"What in Earth are you doing?"

I heard my friend Glitch whined once again. I turned around from my deck and saw what he was whining about. Sheesh, is that even a pentagon? Looks like a square or something. Maybe even a cube. Is this Minecraft?

Leo closed the salt pentagon and looked at him. "I'm just gonna summon Astaroth you twat."

"Who the — why do you even believe in these sh*ts? What a waste of salt," Glitch said. He crossed his arms and huffed. Well, he seemed pretty salty about it.

Leo shrugged. "Ry always go to Walmart during Sundays."

"Does Walmart even have salt? And does it always have to be Walmart? Give other malls some spotlight."

"Walmart has everything dumbo. I don't know about Waltermart though."

"Just use Lazada. Heard it has a 6th birthday thingy this year."

"Lazada has a birthday sale!" Leo whispered to him.

Glitch chuckled loudly. "Stop advertising or I'm gonna kick you and your bitchery."

Leo shrugged again and took out a pocket book from his pocket (because it's a pocket book, get it?) and looked at whatever thing he wrote to chant. Then he put it back to his pocket and turned his attention towards the candles. He ignited the end of the thick candles and held it sidewards. He's gonna mess up Glitch's floor!

"Neiiin!"

Glitch flew from the couch towards Leo. Leo was thrown aback and the pentagon he created was ruined.

I laughed. "You guys... are weird."

Leo death-glared at me. "That's my line!"

"And that's my death glare!" I chimed and gave him a perfect death glare. This is fun.

"Anyways, use holy papers for the candles or maybe just clean the floor later after your ritual didn't work," Glitch said and ran towards the bathroom. "I'mma take a pishh."

"Fix my pentagon!"

"No!" Glitch shouted and slammed the bathroom door shut.

Leo went on with fixing his ritual place. I looked at Izzie who's typing on her computer. I stared at her face, and moments later, her eyebrows furrowed.

"What?"

"I heard a loud fart."

My eyebrows furrowed. There's no sound. Maybe it's just her premonition again. "Maybe it's just premonition."

"Mayb— "

Then a loud fart echoed throughout the sala. My eyebrows furrowed more.

"That's exactly what I heard."

"Holy sh— why aren't there tissues? And where the hell is the dipper?!"

Then we bursted out laughing.

"Leo!"

"What?" Leo shouted without turning his head to the bathroom.

"Gimme some of your holy papers!"

"All used up, Glitchy boy!"

"Holy— where's the dipper?!"

"I think you left it on the porch when you ate some riped mangoes."

"Get it!"

"Your problem, your fault."

"No, you! Please!"

"Fine."

Leo went out of the house. I proceeded on laughing. "Glitch, you okay?"

"Naomi, stop laughing or I'll torture you with a Lord of the Beans poster!"

My eyes widened. The thought of the poster already makes me snap. I continued laughing and next thing I knew, I was snorting and having a hiccup. Leo went to the bathroom and knocked, then he gave Glitch the dipper and proceeded to fixing his ritual.

After a while, Glitch finally went out of the bathroom, sweat dripping hardly.

"You all should be kicked out of my house. But since I don't rig, I'm not gonna do it," he said and went to his room.

I focused myself on my phone but I just noticed it was dead. I sighed and slide it towards Izzie.

"Please plug it in . . ."

"Sure." Izzie plugged my phone on the charger, then she proceeded on her laptop. After a while of sighing out of boredom, my attention drifted to Izzie when she gestured for me to come to her. What's wrong with her?

"Naomi! Look!"

Then she pointed towards her screen. I looked at it and saw that it was a picture of a guy without his clothes so his muscles was revealed. My face scrunched up and look at the site. Wait, she's actually using Tinder?!

"Meet him up." She looked at me and smiled. "Meet him up."

"No . . . that's just chatting. I want to meet him in a romantic way. Something like the good girl bumps the werewolf or some crazy dragons blood, like when a guy almost bumps a girl with his car and then they meet again and — "

My train of thoughts were interrupted when Izzie waved at my eyes.

"Meet him or be single," Izzie said. I looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. "Like ever."

I told her no in an elongated way.

She raised an eyebrow and grinned. I saw the Devil in her eyes. "Oohh . . . I can hear you crying for love at 60."

My eyebrows furrowed and I giggled. "You're lying."

"'Oh, Izzie, why didn't I hear you out when I was 20,'" she said in an old woman's voice.

"You're totally lying . . . "

"'I wish I met this guy when she sold me out to him~'"

"Wait, you sold me out to him?"

Then she laughed. I pinched her nose and watched her suffer. It was heaven.

"Guys! Quiet. Ritual's starting," Leo shushed at us.

"Shore."

Then he sat at the middle of the pentagon. It was dark, as if it was a Ouija movie or something. Then he proceeded on chanting while he was in a meditation stance.

"Mekeni, mekeni, dug dug do re mi expecto po privilegeprivildge— "

Jk

He said some incomprehensible words, probably Latin. It grew louder and louder until Izzie's phone rang.

I looked at it and it was in voice recognition.

"I couldn't hear that, please speak it again."

My eyebrows furrowed. Izzie looked at me.

"Maybe the ritual does weird things?"

Izzie exited out of Google then placed it at the side of her laptop.

Leo kept on saying things. It was something like, "O-kai Ghu-gel"

Wait, is he saying Okay, Google?

Then Izzie's phone went to Google again. And then Leo bursted out laughing.

Izzie looked at him. "I should probably turn off voice recognition."

I nodded at her.

"Anyways, meet that guy."

"I'm gonna try. But if he doesn't like me, I'm not gonna be saying sorrey aboot dat."

"Eh?" she finished.

***

I adjusted my breast paddings for umpteenth time without anyone watching me. How did Izzie even fit 3 XL paddings on my chest? God, my breasts are average and I didn't want to be some Nicki Minaj or Kardashians shizzles.

I glanced at my watch. My date is late. For 30 minutes.

I sighed in frustration, crossing my arms in the table and burying my face. This was the tenth time (or was it eleventh) that I had a late date and every date I had with the guy early or just-in-time was a mess. Like flying forks and live octopuses, still bloody chickens and spoiled scallops (and still live ones). We blamed it on the restaurant always but he always ends up saying, "This is the weirdest date I've ever had. Maybe it's just you." Then the date either leaves abruptly after saying he paid for the date or dump me after he walks me to Glitch's house.

I heard the chair in front of me creak. I rolled my eyes and huffed, then I raised my head.

This . . . is my date?

A guy with the weirdest costume/outfit for a date was in front of me. He's dressed in a battlesuit . . . like in WWII or something. He lifts his head higher at the left (like he was tilting his head) and his teeth that was revealed after he smiled were soiled.

Wait . . . is he a ghost?

I raised an eyebrow and flattened my lips then snorted.

"Hi," the ghost greeted.

"My date didn't come. I'm gonna go now. . . ."

Then I whistled and rubbed my stomach. The wine I drank the waiter gave was a mess.

"Hey . . . Naomi."

I stopped at my tracks and bit my lip. I had goosebumps. Gulping gargoyles . . .

"Hey . . . Please help . . ."

I kept on walking. The cold wind swooshing crept on my skin and everything felt so frightening. My eyes were suddenly droopy, but I kept on walking. Maybe it's the whine.

But then, everything went crimson and people started to blur as I saw a white, translucent gas crept behind them, leaving a short trail. But the short trail that was normally just at the back of them — since I've been here before — plummeted to the ground, then they swirled and started to form a chain. There was something beneath that I couldn't see, and when I looked at me I could see my trail in a form of a chain that's connected to the ground too.

Seven Heavens . . .

Everything then turned to normal. I could see myself in a familiar room . . . my room. And there was the ghost on the couch, and Ry was sleeping on the side.

"Lots of friends."

I sat up on my bed and faced him.

"What do you want?" I shouted at him.

"Need help."

"What?! No . . . I don't like."

"Malicious."

"What do you mean?"

"Chains. Burn. Fire."

I sighed and shook my head. "Also why did you used my body?! You should've asked me for it."

"You won't 'gree."

"I should sue you."

"I know."

"Anyways, I wouldn't do it. It's your problem, just go away and find another girl."

"Don't 'derstand."

"I do," I said. "Now leave."

Then he vanished.

I sighed and went out of my room. I saw Izzie looking at me with eyelids narrowed. Then she grinned. Something's up. "Did you just pulled out a Romeo and hard-to-get Juliet?"

I raised an eyebrow and headed towards the kitchen. "What do you mean?" I opened the fridge for cold water and poured some on a glass.

She gestured her hand into two opposite quotation marks. "Why did you use my body?" she asked, imitating my voice. "You should've asked me for it."

I almost choked on my water. I coughed and spit it out on the sink then I looked at her. "Izzie . . . you don't understand."

"Oh really? 'Anyways, I wouldn't do it. Just find another girl.'"

"And what do you think?"

"Did he ask you to do it?"

"What it?"

"You know, there's a thing about guys and girls and dates and beds and se—"

"I'm home!" I looked at Leo who's just came in the house. "Is there some illegal girl talk happening here?"

Izzie looked at him. "No, just pillow talks."

Leo glared at her, then he looked at me. "Don't listen to your friend."

"That's right, don't listen to Leo."

"Izzie!" Leo called her out.

Izzie looked at him. "Whaaaaaat?"

"She's too innocent. She's the only innocent human in the world above six so let's please keep it as such."

Izzie sighed and sat on her deck. Leo sat at the couch and watched some shows at the T.V.

"And here I was not knowing what you guys are talking about."

"You shouldn't knew either way," Leo said.

"O."

Then someone knocked on the door. I opened the door and saw Glitch with an . . . unfamiliar girl. OoooOOOOOHHHHHH!

"Hey, Naomi. Oh, by the way. This is . . ."

The girl lend out her hand, cutting off Glitch. "Hi, I'm Salix, nice to meet you."

I smiled at her and shook her hand. "Naomi."

"Yeah, he just mentioned a while ago."

"Nice."

"Default response."

"O."

Then she smiled.

"Um . . . Naomi . . ."

Glitch glanced as if I was blocking the doorway. Wait, I am blocking the door way. I apologized and let them in.

I heard Salix greeting everyone as I closed the door. Ry came out of the girl's room and greeted her as well. Then we all ate dinner at the same time, with Leo eating at the couch because he didn't want to miss his favorite K-dramas and his favorite Korean pop idols.

After eating, I watched the dishes. But what I didn't know was that it wouldn't just be a normal dishwashing session.

Everything turned crimson again and I was everyone's faces blurring. I saw their white gases connected to the ground. The floor opened up, revealing a very bright place. It was the flaming sea of Hell!

"Naomi!"

"Naomi!"

"Help us!"

"Ahhh!"

I felt my hand released something as I walked down the cliff. I could see every white chain connect down to the sea of fire. I looked down to see helpless souls mutter every single word of mischief, and I could feel their helplessness, there unheard repents, there blasphemous cries, their sacrilegious bawls for help and repent but nothing happened to them but just be burned eternally in the Sea of Fire. They didn't die, and just now I could feel the heat of the magma-like thing. Then deep down, rising up the Sea of Fire was a demon with fish-like hind and seven horns. He laughed evilly, dark sonic flares (GOTTA GO FAST DUDUDUDUDUDUUDUDUDUDDUUDU) throughout my eardrums. Then he climbed a little from the Sea using the chains that signifies the souls of every human.

"Naomi . . . interfere."

"No!"

"Naomi . . . help us!"

"No!"

"Naomi!"

The evilness and blaspheme siren's song kept on echoing throughout my ears. I drowned his voice but it felt like they echoed forever. My chest felt tight and my hands had lava in them.

I looked everywhere and I saw that I was drowning in the Sea of Fire. I couldn't feel my body, and then my throat burned.

"No . . . No, no, no. No!"

Someone sang to my ears, "Will I get on YIAY today?"

"No!"

"Naomi! Psst!"

"No!"

Then someone shook me awake.

I forgot it was a dream. I was carried away with everything that happened that I forgot it was just a dream. Or somehow . . . a medium.

I opened my eyes, looking at whatever happened. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

And then I realized something. Glitch laid on the floor, blood oozing from his neck and Salix was screaming at the top of her lungs while staring at her hands, thick blood droopping from it. Leo called an ambulance while he placed a gauze on Salix's hand and Ry was standing still, shocked. Izzie held me on my shoulders.

"What happened?" I asked, panting.

Izzie shook her head slowly. "What have you done?"

"Is . . . is this my fault?"

"You stabbed us."

Then I saw her eyelids flinch, and she laid down, hands on her stomach. I could see a shattered piece of glass platter hacked om her stomach. Blood was shooting out from it as she took out the platter.

"Oh, my God!"

I immediately went to the kitchen and opened a cabinet. I took out the medical kit placed it beside her. As I pulled out a cardigan, I saw her eyes close.

"No!"

I folded the cardigan immediately and tied it on her stomach, then I pulled the cardigan so it tightened. Then I placed a cloth on her wound and placed pressure on it.

"Izzie! No! Izzie!"

***

After some hours, they took us to the ambulance. My hands were mutilated badly. The nurses assisted me, cleaned the wound and placed a gauze on my palm.

I immediately went to Ry after they let me free.

"Ry . . . what happened?"

Ry turned her head to me slowly. I saw fear deep in her eyes, and her cheeks quivered.

"I . . . I saw hell."

My eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I saw you drowning in the sea of flames."

"That's . . . what I saw."

"I pulled you out, but then a demon merman held my hand after you ran away. He told me something."

I looked at the gauze, blood started to form on it. "What?"

"He said . . ." Ry trailed off.

I looked at her. Suddenly, her eyes changed from hazel to bright red, like I was staring in fire. She grinned, her teeth suddenly sharpening. I stared at her Caucasian complexity as it turned incarnadine, something like her flesh was exposed. Her body smoked, and I could smell the unusual smell of burnt flesh and matches. I stared at the cross on the door as it turned upside down. I looked at Leo who's sleeping, head down.

Then I looked at Ry again. Her legs had fins, as if she became a fish.

"R-Ry?"

"'You are mine.'"

Her voice was as deep as the depths of the Sea of Fire transparently seen through her eyes.

The next thing I knew, my throat burned literally and figuratively and my lungs struggled for air. I tried to push her away, but whenever I held her, my palms burned.

Everything turned crimson. Everyone's faces blurred as I saw there white trails connect towards the demon's back.

His laugh echoed throughout the hospital and everything was turning black.

And then it did.

Almost.

I felt his grip loosened as I heard a deafening, blasphemous scream. I fell from my seat and saw Andrew screaming as he stared at his non-existing hands.

I stood up and held his arms. "We need to get out."

"My hands vanished."

"You could speak fully," I said as we ran towards the elevator. "And yes they did. The demon is burning."

(Don't they always burn in hell, though)

"We're in the medium," he replied. "It's easier to talk here. Come on downstairs!"

"Aren't we using the elevator?"

"Elevators are unlucky. They take you to the basement when you want to go to the rooftop. Enough of talking."

"Touché."

Then we ran downstairs. I didn't know what's happening. Everything's so confusing. We're suddenly in the medium, and we're chased by a demon.

"Wait, I have a better idea," he said, then he wrapped his forearms around me..

"You're hugging me."

"Let's go to your house."

"But you're hugging me."

"I know! Now, say 'Magdøn!'"

"What?"

"It's Norwegian with a Norwegian looking o! Just say it!"

"Magdøn!" I said, then everything went slurry for a moment. Next thing I knew, I was in the house, but the walls were colored crimson and everything was colored crimson.

"We could teleport!"

"Yeah," he replied without any excitement. What the heck! We just . . . teleported . . . and he wasn't even static?

"The medium is fun. We could teleport," I told him, ignoring the fact that he knows because I'm sarcastic. "Yay . . . ?"

"Well, we could get lost too. And we're lost now."

We we're in a corridor filled with doors with different colors. I was holding a lamp, but I could see clearly.

"Where are we?" he said.

"Corridor."

"Dude, what."

"O."

I walked and he held on to my arm. I tried to open a door, but the knob was hot.

"Gulping gargoyles!"

"Let's move."

I went to the other door in front of it. It was half my size so I needed to kneel down before I could open it. I went inside and the ghost went in too by creeping. I saw that there were pictures my old friends that we called the Endventurers and a big grandfather's clock. This clock. I remember it.

"This clock is my grandma's . . ."

I touched it and felt every memories come to me.

"No! Don't touch the cock— I mean, clo—"

And then I felt dizzy and then I felt the floor.

I walked at the darkness. I couldn't see anything. I tried to do so, but it was difficult. It was pitch black.

I tried to stand up but then my head hit the ceiling. I touched it. It was hard, jagged. And then a splinter. The ceiling was wooden.

I sipped on my index finger and spat, and then I saw a light. I ran towards the light, but then I saw that it wasn't just a normal light.

It was me when I was thirteen.

The little me went inside a van with different blurred faces. They were laughing, but I couldn't hear anything. I went inside.

And then the van started to move. People were laughing and chatting but I couldn't hear anything. Just white noise.

Then the van felt like it flew, and then I saw that the van crashed in a valley red as blood. The little me cried as she held the different people on her arms one by one.

"I remember this."

And then the little me looked at me. I could read from her lips that she was muttering a 'help me.' I walked towards her.

"Talk."

"Help my friends, please!"

"I'm so sorry. Naomi. But you should be strong. Keep holding on."

Then everything went black and slurry again, and I saw myself looking at me, eyes as blank as the clouds. I recalled this memory. The trees, the fiery sculpted words of Flames Will Rise.

"It's up to you to decide what to do. Be strong, little me. Believe in it."

And then I felt the burning touch of the demon held me as I vanished with the demon, the light turning fainter and fainter and I muttered my last words.

"Believe in me."

***

"Naomi, wake up!"

The sudden gush of adrenaline shook me and left a sore on my back. I opened my eyes and yawned. I saw Leo.

"W-what happened?!"

"There was a weird message that I got from Kik in like 2017."

"What? What day is it?"

"It's Sunday. Ry just went to Walmart and I was just gonna make this Astaroth summoning thing but then I had a message."

He held his phone in front of me, revealing an old app we still used. There was a message . . . from CanadaNaomi.

"That's my old username . . ."

"I know!"

I read the message.

"This may be a hoax or just pure imagination, but this is Naomi from 2017. To Naomi, please believe him . . . whatever him was or if you ever exist or if this isn't madness. Thank."

My eyebrows furrowed. What do I mean by it?

The message kept on bothering me until all I thought about was my late date. I buried my face in my arms. I was just thinking of my last dates when I heard the chair in front of me creak. I raised my head and snorted when I saw who it was.

"Hi," the ghost in a battlesuit said.

"My date didn't come . . . I'm gonna go now."

"Naomi . . . Help."

I turned around and saw him again. Chills ran down my spine. "How did you know my name . . . ?"

His face lit up. I raised an eyebrow. "I know you."

"How?"

"We've met . . ."

"I don't know you. . . . Sorry."

Then I walked out of the restaurant. I saw him walked beside me so I sighed. Why is he following me?

"Why are you following me?"

"Me. Want. Show."

"What do you want to show?"

"Vessel. You." Then he stopped talking. "Can I?"

"Sure."

Then everything went crimson. I saw him again. "Something will happen tonight. And if you don't help me, everything will perish. Except when something happened that will make everything happen once again."

"You could speak fully here."

"It's difficult to talk in the real world, anyways, that happens. Everyone's souls are sucked to hell to form a chain."

I saw everyone's blurred faces, and a white gas which is their soul behind them sank to the ground, forming a chain.

"The chains," I heard myself mutter.

"The chains," ghost guy said, then he waved his hand. It projected the Sea of Flames with all of the chains sinking at the middle. "All of them burn in the fire."

"Chains. Burn. Fire."

He looked at me, then he smiled. "Yes."

"So, what's at the middle?"

"At the middle is where a demonic siren lives. Since it couldn't come up, it needs the chains to carry itself to Earth and spread evilness. It's name is . . . "

"Malicious," I said. "Now I remember."

"Really?"

"Yes. Now everything makes sense."

Then everything went to normal. It appeared that I was in my room. Ry was sleeping on the other bed like how it was in the other timeline.

I saw ghost guy on the couch. "Now, help me."

I nodded. "I'll help you with that."

"Finally, after many tries."

"How long is it?"

"I forgot."

"Wow."

Then we went out of the room, ghost guy walking beside me. I went to the kitchen and opened the fridge when . . .

"Did you just pulled a Romeo and easy-to-get Juliet?"

I looked at Izzie while taking out the cold water. "What do you mean?"

She smiled, then she gestured at quotation marks. "'I'll help you with that.'" She imitated the lenny like this ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

"Izzie . . . you don't understand."

"Oh, really?" she looked at me with a doubt. "'How long is it?'"

"And what do you think?"

"Did he ask you to do it?" she said, then she walked closer to me.

"What it?"

"You know, there's a thing about guys and girls and dates and beds and se—"

"I'm home!" I looked at Leo who's just came in the house. "Is there some illegal girl talk happening here?"

Izzie looked at him. "No, just pillow talks."

Leo glared at her, then he looked at me. "Don't listen to your friend."

"That's right, don't listen to Leo."

"Izzie!" Leo called her out.

Izzie looked at him. "Whaaaaaat?"

"She's too innocent. She's the only innocent human in the world above six so let's please keep it as such."

Izzie sighed and sat on her deck. Leo sat at the couch and watched some shows at the T.V.

"And here I am not knowing what you guys are talking about."

"You shouldn't know either way," Leo said.

"O," I exclaimed. "By the way, do you have any ritual papers and salt?" I asked him. Andrew went behind me, as if something's up.

"Yeah . . . why?" he asked, pulling out a bag of chips and tearing the lid.

"We'll need them later."

"Lucky I didn't do the Astaroth ritual," he said then pressed the remote and ate some chips.

Then someone knocked on the door. I opened it and saw a familiar face. I smiled at her, and she looked confused at first but then she smiled.

"Hi, Naomi. By the way, this is—"

"Salix."

Salix looked confused, eyebrows arching upwards. "How?"

I smiled and let them in.

"How did you know her?" Glitch whispered when Salix introduced herself to everyone, Ry included when she went out of the room.

"I meet her."

"You met her?"

"Meet."

"Grammar Nazi spotted," Glitch commented as he raised his right arm like an actual Nazi. "Heil Hydra."

"It's meet. Don't fight it."

"I will."

Then we ate dinner. Ghost guy was behind me all along, and maybe that's why Salix looked at me so weirdly. She could see ghosts.

After eating, I left the dishes on the sink. This is the time.

"It's time," Ghost guy said.

I almost said 'Todd! It's time!' but that would be a crazy reference to something.

"Naomi, wash the dishes." Glitch smiled. I smiled back, but I took out the salt bag instead and walked to the ritual corner.

"Leo, can you please help me with this?" I asked. Leo looked at me, smiled, then nodded.

We made a pentagon. Ghost guy went away from the pentagon of salt and the ritual papers filled with different language that I couldn't read. Probably Latin or even Norwegian.

He placed the ritual papers at the sides of the pentagon and lit candles and placed them on the ritual paper. I took a bottle of holy water and placed it in my pocket.

He sat down at the middle, then he muttered different languages. Salix sat down outside the pentagon and her eyes screamed terrific. I saw shadows of different sizes and shapes and forms on the walls. Izzie looked at me and sat down beside me.

"I could hear whispers. Whispers, cries, bawls, blasphemous chants," she said. "This is demonic."

"I know."

"Naomi . . ." I heard Ghost guy whisper some where. "It's time. Bye."

I closed my eyes. "When can I see you again?"

"You can't."

That was not the voice of Ghost guy.

I opened my eyes and saw it. Malicious.

"Holy sh*t!" I heard Leo curse. "What is that?!"

"Don't stop the ritual, Leo. We can't lose this again."

He continued the chantings.

"You can't do anything, Naomi. His chants do't work. And whatever happens, everything goes back at exactly 7:06 until I win."

I looked at him. Gulping gargoyles. If everything happens again and again, then that would be a complete loop. Everything will become a paradox and everyone will suffer from existential crises--- jUsT mOnIkA.

Okay, maybe not that far.

I looked at Ry. "Ry . . ."

"The future's a blank."

I gulped. If the future a blank, then maybe we can't really do anything. Or maybe it's a literal blank.

A thought came into my mind. I took out the holy water and sprayed it to the devil. It screamed, menacing voice so loud that it shattered almost all glass. I covered my ears and closed my eyes.

Then the deafening scream was distorted, so I opened my eyes and crimson colors appeared in front of me. My friends were blurred and no Ghost guy was there to help me.

I stood up and ran to the corridors. The hot knob was still there, so I opened it quickly. A figure with a noticable, bulging chest was there, dressed in a cloak. The cloak and the darkness was enough to blur out her face and the color of her cloak.

"Um . . . hello?"

The woman looked at me, but her face was pure darkness. "Great granddaughter . . ."

Great granddaughter? Who calls me like that? I don't know.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Make one wish and your wish will be granted."

Suddenly, her hand appeared to have a scythe. A wish? Well, if I wanted to make a wish if it's a normal day, that would be to have a partner.

But it wasn't just a normal day. An evil being has the figurative Infinity Gauntlet, meaning that everything's in jeopardy. 

Her scythe glowed as if light beamed on it. Her cloak turned out to be colored purple and her face was not old enough, much like she was 20 years old.

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing Malicious. "You are mine."

"Make a wish."

So I made a wish and whispered it to the woman who called me her great grandchild.

Then everything turned white.

***

My alarm clock rang that gave me a sudden rush of adrenaline.

"Ugh . . . stup— I mean belching vultures."

I tried to close my eyes, but the alarm clock kept on alarming me. I opened my eyes and saw Ry on the other bed with a pillow on her ear. I guess she was awoken too.

I looked at the alarm clock.

7:09 AM

I slammed my alarm clock and almost threw it but I remembered how much it costed so I kept it there. Why do I even have an alarm clock at summer? I feel like I should give this alarm clock to Rebel.

I turned it off and jumped out of bed. I went out the room to wash my face, then I sat down at my deck and ate a sandwich.

"What in Earth are you doing?"

I heard my friend Glitch whined once again. I turned around from my deck and saw what he was whining about. Sheesh, is that even a pentagon? Looks like a square or something. Maybe even a cube. Is this Minecraft?

Leo closed the salt pentagon and looked at him. "I'm just gonna summon Astaroth you twat."

"Who the — why do you even believe in these sh*ts? What a waste of salt," Glitch said. He crossed his arms and huffed. Well, he seemed pretty salty about it.

Leo shrugged. "Ry always go to Walmart during Sundays."

"Does Walmart even have salt? And does it always have to be Walmart? Give the other malls some spotlight."

"Walmart has everything dumbo. I don't know about Waltermart, though."

"Just use Lazada. Heard it has a 6th birthday thingy this year."

"Lazada has a birthday sale!" Leo whispered to him.

Glitch chuckled loudly. "Stop advertising or I'm gonna kick you and your bitchery."

Leo shrugged again and took out a pocket book from his pocket (because it's a pocket book, get it?) and looked at whatever thing he wrote to chant. Then he put it back to his pocket and turned his attention towards the candles. He ignited the end of the thick candles and held it sidewards. He's gonna mess up Glitch's floor!

"Neiiin!"

Glitch flew from the couch towards Leo. Leo was thrown aback and the pentagon he created was ruined.

I laughed. "You guys... are weird."

Leo death-glared at me. "That's my line!"

"And that's my death glare!" I chimed and gave him a perfect death glare. This is fun.

"Anyways, use holy papers for the candles or maybe just clean the floor later after your ritual didn't work," Glitch said and ran towards the bathroom. "I'mma take a pishh."

"Fix my pentagon!"

"No!" Glitch shouted and slammed the bathroom door shut.

Leo went on with fixing his ritual place. I looked at Izzie who's typing on her computer. I stared at her face, and moments later, her eyebrows furrowed.

"What?"

"I heard a loud fart."

My eyebrows furrowed. There's no sound. Maybe it's just her premonition again. "Maybe it's just premonition."

"Mayb— "

Then a loud fart echoed throughout the living room. My eyebrows furrowed more.

"That's exactly what I heard."

"Holy sh— why aren't there tissues? And where the hell is the dipper?!"

Then we bursted out laughing.

"Leo!"

"What?" Leo shouted without turning his head to the bathroom.

"Gimme some of your holy papers!"

"All used up, Glitchy boy!"

"Holy— where's the dipper?!"

"I think you left it on the porch when you ate some riped mangoes."

"Get it!"

"Your problem, your fault."

"No, you! Please!"

"Fine."

Leo went out of the house. I proceeded on laughing. "Glitch, you okay?"

"Naomi, stop laughing or I'll torture you with a Lord of the Beans poster!"

My eyes widened. The thought of the poster already makes me snap. I continued laughing and next thing I knew, I was snorting and having a hiccup. Leo went to the bathroom and knocked, then he gave Glitch the dipper and proceeded to fixing his ritual.

After a while, Glitch finally went out of the bathroom, sweat dripping hardly.

"You all should be kicked out from my house. But since I don't rig, I'm not gonna do it," he said and went to his room.

I focused myself on my phone but I just noticed it was dead. I sighed and slide it towards Izzie.

"Please plug it in . . ."

"Sure." Izzie plugged my phone on the charger, then she proceeded on her laptop. After a while of sighing out of boredom, my attention drifted to Izzie when she gestured for me to come to her. What's wrong with her?

"Naomi! Look!"

Then she pointed towards her screen. I looked at it and saw that it was a picture of a guy without his clothes so his muscles was revealed. My face scrunched up and look at the site. Wait, she's actually using Tinder?!

"Meet him up." She looked at me and smiled. "Meet him up."

"No . . . that's just chatting. I want to meet him in a romantic way. Something like the good girl bumps the werewolf or some crazy dragons blood, like when a guy almost bumps a girl with his car and then they meet again and — "

My train of thoughts were interrupted when Izzie waved at my eyes.

"Meet him or be single," Izzie said. I looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. "Like ever."

I told her no in an elongated way.

She raised an eyebrow and grinned. I saw the Devil in her eyes. "Oohh . . . I can hear you crying for love at 60."

My eyebrows furrowed and I giggled. "You're lying."

"'Oh, Izzie, why didn't I hear you out when I was 20,'" she said in an old woman's voice.

"You're totally lying . . . "

"'I wish I met this guy when she sold me out to him~'"

"Wait, you sold me out to him?"

Then she laughed. I pinched her nose and watched her suffer. It was heaven.

"Guys! Quiet. Ritual's starting," Leo shushed at us.

"Shore."

Then he sat at the middle of the pentagon. It was dark, as if it was a Ouija movie or something. Then he proceeded on chanting while he was in a meditation stance.

"Mekeni, mekeni, dug dug do re mi expecto po privilegeprivildge— "

Jk

He said some incomprehensible words, probably Latin. It grew louder and louder until Izzie's phone rang.

I looked at it and it was in voice recognition.

"I couldn't hear that, please speak it again."

My eyebrows furrowed. Izzie looked at me.

"Maybe the ritual does weird things?"

Izzie exited out of Google then placed it at the side of her laptop.

Leo kept on saying things. It was something like, "O-kai Ghu-gel"

Wait, is he saying Okay, Google?

Then Izzie's phone went to Google again. And then Leo bursted out laughing.

Izzie looked at him. "I should probably turn off voice recognition."

I nodded at her.

"Anyways, meet that guy."

"I'm gonna try. But if he doesn't like me, I'm not gonna be saying sorrey aboot dat."

"Eh?" she finished.

***

I adjusted my breast paddings for umpteenth time without anyone watching me. How did Izzie even fit 3 XL paddings on my chest? God, my breasts are average and I didn't want to be some Nicki Minaj or Kardashians shizzles.

I glanced at my watch. My date is late. For 30 minutes.

I sighed in frustration, crossing my arms in the table and burying my face. This was the tenth time (or was it eleventh) that I had a late date and every date I had with the guy early or just-in-time was a mess. Like flying forks and live octopuses, still bloody chickens and spoiled scallops (and still live ones). We blamed it on the restaurant always but he always ends up saying, "This is the weirdest date I've ever had. Maybe it's just you." Then the date either leaves abruptly after saying he paid for the date or dump me after he walks me to Glitch's house.

I heard the chair in front of me creak. I rolled my eyes and huffed, then I raised my head.

His smile was the first thing I noticed. His face and posture was familiar, but unlike back then, he was shining right now when the setting sun hit him.

This . . . is my date.

"You're late . . ." I said.

"And you look weird."

"You spoke four syllables. Wow."

"That's because I am alive. Now we can talk properly," he said, then he sat down the chair in front of me. "Now, tell me. What happened? And how did you do it?"

"A woman granted me a wish, then everything went white and then this. How about you? I thought I'll never see you again, Ghost guy."

"Well, the demon held all souls captive. And then he came to the medium to come and kill you and take you."

"Wow, he has dedication in ruining my mission."

"I know. I was worried."

I smiled. Then the waiter came and asked us our order, which didn't take that long to come. We ate after it came. After we ate, I drank my water and stared at him. Outside a soiled battlesuit, Ghost guy looked better.

"I am delighted with your future ahead with whatever that guy's name."

I looked behind me and I saw Ry smiling. She waved a bye at me and sat down at another table far from us where a guy I don't recognize sits. Wait, so she really doesn't go to Walmart? Or maybe she does, but she dates him first during Sundays.

I looked at Andrew. "What's your name?" I asked.

He looked at me, then he smiled. "My name is Andrew."

"It's nice to meet you, Andrew."

"And it's nice to meet you, Naomi."

~¤~

Leo's author notes are in bold. Mine is in italics.

Fook— I mean, wow. I just wrote all of that.

You mean copy-pasted those scenes lmfao

Fun facts:

• The corridors thing was a reference to Doors to Your Mind ritual which is available in reddit btw.

• I was gonna insert Poke as his prize in Glitch's Temple but found out it was too late when I thought of that.

Smh now I have extra work to do

• The chant before i broke the fourth wall was a reference to a Philippine historical-fantasy drama series' chant.

And I added expecto po privilegeprivildge as a reference to Mini Ladd lmao

• The three-by-three syllable speaking of Andrew was because of the fact that ghosts really need power to produce something in the real world.

• The teleport thing was an addition to how the medium was boundless. Anything you think or say can affect how it works.

• The Sea of Fire was actually hell in other terms.

• Naomi's last curse 'belching vultures' was made by me. All other creative curses was made by her.

• I didn't make it scary but confusing and adventurous rather because it's paranormal. It's not the normal 'hey i found a ghost lets investigate it and we'll end up scarred for life' thing but a mix of three timelines. The first one was when Naomi alerted her old self using her dreams. The second was her old one's timeline connecting to the repeated first timeline which was broken when Leo saw the text and read it to Naomi. That makes it the third timeline.

• There are three dimensions. The normal one, the medium (in crimson descriptions) and the dream/astral dimension (the pitch black)

And yes, Naomi suffering in hell at the first timeline was then figuratively described when she just figured out she stabbed her friends. As seen in the dream, she hates being not able to do anything when her friends are in trouble. So yeah, I just did that.

Also, the dreams are references to real convos with the real Naomi. Hehehehehehehe.

Also also One Wish (Venn) and #Andomi.

Also also also 6837 words in draft version.

Now 7502 words.

More fun facts from Glitch:

Like about a week or so earlier, I know I needed to do another short story for Naomi's birthday. Since I did this with Saving Crystals, I might as well do it again for her.

But this time, I asked Ry, Salix, and Leo to help out. They all agreed.

But like only Leo and I actually wrote lmao

Leo did like 99% of the work tho lmao I just added references

But still they did help out with planning some stuffs.

We decided to do paranormal because we wanted to do a short story which genre we never tried before. We didn't try paranormal yet so we went with that.

The psychic thing came up after I suggested the genre. Ry did provide some infos aboot dat by like stating the four main types of psychic people which probably helped with the planning of the plot.

Speaking of plot, Leo planned all of it lmao I didn't even help

Why is this even on Glitch's Short Stories idfk

Also speaking of references, Magdøn is another reference to Mini Ladd.

And I'm pretty sure you can see some of the references from Avengers and Doki Doki Literature Club.

Also I wanted to replace Latin with Norwegian because I felt like it.

Anyways, happy birthday CanadaNaomi!

^ yeah even though it's still May 1 at her timezone but who tf cares

Also special thanks to RCatFire77, SalixEnder03, and huge thanks to TheSilentKiller- for writing this when I couldn't!

That's all, thank you.

VOTE AND COMMENT AND FOLLOW!

Hey you're stealing my end card!

^Leo

Well then

That's it from me, everyone!

_Glitch