The First Encounter

"Kasumi-chan, are you listening?" A slightly annoyed Soma-kun seizes my attention. "You have to remember this or it might be too dangerous for you to go on your solo investigation."

My eyes are still glued to my phone. Displayed on the screen is the video of our latest paranormal investigation. It has surpassed 10,000 views and the club's channel reached a thousand subscribers.

This is such a fantastic accomplishment for the club and a decent stepping stone if we are to eventually make money out of it.

Soma-kun once again appears behind my phone, still trying to get my attention.

Thinking about it, it's thanks to Soma-kun that our investigations have seem a lot more legitimate than before. Not to say that it wasn't previously but with his know-how of the paranormal, we were able to conduct ghost-hunting more properly.

Unexpectedly, Soma-kun slammed the table with great fury, making me flinch in surprise.

He didn't say anything and neither did I. What do I even tell him.

The silence is deafening.

I guess me ignoring him made him angry. He'd usually get annoyed whenever anyone in the club isn't listening to one of his lectures about the paranormal but it was never this bad.

"I'm sorry." To my surprise yet again, the empathic words didn't come out of my mouth but his. "I think it'd be for the best if I just leave." Soma-kun went to go grab his stuff.

Eh? Wait a minute! He's that upset?! And what does he mean by leave? If Soma-kun leaves now, our investigations just won't be the same and the school would stop recognizing us as a club.

I have to make him stay no matter what!

"Wait, Soma-kun!" I managed to be quick enough to grab the hem of his uniform. "It's my fault, so don't go saying sorry. I'm the one who upset you and… I'm sorry!" I hug him from behind to show him my sincerity.

Soma-kun takes my hands off his stomach. "Kasumi-chan… your chest… it's touching me."

Despite him being knowledgeable in the paranormal, he's still just a teenage boy. What a perv.

I take a couple of steps back and noticed that his ears are cherry red. It worked, just as I thought.

Though with that said, his demeanor earlier was a bit disturbing and a first. I should stop upsetting him too much.

"Come, Soma-kun." I went back to my seat. "Let's talk about it again. I'll listen this time, I promise."

He slowly puts his stuff back and sat down his seat. His eyes are a bit reddish though it's hard to tell.

"We don't have time to talk about everything again so I'll cover the important stuff for now." He sounded so depressed when he said it. I'm so sorry, Soma-kun! "Most ghosts are primarily confused spirits that don't know that they've already passed while some are vengeful spirits seeking revenge for the horrible things done to them in life. Most of what we find in our investigations are the former. There might come a day when we find the latter… or worse."

"Worse?" What's worse than a vengeful spirit like Sadako. Thinking about it gave me chills.

"Demons. Fallen angels who are loyal to Lucifer and Satan. They'll appear like your typical ghost to make people like us go further with investigations or rituals until it's too late and we pay with our lives. Each one also has their own cult which makes them extremely dangerous. Anyways, the important thing for now is that you understand that these demons are different from the average ghost. They're able to conjure illusions and even turn into other people or animals with great precision. This is called morphing and it is vital that all of us in the club—you, me, Endou-san, and Yano-san too—are aware of this. It reduces the risk of any of us falling under the demon's influence. I know that it's a long shot for us to encounter a demon but still, I don't want anything terrible happening to any of you." His face shifted to a sadder expression; sadder than the one he had earlier.

This seems like serious stuff. I don't have proof but I think something happened to Soma-kun and his guardian, the priest, in the past. Maybe even something involving his now-absent parents.

Either way, I can't stand to see him this depressed.

"Well, I think if a demon were to morph into you, I'd be able to tell the difference." I said rather jokingly, trying to fish for a reaction.

"Huh? No you won't. Demons are—"

"Nah, I'd be able to tell, trust me."

"How? Tell me."

"Well…"

"Aoi-senpai. Open up."

It sounds like him but it's not Soma-kun. He never once referred to me as Aoi or even senpai. I don't think he even knows my surname at this point. He had always called me Kasumi-chan since day one. Also, there's something about this voice's tone that just makes my skin crawl.

"Senpai? I'm sorry I scared you. This is actually just a really elaborate prank so open up.

Soma-kun isn't one to do pranks on the job. He said that it obfuscates what is and what isn't real during an investigation.

My question now is if I should respond to it. Soma-kun hadn't mentioned anything about it so I'm uncertain.

Argh! I can't think straight. Not having the light from my camera is making my thoughts race endlessly.

I don't want to wander aimlessly in this pitch black room. For all I know, there are also ghosts inside this room just waiting for me to shine a light so they could jump me.

Just when I thought all hope was lost, I feel a sudden vibration inside my breast pocket.

"My phone!" I forgot I put it back there after finding Kitty.

I immediately grab it and turned on the flashlight. There was a notification for a mobile game but I don't care about that right now.

Vengeful ghosts be damned. If anything or anyone is here with me, I'll make sure to take them down with me.

The light illuminated the room, allowing me to see its contents.

There's nothing much; just a couple of rusty cabinets and chairs, much to my contentment.

Right, I should go call for help.

I seem to only have one bar of signal though. I'll just have to make it quick.

The first people I thought of contacting was Endou-san and Yano but will they be able to do anything? The other person I thought of was our club supervisor but I have the same doubts about him.

It has to be Soma-kun.

Even if he's out of town somewhere doing "business", I have faith in him that he'll come for me.

I first tried to call but after he didn't pick up, I sent him a message instead only containing two words: "help me".

Considering that he's the one who told me about this place, he'll know where to look.

It took a few seconds of the message sending and me having to reach my arms out to get more signal, for it to finally go through.

A wave of relief washes over me until the imposter Soma-kun started speaking to me again.

"Aoi-senpai. I just got your message." He sounded quite annoyed. "What's with this?! Open the door. Let's talk about this." He started banging on the door violently like he's about to rip it off its hinges.

I'm once again sent into a panic as the deafening sound being inflicted on the door envelops the whole room.

I clasp my phone on my chest as I attempt to say my first ever prayer. I'm not Catholic but I've heard Soma-kun say a few in our previous investigations and it always put me at ease.

I perform the sign of the cross and started praying.

The banging on the door comes to a halt as the imposter starts laughing with a sinister tone that made all the hair on my body stand.

"Resistance is futile, girl. The moment you step foot outside that cell, your soul is mine!" The voice quickly shifted into something demonic.

I keep to my prayers, trying to block out anything happening beyond the door.

Once more, the loud, thunderous sound of what sounds like gunfire, is heard from outside.

It lasted for a while this time until I hear a loud shrieking noise followed by footsteps scurrying away.

Just what is happening outside? There's no way for me to find out. Not like I could if I try anyway. The door is still completely sealed shut.

With nothing else to do, I decided to look into the footage I captured on my phone.

Maybe I'll find something there that can help me understand a bit of what has happened tonight.

I started filming on my phone before ascending the stairs and so far, nothing. It seems like everything was normal until I hear a whisper from when I started feeling so cold all of a sudden.

"Leave now!" A disembodied voice whispered hoarsely.

I didn't hear this earlier! No matter how hard I try to remember, the only thing I heard was Kitty's wailing.

The footage kept on playing and I noticed something creepy in the footage. It was easy to miss with all the moving around I was doing but by slowing the speed down, I was able to see it: a silhouette of a person in one of the doorless rooms.

Are they the one talking to me just now? But how do they know my name?

I continued watching the footage, still slowed down, and noticed another silhouette in another room. Then another one, and another one.

It's time to stop looking into this; there's no merit in knowing more, for my sake.

My body feels so cold, like I'm being enveloped by a chilly wind—just like earlier.

A muffled sound is emitting from inside my breast pocket. It sounded like the EMF reader at full bars when I pointed it towards a TV that one time.

I got a bad feeling about this.

I started recording audio on my phone. Maybe just like earlier, the ghosts are trying to tell me something.

The recording went on for 6 seconds until my phone just stopped recording, and the coldness of my body suddenly went away.

It started to play on its own too.

"Get… out. NOW!" The voice was just as eerie as the first one.

A clacking sound emitted from the door. It opens slightly ajar.

The place being devoid of any noise is really terrible for my mental. I feel like something is about to jump out in front of me.

I peak outside and quickly noticed that the light from my camera is gone. I point my phone's flashlight towards that direction but the camera is nowhere in sight.

Did that imposter bastard took it? All those time spent working part-time was all for naught.

Anyways, it looks like the coast is clear. I'm only on the 2nd floor. If I run really, really fast, I might make it outside.

It's a shame that I can't retrieve my camera but it is what it is. If I somehow make it out, I'll make Soma-kun find it alone.

I take a couple of deep breaths before I go.

And then, I made a run for it.

While pointing my light ahead, I make good progress passing every room and making my way to the stairwell.

The chairs and desks scattered around the floor are gone now but I have no time to ponder about that.

I got to the first floor safely without encountering anything paranormal.

"I'm gonna make it!"

I completely stop in my tracks as I reach the main lobby.

Three men, each carrying blunt weapons, stand between me and freedom. The man in the middle looks familiar.

"Hello there." The one in the middle eerily said.

"Y-you…"