The Miracle Mind of Serene: the Tale of a Girl and a Ghost (Chapter 4)
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Index
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26/01/2018
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“... Is that the psychic?”
“Well-”
“This is my friend Selena. She’s always getting mistaken for Serene, she’s absolutely sick of it.”
“Uh… Yes! That’s right. I’m thinking of getting my name changed, even…”
Aura looked at this catgirl, who looked oh-so-similar to that Serene lady she’s seen on the news, and then to her brother Terra. Do they really think they can fool her so easily? “And how come I never met this suspiciously similar stranger?”
Terra’s smug little grin was odd. This is obviously Serene, he wasn’t going to be able to-
“You got no room to argue, you didn’t even know about Tim until I broke up with him!”
Fuck! “Y-you were barely with him!” Aura did her best to defend herself, but being exposed like this in front of a stranger was already embarrassing enough.
“Only if you think a whole fucking year is “barely”,” Terra reiterated. “Is it?”
They… they were together a whole year?! Aura did her best to dismiss the embarrassment with a huff, marching off. Her previous suspicion of “Selena” completely forgotten from how absolutely embarrassed she now was.
Indeed, she marched directly into the woman’s bathroom and made her way to the sink, running the water to wet her face and chill her nerves so that she could think straight. “Did I really not know my brother was dating him for a whole year?” she grumbled to herself, looking straight in the mirror. “He’s got to be fucking with-” a deep involuntary gasp escaped her lips, before she stopped moving.
But not by choice. Something else was moving her body.
“Finally, an employee,” she heard her own lips speak, as she felt her head look down and a hand check the nametag on her shirt. “... Aura, is it?”
Who’s… what’s happening?! It was like she was a puppet on a string, helpless to do anything but watch as her own body stretched.
She started walking, only to stop at the last second, forced to look at her face in the reflection. “Sorry about doing this in the bathroom, it’s the only place that there’s any privacy.”
She didn’t even think about that, but the realisation made her furious. Not that her body showcased any of that, instead moving back into a focus. This pervert was now in control of her! What was he going to make her do?
When she made her way to the kitchen and grabbed one of the knives, she knew what the stranger was likely intending.
And she couldn’t do anything to warn anyone.
---
“In fact… that guy over there, see how his cup’s right on the edge? If you knock it over it’ll certainly give him a fright, and you can even make sure he doesn’t lose his drink.”
Serene was quiet, looking Terra right in the eyes. She had only one reaction to his suggestion. “Seriously?”
“Well- Alright, say no more.” He was quick to relent, leaning back in his seat. “Just thought you might find it fun to kick back and actually use your…” he looked around the restaurant briefly before turning back to Serene, “...skills, to entertain yourself.”
“I’m not a fancy toy, you know.”
Terra’s ears immediately flicked back at that remark, shaking his head. “I just thought you might find it fun, promise.”
Serene let out a small sigh, eyeing Terra. “You don’t know what I find fun.”
Terra raised a finger to speak, only to find himself pausing. “Okay, okay, true.” He lowered his finger, looking Serene in the eye. “But neither do you.”
“I-” Serene cleared her throat, blushing lightly from embarrassment.
“Think, what is something you really like to do? Even if you don’t usually do it?”
Serene let out a sigh, putting a hand to her chin. “Well… my job is-”
“Psh, not your job,” Terra affirmed. “Something fun, something you do when winding down from a job.””
“Well…” Serene thought to herself some more. What about… wait. “I like to read,” Serene said with a hum, satisfied that she was able to come up with a real answer.
“Yeah, what about?”
“I really like reading up on other people. N-not real people, like… stories about how people lived.”
Terra let out a chuckle. “I thought your answer was gonna be stories about psychics.”
“Actually…” Serene paused a little bit, rubbing the back of her head. “I don’t like reading about people with psychic powers. It just feels… weird, you know?”
Terra tilted his head slightly at that, something had caught his intrigue. When one of his ears flopped down over his face, he let out a small huff to blow it out of the way. “Read any from before you were born?”
“Huh? No, why?”
“Well-” Terra paused. “... Nevermind.”
“Okay…” Serene cleared her throat, looking around. “What about you? What do you like to read?”
“I mean, I’ve checked out a book every once in a while, but I’m not a huge fan.”
“Well surely you do something, right? You don’t just go to the park day in and day out, do you?”
Terra let out a small chuckle, nodding. “Actually, I’ve been thinking of getting into hiking.”
Serene took one look at this lil’ bunny, shorter than she was. “Really?”
“Rea- yes of course!” Terra called out. They got a look or two, and thankfully nobody recognised Serene in that exchange. “I’m tired of being stuck in this little slice of the city, I love to get on my feet and see where the world takes me.”
Serene nodded. “Ah, I can relate.”
Wait, what? … No, she does relate. But why?
Terra let out a small chuckle, grinning wide. “In that case I should take you along with me, take up hiking together.”
Serene put a hand up to decline, but paused. She was not under surveillance for a whole month. She wasn’t going to do any training for at least a little bit after what happened. She needed to do something with that free time. “...You know what? Sure, I can come.”
“Great!” Terra called out. “It’s a date~” Innocent language, but Terra’s cheeky grin made it clear that it wasn’t so innocent.
“Wha- I- uh-” Serene’s cheeks went bright red at that. He meant a real date? She… was not expecting that.
Terra let out a cheeky giggle, grinning wide. “You’re cute when you’re flustered. But don’t worr- EEH!”
His chair moved on its own, he was certain of it. And with that Terra came tumbling down onto the ground, but the impact was… a lot softer than it should have been.
Hearing a laugh or two, Terra let out a small grumble before he trudged back onto his feet. He saw Serene giggling and, more importantly, that behind her mask her eyes were glowing a faint white.
“You know what, you’re cute when you’re fumbling around.” Her embarrassment was gone, probably because she had just taken control of the conversation’s pacing.
Normally, Terra would be more annoyed at knowing someone tripped him on purpose. But not only was she cute, but it meant he was totally right. She would enjoy messing with someone with her psychic powers, if given the right push. Brushing himself off, he let out another chuckle. “I take it back, do worry because this is gonna be a date to remember~”
Still blushing, Serene let out another chuckle. “Well… okay, okay, I’ll be there~ When?”
Terra took out his pen and notepad as a waiter, and began writing down some numbers before passing the piece of paper to her. “Here’s my number, may I have yours? Then I’ll ring you when I can confirm my next day off.”
Serene let out a soft hum, writing down her own number. “That sounds nice. I can’t wait!”
---
Damion was in a confusing situation. His daughter, Aura, now had his wife, Amanda, held hostage with a knife to the throat, and was asking about Richard.
And he knew exactly what to say.
“Who?”
He did not know who Richard was at all.
“Don’t play dumb with me!” Aura snapped in a low growl, something that was quite uncharacteristic of her. “Richard’s a regular at this restaurant, loves the place. So tell me where he is, or failing that, something that will help me find him.”
This was the worst possible moment not to know someone. There is nothing more that he’d love than to save his wife, but… he didn’t know how.
Amanda yelled out with fury, the knife at her throat only barely keeping her from turning around and punching Aura then and there. “You do not treat your mother like this!”
Aura was quiet at first. Maybe whatever was going on they had snapped her out of it?
“So she’s your daughter…” What?
Aura moved the knife away from Amanda’s throat before kicking the woman down onto the ground. Before either of them could move, she put the knife to her throat. “Tell me what you know about Richard. Or she dies.”
… No… This must be him. The ghost that was in the newspaper with that psychic girl. “Mortis.”
The bunny woman in front of them said nothing in response. But there was no doubt in his mind. This wasn’t Aura at all, it was Mortis controlling her.
Amanda picked up on it too (though whether it was on her own or from her husband’s deduction was unclear), her rage entirely gone in an instant. “Stop… I’ll tell you, just-” she wiped away the tear in her eye. “Please don’t hurt my baby girl.”
Hearing his daughter chuckle in such a sinister tone with a knife to her throat was the most frightening thing Damion had ever seen. “What are you waiting for?”
Amanda nodded, making her way right to the computer. “I don’t know where Richard lives, BUT-!” She was quick to add the interjection, just in case Mortis took it the wrong way. “He always swings by in the same limousine, and I can get the licence plate through the security cameras.”
“Good.”
---
“And there you have it,” Terra said with a grin as he tucked away Serene’s number, leaning back. “I’ll make sure you feel like the luckiest girl in the world~”
Serene let out a small giggle, stashing away Terra’s number within her purse. “If you think about it, I kind of already am.”
Terra blinked, looking back to her. Then his smile came back. “Yeah, of course, you scored a date with me, that’s some real luck.”
Another giggle. “No no, I mean… Not everyone has psychic powers, right?”
Terra notably shrugged in response. “So? Is that special to you?”
Is that- Serene stammered at the question. Nobody had ever asked her that about psychic powers, of all things. “I mean- obviously? So many people would kill to have them, and there’s people scared of me just because-”
“That shit sounds like other people thinking it’s so special. Are they special to you?”
Serene… had to think about it. How special were her psychic talents to herself? “I…” She found herself thinking back to earlier that very night, how strange it was to act without them. “Honestly… it feels normal. Like it’s just me.”
Terra nodded. “That’s good to know.”
Serene let out a small sigh, looking down to her phone. “You’re not worried? About the powers?”
“Pffft, why would I?”
“You’d be the first…”
Terra leaned forward in his seat, looking over to Serene. “... I don’t give a shit if you can fire death rays out of your eyes, you seem nice.”
Serene gave another small giggle, which left a warm smile on her face.
Then Terra abruptly got to his feet. “Well I gotta go, if I don’t get new orders barked at me then they’ll think I’m slacking off.”
Serene nodded. “Thank you. I should be getting ready to go too. I’ll see you before I leave, though!”
“See ya then!” Terra smiled wide, making his way straight to the kitchen, ready to hear whatever new orders his mother would give him.
Strange. Usually at least one of his family members was in the kitchen with the other cooks. Maybe they were having a meeting in her office.
---
Mortis had memorised the licence plate by now, grinning. “And there you have it.” Mortis said with a pleased hum, taking the knife and stabbing it into the table. “Your daughter lives another day.”
“Don’t think we’re not going to tell,” Damion said with a glare.
Mortis grinned wide, looking over to Damion. “How do you arrest a dead man?”
… Damion was silent.
But not Amanda. “They’ll arrest the psychic girl that’s with you.”
Mortis began laughing at that, gently patting Amanda on the head, knowing how on edge the two of them were. Then the laughter turned into an intense coughing fit, as he dropped to his knees. Then the coughing turned into sobbing.
Damion moved right in, hopeful that it at least meant his daughter was back. “Aura?”
“I’m sorry,” Aura choked out through heavy sobs, curling up into a ball now that she was in control of herself again. “I’m sorry mom, I’m sorry dad, I couldn’t do anything.”
Amanda moved in to help her up - only for Damion to gently put an arm in the way. He sat down with her, holding her in his arms as he began to cry as well. “It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault…”
Amanda looked down to the table, letting out a growl of anger as she swung a punch at it - all this achieved was hurting her own hand, leaving her to hold her fist as she looked for something softer to punch. “Damn that little fucking shit to hell!”
“Mom? Is something going on?” The three of them all looked up to see the door handle open up, Terra walking right in. “Did a customer spit on you or-...” Seeing Aura and Damion on the floor was all it took for Terra to realise something big had happened.
Aura looked up, tears still in her eyes. “I- I was taken over. By that ghost…”
Terra’s eyes widened. “Ghost? Like… The one on the news? With that girl Serene?”
“Yes, him!” All three called out in unison.
Terra was silent, before looking back to the doorway. “I’ll be back in a second. It’s directly related, I promise.” Before they could answer, he rushed back out the door - swiftly walking back to where Serene was…
---
Serene saw the ball of flame that was Mortis flying back towards her, flying around her quickly.
“What? What is it, Mo- uh, you?” Serene asked softly.
The fireball started moving towards the exit, before flying back to her.
“Leave?” Mortis’s movement of up and down clearly suggested a yes.
“Just a moment, Terra said he was going to come back.”
With that Mortis began moving more frantically.
Serene let out a huff. “Just because you’re done with your business doesn’t mean I’m done with mine, you can just wait.”
It was then she could see Terra popping back into view, where she gave a friendly wave. He seemed to be approaching quickly.
The ball of flame then moved towards the phone, a horrific digital noise ringing from the phone throughout the restaurant.
Serene quickly lowered her head and put a hand over the phone. “S-sorry…!” She called out.
Once the noise died down, she picked up the phone to look at Mortis.
“We’re done, we need to-”
“He’s here anyways, so you can just wait a minute.”
“We’re not here for-”
“Just wait!” She had to hold herself back just to make sure she wasn’t yelling, glaring at her phone.
“... Just let me talk to him first, then. Just a few seconds.”
Serene let out a sigh. “... Fine, fine. But I’m not leaving until I’m done talking with him.”
“Deal.”
Finally Terra reached her, leaning in close. “Serene, did-”
“Hang on,” she said softly, passing over her phone. “Mortis wanted to talk to you first, I don’t know why.”
“But-”
The phone went on loudspeaker, letting Mortis speak up. “It’ll just take a few seconds,” the digitised voice spoke up.
Terra glared at the phone, slowly putting it up to his ear. “Listen here-”
“No you listen,” the voice spoke up, unheard to all but Terra. “I can only guess you figured out what happened-”
“Damn right I-”
“And,” Mortis talked over Terra without missing a beat, “if you tell her anything I won’t just kill you, I’ll kill every single one of them.”
Terra froze, glaring even harder. Nobody bossed him around.
…But there was nothing he could do, and he knew that. Ghosts were well known for their ability to not be touchable. “...Understood.”
“Good. I’m done talking to you, as long as she doesn’t know what’s going on, I don’t care what you say.”
Terra passed the phone right back to Serene, still glaring. “Serene?”
“Yeah?” Serene asked. “What is it?”
“He’s an asshole.”
Serene let out a sigh. “I’ll… talk to him.”
Terra let out a sigh. “Don’t trust him.”
“What? He’s a nice person, he helped me,” Serene said. “He’s just… rough around the edges.”
“He sure does have a lot of edges.”
Serene wanted to continue defending Mortis. But… “Yeah, he does.” Even she had her limits. “I’ll see you on the date!”
“The what?” Mortis’s voice called out from the phone.
“Shush,” Serene spoke quickly.
“Yeah, the date…” Terra said softly, not even pretending to be excited unlike prior.
Serene let out a hum, waving goodbye as she got her things. “But I should get going now, Mortis is really impatient.”
Terra let out a dry, low chuckle. Much more venom than previously. “Yeah, he’s really full of flaws, isn’t he?”
Serene let out a sigh. “I’ll… make sure he’s not present for our date.”
Terra let out a sigh. “... Thanks. I’ve got… important business, so I gotta go. See ya, ‘Selena’.”
Serene let out a small giggle. “Bye, Terra.” She thought about opening her arms for a hug, or kissing the back of his hand. She should… but that would be inappropriate, wouldn’t it? They hadn’t even gone on one date yet, afterall. But isn’t that what they do in the books?
She blinked, and realised that Terra had already hurried back out. She cleared her throat, gathering her things before walking back out the front door. “So what did you find?” Serene asked softly, holding the phone up to her ear.
“Oh, I know the licence plate for his limo now,” Mortis said with a small cackle. “Richard, we’re one step closer to catching you, you little w-... uh, you little traitor…”
Serene let out a hum. “Okay, that’s good.”
Silence.
“Aren’t you going to ask how my night went?”
Mortis let out a small huff. “What’s there to ask? You clearly had googly eyes for that little twig.”
Nevermind. “I’ll just… go home, then.”
---
Terra made his way back to his family, about to speak.
“Where did you leave in such a hurry!” Amanda yelled out off the bat, glaring at him with fury.
Terra cleared his throat. “I met Serene just below, I was just checking if she was involved!”
“You should’ve called the cops if you knew she was in there!”
“Actually,” Terra spoke up. “I don’t think she’s involved, because Mortis had threatened all of our lives if I told her anything, so she really does have no idea.”
“Did you tell her?”
“Fuck no!” Terra called out.
“Coward.”
“Cowa- what can I do about a murderous ghost, mom?!”
“Don’t let him walk all over you!”
“Don’t dodge the question! Tell me! What can I do?!”
“SHUT UP!” Aura cried out, fur stained with tears by now. “Both of you, just shut up!”
Amanda zipped up, glaring right at Terra.
Terra, however, let out a heavy sigh. “... Sorry.”
Aura let out a sigh. “I… I don’t want to think about it anymore.”
Damion nodded. “I think the best thing we can do is to take some time off.”
“Time off?” Amanda called out. “We need to keep the store running for some cash.”
Damion glared right at her. “Really? We’re all on edge and you think the best thing to do is to keep the pressure of work on us?”
Amanda let out a sigh, slumping back into her seat. “... Yes, you’re right, my Darling Damion. I’ll close the restaurant for a week.”
Damion walked up towards Amanda, gently hugging her while she’s in her seat. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now. You all are.”
For some reason, Terra certainly didn’t feel safe, despite his father’s reassurance.
Not when he was in a psychotic ghost’s sights.
And Serene.
She had no idea what she was going to go through.
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