paranoid, but considering the way Lizzy was obsessed with getting her in trouble—even at the cost of getting herself beat up—it wasn’t too far-fetched.

Maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, and every brainless asshole at that fucked-up school was just as dense as Lizzy.

Okay, maybe she was overthinking a little.

Would they really go as far as throwing a whole party just for that?

…Ah, fuck it.

Zuri loved making a fool out of herself, didn’t she?

Zuri had been at the party for at least thirty minutes, and she had been awkward the entire time.

The party was, surprisingly, legal—by which Zuri meant it lacked any trace of drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol.

Understandable, considering everyone there was a minor. But still surprising, given that Copper wasn’t exactly known for following laws.

"Oi, mate!"

The unmistakable Australian accent snapped her out of her thoughts. Nathan.

"Oh… hi," Zuri muttered awkwardly, relieved that no one else had spotted her yet.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked, smiling.

Zuri restrained herself from commenting on how stupid his grin made him look.

"Just hanging around. You?" she replied, attempting politeness, despite not wanting to be.

"I’m fine! You having fun?"

No, I’m not, she thought, still questioning why she had accepted the invitation in the first place.

"I’m having a little…" she lied.

"That’s great!" Nathan said enthusiastically.

Zuri hesitated before asking, "Shall I ask where the bathroom is?"

"Oh, well, it’s down the hallway," Nathan answered.

She nodded, muttering a quick "thank you" before heading off down the hall.

Zuri was still washing her hands when she heard a voice behind her.

“Are you happy now?” a girl asked.

It took Zuri a few seconds to place the voice, but when she turned, she saw who it belonged to: Vanessa—Nathan’s older sister and Lizzy’s new friend.

Vanessa stood a few inches taller than Zuri, though still a bit shorter than Nathan. She had green eyes, but she shared many of Nathan’s features—same skin tone, same blonde hair—but hers was cut into a sharp bob. She wore what looked like the most expensive gray leather jacket and black shorts the store had to offer, orange-tinted sunglasses pushed up on her head, and a small red scarf knotted neatly at her neck.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zuri said coolly, shutting off the tap.

“Oh, I’m sure you do,” Vanessa replied, her hostility as clear as her voice.

Zuri rolled her eyes. “I really don’t. Would it kill you to be a little more specific?”

“Does the name ‘Lizzy’ ring a bell?” Vanessa asked.

Zuri scoffed. “Oh, yes. It rings the bitch bell.”

Vanessa’s eyes narrowed. “She’s my friend . I hope you know that.”

“Oh, I do,” Zuri said. “I just couldn’t give less of a fuck.”

“Do you think this is fun?” Vanessa said, her voice starting to shake.

“Depends. What this are we talking about?”

“Beating people in the hallway!” Vanessa snapped—not loud enough for anyone outside to hear, but loud enough that Zuri could tell she was boiling.

Zuri scoffed again. “Let me guess… you got pissed that I beat up your bestie, ran crying to Mommy, begged her to throw a party, and told Nathan to invite me so you could confront me the first chance you got?”

Vanessa sneered. “You really think I’d waste my time confronting you in a bathroom? You think you’re that important?”

Zuri couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, newbie. You really don’t know jack about that hellhole of a school, do you?”

Her cackling faded, but the fire in her voice didn’t.

“So I’ll say this once—and only once. You better wedge this deep into whatever’s left of that tiny thing you call a brain,” Zuri said, stepping closer. “I don’t give a flying fuck if boys are drooling over you. I don’t care who you are, or who you think I am. But let this be your one and only warning: mess with me, and I’ll send you to the same place Lizzy ended up. Got that?”

Vanessa didn’t flinch. “Go ahead. Try me.”

“Fuck off,” Zuri snapped. “But when you do try something, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

She stormed out of the bathroom, leaving Vanessa glaring daggers in her wake.

Zuri was now completely certain—she should’ve just stayed home, like she originally wanted to.

Zuri pushed open her bedroom door, stepping inside and slamming it shut behind her. She didn't hesitate before sprawling onto her bed, already prepared to squeeze her eyes shut in a futile attempt at sleep. She let out a frustrated groan—her night had been a disappointment, another failed attempt at having fun at a party.

Her gaze drifted to the window, a habit she'd developed ten years ago—ever since her mother disappeared. Coincidentally, ten years ago was also when her father stopped caring, assuming he ever did. Maybe he'd simply dropped the act when her mother went missing.

The moment people realized her father didn’t give a damn about the names they threw at her, they wasted no time in calling her all sorts of things. Zuri had been small back then—too small, even for her age—but she had grown over the years. Despite her size, she'd always known how to defend herself.

Lizzy was the first to notice her father’s negligence, and once it became obvious to everyone, she made sure to put it into words for all to hear. That was the first time Zuri got into a fight—ten years ago, too. Funny how "ten years ago" seemed to define every bad thing in her life.

But it was six years ago when she first sought an escape. She had needed a way to forget everything they'd put her through. "Kill one lion per day," some countries say—but somehow, she'd been handed a whole pack of lions and wolves to fight daily. So she found a way to forget her broken reality, a method she was about to turn to again, because she needed it—desperately.

Her arm reached for the drawer. She pulled it open and stared inside, realizing her supply was running low. She'd have to buy more tomorrow.

But for today, this was all she had. Therapy would never solve her problems—she knew that. Three years ago, she'd bought her first batch just to try it.

And to this day, she still takes it.

Drugs—they were her escape. And they weren’t the only ones.

Nathan honestly had no idea what was going on with Vanessa lately. Everyone assumed she was just "trying to fit in," like she had told them. But this? This wasn’t fitting in.

Last night, Zuri rushed out of the party after going to the bathroom, claiming she had "an urgent thing to do." Nathan didn’t quite buy it, but it was her decision whether to stay or leave.

Then, a girl mentioned overhearing a conversation while inside one of the stalls—Zuri and Vanessa had argued just before Zuri stormed out. Did you really need an IQ above zero to figure out what had happened?

Nathan didn’t particularly like Lizzy, but she was Vanessa’s friend, so he tolerated her. Word had spread that Lizzy and Zuri had gotten into some kind of fight. He didn’t know the full details—only that Lizzy had said something that made Zuri mad, and Zuri had beaten her up.

From what Nathan knew, Lizzy was the cheerleading squad’s leader—popular, influential in the school hierarchy, but far from the best person around. Vanessa liked her, though, so Nathan refrained from judging her based on what others said. He treated Zuri the same way, ignoring the rumors about her.

Nathan usually avoided arguing with his family, but this time, he had to say something. He didn’t want to make a spectacle of it, so he waited until they were alone to confront Vanessa.

She defended Lizzy, insisting that Zuri had attacked her in front of the whole school. But as Nathan pointed out, Vanessa was treating Lizzy like she had never done anything wrong in her life.

After a brief back-and-forth, they dropped the subject.

But Nathan still felt the need to apologize to Zuri for Vanessa’s behavior—because Vanessa certainly wasn’t going to do it herself.

Zuri sat inside one of the bathroom stalls, trying to recover from the grueling day—stressful didn’t even begin to describe it.

Not only had the teacher spent an eternity scribbling on the blackboard, but it was also a teacher Zuri particularly despised. There were only a few teachers she could tolerate, simply because they weren’t complete assholes, but this one? This one was living proof that the school was nowhere near as competent as it claimed to be.

A smug, self-important woman who strutted around like she owned the place—all because she had money. And she never let anyone forget it.

Every day, she flaunted expensive outfits, making sure students recognized the brands as she shoved her wealth in their faces. Half of her lectures revolved around her husband—not his kindness or intelligence, but his money. He was rich, rich, rich. Oh, had she mentioned he was rich already?

And when she wasn’t boasting about her husband, she was listing the high-end places she visited—lavish restaurants, designer stores, and other exclusive spots, as if rubbing salt into the wounds of those who couldn't dream of affording the same.

But today, she had actually done something resembling work, shocking the entire universe. The real torture, though, was how she didn’t stop writing—not for a second. The blackboard filled up with words at an exhausting speed, each scribbled letter blurring into the next. It was impossible to keep up, especially when half the words looked like gibberish.

And to make matters worse? Three straight classes of this nonsense, because fifteen minutes wasn’t nearly enough suffering.

So when the first break arrived, Zuri wasted no time. She bolted to the bathroom, slipping into a stall and locking it securely.

From her pocket, she pulled out her lighter, flicking it on before retrieving her second item out of it. She needed a moment to breathe—to calm herself down. And there was nothing better for that than a cigarette.

She inhaled deeply, letting the smoke carry away the frustrations of the day. Minutes passed—she wasn’t sure how many. She just sat there, cigarette between her lips, legs pressed against the door to make sure no one recognized her.

Eventually, she knew it was time to get moving.

With a final drag, she extinguished the cigarette, slipping it into her pocket. Only after stepping out of the stall did she discreetly toss it in the trash.

She was ready to leave—maybe grab a glass of water—but then she saw it.

The lights flickered.

On. Off. On. Off.

The repeated flashes set a chilling tone, a darkness creeping into the room like something unnatural had just seeped into reality. A cold, eerie presence settled over her, sending shivers down her spine.

She tried to ignore it, brushing it off as some electrical failure—but then she saw the silhouette.

A girl. Slightly younger than Zuri, standing near the bathroom entrance. Zuri’s first instinct was to push past her and leave, until she noticed something strange.

When the lights flickered back on, the girl became more visible. Her head tilted slightly to the right, a deep mark staining her neck. Wide, blank eyes stared ahead, giving her the lifeless appearance of a corpse—a fitting match for her sickly pale skin.

Zuri might have ignored the bizarre aura surrounding the girl, but there was one detail she couldn’t overlook.

She could see right through her.

The hallway behind the girl was still visible—almost as if she weren’t solid. As if she weren’t really there.

Zuri froze, her body refusing to move. Was her mind playing tricks on her?

The flickering lights didn’t help.

And then, just like that, the bathroom plunged into darkness.

At first, Zuri thought the light had finally given out entirely. For a brief moment, she even hoped the entire school had lost power—maybe she could go home early and binge something on Netflix.

But then she realized the hallway’s lights were still on.

Only the bathroom had gone dark.

And the girl?

Gone.

Zuri’s breath hitched. Had she imagined it? Had her cigarette made her lightheaded?

Then, suddenly, the lights snapped back on.

The girl reappeared.

Not at the doorway—but right in front of her.

Zuri didn’t have time to react—didn’t have time to flinch, curse, or even back away.

An invisible force yanked her off her feet.

Before she could process what was happening, she was slammed against the cold bathroom wall. A loud thud echoed through the room.

Her body refused to move. She was pinned—suspended—her feet not touching the ground anymore.

Nothing was holding her, yet she was trapped.

Powerless.

Zuri found herself unable to make a sound as the girl's hand clenched tightly, as if crushing something unseen in her grasp. In an instant, invisible fingers wrapped around Zuri’s throat, pressing hard.

She gasped—but no air came.

Fear overtook confusion.

What had thrown her against the wall with such force? How had the girl moved so fast—one moment standing by the doorway, the next looming right in front of her? None of it made sense.

And then, realization struck.

It was the girl.

She had slammed Zuri into the wall—without even lifting a finger.

Despite standing feet away, it was undeniably her hands that were squeezing the life out of Zuri, stealing the breath from her lungs.

Zuri fought against the tightening grip, but her body refused to respond. Her throat burned, sounds dying before they could escape.

Her vision blurred.

Darkness clawed at the edges.

Her eyes rolled back as the world faded.

The small girl was choking her—somehow, impossibly—without ever touching her.

Zuri’s vision blurred.

Darkness crept in.

Her limbs weakened.

She was sure she would die there—unsure how, or why, or what was happening—as she heard someone screaming her name.

Nathan was searching for Zuri, hoping to apologize on V’s behalf. After asking around, the last girl he spoke to said Zuri was in the girls' bathroom. He made his way there, stopping just outside—he was absolutely not going to go inside, pervs!—but waited to see if she emerged from a stall.

However, a sudden thud from inside made him instinctively rush to check. What he saw stopped him cold—Zuri was suspended against the wall, gasping for air.

Yet, what truly made him freeze was the sight before him. The only person in the room capable of doing this—a little girl—was standing too far away to physically restrain Zuri. And yet, her arm was raised toward Zuri, fingers clenched tightly as though crushing something—except the only thing being crushed was the breath from Zuri's lungs. The girl’s body was translucent, allowing Nathan to see Zuri trembling against the wall, her movements completely restricted. Her eyes were rolling back into her skull.

For two or three seconds, Nathan remained in shock before his instincts kicked in.

"Zuri!" he shouted, rushing toward her. He yanked a metal towel rack off the wall and swung it at the girl, who turned to face him just as the rack made contact—except it didn’t. The towel rack passed straight through her as she vanished into thin air.

Zuri collapsed onto the floor, her face mirroring the confusion Nathan felt.

"Wha… the… f… was… that…" she stammered, her voice unsteady. She gasped for air mid-sentence, struggling to steady herself.

They didn’t know what they saw in that bathroom—and still don’t. Both of them tried to make sense of it, searching for any explanation, but none came. No idea, no logic, no reasoning could explain what they witnessed. Every rational thought they had tried to cling to crumbled under the weight of what happened in that room.

The only explanation that even came close? They’d seen a ghost—and somehow lived to tell the tale. Except, they didn’t tell anyone. And ghosts aren’t supposed to be real.

But the girl who vanished into thin air while telekinetically choking the life out of Zuri? She was very real.

Zuri began ditching school more often. Getting in trouble didn’t matter. Her survival felt far more urgent than perfect attendance. After nearly dying in a bathroom, who cared about report cards?

She didn’t know what Nathan was doing, but on the rare days she actually showed up, she picked up that he was skipping, too—though not quite as much. His attendance still outranked hers by a decent margin.

Unlike her, he had a parent who seemed to give a damn. That made it harder for him to vanish the way she did. Zuri could skip school for months, and her father wouldn’t even notice. Nathan, from what little she knew, had a mother who cared. So yeah—he’d need a solid excuse if he wanted to disappear like she could.

When they both ended up at school on the same day—something that hadn’t happened in a while—Zuri spoke to someone without hostility for the first time in ages.

Don’t get the wrong idea, though. She still didn’t like the guy. But she was grateful he’d saved her, even though he didn’t have to.

She didn’t dislike him, either. She just felt... thankful. And that was it.

While they were away, murders happened at school—enough to draw police investigations into the staff and student body. Too many deaths. Too close together.

“Do you think it’s the same... thing that attacked you?” Nathan asked.

“Probably,” she replied. “They were strangled, weren’t they?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Then it’s definitely the same thing.” Zuri’s fingers briefly brushed her throat.

They sat in silence for a moment, until Nathan finally spoke again.

“Do you think...” he hesitated, “...there’s any way to stop it?”

Zuri didn’t respond right away. The question echoed in her own mind. Then she said, quietly, “No.”

Nathan frowned, but didn’t argue. Honestly—what were they supposed to do? That girl had crushed her throat without even laying a finger on her . How do you stop something like that?

More silence stretched between them, until Nathan broke it again.

“Hey,” he said, making her look his way. “If you find something...”

He scribbled something on a scrap of paper.

“Call me.”

He handed it to her, then walked off—kind of awkwardly, Zuri noted.

She looked down at the paper.

A phone number.

Normally, she would’ve tossed it at the first trash can she passed. But this time, she didn’t.

It’s not like she had anyone else to talk to about this, anyway.

At home, Zuri sat in front of her computer, lost in thought.

Thinking—that was something she had been doing a lot since she saw that thing .

She didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know where to turn. Just stuck, wondering.

Most of her time was spent lying in bed, mindlessly watching random movies and anime on Netflix. Anything to distract herself. But the doubt, the fear—it never left. And that’s why she sat there now, staring at the screen, desperate for answers.

She had bought this computer herself, using her credit card—the only lifeline her father provided, depositing money into it every month or so.

That was the only thing he did for her. If her survival had depended on him, she would have died a long time ago.

She learned to cook when she was eight because nobody made food for her anymore. If not for that little credit card, she would’ve starved to death four years before she taught herself how to cook. Her father never stocked the fridge—he mostly ate at work and simply forgot.

If she hadn’t thought to buy her own water bottles, she probably would’ve died of thirst, too.

In moments like these, she was glad to be an only child. If she’d had a younger sibling, she wouldn’t have been able to handle it. The mere thought of having another mouth to feed, another person to protect, when she barely managed to take care of herself? It was unbearable.

Back to the present—her computer screen stared back at her as if waiting for her to act. She needed answers. Desperately.

But where would she even find them?

Maybe she could dig up similar cases on the internet—but where would she look?

…. Ghosts. That’s everything she could search for….

The first thing Zuri searched for was the girl.

If she really was a ghost, Zuri figured there might be a way to confirm it—by finding out whether the girl had truly died.

It took a while, but eventually she stumbled across an article:

YOUNG 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL COMMITS SUICIDE!

Zuri stared at the headline, her stomach twisting as she scrolled down to the accompanying photo.

It was a shock, to say the least. The sleek, stylized black hair looked just like the ghost's. The skin tone wasn’t as pale, but still light enough to match. The most unsettling difference was in the eyes—where the girl in the bathroom had empty, white orbs, the girl in the photo had striking cyan ones. Still, the face shape, the height... it all lined up. The main difference was that the girl in the photo had once been alive. The one in the bathroom was something else entirely.

Zuri kept reading, learning fragments of the girl’s story.

One year ago, at a school not far from her own, this girl had been a student. But by the sound of it, her classmates were merciless. According to the article, one afternoon—after being publicly humiliated in the breakroom—she was found later that day hanging from the ceiling of her bedroom later that day. The rope around her neck had snapped it clean.

‘That explains the tilted neck… and the mark, ’ Zuri thought. ‘Even the clothes look the same.’

She let out a groan, sinking into her chair. For the first time, the pieces were starting to fit together—and the picture they formed chilled her to the bone.

The research didn’t end there; Zuri kept searching.

GHOSTS: ARE THEY REAL OR NOT?

That was the article that provided a glimmer of useful information:

"For decades, the idea of destroying something that was already dead has been dismissed—after all, how can you take the life of something that doesn’t have one? But what about stunning them? The debate over ways to free oneself from vengeful beings known as ghosts remains shrouded in mystery. However, countless stories suggest that something found in nearly every household might be enough to fend them off: certain pure metals—metals untainted by any additives—could offer protection to a family."

Pure metals… could repel ghosts?

Suddenly, through the haze of her blurred thoughts, Zuri remembered— she was barely conscious when it happened, but she was certain.

A swing of the metal towel rack had saved her life back there.

A swing of the metal towel rack had saved her life back there.

That was it! When Nathan had tried to strike the girl with the towel rack, she had vanished. And why? Because the towel rack was made of pure metal. Iron, Zuri had assumed.

Her phone was still in her pocket when she recalled the slip of paper tucked away in the other. She had never touched it since the day it was placed there.

She pulled it out and stared at the numbers written on it.

Nathan’s phone number.

Glancing at the phone in her other hand, she sighed.

He would probably want to know about this.

Z: Good afternoon. Are you Nathan?

N: Yeah, that’s me. You’re Zuri, right?

Z: Correct.
Z: I took the liberty of researching ghosts, specifically regarding the girl we encountered in the bathroom.
Z: I assumed you might be interested in the findings.
Z: [2 photos]

Nathan glanced at the messages Zuri had sent, his mind fixated on the photos. They were edited screenshots of two different articles.

The first featured a girl who bore an uncanny resemblance to the one they'd found in the bathroom. Purple lines underlined key sections—clearly added post-screenshot—and beneath the image, a note in Zuri’s characteristically formal tone read: Confirmed: We are facing a post-life type of menace.

The second screenshot followed the same format, but its contents were far more compelling: it claimed they could defend themselves against the ghost. Zuri’s annotation read: Confirmed: Pure metal can overcome ghosts. Evidence: You used a towel rack made of metallic material.

After reading Zuri’s message, Nathan was ready to respond.

N: Thanks.
N: I guess I can try looking into it more—see if there’s a way to put them down for good!

Z: As you wish.
Z: Farewell. I shall see you at school.

“Hey there.” Nathan walked up to Zuri, who was passing by in the hallway when he spotted her.

“Hey,” Zuri replied, her tone flat.

“So…” Nathan began. “Did you read what I sent?”

“You sent something?” Zuri asked, raising her eyebrows. She looked tired—more than usual. The faint smudges under her eyes gave her away.

“I did. You didn’t see it?” Nathan said.

“Nope,” she replied—just as something pulled both of their attention.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

A shrill scream pierced through the school corridors, making every hair on their arms stand on end.

Zuri and Nathan locked eyes. No words were needed. They ran.

When they reached the source, a girl stood frozen, staring into a classroom that was supposed to be empty. The teacher hadn’t shown up today.

But there was someone in there.

A face, bluish-cyan and eerily still, stared from the empty classroom to the door frame they were standing in. Lifeless eyes. Mouth agape.

Zuri recognized that look instantly. It was someone gasping for air.

“So… where were you at the time of death?” an officer asked Zuri.

“In class,” she answered simply.

After the most recent death, the police had launched an investigation into the entire student body and staff.

“Do you have any proof of that?” the investigator asked.

“Yes, plenty,” she replied. “My teacher, Camilla Alexandra, saw me in class and even asked me a few questions, which I answered. My notebook shows I was copying down the lesson. And during the break, I was with another student—Nathan Elliot.” She ticked off the details calmly. “If you have doubts, check the security cameras or ask my alibis.”

The officer raised an eyebrow. “Well, when we asked other students who might’ve done it, your name came up. Considering your history of getting into fights, that doesn't exactly work in your favor—”

“My alibis outweigh suspicions based on old behavior,” Zuri interrupted. “I can't be in two places at once. And let’s not forget—the others might be biased. They could be racist, hold grudges, or just make wild guesses without any real evidence.”

The officer sighed. “Alright, Zuri,” he said at last. “For now, you’re free to go.

“So, was it tough?” Nathan asked, referring to the interrogation.

“Easier than I expected, honestly,” Zuri replied. Then, almost under her breath, she added, “Though I did find out a bunch of little shits said I was the killer.”

Nathan didn’t seem to catch that last part.

“Cool,” he said. “Did you tell them I was with you?”

“Of course,” she answered.

“Great. If I back that up, they might stop bothering us.”

There was a pause, then Nathan’s expression shifted slightly. “Hey, want to spend lunch with me?”

Zuri raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised. “Uh…” She stumbled, caught off guard. “Maybe next time. I’ve got a few things I need to take care of during the break.”

Nathan’s face fell. “Oh,” he said. “Well… maybe next time, then.”

N: Hey there.
N: Good news.
N: Found a way of winning!
N: [1 photo]

Zuri’s breath caught as her eyes landed on the image. Her pupils widened, stunned.

“Holy. Fucking . Shit,” she muttered. “He actually did it?”

The screenshot—clearly edited, just like hers—had a yellow line slashed beneath the most crucial part. Her gaze locked onto the words:

If you are aware of where the ghost is buried, some myths believe that once the remains are burned, the ghost will finally find peace. With no earthly connection, it cannot remain.

Zuri’s heart jumped.

‘That’s it!’ she thought. ‘All we need now is to find where she’s buried.’

Z: Thank you.
Z: I will continue the research from this point onward.

“So…. Zuri,” The officer began, “your alibis have been confirmed.”

“So…..”Zuri asked, “Why am I here?”

“Because, while you have alibis on your side, the students aren’t.” The officer stated, his voice flat.

Zuri couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the officer.

“Have you not heard me the first time?” Zuri asked, hostility barely hidden in her tone.

“A few students spreading rumors is one thing,” he said. “The entire school, however—”

Zuri burst out laughing. The officer blinked, taken aback.

“Have you ever even been to high school?” she asked.

“Excuse me—”

“Oh, don’t even,” she cut him off. “Everyone knows there’s a damn hierarchy. If you’re a nerd or not conventionally attractive, you’re at the bottom. But if you’re the rich cheerleaders' captain, every guy wants to bang? You’re queen. And when the queen doesn’t like someone, the rest fall in line.”

Her tone hardened.

“But that’s not your job, is it? So how about you shove those teenage rumors up your ass and focus on your actual job—you know, the one that confirmed my alibi? Maybe then you’ll stop wasting time chasing gossip from hormone-drenched brats who think with the wrong head.”

The officer’s jaw tightened. He looked genuinely offended.

Wow. A full-grown cop getting rattled by a fifteen-year-old. Real professional.

Zuri leaned forward, teeth clenched. “Am I allowed to go?”

“Yes,” he said curtly.

“Thank you,” she replied, her voice syrupy-sweet, smile plastic. Even she felt gross saying it.

“So, how did it go?” Nathan asked.

“As fine as it could,” Zuri replied, her tone unreadable.

Nathan hesitated, sensing something unsaid. “So…” he started, trying to pivot the mood, “would you want to stay for lunch with me this time?”

Zuri’s instinct was to say no. But as she glanced at him, she thought back—Nathan hadn’t been awful during all their ghost-hunting madness. In fact, he’d stuck around, done the digging, even found a potential solution.

“Why not?” she said at last, shrugging. “I guess I could.”

Nathan’s smile was instant and blinding—bright enough to chase shadows off the walls.

“Cool,” he said, that grin going nowhere. “Let’s go, then.”

Zuri sat in her usual corner of the breakroom, on the floor, legs crossed like always. Nathan slid down beside her.

“So…” he began, voice uncertain, “your father’s Khan Porter, right?”

“...Yeah,” she answered, hesitating. “The police chief. Town’s favorite donor and all that crap.”

“Oh. So you know the officer investigating us?”

Zuri smirked, suppressing a laugh. “No. My father doesn’t take his kids to work— or anywhere else , really,” she added inwardly. “Honestly, if the guy doesn’t know my last name, I doubt he has any clue I’m his boss’ daughter.”

Nathan blinked. “Oh.”

“And you’re one of the Elliots?” Zuri asked, though she already knew.

“Yep, second youngest,” he said. “There’s Cynthia—my little sister. We’re close. Not counting my mom, of course. I think you’d like Cynthia. Just a heads up, though—her positivity is dangerously contagious.”

“Oh, don’t bother,” Zuri replied dryly. “There’s always an exception.” The words tumbled out faster than her filter could catch them. Her face flushed

Nathan, whoever, just stifled a giggle, shocking her a bit….

“Anyway,” he continued, “Jessica’s the oldest. Got held back once, and she’s been a workaholic ever since.”

“Then there’s Vanessa… she used to be nice. That was before she started hanging out with Elizabeth and Dora.” Zuri’s expression darkened. “We’re twins. She was born an hour before me—so technically, she’s older.”

“Got it,” Zuri said, then paused. “Wait, isn’t Cynthia in our class?”

“Yeah, actually,” Nathan said, before he started to explain, “Cynthia’s bloody brilliant…. really, she even skipped a grade because of it.”

“Oh….” Zuri said as she released someone approaching them.

“Hello, are you Nathan Elliot?”

“That’s me. Is it my turn?”

“Correct.”

“So,” Zuri began, “how’d it go?”

Nathan shrugged. “As good as it could’ve, I guess… considering how many weird questions he asked about you.”

Zuri scoffed. Classic Khan. Your recruitment standards are just as stellar as your parenting.

“Let me guess,” she said. “Was it, ‘Is she aggressive?’ ‘Has she ever forced you to do something you didn’t want to?’—that kind of crap?”

“Exactly. How’d you know?”

She sighed. “I’ve picked up a thing or two from my dad over the past ten years,” she said, voice flat. Then, under her breath, “Or at least, from when he gave a damn.”

Nathan hesitated. “Right… well, I still need to talk to Vanessa about something,” he muttered, more to himself than to her.

Then, he glanced over. “Where’d you get your eye lenses?” he asked, motioning toward her purple irises—the eerie, muted glow that drained the light from her face. “They’re… really pretty.”

Zuri blinked, caught off guard. “Uh—they’re not lenses.”

“What?”

“I mean, I don’t really know,” she said, cheeks coloring. “They used to be green when I was younger. Then slowly… they turned purple. And kind of… dull. Dead, I guess.” She muttered the last bit, already expecting not to be believed.

Everyone had mocked her when she told them. Laughed. Told her to take the lenses out. And when they realized she wasn’t lying… the bullying started.

“Wow,” Nathan breathed. His voice held no judgment—just wonder. “Is it the same with your hair, or…?”

“Oh, no. My hair’s naturally black. I dyed it purple. As a tribute to my…”

The words caught in her throat.

She stared at the floor, frowning.

Nathan recognized the look. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said gently. “My dad died, too—”

“She’s not dead.” Zuri cut him off sharply. “She’s just… missing.”

Nathan fell silent. The only sound was the distant clatter of footsteps in the hall.

When the bell rang, it echoed louder than usual.

“See you tomorrow” was the last thing they said to each other that day.

“Hey, Vannie?” Nathan called out.

Vanessa turned toward him. “Yes?”

Nathan didn’t really want to start another argument—but if she’d actually done it, this couldn’t slide anymore.

“Was it you who accused Zuri?”

She blinked. “...What?”

“Oh, you heard me,” he said flatly.

Vanessa sighed. “This again? Really?”

“Well, a little bird told me ‘one of my sisters was pretty vocal about Zuri possibly being the killer,’” Nathan said, eyes narrowing.

“And why assume it’s me?!” she snapped.

“I didn’t,” he replied. “I asked Jessica first. She looked at me and said, and I quote: ‘Does it look like I even know whoever the fuck that bitch is?’—though in much harsher words.”

“Oh, come on, Nathan! The girl’s trouble and you know that!”

“Picking a fight with your friend is one thing. Accusing someone of murder is another,” Nathan shot back, his voice rising despite himself.

“And you’re accusing me without proof!”

“Except you’re the only one who dislikes her. Jessica didn’t do it, and Cynthia... well, she’s Cynthia.” He shrugged, as if that explained everything.

“Oh, right. My bad for not liking the girl who broke my friend’s nose, ” Vanessa said with biting sarcasm.

“You don’t have to like her. Just don’t accuse her of homicide, for fuck’s sake!”

Their voices were too loud now. Exactly what Nathan had hoped to avoid—but this had to be said.

“She attacked my friend, Nathan!”

“You treat that girl like she’s some kind of queen!”

“That’s called trying to fit in, ” Vanessa snapped.

“No,” Nathan said, voice suddenly quieter—and sharper. “That’s called becoming someone else. Because the Vanessa I knew didn’t need designer crap or fake smiles to belong.”

Vanessa flinched. The words landed harder than expected.

Nathan exhaled, shaking his head. “I’m done arguing,” he said. “Just… stop , Vanessa. This isn’t you.”

And with that, he walked out, leaving her standing in stunned silence.

“Zuri Porter?” the officer asked.

“Yes,” she replied dryly. “It’s my turn?”

“Correct. Please follow me.”

Zuri sighed. “See you after this,” she murmured to Nathan.

But they didn’t even make it to the principal’s office—where interrogations were held—before everything went sideways.

As Officer Emilia opened the door, she stopped cold. Her eyes widened, mouth falling open in silent horror. Her hand flew to her face.

Zuri stepped closer, confused—until she saw what had shocked Emilia.

Officer Dulan—the one who had been interrogating her all this time—was slumped over the principal’s desk.

His skull had been smashed against it, blood still seeping from the wound. His head hung at an unnatural angle, dark crimson pooling beneath him.

Zuri’s body moved before her mind could catch up. She grabbed Emilia by the collar and slammed her against the wall.

“You didn’t see or hear this?!” she snapped, fury flashing in her eyes.

Emilia had been the one escorting students in and out. The hallway outside the interrogation room wasn’t far. So how could she not have heard it?

“I—I…” Emilia stammered, too stunned to form words.

“It takes five minutes to grab the next student. Five minutes! How didn’t you notice someone killing a cop?! ”

“He—he was alive when I left with the last one!” Emilia cried.

Zuri let her go with a groan of frustration.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” she barked. “An officer’s dead. Evacuate the damn school!”

As soon as the evacuation order spread through the school, Zuri made a beeline for Nathan.

“We need to do something, now,” She told him. Nathan nodded, shock still present in him.

“But what?” He asked.

“I’ll find where she was buried,” Zuri told him, with determination leaking through her tone. A beat of silence passed before she added, more quietly, “...Are you with me?”

Nathan knew she was going to do so regardless of his answer anyways, but his answer was obvious,

“Of course,” he said.

“Okay then,” She said, “will you be able to sneak out though?” She asked.

“...Maybe?” Nathan said, clearly unsure. His mother was a lot of things—clever was one of those things, not the easiest to slip things past. 

Zuri couldn’t help but sigh, she already knew his mother was someone who cared . Present for her children’s lives. Unlike a certain someone, she sadly has the burden of sharing her surname with….

“I’ll send you the location. I’ll bring the equipment,” she said. “Just... try to be there, okay?”

Nathan gave a small nod. “Okay, then...”

Z: That was easier than I expected.
Z: However, I managed to locate the site
Z: Cemetery B. Mary, 1934.
Z: Think you can make it today?

N: Mom and the others are knocked out,
N: So… maybe?
N: Fingers crossed I don’t get busted though :V

Z: Got it.

Nathan was trying to be careful, and that’s why he didn’t turn the lights on, made his best to get the doors not to creak when opening them. Even his shoes were chosen for stealth.

Just as his fingers grazed the doorknob, a soft click echoed through the room. The lights flicked on

His eyes almost flew out of his head due to how much they were widened as he heard a voice.

“And where did you think you’re off to, at this hour?” a voice asked from behind.

Nathan turned slowly, pulse hammering, and felt his soul abandon his body. His mother stood in the doorway, arms folded, expression unreadable.

“I-I-I can explain, Mom,” he stammered. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

“You’d better have a very good excuse,” she said, her tone calm—but with an edge that made it clear she wasn’t playing.

“I…” Nathan struggled, words tangled in his throat. His mother raised an eyebrow.

“You?” she prompted.

After several more seconds of searching for something solid to say, she sighed. “You know how worried I’d be if I woke up and you weren’t there?”

“I left a note,” he said quickly. “It’s just… a friend’s struggling in one of their subjects, and they asked for help. I thought you were asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you.” Nathan explained.

Despite not lying about the note, the lie of what he really was going to do sat heavily in his chest… but he needed to help Zuri anyway.

Nathan’s mother was naturally a worried mother—and for good reason. Still in her early thirties despite having four children, she had entered motherhood far too early.

She was only sixteen when she had her first child, and barely eighteen when her fourth and last was born. She hadn’t even had the chance to be an adult before she had to raise them.

Motherhood hadn’t come easy—especially given the example she’d been raised with. Her own parents wouldn’t be winning any trophies for “Parent of the Year.” In fact, “role models” was a title they’d never earned, not even close.

Nathan dreaded the thought of ever seeing his grandparents. After all, they were the ones who left permanent marks on his mother—scars both visible and buried deep. It was sickening how long they’d managed to avoid justice before finally being sent to prison.

And yet, despite all that, she never let it break her. She stood strong. She raised her kids with care and strength that her parents never gave her. She protected them, even when no one had protected her.

It was that strength—the quiet, unshakable kind—that made Nathan proud beyond words.

He was honored to be the son of Tessa Elliot.

After a beat, she sighed again. “Nathan…”

Her voice carried that ache he hated hearing.

“Just… tell me when you’ll be back, okay?”

“One hour,” he said. “Maybe two.”

When Nathan arrived at the cemetery, he already knew he was running late. So it was no surprise that Zuri had gone on without him.

What did surprise him, though, was the broken chain on the cemetery gate—snapped clean in half by something he couldn’t yet identify.

He pushed past the oddness of it and kept walking—until he spotted a figure moving among the tombstones, scanning the names.

He saw only a silhouette and quickly ducked, not wanting to be seen.

The person carried a flashlight, angled low to avoid attracting attention.

The silhouette—wait. Was that Zuri?

The silhouette had matching height and had a similar build to hers.

Snap …. shit, he stepped on something he shouldn’t.

The silhouette snapped towards him, as the light of the flashlight forced him to shield his eyes from the sudden glare of light.

The silhouette sighed in relief, “Nathan? Shit, you’re late…”” That was Zuri’s voice. Relief washed over him. At least it wasn’t a security guard. The last thing he needed was to explain himself to his mom.

“Sorry,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “mom caught me on my way out. I needed to give a good excuse of why….”

Zuri chuckled, but it was so low, it could easily been mistaken by a whisper.

But when she realized he’d heard her, she changed the subject.

“Well, like I said, I brought the equipment: it’s a flashlight, two shovels, gasoline, and a lighter.” She told him.

Nathan blinked in confusion. “Shovels?” He asked, “Why?”

Zuri shot him a flat look. “Nathan... how else are we supposed to burn a buried body?”

Oh.

Oh … He was really not looking forward to this.

“Yours is in my car’s trunk.” She added casually.

“You have a car?!”

This day couldn’t get more surprising, could it?

That thought stuck with him as he grabbed one of the shovels—and noticed a pair of shears tucked nearby. Probably the same ones used to cut the cemetery gate.

When Nathan returned with the shovel, they didn’t waste any time. Digging began immediately. It took nearly forty minutes of silent labor before the dull thunk of metal on wood told them they were nearing the coffin.

Then the temperature dropped. Fast.

Zuri shivered. A cold unease crawled up her spine—something was off.

“Wait,” she said sharply, her voice low. “Something’s wrong.”

Nathan paused. “What? What’s happening, mate?”

“Are you cold too?”

“Kinda…” he replied, suddenly uneasy at the tone in her voice.

Zuri’s words came carefully, but carried an edge. “I’ve only felt like this once before…”

He looked at her. “Where?”

“In the bathroom,” she said, eyes distant.

“The bathroom?”

She climbed out of the hole, dusting her hands. “I felt this exact same chill when I saw her , Nathan.”

That stopped him.

“Keep digging. But call me if anything weird happens.” Her tone was flat—cold, commanding—but Nathan didn’t question it. He understood.

“Alright.”

While Zuri scanned the cemetery, Nathan returned to the dirt. But now, after every shovelful he flung aside, he glanced nervously over his shoulder.

Something was watching them. He could feel it.

Nathan had been right to keep glancing over his shoulder.

He jumped when he saw the translucent girl looming behind him, her face twisted in a furious scowl. His legs gave out and he hit the ground hard, paralyzed by shock.

But he didn’t need to move.

A shovel swung down, slicing through the ghost—who vanished in a blink. The shovel kept going, smashing into a tombstone, its wooden handle snapping with a sharp crack .

Zuri stood over him, eyes darting around. “You okay?” she asked, breath tight.

Nathan nodded quickly, still recovering from the scare.

Zuri looked away to scan the cemetery—and that’s when it happened.

“LOOK OUT!” Nathan yelled.

She turned, but not fast enough.

The ghost stood behind her—and though it never touched her, Zuri’s body was hurled through the air.

She flew across the graveyard, slamming into the iron fence with brutal force. The metal bent in the shape of her impact with an eerie groan, but no one came to investigate the sound.

Zuri crumpled to the dirt, dazed and aching.

Nathan snapped out of his panic. With a shout, he swung his shovel again, forcing the ghost to vanish once more.

Zuri groaned, dragging herself upright, one hand clutching her back. She looked down—her only weapon was the broken half of the shovel. Useless.

Then her eyes locked on the iron fence.

She stumbled over, grabbed one of the bent rods, and yanked with all her strength. She nearly fell backwards, but came away with the metal bar in her hands.

Now she had a chance.

Nathan kept swinging at the ghost, but it vanished and reappeared, always just out of reach.

When Zuri began swinging her iron rod, the ghost noticed. Her attack made it vanish again—and that was the opening they needed.

“Burn the body. I’ll hold her off!” she shouted.

Nathan nodded, raised the shovel, and smashed through the coffin lid, revealing the ghost’s decaying remains.

Zuri struck again, forcing the spirit away, but it reappeared behind her in an instant. She was quicker this time—her swing connected, sending it flickering out.

Nathan emptied the gasoline onto the exposed body, frantically digging through his pockets.

The ghost hissed, raking cold fingers through Zuri’s hair. Her rod was knocked from her grasp, and she hit the ground hard once more.

Finally, Nathan found the lighter.

Without a second’s hesitation, he flicked the flame—and dropped it

The ghost loomed over Zuri as her eyes widened in shock. She stumbled backward, crashing to the ground. From where she lay, Zuri caught sight of the fire.

The ghost wavered, then collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath—until, without warning, she erupted into flames.

Zuri dragged herself upright just as Nathan rushed over and slipped an arm around her, steadying her.

“You alright, ya reckon?” he asked, slipping full-blown into his Australian accent.

“I am,” she replied, though the limp in her step betrayed her.

“C’mon, let’s get you to the car,” he said gently.

“I’m fine.” She insisted.

Nathan ignored her.

When Nathan placed her in the car, he returned to the grave, scooping a bit of dirt back into the hole—just enough to smother the flames and hide the fact that a corpse was now missing.

Zuri offered him a ride home, and he decided to accept. He was only five minutes away from being gone a full hour—and he’d promised his mom he’d only be at his friend’s for one. The ride would spare him the walk... and maybe save his ears from bleeding if he got back late.

But as they drove, he couldn’t help asking,
“So... you do have a license to drive, right?”

“Of course,” she said, as if it were the hundredth time someone asked. “Plenty of adults have questioned me already. Am I in jail? Nope.”

“Oh, thank god,” he muttered. “Seriously though, how did you even buy a Camaro as a minor?”

“At a little car shop near my house, why?” she shrugged. “You want one?”

“Do I want one?” Nathan echoed. “Absolutely. Have permission to get one? Not until I’m eighteen.”

Zuri laughed. Nathan sighed.

“Aren’t you nervous?” he asked.

“After watching a ghost burst into flames?” she replied. “Definitely.”

“No—I mean, that too,” he stammered, “but... the fact that we’re basically criminals now.”

A silence settled in the car. Then Zuri gently changed the subject.
“Was your mom mad about catching you sneaking out?”

“No…” he said, uncertain. “At least, I think she wasn’t.”

“She’s always composed, you know?” he continued. “Never raises her voice, never grabs the belt like some parents do. She teases us, has fun with us…”

Zuri nodded, but said nothing about the mother bit.

“So usually,” Nathan went on, “when she grounds us, or gives that I’m not mad, I’m disappointed look, it means we really messed up—and we’ll definitely regret it for a while. But she’s always understanding. I love that about her.”

“Wow...” Zuri said softly. “You’re lucky with parents, huh?”

Nathan let out a small chuckle. “Yeah... I think you could say that.”

Just as Zuri neared his house, that dorky smile melted off Nathan’s face, replaced by sheer mortification.

“Oh no…” he muttered.

“What?” Zuri asked, already catching sight of a woman outside the house—his mom, she assumed.

But she didn’t look like Nathan or Vanessa at all.

In fact, she looked like an alternative and taller version of how Zuri would look like if she looked more like her younger self now.

Nathan had pale skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. His mom—Tessa—had warm brown skin, bright green eyes, and cropped black hair. About the only thing the two shared was height: Tessa was about a forehead taller than Nathan, and he stood out in any crowd thanks to his height.

Back to Nathan’s horror:
“We should’ve stopped a block back and let me walk home…”

“Why?” Zuri asked, “Is there a problem—?”

“She’s seeing a girl drive me home, Zuri…” he muttered.

Zuri raised an eyebrow—What was the problem with tha—oh.

“…Good luck, pal,” she smirked. “That’s all I can offer you.”

Nathan stepped out of the car with the kind of dread reserved for funerals and school presentations. His mother was already standing there, smiling in that way. Zuri gave a little wave; Tessa waved back before Zuri drove away.

“So…” Tessa began. Nathan did not like her tone.

“Mom, please...” he begged, face red as a tomato.

“Did a lot of studying this last hour, huh?” she teased.

Nathan turned an even deeper shade of crimson.

“MOM, I SWEAR TO GOD—”

Chapter Text

“Have you heard?” a student cried. “Jennifer died in the bathroom!”

“I did,” another replied. “They didn’t even catch who did it!”

At Copper, conversations like these were disturbingly common.

This time, the talk of the week was Jennifer Evans—a third-year student found dead in the girls’ bathroom. Zuri knew every detail of the scene. She had been the one to discover the body.

It was horrific. Jennifer’s lifeless form was draped over the sink, her face riddled with glass shards. The mirror behind her was shattered into a thousand pieces. Her jaw hung unnaturally wide—not from shock, but something far beyond human limits.

The police called it suicide.

Bullshit. No one who took their own life would end up looking like that.

Zuri hated to admit it, but she had a chilling idea of what might have killed the girl.

She and Nathan exchanged glances every time Jennifer’s name came up. Their memories were still raw from the last ghost they’d encountered.

It had only been a few days since they’d put that one to rest.

The bell rang, and students spilled out of their classrooms like a flood breaking loose.

Zuri and Nathan found seats beside each other in the breakroom. It was Zuri who broke the silence first.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked, eyes locked on him. “About Jennifer’s death?”

Nathan glanced over.

He hesitated, then sighed. “...Yeah.”

“There’s no way it was suicide,” Zuri said firmly. “I saw the body. Her mouth was broken—stretched in a way no human could do to themselves.”

“Definitely ghost-related.” Nathan nodded. “Again.”

A heavy silence settled between them.

“So…” Nathan began, voice low, uncertain. “What do we do now?”

Another pause.

“It’s Friday, right?” Zuri asked, almost as if she needed confirmation.

“Yeah,” Nathan replied. “Why?”

Zuri hesitated, then blurted out, “Why don’t you… Come over to my place today? We can research.”

Nathan’s eyes widened, clearly caught off guard.

“S-Sure,” he stammered, then chuckled. “Wow, did I get to you already?”

“Shut. Your. Mouth.” Zuri snapped, each word landing like a warning—this was not a request.

When classes were dismissed, Nathan told his sisters he had something to take care of with a friend before heading home and would be back later.
But instead of staying at school, he and his friend drove straight to Zuri’s house.

While they were still deep in conversation, Zuri asked,
“So, when we defeated the first ghost…” she began, biting her lip to suppress a smirk, “What did your mom do?”

Nathan slowly turned his head toward her. “Screw you.”

Zuri nearly laughed. “What?” she replied, her voice feigning seriousness. “I’m just asking a question.”

A pause settled between them.
Then Nathan broke it. “Are you still scared of the ghost, too?”

“It was the closest thing I’ve ever had to a nightmare,” Zuri said firmly, her expression unreadable as her eyes stayed fixed on the road.

When they arrived, Nathan eyed Zuri’s house and muttered,
“Wow, you’ve got a big place, huh?”

“You’re one to talk…” Zuri replied.

Her mansion wasn’t much smaller—or bigger—than Nathan’s. The real difference was how they lived in them. Zuri spent nearly all her time holed up in her room, while Nathan claimed his house had more “life.”
Technically, Zuri’s home was meant for just two people: her and her father. But since Khan, the supposed adult in charge, was such a shining example of responsibility that he routinely forgot to pay the bills—electricity, water, Wi-Fi, you name it—the house was practically hers.
Every bill, every piece of furniture, even the food—Zuri paid for it all.

They headed straight to her bedroom. As they settled onto her bed, Zuri grabbed her laptop and powered it on.

Nathan glanced around, then raised an eyebrow.
“Why is there a fridge in your room?”

Zuri didn’t look up. “Are you here to critique my interior design, or to help me research?”

“Just asking, just asking…” Nathan chuckled. “It’s a pretty… unconventional choice for a bedroom.”

“Great,” Zuri said flatly. “So, why don’t we focus on what we came here to do?”

But then her screen lit up, and Nathan froze.
“...Zuri…” he said, stunned. “Why do you have footage of our school on your laptop?!”

Zuri didn’t flinch. “Some of our teachers have embarrassingly weak login encryption. Or rather… our principal does.”

Nathan stared at her. “You hacked the security cameras?”

“Correct.”

An awkward silence followed. Then Zuri asked,
“Do you remember what was the time I screamed about the dead body in the bathroom?”

“R-Roughly, yeah,” Nathan replied.

Zuri caught the look in his eyes and sighed.
“Nathan, we already dug a grave and burned someone’s remains. We’re already criminals.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m ready to commit more crimes!” he snapped.

“Well, get used to it,” Zuri said firmly. “What time was it?”

Nathan exhaled. “Near the end of the second period. Just before the third started.”

A few minutes into the footage, they saw the girl enter the bathroom.

They had already confirmed it was empty beforehand—no one was inside.

Minutes passed. She didn’t come out.

No one else went in.

Zuri’s face appeared on the camera as she approached the bathroom, only to recoil and shout silently—the footage had no audio.

But they didn’t need sound to know what she was reacting to.

The body in the bathroom said enough.

“So… nobody entered after she did,” Nathan muttered.
“And no one was inside when she was killed,” Zuri added.

“There’s only one way in or out of that bathroom,” Nathan said slowly. “The only way someone could’ve killed Jennifer is…”
“…if they could vanish like a ghost,” Zuri finished.

They spoke the last line in unison, then turned to each other—realizing they’d reached the same chilling conclusion.

Once again, they were dealing with a ghost killer.

The following Monday, Zuri and Nathan were back at the same lunch table—just like every day last week. Their daily rendezvous was bound to draw attention eventually.

“They’re getting way too close for my taste,” Vanessa muttered, watching the pair.

“Who?” Jessica asked.

“Nathan and Zuri,” Vanessa replied.

“Who the fuck is that?” Jessica blinked.

Vanessa frowned. Nathan had mentioned asking Jessica about Zuri, but clearly her older sister’s memory wasn’t as sharp as she liked to claim.

“The girl he sits with every day,” Vanessa clarified.

Jessica rolled her eyes. “And why do you care?”

“Because she’s a bitch,” Vanessa snapped.

“I don’t know,” Cynthia chimed in. “Nathan looks like he actually enjoys her company.”

“Plus, she’s kind of a badass from what I’ve seen,” she added.

“Well, from what I’ve seen, she’s just a bitch.”

“You’re just salty because she beat the life out of your friend,” Cynthia teased. “Is she still in the hospital?”

“Okay, first of all—fuck you,” Vanessa barked. “Second, no. Her nose is already healing.”

“Alright then,” Cynthia chuckled. “Just saying~”

While Cynthia, Vanessa, and Jessica gossiped about Zuri and Nathan, the two in question were deep in conversation—on matters far more pressing.

“So it really was a ghost that killed Jennifer,” Zuri said, her voice low but firm. “The question is... which one?”

“Yeah, that’s going to be a problem,” Nathan replied, frowning.

Zuri leaned in. “The only reason we knew what to look for last time was because we saw the ghost ourselves.”

“But this time,” Nathan added, “the only witness is dead. And other ghosts aren’t exactly eager to help us solve murder cases.”

“Exactly. Unless we play detective and talk to Jennifer’s friends, we’re not getting answers anytime soon.”

They fell silent. No words passed between them, but the decision was already made.

“We’re going to play detective, aren’t we?” Nathan asked.

“I’d love to say no,” Zuri sighed, “but we need answers.”

“So... when do we start?”

“After classes,” Zuri said. “You’ll approach them and ask—”

“Wait, why me?”

“Because you’re the social one,” she said flatly. “They’ll talk to you more than they ever would to me.”

Nathan groaned but relented. “Fine.”

“Great,” Zuri said, standing up. “Just keep me posted.”

She paused, then added, “And be subtle. Smooth. Don’t rush the questions.”

“‘Kay. See you later.”

The bell rang.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class.

Nathan’s mission, however, was far from over.

He’d already gathered names during the lesson, so as soon as class ended, he set out to find the girls who had been part of Jennifer’s friend group.

Marnie and Casey—those were the ones he needed.

It took him a few minutes to track them down, and when he finally did… he froze.

They were crying, mourning the loss of their third member.

Nathan hated seeing people like that. So he led with comfort, offering quiet sympathy.

The girls thanked him.

They needed time, and he gave it—smooth, just like Zuri had told him to be.

He couldn’t dive straight into questions. Not only would that be useless in finding the ghost, but it would also make him seem heartless. And if he couldn’t show compassion to two girls grieving their friend, what did that say about him?

Eventually, though, he asked the question.

“Did you two see her before it happened?”

He hoped he hadn’t come off as cold.

Apparently, he hadn’t—the girls answered.

And fuck, he needed to talk to Zuri.

Now.

Knock. Knock.

Nathan rapped gently on the door to Zuri’s dorm room.

After a few seconds, the door creaked open, revealing Zuri’s puzzled face.

“Nathan?” she asked.

“Hey,” he said. “I’ve got news.”

Zuri raised an eyebrow.

She stepped aside, revealing her room—and that she’d swapped her usual grey hoodie for a long-sleeved purple sweater.

“Come in,” she said. “Better to talk about this somewhere private.”

“Okay,” Nathan replied, awkwardly stepping inside.

He glanced around the empty room. “Where are your roommates?”

Zuri shrugged, her expression unreadable. “No one wanted to room with me.”

“Oh…” Nathan frowned. “Well, I guess that makes us both roommateless.”

“That’s not a real word.”

“Whatever,” he said with a shrug. “You knew what I meant.”

Zuri rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately, yes.”

But she wasn’t interested in small talk. “So? What did you find out?”

Nathan hesitated, then sat on the edge of her bed.

“The girls told me everything,” he said, exhaling. “It’s… kind of shocking.”

Zuri said nothing, just gave him a look that said go on.

“They were playing truth or dare,” Nathan murmured. Zuri tilted her head. “Jennifer’s always been terrified of ghosts and creepy stuff…”

He paused again.

“So when she accepted a dare, the girls decided to push her limits. They dared her to play Bloody Mary.”

Zuri’s eyes widened. “Bloody Mary?”

Nathan nodded.

Zuri groaned. “Fuck.”

A few minutes passed.
The name Bloody Mary flooded the search tabs on Zuri’s computer.
Eventually, they reached a conclusion.

“This is going to be tough,” Zuri said, leaning back. Nathan nodded beside her.

“We didn’t find anything useful—nothing about where she might be buried or anything,” he murmured.

“We’ve got a few candidates,” Zuri replied, “but none of them are from Copper.” She frowned. “Why the hell would Bloody Mary be in Copper anyway? She’s from United States.”

“Isn’t she kind of... globally famous, though?” Nathan offered.

“I mean, yeah…” Zuri admitted. “We’ve got a few eerily similar legends. Might even be the same entity, just with different names.”

“Loira do Banheiro in Brazil, Verónica in Spain, and Toire no Hanako in Japan,” she listed, her pronunciation flawless in each language. Then she switched back to English, now with a crisp British accent.

“All these locations really throw a spanner in our work.”

Nathan sighed. “Well, I guess we can pick this up tomorrow, after classes?”

Zuri nodded.

Tomorrow—in the breakroom—the supernatural searchers sat side by side once again.

“So… I was thinking…” Nathan began.

Zuri gestured for him to go on, chewing thoughtfully on her sandwich.

“What if we’re not even dealing with Bloody Mary?” he said.

Zuri raised an eyebrow. “Possible,” she replied simply. “That’d be better, honestly.”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah. From what I read back in my dorm… Bloody Mary was actually a queen of England, not a ghost.”

“No one was a ghost when they were alive, Nathan,” Zuri said dryly. “And we’re not exactly flying to England mid-semester.”

“Shame. I wouldn’t mind living in my mother’s birth city,” Zuri murmured, mostly to herself—but Nathan caught it.

“Your mom’s from England?” he asked.

“Focus, Nathan.”

Nathan chuckled. “Right, right. But I feel like we’re onto something. Bloody Mary’s legend is mostly tied to the United States — two countries away from us.”

Zuri sighed. “She was originally from England, though her family is Japanese. My great-grandparents fled Japan during World War II and settled in England, where my mom was born years later. In her early twenties, she moved here with Khan—after he started raking in billions.”

“Wanted a better life for me, from what I’ve heard…” Zuri’s voice trailed off, and Nathan noticed the shift.

He hesitated, unsure how to respond. So he pivoted to his own story, hoping to lift the mood.

“My mom’s from Sydney. Australia,” he said. Zuri looked up. “And my dad’s from Berlin.”

“Oh,” Zuri said, intrigued. “So you’re half-Australian, half-German?”

Nathan smiled. “Yep. You never noticed my Aussie accent slipping out?”

“Oh, definitely didn’t,” Zuri replied with playful sarcasm. “It’s not like you switch into it every time you’re excited or nervous.”

Nathan looked away, embarrassed. “Do I really do it that much?”

“Every. Single. Time.”

“...Moving on…” Nathan cleared his throat. “Dad went to Sydney seventeen years ago. Met Mom. Fell in love. But their romance was… complicated.”

Zuri nodded knowingly. “Her parents?”

“Exactly,” Nathan said, glad she remembered their talk from the day. “They said he wasn’t fit to carry on the family legacy. Thought he looked homeless or something.”

“But one day, Dad scraped together enough money to move to Copper,” he continued. “And Mom—well, she anonymously tipped off the cops about her parents before catching the first flight here.”

Zuri sniffed. “Sounds like a cheesy romantic movie with a cliché happy ending.”

Nathan laughed. “Yeah, Mom might’ve told it that way on purpose.”

Zuri fought back a smile.

But as Nathan’s laughter faded, his tone shifted. “She’s… still traumatized by them.”

The air grew heavier.

“I think that’s why she’s so soft on us,” he said quietly. “She’s scared that being firm will make her like them.”

Zuri didn’t respond. She hadn’t spent much time around Nathan’s mom—just once, when she’d driven him home.

She’d seemed genuinely kind. Warm. The way she waved at Zuri had stuck with her.

It made Zuri miss her own mother.

As Nathan and Zuri chatted at a nearby table, his sisters sat apart, watching.

“Ugh,” Vanessa groaned. “Is he seriously ditching us again to talk to her?”

“This again?” Jessica muttered, rolling her eyes. “Why do you care who he sits with?”

“He thinks she’s a good friend,” Cynthia said calmly. “What’s wrong with that?”

“She’s an asshole,” Vanessa snapped.

“According to who?” Cynthia asked.

“Me. And basically the whole school,” Vanessa replied flatly.

Jessica glanced up from her book. Cynthia said nothing.

“Come on,” Vanessa murmured. “You’re telling me neither of you heard the rumors about her?”

“Vanessa…” Jessica warned, but Cynthia cut in.

“You remember what we promised ourselves,” Cynthia said quietly. “After Mom told us about her and Dad…”

“Yeah, yeah…” Vanessa sighed. “Not to judge people based on gossip. For Mom’s sake.” She paused. “But this is different.”

“Different because you know it’s true? Or because Lizzy told you it was?” Jessica asked.

Vanessa didn’t answer. Jessica exhaled sharply.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” she said bluntly. “I hope you realize how stupid that sounds.”

Vanessa opened her mouth to fire back, but Cynthia beat her to it.

“Vanessa,” Cynthia said gently. “I get it. You like Lizzy. She helped you fit in. She’s your friend.”

Vanessa looked away, jaw tight.

“You’re mad because Zuri hit her, right?” Cynthia asked.

Vanessa sighed and nodded.

“I was there when it happened,” Cynthia said. “Lizzy started it. You only saw Zuri retaliate.”

Jessica rolled her eyes and returned to her book. Cynthia leaned in a little.

“Just… give her a chance,” she said with a soft smile. “You might actually like her.”

Vanessa didn’t respond. But she didn’t argue either.

Zuri and Nathan’s discussion about how to handle the matter had concluded—They needed to find a way of preventing deaths before they happened.

But the break time was about to end, so Nathan decided to put an idea on the table.

“Hey,” he started, “why don’t we discuss it later at my house?”

Zuri blinked. “... Go to your house?”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah?”

“.... Yeah? It’s Friday anyway, so….” Nathan shrugged. “Why don’t you pass it over my house later?”

“.... Okay then,” Zuri said a bit awkwardly.

Zuri raised her fist hesitantly. She lingered a moment longer than she meant to, then finally gave the door a gentle rap.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

She stepped back slightly, nerves fluttering in her chest. A few seconds passed before the door creaked open, revealing Nathan’s mother.

“Oh, hi!” Mrs. Elliot greeted warmly. “You’re Zuri, I reckon?”

“Uhm…” Zuri began, awkwardly shifting her weight. After a beat, she nodded. “Yes…”

“Right-o! Nathan said you’d be coming today,” Mrs. Elliot said with a cheerful lilt. Her Australian accent was more pronounced than her children’s—who, from what Zuri had noticed with Nathan, only slipped into it during moments of strong emotion. Mrs. Elliot’s wasn’t exaggerated, but it was unmistakably present.

“Come on in, mate!” she added, swinging the door open wider.

Zuri stepped inside, still unsure of herself. She didn’t know much about Nathan’s mother—only bits and pieces Nathan had shared, which wasn’t a lot.

To say she felt awkward would be an understatement.

“T-Thanks…” she murmured.

“Nathan’s in his bedroom,” Mrs. Elliot said, gesturing towards the staircase. “Head upstairs, Fifth door on the left, mate.”

Zuri nodded again and quietly made her way down the hallway, following the directions.

Zuri knocked gently on Nathan’s door.

“Coming!” called a voice from inside.

The door creaked open, and Nathan blinked in surprise. “Oh—Zuri? Didn’t expect you so soon. Well, come in.”

She stepped into the bedroom as Nathan closed the door behind her. His laptop was already open on the bed.

They both sat down.

“So…” Zuri began awkwardly, “Did you find anything while I was gone?”

Nathan shrugged. “Nope.”

Zuri let out a sigh. “We need to start building a plan.”

“Yeah,” Nathan agreed. He hesitated, then added, “The problem is how. It’s not like we have a way to tell when someone’s performing the ritual—assuming it’s even real and not just part of the legend.”

Zuri didn’t respond, but the silence between them said enough.

“Okay,” she said finally, her expression brightening with an idea. “Maybe we should stop focusing on the killer—at least for now.”

Nathan tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Let’s look at the victims instead,” Zuri suggested.

Nathan’s eyes widened—not in shock, but in sudden understanding.

“So we can find a pattern and predict who might be next!” they said in eerie unison.

And with that, they got to work.

For hours, the two of them combed through the evidence—searching for patterns in the victims, the methods of their deaths, and the tangled web of relationships between them.

Jennifer Evans wasn’t the first victim of Bloody Mary. She was simply the first to die after the ghost appeared.

Victoria Grace had that grim honor. Until now, she was the earliest known casualty. The shards of glass embedded in her face and her mouth frozen in a silent scream didn’t lie.

Zuri had known Victoria before either she or Nathan arrived at this high school. Their history wasn’t friendly. In fact, it was violent.

A year ago, Zuri had sent Victoria to the hospital—unconscious, bruised, and broken—after a confrontation that escalated far beyond words.

Victoria had said something she shouldn’t have. Zuri had responded in kind.

Victoria died one year ago.

Victoria Grace

• Age: 16 (Birthday: May 2)
• Friends:
• Lizzy Katie Walker
• Dora Emma Krasnova
• Rebecca Klop
• Emily Dizon
• Jennifer Evans
• Deathday: May 3 — one day after her birthday
• Cause of Death:

• Strangled (visible neck bruising)
• Slammed against a mirror while facing it (glass shards embedded in her face)
• Jaw broken (same injury as Jennifer)

Jennifer had once been Victoria’s friend. That detail stood out immediately. Coincidence? Likely. But in this case, every scrap of information was gold.

Victoria wasn’t the only one.

Kelsey Klop

• Age: 15 (Birthday: Feb 16)
• Friends:
• Lizzy Katie Walker
• Dora Emma Krasnova
• Rebecca Klop (twin sister)
• Emily Dizon
• Jennifer Evans
• Deathday: Feb 15 — one day before her birthday
• Cause of Death:

• Pushed through the second-floor window of the school
• The body was discovered later by a staff member

Same friend group. Same toxic personality. Same fate.

And then came the final known victim.

Jennifer Evans

• Age: 17
• Friends:
• Lizzy Katie Walker
• Dora Emma Krasnova
• Rebecca Klop
• Emily Dizon
• Victoria Grace
• Kelsey Klop
• Deathday: One day after her birthday
• Cause of Death:

• Slammed against a mirror while facing it
• Jaw broken

Three deaths. Same circle of friends. Same brutal patterns.

Unlike Marnie and Casey, Jennifer had a reputation. She wasn’t kind. She wasn’t loyal. She was cruel—and likely only kept company with the prettier girls for status.

But now, status didn’t matter. They were all dead.

“So…” Zuri began, her voice low. “We’ve found a pattern.”

“Indeed,” Nathan replied, jotting notes in his worn notebook.

• The victim dies one day before or after their birthday.
• The victim typically has a long-standing history with the bully.
• The victim’s trademark injuries include a broken jaw and embedded glass shards. Strangulation and bleeding ears are optional. (Ear bleeding usually results from a ruptured eardrum—triggered by loud noises.)

Zuri yawned. “So, do we track down more past victims or… start monitoring future ones?”

Nathan stifled a yawn of his own. They’d spent hours combing through data, and exhaustion was beginning to win. Still, neither was ready to quit.

“We’ve already identified all the past victims for this year,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “Let’s focus on potential future ones—based on the pattern.”

“Sure…” Zuri murmured, her eyelids drooping.

The sharp click of the light switch echoed through the room.

Zuri flinched, eyes snapping open. It took her a moment to register the bright sky outside—it was morning.

“Shit”, she thought groggily. “Did I fall asleep?!”

She nearly said it aloud, but the glowing red digits on the clock confirmed her suspicion.

6:00 AM.

Across the room, Nathan’s eyes widened as he stared at the same clock. He’d passed out too, mid-research.

“And just what were you two…” came a voice from the hallway.

Both turned toward the doorway, where Vanessa stood frozen, blinking at the half-awake duo.

Nathan groaned and collapsed back onto his pillow with a soft thud. Zuri followed suit, letting out a tired sigh.

“We fell asleep…” she muttered.

Nathan didn’t respond—his face was buried in the pillow, unmoving.

Zuri didn’t blame him. After yesterday’s marathon of investigation, the comfort of a bed was dangerously persuasive.

Still, she knew she shouldn’t be here. This was Nathan’s house. She had her own.

“I’m going home,” she mumbled, dragging herself upright.

“Bye…” Nathan murmured, barely conscious.

Zuri shuffled past Vanessa, who remained planted in the doorway, silently judging. Zuri didn’t care.

As she stepped outside, she squinted against the morning light and hoped she wouldn’t crash her car from sheer exhaustion.

Zuri’s bedroom door creaked as she pushed it open. She stepped inside and collapsed onto the bed, exhaustion weighing her down. For a few moments, she lay sprawled across the mattress, unmoving.

Her father was, once again, nowhere to be found.

She wasn’t surprised. He probably hadn’t even noticed that his own daughter had spent the night elsewhere.

How could he? He was never home long enough to notice anything.

That thought lingered as Zuri reached for the drawer. Inside, she found the freshly restocked pack.

The drugs. Waiting. Just before she used them.

The bell rang, signaling the start of the break. Students scattered—some to their usual spots, others to the breakroom. But not Zuri and Nathan. They lingered behind, walking slowly across the campus.

“So,” Nathan began, “do you have any idea who might be next?”

Zuri shrugged. “Elizabeth’s friend group is full of assholes. Most of the victims so far were part of her circle too, so…”

“Lizzy, you mean?” Nathan asked.

“Yes. Elizabeth Katie Walker,” Zuri replied, her voice laced with bitterness. “She’s the head of the cheerleading squad—”

“AAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

A scream tore through the air, sharp and sudden. Zuri and Nathan flinched, exchanging a glance before sprinting toward the source.

They raced from the campus to the bathroom, only to be met with a horrifying sight.

A girl—no older than fifteen—lay dead.

And standing over her was a woman drenched in blood.

It looked as though she had bathed in it. Her white dress, once pristine, was soaked in carmine. Her honey-blonde hair clung to her face in sticky, bloodied strands. The air turned frigid, a chill creeping into their bones.

As the girl’s body collapsed to the floor, the woman turned to face them.

Her expression was eerily neutral, her blood-smeared face devoid of emotion. She stared at them, unmoving.

Then her gaze shifted—subtle, but sharp. A glare. Not angry, not alive. Just… hollow.

Nathan and Zuri felt it like ice down their spines.

And then, just like the first ghost, the woman vanished into thin air.

The corpse was now fully visible.

Though they didn’t recognize the girl, the signs were unmistakable.

Glass shards embedded in her face. A jaw shattered beyond repair.

It was all the confirmation they needed—the blonde woman was the ghost they’d been searching for.

The one who had torn the girl’s eyes from her skull, leaving behind only hollow sockets and trails of blood that wept down her cheeks like crimson tears.

After the girl’s death, the pair didn’t linger.
They swiftly escorted the students who had gone to investigate the scream, urging them to leave the school immediately—there had been a body found.
Zuri reported the discovery to the principal, who promptly called the police.
The principal then dismissed the students, announcing that classes would be canceled for the rest of the week.

The victim was soon identified: Jamie Kennedy, a fifteen-year-old girl who, despite her innocent appearance, was surprisingly adept at manipulation and blackmail—as Nathan and Zuri would later uncover.
Her mother’s anguished cries about how tomorrow would have been Jamie’s sixteenth birthday only confirmed their suspicions: this was who they had been searching for.

The method of Jamie’s death matched the killer’s known modus operandi.

And after the ghostly apparition in the bathroom, they had finally obtained something useful—A face.
The face of the one they were hunting.

When Zuri got home, she wasted no time.
She lit a cigarette, pulled it to her lips, and began typing furiously at her keyboard, determined to find someone who matched the description.

She had spent two hours scouring the internet for the article—and finally, she found it.

FAMILY DIES IN HOUSE FIRE — ACCIDENT OR FOUL PLAY?

The woman’s face in the article matched the one they had been searching for.

She was smiling in the photo—an image that would later accompany the news of her own death.

The picture showed only a couple in their early thirties, but the article mentioned two daughters among the victims.
No photos of the children were included.

Still, Zuri got something far more valuable.
An address.

Z: Hello. Nathan?

N: Sup, Z.
N: Don’t tell me—y’all found something?

Z: Affirmative.
Z: [1 Photo]
Z: We have identified the woman. And we have an address.

N: Sweet.
N: We’re not breaking any laws this time, right?

Z: That depends on interpretation.
Z: Would entering an abandoned residence to collect data on a spectral entity be considered unlawful?

N: … What?

In the article about the death of the family, the house’s address wasn’t something they could simply overlook.

When they agreed to visit the house at 8:00 PM, Zuri asked Nathan to come up with a reason for her to pick him up—something that wouldn’t raise suspicion. She would be responsible for all the equipment.

By the agreed time, Zuri was already parked outside Nathan’s house, waiting in her car.

On the road, Nathan couldn’t help but ask.

“So…” he began. “What are we working with tonight?”

“You mean the equipment?” Zuri clarified.

Nathan nodded.

“Well, I brought two crowbars and a couple of flashlights.”

“Crowbars?” Nathan echoed.

“Yeah. I brought an extra for you,” Zuri replied. “Even the flashlights are metal. Just in case.”

Nathan nodded, absorbing the weight of her words.

“The plan’s simple,” Zuri said. “We search for anything useful. And no matter what happens, we stick together. Got it?”

Nathan nodded again, more firmly this time.

The door creaked loudly as Zuri pushed it open.
The pair stepped inside, their flashlights casting narrow beams across the abandoned house.
Dust blanketed every surface—so thick it was alarming—and the entire structure looked as though it might collapse if touched.
No one had even bothered to take the family’s belongings.

They scanned the room, searching for anything useful, until they spotted a staircase leading to the second floor.
“That’s where the fire was strongest,” Zuri said. “I’d start up there.”
Nathan nodded. “Then let’s go.”

“If I’m not mistaken,” Zuri continued, “the fire started in the parents’ bedroom and spread to the stairs. The firefighters didn’t arrive in time, and the two daughters died of smoke inhalation.”
“Then we should check the bedrooms,” Nathan said.

The bedroom door creaked as it opened.
Zuri and Nathan stepped inside, sweeping their flashlights across the room.
“I’ll check the drawers by the bed,” Zuri said. “You take the closet.”

She moved to the nightstand and pulled open the first drawer. A pile of old novels filled the space. She rifled through them but found nothing useful.
The second drawer was a jumble of random items—pens, trinkets, and a photograph.
It was a picture of a blonde woman.
Zuri slipped it into her pocket.

The third drawer, however, caught her attention immediately.
A diary.

“Nathan?” she called.
He turned quickly. “Yeah?”
“I found something,” she said, holding up the discovery.
Nathan’s eyes lit up. “Great,” he said with a smile. “Nothing in the closet, though.”
“Then let’s keep moving.”

They searched the second and first floors quickly—too quickly, perhaps. Only one place remained.

The basement.

Empty. Dark. Creepy.

The kind of place horror movies warned you never to enter. But they had no choice.

Gripping their crowbars and flashlights tightly, they descended the stairs.

At the center of the basement stood a wall of mirrors—strangely pristine. The rest of the space was cluttered with shelves, each one potentially hiding treasure to their search… or trash.

“Let’s get this over with…” Zuri muttered.

“Shelves?” Nathan asked. Zuri nodded.

Nathan headed straight for them, while Zuri lingered, her gaze drawn to the mirror.

It was so out of place. Everything else was decayed, forgotten. But the mirror? Nearly untouched. A little dusty, sure, but nothing like the rest of the house.

She stared at her reflection longer than she should have. She needed to help Nathan search. The sooner they finished, the sooner they could leave—

“Zuri, behind you!” Nathan’s shout came too late.

She turned—and the ghost was there.

A blonde woman, scowling.

Her arm swung left. Zuri’s body followed, yanked off her feet by an invisible force once again. She flew across the basement, crashing into the wall with a heavy thump.

She hit the ground hard, her flashlight and crowbar clattering beside her.

The ghost turned to Nathan, her fury undiminished.

But Nathan didn’t freeze.

Snapping out of his shock, he swung his crowbar at her.

The ghost raised her wrist.

The crowbar halted mid-air. Nothing held it physically, yet Nathan couldn’t force it forward.

But he had more than just a crowbar.

His left hand swung the flashlight.

The ghost vanished.

Nathan’s arm was freed. He spun around, searching.

Then—he felt a breath of air behind him.

He didn’t think. He just swung.

The crowbar sliced through empty space.

The blonde woman vanished again.

Zuri’s back screamed at her to stay down, but she couldn’t.

After what felt like hours, her dizzy mind cleared just enough. Her trembling fingers reached out and brushed the crowbar.

The crowbar had slid silently across the floor, drawn by her trembling hand until her fingers finally wrapped around it.

Nathan swung his crowbar and flashlight in a frenzy, instincts fully commandeering his body as he fought to keep the bloodied ghost at bay.
But his resistance was doomed to falter.

Suddenly, his entire body froze midair—the ghost had thrust her hand forward, locking him in place.

It took her noticeably more effort to restrain his whole body than it had to immobilize just his wrist. So they did have limits, he realized.

Not that it helped.
With a flick of her hand, she hurled him across the basement.

He crashed through a shelf, the wood shrieking as it splintered and collapsed over the fallen blond.
Groaning, Nathan looked up to see the ghost looming above him.

Her hand shot toward his collar.
He felt himself being yanked upright.

Then she opened her mouth—
“AAAAAAAAAH!”

Nathan’s hands flew to his ears. The scream was so piercing it felt like his skull might split.
Now he understood why some victims had ruptured eardrums.

But just then, in the corner of his eye, he spotted Zuri creeping toward the mirror, gripping her crowbar with white-knuckled determination.

She swung.
SMASH

The mirror shattered to pieces.
Nathan dropped to the ground as the ghost began glitching, her form flickering violently—
Then she vanished.

Zuri limped toward Nathan. “Y’all alright?” she asked, her British accent slipping gently through the words.
“Yah…” Nathan replied, his own Australian twang surfacing.

She extended a hand.
He took it, and she pulled him up.
They leaned into each other, using their battered bodies for support.

“Come on,” Zuri muttered. “We’re done here.”

Together, they hobbled up the basement stairs.

“Good job, by the way,” she said, still breathless. “You fought well.”

Nathan gave a tired smile. “Thanks, Zi’...”

She glanced at him when he said the nickname, but didn’t comment—just returned the smile.

They limped toward the car, bruised and aching.
“We’re almost there, Nate…” she whispered.

Nathan clutched his shoulder, wincing. Zuri shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
She’d hit the wall hard. Thudding in the ground wasn’t any more comfortable too

Her thoughts made her right arm wrap tightly around her chest, while her left hand remained on the steering wheel.

“How are you?” Zuri asked.

Nathan shrugged. “As fine as I can be,” he replied simply. “You?”

“Same here…”

An awkward silence settled between them for a moment.

“How are you going to explain those injuries to your mom?” Zuri asked.

“Fell down the stairs?” Nathan offered.

“Ehm…” Zuri shrugged. “She might buy it.”

Nathan turned his gaze back to the road.

As their car passed other vehicles and buildings, a thought struck him.

“Hey, Zi’?” he called.

“Yes?” Zuri replied, keeping her eyes on the road.

“How did you know the ghost would disappear if you broke the mirror?”

“I didn’t,” Zuri said.

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

“But I had a hunch,” she continued.

“Well, in every case we investigated, there was one thing always present at the scene. Can you guess?”

“…Mirrors!” Nathan frowned as realization dawned.

“Exactly,” Zuri said. “Well, except for a few where there were windows—but same principle.”

She paused, then returned to her theory.

“I figured… what if she was using them to anchor herself to the location?”

“Makes sense,” Nathan nodded, following her logic. “But what about the last one? She didn’t need any connection—she was roaming freely.”

“I honestly don’t know,” Zuri admitted. “But she had a whole corpse then… unlike this new one.”

Nathan frowned at her words.

The thought lingered between them, sending a chill through the car.

It was Nathan who finally voiced it.

“If she doesn’t have a corpse… then how do we defeat her?”

Zuri and Nathan made a quick stop at her house. She insisted they “fix themselves up” before she dropped him off.

“So… what did we find at the house?” Nathan asked, slumping onto the couch.

“A diary and a photo of the blonde lady,” Zuri replied.

“And who did the diary belong to?”

Zuri flipped it open, scanning the first page. “It belongs to… Mary?”
Both of their eyes widened.

“Wait—like Bloody Mary, Mary?” Nathan asked, voice rising.

“I don’t know… but we’ll continue the research another day. We’re both dead on our feet.”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah, searching a haunted house was bad enough. Fighting the ghost?” He groaned. “I just want to nap until next year.”

“Same,” Zuri agreed, then smirked. “Though… do you always scream like a little girl when you’re tired too?”

Nathan choked. “Excuse me?!”

“Oh, you heard me.” Zuri giggled. “I’ve never heard such a… masculine scream as when you tried to warn me about the blonde lady.”

“Screw you!” Nathan snapped. “I was trying to save your life, and that’s the thanks I get?”

“Hey, we’re even now!” Zuri cackled. “I saved your butt when you were one step away from losing your hearing, didn’t I?”

Nathan rolled his eyes. He didn’t have a comeback for that—and she knew it.

Zuri had held the ghost off the first time, shielding him when it lunged. He’d frozen, stunned.
But this time, the roles had flipped. Zuri had figured out how to scare the spirit off, but Nathan had fought it—protecting both of them, just like she had before.

“You’re insufferable,” Nathan muttered.

“And so are you,” Zuri shot back. “I’m just giving you a taste of your own medicine~”

“You didn’t see me mocking your style, did you? Your… emo, gothic, scene-girl… whatever that is.”

Zuri just grinned. She’d heard worse, and she never cared what people thought of her look.

“Whatever you say.”

“I grew up with three sisters and a mom, okay?!” Nathan’s accent slipped out as he got flustered. “Ain’t my fault I’m not the most masculine fish in the pond!”

“Oh, so you admit you’re feminine?”

“SCREW YOU!”

When school resumed, the duo had no choice but to wait until classes ended before heading to their dorm to finally put an end to this ghost once and for all.
It proved harder than expected—there was no corpse to burn, no ashes to scatter.

The bell rang, signaling break time.
As students rushed toward the breakroom, Zuri paused just long enough to tell Nathan when they’d regroup.

“Meet me after classes,” she said. “We can discuss and research in my dorm.”
Nathan nodded. “’Kay,” he replied. “I’ll be sitting with my siblings today, if you don’t mind!”
“Sure. I’ll eat in my dorm,” Zuri said, and they split off in opposite directions.

Zuri glanced at her phone—barely a few minutes had passed since the bell rang.

“Damn, Porter,” someone muttered with disdain as they passed her. “Didn’t think you got around like that.”
Zuri looked up, confused. “What?”
The girl ignored her and kept walking.

Zuri rolled her eyes and continued on.
Probably some fake bullshit being spread about me again, she thought, irritated.

“Can’t believe he picked you for something like this,” another girl said, her tone tinged with envy.
Zuri chose to ignore it. Whatever that meant.

“How’d you even convince him?”
…What?

“What threats did you use?”
“Was he even your first?”

Okay, now this was getting ridiculous.

The comments kept coming, tossed at her like stones, all the way to her dorm.

“Do you—”
“Okay, that’s it!” Zuri snapped. “What the actual FUCK are you all on about?!”

A few students flinched at her outburst and backed off, but most just drifted away.

Finally, she thought, exasperated. What even is it this time?!

She was no stranger to rumors—most were lies, of course—but that didn’t make them any less annoying.
The fact she’d been accused during the interrogations was proof enough of how falsely people pinned things on her.

She shoved the door open, slammed it shut behind her, and collapsed onto her bed, ready to eat in peace.

Nathan moved through the hallway, his steps steady but distracted.
It had been a while since he’d sat with his siblings—he’d been too caught up in ghost research to join them.
He hoped they weren’t mad about it.

“Disappointed, dude. Really…” someone muttered.
Nathan turned, unsure if the comment was directed at him.
The guy kept walking, so Nathan did too.

“With her? Out of all people?” another voice said.
Nathan ignored it.

“Did she threaten you or something?”
“Who?” Nathan finally asked.
The jock groaned, rolled his eyes, and walked past without answering.

A cluster of students—mostly boys—kept tossing cryptic comments and questions his way.
Nathan couldn’t make sense of any of it until he reached his sisters’ table.

“Sup,” he said, sliding into the seat beside Cynthia.

“Look who’s here,” Cynthia said with a grin. “Our traitor!”
Nathan gasped in mock offense. “Traitor?!”

Jessica rolled her eyes at their antics, but neither of them cared.

“Yes! After spending so much time away from us!” Cynthia pointed an accusatory finger. “You think you can just sit down like nothing happened?”
“Yes.”
“…Then you’re right!” Cynthia laughed and hugged him. “Good to have you back!”
“It’s good to be back,” Nathan said, hugging her tightly.

They broke apart, and a thought struck Nathan.
“Hey, do any of you know what’s going on?”

“Going on?” Cynthia asked, genuinely curious.
Jessica glanced up from her book, and Vanessa tilted her head.

“Well,” Nathan began, “on my way here, I heard a bunch of weird comments. About me. I didn’t understand any of it.”

Vanessa’s expression twisted in confusion. Jessica finally looked up properly. Cynthia wore the same curious look their mom always had.

“What were they saying?” Jessica asked.

“Like I said, I couldn’t make sense of it.” Nathan shrugged.

Jessica nodded and returned to her book.

Upon reuniting in Zuri’s bedroom, the two dove into research.
Progress came steadily.
While scrolling through a random Reddit thread, they stumbled upon a chilling theory: how could ‘Mary’ roam freely without a corpse?

Sometimes, a person burdened by unresolved emotions—revenge, for instance—cannot rest in peace after death. Instead, their spirit clings to their remains or an object they were deeply attached to. Only when the corpse is destroyed or the object is retrieved or destroyed can they be set free.

They quickly jotted it down, drawing a line through the question: “How is Mary roaming free if she has no corpse?”

Next up on their list:
What does Mary’s diary contain? Could it be useful to us?
It was time to uncover the answer.

Dear Diary,

Today marks the beginning of this diary—something my therapist recommended. I figured, why not give it a try? There’s no harm in putting thoughts to paper.

It’s been a rather good day. Amy, my youngest, seems to be settling into her new school beautifully. She’s already made a few friends, which warms my heart. Tara, my middle daughter, began her final year of middle school today. From what she’s told me, things are going smoothly. And Nora, my oldest, started her senior year of high school. She seems genuinely happy, which is always reassuring.

Tony, my husband, even came home from work a little earlier than usual. It was nice to have everyone together for dinner without the usual rush.

Day 1.

Mary Freeman

Zuri flinched when she misread “Nora,” mistaking it for a name she knew too well.

Still, she’d uncovered something on her very first day.

“Amy, Nora, and Tara…” she murmured.

“Three daughters?” Nathan asked. “But I thought—”
“—That only two died in the fire. I know.”

…

“You think… one of them might still be alive?” Nathan asked.
“Given the state the house was left in?” Zuri replied. “Highly unlikely. But not impossible.”

Dear Diary,

Amanda came home in tears—apparently, a new girl at school tore the drawings from her notebook.

My husband and I reached out to the school, but they said nothing could be done, and that it was just a “harmless prank”.

My poor Amy cried herself to sleep.

She doesn’t deserve this.

Day 6

Mary Freeman

This was by far the shortest entry they had read so far.

And perhaps the most heartbreaking.

Amy was being bullied, and yet the school had done nothing.

From the diary, they gathered that Amy wasn’t very old—maybe eight, or even younger.

Zuri understood all too well what that felt like.

They jotted down the details, including Amy’s real name: Amanda.

For now, though, they decided they were done with the diary.

After finishing the final page of the diary—at least for now—the pair reached for the notebook.
They had a lingering question about the three daughters.
Which one hadn’t died in the fire?
Was it Amy, Tara, or Nora?

They typed into the search bar: Freeman family dies in a fire

The police had initially suspected that the fire wasn’t accidental.

It had more than one point of origin, which would be a huge coincidence if it were just an accident.

The suspects were the McKenzies because their daughter had driven their youngest daughter to suicide after a few years of bullying her, and the parents wanted to press charge for it, but the police eventually completely dropped the case without any explanation.

They just decided that it was accidental in the end.

That Reddit user had ended not one, but two questions at once.

No daughter had survived. Amy had died before the fire—she’d taken her own life after years of torment.
The rest of the family perished in a suspicious “accident.”

The McKenzies didn’t need to be looked up for Zuri and Nathan to know who they were.
They were a well-known family, wealthy and famous, generous with school funding—Triaville High School included, their school.
But their daughter, Aurora McKenzie, had a reputation. She was notorious for bullying throughout high school, never punished thanks to her family’s connections.
She still lived nearby. Just a few city blocks from the school.

Given the McKenzies’ influence, Zuri reached a swift conclusion.
“They paid their way out,” she said with certainty.
“Definitely,” Nathan agreed.

But the moment that truly chilled them came when they clicked to go back a page.
They scrolled down slightly and found a photo of the entire family:
Tony, Mary, and their daughters—Amy, Nora, and Tara.

Mary smiled warmly in the picture, cradling her youngest, who looked about eleven.
Nora appeared to be on the cusp of adulthood, maybe freshly eighteen.
Tara looked sixteen.
Tony stood beside them, beaming with pride.

But it was Amy’s face that unsettled them.
It terrified them—because they had seen that face before.

Nathan and Zuri exchanged glances, each instantly aware the other had recognized it too.
The stories, the fragments, the memories—they began to align.
And formed a chillingly straight line.

Amanda “Amy” Freeman’s face was identical to the ghost they had first encountered.

Amanda “Amy” Freeman had took her life three years after that photo was taken.

The next day, Zuri skipped her classes and stayed in her dorm. She told Nathan she was working on a timeline for the two ghosts they had encountered, now that their connections had been uncovered. She said he could drop by anytime if he needed her.

Nathan was on his way to class when someone called out to him.

“Hey, Nathan!”

He turned quickly toward the voice.

“Oh,” he said, recognizing the speaker. “Hey, Thad!”

“Sup, man,” Thad greeted him. “There’s something I need to tell you. Not sure if you’ve heard already…”

Nathan tilted his head, puzzled, and walked over to him.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Have you heard the rumors?” Thad asked. “About you and Zuri?”

“What?” Nathan blinked, confused.

“Oh, you haven’t?” Thad realized, watching Nathan shake his head. “Well… people are saying that you and Zuri… uh…”

Nathan’s frown deepened, anxiety creeping in.

“That you two slept together,” Thad finished, his voice dropping to a near whisper.

“What?!” Nathan’s eyes widened. “Who’s saying that?!”

“Sorry, dude,” Thad said quickly. “I don’t know much. Just thought you should hear it.”

Nathan sighed. He didn’t blame Thad—his friend was usually out of the gossip loop. Honestly, it was surprising Nathan hadn’t heard it first.

“It’s fine,” Nathan said, though the rumor annoyed him. He didn’t hold it against Thad. “Not your fault. Thanks for letting me know anyway.”

Saying Zuri was enraged when she heard the rumors from Nathan was an understatement.

She had been building her timeline when Nathan’s texts lit up her phone. The moment she read them, she abandoned her mission entirely. There was only one thing on her mind now: confronting the person she suspected had started the stupid rumor.

So was it really a surprise when she stormed into the cheerleaders’ training area?

She faked a cough to draw attention to herself.

The squad turned. Their leader, Lizzy, immediately smirked—malicious and knowing.

“Zuri?” Lizzy said, her voice dripping with mock innocence. “Why would you be here?”

Her smirk said it all. She knew exactly why Zuri was there and was playing dumb.

“I want to talk to you,” Zuri said firmly. It wasn’t a request.

“Really?” Lizzy replied, still grinning. She strutted toward Zuri with smug confidence. “Didn’t peg you for someone who wanted to be a cheerleader—”

“Cut the bullshit, Lizzy,” Zuri snapped. “Just tell me. Was it you?”

Lizzy tilted her head. “What do you mean, silly? You’ll have to be more specific~”

“The rumor!”

“Oh…” Lizzy feigned sudden understanding, then gasped theatrically. “You think it was me?”

“I would never!” she added with exaggerated offense. Behind her, a few cheerleaders giggled, Rebecca Klop included. Zuri shot her a deadly glare.

“Though…” Lizzy began, biting her lip to suppress a laugh, “you and Nathan would make such a cute cou—”

THUMP

Lizzy didn’t get to finish her line when a fist jabbed against her face so hard that her neck snapped back at the same instant, as she collapsed with a loud thud.

The cheerleaders flinched.

Lizzy lay motionless on the ground, eyes closed. Out cold.

“What is your problem?!” Rebecca shouted, leading the squad toward Zuri.

Zuri didn’t flinch.

When Rebecca got too close—

“AGH!” Rebecca shouted loudly as Zuri’s fist smashed itself against the cheerleader’s face, as she fell to the ground.

With the same arm that she used to strike Rebecca, she swung it to the left and slammed it against another cheerleader, who stumbled before she dropped to the ground too.

When one of the cheerleaders attempted to throw a punch, Zuri effortlessly ducked under it and swept her leg against the ankles of said cheerleader, who fell to the ground with a yelp as her feet were knocked off the ground.

As Zuri rose after sweeping the leg of the cheerleader, her knee met the stomach of another cheerleader before her fist struck their face, sending the girl crashing onto the one already on the ground.

Another approached and attempted to throw a punch. Zuri wrapped her arm across hers, and her knee drove into the girl's hip, causing her to yelp in pain.

Zuri clutched the girl by her shoulders, and she pulled the girl over.

She tossed the girl over her shoulder, as the cheerleader fell with a heavy thud.

Zuri looked around.

Every cheerleader was sprawled across the floor—except one who wasn’t even in the gym anymore.

Dora Krasnova.

Zuri had seen her training earlier. If she wasn’t in the gym anymore, that could only mean one thing: she’d gone to get a teacher.

Zuri didn’t care.

One week.

She was currently facing a week of ‘suspension’, which just meant that she was confined to her dorm—no leaving until the punishment was over.

She still didn’t care.

It just gave her more time to build the timeline.

She was so committed to getting it right that she’d bought a full-sized detective board. At the center, she’d pinned a cardboard sign she’d made herself: Freeman’s Family. Around it, she arranged dates, photos, names, evidence, and victims—everything from the birth of Mary Freeman née Smith and Tony Freeman to Mary’s final appearance as a ghost at their old house.~~

No details spared.

Knock. Knock.

Zuri turned sharply. “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” came Nathan’s voice from behind the door. “I’m alone!”

“Perfect,” Zuri said. “My timeline’s almost done—I wanted to show you.”

She unlocked the door. It creaked open.

Nathan stepped inside. “Hey, I heard about the… gym accident.”

“You and probably the whole school,” Zuri said dryly.

“Yeah…” Nathan nodded. “So it’s true Lizzy started the rumor?”

“Yes,” Zuri snapped. “That bitch and her minions got what was coming to them.”

Nathan groaned. “Ugh. Let’s just look at what you’ve got and forget all that crap.”

“…and that’s everything we know for now.”

The full story of the Freeman family had become a distraction from the swirling rumors.
Zuri and Nathan were deep in the timeline, connecting every dot to build the most accurate picture possible.
From Amanda’s suicide at age 14 in 1979, to the Freeman house burning to ashes just months later—on the eve of Amanda’s birthday.

All signs pointed to the elder McKenzies—Aurora’s parents—as the ones who set the fire. The Freemans had tried to press charges, blaming Aurora’s relentless bullying for Amanda’s suicide.
When the McKenzies realized the police were closing in, suspecting them of being behind the tragedy, they bought their way out.

“So…” Nathan began, “Mary’s targeting people on the eve of their birthdays because she died on her daughter’s?”
“Exactly,” Zuri said, nodding. “Well, I guess the only thing left is to figure out what Mary’s object is, right?”
“Yeah. If I had to guess, it’s probably mentioned in her diary.” Nathan nodded in agreement.

“Fire! Fire!” someone screamed.

Nathan and Zuri’s eyes widened in unison.
They burst out of Zuri’s dorm room and sprinted outside, scanning for flames—but the school was untouched.

A crowd had gathered, staring into the distance.

They followed the gaze.
There was a fire—just not nearby.
Several blocks away, a house was completely engulfed in flames.

Aurora’s house.

BOOM.

An explosion tore through the air.

The blast was so powerful that it shook the ground across multiple blocks, rattling nearby homes.

Students watching from afar were knocked to the ground by the shockwave.

Windows shrieked and shattered, glass raining down in a violent burst.

The explosion at Aurora’s house was swiftly investigated by the police. Their conclusion came quickly: an accidental fire.

All the ovens had been turned on, igniting the blaze that ultimately led to the explosion. Aurora’s charred remains were discovered in what was presumed to be her bedroom.

But one question lingered—why were all the ovens on in the first place? And why to such an extent that the fire spread so rapidly?

Nathan and Zuri had a theory: Mary Freeman had finally taken her revenge.

They believed Mary had broken into the house and deliberately turned on every oven. After all, she had died in the same horrific way. The timing only deepened their suspicion—tomorrow would have been Aurora’s birthday, a grim echo in the pattern.

With Aurora’s parents long gone, there was no one left for Mary to blame—no one except the woman who had tormented her daughter until she took her own life, and who had never faced justice.

Zuri quietly pinned a photo of Aurora to her timeline, marked it ‘Deceased,’ and added today’s date.

With Aurora’s death just a day ago, the school had closed until further notice—the shockwave had shattered every window and caused minor damage to the building’s structure and decorations.

Zuri and Nathan now had even more time to pore over Mary’s diary, determined to uncover what they were looking for.

Dear Diary,
Not much happened today that feels worth noting—except for one beautiful moment.

Amy surprised me with the sweetest gift: a necklace holding a photo of our whole family.

It was absolutely adorable.

My heart skipped a beat at how precious it was.<3
Day 33
Mary Freeman

Nathan and Zuri exchanged a glance, their thoughts perfectly aligned.

They found what they wanted.

This necklace was exactly what they needed to put an end to this.

But there was only one thing that prevented them from going further.

Where was this necklace?

Mary had not been spotted with it—and it wasn’t found in her house either.

Meaning that Mary didn’t die with it.

It might have been lost in the fire… except that Mary was ‘alive’ most likely because the necklace was well enough to keep her so.

Most things pointed out that it might have a new owner who claimed it after the Freemans’ death.

School came back faster than anyone expected.

Nathan was walking through the eerily empty hallways when he spotted someone ahead.

Lizzy.

She was pressing an ice pack to her bruised cheek—probably where Zuri had docked her.

He muttered louder than he meant to, “Hope it hurts.”

Lizzy heard him and glanced over.
“Said something, pretty boy?” she asked.

Nathan remembered what Zuri had said about her—how even her tone was irritating.

“I said, ‘I hope it’s hurting!’” he snapped.

Now, don’t get Nathan wrong—he wasn’t the type to go looking for fights, verbal or physical.

In fact, most people would call him a doormat for how much he avoided confrontation.

He wasn’t trying to start anything now either. But the way Lizzy had spread that lie for no reason? That pushed him past his limit.

Lizzy knew he wasn’t usually like this. Her mouth briefly fell open in surprise.

She quickly recovered, slipping back into her fake sweet persona, pretending to be wounded.
“Why?” she asked, feigning innocence. “I didn’t even do anything!”

“Sure you didn’t…” Nathan rolled his eyes.

Lizzy chuckled. “Oh… you’re upset about the rumors, aren’t you?”

“What do you think?” Nathan shot back.

“And what makes you think I…” She gestured to herself. “Would do that? I’m the perfect student, remember?”

“Who else would it be, then?!” Nathan demanded.

“Maybe Zuri did it herself,” Lizzy offered, her fake innocence so thick it made Nathan physically cringe.

“Oh, fuck you!” Nathan snapped. Lizzy’s mouth stayed open this time. “Why would Zuri even start that rumor?!”

“W-Well…” Lizzy stammered, clearly shocked by the profanity coming from him.

Nathan rarely swore. When he did, it meant he was furious.

“To get attention, you know?” Lizzy shrugged, trying to smile innocently.

“Attention?” Nathan echoed, annoyed. “Why would she want that kind of attention?”

“Because she’s the social pariah of the school?” Lizzy shrugged again. “Sleeping with the pretty, wealthy, blond boy of the school would definitely get her noticed,” she said with a fake smile that screamed she knew it was nonsense.

Sleeping with the “pretty, wealthy, blond boy,” as Lizzy put it, would only earn someone jealous stares from other girls.

Something Zuri stated that she was dealing with constantly.

But one part of Lizzy’s claim was just plain stupid.

“Zuri’s already wealthy, idiot,” Nathan snapped. “Probably even more than me, honestly.”

“Ugh…” Lizzy groaned. “Yeah, but you’re not the outcast like she is!”

Nathan groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Why do you even hang out with her of all people?” Lizzy asked.

“Who would even want to hang out with you?!” Nathan snapped.

Lizzy frowned. “Everyone!” she shouted.

“Don’t include people with sense in that!”

“Go fuck yourself!”

“Fuck off, bitch!”

“You wanna know what?” Lizzy fumbled. “You’re right—it was me!”

“No shit, Sherlock!” Nathan snapped.

“And I spread it after your sister told me about it!”

…What?!

“That’s right, asshole,” she hissed. “It was your own sister who told me!”

Lizzy stomped off, leaving Nathan stunned in the hallway.

His thoughts scrambled to make sense of it. Who would’ve…?

Then it hit him.

A few days ago, someone had been standing over his bed, watching as he accidentally shared it with Zuri.

He’d been too sleepy to process it at the time, too groggy to consider the consequences.

Vanessa.

N: Wow.

N: And you still acted like you didn’t knew about it…

V: What are you on about this time?

N: Cut the crap. Lizzy already told me.

V: Nate seriously—what are you even talking about?

N: You telling Lizzy that me and Zuri slept together.

V: What?!

N: Look, we haven’t exactly been on speaking terms lately…

N: But that was low.

N: Even for you…

Vanessa was confused.

No—she was beyond confused at this moment.

She had tried messaging Nathan—trying to explain her side of the things.

But her words landed in the unread box, untouched.

Nathan had mentioned the rumors earlier, but Vanessa had never imagined they were about this.

She also didn’t imagined, whoever… that she was being stabbed in the back by a friend of hers.

She didn’t even wanted to say it aloud.

About the moment that when she entered Nathan’s bedroom in order to wake him up for dinner on her mother’s request, she was surprised that Nathan had a guest on his own bed.

Zuri Porter.

Of course, the fact that someone like Zuri was sprawled over Nathan’s bed—her brother’s bed—had left her more than annoyed… to say the very last.

Vanessa had her reasons. Zuri was aggressive, impulsive, and a terrible influence on Nathan.
So the words flew from Vanessa’s mouth before her mind could catch up…

Vanessa was venting her frustrations to Lizzy when it happened.

“... Mom asks me to call Nathan for dinner, and there she was—sprawled across my brother’s bed!” Vanessa barked.

Lizzy choked on her water, sputtering and coughing. Vanessa gave her a few light pats on the back.

“Zuri Porter was on your brother’s bed?!” Lizzy gasped.

Vanessa nodded, clearly annoyed. “Zuri Porter,” she repeated.

“Wait… Zuri Porter slept with someone?!”

“With my brother, yes,” Vanessa said, her tone flat, unimpressed by Lizzy’s theatrics.

Lizzy looked torn between laughing and panicking.

Vanessa groaned. “She’s a complete bitch! Who does she think she is? First she tries to pick a fight with me, then she throws herself over my brother, and now this?!”

She paused, suddenly aware of how loud she’d been—even if the hallway was empty. Should she really be talking about this?

… Should she be telling anyone?

She glanced at Lizzy. She liked her, sure.

But this wasn’t something she was supposed to share.

“Hey, Lizzy?” Vanessa asked.

“Yeah?”

“Can you promise me something?”

Lizzy gave a soft smile. “I already know, Vannie. Don’t worry—this conversation’s going to the grave with me.”

Vanessa smiled in gratitude. “Thanks, Liz.”

“Nope!” Lizzy said with a playful wave. “See you around!”

“See ya,” Vanessa replied, walking away.

She didn’t see the soft smile on Lizzy’s face twist into something far more predatory behind her back.

N: Hey, Zi!

Z: Hello, Nathan.

Z: What’s going on?

N: Finally dropping a bit of that overly formal language on the phone!

Z: Just say what you want.

N: Right… sorry.

N: I was just trying to take my mind off the rumors.

N: Anyway, I wanted to tell you—I’m going to look for the necklace myself

N: You can rest if you need to.

Z: Really? Okay then, as you wish.

Z: If you’re assured of your decision, I am going to respect it…

The betrayal by Lizzy was the last thing Vanessa had expected.
And it wasn’t something you could just let slide like nothing happened.

“Lizzy.” Vanessa called her over. The hallways always seemed conveniently empty these days. “We need to talk.”

“Why?” Lizzy asked innocently. “Did something happen?”

“Did you turn what I told you into a rumor?” Vanessa asked coldly, cutting straight to the point.

Lizzy’s face fell into a frown. “N-No…” she stammered. “W-Why would you think that?”

Her stumbling words and nervous expression weren’t convincing.

“Because I just found out that the rumor about Zuri and Nathan sleeping together is making the rounds,” Vanessa said, her Australian accent slipping into her words. “Funny thing is… only you knew about it.”

Vanessa could see the sweat forming on Lizzy’s forehead.

“Oh c’mon, V-Vannie,” Lizzy said, her voice shaky. “You know I wouldn’t—”

“And my brother told me you were the one who spread it. He said you told him I was your source.” Vanessa cut her off, her tone icy. Lizzy’s words died instantly. “I’ve been trying to reach him for hours…”

Lizzy said nothing.

Vanessa groaned. “Damn it, Lizzy—I trusted you!” she hissed.

“Look, Vanessa, I’m sorry—”

“Sorry?!” Vanessa snapped. “You promised you wouldn’t tell a soul, and now I find out you went behind my back and dragged my own brother into this?”

She scoffed. “So what now?” she demanded, watching Lizzy’s silence stretch.

“C’mon, Vannie, we can fix it!”

“And how do I know you won’t do it again?” Vanessa asked sharply.

“Wha—”

“How do I know I can trust you again?”

Lizzy fell silent, only fueling Vanessa’s frustration.

She scoffed again.

Her own thoughts twisted the knife deeper.

“Lizzy started it. You only saw Zuri retaliate,” Cynthia had warned her.

But she hadn’t listened.

Now look where that had gotten her.

“…And if I know I can’t trust you…” Vanessa began, her voice low. “…how can I still be your friend after all of this?”

Lizzy’s eyes widened.

Vanessa sighed. “Our ‘friendship’ is over, Lizzy.”

She turned away, unsure whether she was more disappointed in Lizzy—or in herself.

“Wait, Vanessa—”

“Leave me alone!” Vanessa snapped, her tone sharp enough to make Lizzy flinch.

N: Zuri, I’ve got good news!

N: I found the necklace.

Z: Hello, Nathan.

Z: You were rather quick in your searchings!

N: Was just focused on it…

Z: Okay then.

Z: Come over, so a proper plan can be crafted

Z: It’ll help to things to be put into action effectively, easier and smoother.

At today’s practice, all the cheerleaders had been excellent, so Lizzy decided to call it a day.
As the team headed back to their dorms, chatting about how nice and productive practice had been, one girl stayed behind.

Dora lingered in the gym instead of leaving.
“Hey, Lizzy,” she called, her Russian accent faint but noticeable. “Are you alright?”

Of course she noticed.
She always did.
No one else caught the signs that Lizzy was upset.
But Dora always did.

“I still don’t know how you do that…” Lizzy murmured.
“You were a bit distracted today, and your smile was slightly forced,” Dora explained. Subtle signs, but she caught them with ease.

“It’s… a long story,” Lizzy said.
“Try to simple it,” Dora replied.
“I think you meant ‘simplify—’”
“You won’t get away with changing the subject, Lizzy,” Dora cut her short.

Lizzy sighed and slid down against the wall.
She knew Dora wouldn’t like what she had to say.

Dora never joked about other students, never spread rumors. Some cheerleaders disliked her for that, calling her a spineless doormat. But most appreciated her presence. Despite her quietness, Dora was enjoyable to be around—a good listener, thoughtful, kind. Lizzy agreed.

“Well…” Lizzy began, bracing for Dora’s disapproval. “You know the rumors about Zuri and Nathan…”

Lizzy noticed the faint frown on Dora’s face at the mention of Zuri, though she quickly hid it.
“Yeah, what about it?” Dora asked.
Her frown returned, sharper this time.
“You started it, didn’t you?” she asked, disappointment flickering across her face.

Lizzy sighed and nodded, confirming what Dora didn’t want to believe.
“Goddamn it, Lizzy,” Dora scolded. “Your rumors were already too much, but this?!”

“I-I didn’t…” Lizzy faltered, then sighed. “I didn’t think—”
“Exactly!” Dora snapped. “You didn’t think of the consequences, did you?!”

Lizzy shook her head, ashamed. She hadn’t thought things through.

Dora pinched the bridge of her nose, clearly frustrated. “Why did you even start the rumor? And what does that have to do with your mood? Did it catch up to you?”

“Something like that…” Lizzy admitted. “It was Vanessa who told me they slept together…”
Dora’s eyes widened. So the rumor had some truth—and Vanessa, of all people, had told Lizzy?
“…and I thought it would be fun to spread it—”
“Of course you did…” Dora muttered, pinching her nose again.
“—but Vanessa asked me not to tell anyone…”

Dora shook her head in disapproval. “And you ignored her, just to make Zuri’s life hell?”
Lizzy nodded, shame burning in her chest.

“Why?” Dora demanded. “Haven’t you already done enough to her?”
“Well… then Nathan and I had a little argument, and I let it slip to him. He confronted Vanessa, and she… said she didn’t want to be friends anymore.”

Dora frowned.
So Vanessa had stepped off the bus of the popular crowd.

She sighed and slid down the wall to sit beside Lizzy.
“I’ve told you a million times, Liz… being popular won’t fix everything like magic.”

Lizzy nodded again, eyes fixed on the floor.
Dora placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’ll fix this, okay? Together.”

Lizzy managed a small smile and nodded.
“Now come on,” Dora said, offering her hand. “Let’s go to our dorm.”
Lizzy took it.

When night fell, Zuri and Nathan slipped silently through the school until they reached the bathrooms. The darkness gave the building an eerie ambience, illuminated only by the pale glow of the moon and the scattered lights inside.

At the sink, Zuri set down her backpack and unzipped it, rummaging through until she pulled out two metallic flashlights. She handed one to Nathan before retrieving a necklace from the bag.

Flashlights weren’t exactly weapons, but if they were caught, they would seem harmless enough—easy to explain away on the spot.

Their plan was short, simple, and effective. They had waited for Saturday night, when most students would be at home, and those who stayed behind would remain in their dorms—studying, gaming, or indulging in less innocent activities.

The school had long abandoned gender-separated dorms, citing reasons such as inclusivity for trans students and the futility of dividing those attracted to the same gender. Administration had essentially shrugged, declaring that whatever happened in the dorms was not their responsibility.

With the students distracted and the halls empty, Zuri and Nathan gathered their equipment. Nathan handed her the necklace, while Zuri prepared to hack the security cameras, shutting them down for an hour to avoid detection.

The staff posed no threat either; most were tucked away in their rooms or at home.

Step by step, everything had gone smoothly. Only the final task remained—the hardest one of all: Summoning Mary Freeman, better known as Bloody Mary, through the infamous ritual.

Zuri turned to Nathan, her grip tightening nervously around the flashlight. “Are you ready?” she asked.

Nathan exhaled heavily, then nodded.

Slowly, Zuri faced the mirror. She drew in a breath, steadying herself, and whispered:

“...Bloody Mary...”

When she spoke the name before the mirror for the first time, the air seemed to drop in temperature, the whole room turning colder. A shiver traced her spine, eerily familiar, and she scanned the bathroom as if expecting a ghost—wondering if Mary had come sooner than usual.

Her eyes flicked to Nathan. The boy’s expression told her he felt the same chill, thought the same thought. Both remembered how the atmosphere had shifted before, whenever Amanda Freeman’s figure appeared around them.

Finding nothing in the room, Zuri exhaled in relief and steadied herself to continue.
One down. Two more to go.

“...Bloody Mary…”

She didn’t know if it was paranoia, but each time she and Nathan spoke the name before the mirror, the atmosphere thickened, growing heavier, colder. It felt as though Mary was already there—watching them.

They had talked about it before. The way she glared at them the first time they saw her. Why? Because she knew. She knew they had burned the corpse of her daughter. And she was not forgiving them for it.

“…Bloody Mary…”

Their hands tightened around the flashlight, knuckles white with strain. Shivers raced down their spines, growing worse with every breath. The ritual was complete.

And though it was exactly what they had intended—what they had meant to do—they knew it spelled trouble.

Zuri could feel her presence, heavy and undeniable. She knew she was here. The ritual had worked.

She had called her.

And when Zuri turned around, Mary Freeman was standing there.

Mary swung her arm to the left, and Zuri was yanked off her feet—just as it had happened many times before.

She thudded into the same wall she had crashed against when she first found Amanda. A sharp yelp escaped her as she collapsed to the floor.

Nathan lunged forward, but the woman flicked her arm and hurled him out of the bedroom without even touching him. He hit the ground outside the bathroom, groaning, while Zuri tried to drag herself upright with the flashlight clutched in her hand. Pain forced her back to her knees.

Nathan staggered up again, but Mary’s glare froze him. With a downward swipe of her hand, he was slammed face-first into the floor. She dragged him across the tiles with invisible force, pulling him closer.

Zuri managed to rise and swung the flashlight—Mary vanished. Zuri spun, startled, only to find her standing right beside her. Mary seized Zuri’s wrist with crushing strength, nearly snapping it. Zuri yelped, striking back, but her fist passed uselessly through the ghost’s arm.

Mary’s punch drove into Zuri’s stomach, sending her flying several feet before she slammed into the wall and slid down clutching her gut. This strength wasn’t human.

Nathan lunged again, but Mary caught him telekinetically, flinging him into the ceiling before dropping him with a heavy thud. She turned back to Zuri, ripped the flashlight from her grip, and hurled it across the room. Her fist swung, but Zuri ducked and rose quickly.

Mary’s hand shot to Zuri’s hoodie collar. The back of her fist cracked against Zuri’s face, forcing a gasp and a spray of blood. Zuri jabbed at Mary’s face, but her fist slipped through the ghost’s features.

“Oh, c’mon!” Zuri cried, furious at the unfairness. Mary could hit her—but she couldn’t hit Mary.

Another blow to her stomach sent Zuri crashing into the sink.

Mary yanked her backward with supernatural force, smashing her against a bathroom stall door, as it hinges tore free and Zuri collapsed to the ground onto the fallen door. Blood dripped from her lips as she wiped it away, only to see Bloody Mary looming above her.

With a sweep of her arm, Mary flung Zuri across the bathroom and straight through the mirror. Glass screamed as it shattered into shards. Zuri hit the sink, then collapsed to the floor, pain magnified a thousandfold.

Through blurred vision, she saw Mary’s silhouette standing over her. Nathan was struggling to rise after his brutal fall. Zuri’s gaze caught the necklace sprawled across the sink—and Nathan’s flashlight beside it.

Mary had the upper hand, and she wasn’t listening. But Zuri had an idea.

“...Bite me!” she snapped at Mary despite the pain, swinging the flashlight to buy time. She snatched the necklace and slid it across the floor to Nathan before collapsing again.

Nathan clutched it, wincing in pain. Maybe words wouldn’t reach Mary—but perhaps this would.

“Mary!” he called, clutching his stomach.

She turned toward him. Nathan held up the necklace. Mary’s dead expression softened.

Nathan’s breathing was stable. His busted up face—from being slammed into the ground two times—was staring intensely at Mary with determination sparking in his eyes. His trembling hands showed Mary the necklace that made her freeze.

“This is what you want…” Nathan asked, staring eye-to-eye at Mary’s face. “Right?”

Mary stared at the necklace, her expression unreadable. An injured Zuri—still sprawled over the ground—watched the scene with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Mary’s face barely softening over time—ghosts weren’t expressive.

She made a step towards Nathan, her eyes fixed on the necklace. Zuri stiffened—fearing that her hopes were about to be crushed in any second. Nathan flinched—being ready for Mary to retaliate in the moment that he least expected her to.

Mary kept marching towards Nathan slowly. Zuri tried to get up, but her injuries made her collapse every time. Nathan’s grip tightened into a hard clutch. Their breaths caught in every single step Mary gave.

When Mary was starting to get close to Nathan, he sighed and stretched his hand over, offering the necklace to the woman. Mary stopped when she was close enough. She grabbed the necklace out of Nathan’s hand without laying a finger on him to hurt him.

Nathan took a step away from her when the necklace was no longer in his hands. Mary kept staring at the necklace gifted to her by her daughter so long ago, her fingers passing by it as if she was checking if she could actually feel it. Zuri didn’t dare to dodge her looks away from the scene nervously.

Suddenly, a bright light lit up the room. The light that seemed to come from Mary forced Nathan and Zuri to shield their eyes in reflection. When the light died down, they were allowed to stare again at her again. Mary was still there, but different.

Her long white dress was no longer soaked in blood, just a shade of white that seemed to emit pureness out of it. Mary’s heart-shaped face was just as clean as her dress, and her cyan-diamond colored eyes had way more brightness than before. Her slender stature completed the regal shape of the gorgeous woman in front of the two, no longer intimidating or scary.

Zuri’s hand clutched the sink as she picked herself up and used it to support herself from not collapsing again. “You miss her, right?” Mary turned to Zuri. “Your daughter, Amy…”

Mary—her face way more expressive than her bloody self—nodded with teary eyes. Zuri sighed, clutching her stomach with her other hand. “She’s safe now…”

Nathan tagged along. “She was just like you…” He said. “We first found her at this very same bathroom here…”

“... But we got away safely,” Zuri said, “and then we searched about her, and where she was buried…”

“That’s why we burned her corpse…” Nathan said, as Mary’s eyes started to let the tears escape. “Not to vandalize her grave, but to free her…”

“And we want to do the same for you!” Zuri said, “The responsible already paid for what they did to you, for what they did to her.”

“But we can’t do anything about it…” Nathan said. “.... but you can…”

“You need to let it go, Mary,” Zuri pleaded, “... if you don’t, you will be roaming here endlessly, killing and killing people over and over, without ever seeing them again…”

“And I know, that some people here aren’t the nicest….” Nathan said. “But they can change, and if you kill them, other people will need to suffer from the very same pain that you did…”

Mary teared up, clutching the necklace to her chest. She stared at the two of them, offering them a smile. “... Thank you….”

The same bright light from before came again, forcing them to shield their eyes again. The light eventually faded. Mary was no longer there.

Zuri found herself smiling despite the pain. She sighed in relief and looked to Nathan. “Are yoo alright, there mate?” She asked in her British accent.

“Ah am…” Nathan answered, his Australian accent taking over completely. “It’s ya that ah wawrried about…”

“Ah doing foin…” She said, her British accent didn’t leave. Neither did Nathan’s Australian accent.

“Noh, ya not!” Nathan said, helping her support herself. “Le’ me help ya.”

Zuri groaned in annoyance, but despite her pride, she knew that she would need help to reach her dorm. The two of them limped, bruised and busted out to Zuri’s dorm. No one says a word until they reach there, leaving the destroyed bathroom behind.

Zuri dropped onto her bed. Nathan sat beside her. Zuri felt her cheeks burning in pain.

“Nate?” She called out gently, getting the blond’s attention. “Can you go over the fridge and get a pack of ice for the two of us….”

Nathan nodded as he got up and went towards the fridge. Picking two cubes of ice and covering them up with the first thing he found. He tossed one to Zuri, who picked it up mid-air and got up, sitting against the back of the bed. Nathan fell beside her.

Zuri pressed her ice cube against her bruised cheek. She looked over to Nathan, the blond nose a bit mushed up, and his cheeks bruised. Something came to her mind.

She stifled a giggle. “Damn…” Nathan looked over. “We did made a mess in the bathroom, didn’t we?”

Nathan repressed a laugh when he saw what Zuri was trying to do. “How much do you think they will need to pay for?” Nathan asked with a smirk.

“Considering the broken door, the mirror, and the janitors that they will need to clean up the mess?” Zuri asked with a smirk. “That would be, at the very least, 175$.”

“The very least?” Nathan asked with a giggle. “How did you even reach that conclusion?”

“Well, considering that at least one janitor will need at least 2 hours for the whole mess, we would need at least 100$ for him, the door will need at least 50$ to replace it, and a small mirror would already require 25$ to be placed…”

Nathan smiled. “The mirror’s not small!” he said

“Exactly!” Zuri cackled. “The poor janitors will need more than just two hours to clean that mess up!”

The two busted up laughing. “We’re… going to… make this school bankrupt at this pace…” Nathan said between his laughter.

“I’m feeling bad about the janitors!” Zuri said while still laughing. “They will probably take hours cleaning up the glass shards from the mirror and the blood—”

Zuri's laughter died down immediately, and her eyes went wide. “The…. the blood… that can easily be used to be traced back to us….” She said, flushing in the bed.

Nathan froze upon hearing Zuri’s words and realizing that she had a point. Before cleaning the mess, the school would probably want to know the responsible parties for the mess. With a sample of blood, the two of them would easily be discovered as the responsible ones for vandalizing the school.

“Shit!” The two of them exclaimed at the same time, Nathan jumping out of his seat. He turned to Zuri.

“Stay here!” He said, “I will clean everything that can point out that the responsibles were us the fastest I can!”

“Wait, I’ll go with you,” Zuri said, rising to her feet. Nathan stopped her.

“No, you’re too injured for that!” Nathan said, sensing that Zuri wouldn’t be happy at being requested to take the backseat. “I won’t be caught, I promise…”

Zuri didn’t seem to be satisfied with it, but ultimately let it go. “Fine!” She said, “But if you get caught, I swear—”

“I won’t,” Nathan reassured. “I promise…”

Zuri sighed, but she nodded.

“Meanwhile, you can…” He stopped for a minute, thinking of how to continue. “I don’t know, take a bath, clean off the blood? It’s up to you, see you tomorrow?”

Zuri nodded. Nathan walked out the door, going towards the bathroom. She spared a glance at the bathroom door… Actually… taking a bath didn’t seem so bad right now.

Tomorrow, the days went normally…. orr as normal as they could be. When the first student decided to use the bathrooms and saw the destruction that was left by their battle against Bloody Mary before freeing her.

The shattered mirror, the broken door, and the small cracks in the ceiling that Bloody Mary slammed Nathan into, and in the wall Zuri thudded. The school was quickly alerted to the vandalism. Funny enough, no stains of blood were found—Nathan had somehow done a wonderful job at cleaning it up.

Without any way to prove it was them, they were not even on the suspect list. The destruction became the gossip of the school within an hour. It was a shame they still hadn’t figured out how much it would cost to fix the damage.

Zuri and Nathan’s bruises were a bit more subtle—more hideable than yesterday. Despite this, they avoided getting close to too many people to avoid their bruises becoming public knowledge—they were subtle, not invisible. Their limps were subtle enough not to be realized by anyone.

They spent the whole day pretending to be just as unaware as the others. Taking notes in class, answering the teacher's question, and avoiding suspicion.

After Zuri wrote down the complete Freeman Timeline, there was no reason to have it on the billboard, so along with the notes, she took a photo of it before she started taking it down. Nathan stood by her side, helping Zuri take everything down. After the two of them finished, they plopped into the bed.

“So,” Zuri started, “we’re finally done…” she muttered with a small hint of relief in her voice.

Nathan nodded. “Finally, this took so much time!” He said, sharing the same relief.

“God, Mary made a number on the two of us….” Zuri murmured. “Amanda didn’t do half the damage she did.”

Zuri didn’t lied one bit there. In their tracing of victims, they had noticed Amanda’s pile of bodies was significantly far smaller than Mary’s. Mary first victim was traced back a bit further to the early 1980s in the name of Sarah Crane, instead of Victoria Grace in the mid 2000s.

Amanda’s first victim was traced back to Ethan Lee—one month after her family's death—and they found 4 to 5 kills per year as her average kill count. Mary started three months later than Amanda but had an average of 12 to 14 kills per year, basically three times Amanda’s average kill count.

“Well… let’s forget a bit about Mary,” Nathan started. “How much did you learn about ghosts in this… ‘hunting’?”

Zuri stifled a laugh. “Oh yeah, because this subject is so much different and better, right?”

Nathan giggled. “Shut up!”

“Well….” Zuri started, before she got a notebook from her backpack along a pen. “... Better take notes of everything we learn along the way, right?”

Nathan nodded. That was a good idea. “So, let’s start…. I have the feeling we will need this.”

As the time passed, Nathan and Zuri kept taking notes of everything they discovered between the cases of Amanda and Mary. From threat level to the ghost's abilities and weaknesses. The pair was unaware of how much time had already passed at this point.

“And,” Nathan started, “I am pretty sure that their telekinesis abilities or something have a limit.”

Zuri raised her eyebrow. “Elaborate, please.” She requested simply.

“When we were fighting her in the house’s basement, she had no problem freezing my arm mid-air,” Nathan explained, “but when she tried to freeze me as a whole, she…. struggled more? Like if she needed to use more of her power to throw me…”

Zuri nodded. “‘kay, guess I got it…” She said, “A power limit, just like you said.”

Zuri started scribbling down Nathan’s mention of a possible limit of her powers. “... And I guess we’re done, for today at least.” She said, putting the notebook aside.

Picking up her phone to check the hour, her eyes widened when she realized that they had spent hours talking, discussing, and taking notes of Ghosts. After he took a small glance at her phone, the same expression took over Nathan’s face. The two of them shared a groan before plopping into bed.

“See you later, then?” Nathan asked. Zuri sent him a small smile before nodding to him.

Nathan rose to his feet and started walking to the door, before he stopped abruptly. He turned to Zuri—his expression as if a light bulb went off in his head. Zuri raised an eyebrow when the blond stopped so abruptly.

“Hey, what if I request to change dorms?” Nathan asked. Zuri’s face slightly widened in understanding.

“You want to share a dorm with me?” She asked, surprised—she didn’t think of that possibility yet. “What about the rumours?”

“Oh, screw the rumours!” Nathan said, waving them off. “So, what do you think? I am already spending most of my time here anyway, so…”

Zuri tilted her head, deep in thought. After a second, she reached a conclusion. “... Well, why not?”

Nathan lit up so much that Zuri feared that he might blind someone.

“Great!” He said with enthusiasm. “I will request the change tomorrow!”

When tomorrow came, Nathan didn’t waste a single second doing the request. Actually, Zuri thought he didn’t even sleep at all. Zuri Porter and Nathan Elliot started to share a dorm, and the duo spent time together somehow became even more common than before.

“So, how was your day with your sisters?” Zuri asked after classes ended, Zuri ended up deciding to miss school because…. she simply wanted to, and honestly? She deserved this—she fought two ghosts and lived to tell the tale, give her a break!

“It was great!” Nathan said, his dorky smile spreading across his face. “The art teacher asked the class to form a duo, and I ended up being paired with Cynthia, so we painted a cool picture of a bird together.”

“Cool,” Zuri murmured with a relaxed smirk. “Good to know you had fun,”

“What about you?” Nathan asked. “Did you made something fun since you skipped?”

“Oh, I had tons of fun, Nate~” She said with a smirk, “Sleeping for hours straight.”

The duo burst out laughing in sync. “Were you really that tired?” Nathan asked between his laughter.

“Well, I barely rested after Bloody Mary, and then we had classes of Mrs. Harrington, who’s the worst teacher here by far.” Zuri said. “‘Well, my husband bought that expensive clothing for me’,” Zuri made a purposefully poor imitation of Mrs. Harrington, “Ugh, give me a break and go suck a d—”

“Well, I slept like a baby after Mary…. either that or I was out cold for a good few hours,” Nathan said, causing the two of them to burst out laughing again.

“Ghosts….” Zuri said after taking her breath, “Aren’t they just…. painful to deal with….” she murmured.

Nathan nodded, as he sighed. “And sadly, I don’t think that pursuit of ours will be ending so soon….”

Zuri hated to admit it, but she knew Nathan was right. “Well, it seems that we will be hunting them for quite a while… won’t we?”

“I think a better question is… until when?” Nathan said, as Zuri tilted her head in confusion.

“Until when will we endure it? Fighting them and them almost dropping dead afterwards? Researching day and night about them?”

“Just until when will we…. until someone discovers what we do? Until everyone does….” Nathan asked, listing all of their worries about their new activities.

“.... I don’t know….” Zuri admitted, she sighed.

“I don’t know Nate….”