"Let's go to the storage room next," Belle says. They've left the classroom they were hiding out in, double-checking to make sure the hallway was safe. The storage room was to the right of the classroom, next to the stairs that led to the third floor. The hallway was short so they didn't need to walk far to get there. Belle swung the door open and stalked inside with Leslie close at his heels. The room had janitorial equipment scattered about and some extra chairs, but other than that it was completely barren. The room was completely dark as there was no window to let light through.
"What do you think happened here?" Leslie asks.
"I have a few guesses, but nothing concrete yet," Belle answers. He's poking through the room, looking for anything of interest. He finds something behind a bunch of cleaning chemicals, it's a crack in the wall with a bunch of letters stuffed inside.
"Look at this," Belle says proudly, handing the letters to Leslie.
"They're love letters," Leslie states, reading through them.
"Does it say who they're from?" Belle questions, peeking over Leslie's shoulder to look at the letters.
"No, but they're corresponding letters, two people were talking to each other. It seems like they used the storage closet as their secret meeting place." Leslie states.
"Ooo, a secret relationship," Belle smirks, waggling his eyebrows at Leslie.
"Not only that, apparently it was an affair," Leslie smirks back.
"How scandalous!" Belle exclaims, putting his hands up to his mouth in mock surprise.
[Evidence Found:2/4]
"Doesn't seem like there's much else in this room, let's move on," Belle states, striding into the hallway. Leslie follows him after pocketing the letters.
"Oh! So this is where you went! Why did you hide from me earlier?" A voice pouts, they turn to find a young girl wearing a school uniform with a bob cut.
"Ah, crap." Belle mutters.
"That wasn't very nice." She growls and floats into the air as the miasma in the hallway spikes to dangerous levels.
"Talisman, talisman!" Belle shouts. Leslie throws another talisman at Hanako, paralyzing her in place.
"What do we do now?" Leslie questions.
"Time for me to use my new trick!" Belle exclaims, opening the system and grabbing out the capsule. It appears in his hand and he tosses it at Hanako.
"Catch!" He shouts as her paralysis wears off. The capsule opens mid-air and the miasma in the room almost doubles, causing Belle and Leslie to get a piercing headache. When Belle glances up, he finds another ghost, floating across from Hanako. He has shaggy black hair and dark eyebags, he's wearing a white hoodie with black sweatpants, and there's a rope hanging around his neck.
"Sigh, why did you have to interrupt my sleep?" The ghost questions. His voice lacks a tone, sounding utterly bored with the world.
"Uhm, sorry?" Belle squeaks, unsure of what to do in this situation.
"If I take care of her, can I go back to sleep?" The ghost asks. Belle simply nods his head.
"Kay." The ghost answers.
"You want to play with me?" Hanako asks sweetly. The other ghost doesn't answer her, instead, he lifts his hands and sends ropes flying out of his hoodie. Hanako dodges them and sends razorblades flying out of her skirt at the ghost. They start a back-and-forth, before they realize it's futile, and move in for hand-to-hand combat. The ghost punches Hanako and she kicks at him, sending razor blades flying toward his face, the ghost sneakily crawls his ropes behind her. They climb up her arms and legs and tighten, binding her in place.
"Is this sufficient?" The ghost asks, turning to Belle and pointing at Hanako with a thumb.
"Sure," Belle states and approaches the tied-up Hanako who is growling and fighting against her restraints.
"Is it safe to get that close?" Leslie questions, following behind.
"Probably? I don't know, I just want to see how my axe works." Belle replies. He holds the axe to the side and swings it, taking off her head. No blood spills out because she's dead, and she struggles even harder after feeling the pain of her head cut off.
"Ow, why!" She screams. Belle walks over to her head and picks it up. She tries to bite at him but he keeps his fingers away from her mouth. He brings the head closer to her body and watches as the miasma coils around her head and brings it closer to her body, sitting it upon her neck. Belle waits a few seconds and watches as her face changes from glee, to surprise, to fear, and to anger all at once.
"What did you!? I can't reattach it!" She screams.
"Hehe, looks like my axe works wonders." Belle chuckles as Hanako starts to freak out.
"Can I go back now?" The other ghost whines, floating over by Leslie, who jumps when he speaks.
"Hmm, I don't know how to send you back, you should be able to leave in a few hours though," Belle says. He turns back to Hanako as a demonic noise sounds behind him, he uses the system to exorcise her and Hanako burns up and disappears. When he turns back to the ghost he's using his ropes to choke Leslie.
"Ah, ah, ah, down, bad." Belle scolds and the ghost drops Leslie with a scowl.
"I need to ask you some questions, first and foremost, what's your name?" Belle asks.
"...Cam." The ghost answers.
"Right, then what do you know about how you came to be here?" Belle continues the interrogation.
"I don't remember anything about who I was, only bits and pieces from when I was a ghost, and then I remember being locked somewhere that made me sleepy. I slept for a long time until you pulled me out, I can also feel a voice or something, telling me I have to obey you." Cam responds.
"Interesting, how much do you know about ghost society?"
"Not much, just the basics like the levels and stuff," Cam replies.
"Oh, tell me about those please," Belle says.
"First-level ghosts gain their inherent abilities and the ability to talk, but they are stuck in the place where they died. Second-level ghosts can move a bit outside of their bounds and their overall abilities are stronger. Third-level ghosts are presented with a choice, they can strengthen their abilities and can stay where they died, or they can choose to let people summon them from all over at the cost of being weaker. Fourth-level ghosts can go where they are summoned and have pretty strong abilities. Fifth-level ghosts are the most dangerous, they aren't bound by the rules and can even be seen by ordinary people. Spirits and humans alike bow to their presence." Cam explains.
"Hmm, thanks for the info," Belle says, mentally repeating the information so as not to forget it.
"I had no idea the ghost world was so complex." Leslie murmurs.
"Just goes to show there's always more to find out in life, alright you two, let's go, we still need to get to the classroom and the rooftop tonight," Belle warns, grabbing Leslie and Cam's arms and dragging them toward the classroom.