Adja wasn't embarrassed by Léon's presence on the passenger seat, and she was perfectly aware that it wasn't normal. She should have thought that spending her time with a stranger in the middle of a forest, in an abandoned house where no one would save her if he assaulted her. The only one occupying her mind was Sylvana Dormeaux. She couldn't help imagining her in an armchair, doing... what, exactly? What did young women do in the 1880s to have fun? Knitting, crocheting, drawing, playing music?

'And apart from your videos, what's your job?'

'Eh?' she said, jumping out of her thoughts. 'What?'

'What do you do, apart from your videos?'

'Oh. Coding. I develop softwares and code websites for private customers.'

'Ah, that's nice. Don't you think we should film our meeting, by he way?'

'...Why?'

She saw from the corner of her eye that Léon was frowning. He must have noticed she was in a daze. Adja slowed down a little and waited until they drove on a straight line to look at him.

'I may look a little absent.'

'More than absent, you mean! It's good that you're aware of it! I feel like I'm talking to a ghost, but not a fake one!'

'You will see very soon how that looks like,' she snapped back. 'Go on, film with your phone, it will show that you're doing this willingly and not under my orders. Alright?'

Léon didn't need to be asked twice, and narrated their journey to the house, as if he had always wanted to be an internet star. He filmed the road way too much for Adja, though. I hope no one will recognize the surroundings and come meet us, that would be creepy... The ghost hunter had done everything in her power to hide the address of her investigation except for the county, but if Léon showed everything... She decided to share her concerns with him and asked him to film their faces instead.

'Do you really believe that someone would want to visit the house while we're there?' Léon wondered, bantering.

'You never know,' Adja answered, pouting. You know, I have received many strange messages since I started posting videos. Some viewers can be very aggressive.'

'Okay, okay, I will cut every road sign when I'll edit the video. Happy?'

Adja nodded silently. Léon seemed irritated he had to control what he was filming. You will have to get used to it, big boy! You can't show too much of your intimacy when you're a videomaker, much less when you receive threats online. Adja had a hard time using irony when she answered vicious comments, and it didn't help. She had finally let her fans handle the haters instead of making it worse. Léon went on with his narration, less joyful.

'It's there,' Adja declared suddenly. She parked. 'It's behind these trees, but I'm going to leave the car here to film our arrival through the branches. That will look nice.'

'We're in the middle of nowhere... Is it really safe? I don't want to be assaulted by drug dealers!'

'There will be no dealer,' Adja reassured him, turning her camera on. 'I have visited the entire house myself, and no one entered it since 1982. It's a raw place, left as is, hardly put back on its feet for tourism thirty years ago.'

'I know, I saw what you posted.'

Adja frowned. He's bloody annoying!

'I'm explaining this for our new viewers. The whole world hasn't seen the first video, you know?'

'In that case, I advise them to watch it immediately! We have no time to waste!'

'You could never be a ghost hunter, damn, it requires patience!'

'I developed infinite patience from watching your channel, since nothing ever happens.'

Adja gritted her teeth.

'Okay, Mister Punchline, we're leaving the car.'

She put a fixed camera in the hall again, ignoring Léon. She took her K-II and Ouija board out, then finally acknowledge the young man. He stared at her sheepishly and put his phone away.

'No, go on, record me,' she told him. 'Viewers will see that there's nothing special around me, this way. No threads, no dictaphone to broadcast noises...'

'I angered you,' he muttered.

'Yes, alright, we don't care! Record it, I'm going to start with the K-II.'

Adja didn't care if Léon was ashamed after provoking her. She was seconds from meeting Sylvana again! What could I ask her, today? I can't use her to show Léon that I'm not a cheater, it's not enough and it's rude. Adja had so many questions that none came to her mind. Her hobbies, her past? She didn't even know how her family had died, so what could they talk about during the investigation?

'Won't my phone create intereferences?' Léon asked abruptly. Not that I believe in this K-II stuff, obviously...'

'Put it on plane mode.'

Adja directly addressed the young woman she was more and more seeing as a friend, but a friend you could hardly see in your daily life until they finally talked to you and lit up your whole week.

'Sylvana Dormeaux, I am back at your home with a man called Léon. Léon is here to check that I'm not lying, and that our conversations are real. He will make your and your family's story more famous, more realistic. I will use the K-II because it's less tiring for you, alright? One time for 'yes', twice for 'no', like before.'

Léon jumped when the K-II blinked once.

'Pure luck,' he whispered, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

Adja sighed and told Sylvana:

'Léon is a skeptic, he thinks our communication is not real.'

'No, that's not what I–'

'He won't admit it because he's scared of supernatural things, am I right Léon?'

The young man didn't answer, petrified. Good, some peace, at last. Adja felt stronger in Sylvana's presence, as if Léon were an opponent and she could finally make fun of him. It's not very nice of me, that's true. He just joined me, and I'm bashing him! She kept her apologies for the next time Léon would be terrified of something.

'Sylvana, do you want to answer some questions to prove that the K-II works?'

'No.'

What?

'Sylvana,' Adja begged. 'I know it's annoying, but I need help... Do you agree to help me?'

'No.'

Adja didn't dare turn her face towards Léon. Whatever his expression was, sarcastic or thunderstruck, she didn't care and had to stay focused.

'I immensely regret upsetting you yesterday, Sylvana. I would like for you to stop being angry at me, and for us to be real friends.'

'What?!' Léon exclaimed.

'Shut up!' Adja snapped. 'Please, Sylvana, accept my apologies... I have learned my lesson when you turned the camera off yesterday. I could never thank you enough for opening the lock in my place, and I'm asking a lot from you again. I didn't really think that you looked less alive on the photograph, your beauty was so idyllic that I made the wrong conclusions.'

There was a silence, after which Léon muttered:

'But... What are you talking about? Even if you're acting, what you're saying is bloody serious! Are you flirting with a ghost? Tell me it's tampered, honestly. You're using a button to make the K-II blink, right?'

'Since he's skeptical, Léon will hold the device and I will raise both of my hands to show that I'm not touching anything. Go on, take the K-II, and don't drop it or I'll kill you.'

So much for excuses, I'm even more aggressive than before. Léon doubting of her intimacy with Sylvana Dormeaux made her blemish from rage. Who did he think he was? Everyone had seen than this young woman was drop-dead beautiful. Emphasizing her beauty was not flirting, it was an objective fact. Adja put the device in Léon's hands and raised her palms to the camera.

'Sylvana, could you answer some questions, now?'

The diode blinked. If he drops the K-II, I kill him in front of the camera and broadcast it live. Léon didn't cave in, but his eyes were bulging.

'Are you eighteen?'

'No.'

'Are you nineteen?'

'Yes.'

'Thank you for these answers, Sylvana. Are you, by any chance, strong enough for a Ouija seance?'

'Yes.'

Adja grabbed the K-II and turned it off, almost tearing it from the hands of Léon.

'You're doing all of this in front of me, without so much of a reaction,' he stuttered, in shock. 'You're doing impossible things, without a word, without finding it weird! I saw you shudder five minutes in the previous video... and that's it? Is it real, all of this? Are we actually talking to dead people...?'

'Léon, if you want to throw up, do it outside of the house,' Adja warned him with a stern look. 'You are not fouling Sylvana Dormeaux's house, especially after telling her that she's not actually here! I chose you on purpose for your skepticism, but you could hurt the departed with your behavior.'

'I can't believe all of this. And you want to perform Ouija, on top of it?'

'Are you scared?'

'Do I look scared?' he defied her, his lower lip trembling. Am I pale?'

'Paler than I am, for sure.'

'Ah ah, that's very funny.'

He's terrified, it's obvious. Oh, you know what? I'm dragging him with me to prove that paranormal exists, not to please him! Adja prepared the Ouija board on the floor and invited Léon to sit cross-legged in front of her. He still had his phone in one hand and put it away before sitting, obedient but wary. Adja showed him how to put his finger on the planchette without pressing too hard. She made him feel a voluntary movement.

'Now, you'll be able to see the difference with supernatural events. Sylvana, are you ready?'

The planchette rushed to the 'yes' and Léon choked on a cry.

'You moved it!' he accused her.

'Did you feel some kind of pressure like before?'

'No, but–'

'So it's a no! It's paranormal! Don't waste Sylvana's time, Ouija is very exhausting for her. Sylvana, is there something you would like to tell us?'

The planchette slightly trembled. Is she hesitating? Is she thinking of a simple way to formulate her answered? The word that was formed in front of Léon's mesmerized eyes was rather enigmatic: JEALOUS. Adja had to focus to follow the movements of the planchette: DONTTALKWITHHIM. The ghost hunter raised her eyebrows, more surprised than scared.

'You... You don't want me to speak with Léon? Did I understand that correctly?'

The planchette moved to the 'yes' and never budged from it for the rest of the seance. Adja tried her best to ask more questions to Sylvana, but she never answered anything. She tested the K-II again, to no avail.

'She doesn't want me to be here,' Léon concluded with a smug smile. 'How convenient! I wanted to stay to investigate, how sad...'

'There's no use if she refuses to talk to me. Do you mind if I post this video on my channel? I won't edit anything, it's not the goal here.'

He shrugged. When they left the house, Adja filmed Léon.

'Tell us what you thought about this seance.'

'Honestly? It was very... surprising. Good job, Adja, I almost fell for it. You played your part very well to make me leave, so you can stay here by yourself and lie. Good job.'

Adja stared at him in horror.

'Seriously?'

'Seriously.'

No, but... is he making fun of me?

'You're going to post on social media and my channel that I'm a liar?'

'That's not really it, but–'

'Be honest with me! Do you want to destroy my channel? Did you come here to humiliate me?'

'Okay, let's bargain.'

Adja was appalled.

'Blackmail, now? Have you prepared this from the beginning?'

'No, I have just made this decision. Do you want me to be honest? I'll be honest.'

Léon adjusted his glasses and put his hiking bag in the grass. Adja cursed herself more and more for letting this stranger in her life, at the Dormeaux's, to destroy everything. The young man then started an endless description of his own skepticism, his studies, his doubts...

'Excuse me,' she interrupted him after hearing so much without exploding, 'but I don't really care. I'd like you to skip directly to the moment where you want to destroy my career for no reason, because your life... yes, you know.'

'Oh, this, be patient! Since you decided to be annoying, I'll rush. I don't understand much to this new world, and I still have no proof that you didn't tamper with the K-II to activate it remotely.'

'I wouldn't even know how to do it!' Adja protested.

'You have to! I'm sorry, but apart from the lock that opened in front of you in a fake video, I have no proof that you're not cheating. And your Sylvana hasn't done anything special in my presence, so I don't have more hints.'

'Don't talk about her like this, she's not at your service! Oh, and you know what?'

Adja opened her bag, went back to the hall and put on the floor the K-II, the Ouija board, the spirit box and her second camera.

'You take all of this, I'm leaving. The K-II cost seventy euros, the spirit box a hundred and sixty, I'm not even talking about the camera, and the Ouija board has inestimable sentimental value. If you break any of them, I'll tear your head off. Understood? I'm leaving you here and I'll come back tonight at ten. Enjoy!'

Adja abandoned him and declared:

'Sylvana, listen to me! Léon is blackmailing me and refuses to believe you're real. I will leave him here so he can form his own judgement, and I would like for you to interact with him. If you don't, I will lose my credibility and no one will believe your story. I am sorry to implicate you into my personal problems, but I wanted to be honest... I will come back tonight, Sylvana. Even if no one trusts me, I will always be here for you.'

What the hell am I talking about? I have a flat, I live in Dunkirk... I won't be here everyday, unless I move to Toulon. Adja left the house to avoid thinking rude things in front of Sylvana, who could apparently hear what she thought. Was she ready to move out so far away for a ghost? I must be very tired. Her meeting with Léon had given her certainty that she could trust the dead more than the living. She didn't send a single glance towards the young man, went in her car and left.