Ballad of yesterday

Ballad of Yesterday

This would all be so much easier if I’d opened my business in a more strategic location, in a market or on a main road. It would make more sense if I put up a big sign with my business name. All of that makes sense until I remember that not everyone will understand the service I offer. “Continue your family business,” they say. That’s my duty as a child, they say, everyone who doesn’t even know what my family actually does. Who needs paranormal services in the modern age? Technically, what we do is help lost souls go where they should be. But it’s easier to explain to people that we do exorcisms.

Not many lost souls actually want to hurt humans. Most of them are confused about what happened to them; many can’t accept that they can no longer be in this world. Most refuse to leave and try to get attention from family or passersby, frightening people who don’t understand. Rejection makes many of them angry, and that’s when my family comes to help them understand. Of course, with rejection, many say there are still things they want to do, regrets they want to fix. But nothing can be done except to make them understand that that opportunity has passed. A little cruel, but that’s life; even in death, it’s unfair.

In my small office, I wait, in the wooden chair that has been a part of my family’s business for as long as I can remember. This small office is a legacy I received along with the business from my father, the old man who decided I was old enough to do everything myself. I know what he wants to do is relax after decades of dealing with angry souls when they find out their chance is up. But could he at least wait until I can enjoy a little bit of my life? I know I’ve never dated. Wait until I get my first kiss, hold hands in the park, and other sweet things. That old geezer always says that lost souls are people who didn’t have time to do what their hearts desired. I know what my heart wants to do, but I can’t do it. How will my soul get lost later? Who will help me leave?

“Come in.”

The door to my office opens, and a beautiful girl enters, with shoulder-length hair and a sweet smile that makes her so beautiful to behold. Her eyes seem to be looking around my small office. There’s not much to see: just a desk with a laptop, some books containing information about clients who have used my family’s services, and a book containing cases that my father considered quite “interesting.” I tried to decorate my office with a bookshelf and a plastic palm plant, but it doesn’t seem to help much.

“Please sit,” I say again. The girl still has a smile on her face. She nods and pulls the chair in front of her, then sits down in front of me. I don’t want to judge someone by the clothes they wear because I think it’s stupid, but the girl sitting in front of me now is wearing a black crop top with a light blue shirt left open. I’m not too up-to-date with current fashion trends, but isn’t that a little revealing?

“Can I help you?”

“I heard you can exorcise demons?”

“Yes, that’s the service I offer…”

“If someone’s possessed, can you cure them?” she interrupts. Her smile disappears, replaced by a troubled feeling that begins to appear on her face.

From what I know, a soul inhabiting a body that isn’t its own is a desperate soul. They want to be heard; they want to do things they haven’t had the chance to do, whatever it may be, good or bad. A desperate soul is a soul that is difficult for me to make understand, a soul that is difficult for me to help leave. Often, I have to force them to understand. Although I don’t really like doing it, no one has ever said that this is a fun job.

“Did the possession happen a while ago, or…”

“Now.”

“Excuse me, now? Someone is possessed right now?”

“Yes.”

Now? If what she says is true, why is she so calm? Shouldn’t she…

“How is that even possible?”

“Let’s go now.”

Not wanting to waste time understanding what’s going on, I get up from my chair and take a small bag from the drawer of my desk. One good thing my father left me is the equipment he gave me. Of course, I could get my own equipment, but why should I buy everything when I can get it for free? You know, starting a business is hard, and I’ll do anything to reduce the costs I have to spend to run this business.

There are many things I want to ask the girl who is now running after me: about what’s really happening, how she can be so calm if someone is possessed, and what her name is? Wait, where am I going?

“Where?”

“Huh?”

I stop, looking at her. She looks at me confused.

“Where is your friend who’s possessed?”

“She’s not really my friend, but…”

“Where?”

“School.”

I try hard not to slap myself. All I want to do now is go and help that lost soul leave, but this girl whose name I still don’t know seems to be playing me. Why is she so calm? Why haven’t I known her name until now?

“My name is Flora.”

“Huh?”

“My name is Flora. I haven’t told you my name, have I?”

She just read my mind. I don’t know how, but she just read my mind. It could be a coincidence, but it’s too…

“Yeah, I can read people’s minds,” she says with a smile. For the first time in my life, I’m scared.

“Don’t be scared, I can only read the minds of people who like me. When you first saw me, you thought I was pretty, right? Well, that’s you giving me permission to read your mind. Thanks.”

I can only be silent and look at her. I don’t know what to say. You might think I’m used to strange things because my job is to help lost souls leave. But one thing you don’t consider is that none of those lost souls had powers.

“Who…are you?”

“Flora,” she answers casually, as if she hadn’t just said the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.

“Okay Flora, can you explain to me how you possibly have powers? Are you in league with the devil? Or…”

“I don’t know.”

“Flo…”

“Seriously! Do you think I know since when I could breathe?”

“You’ve had the power to read other people’s minds since birth?”

“Yes.”

Flora is still looking at me calmly. Does she think having powers is normal?

“No, but I didn’t choose to have powers.”

“Can you stop reading my mind, Flo?”

“Why? What are you hiding from me?”

“I…I, there are things I don’t want others to know.”

“Sorry, I sometimes don’t know when…you know…uh he, sorry, I only know one way to stop reading your mind, if you revoke the permission you gave me earlier,” she says with a little laugh that seems to me to be hiding what she feels. Am I being too mean to her? Wasn’t it I who gave her permission to read my mind, even though I knew what I was actually doing at the time?

“How?”

“Uh…you, you have to hate me.”

“I…”

“Yeah, we just met, but as far as I know, the only person whose mind I can’t read is someone who hates me.”

I don’t have time for all of this, Flora and her powers. I’ll think about it later. Now, what I have to do is help that lost soul leave.

“Flo…”

“Yeah, I understand.”

We ran. I followed Flora, who was quite fast, despite her small legs.

“I heard you,”

“What?”

“You called me short just now.”

“I…sorry.” I guess there’s no point arguing with her now.

We ran quite far, until finally we arrived at a school building full of activity. One thing I realized is that there were no signs of someone being possessed that I could see. No crowds, no screams, nothing…

“She has two souls in her body,” Flora said, pointing to one of the students who was talking to some of her friends. She looked normal; there was no foul smell I could smell from her.

“Are you sure?”

“Sure, this morning during class, I suddenly heard a foreign voice from her mind. I know the voice I heard wasn’t the mind of the person who usually sits in front of me.”

“So, you hear that person’s mind as a voice?”

“What did you think?”

“I don’t know, maybe like reading a book.”

“Are you going to help me or are you going to hear my explanation of how I read people’s minds?”

“Let’s help her,” I replied, sometimes forgetting what I wanted to do.

We slowly walked towards the student Flora pointed to. The atmosphere that was initially lively suddenly became quiet. Some students who were joking began to move away. Did I scare them? Of course not, my mother said I’m handsome.

“Focus,”

“What?” I asked.

“You’re not that ugly, besides, it’s good if the others leave, no one will bother us.

“O…k,” Wait, not that ugly? This kid is calling me…

Flora looked at me with a sharp, piercing gaze. I forgot that she could read my mind. Okay, no more wasting time. It’s go time.

We both walked towards the student. The one who was now alone looked painful, as if enduring something so heavy. I could see beads of sweat falling from his face. He bit his lip, his eyes closed.

“Hey, hello. Are you okay?” I asked. I tried to touch his shoulder, and that’s when his eyes opened wide; staring sharply at me. A stupid surprise that made my heart jump out.

“Help…”

“Will, are you okay.” Flora replied, looking worried at her classmate.

“Flo…help, my head hurts…there’s…there’s someone screaming…screaming in my head…”

Suddenly, Will moved wildly, as if wrestling with himself. His hands tried to choke himself. I tried to help, but his movements were too wild, forcing Flora and me to step back.

What should I do? I can’t let Will hurt himself; there must be something I can do.

“I have a way,” said Flora, taking out a strange-looking piece of paper from her pocket.

“Flora, wait! Is that a talisman?” I asked, worried. Random talismans or spells are dangerous; that was the first lesson my father gave me.

“We can use this to help him!” Flora replied, running towards Will.

“Flora, don’t!” I tried to stop her, but she had already stuck the paper to Will’s forehead. Suddenly the atmosphere became tense, and Will stopped moving.

Flora looked proud, her face shining. “See! It worked, I guess I don’t need your help!” she said, feeling confident.

However, suddenly, I saw something terrifying. The paper on Will’s forehead began to burn, “Flora, look!” I shouted, panicked.

Before Flora could answer, a laugh echoed. It wasn’t Will’s laugh; it was a terrifying laugh. “Stupid,” he said.

Suddenly Will ran, fast, so fast. It wasn’t Will anymore; he had been completely taken over, damn it.

“Chase!” Flora shouted, her face looking panicked. We ran, trying to catch Will who had already sped away.

“Flora, why did you use that talisman paper? Are you crazy!” I shouted, trying to stay focused on chasing Will who was almost out of my sight.

“I…sorry…”

“What if because you have powers you think exorcising demons is easy? Where did you get the idea to use talisman paper?”

After running and I yelled at her, Flora finally confessed, “Okay, okay! I got the idea from a Chinese horror movie!”

“Horror movie? So this is all because of a movie?” I almost shouted, frustrated. “You…”

“I know I’m wrong, sorry! But I thought it would work!” Flora replied, breathless.

We kept running, trying to catch Will who was getting further away. We had to find a way to stop this before everything got worse.

We ran as hard as we could, chasing Will who sped quickly towards the roof of an empty, creepy-looking building. Of course, the soul possessing Will chose to go to an empty building, so original.

“Flora,”

“I know, I’m so sorry!” Flora replied, breathless. “But we can’t stop now, we have to save Will before it’s too late,”

“Fine.”

We ran back into the empty building. After running past the emergency stairs, we arrived at the roof. When we set foot there, I could only be silent looking at what had happened. Will was waiting, but something was wrong, something different. Although his appearance hadn’t changed, the aura around him felt very thick, like a thick fog covering his whole body.

“Welcome, children!” he exclaimed in a booming voice, as if he were leading an interesting game. “My name is Naito, a messenger from Killymong. Today, we’re going to play a very fun game!”

My blood seemed to freeze when I heard his name. “Wait, Naito? Killymong!” I said, recognizing the voice. “You… you are one of…”

“Yup, exactly!” Naito laughed sarcastically. “I should have been defeated by your father decades ago. But look, here I am now! And you, you don’t seem to have the ability to stop me! Oh, how pathetic!”

“Oh, wow, welcome, Naito! The cruel messenger from Killymong, huh? This must be very scary,”

Naito laughed heartily, enjoying Flora’s reaction. “Oh, you’re so funny, girl. Just keep going, it’s very entertaining,”

“Flo.” I whispered. “Can you stop making fun of that creature?”

“Sorry, but I don’t like seeing that creature playing with my friend’s body.”

“Ahh…are you scared? Thinking about how to escape?”

Suddenly, Naito stepped forward and attacked me with such speed. I could barely dodge, and then Flora took some mystical objects from her bag. “Get away from us!” she shouted, throwing salt, jade stones, and a handful of spices believed to ward off evil spirits towards Naito.

Naito just stood there, shaking his head and laughing sarcastically. “Oh, wow! Salt and spices? Is that what you use to fight me? Really, you have to be more creative!” He easily avoided each throw, seeming to enjoy every moment that was just a game for him.

Every time Flora threw something at him, Naito only laughed and scoffed. “Do you think that will work? This is so funny! Maybe you should try something stronger, or maybe a little more salt?” He stepped forward with incredible speed, attacking Flora and making her fall.

“Flora!” I shouted, feeling fear creeping inside me. Naito then darted towards me, attacking me quickly and making me fall. A sharp pain spread through my body, and I felt blood flowing from a wound under my left eye.

Naito looked at his finger covered in my blood, then licked it with satisfaction. “Hmm, blood.” he said with a wide smile. But as he licked my blood, his expression suddenly changed. He seemed to sense something strange in my blood, “So funny,” he said. “You’re hiding a power you want to hide, aren’t you?”

Flora, hearing that, stood up and ran and immediately hit me. “You have powers?” she shouted, her face fiery. “Use them, you idiot, do you want us to die?”

I can’t use my power, I don’t blame her for being mad at me. “I can’t…”

Naito looked at me with a sarcastic smile, clearly amused by the situation. “Oh, this is so hilarious! He has powers but doesn’t want to use them! You know, this just makes everything much more fun!” He laughed, as if considering this all as mere entertainment.

He ran again; in an instant, a kick sent me flying. I fell, hitting the partition wall; I could feel the strong wind hitting my face.

“Stop! Help!”

Flora’s scream brought me to my senses. Far ahead of me, Naito was playing with Flora, tearing Flora’s clothes one by one, trying to remove all the cloth covering her small body.

“A nice body, I’ll surely enjoy it.”

“Stop!” I shouted, I tried to stand up but Naito only looked at me sarcastically.

Again he disappeared from my sight; I raised my hand trying to block his attack, but I was wrong. Something pierced my stomach; an iron bar had pierced my stomach. Cold was all I could feel; my vision began to blur, then dark.

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“Pathetic.”

I hate that voice; why do I have to hear it again.

“Noisy.”

“What are you waiting for? Use my power, are you going to die before you’ve ever dated? You don’t even have a first kiss.”

Another reason why I hate hearing his voice, but no matter how much I hate admitting it, I have to get my first kiss first.

“You know what I’ll do if you try to possess me?”

“You’re too paranoid, I’ll just sit back and enjoy the show. Come on, show that damned creature who you really are, Monta.”

“Only my friends can call me Monta, you damn…”

“After everything we’ve been through?”

“Shut up, you bastard, shut up, and you’re just…”

“I know, I know. I’ll be quiet and enjoy all of this.”

After everything, once again I have to do this disgusting thing.

“Nage.”

I don’t know, but I want to forcibly pull Naito out of Will’s body and beat him up.

“Faigo zo.”

Beat him up until he wishes he’d never come back from wherever he came from.

“Yuiga nomo yogoyogo.”

Here goes nothing

“Nomo Nomo yo za!!!”