##PROLOGUE
May was probably the worst month of my entire life. I already knew I also liked men, and so did my family. They’re cool with it, but I started feeling like "being a man" just wasn't right to me.
To top that off, mom died in an accident before I had the chance to find the words to describe myself with, let alone to come out to her.
After all that bullshit, I wanted something to take my mind off of everything. I needed something.
But since a weeklong booze bender didn’t help, I had to turn to something stronger. So, you know. Drugs. As one does.
In retrospect, I probably should have done more research on how to buy drugs safely because right now I am being mugged.
"Give me your money!" the first mugger barks.
At this point, I’m just rolling with the bullshit.
"(font:"Courier New")[What’s going on here?]"
A voice interrupts my muggers. A voice speaking fluent English with a British accent.
"English?" the first mugger grunts.
"What the fuck?" growls the second mugger.
The stranger steps into our sight. He’s a pale white man, around my age. He’s very slender and dressed in a thick black trenchcoat, even in this heat.
"(font:"Courier New")[Are you beating someone up? Did he deserve it?]"
"Speak Finnish, you clown," the first mugger snarls at him.
"(font:"Courier New")[Yeah yeah, spurdo spärde to you too. Did he deserve it?]"
"Do fuck off, dude. This doesn’t concern you."
Mugger number two steps away from me and towards the newcomer, who eyes the man up and down, then looks at me, down on the ground. His eyes scan my face and he probably sees how scared I look. The trenchcoat man looks back to the muggers, at the knives they have in their hands, ready to use them.
"(font:"Courier New")[Are you mugging him? That’s illegal.]"
"I said fuck off!"
Mugger number two swings the knife at the newcomer. I don’t know what happens, but suddenly the mugger is on the ground on his back.
"What the fuck??"
"(font:"Courier New")[Hey come on. I’m just trying to be a good, peaceful guy here.]"
"You fucked with the wrong guy, pisshead."
Mugger 1 attacks the stranger and in a flash, he’s on the ground as well.
"Whatever! This fag isn’t worth it!"
The muggers scramble back on their feet and run. The stranger laughs and offers a hand to me. I grab it and he pulls me up.
Now that I can see him more clearly, I realize his eyes are light blue. His hair is dirty blonde and casually tousled. He has a little stubble going on his jaw and his smile is relaxed and almost contagious.
"(font:"Courier New")[Did you see that? I just flipped them over and they run. Pathetic,]" he chuckles.
"(font:"Courier New")[I-I did… Thank you,]" I reply, stunned.
The stranger blinks. "(font:"Courier New")[Huh? Oh. Right, they were mugging you. Haha, no problem, mate!]" He scratches his jaw and gives me another scrutinising look. "(font:"Courier New")[What are you doing here anyway? You’re dressed way too fine to be in a gang.]"
Ah, fuck.
[[> I was buying drugs]]
[[> I was taking a walk]]"(font:"Courier New")[Wait a second… Are you… what was the nick… LightEnvelopingDark or whatever the fuck?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Y-yes?]"
The stranger laughs again. "(font:"Courier New")[No way. I’m dealing to //you//? Is this your first time buying?]"
I feel myself blush and I nod. "(font:"Courier New")[We might have to call the deal off, though. The muggers took my money.]"
The stranger scowls. "(font:"Courier New")[That’s unfortunate. After I came all the way here too…]"
He claps his hands suddenly, making me jump.
"(font:"Courier New")[How about this? I give you the shit and you repay me with a favour later.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[…Sure.]"
As soon as the word leaves my mouth, I realize that it might not be a good idea to leave a drug dealer with an IOU.
Too late now, I guess.
"(font:"Courier New")[Cool cool cool. Name’s Nigel, by the way.]"
"I'm Valo."
We shake hands.
"(font:"Courier New")[An absolute pleasure to meet you, Valo,]" Nigel says with a relaxed smile, which then turns to mild confusion "(font:"Courier New")[Valo… Valo… Did I get that right? Vaaaloo…]"
[[And that’s how I met Nigel.]]#BACKLIGHT
##CHAPTER 1: DRUG DEALZ
Somehow Nigel and I settled into a weird nonverbal agreement, where Nigel would randomly call me up to help with his errands, which he then rewards me with drugs or experimental tech.
At some point, I had become his go-to handyman.
It’s… a weird relationship, but it works. At least it gets me out of my apartment and gives me something to do and think. Other than festering in depression in my apartment at every waking moment.
Nigel is actually pretty cool now that I’ve gotten to know him.
//(font:"Courier New")[xxEndOfAnEraxx: Hey m8! We have deals! Meet up at my place.
LightEnvelopingDark: Alright. Be there in 15.
xxEndOfAnEraxx: Good boy. I’ll give you a cut from the stock.
LightEnvelopingDark: Hell yeah!]//
I get my shoes and head out to Nigel’s place.
After I make sure my hair isn’t too big of a mess, I press the doorbell and wait for Nigel to open the door.
… There’s no answer.
I press the doorbell again.
I hear clattering inside the flat and Nigel finally opens the door, looking frazzled.
"(font:"Courier New")[Fucking… I don’t have time for getting fucking doors. I need someone here to do it for me,]" he grumbles. His face brightens up in a huge smile when he looks up at me, though. "(font:"Courier New")[Anyway! Valo! My man of the hour! Come in, come in!]"
He steps aside and lets me in. I follow him into the kitchen.
"(font:"Courier New")[What are we selling today?]" I ask.
"(font:"Courier New")[Cocaine. Boring, but it works.]"
I huff a laugh. God, Nigel is so cool. Only he could describe cocaine as “boring”.
"(font:"Courier New")[I already have a few lines out for us before we hit the road,]" Nigel says when we get to the kitchen.
"(font:"Courier New")[Awesome.]"
Nigel grins and motions towards the table. There are four lines of cocaine on the pristine surface, along with a plastic card, a five euro bill and minigrip bags of the white powder in varying sizes. "(font:"Courier New")[After you.]"
I nod and snort one of the lines. The powder stings and burns my sinuses. I suffocate a cough and sniffle when my nose feels like it’s going to start leaking.
While I’m recovering from the hit, Nigel snorts two lines.
"(font:"Courier New")[You gonna take that?]" he asks, pointing at the last line.
"(font:"Courier New")[I’ll take it slowly. you can have it if you want.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Don’t mind if I do.]" He finishes off the last line and snorts like a huge dog, shaking his head. "(font:"Courier New")[Whoof! Hits you like a truck! A sweet, sweet truck.]" He then claps his hands. "(font:"Courier New")[Take the bags. You’ll be in charge of the merchandise tonight.]"
I nod and carefully stuff as many bags into my pockets as I can. I’m only wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but I manage to fit all of them, except for the biggest bag.
"(font:"Courier New")[I guess I’ll have to take that, then. Since I’ll be wearing my coat and all,]" Nigel says, eyeing the bag in question.
He grabs the bag and we head to his door. Nigel shrugs his coat on and slips the bag into one of its inner pockets.
"(font:"Courier New")[Are you sure you want to wear that? It’s like a million degrees outside,]" I ask.
Nigel grins and flicks finger guns at me. My breath hitches.
"(font:"Courier New")[Check this out! I modified it!]" He opens the coat, showing me a network of plastic tubes inside the coat.
"(font:"Courier New")[What’s that?]"
Nigel grins. "(font:"Courier New")[Try it!]"
I blink, but hesitantly touch one of the tubes. It’s pleasantly cool. "(font:"Courier New")[Wow, what?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[I built a cooling slash heating system inside. I’ll be nice and chill during the summer heat and warm and toasty during winter colds. And always styling,]" Nigel says, sounding like he's setting a sales pitch.
"(font:"Courier New")[That’s awesome…]" I breathe, dazed. Oh my god, he’s so smart!
Suddenly I realize how close I am to him. My hands are almost touching his chest. My heartbeat speeds up.
"(font:"Courier New")[I can make you one, too. If you want. Might take some time though.]"
"Mhm…"
Nigel gives me a grin and tilts his head like he knows what I’m thinking. "(font:"Courier New")[We should go.]"
I snap my hand back and start stammering. "(font:"Courier New")[Y-yeah!]"
We head out, my heart still pounding. Nigel leads us to the centre, to a nightclub. We get drinks and sit down at a table to wait for customers. As we’re sitting, Nigel starts talking.
"(font:"Courier New")[Did you know that there is a haunted tree in this city?]"
The club is kind of loud, so I lean closer to him to hear what he’s saying. I can almost immediately smell his deodorant or cologne. That, with the pounding music in the club, is making me dizzy.
"(font:"Courier New")[What? No. Where?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Ah, shit mate,]" Nigel says, running his hand through his hair. "(font:"Courier New")[I don’t fucking remember. But it was like. There was this guy who broke out German prisoners of war during the second world war, right?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Uh-huh.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[He let them escape, right? And he got caught for doing it and he got hung. He was hung on this one specific tree. And he was buried under the same tree. After he had been buried, people allegedly saw him standing by the tree, at night. People said that that tree was haunted by that guy’s ghost or something,]" Nigel's voice goes down to a lower register, just to drive home the spooky atmosphere of the story. "(font:"Courier New")[Eventually, his body was taken to a real graveyard, though,]" he continues, in his normal voice again.
At some point, my gaze had fallen to Nigel’s lips. "(font:"Courier New")[That’s wild,]" I mumble.
Nigel leans forward, eyes shining. "(font:"Courier New")[Right?! But the haunting stopped when the guy was buried properly. Or something.]" He sighs and crosses his arms. "(font:"Courier New")[Shame… It would’ve been cool to see.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[There might be other haunted places in Oulu,]" I say, as thin consolation.
Nigel hums and lets his head roll back. The way his neck arches makes his Adam's apple stand out and it’s… distractingly sexy. God, this would make such a beautiful, sensual photo… Luckily, someone approaches us to buy a few bags and distracts me from the distraction.
When the customer leaves, Nigel doesn’t speak. I should keep the conversation up.
[[> Current projects]]
[[> Sudden interest in ghosts]]"(font:"Courier New")[Wh… Have you been working on something cool lately?]" I ask.
Nigel frowns. "(font:"Courier New")[Not really, just the usual repair work,]" he says, "(font:"Courier New")[I’ve been in some kind of slump as of late.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Aw, I’m sorry to hear that,]" I say, "(font:"Courier New")[Maybe you need to work on something new.]"
Nigel shrugs. "(font:"Courier New")[You may be right.]" He grins at me and my breath hitches again.
"(font:"Courier New")[You always know just want to say,]" Nigel says.
[[Another person comes to buy a bag and interrupts us. He gets his baggy and leaves, leaving me and Nigel alone again.]]"(font:"Courier New")[So… ghosts? IS that a… an interest?]" I ask.
Nigel laughs. "(font:"Courier New")[I guess you could say that. I’ve recently gotten into supernatural and occult shit.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Really? I thought you were a logical… a man of logic.]"
Nigel barks a laugh again. "(font:"Courier New")[Hah! I am! I’m just interested. Fascinated. I don’t think I wanna, like, get healing crystals.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[How so?]"
Nigel grins and winks at me. The sight sends an electric jolt through my spine. "(font:"Courier New")[I might have an idea for a project, if my hypothesis is right.]"
[[Another person comes to buy a bag and interrupts us. He gets his baggy and leaves, leaving me and Nigel alone again.]]As we speak, I find it’s harder and harder to pay attention to what he’s saying. My eyes keep slipping to his lips. Luckily, business picks up and clusters of people show up to buy our shit. Most of the stock is sold and Nigel and I are by ourselves again.
Neither of us speaks, which is fine by me. I need to cool my head. The music abruptly shifts in the dancefloor and I hear people cheer wildly. Over the crowd’s screaming, I distantly hear a new DJ greeting the crowd. "GOOOOOD EVENING, FOLKS! HOW ARE WE TONIGHT?"
The crowd cheers.
"Awesome! I’m DJ Baridi, check me out on Soundcloud after you go home. Are you ready to DANCE??"
The crowd cheers, louder.
"I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!"
The crowd cheers even louder.
"AWESOME! LET’S GO!!!"
The bass drops and the crowd goes wild.
"(font:"Courier New")[What’s that about?]" Nigel asks.
"(font:"Courier New")[No idea.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[DJ Baridi?]" Nigel humms, "(font:"Courier New")[I’ve heard that name before.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[I haven’t.]"
Nigel rubs his jaw. "(font:"Courier New")[Wanna go check it out?]"
My cheeks heat up immediately when my mind imagines what it must be like to dance with Nigel.
"(font:"Courier New")[Yes.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Awesome. Let’s go.]"
He grabs my arm and pulls me to the dancefloor. I look up at the podium and see a muscular, dark-skinned man fitting neon green headphones on his ears. His skin is so dark that he almost completely blends into the shadows. The only things giving some hint of his form are his neon green tank top, neon green baseball cap, the lights from his soundboard and the numerous glowing tattoos on his thick arms. He’s far away and it’s dark, but the small light sources slightly illuminating his face give me a hint of an African face.
The set is really catchy and I find myself swaying to it. I turn to Nigel in the slim case that he would be down to dance, but he’s already grinding against some white blonde chick.
…I mean, I expected something like this, but irritation and disappointment bubble in my chest anyway. I have to look away.
I guess I’ll dance alone, then.
I sway along with the music half-heartedly, trying to ignore the jealousy gnawing at my insides.
Someone in front of me stumbles and collides into me, pushing me backwards. I stumble against someone, who grabs my arms to keep me upright.
"Sorry!" I yelp.
"You okay?"
I turn to look at the stranger and, oh fuck, it’s-
"Jahid?"
"Hi!" Jahid smiles.
Or that’s what I assume he said. The music is loud.
"Hi. I didn’t know you were into clubbing."
Jahid smiles crookedly. His hands slide down to hover over my elbows. "I’m not. I’m here to meet up with friends."
"Oh? Where are they?"
I look around to see if there are people who look like they’d be with Jahid, but my eyes just land on Nigel, still dancing with the same girl. My irritation flares up again.
I glance back at Jahid, who’s still holding my arms. He’s also looking towards Nigel’s direction. His eyebrows are somewhat raised before he notices me looking at him and turns back to me. "Do you want to dance? With me."
I mean, since Nigel is busy… "Sure."
Jahid smiles and pulls me close.
Oh. Oh wow. His eyes are really brown up close. I mean, I always knew he was handsome but //damn//.
He starts to sway to the beat and I follow him. We’re pressed chest to chest as we dance until the set ends and the DJ is switched.
"(font:"Courier New")[Hey, Valo!]" Nigel appears from the crowd with the girl he had been dancing with. "(font:"Courier New")[This bird says she can get us backstage to meet the DJ!]"
The chick waves her hand and smiles widely. "(font:"Courier New")[Tatu’s a friend of mine,]" she says. Her eyes land on Jahid. "(font:"Courier New")[Hi, Jahid! You’re here too!]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Nice to see you too, Ivy,]" Jahid smiles.
Nigel looks between the two. "(font:"Courier New")[You two know each other?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[We’re friends, yes,]" Jahid says.
"(font:"Courier New")[With each other and Tatu!]" the chick adds.
Nigel nods. "(font:"Courier New")[Uh huh… Cool. Anyway, can we get a move on? Can’t miss the afterparty, can we?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Nope! 𝅘𝅥𝅮]" the chick chirps, grabbing Nigel’s hand and pulling him through the crowd.
Jahid takes my hand and follows them. "She’s Ivy, by the way."
"Oh. My friend’s name is Nigel."
Jahid’s expression is unreadable. "How do you know him?"
"Uuh…"
Before I conjure up enough brainpower for a decent lie, we arrive at the backstage. It’s immediately more quiet than the dancehall, which I can appreciate. Or at least, until the DJ recognizes Jahid.
"(font:"Courier New")[EYYYYYYYYY!! DJ Tulut, my man!!]" he hollers and bounces up from a sofa, leaving a Southern-Asian looking person still sprawled on the sofa. He gives Jahid a huge hug and a high-five to Ivy before turning to me and Nigel. "(font:"Courier New")[New VIPs?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Yep! This is Nigel. I met him while dancing!]" She presses against Nigel’s side.
"(font:"Courier New")[Great set, mate. It was a pleasure to dance to.]"
The DJ grins widely and waves a hand. "(font:"Courier New")[Aw, shucks, thank you. Always nice to meet fans. Name’s Tatu, by the way.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Nigel May.]"
They shake hands.
"(font:"Courier New")[And this is Valo, my friend. I happened to stumble on them on the dancefloor too,]" Jahid speaks up.
"(font:"Courier New")[Hi,]" I say, "(font:"Courier New")[Awesome concert. I gotta remember to check out your SoundCloud.]"
Tatu grins and presses a hand on his chest. "(font:"Courier New")[Thank you kindly.]"
We also shake hands, and Tatu ushers us to sit down on the sofa. I get a better look at the androgynous person. They’re… stunning. Their hair is dyed dark green and they’re wearing a deep turquoise crop top and black, shiny leggings. They also have yellow hair decorations, black-and-dark-turquoise rimmed glasses, and snakebite piercings. I’m not sure if I want them or if I want to //be// them.
"(font:"Courier New")[Hi, Irantu. You and Tatu sure are attached at the hip,]" Ivy says, with a teasing tone.
The person, Irantu, scoffs with a smile. "(font:"Courier New")[How dare you. We have separate jobs.]"
Ivy just giggles and makes her way to a mini fridge in the corner, followed by Nigel.
"(font:"Courier New")[This is Irantu, my friend,]" Tatu says.
Irantu gives a small wave before turning to Jahid. "(font:"Courier New")[Jahid, so glad you could make it. How are you? Have" you made any new music?]
I grin. "(font:"Courier New")[You make music? Since when?]"
Jahid laughs uncomfortably, a warm low rumble. "(font:"Courier New")[I dabble. Tatu got me into it.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[What kind of music?]" Nigel asks.
"(font:"Courier New")[Oh, it’s kind of…]" Jahid pauses. "(font:"Courier New")[What did you call it, Tatu?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Minimalist ambience,]" Tatu says, without skipping a beat.
"(font:"Courier New")[Yeah, that.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Jahid! Drinks!]" Ivy calls out.
A can of coke sails through the air and Jahid catches it with little effort.
"(font:"Courier New")[Nice catch!]" Ivy flips Jahid a thumbs-up across the room before turning to me. "(font:"Courier New")[What about you… uh, four-eyes?]"
"Valo," Jahid and I say at the same time.
"(font:"Courier New")[Cool. Valo. What do you wanna drink, Valo?]"
I shrug. "(font:"Courier New")[Whatever has alcohol.]"
Ivy grins and winks at me. "(font:"Courier New")[I like your attitude.]"
She ducks back to the mini-fridge and digs around. Nigel doesn’t even hide staring at her ass.
I grind my teeth and look away.
"(font:"Courier New")[Cider for Valo!]"
… And almost get hit on the head by a can of cider.
Ivy screams a laugh. "(font:"Courier New")[Ahahaha! Oh my god! I’m so sorry!]"
I juggle with the can before it falls onto my lap.
"Are you okay?" Jahid asks, visibly worried.
Oh shit, Jahid saw all of that. Fucking stellar.
"Uh… yeah."
Jahid smiles and my fingers itch for a camera. This is the perfect angle for a portrait of him.
"(font:"Courier New")[God, Valo. You’re so clumsy,]" Nigel chuckles.
I grimace a smile and open the can. The can hisses and spews sticky foam on my legs, drenching my lap.
"Fuck!"
"(font:"Courier New")[Oh man, tonight is //not// your night,]" Tatu says, standing up. "(font:"Courier New")[Hold on, we have towels here somewhere…]" He leaves, followed by Jahid.
Nigel laughs and shakes his head. "(font:"Courier New")[God damn, mate. You’re making me look good by comparison.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[You’re welcome…]" I mutter, cheeks burning.
Ivy giggles and snuggles up to Nigel’s side.
Tatu and Jahid return. Jahid is holding a white towel.
"Here you go," Jahid says and holds out the towel to me.
"Thanks…"
[[I take the offered towel and start dabbing at my lap, sipping my cider with the other hand.]]Despite my now cider-smelling trousers and ruined social status within this small circle of people, a comfortable atmosphere starts manifesting. The five of us lounge about, chat and drink. Or, rather, Nigel and Ivy are talking amongst themselves while Tatu, Irantu, Jahid and I are talking amongst ourselves.
Even with the slight separation, I am painfully aware of how Ivy pressed against Nigel, and now Nigel’s arm is around her shoulders, and how his hand slightly too close to her breast.
At some point, the conversation moves on to music production and I ask to hear some of Jahid’s music. Tatu opens Jahid’s SoundCloud profile in record time.
"(font:"Courier New")[It-it’s not much, I’m just a beginner,]" Jahi says, embarrassed.
I’m not much of a music guy, but some of Jahid’s stuff sounds like the stuff you could fall asleep to. Really chill and soothing.
"(font:"Courier New")[Did you ever explain to me where Tulut comes from?]" Tatu asks.
"(font:"Courier New")[Calligraphy, right?]" I say. I know that Jahid does calligraphy as a hobby. I’ve listened to him talk about it, but I’ve forgotten most details.
"(font:"Courier New")[Yes,]" Jahid confirms, "(font:"Courier New")[Tulut is a type of Islamic calligraphy.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Huh. I had no idea that Islam had its own type of calligraphy,]" Tatu says slowly.
Jahid leans forward. "(font:"Courier New")[It does!]"
"(font:"Courier New")[How does it differ from regular calligraphy?]"
Jahid: (font:"Courier New")[Ah, well. At its core, calligraphy is an art form dealing with letters and writing.]
Jahid fixes his position, shifting to Lecture Mode. "(font:"Courier New")[Islamic calligraphy isn’t that different, but Islam has a special relationship with calligraphy. We believe that the Quran is the word of God, so Muslim scribes developed a script worthy for it. That’s how Islamic calligraphy was born. Then there are the six major scripts, each used for different functions. They can be used for copying the Quran, to write carrier pigeon messages or to write records for government documents, just to name a few.]"
And so Jahid goes on to give a brief introduction on Islamic calligraphy and its major scripts, during which I empty my cider and refill maybe three, four times? I lose count. At some point, Jahid makes a concerned comment about the pace I down my drinks at, but I shrug it off.
Jahid’s lecture is really fascinating though! I always like to listen to him talk about art in general. He always has great insight on things.
"Gentlemen, we’re about to close, so…" a club staff member interrupts us.
"Oh damn, it’s that late already?" Tatu says, stands up and claps his hands. "Alright, gang, let’s pack it up and mosey on out."
I look towards to where Nigel is sitting, only to find the sofa empty. "Where’s Nigel?"
"The blonde guy? He left with Ivy an hour ago," Irantu says.
"Oh…"
He said nothing to me when he was leaving? How didn’t I notice he was gone?
After Tatu has thanked the club staff for hosting his concert, we exit the club out on the street. The night is still somewhat warm from the heatwave, so it’s not quite enough to sober me up.
I still wish I had drunk more.
… I guess we should get to a bus stop.
Where’s the nearest bus stop again…?
I take a step and stagger a little. Whoa. I didn’t realize I was this drunk.
"Everything okay?" Jahid asks.
"Yeah, just… drunk."
Jahid looks at me for a long while. He looks worried and like he wants to say something, but doesn’t know how to put it. I realize his hands are on my arms. I get a weird sense of deja vu.
Irantu clears their throat loudly, making me and Jahid both jump. Jahid steps back away from me.
"Soooo… Bus stop?" Irantu says.
"Yes," Jahid and I say.
"(font:"Courier New")[Cool, cool, cool.] I think the nearest one is this-a-way," Tatu says and marches off.
Jahid and I follow Tatu and Irantu to the bus stop and settle to wait.
Tatu checks out the board on the stop. "The next bus comes in 30 minutes. Because it’s two in the morning."
I groan and sit down. I still can’t believe Nigel left me behind like that. He didn’t even send me a message! How didn’t I realize he was gone?
A silence stretches on between us until a huge sigh escapes me.
"Is everything okay?" Jahid asks.
Ah, shit. Jahid noticed me moping.
[[> I'm fine.]]
[[> Nigel left without me.]]"Y-yeah. Just crashing," I say, avoiding eye contact.
Jahid gives me another long, worried look.
"You know you can talk to me, right?" he says, quietly, as if he doesn’t want Tatu and Irantu to hear.
"Huh?" I grunt.
"I-I mean," Jahid hastily adds, "you don’t have to talk now, but if you need to talk to someone… You know I’m right here, right? I’m sure Lim is also worried about you, too."
Dad? Where is this-
Oh. Oh fuck.
Jahid thinks this is about mom.
Which… Yeah, it kinda //is//, but…
I just really don’t want to think about that.
Realizing that Jahid is still waiting for an answer, I just give him a noncommital hum.
[[Between the three of us falls a silence that stretches on until Tatu speaks up.]]"I just… Nigel left without saying anything to me," I say, avoiding eye contact.
Jahid blinks, looking surprised. "Oh…"
"Are you close to him?" Irantu asks.
I blink, not expecting them to speak up. "Yeah. We’re friends."
Irantu frowns. Tatu mirrors their expression.
I blink in confusion again. "What? What’s wrong?"
Irantu shakes their head. "Nothing."
The mood shifts.
I want to ask what Irantu means, but I suddenly can’t make a sound.
[[Between the three of us falls a silence that stretches on until Tatu speaks up.]]"(font:"Courier New")[… I was buying drugs. I was supposed to meet my dealer here,"] I admit.
The stranger blinks at me for an astonished second before throwing his head back and laughing loudly.
"(font:"Courier New")[Okay first off, you don’t tell people you’re buying drugs like that.]"
[[The stranger narrows his eyes at me and stares at me for a long while.]]"(font:"Courier New")[I was… taking a walk,]" I lie.
The stranger lifts his eyebrows. "(font:"Courier New")[Oh? And you chose this dank-ass gross alleyway for a bit of a jog?]"
I say nothing. He has a point.
[[The stranger narrows his eyes at me and stares at me for a long while.]]"Oh hey, the bus is coming!"
Sure enough, a bus is rattling along the road towards the stop. Finally. Jahid hails the bus and it stops for us. We climb in and collapse on the seats.
"You still live in Toppila, right?" Jahid asks me.
"Yeah."
Jahid scratches his jaw. "So we all get off before you… Text me when you get home, okay?"
"(font:"Courier New")[Sliding into the DMs,]" Tatu chuckles.
Jahid blushes. "Sh-shut up! I just want to make sure Valo gets home safely!"
"Classic Jahid. Mom friending on everyone," Irantu smiles.
"Somebody has to!"
We settle in tired silence until Tatu and Irantu get off the bus. After about ten minutes, Jahid gets a message.
"Tatu and Irantu made it home," Jahid reports.
"That’s good."
Another ten minutes pass and Jahid presses the stop button. "My stop. Remember to text me."
"I will."
Jahid stays on the bus stop and waves to me as the bus starts moving again. After about five minutes, my phone buzzes.
//Jahid Mansour: I got home safely.
Valo Huang: 👍//
Yet another ten minutes pass before I get to my stop. I get off and start walking towards my flat.
…I don’t know if it’s me being drunk and high or the heatwave or what, but the air… feels a little more solid. Like I’m moving through some really watery jelly.
Now that I’m alone, I realize how tired I am. Somehow, I manage to drag myself back to my flat. I drop my shoes near the door and shuffle in, shedding my clothes as I go.
Oh, right. I was supposed to text Jahid.
//Valo Huang: I’m home now.
Jahid Mansour: Good to hear. Drink a glass of water and take a painkiller before you go to sleep.
Jahid Mansour: I hear that helps with hangovers. I don’t drink myself, so I’m not sure.//
I smile.
//Valo Huang: I will, thanks. Goodnight.
Jahid Mansour: Goodnight, Valo.//
[[I down two glasses of water and beeline to bed. I faceplant onto my bed and fall asleep almost immediately.]]##CHAPTER 2: STREET FIGHT
I wake up, mouth dry as the Sahara. Blech.
I check my phone. It’s two in the afternoon and there’s a message from Nigel. It was sent around at 5 AM.
(font:"Courier New")[//xxEndOfAnEraxx: Report in at my place when you wake up, we have plans!!//]
Plans? I almost send him a message asking for more information, but I figure he’s probably still asleep. I guess I should have breakfast while I wait for him to get up.
… and I proceed to make absolutely no move to do so. Instead, I grab my phone again and check what’s going on on Instagram. I fuck around for a while until I get so hungry that I have to get up.
I drag myself out of the bed and get… well, calling it “breakfast” would be overly glorifying it. Even I wouldn’t call a cup of coffee and a slice of dry, untoasted bread a “breakfast”.
After I down the not-breakfast, I shower and head out. Ugh, fuck. It’s so hot that I start sweating almost immediately after stepping out. I showered for nothing.
I make a small sidetrack to a grocery store to buy a muesli bar and a protein milk shake to supplement my not-breakfast. And to give Nigel more time to wake up.
Eventually, I arrive at Nigel’s place and I ring the doorbell.
I wait.
I ring the doorbell again.
Maybe I should have called him to make sure he’s awake.
I ring the doorb-
The door opens. Behind it stands… Ivy? She’s dressed in one of Nigel’s t-shirts and her hair and makeup are a little messy.
She spent the night here.
Hm.
"Oh hey! You were with Nigel last night," she chirps, infuriatingly cheerful at such an early hour.
She steps aside to let me in, rubbing her forehead. "Your name… God, don’t tell me, I do remember it!"
I let her struggle as I follow her to the living room.
"It was like… a noun, right?" She taps her forehead and scrunches her nose. "Gaah! I’ll remember it!" She blinks. "Wait, you’re here for Nigel, right? Let me go wake him up."
She disappears into Nigel’s bedroom and I hear a muffled conversation.
I sit down to wait, trying to push the growing jealousy down. I’ve never seen Nigel’s bedroom and she prances in like she owns the place.
"(font:"Courier New")[VALO!! //That’s// their name!]" I hear Ivy cry out.
…At least she got my pronouns right, //I guess//.
Some more conversation before Ivy steps out with a wide grin. "He’s up now, //Valo//. Give him a moment to get dressed."
"Okay. Awesome," I grind out.
Ivy walks into the kitchen and I wait again.
Luckily it doesn’t take long for Nigel to stumble out of his bedroom, wearing an old worn t-shirt and boxers. His eyes are bleary and hair tousled.
C-cute…
"(font:"Courier New")[Valo, what. What the fuck are you doing here?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[… You told me to come here when I wake up.]"
Nigel squints. "(font:"Courier New")[Did I?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[You did! You texted me at five in the morning.]"
Nigel is still squinting. "(font:"Courier New")[I guess I did. What’d I say?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[You said we have plans for today.]"
Nigel squints more, now humming in thought. Suddenly his eyes light up and he claps his hands. "(font:"Courier New")[Oh right! Ivy told me about these street fights that sometimes happen. I mean of course I already knew those were going on, but I never knew where. Never managed to see one.]" He snaps his fingers. "(font:"Courier New")[But! It turns out that there’s one happening tonight, starting around midnight, some way away from the train station.]"
I nod, thoughtfully. "(font:"Courier New")[So you wanna go watch?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Exactly. You always know what I’m thinking,]" Nigel grins, "(font:"Courier New")[I like that about you.]"
My cheeks heat up. Surely because of the heatwave.
"(font:"Courier New")[But that’s still hours away. Why did you tell me to come here now?]"
Nigel rubs his chin. His stubble makes a quiet, gritty sound against his fingertips. "(font:"Courier New")[When did you say I sent that message again?]"
I shrug. "(font:"Courier New")[Uuh. Fuck. I dunno, around 5 in the morning?]"
Nigel digests that and shrugs. "(font:"Courier New")[I guess I was still half asleep and wasn’t thinking clearly.]" He snaps his fingers "(font:"Courier New")[But since you’re here, there’s something else we can do until then.]"
Ivy appears from the bedroom, now dressed. "(font:"Courier New")[Nigel? I gotta get going. Work and shit.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Right. Have fun,]" Nigel says, not even turning to look at her.
Ivy rolls her eyes before smiling and waving at me. "(font:"Courier New")[Bye, Valo!]"
I give her one dispassionate flap of my hand.
Ivy leaves and finally leaves Nigel and me alone.
"(font:"Courier New")[So what’s the plan?]" I ask.
"(font:"Courier New")[We gotta look up good ghost hunting spots in Oulu,]" Nigel says like he mentioned a new restaurant opening nearby.
… Did I hear that right? "(font:"Courier New")[I’m sor- I’m sorry? Ghost hunting?]"
Nigel beams. "(font:"Courier New")[Yeah! That’d be awesome, right?]"
I give it some thought. I would have never thought of it myself, but since Nigel brought it up, I’m intrigued. "(font:"Courier New")[Yeah. I guess it could be.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Right? We just have to find a place that could be haunted.]" Nigel sits down on the couch, grabs his laptop and turns it on. "(font:"Courier New")[And I figured, since you live here and you know Finnish, you might find something.]"
As I sit down next to him, I almost point out that he lives here too. But he does have a point. I know Finnish and he doesn’t.
"(font:"Courier New")[Actually, I’m gonna go get breakfast. You look around on the internet meanwhile,]" Nigel says, shoves the laptop on my lap and marches off to his kitchen.
The fuck am I supposed to do? Just type “haunted places Oulu” into Google??
…
I open the browser and head to Google.
By the time Nigel comes back with a bowl of cereal, I had found a forum thread of supernatural incidents people had encountered in their lives. Most of it is irrelevant, though, because there are replies from people from all over the country. It’s mildly interesting to read, though.
"(font:"Courier New")[Find anything?]" Nigel asks, around a mouthful of cereal.
"(font:"Courier New")[I’m still looking.]"
Nigel hums and chews his cereal.
Wait. Now that I look at more website and forum threads, I realize that there’s been a lot of posts like that made within the past five years or so.
Ah, wait, but are any of these in Oulu? Or anywhere nearby?
"(font:"Courier New")[How far from Oulu are you willing to go for this expe- this adventure?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[What do you mean?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Like, is it a dealbreaker if the place is in Kempele or something?]"
Nigel frowns. "(font:"Courier New")[Where the fuck is Kempele?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[It’s… uh.]" I open Google maps and show Nigel where Kempele is.
"(font:"Courier New")[That’s too far. Try to keep it in Oulu.]"
I hum an affirmative answer.
I click around on the web aimlessly, trying to find something Nigel would like. I do find articles about the tree he mentioned yesterday. The alleged haunting of that tree ended decades ago, though, like Nigel said.
So that won’t do.
Nigel finishes his cereal and sets down the bowl on the floor, splashing some leftover milk. "(font:"Courier New")[Find anything?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Not really, no.]"
Nigel hums. "(font:"Courier New")[Whatever. I have some errands we could run. Let me get dressed.]" He stands up and disappears to his bathroom. I hear the shower running for about five minutes. Then Nigel disappears into his bedroom and soon after emerges fully dressed.
"(font:"Courier New")[Alright. Let’s go.]"
[[We get out of the flat and Nigel taps his phone.]]"(font:"Courier New")[So where are we going? And what are we doing?]" I ask.
Nigel glances up from his phone. "(font:"Courier New")[I bought some second-hand parts for a project. And it’s a big load so I need an extra pair of hands to help me carry it back home.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Oh? What are you working on?]"
Nigel scrunches up his face. "(font:"Courier New")[Mmmmmm I really wanna talk about it, but I also don’t want to boast about it in case it doesn’t work out.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Haha, aw.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Just believe me, if it does work out, it’s going to be //so fucking cool//.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[I can’t wait, haha.]"
We make it to what looks like someone’s house near the edge of the town. The previous owner of the huge container barely speaks English, so I end up translating the transaction for Nigel and him.
"Will you two be okay with that?" the man selling the package asks.
The box isn’t huge, but it is kind of heavy. Neither me or Nigel have a car.
"Why don’t you borrow my toplift?" the man offers.
"That’d be great, thanks," I say.
After Nigel agrees to bring it back to him whenever, we’re off with the box. We get a few odd looks on the bus, but we get back to Nigel’s without problems.
Nigel shoves the toplift with the box to his living room, chuckling like a madman.
"(font:"Courier New")[What’s in the box?]" I ask.
Nigel rips the tape off of the box and digs in. "(font:"Courier New")[Parts for my…]" He pauses. "(font:"Courier New")[Ah, hell, whatever. Might as well tell you. I’m going to try my hand at building an android.]"
I blink." (font:"Courier New")[As in… A robot?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Yes. A humanoid robot.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Whaaat? That sounds awesome!]"
Nigel preens. "(font:"Courier New")[Well… Yeah. But we’ll see if it goes anywhere. But with these parts…]" He pats the cardboard box. "(font:"Courier New")[I can get started!]"
I can’t help but stare. Nigel is amazing.
Nigel continues digging through the box, muttering to himself.
"(font:"Courier New")[Can I… help?]" I offer hesitantly.
Nigel blinks, like he had forgotten I'm here. "(font:"Courier New")[Huh? Oh, yeah! Take my laptop and open a text file. Write down the parts that are in here.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Alright.]"
I do as he says and Nigel starts rattling off about the parts. I have no idea what he’s saying 80% of the time, but I’m doing my best to write everything down.
It takes us about an hour to unpack the box, but after we’re done, Nigel orders us pizza. As we’re eating, Nigel gets a phone call.
"(font:"Courier New")[Hello?]" A pause. "(font:"Courier New")[M-hm, that I did. ...Awesome! Where can I pick it up?]" He humms and slowly writes down and address. "(font:"Courier New")[Awesome. A mate of mine and I are gonna be there in… twenty minutes? Pretty soonish? ...Alright. Yeah. Cool, awesome. I’ll see you then!]" He hangs up and claps his hands once.
"(font:"Courier New")[Another shipment! Ready to go?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[You bet. Where to?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[This one’s closer. Let’s go.]"
And we’re off again. Like Nigel said, the place is closer and the person knows English too. The package is smaller too. Nigel plops it down on my arms unceremoniously. Thankfully it’s not heavy at all.
"(font:"Courier New")[The last package was like, actual parts, the chassis. The legs and arms and shit,]" Nigel says, "(font:"Courier New")[What you have there is the brain.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Ohh. Good luck.]"
Nigel grins. "(font:"Courier New")[Thanks.]"
We make it back to Nigel’s flat again and Nigel makes sure that the part works. It doesn’t take long, so he’s done very quickly.
I spend the rest of the day helping Nigel with blueprints.
Well, “helping”. I have no idea what Nigel is talking about, but he seems to appreciate my feedback, even if it’s just “(font:"Courier New")[sounds great!]”.
Before either of us notice, it’s around 11 in the evening. Time for us to get going if we want to see the fight.
[[We leave Nigel’s flat again and head off.]]When we arrive, it takes us some time to find the place where the fights are, so we’re a little late to the event. The first fight is already in progress. The fighters are two brawny white men. They’re swinging at each other and grunting.
Nigel starts pushing through the crowd for a better view. I follow him.
We end up with a good view of the fight, near a person who appears to be taking bets on the result.
I find myself having a hard time following what’s going on because the two fighters are almost identical to me and because I… I really don’t like watching violence. The crowd being so loud and so close also doesn’t help with my concentration. At some point though, the fight ends when one of the fighters gives in. Good for him.
The crowd around us hoots and hollers as the loser of the fight is dragged away from the ring and the winner lifts his fists up.
Nigel claps his hands. "(font:"Courier New")[Awesome. Good fight.]"
He sounds so British, not joining the cheering. Adorable.
"NEXT FIGHT! Knuckle-Matti versuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus NANA!!" the guy acting as an announcer hollers.
The crowd cheers as a slender, but muscular Asian woman clad in orange steps up into the ring. The winner of the previous fight is apparently going to fight her.
"The fight starts in five minutes! Get your bets in before that!"
The winner doesn’t look too good, though… His left eye is swollen shut and he cradles his side gingerly.
"(font:"Courier New")[Who do you think will win?]" Nigel asks.
"(font:"Courier New")[Huh? Oh. Uh. The- the girl, I think. Nana.]"
Nigel purses his lips and humms. "(font:"Courier New")[Are you sure? Because Nana is… You know. A woman.]"
I frown a little. "(font:"Courier New")[The guy has already- he’s- he looks pretty battered already. This looks like Nana’s first fight for the night.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Yes, but Matty or whatshisface has the size advantage. Nana looks pretty dainty in comparison.]"
I choke back a snort. Hasn’t he seen the size of Nana’s biceps? “Dainty” is the last word I would use to describe her.
Nigel taps my arm twice. When I turn to look at him, he’s holding out some money at me. "(font:"Courier New")[Here. Go bet it on the muscle man. Since you know Finnish.]"
My heart skips a beat. He trusts me with his money… "(font:"Courier New")[O-okay!]"
I take the money and set out to look for the person in charge of the bets. I find him quickly because of all the people crowding around him.
"Uh, hi."
"Evening," the guy in charge of the bets says, "You wanna place a bet?"
"Um. Yes."
"Excellent. Which one do you want to bet on? Nana or Knuckle-Matti?"
I blink. I’m sure Nana will win, but Nigel told me to bet on Knuckle-Matti. I could still bet on Nana, but I don’t know how Nigel would react to that…
I glance at the battle area, where Knuckle-Matti is spitting blood on the ground and Nana is bouncing from one foot to another and stretching her muscles.
Who should I bet on?
[[> Knuckle-Matti]]
[[> Nana]]Of course. Nigel knows what he’s doing.
"I’ll bet this on Knuckle-Matti."
"Gotcha! What name is it under?"
"Uh… Nigel."
The bet guy pockets the money I give him and I return to Nigel.
"THE FIGHT IS STARTIIIING! NO MORE BETS!" the announcer hollers.
The crowd circles the ground tightly and starts chanting the fighters’ names. The noise hurts my ears and is making it hard for me to concentrate on reality, but the way I’m pressed against Nigel’s arm makes it worth it.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND THE REST OF YOU FIIIINE FOLKS, IT’S KNUCKLE-MATTI!"
The crowd cheers as Matti just lifts a fist in the air limply.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND NANAAAAAA!!!"
Nana grins and bounces a little, delivering a few lightning-fast fake punches into the air.
"AND START!!!"
Nana bows to Matti and assumes position. The crowd’s noise rises in volume as the two fighters measure each other. Matti makes the first move. He swings at Nana, who swiftly dodges. Matti attempts another punch, but Nana dances out of the way again. This continues until the crowd is almost begging her to attack.
Nana shrugs and spreads her arms in a mock-clueless gesture. She spins to give the audience a questioning look, dodging yet another punch from Matti at the same time. It’s clear that she’s having a blast and milking this for all of its worth.
"You getting tired of this?!" Nana yells.
"YEAH!"
"Want me to end this??!"
"YEAH!!!"
Nana grins. Matti charges at her and she jumps, boosting herself in the air by his shoulders.
The crowd gasps.
Nana soars and reaches the apex of her jump, higher than a normal person could have reached. She swings her foot down on Knuckle-Matti’s head with a loud CRACK. Nana bounces and does a flip, gracefully landing a meter away from Knuckle-Matti.
Knuckle-Matti crumples onto the ground in a messy heap.
A stunned silence falls upon the crowd.
Nana lifts her arms. "WELL?! Are you happy now??"
Someone starts clapping hesitantly. Soon everyone is cheering and hollering, chanting Nana’s name.
The announcer is the first one to recover. "I-I’m not sure what just happened, but the winner iiiiiiis NANAAAAAAAAAA!!"
The crowd cheers harder and Nana looks like she’s soaking all the attention like a cat basking in sunlight.
Nigel groans. "(font:"Courier New")[Ah shit, man. You were right after all.There goes my money.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[I’m sorry,]" I say.
Nigel shrugs. "(font:"Courier New")[Whatever. I just gotta work it back.]"
[[BWEEO! BWEEEO!!]]Of course. There’s no way Nana will lose.
"I’ll bet this on Nana."
"Gotcha! What name is it under?"
"Uh… Nigel."
The bet guy pockets the money I give him and I return to Nigel.
"THE FIGHT IS STARTIIIING! NO MORE BETS!" the announcer hollers.
The crowd circles the ground tightly and starts chanting the fighters’ names. The noise hurts my ears and is making it hard for me to concentrate on reality, but the way I’m pressed against Nigel’s arm makes it worth it.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND THE REST OF YOU FIIIINE FOLKS, IT’S KNUCKLE-MATTI!"
The crowd cheers as Matti just lifts a fist in the air limply.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND NANAAAAAA!!!"
Nana grins and bounces a little, delivering a few lightning-fast fake punches into the air.
"AND START!!!"
Nana bows to Matti and assumes position. The crowd’s noise rises in volume as the two fighters measure each other. Matti makes the first move. He swings at Nana, who swiftly dodges. Matti attempts another punch, but Nana dances out of the way again. This continues until the crowd is almost begging her to attack.
Nana shrugs and spreads her arms in a mock-clueless gesture. She spins to give the audience a questioning look, dodging yet another punch from Matti at the same time. It’s clear that she’s having a blast and milking this for all of its worth.
"You getting tired of this?!" Nana yells.
"YEAH!"
"Want me to end this??!"
"YEAH!!!"
Nana grins. Matti charges at her and she jumps, boosting herself in the air by his shoulders.
The crowd gasps.
Nana soars and reaches the apex of her jump, higher than a normal person could have reached. She swings her foot down on Knuckle-Matti’s head with a loud CRACK. Nana bounces and does a flip, gracefully landing a meter away from Knuckle-Matti.
Knuckle-Matti crumples onto the ground in a messy heap.
A stunned silence falls upon the crowd.
Nana lifts her arms. "WELL?! Are you happy now??"
Someone starts clapping hesitantly. Soon everyone is cheering and hollering, chanting Nana’s name.
The announcer is the first one to recover. "I-I’m not sure what just happened, but the winner iiiiiiis NANAAAAAAAAAA!!"
The crowd cheers harder and Nana looks like she’s soaking all the attention like a cat basking in sunlight.
Nigel groans. "(font:"Courier New")[Ah shit, man. You were right after all.There goes my money.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[… I may have- I have to confess something,]" I say.
Nigel gives me a look. "(font:"Courier New")[What?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[I bet on Nana,]" I confess.
Nigel stares at me, astonished. Then he throws his head back and laughs. "(font:"Courier New")[Oh man! You sneaky bastard! I like you!]"
I grin widely, cheeks heating up.
[[BWEEO! BWEEEO!!]]"Shit, it’s the cops!" someone cries out.
"RUN!"
"(font:"Courier New")[Oh fuck, we have to go,]" Nigel says.
Nigel starts to run and I follow him. I almost lose sight of him in the panicking, scattering crowd. Thankfully his black coat makes him stand out and makes it easy for me to spot him in the chaos.
If the noise of the crowd earlier fucked with my head, the sudden panic does exactly nothing to help with it. It pushes my anxiety all the way around and now I feel oddly serene. The air feels like it’s getting thicker and more electric and all sounds become muted, like I’m hearing them through water.
I zero in on Nigel’s back. He becomes my beacon in the chaos. I trust him to find a safe way out of this.
We run for what feels like an eternity. But eventually, the panicked crowd around us peters out and the noise dies out. We’re alone.
Nigel stops running and leans down on his knees, panting heavily "(font:"Courier New")[Fuck… That was… That sure was something.]"
I’m too out of breath to reply, so I just give him a thumbs-up.
Nigel starts wheezing. It takes me a moment to realize he’s laughing. "(font:"Courier New")[That was… (huff) fucking awesome! I’ve never (huff) felt so alive!]" He coughs. "(font:"Courier New")[Could’ve used less (huff) running though, haha.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[You can… (huff) You can say (huff) that again.,]" I wheeze.
Nigel laughs again and straightens his back, letting his head fall backwards. "(font:"Courier New")[Whoof… I’m exhausted. It was a blast, but I’m wiped.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Me too.]"
I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline crash, but I’m kind of light-headed now. The air feels like soup…
"(font:"Courier New")[Is it just me, or…]" Nigel speaks up slowly, "(font:"Courier New")[Does the air…]"
I give him a look, waiting for him to continue.
"(font:"Courier New")[It feels a little… thick, right?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Oh,]" I say, "(font:"Courier New")[I thought that was just me.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[… I guess it’s because we just ran for fifteen minutes straight,]" Nigel says.
He’s probably right. He always is.
Nigel looks around and I follow his lead. There’s no one around. "(font:"Courier New")[I guess it’s safe. Let’s find a bus stop.]"
He starts walking and I follow him.
Soon we find ourselves in a bus on our way to our respective homes. We spend the bus ride in exhausted silence. I shuffle home through the soup-air.
The sun is already rising when I get there and I stop for a moment to watch it. I feel weird. The air feels so thick, but it’s so easy to breathe. The colours are so bright and vivid. It’s so warm.
[[My head jerks and I realize that I almost fell asleep standing up. I shuffle inside and get to bed.]]##CHAPTER 3: GHOST HUNTING
"(font:"Courier New")[So tell me about that house you found,]" I say.
Nigel turns to me and grins. "(font:"Courier New")[I will, but there’s someone I’m waiting to arrive. I’ll debrief when everyone’s here.]"
I hum.
"(font:"Courier New")[Heeey! Nigeeel!]"
Wait. I know that voice.
//Ivy//.
Ugh. Why is //she// here?
"(font:"Courier New")[I invited Ivy with us and she said she’d bring a friend, too,]" Nigel says.
I turn to look and sure enough, Ivy is bouncing towards us with endless energy.
//Ugh.//
"(font:"Courier New")[Hewwo!]" Ivy chirps.
//UGH.//
There’s someone trailing after Ivy’s highlighter-yellow ass. Ivy spins and makes a grand gesture, presenting the person she brought with her.
Nana? From the street fight?
"(font:"Courier New")[Tadaaa! This is the friend I brought along. Say hello, Nana!]" Ivy says.
Nana grins and gives us a nonchalant wave of a hand. "(font:"Courier New")[Hey guys.]"
Nigel and I stare at her, dumbfounded. Her smile turns a tad uncomfortable.
"(font:"Courier New")[Holy shit,]" Nigel says.
"(font:"Courier New")[Holy //shit//,]" I echo.
Nana laughs uncomfortably. "(font:"Courier New")[Holy shit?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Ivy, you brought a street brawler for a ghost hunt?]" Nigel asks.
Ivy nods. "(font:"Courier New")[Ya! She’s an adrenaline junkie. So I thought she’d be helpful.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Yeah, ‘cos I can totally punch a ghost if it tries to eat us,]" Nana grins sardonically, rolling her eyes. She then tilts her head. "(font:"Courier New")[So. Where are we harassing the ghosts?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Uh… Yeah,]" Nigel says. "(font:"Courier New")[My gremlins around the town found a house that is allegedly haunted.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Allegedly haunted is the best kind of haunted,]" Nana says with a tiny hint of sarcasm.
Nigel gives her a look, but our bus arrives and interrupts our conversation. We pile in and get seats.
"(font:"Courier New")[So…]" I speak up, "(font:"Courier New")[The house. Where is… Can you tell us about it?]"
Nigel claps his hands. "(font:"Courier New")[Yes! It’s an old abandoned house. And at night, people say that there are lights coming from inside the house and sometimes screaming and laughing.]"
Nana hums and crosses her arms. "(font:"Courier New")[Pretty sure it’s just some kids sneaking into the house to drink and shit.]"
Nigel purses his lips. "(font:"Courier New")[Maybe, but a creepy old house is still worth checking out.]"
Nana just hums, not looking impressed.
Oh boy, the mood is //icy//. I better change the subject. "(font:"Courier New")[So uh… How do you two know each other?]" I ask.
"(font:"Courier New")[Yeah, Ivy. You knew that DJ from the club too. How many people do you even know?]" Nigel pipes in.
Ivy giggles and winks. "(font:"Courier New")[I get around.]"
I'm sure she does.
"(font:"Courier New")[Ivy and I go way back,]" Nana says, "(font:"Courier New")[We've known each other since we were in our late teens. She's like a sister to me.]"
Ivy gasps in an exaggerated manner and presses a hand on her chest. "(font:"Courier New")[Aw, Nana! You're like a sister to me too!]" She hugs Nana, who rolls her eyes.
"(font:"Courier New")[Don't get mushy on me,]" Nana says. She's smiling, though.
"(font:"Courier New")[Oh hey, this is our stop,]" Nigel speaks up and presses the stop button.
The bus stops and we get out. There is… almost nothing near the stop, just some woods. Nigel starts marching along a nearby dirt road.
When the trees around the dirt road block out the sun, I realize that it had still been up. A chill runs down my spine when I hear no birdsong along the track.
I don’t like this.
Eventually, we arrive at an old ramshackle, two-story building that might have had a nice garden ages and ages ago. The outer walls don’t have paint on them anymore and the boards are weathered and grey. The windows are boarded up so well that we can’t even see inside.
"(font:"Courier New")[So that’s the house, huh?]" Ivy says, "(font:"Courier New")[What a hole.]"
Nigel bounces from one leg to another. "(font:"Courier New")[Yeah! Exciting, right? It’s a haunted fucking house. Can you believe that?! Abandoned and haunted!]"
His excitement is contagious and I kind of start feeling pumped as well. Either that or it’s anxiety that’s making my chest feel so tight.
Nana shifts her weight from one foot to another. "(font:"Courier New")[Cool. How do we get in?]"
Nigel hums and marches to the front door. He gives it a few firm yanks and it opens with a groan.
He turns to us and grins. "(font:"Courier New")[Shall we?]"
Ivy bounces to the door. "(font:"Courier New")[We shall!]"
She presses a quick kiss to Nigel’s cheek before disappearing into the house.
Ugh…
Nana follows her and I trail after Nana.
Once we’re all in, Nigel lets the door close and… not to be dramatic or anything, [[but it sounds and feels like a coffin’s lid closing.]]Now that the only source of light is blocked, it’s pitch black inside.
"(font:"Courier New")[Oh, pardon me, let me just…]" I hear Nigel say.
There is a shuffling sound, followed by two clicks. The room lights up with two narrow beams of light from two flashlights.
"(font:"Courier New")[… get my torches,]" Nigel finishes with a smirk.
He gives one of the flashlights to me. I sweep my surroundings with the small light beam to find that there is absolutely no furniture in the room we’re in.
"(font:"Courier New")[Okay, cool. We’re inside. What now?]" Nana asks.
"(font:"Courier New")[We look around,]" Nigel says, "(font:"Courier New")[I suggest we split into two groups. Valo and Nana, you take upstairs. Ivy and I will check out downstairs.]"
My throat feels tight.
"(font:"Courier New")[Roger,]" Nana says.
I head out to look for the stairs, trusting that Nana will follow me.
The upstairs, just like the downstairs, is empty. There is no furniture anywhere. There aren’t even paintings or photos on the walls. Everything that hasn’t been nailed down has been removed or stolen ages ago. All that remains are dust, a musty smell and a sense of unease.
"What are we even looking for?" Nana asks, switching to Finnish now that we’re alone.
"No fucking clue," I mutter.
Nana takes a few steps. "Is he always like this? Nigel, I mean. Ordering you around to do shit but doesn’t specify what?"
It takes me a moment to find words to reply. "Usually he has a plan," I mutter lamely.
Nana snorts and heads to the next room. I follow her and discover that it’s just as empty as the previous one.
"Well, isn’t this just exciting as fuck," Nana scoffs, toeing at a particularly big pile of dust. "I really wished I could’ve punched a ghost tonight."
I huff a laugh and head to the last room.
Nana follows me. "So what’s between you and Ivy?"
I freeze. Slowly, I turn to look at her. "What? There’s nothing 'between' us. We’re not even friends." I pause. "She’s just…"
Fuck.
"She’s just the girl who’s dating Nigel. That’s all. That’s 'between' us," I finish, making huge, sarcastic finger quotations to drive the point home.
Nana stares at me for a long moment. Her stare is burning my cheeks.
"What?!" I snap.
Nana shrugs. "Nothing." She disappears into the last room.
Hot anger rises in my chest and I stomp after her. "What do you mean 'nothing'?!"
I catch up to her and grab her arm, which I immediately regret because her bicep is enormous. She could easily toss me out of a window if she wanted.
Instead, Nana turns to me, calm as ever. "Nothing as in nothing. Just like you said. You don’t have strong feelings about Ivy either way. Even though she’s dating the guy you’re crushing on."
I feel like she had just physically slapped me and her arm slips from my grip. My cheeks heat up as I gape at her, trying to scramble for something to say.
"I… I’m not crushing on Nigel," I manage.
Nana visibly doesn't buy it. "Whatever you say."
I resist the urge to curse and sweep the flashlight around the room, just to give myself something else to do.
And whoop-de-fucking-do, the last room is also em-
Wait.
"What is that?"
"What?" Nana asks.
"There’s something in the corner there."
I step closer and see that it is not just some weirdly-shaped pile of dust or my eyes playing tricks on me. There really is something that hasn’t been cleaned away here.
"What is it?" Nana repeats.
The light illuminates the object and I see… Some dried leaves? Sticks tied together? It’s all arranged around what looks like…
[[An animal skull.]]"Huh," Nana muses, "Well, it’s not a ghost, but Nigel might want to see this."
"Yeah… I’ll go… Let’s go get him."
We get back downstairs and find Nigel and Ivy in what we think used to be a kitchen. I’m silently grateful that Ivy’s tongue hasn’t gotten halfway down Nigel’s throat while Nana and I were upstairs.
Nigel takes one look at me and he already knows something’s up. "(font:"Courier New")[You found something, didn’t you?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[Yeah, it’s… You should come and see,]" I say.
"(font:"Courier New")[With pleasure!]" Nigel beams.
The four of us make our way back upstairs. I can feel Nigel anticipation vibrating off of him.
When we make it back to the last room, Nigel makes a beeline to the odd pile.
"(font:"Courier New")[Wicked!]" he says, "(font:"Courier New")[What is it?]"
"(font:"Courier New")[I’m… not sure,]" I say.
"(font:"Courier New")[It looks like an amateur witch’s altar,]" Ivy muses, bending down to look.
Nigel hums and kneels down to look at it closer. I stoop down next to him.
The sticks are tied to what appears to be a vaguely pentagram-like shape. The leaves are arranged to the points of the star and the stained skull in the middle of it. There are some candle stumps too.
"(font:"Courier New")[There’s something under the skull,]" Nigel says, "(font:"Courier New")[Valo, get it.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[What the f- Why me?]" I sputter.
"(font:"Courier New")[I don’t want to touch that skull. It’s gross.]" Nigel steps away and motions me towards it.
I sigh and kneel down. I can’t say no to him.
I reach out to the skull and pause, trying to figure out if there’s a relatively clean spot on it where I can grab it. Jesus, what even are those stains? They’re all brown and gross.
Oh, wait, there’s literally sticks here. I could just nudge the skull aside with them.
As soon as the stick touches the skull, an electric jolt shoots up my arm to my chest. The air changes so fast that it feels like it slaps my face with jelly.
[["AGH!"]]I drop the stick. The skull jitters to life, slowly floating upwards in the air. My blood freezes at the sight. I swear I can see two beady glows in the empty eye sockets. I try to pull my hand back, but it’s stuck in the air. My fingers burn.
"(font:"Courier New")[What the fuck,]" I hear Ivy gasp.
The skull’s jaw rattles as the glowing “eyes” roll wildly in the sockets. Before they land on me.
The gaze pierces through me, like it sees into the depths of my soul, through all of my thoughts, my fears and weaknesses.
The jaws waggle more and I realize it’s cackling at me. It has seen all of what I am and what I will be and it thinks I’m //pathetic//.
[[I hear myself whimpering. My hand is trembling.]]The skull’s fangs clamp down on my fingers. Teeth sink into my skin. I feel bones snapping and the skin splitting open and blood gushing out. My hand burns. I see my skin starting to melt.
I hear screaming. My voice.
My skin is turning black and gangrenous. Bubbling and rotting. A blister forms and bursts, leaks vile yellow liquid onto the dry leaves. My flesh rots and melts away.
[[An orange sneaker stomps down, crushing the skull onto the floor.]]I stumble backwards. Heaving breaths. It still hurts.
"(font:"Courier New")[Holy fuck!]" Nigel yelps.
"(font:"Courier New")[You shouldn’t have done that, Nana,]" Ivy says.
"(font:"Courier New")[What else should I have fucking done?!]" Nana barks.
It’s hard to breathe. Throat tastes like bile. I can’t bring myself to look at my hand.
Ivy kneels next to me. "Valo. Valo, look at me."
"Mm."
"Valo, listen to me." Ivy grasps my face with both hands. Gentle, but firm. "Breathe, Valo. Breathe with me. In…"
I draw a huge, shuddering gulp.
"Slowly, slowly… No rush… And out, one… two… three…"
Slowly, with Ivy’s help, I can breathe again.
"Good, good. Everything’s okay," Ivy coos, "Close your eyes."
"Wh- why?" I ask.
"Just do it."
I don’t know what she wants. But I close my eyes.
"Let me see your hand."
Oh. Okay. I slowly uncurl my hands. Hold the injured hand towards her.
I hear her hiss. Nigel and Nana make disgusted sounds.
"Wh- what? Wh-"
"(font:"Courier New")[That looks bad,]" Nigel says.
"(font:"Courier New")[No shit! We gotta take them to a hospital,]" Nana snaps.
"(font:"Courier New")[We can’t do that! How would we explain that to them?!]" Nigel snaps back.
What the hell are they talking about?!
"(font:"Courier New")[Is Otto still awake?]" Ivy asks.
"(font:"Courier New")[//Otto//?!]" Nigel yelps.
"(font:"Courier New")[Probably. He always gets crazy bad insomnia during summer,]" Nana says.
"(font:"Courier New")[Good. Let’s go to Otto’s place,]" Ivy says with an air of finality. "Valo? Can you stand?"
I nod and stand up. Ivy helps. I open my eyes so I can walk. But I try to not look at my hand. I can feel blood soaking into my shirt.
We make it out of the house, back to the bus stop. The air is warm and thick. Not sure how long we wait for the bus. Eventually one arrives, we pile in and collapse on the seats.
"Does it still hurt?" Ivy asks.
I nod.
She pats my shoulder gently. "Hang on. It’s not far until Otto’s place."
I nod again, cradle my hand to my chest. The bus rattles and rocks. World is slipping away from me.
[[Not sure how long it took, but bus stops and I’m tugged upright. My legs feel limp. I’m dragged out.]]More walking. Apartment building. We get in and climb stairs. Door.
Nana jackhammers the doorbell.
Door opens. A man behind it. Middle-aged. Pale, white hair. Dark circles under eyes. Glasses and a dirty tank top. He frowns. Looks at Nana, lifts an eyebrow.
"Not me this time," Nana says, pointing at me.
The man looks at me, from head to toe. Glances at Nigel, frowns again. "Come in."
He leads us in. Messy flat. To kitchen table.
"Sit," he says.
Ivy sits me down at the table. "Oh, this is Otto, by the way," she says, "Otto, this is Valo."
"Pleasure," Otto grunts.
"(font:"Courier New")[Can you speak English?]" Nigel asks.
The man sits opposite of me. "What happened?"
I open my mouth. No sound comes out. I just show my hand to him.
I regret lifting it because now I can see. Some fingers are bent in ways they shouldn’t be. Skin is lacerated and still bleeding. Probably missing a few fingernails.
I swallow back bile.
Otto lifts his eyebrows. "Hm."
"Can you do anything about it?" Nana asks.
"Of course," Otto says, "But it’s going to hurt."
I groan.
"(font:"Courier New")[Hello?]" I hear Nigel call out.
"Nana, could you get the disinfectant, some cotton wads, splinters and towels?" Otto asks.
"Yessir." Nana marches off.
Otto takes my hand, gently turns it.
I hiss in pain.
"What happened?" Otto asks, "I’ve never seen a hand mangled like this."
I struggle for words. "Skull. Bit me."
Otto stares at me. "What."
Ivy steps in. "Okay so we were in this old house, right? Old abandoned house. Nigel’s idea, he wanted to see a ghost."
"(font:"Courier New")[I heard my name.]"
"So like, Nana and Valo found this… fucking… altar? Or whatever?"
Nana returns. "Here you go, ya old fart. I also brought rubber gloves and Jack Daniels."
"Bless you," Otto says and puts gloves on.
"It was like, all dried leaves and some sticks in a pentagram and an animal skull in the middle. No idea what the fuck that was about," Ivy continues.
Otto opens the bottle and sips. Gives the bottle to me, and a towel. I take a huge sip.
"Did you take a pic of it?" he asks.
Ivy falters. "Oh fuck, we didn’t… And Nana stomped the shit out of the skull too."
"What kind of skull was it?"
"A fox, probably. It had a long snout," Nana says.
Otto hums. "Oh, you might want to bite on that," he says to me. Points at the towel. "Don’t worry, it’s clean."
Wasn’t worried about hygiene, but now I am.
[[> Bite it anyway.]]
[[> Do not put it in your mouth.]]I take another huge sip of the alcohol. Stuff the towel in my mouth with my good hand. Bite down.
"Nigel noticed something under the skull and told Valo to get it," Ivy goes on.
"Because he’s too much of a wuss to do it himself," Nana interjects.
Otto takes a firm hold of my hand. Snaps one of the fingers back before I can brace. Sharp pain shoots up to my wrist.
My scream is suffocated in the towel.
Suddenly very glad to have it.
"(font:"Courier New")[Jesus that’s nasty,]" I hear Nigel say.
Ivy continues. "So Valo does because they’re a good bean and… Okay, this is where it gets weird."
Otto snaps the other finger.
I bite the towel. Might tear a hole in it.
"Okay, that's that. Well done," Otto says.
[[I collapse on the table.]] Spit the towel out of my teeth, panting.I take another huge sip of the alcohol. Let the towel sit on the table.
"Nigel noticed something under the skull and told Valo to get it," Ivy goes on.
"Because he’s too much of a wuss to do it himself," Nana interjects.
Otto takes a firm hold of my hand. Snaps one of the fingers back before I can brace. Sharp pain shoots up to my wrist.
I scream.
"Be quiet, you’re waking up the neighbours," Otto says.
"(font:"Courier New")[Jesus that’s nasty,]" I hear Nigel say.
Ivy continues. "So Valo does because they’re a good bean and… Okay, this is where it gets weird."
Otto snaps the other finger.
I scream again.
"Okay, that's that. Well done," Otto says.
[[I collapse on the table.]] Panting."So the skull… started floating? It kinda jiggled a bit, but then it bit Valo," Ivy recounts.
Otto gently lifts my hand. Turns it, looks at it. "Bit bit them? Where?"
"Fingers, I think? Right, Valo?"
I nod listlessly.
"Hm… There are no tooth marks, though."
"… Huh," Ivy says.
"I mean. It was a ghost. It doesn’t have to make sense," Nana says.
Otto hums.
"(font:"Courier New")[I’m still here. Just reminding everyone,]" Nigel says.
Otto takes a clean towel, pours disinfectant on it. "Are your rabies and tetanus shots up to date?"
How the fuck am I supposed to remember that?
I shrug.
"Well. Better check those when you get home," Otto says, "So the skull bit them. What then?"
"I crushed the skull," Nana says, "Then we hauled ass here."
Otto hums, dabs the towel on my hand.
I hiss. It stings.
"So you’re Mister Important Englishman’s newest bestie, aren’t you?" Otto says.
I blink, baffled. What?
"Have you ever wondered why he never bothered to learn Finnish despite living here?"
What? Where is this coming from?
I mean, I have. But why is he asking?
"You haven’t found out?" He grabs splinters and bandages. Starts wrapping my hand up. "God, he pisses me off. Do you know how many languages I speak? Five. Italian as my mother tongue, had to learn English in school, then later I took French and Latin in med school. Then I had to learn Finnish here."
Despite his angry tone, his hands are gentle.
"And that asshole just waltzes here with his //lingua franca// mother tongue and doesn’t even bother learning the local language." He tsks. Pulls a vape from his pocket, inhales. "Did you know that he tried to get close to me also? Has he ever mentioned that to you before?"
"Otto."
It takes me a moment to realize that was Ivy. I’ve never heard her speak in that tone. So serious.
Otto ignores her. "He lost interest as soon as he found out that I’m Italian." He takes another drag from his vape. "No idea why he keeps you around, seeing how you’re… You know, not white."
"Otto!"
I stare at Otto. So baffled that I barely feel my hand.
"All I’m saying that I wouldn’t get too close to him," Otto says. He ties the bandage. Sets his hand on mine, surprisingly gentle. "Be careful, is what I’m saying."
He takes the gloves off. "You should go home. Rest. Try not to use that hand for a week. Come to show it to me in a few days. Take some painkillers if you need to."
I nod and stand on shaky legs. Ivy, Nana and I start heading out.
"(font:"Courier New")[Oh, we’re leaving?]" Nigel asks.
Otto sees us to the door. He reminds me to check my rabies and tetanus shots, just in case.
[[We get out of Otto’s apartment building and stand outside, dazed and lost.]]Nigel kicks a rock. "(font:"Courier New")[Well. Tonight could’ve gone better.]"
"(font:"Courier New")[No shit.]" Nana’s tone is so vicious that even Nigel flinches.
"(font:"Courier New")[Well, yeah. We could have been more careful,]" Nigel says, defensive.
"(font:"Courier New")[Oh I think //you// were plenty careful,]" Nana snarls.
Nigel bristles visibly.
"(font:"Courier New")[Nana, please. Let’s not do this,]" Ivy says quietly.
Nana lifts her hands and steps back, muttering to herself. "(font:"Courier New")[I can’t believe you tolerate that asshole.]"
I’m guessing Nigel didn’t hear Nana, because he speaks. "(font:"Courier New")[At least we did see a ghost!]"
Nana's eyes bug out and I can see that she's holding herself back from going off on Nigel.
We shuffle back to a bus stop. Once the bus arrives and we get in, our small and tired group starts dispersing. Nigel gets off first without much ado, leaving Nana Ivy and me by ourselves.
"He really just ditched us like that," Nana says, not looking surprised, "Without making sure you make it safely home."
It’s not his fault. It’s been a rough night on him too… I guess.
… I try to say that but my vocal chords still aren’t cooperating.
"Will you be okay?" Nana asks.
I honestly don’t know…
"Okay, I’m not hearing a yes. I’ll walk you home."
I feel bad for making her make a sidetrack for me, but I also really need some company. The thought of walking home alone makes me anxious.
"I'll take care of it. I'll walk Valo home." Ivy says.
Wait what?! UUUGGH.
"No, don’t you have work tomorrow? I can do this," Nana argues.
"It’s fiiine! It’s just a small walk!" Ivy argues, then giggles. "How lucky, Valo. You have two gorgeous girls fighting over you!"
Nana rolls her eyes. "Valo, why don’t you choose? Who do you want to walk you home?"
Oh goddammit. I don’t want to make this kind of choice at this fucking hour.
[[> Walk home with Ivy]]
[[> Walk home with Nana]]… well, if Ivy herself offering. I feel less bad about wasting her time.
Eventually, we get to my stop and get off the bus, leaving Nana to get to her own.
Ivy is oddly quiet on the walk from the bus stop to my apartment. I guess even //she// has to run out of energy //sometimes//…
When we make it back to my apartment building, I still can’t make a sound, so I thank her by typing it out on my phone’s note app and showing it to her.
“'I owe you a coffee',” she reads out loud, "Haha, hell yeah you do."
Ivy takes a step away, before she stops. She gives me a long look which I can’t decipher. She’s really serious again.
"Will you be okay?" she asks
I sigh. I have no fucking idea.
I nod.
She nods also.
"Try to get some sleep, okay?"
She shifts a little, growing serious.
"Please think about tonight. Remember what happened tonight next time you see Nigel."
She then smiles again. "That’s all! Sleep well, Valo!"
She walks away and leaves me gaping after her.
[[What… what the fuck?]]Honestly, she scares me a little, but I can trust her to defend me if someone starts shit.
Ivy gets off the bus before us. But eventually, we get to my stop and get off the bus.
Nana doesn’t talk during the walk from the bus stop to my apartment, which I’m glad about. I’m really not in the mood to talk.
When we make it back to my apartment building, I still can’t make a sound, so I thank her by typing it out on my phone’s note app and showing it to her.
“'I owe you a coffee'," She reads out loud, "Haha, nah, it’s fine, dude. Just get some sleep."
Nana takes a step away, before she stops. She gives me a long look which I can’t decipher.
"What do you even see in him?" she asks.
What?
"In Nigel, I mean. He’s such a pisshead. Full of himself."
Nana crosses her arms. "I wouldn’t hang out with him anymore if that happened to me."
She shakes her head. "Whatever. It’s not my business. Goodnight, Valo."
She walks away, leaving me gaping after her.
[[What… what the fuck?]]Double-click this passage to edit it.