"Okay, hold on," Dean said, giving a quick signal to Claire and Bianca.
"Screech," they all slid out of the art room, and "bang," they shut the door hard, leaving a confused Ruby and the little ghost girl looking at each other. Once they were in the middle of the hall, the three of them stopped and checked their phone notifications. "Huh," they all said at the same time.
======================================
Request data:
Name: Ruby Davis
Age: 17
Race: Human
Status: Healthy
Soul value: $5,500,000
Target: Heather Green
======================================
Request data:
Name: Lily Marley
Age: 7 (when she died)
Race: Ghost
Status: -
Soul value: $12,000,000
Target: Heather Green
Accept: Yes / No
======================================
"Wh-why are there two requests? And the target is the same?" Bianca asked.
"I don't know, but at least we know the ghost's name is Lily," Claire replied.
"Ugh," Dean said, rubbing his forehead and his face went pale. Bianca and Claire looked at him.
"What's wrong?" Claire asked.
"Yeah, why do you look so pale?" Bianca asked.
"Look... they're special," Dean said, pointing to his phone screen.
"Huh," Claire and Bianca looked at the soul values for Ruby and Lily, and their faces went just as pale as Dean's.
"This means... more debt and more soul partners," Dean muttered.
"Huh?" Claire and Bianca both looked at Dean, then back at the door to the art room.
"Decline," Claire and Bianca said in unison, pressing the "NO" button.
But even though they pressed it over and over, the request wouldn't go away. Dean tried it too, and had the same result.
"What do we do?" Bianca asked.
"Hmm," Claire said, looking at the art room door. "At least we don't have to fight zombies to meet our clients this time."
"Please don't joke around," Dean said. "What do you guys think? We can't decline."
"Then just accept it," Bianca replied.
"Okay, but we need to talk to Ruby after we press 'YES'," Claire said.
"Hmm, okay, let's talk to her now," Bianca said, turning to Dean. "Please press 'YES', Dean."
"Is no one thinking about the debt?" Dean asked.
But before he could get an answer, Claire and Bianca were already walking back toward the art room.
"All you guys care about is my soul partners, I guess. Whatever," Dean thought to himself.
Dean followed Claire and Bianca, pressing "YES" on his app. "Screech," Claire opened the door, and she and Bianca went inside, followed by Dean, who shut the door again. Claire and Bianca immediately grabbed Ruby, and "screech," they took her outside, leaving Dean alone. But before they closed the door, Claire and Bianca said together, "We'll explain things to Ruby. You handle Lily, please."
"Screech," the door closed again. Dean stood there, stunned. He looked at Lily, who was now holding his thigh—even though her small hands went right through him—and looking at him with big, pleading eyes. Dean raised his hand and pretended to pat her head because he felt bad for her.
[Your harem is starting to form, hohoho.]
"Shut up," Dean said in his head.
"Swoosh," a red holographic screen appeared in front of Dean. Lily looked at the screen, too, as if she could see it. Dean immediately read it.
======================================
Target: Heather Green
Age: 17
Occupation: Student
Evil deeds: Bullying, theft, killing, prostitution, drug addiction
Victims: Ruby (17), Chloe (16), Amber (15), Lily (7)
Status: Healthy
Location: Her boyfriend's apartment behind the school Record:
Never been arrested by police because she's considered a minor
EXP: 15,000
======================================
"Hmm? You were killed by your sister? How? She was only six at that time, right?" Dean asked, looking at Lily, who was still staring at him with big, pleading eyes.
[Hold her head and watch the playback.]
Dean put his hand on her head, and a large screen appeared in front of him, showing Lily's life when she was alive. It turned out that Heather's jealousy of Lily had been there since they were little. Whenever Lily got attention, Heather would act up to get their parents' attention back on herself.
Their parents got divorced, when Lily was six and Heather was five, Heather went with their mother. But when Lily wanted to go with her mother, Heather pushed her back toward their dad, and then their dad left Lily at home because he didn't want to take on the responsibility.
Their mother, thinking Lily was with her father, never came back to check on the house again. She found out a year later when Lily was found dead in the house after the roof collapsed.
"So that's it. That's why she's mad at Heather and not her parents. Because as a kid, she still loved them, no matter how they treated her. That's really sad," Dean said, looking at Lily, who was still holding onto him.
[That's right, but keep watching.]
The video then showed Lily after she became a ghost and met Ruby, who was living in her house. Ruby accidentally freed her from her spiritual ties when she saw Lily trying to grab the apple. Since then, Lily followed Ruby everywhere, watching her whole life and treating her like a sister.
At her old school, Ruby was also bullied for her "weirdness." Lily who saw it just gave up and was sad alone because she couldn't do anything. But when she saw Heather—who was now pretty, with blonde hair like her mom, and lots of earrings—bullying Ruby relentlessly, even though Ruby just wanted to be friends and because Ruby introduce herself to her mother to help Lily meet her mother when there is a parent meeting, Lily became furious and held a grudge against Heather for always being so jealous of her and hurting Ruby.
"Hmm, okay. I understand now. I'll get your revenge," Dean said, petting Lily's head with a smile.
Seeing Dean smile, Lily looked happy and smiled back, nodding her head over and over.
"Screech," the door opened, and Dean saw Claire, Bianca, and Ruby come in, looking very friendly with each other. Another screen popped up, showing Ruby's life and why she was a "special" soul. It turned out Ruby didn't know who her parents were. She had been left at the hospital when she was born and was cared for by a series of people.
She never experienced family love and never knew what a family was. She lived alone, passed around and moved from place to place with no money at all. Sometimes she had to go through trash just to eat until a social worker put her in an orphanage when she was eight. But she remained positive and focused on her paranormal hobby.
"Hmm," Dean, Claire, and Bianca mumbled as they watched.
"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.
"Ah, nothing," Bianca replied.
"The important thing is you haven't forgotten our deal, right? The order is clear," Claire said.
"Yeah, it's clear," Ruby said, glancing at Dean. "I hope we can work well together, Dean," she said, smiled shyly.
"Hey, we haven't even started yet... let's go," Dean said, standing up and pulling out his big scythe.
"Thud." He slammed the end of the scythe on the floor, and a portal opened. He turned to Claire and Bianca, who both nodded. Dean, Claire, and Bianca walked into the portal, leaving Ruby to watch them with bright, excited eyes and a huge smile, clutching her glasses. Lily, too, watched Dean and the others with a hopeful look.
"Whoosh," a large screen appeared in front of both Ruby and Lily as the portal closed, and two earbuds automatically connected to Ruby's ears, making her jump in surprise.