Unfinished Business [Fanfiction]

Saturday. One day where she won’t face the horror of it all.

It felt so quick. Last week, her life was normal. Now she was scared to even go to the bathroom alone because the ghost Lucia might push her head in the toilet bowl or anything similar, or her bloody pieces being shoved in the cupboard along with the other spices. Maybe make her head stuck in the drawer, or she’d stuff her in a drawer, which is obviously much worse.

She shook her head before the thoughts get more morbid. She focused on the paper before her. Before Blake got injured, he had given her the remaining part of the essay. She was correcting it now with correction fluid pen, erasing any mistakes or any sentence and word which Blake had accidentally repeated. Blake has screwed-up grammar in writing… she thought as for the tenth time, he wrote “Hitman” instead of “Hitler” and Lucia covered it with the white liquid with annoyance.

After a few hours, Lucia finds herself lying in her bed, with her blouse unbuttoned, with her socks still on. She was lazy to remove it and more especially, she was tired and feeling sticky she’d rather not remove it that sweat all over her bed sheets. She was so tired; she wanted to close her eyes. She was sleepy, but she fights the droopy feeling on her eyes….

Ding… dong…

“Oh, a guest this early?” She stood up, trying her best not to topple over. She walked over the door and opened it, then went wiggling over the hallway as she answers the front door.

Ding… dong…

“Ahh, coming!” She was wobbling as her sleepy daze overcame her, trying her best to stand straight. As she approaches the door, she reached for the doorknob and opened it to see…

“Lee?”

“Uhh, hi.” Lee stammered between words before saying, “I just thought I can help with you with the essay.” He accidentally looked on what it seems to be a disoriented Lucia, still wearing her socks and with an unbuttoned blouse. Realizing this, Lucia quickly turned her back to Lee and buttoned her blouse shyly. After a few seconds, she faced Lee and apologized. “Hey, come in. I’ll get you some cookies.”

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He looked different; she thought to herself as she got out the cookie jar from the drawer and gave some to Lee. He was wearing a totally different shirt that what he usually wears. It is still red, but there is faint embroidery of dragons in the side and there is a semicircle of black from his collar to his chest, like a large collar. His sleeves are looser and are bordered in a black embroidered pattern. He somewhat looked more… formal.

“What’s with the fancy shirt?” She asked, sitting down in the little sofa opposite the one where Lee is sitting. “You looked like someone who got pulled out fresh from an ancient Chinese palace.” Lee laughed softly, getting a cookie from the jar and nibbling on it. “Nothing,” he says in reply. “I sort of needed to attend to one of my father’s businesses, and that’s pretty much formal. So I have to dress up traditionally, like our family’s tradition.” He smiled faintly as Lucia’s eyes widened a little to this. “Your dad makes you do that?” She asked, surprised. “Yeah. Almost all the time too,” Lee replied.

I’m sensing something strange again, Lucia thought. Usually, he tries keeping the conversation going...

“So, come on! Let’s get going!” She said, gesturing to the stairs that leads to the rooms. As she happily skipped up the stairs, Lee trailed behind her with emotionless eyes, yet he has a smile on his face, telling something else…

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“Okay, here we are,” she said, gesturing inside her bedroom as she opens the door. Lee gets in and looks in every detail, the bed sheets, the pillow, the calendar with drawings in it. Even the scattered essay papers over her bed. He was eyeing each of it like he hasn’t seen it before.

“Why on your bedroom?” Lee asked innocently, blushing a little. “Neh, it’s too hot in the living room,” she replied, pulling the collar of the blouse to loosen it a little. “It’s a lot hotter there, you know. Rgh, why is the weather so warm…” She approached an electric fan near her desk and turns it on. Afterwards, she gestured towards the study table. “Now, shall we start?”

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Her head was over his lap. After the proofreading, she was sleeping soundly, and Lee had made it that she’d sleep in his side. No thoughts come in mind, yet his head seems to be sorting all happenings.

This is supposed to be my chance, he thought. If only I wasn’t so mad at her, I’d be killing her now…

Then, he saw it. The cutter at her desk was beside the set of glues and rulers. He was about to grab it, until a searing headache struck him. He’s fighting back! And he’s not giving up until he gets back his body!

“Get out of my body, you damn ghost!” She heard his voice, shouting so loudly against the walls of his head. This borrowed body – this won’t last. She has to give it back.

“No,” she replied skeptically. “Lucia, get out of my body! Get out!” he shouted, and shouted, yet all she did was laugh. “You fool. You let your guard down. I won’t be returning this until my goal is finished.” Lucia—the ghost inside Lee’s body—grabbed the cutter, and poised it at the sleeping girl beside her. “I’ll kill her before you can even do anything,” she says. “And you’ll be blamed for this.”
“Why you—“ Suddenly, she felt a searing pain in her head. It was from Lee’s body, but she felt it too. She heard the spirit inside her – the Lee Zhuyuan where she “borrowed” this body—winces, yet he was laughing silently. “You forced me to do this,” he told her. “I can hurt you. I can even kill you. Get out or I’ll kill you, in this instant.”

And she left, with the cutter still on Zhuyuan’s hand.

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Lucia opened her eyes, and found herself in Lee’s lap. His head was dropped down. He fell asleep too… but then, she was surprised when she saw a cutter on his hand.

What is he gonna do with it?

Suddenly, Lee woke up and as soon as he rubs out the sleepiness in his eyes, his eyes were trained to Lucia.

“Uhm, why are you looking at me like that?” Lucia asks confusingly, with the cutter in hand. And as soon as Lee saw the cutter, he countered her question. “Did you see her?” he asked. “Who?” Lucia asked, having no idea what he is talking about. And then, one thought hit her.

She did it once to Jun. And now she did it again on Lee. Who will be next? Who will be the next one she’ll possess?

She wasn’t seen by most people, so she was really happy as she skipped around the campus. It feels so good walking like this again! She thought to herself as she happily skipped around the hallways, passing through people, and thinking of the best ways she can play pranks to the other girls in the restroom.

As she entered the restroom, she was about to scare the girls by twisting the faucet when she heard people talking about something.

“Hey, you hear about Senior Raphael participating in the local baseball tournament for the sports fest?”
“Ehh, really? I thought he was in basketball… What will happen in the basketball team?”
“There is no basketball in the fest! They removed it to give the team more time to practice…”
“Ahh… but… Senior can play baseball? Really?”
“Yes! I heard he was pretty good too. They’ll have a practice game later! Want to watch?”

Hey, the name “Raphael” sounds familiar, she thought. Finally, her hand that was set on the faucet moved in a way that the faucet seemed to have opened in its own.

“You saw that?”
“What?”
“The faucet opened in its own…”

The girls looked at the faucet. Happy with the attention, she twisted the faucet again. And as the girls ran away in fear, the ghostly image of Lucia appeared before the mirror. “Seems like I’ll get my revenge to that Lucia after all…”

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“Ahhh!” A group of girls ran in the room in fear, completely destroying the so-called “romantic” mood Lee is trying to conjure by playing Lucia “Sweets and Bitters” in the guitar. “Tiptoeing in high heels, the right height for a—“ Lee turned around to look at the girls who were panting from their running in the stairs just to swiftly go back into the room. “Wait a second, Lucia,” he said to Lucia, standing up and walking towards the girls. As soon as he approached one of them, he asked, “What’s wrong? All of you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“We have!” one of them exclaimed between exasperated panting. “We were talking about the sportsfest when we saw the faucet opened and closed… on its own…” the girl released a squeal of fright and ran to her desk, covering her face. The rest of the girls just stared at her.

Lucia stared at Lee. “Is it about that ghost again?” she mouthed to Lee. He nodded in reply. “Can we go to that CR? I want to see something.”

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“What is it again, Zhuyuan?” Lucia shouted angrily, disturbing the other girls in the CR who’s obviously uncomfortable with Lee’s presence in the CR. Lee was surprised; Lucia never called him in his real name before. “You’re telling me I’m all the fault of all of these, right? Why? Why now? We’ve collected a lot of clues now, and you’re telling me the only way for her to shut up is me?” Lee waved his hands in defense, and smiled sheepishly. “No, no, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying we can use you to convince her to be in peace… something like that.”

“Are you crazy?” Lucia shouted back, obviously unconvinced. The smile from Lee’s face faded to a frown. “He had possessed Jun, possessed you. He pushed Blake on the stairs, almost dying. You think she’ll listen to a bunch of silly words? You know she’s not that dumb.”

“But what should we do aside from that? Kill you off in front of her? You also know your death won’t do.” Lee leaned his arm in the mirror, and stared at his own reflection, almost a bit too sadly. He suddenly looked down into the sink, yet his next words were towards her. “You know, as much as I hate her and wanted to get rid of her, we can’t simply do what she wants. That’s, like, the oldest trick in the book.”

“Why does she hate me?” Lucia asked, watching as the last girl from inside the cubicles went out and walked out from the CR. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m just investigating about her and why does she haunts the school. And after we started our investigation, she started ruining my life by possessing you, possessing Jun… and she started binding whatever I have by starting with Blake… who will be next?”

“You called her here,” Lee said in reply, “when we started the investigation. You remember? She only appeared and disappeared to those other persons who saw her. But when we started investigating I guess she was really mad at us when we sort of unhinged that teacher and when I went into the dam and—“

“What? You went in the dam?” Lucia was surprised with what Lee had said. Why haven’t she known it? Lee didn’t even tell her. And so she finds herself hating Lee and also fearing for what will eventually happen to him because of that. She didn’t actually know she was worrying about Lee until he was staring at her with a look that almost says, “What is it that you are thinking?”

“I had wanted to talk to her,” he explains. “I thought that it will end this entire ruckus by talking to her…” he stared at the colorful rag beside the sink, as if he’s trying to choose his words carefully. “But I only made things worse.”

Lucia crouched down to meet his face, saying, “It’s not your fault. We only did what we think is right. Isn’t it?” She looked out, and realizing the time, she said, “Hey, hey. We can continue the investigation now. We can just steer clear from this kind of topic now, shall we?” She smiled, trying her best not to show Lee she’s just faking it to make him feel better. He smiled back in reply. “Okay. Whatever makes you happy?” Lucia giggled, “Sure.”
And as she turns around, he only thought of one thing.

“Yes, that’s it. I’ll do whatever makes her happy.”

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She had looked out into the open soccer field. There are some people beside the destroyed remains of the old soccer goalposts, chatting to each other as they look at the male students prepare for the practice game, and some students who are turning the soccer field into a makeshift diamond baseball field. She was happy. She’s glad that she’d finally see a baseball game. For a long time, she hasn’t seen one. She was an avid fan of both baseball and softball, and even though she won’t get to play a game, she’d even get to watch.

And then, almost too suddenly, she saw a man that seems to be the coach, saying, “Come on, guys! The game is about to start!” Excitedly, she walked around the game area. She never did this before, but maybe that was because she was afraid of being hit by a baseball in a face. Now she won’t even feel it if it will even hit.

But then as she walked through the sports field, she saw someone. A guy holding a metal bat, about to swing to hit the ball.

“Go, Raphael-senpai!” She heard a familiar voice from the third floor of the nearest building in the soccer field. As she turns around to look, it was Jun and Lucia, viewing the game from the ledge opposite their room. “Hit that ball greatly! You can do it!” Jun shouted, and Lucia seemed to be embarrassed of what Jun is doing. As soon as she shouted that, her heart felt something. It wasn’t her feelings, but Lucia’s, that girl she hated.

“She had loved him.”

And her face distorted to a smile that would change everything...

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“Senior Raphael!” Lucia ran from the entrance of the building to the area where the other players are. “Oh, Lucia! Nice seeing you~” Raphael exclaimed as he saw Lucia skipping towards him. “Hey, guys,” he said to his mates, “I’ll just go somewhere private with this girl, okay?” The other students suddenly started teasing her. “Mahjong, I see!” one of them said. “Lucia’s getting embarrassed, you know. Shut it up! You guys are perverts...” Raphael defended, laughing a little. He carried his bat with him, and pulled Lucia to the bio-garden behind the laboratories.

As they walk, Lucia was panting, despite the slow pace of steps they’re taking. “What is it that you wanted to tell me, Senior?” Raphael laughed in a way Lucia hasn’t expected. It was a genuine laugh, and as he turns back to Lucia, his eyes glowed. “You’ll see!”
And as they arrive, Lucia turns around to look at something that caught her eye…

“You’ll regret you’ve come here, Lucia Nicol.”

“Ehh?” Lucia turned back to Raphael, and all she saw was a glint of his reddish hair as he swings his bat to her…

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"Why did you do this to me? Why, you, of all people? Didn't you realize I had loved you?"

“That’s the problem, Lucia. You loved him. But, haven’t you noticed? I love you, more than how you love him.”

Lucia laughed sheepishly, unable to answer anything else. “I don’t really know that song much, but let me hear it from you!” Lee laughed softly in reply. “Sure, but you better sing the girl parts!”

And then, Lee’s hand stuck the guitar strings and he broke out in song.

He didn’t respond. He was sleeping soundly, and on his right hand, he was holding hers. As she stared up, a stinging headache overcame her.