"Trapped and captured by one's last breath, sealed by a kiss from the angel of death..." it came out his mouth, barely a whisper.

♦ ♦ ♦

Holding her breath, Ara looked on as the man got out of his bed. Grey hair unruly, dazed eyes as he pulled away the covers with great effort, as if it required every muscle in his body to do so. Was he ill? Ara couldn't be sure and it took her a minute to remember that he, in fact, could not see her at all. She watched him struggle to get up, as if it pained him only to stumble to the ground. This was most probably the Chairman, she thought in dismay.

Ara flinched, her gut twisted when she witnessed the sight. She wanted to help the man, but that would cause even more damage. The balcony of the bedroom was her only escape route, with the chairman on the ground it'd give her complete clearance to make it out unnoticed. And surely the servants would come back in any moment right? 

Still going against her smarter self, Ara dove and held the chairman by his arms since he seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness anyway. Hastily, she helped him to the bed, pulled up the covers and was about to walk away when she heard him murmur, "Seek thou to forget the past, kept by the ring thou once hast..." he said in his sleep, as if chanting it by heart like a song. Risking exposing herself, Ara brought her ear to the chairman's ear.

Ring? Ara thought with a jolt of urgency. This was too much of a coincidence. 

"Trapped and captured by one's last breath, sealed by a kiss from the angel of death..." it came out his mouth, barely a whisper.

"Sir?" Abel came back to the room when he heard glass breaking. 

But Ara had already climbed out the window, onto the pipeline and safely out the house.

"I think you took longer than expected," Ghost Boy asked doubtfully when she had come running down the pavement, beckoning him to follow her out. He didn't quite have an accurate estimation of the time, but he was quite sure it had been more than an hour since Ara went in. "I was going to come get you,"

But of course Ara also didn't want him to know the slip-up she had made, her reputation would be in shambles if he knew. Ara cleared , "I was doing perfectly fine, Ghost Boy. I just need to settle some other things here,"

"Which is why we're still here?" he continued to question, studying the peculiar looking necklace in Ara's hands. Ara could tell he didn't like the sight of it, neither did she. She only wore it because it actually worked, and wouldn't have been there if it weren't for the random boy in that house. Ghost Boy squinted his eyes, "Are those...fingers?" 

Ara wrinkled her nose, "Seems like it, this isn't something you'd get at Aurora Square," and that was a fact, she might not have been an expert of magic - but she knew in her gut it definitely wasn't the place that sold severed digits on horsestring. "People get stuff like this from the Grimm Market..."

"You mentioned that place before, doesn't sound very nice," 

Ara wasn't very sure about the right way to answer that, it would either intrigue him or just scare him away. "Trust me, it's not." She was about to elaborate more on that when she noticed what she had been waiting for. From a mile away, she spotted Mingi's red hair, him strutting across the road was unmistakable. Quickly, she ran towards him. "You! Hey you!" she cried out.

Mingi stared, until she was in front of him. It took him a brief moment to remember who she was, the strange girl snooping inside the house like him. He had been in a daze from what happened, especially the words of Sofia Jeong. It still sent chills down his spine-

"HELLO?" Ara waved a hand in his face, snapping him out of the daze. 

Mingi cleared his throat, "W-what the hell are you still doing here?" he paced around uncomfortably and tried walking away, except that clearly wasn't what Ara wanted. She followed him from behind. "I saved your back there, I don't think we have anything else to talk about."

Ara acted bemused, "Well I actually wasn't there for money, you know, and my guess is that you weren't snooping around the house for that either. We're in the same boat right?" she grinned when Mingi flushed pink. 

"No, we're not the same," he pushed past her, and was about to hurry away. 

Ara shook her head, shooting Ghost Boy another knowing look. "Aaand, I was going to return this to you," she held out the necklace, dangling on her finger. Mingi stopped in his tracks when he remembered, silently cursed at himself, his heel back towards Ara - who was finding this entire situation almost comical. Before he could take it back, Ara snatched it away. "But I'm sorry I'll have to use this as leverage...Mingi, was that what she called you?"

Mingi sighed, "What do you want? Money?"

Ghost Boy studied her, slowly realizing her plan. Finally he gets it, she thoughtly satisfyingly. She leaned against the wall, relaxed as she could be - well, or at least try to act. "How about a cup of coffee for starters?"

Mingi still couldn't shake the words out of his head. 

The moment he sensed he had been left alone with Sofia in the room, although it was the plan anyway for the girl to run away first (he felt bad for the girl who had no idea what she had been getting into, now he realized that that was, in fact, very wrong), he could feel Sofia taking off her mask, her composed demeanor of a helpless wife of a mentally frail chairman - it was gona at that second. 

She was almost the same height as Mingi, but he still felt as if he had returned to the time where he was a little boy, whose friend had warned him of the woman he claimed was nothing but bad news. The last warning before tragedy struck. There had always been the slight doubt in Mingi's mind, what if he really was out of his mind? 

But in those moments, he couldn't have been any more sure of himself, albeit terrified for his life. 

"Don't assume that you survived once, that you would be as lucky now," she said quietly, tone too calm. Her eyes flashed green, reminding Mingi of a snake, plotting before the kill. "Do not test me, boy, for I won't be this merciful any longer. Give up trying to prove the impossible,"

Mingi had gulped while his stomach twisted, making him sick. "So Yunho was right, you are a monster."

A chuckle slipped from her lips, "It doesn't matter what you call me, because no one would ever believe your ramblings. Now get out of my house."

"So she's basically going to kill you?" Ara asked simply, sipping on the drink across the table. 

Really after all that this is what she could conclude? Mingi was appalled. It could have been due to the bizzarre string of events that had happened today, and Mingi's mind no longer processed anything as it was supposed to. "What? No, I mean maybe, I don't know-" he sputtered, taken aback and crossed his arms in defense. "Well I told you my reason, now it's your turn,"

Ara smacked her lips, "Same reason as you, but for monetary purposes instead of die-hard loyalty towards a childhood friend. Different motives but same goals, I can help you."

Mingi raised his brow and scoffed, "Really?"

Ara narrowed her eyes, "You don't believe me, do you? Well smartass, I can tell you're not from here judging by the fact you have a cursed neckalce from the Grimm Market,"

He choked on his drink, "How did you know that?"

"Oh please, I know the area better than you, and everyone here knows only an idiot would bargain at the Grimm Market,"

"Did you just call me an idiot?"

"And while I was finding the way out, I saw the Chairman - and happen to stumble upon some valuable clues for information," Ara said. 

Mingi rolled his eyes, "He's ill, what he said could have been random stuff,"

"What he said," Ara leaned forward. " -is not something a delusional person would say. It's a clue to whatever happened to your friend, and maybe even a way to solve this mystery."

Mingi still wasn't convinced, "Tell me then, what was it that he said?"

Ara paused, "I'll tell you...if you agree to work together with me,"

"Then why should I believe that you're reliable either? What makes you so special that I would need your help?"

And with her whole chest, Ara said, "I can talk to ghosts."

"This is bull!" Mingi threw up his hands, got up and left.

Masouf smirked to himself as he counted the bank notes in his hands, who knew people could be this gullible these days? He laughed at himself to think that boy had been joking about paying big - Masouf had assumed wrong. Of course, he didn't exactly know what was it that the boy had wanted. He never made it clear enough, and all Masouf had to do was lead him astray. 

Helping was never the intention, he still hoped the boy would come back for more of his services.

It had been near midnight, he stuffed the money back in the bag, a stash in his pocket to spend later on. He was in the middle of closing the store when he spotted a familiar figure coming out of the alley opposite his store front. He blended with the shadows and listened. 

"Do it once, do it fast and no blunders," the person ordered. "Make it look like an accident."

Coming out with him were employees from Azazel's, who specialised in more 'hands-on' services. Masouf never quite liked them, as he preferred to do things in the shadows. "Does she doubt our capabilities?" one of them demanded.

"The missus only wants this nuisance out of her way, and I merely deliver her direct orders. She has always paid you well, so just do your job."

"Does your missus take us as fools? A simpe job like this-"

"She wants the boy to die, and that is the only thing you need to do."

Masouf wondered nonchalantly, which boy could they have been talking about?