The first thing that I noticed as I stepped into the kitchen was the metallic smell in the air.
Before today I had never encountered it so vividly but after today I would never forget it.
'Blood.'
I grabbed a meat mallet that was on the kitchen island as I made my way towards where I saw the pool of blood.
I rounded the corner and...
There was a mangled body laying in a pool of blood.
I dropped the mallet in despair and fell to my knees. I reached at the edges of their clothes as tears began to cloud my vision.
"I-I'm so sorry. I couldn't make it in time to help you... I know I had always let you down as a son b-but I thought this time I could make you proud for once.."
My voice cracked as I struggled to hold on to my train of thought.
My mind was a mess and my emotions were even more jumbled.
Grief, regret, anger.
Even a part of me wanted to believe that there was a way to bring them back to life with the system.
I reached out to hold my mother's hand one last time. I didn't care about the blood and I knew it wouldn't have the warmth I was used to.
I just wanted to be close to her one more time.
As my hand was about to touch hers I swiftly pulled it back.
Along the back of my hand was a long cut that was now bleeding profusely. There was a knife lodged into the kitchen floor right next to the hand I was trying to reach.
I grabbed the meat mallet with my other hand and quickly stood up while holding it out in front of me.
My eyes scanned the kitchen but to my surprise there was nothing there.
"Whe-"
As I was about to say something a knife flew towards me out of the sink of dirty dishes.
I quickly swung the meat mallet in my hand and managed to barely knock the knife out of my direction.
"What the fuck?!"
I jumped over the kitchen island but there was nothing by the sink.
'There's no way someone could have thrown that without me seeing them run away... Are they invisible?'
Realizing that the enemy was invisible I knew my chances of winning were incredibly slim. Especially since I had seen my ghosts in action. Being invisible had incredible advantages.
"W-wait! If you can understand me please stop! Maybe we can figure something out?"
However instead of a voice all the knives and utensils floated up into the air. Slowly turning to all point at me.
"Shit.."
Before I could properly express my frustration they began flinging themselves at me.
I managed to dodge or knock away most of the projectiles, but I wasn't able to stop them all. I had been caught by a few knives, leaving me with more shallow cuts and all the movement had caused the old ones to reopen.
My arms were once again in pain as they began bleeding lightly. My arms got hot as blood began to flow but I ignored it. I focused instead on the enemy.
'An invisible enemy that can move things without touching them, or maybe it has multiple limbs.'
I couldn't afford to focus on trying to figure out the details of my enemy right now. Soon enough the objects I had knocked down began to rise up again.
I grit my teeth as I prepared for the coming onslaught.
Thankfully the objects weren't moving incredibly fast so I could manage to a reasonable extent.
This game of dodgeball went on a couple more times.
Each time the number of objects were reduced and by the third time none of the objects were able to be lifted.
I didn't gloat in triumph. Instead I tried to reason with whatever was trying to hurt me. One last ditch effort.
"Look... You must be worn out. Let's stop this and see if we can talk it out. Maybe we can help each other."
I couldn't tell if it understood me or if if had even heard me, but I stayed still waiting for a response.
After a while I began to question if it was pondering my question, or if it was just using this to recover it's energy.
As time drew on my nerves began to stretch thin. Just as I was about to try to make a break for the door I felt something in the air stir.
It felt like there was a presence descending on the kitchen.
A small clump of pale blue light slowly gathered in front of me.
Then I received a system notice.
[Vengeful Ghost wants to show itself to you.]
[New Skill: Ghost Vision (Lvl.1)]
I opened my skills window and checked the skill briefly.
'It only costs one mana per minute. Eventually I'll be able to have it up constantly.'
I immediately activated the skill by focusing on my eyes and using my own flavor text.
"Ghost Vision!"
I felt the familiar movement of mana, this time more closely, due to the fact it went to my eyes I was able to feel the sensation much more than I could using my other skill.
The blue fog had changed its form completely, allowing me to see it's true form.
There, sitting on the edge of the kitchen island, was a young woman wearing a familiar set of sweats.
"Those... Are my mom's clothes. Why are you wearing my mom's clothes?"
The ghost didn't seem too happy at the question.
"These are the clothes I died in. I guess they are what I will wear for the rest of my afterlife."
I looked at the ghost then towards the mangled body on the ground.
"That's... you..."
Then a deep sadness crossed the ghost's face as it turned to look at the corpse as well.
"Yes... I heard you talking to my body. You thought it was your mom which is why I didn't bother you, but then you tried to touch me so I..."
"It's okay. I understand not wanting strangers to touch your body."
The ghost's gaze stayed on the body for a long time while we stood in silence before she spoke again.
"It's because... The one who killed me was a man. I know it's not you but I can't feel anything other than aversion."
I nodded when she said that. I understood that dying in such a violent manner would make anyone react the same.
However my expression turned sour at the idea that another human being could do something like this to another human being.
"Disgusting."
I accidentally muttered while thinking of the monster in human skin who did this to her.
The ghost turned towards me and looked at me with newfound interest. She jumped down the kitchen counter and walked right up to me.
I leaned back slightly even though I knew she was just a ghost.
"There's something weird about you."
I creased my eyebrows.
"Thanks."
However the ghost shook their head and stepped back.
"I don't mean it in a bad way. It's just whenever other humans would come near me I would lose all reason and go into a frenzy. With you though I feel incredibly calm. I'm able to hold onto my rationale a lot longer."
'Could this be a hidden effect of being a Necromancer who specialized in using ghosts?'
I thought to myself as I speculated the reason for my influence on her. Either way it was a positive thing.
Then I remembered why I was here.
"Hey."
The ghost snapped out of her thoughts and looked at me.
"Do you know where the people who lived in this house went?"
The ghost thought for a moment then shook her head.
"It was completely empty when I arrived. There were these humvees that drove through the streets telling everyone to go to the event center downtown. I was making my way there when a monster attacked this humvee and blew it up. I hid in this house and then someone hit me in the back of the head."
When she woke up she was a ghost and the assailant was long gone. Listening to her story made the reality of the changes sink in.
'You can lose your life that easily. Personal strength is the only thing you can really trust. At least my mom and brother might be safe at the event center.'
After deciding to head to the event center next I was about to turn and leave when I noticed that the ghost didn't move from the kitchen. Instead they were watching me with a melancholic expression.
I walked back into the kitchen.
"Do you not want to come with me? You don't have to but I figured it might be better than staying here alone."
However they shook their head.
"I can't go far from where I died... I am chained to this kitchen."
I could tell just admitting that pained her. It was a really sad reality to have to stay in the place where you died.
Watching your body slowly decay.
I felt bad for her.
'I wish I could help...'
That was when I received a notification.
[Reacting to user's will...]
[Souldbound Covenant (Lvl.1) learned.]
I quickly opened my skills to see what Phantom Accord could be.
[Soulbound Covenant][Level 1]
[Create a contract with a ghost. This will tie the ghost to your soul.
Contracts : 0/1]
I looked from my screen to the ghost. I wasn't sure if they would want to leave, but I didn't feel right just leaving them here.
"If you could... Would you want to leave?"
The ghost looked at me for a moment before tilting their head while they thought of my question.
"I would but..."
"But what?"
The ghost looked me in the eye with a serious expression.
"I only want to leave to kill the bastard who killed me. If you can promise me you'll do everything in your power to help me get my revenge. If you can't make that promise then I am not going to leave."
I was initially shocked at her request but then I slowly recovered from my shock.
If someone brutally murdered me and condemned me to a life as a ghost I wouldn't be much different than her.
'I shouldn't judge.'
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and met her gaze.
"I swear to do what I can. I don't want to make any promises I can't keep though, so I can't guarantee that we will find him, are you okay with that?"
However instead of the upset reaction I expected she put on an understanding smile.
She reached out her hand and said:
"That's all I can realistically ask for. Being able to get away from where I died might be good for me."
I smiled and shook her outstretched hand.