Jack was a ghost. And he was ready to share his story.
And I was ready to listen.
He said his story was filled with action and romance, he said it was not just a story, it was a journey, he said if I want to listen to his story, I have to pay attention since it is a long story.
I was hooked hearing all this just like a teenage girl who gets into a relationship with a criminal because he is a bad boy and just before Jack began, I asked out of curiosity how long would it take for him to narrate his long story, and with utmost seriousness and nostalgia, he replied :
"Just about five to ten seconds at most."
And at that... I forgot my promise. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ Nove1Fire.net
I smiled. "You are going to die again."
"Wha—but you promised won’t get angry at me."
"To hell with that. I am out here holding off my character arc for your backstory and you are making jokes?"
"What joke did I make?"
"You said it was a long story so why the hell did you say it will only take ten seconds at most? What kind of long story takes such less time to narrate it?"
"Ten seconds is not less time! I usually finish in ten seconds and sometimes in five seconds if the girl is a baddie. You have to look at this from my point of view, pal."
"... What’s your point of view? Dropping pants behind alive humans?"
"No! I only did that to get your attention. Otherwise, I don’t even wear pants. I am wearing one only for you right now."
"Oh yeah? That’s so generous of you. You are hiding your private parts for me? What a great achievement for me."
"Like hell! You are doing the same thing girls do for me. They also hide their parts from me and not even private ones. They hide everything. If not for my molestation talent, I would have never even felt the texture of boobs in my life!"
"... You are a molester?"
"Don’t change the topic!"
"No. You should change the topic, pal. You just confessed to a crime."
"... Okay. Scratch that. Scratch everything. Just tell me your damn story."
"Alright, fine. My name is Jack Mihoff and I was sent to this prison because I was a falsely accused of attempted rape."
My brows shot up and then I remembered his way of asking me for my attention.
"... I am not sure if it was a false accusation. You tried to do the same thing with me."
Jack sighed. "I was a lonely man. Always longing for a connection. Always falling in love with someone who didn’t love me back. I tried. I tried my best to be desirable, I tried to be funny, I tried to dress well, I tried to lift weights to get a good body. I tried to play video games to improve my fingering stat. But nothing worked. I wasn’t loved. Not once. I thought girls would get butterflies in their stomach seeing me but they got cockroaches instead!"
Ouf. Why does it sound like my story? And his story sounds tragic? Is the main character about to change? I want a prior notice if that’s the case.
"Just once, I wanted to feel loved. I wanted to feel that someone saw me as a quest and ran after me. That’s why... I indulged in something that is supposed to be forbidden."
I gulped. "Did you start doing..."
Jack nodded. "Yes. You are right. I indulged in..."
"Yes—What? No! The hell? Why would I do that?"
"Oh. I just thought you stopped going after girls and resorted to boys. Since they are easy going and have less tantrums."
"No. I didn’t indulge in that. And for your sake, I won’t ask how you know boys are easy and have less tantrums."
"Bro, I didn’t indulged in gay sex either. I was just thinking of possibilities for you. I am as straight as anal beads."
"... Gre-great. And I should continue my story otherwise you will reveal your sexuality before that."
"Yes. Just get it over with."
Jack nodded. "So, desperate to be loved, I saw only one path of success. I indulged in calling the dead to this world. I resorted to spirits."
My eyes widened. "You mean... you tried to call for souls to love you?"
"Yes. That was the only way. I wasn’t rich so I couldn’t even hire prostitutes. I am an orphan so I never really received the love of parents either. The only route I saw was calling spirits and begging them to love me. And you should know, I am a man of great self respect but love made me beg. Hah!"
Jack smiled. The same smile most of the people make when they say they are fine when deep down, they are not.
Even in my case, I smiled just once.
It was when I was cycling and ten dogs were running after me, then suddenly, my pedals began moving very easily and that’s when I smiled like Jack. I had left my fate on those dogs. And I am sure they must have updated their Facebook feed after that—Today bit a grown up man with 9 others. #Feeling satisfied.
Anyway, Jack carried on.
"I used to live in the basement of a house. I was a paying guest there. But the landlady of the house liked to say that I was living forcefully there. Mad woman she was, I tell you."
"Yeah. Yeah. I believe you. All landlords are . I was also a paying guest for over a year at a house and everytime the landlord saw me, he asked me Who are you? How did you come inside? I will call the cops. It was a pain. They all are mad people. Anyway, you carry on."
"Yes. So I was dead set on calling a spirit. Therefore, I went to an old man who lived near a graveyard and asked him if he knew any type of ritual to summon spirits. Female spirits, to be exact. And guess what? The old man knew. He charged me a thousand Morals and in return he taught me the ritual. The fee was high but when you are horny, you spend money just like how blood flows on periods—with no restraint."
I nodded. For some reason, I am getting his thoughts and he says normal things too. Nice.
"So after learning the ritual, I came back to the basement and instantly began doing it. After a focused, long, hard session of three hours, something started to happen. I didn’t panic and stayed in one place and the next second... a loud noise came, everything got covered with white smoke and in front of me, what I saw... I couldn’t believe my eyes!"
I leaned towards Jack.
Jack looked into my eyes and with a gulp, he said:
"The Spirit had arrived... naked."