The ultimate finale, the mega super climax—everything you've been waiting for is happening now! The stage is set, the stakes are higher than ever, and the drama is reaching supernova levels of intensity! The prelude—The cat-down to chaos! Meow! Get ready!
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The girls finally arrived outside an old-fashioned wooden house, surrounded by overgrown plants and emitting an unusual odour. Such an atmosphere was to be expected, given that ghosts, as the saying goes, didn't indulge in bathing rituals.
Eliza, Lillian, Larisa, and Ashlyn loitered outside the haunted cat house. Its weathered façade exuded an eerie charm, making Eliza hesitate. "Should we knock?" she asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and apprehension. "It seems rude to go inside without doing so first."
"Did you knock when you came here before with Kai?"
"Yes, we knocked on all the doors and windows until the door creaked open."
"The door opened?! So a person... a ghost... a ghost person opened it for you?!"
Eliza gulped, her mind not previously registering who might have opened the door. "Do you think a ghost did it?!" she asked nervously. "I'm not sure I want to go in if there's a ghost person inside."
Lillian turned to Larisa and said, "Could you please go and check if this place is ghost-person-free and safe for us?"
Larisa hovered around, cleared her throat, and smiled. "O K A Y! I will be happy to oblige... because..." She whispered the rest of the sentence under her breath. "I sooo get to be the first to see the cat today! Giggly-boo." In a flash, she zipped through the wall of the house and was gone.
Ashlyn, with an aristocratic air, disdainfully expressed, "Must you, my dear starrlings, persist in such a clamorous display? I have matters to attend to."
"But this is what we all came here for!" Eliza exclaimed, but Ashlyn elegantly waved her off.
Lillian and Eliza waited in dignified silence.
After ten minutes, Eliza pondered, "Maybe Larisa got lost..."
Twenty more minutes passed.
"I'm not so sure," she said hesitantly, casting a quick glance at their surroundings before realising she had made a boo-boo. With an exasperated sigh, Eliza continued, "We... we are at the correct address. It's just that this seems to be the... ummm... exterior bathroom. I mean, it's like an old-fashioned outdoor toilet, some kind of shed. This is the spot we're supposed to be." She gestured for Lillian to turn around. Both of them pivoted 180 degrees, fixing their gaze on the house just two yards in front of them.
As soon as she said this, Larisa zipped out and announced, "Sorry, not a cat or anything! I didn't see any ghosts. All I found was a big cupboard with a round opening at the top, and it was full of goo! I think we need to check..."
Eliza cut her off and pointed to the house in front of her: "This is the building where the ghost cat is."
Larisa giggled and exclaimed, "Woooahaa!! This place looks... sooooo much better! It's like a holiday resort compared to that place."
Ashlyn caught wind of Larisa saying it resembled a "holiday resort." Regrettably, she also caught wind from the exterior bathroom, which smelt worse than from Eliza's less favourable side—a metaphorical dark side of the galaxy.
Ashlyn scrutinised the disgustingly grimy, utterly squalid old building with a mixture of horror and disbelief, unable to fathom any of it. "If..." Ashlyn began with a refined grace, "If this happened to be where lost starrs chose to spend their holidays, kindly refrain from extending an invitation to me, okay?"
She let out an exaggerated "blargh" sound before casting a disdainful glance at all three girls. She retrieved a bottle of perfume from her bag and began spraying the outside of the toilet door. With no intention of entering, she nonchalantly stood there, leisurely covering the door with the fragrant mist.
The excessive spraying caused the remaining paint on the door to peel off and cascade down.
Lillian whispered, "Eliza... phish... isn't that the perfume we recently promoted for her in the photos we modelled a few hours... moments ago?"
"Oh, yet so it was, Lilly-kins. Whimsical Mist, was it not? It's the perfect atmosphere for the Mist of the Whims. Just look at all the existing mist swirling around this place."
"But... what about the perfume removing the paint from that door?"
Eliza explained, "It was a multi-purpose product. Many items these days possessed secret abilities not advertised. That was what made them so fun. Just like how Mentos and Coke could add a fizzy twist to your drinks, people bought them for the unexpected surprises they brought."
Ashlyn delicately coughed, her tone refined and elegant. "Starr-lights among the smog, I implored you, desist from producing any further odours. I have matters to attend to, and your emissions proved to be rather distracting."
"You won't be doing a live stream for your StarrGazers? They haven't seen your live stream for... a while then. I thought that was what you wanted to do."
Ashlyn quickly scanned the dilapidated house with its green, mouldy makeover and then shifted her attention to the outside toilet, where the paint was dripping down like green goo. She grimaced and exclaimed, "Eww, no. This is what you wanted to do, Starrling Eliza. Now, Starrling, you got your wish, the one you made upon shooting Starr. You go ahead and record the animal, whatever kind it is. I need to poke the beer, as they say. Figuratively, of course. I would never actually drink a nasty substance like beer."
Ashlyn, ensconced in the digital realm of her phone, inadvertently bypassed our company once more.
Lillian had felt confused and had to ask, "What did she just say? Something about beer and poking?"
"Lilly-poo, you really, really needed to listen more carefully... it is crystal-clear!"
By the utterly blank expression on her face, she could tell that she didn't understand, while Larisa worn very intrigued, fascinated look on her face, as if she were waiting for Eliza to continue and explain.
Eliza let out a sigh before tapping away on her phone. Her expression was focused, but then she contorted her face as if she'd just sucked a wasp from a lemon. With childlike movements, she began tapping on the screen as if finger painting. Gradually, the taps became more rapid and intense, as if she were trying to contact the underworld through Morse code. The rhythm of the taps evolved into a crescendo resembling the tune of 'Günther's 'Ding Dong,' and then she announced, "Okay, see this?" She held the phone towards them before adding, "Look! Her Stargazers..." she felt weird saying that word out loud, "are currently immersed in online disputes, debating the superiority of her two latest outfits compared to the initial one. Yours truly, Ms. Ashlyn Starr, is the puppet master behind all this, fuelling the conflict."
"Oh... why? Aren't they all her fans?"
"Of course they are, but this arguing increases engagement for her eBunnee page and fans, making her outfits a popular topic for discord. They are all declaring war on each other tomorrow in 'The Mask' event."
"No wonder she wants no part in the event tomorrow, with everything happening."
"Nah, she just doesn't want to ruin her hair, Lilly-fool. I'm sure she, we, or I have already told you this... MANY times."
Larisa glanced at the comments from people arguing and noticed an avatar of one user. She said, "She is pretty...," then paused to add, "Oh, look at her follower count... maybe she isn't so pretty after all."
Eliza said, "Ahem, they have taste, but I wouldn't call any of these people pretty; otherwise, they would be promoting clothes as well."
Larisa enthusiastically nodded. "I think Lillian is much prettier, and she has sooo many more followers than these people. My precious Lilly, Miss Famous Bunny Girl! I am F O R E V E R her ghost guardian, and she is my puppet master, heehee he."
Her eyes filled with wonderment, fixated on me as if I were the only person in the world who truly mattered to her, and that I was the most important person in her... afterlife, accompanied by her sly smile. Each time our eyes met, she tilted her head playfully, creating an enchanting connection between us.
Lillian couldn't help but blush. She knew Larisa didn't understand the words she had just said. It was mega adorable, but it reminded her of how beautiful Larisa was. She saw Larisa, no longer hovering outside the toilet. An enchanting presence enveloped the surroundings, prompting Lillian to move gracefully towards Larisa. Her focus was fixed on Larisa's glistening silver eyes, resembling those of a celestial being. They were eyes of affection and fascination. They sent an electric thrill through Lillian's veins. Each sparkle on Larisa's skin sent shivers down Lillian's spine. She found herself pacing forward, as if entranced. She was irresistibly drawn to kiss her.
A profound electric jolt surged through Lillian, triggering a vivid memory of the first time she felt the urge to kiss Larisa—when she stumbled in front of Eliza and Kai. Coming to a sudden halt, she met Larisa's gaze in front of the external toilet, where green paint goo dripped down. Lillian decided it wasn't worth the risk of ending up in the toilet. Someday, she vowed to find a way to make physical contact with Larisa's ghostly, non-physical body—without needing to hoist her up and zip her through walls. She yearned to make the first move, to make it intimate. But how could she accomplish that? There had to be a way, a time, and a moment with all the stars aligned.
"Yak yak yak yak!" abruptly interrupted our staring contest. We both stopped and looked at Eliza.
"Will you two stop being idiots? We're supposed to be live-streaming! Remember the ghost doggo we planned to feature?" Eliza said, irritation lacing her voice.
"I thought you said it was a catto," I remarked.
"Catto or doggo... whatever," Eliza replied with an annoyed eye roll.
"Definitely one of the two," Larisa asserted.
"Catto or doggo... actually, let me think. I believe it was a catto. Let me check the stream I did yesterday again," Eliza suggested. "I'll confirm it."
"Ugh, seriously? How 'bout we take a whopping walk two yards forward and use our legit eyes to look at it!" I huffed, visibly annoyed.
They all nodded in agreement.
The girls made their way inside, all but Ashlyn, who was doing whatever on her phone outside. Their attention was drawn to the appearance of a ghost cat, prompting brief smiles all around. It was short-lived, as their focus was immediately lost when they stared at the door. Lillian, curious, enquired, "Who opened the door?"
"You left it open?!"