“All for money.” Tao says looking across the sea with tears in his eyes. The tide is high and the water freezing cold. Tao stands up still clutching his bleeding side, he staggers to the edge of the water until he’s knee deep. He puts his hand into the water and then takes it out again. “Not much time left, just do it before someone comes.” And with that he plunges face first into the water. Tao has his eyes closed as he sinks deeper and deeper into the water. Bubbles escape his mouth as he loses the air from his lungs, his eyes open and there’s desperation in them as he tries to go back to the surface but his leg is caught in something. He struggles but he can't get back to the surface. The last bit of air leaves him and everything goes black.

I gasp and let go of his hand. Tao looks at me confused.

“Is something wrong? Is it your arm?” He asks not knowing what I just saw. My eyes fill with tears, “Tiffany! What happened?” He asks worried, I just look away trying to get rid of the tears. Then I feel warmth around me, its Tao; he’s got his arms around me with his head on top of mine. “Don’t cry.” He croons, “Please.” He hugs me tighter.

“I saw something.” I say. Then I tell him what I saw. He looks slightly lost as he listens to it all, as if his memory is coming back.

“Well, that’s certainly something.” I see something by his eye, a tear? “I’ve remembered what happened.” He says.

“I had a girlfriend, her name was Eun-Hwa. She was very kind and pretty and I was in love with her. Things were going great for a few weeks but then I noticed that money was missing from my bank account, it was gradually being taken out so I hid my card in the safe and nothing happened. That meant that someone had access to my card and was taking it regularly the only people who were that close to me everyday was Eun-Hwa. I asked her about it and she declined everything and I believed her. One day we were walking down the street together when I was pushed into an alleyway and this guy was asking me about where my card was hidden, Eun-Hwa was too so I found out she was a fake and she and a group of people were trying to get at my money. I offered to pay them off but then the guy swung at me with a knife and he got me in the side. I ran towards the beach, it was already sunset. The two told me that no one cared about me, they just cared about my money. Then they walked away and you know what happened next. The next thing I knew is that I woke up on the beach as a ghost.” He smiles sadly at me.

“That’s not true, you had good friends too.” I say.

“I know. I saw newspapers and signs they had put up. But I only saw that after my death.” He says. I hug him and this time he’s solid.

“Do you know what happened to Eun-Hwa?” I ask.

“No, but they never found out what happened so it’s an unresolved case.” He says, “She probably took all the money that she stole from me and bought a plane ticket to somewhere far away from here so she wouldn’t get caught.” He adds.

“What I’d do if I ever met her.” I say darkly.

“Hey, no threatening.” He laughs and wipes a few tears from my face. I hesitantly take his hand bracing myself in case another memory comes but it doesn’t. He feels smoky but relatively solid, I don’t squeeze his hand too much in case my hand goes through his.

“I like the kind Tiffany better than the menacing one.” He says.

“But you can't have one without the other.” I reply. He just smiles at me and I can't help but smile back.

“I also like the menacing one though, it’s funny seeing such a small person try to be ‘scary’” He laughs.

“I am not small!” I pout.

“Compared to me you are.” He smirks and rests his elbow on my shoulder. I glare at him, he holds my glare for a bit but then he breaks into a smile and grabs my hand. We walk down the beach together, I see dark clouds behind us. “Are you alright, you look worried.” Tao looks concerned.

“I don’t really like storms.” I shudder. He puts his arm around me.

“You’ll be fine.” He kisses the top of my head. I blush slightly but then I stand on my tiptoes and peck him on the lips. He looks at me shocked and then his hand doesn’t feel smoky anymore, it feels normal, “What was that for?” He smiles nervously.

“First, you saved my life, second, you cheered me up, and third, you embarrassed Hana pretty well.” I smile at him. He keeps walking down the beach with me and I can see a big smile on his face.

A bolt of lightning shoots through the sky followed by the rumble of thunder, I shriek quietly and inch closer to Tao who tightens his arm around me.

“You’ll be fine.” He reassures me. I nod but quicken my pace. It’s started to rain, I want to leave but I don’t want to leave Tao.

“Where are the boundaries of the beach for you?” I ask.

“I can't go into the trees.” He points, “You should go to the trees now, you might get a cold.” He starts pushing me towards them.

“But–” A bolt of lightning strikes the beach ten meters in front of us.

“No buts, you’re going now.” He keeps pushing me. I try to protest but the rain is pouring hard and the lightning bolts keep coming. We get to the trees and he gives me one last small push into them.

“What about you though?” I ask. But then I see that his form is rippling.

“Oh this, don’t worry, I get slightly unstable when I’m this close to the boundaries. I’ll be fine.” He says. He steps back and his form stops rippling, I relax for a second until a bolt of lightning appears about two meters next to him. He laughs with a hint of nervousness in his eyes, he steps to the right. Then comes the next one.

It strikes him in his back and I can see it touch the ground in front of him, he stares at it in wonder. I see his chest ripple again, and then the bolt disappears. Tao is just standing in front of me still rippling but looking fine in my eyes, five seconds pass but then a bright flash of light blinds me.

When I can see again Tao is gone.

That was some chapter! Please give me some feedback, no silent readers!