There was a dead body in my cell.
Its ghost is also in my cell.
A little concerning but still fair.
Sure. Freedom of speech is for everyone.
I decided to ignore him.
Then he demanded my attention by dropping his pants?!
Now we are getting homo and it is not fair.
In the end, I had no choice but to acknowledge his holographic existence. Because I like VR sex but not enough to get down with a transparent ghost. If it was a female then that’s a different topic altogether.
After I stopped ignoring him, he beamed and reached out his hand towards me while introducing himself:
It’s so dumb it’s genius.
I stared at him and just shook my head.
"What’s the name of your son? Jack Mihoff Too?"
The ghost frowned. "How do you know my son?"
My brows shot up. "That’s his name for real?"
"Why, yes. But I used to call him by his nickname."
"And what’s that?" I asked and already regretted it.
God have mercy on me.
"Anyway, shake my hand, pal. My wrist bones will hurt if I keep it in the air for too long."
"... Your bones? You are a ghost, dude. You have no bones!"
"You forgot? Bro, are you high or something right now?"
"I am not high, pal. I am just low on Melatonin."
"What does Melatonin have to do with anything we are talking about right now?"
"I don’t know. I just like the word."
I stretched out my right hand.
I would just shake his hand and get this over with.
He is a ghost so I think my hand would probably go through him but I think this ghost wants some connection even if it’s impossible to touch him. I get it. Even if it’s full of love, all a ghost can do is haunt.
And hey, maybe I am just overthinking, I could probably touch him since he is so confident about shaking my hand.
Therefore, I reached out for his hand and when I reached closer, my hopes were shattered. My hand went through his hand.
I jerked my head at him.
Before I could say something, that bastard...
"Pfft. Got you, pal. Hahaha!!"
He erupted in laughter.
He slapped his thigh and laughed while pointing at me.
The last time someone laughed at me was a six year old kid. I had tripped on a rock while shoving him inside the van. It totally ruined my first kidnapping experience.
I glared at Jack and clenched my jaw. "What is wrong with you?"
"I am just making fun of you, pal. I am a ghost. Why did you think you would be able to shake my hand? Did you think I wanted some connection or shit? You are so stupid. Fuck, this is hilarious."
He had tears in his eyes laughing.
I thought he was lonely so he wanted to shake hands with someone but he was just messing around.
Even if it’s full of love, all a ghost can do is... stand behind you without his pants or worse, ask for a handshake.
He was still laughing and I think I should stop calling him ghost, the only ghost thing about him was his transgender—Transparency. Transparency. Otherwise he was just the same jerk as other Humans.
Jack was his name and I would use that from now on.
Right now, he laughed like how justice laughs on the face of the poor, like how women laugh after accusing men for making their dog step on a bee.
And I hated his laughter.
"Alright. Stop laughing." I snapped, like a teacher who just realized his paycheck was monopoly money and now has to teach algebra to kids who think 2 + 2 equals TikTok followers.
Jack got the message, I hope, as he finally stopped laughing.
We both were in front of each other and Jack shrugged:
"What now? Can’t think of any dialogues?"
"Yeah. You can say that. It always happens when a new character arrives."
"I understand, pal. What is your name though? I heard your system calling you Racis. And I know the Supreme Man sent you here. I heard your thoughts."
"Don’t hear my thoughts, pal. My privacy has been breached by many people lately."
Supreme Man, the system and not to mention I was literally lying with my internal organs in full show on the 1000 mm sky-screen for the whole world to see. And now this Jack is here, my privacy has become a joke.
[ You have many things to do, Racis. Don’t waste your time , you have already wasted your teens in being an embarrassment. ]
"I see. It seems you have a lot on your plate."
"Yeah. That’s just how—Don’t listen to my mind, bitch!"
"It’s my passive skill. I can’t help it."
"Fine. And system, I am nearly nineteen years old. My teens are still ongoing."
[ You will waste this year as well. That’s why I counted it in advance. ]
"... You fucker. Fine." I looked at Jack "I will deal with my stuff later. First tell me your story. How did you end up here? Why didn’t you pass to the afterlife after dying here? Tell me everything."
I crossed my arms once again and paid full attention to Jack.
Jack stared back at me, his brown eyes looking at me as if he was seeing a ghost. Which was ironic because he was the ghost.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Are you interested in hearing my story? You are serious? You want to listen to me?"
"... Yeah? Is that a problem?"
"No. No. It’s just no one ever asked about me. They were always me, me, me. They didn’t care about others at all. I thought you would be the same but... you are a good man. I am sorry for making fun of you."
Jack’s shoulder trembled. Up and down.
He was laughing a few seconds ago and now he is crying? This is some emotionally unstable ghost. His emotions are flipping like a feminist who just found out men don’t gather around her to listen to her heartfelt speech, she just has big boobs.
"Don’t cry, Jack. Just tell me your story. I will listen to you. I am not like others. I will listen to your story and won’t get angry about anything."
Jack wiped his tears, blew his nose with his hands and wiped that into his brown coat. Now I am not sure if that coat was initially brown or it happened over time thanks to his nostril violence.
Nevertheless, after he stopped crying, he clapped his hands.
"Alright, Racis—that’s your name. Now I know—you want to listen to my story? Fine. Get ready. It’s a long one. It will take time and it contains action and romance. Do you have that much time? Are you ready to go for a ride?"
Jack stared at me, with a conviction of a snail offering a cheetah a ride.
But he had conviction and I gulped. "How much time will it take?"
Jack became intense. His brows knitted as he stared more intently at me.
"It will take..." He said, his voice deep and husky.
My palms found sweat around them but no matter what Jack says, I won’t get angry. I promised him. He needs an ear for his story.
Jack inhaled and finally said:
"Around five to ten seconds, at most."
Fuck the promise. I am angry already. The most update n0vels are published on novel•fire.net