The knife pressed into my skin doesn’t bother me one bit. “Triple. Or I summon the ghosts instead to feast on you and your men.”

He scoffs, shoving me back. “Deal. But only ‘cause yer mum’s a nice lady and she treated my boys to home-cooked dinner.”

I chuckle. Our business relationship spans around a year and a half now. When I first met Idris, I needed money for an immediate infusion mother had to undergo, and I was working six jobs at the time. I just so happened to save his men from a nasty situation with what they called a ‘ghost’, when it was in fact a very desperate soul who’d latched onto the dead body of one of their own men, turning him into a walking corpse. My ‘madness’ was not taken lightly by them after that. After all, what is madness if not a slightly different perception?

“How long do I have to keep you hidden? I was hoping to get back by noon.”

“You sure no one will check here?”

“Other than the Shamans, no. I was just in hospital, so I’m ‘recovering’ in the city. Other than them, not many want to come to the house of a madman.”

His men load the last of the sacks inside. The draft coming in is getting colder. I don’t want that thing coming in here. “Shut the door and come inside, everyone.”

The six of them shuffle inside and stand in a single file line behind Idris. I look up to their boss, awaiting instructions. Idris’s eyes are focused on my clothes. Realising he can see my skin through the rip, I instinctively pinch the fabric shut and frown. “My eyes are up here.”

“What they did to you–”

“I’m not here to discuss that. How much for all these…seven? Seven hundred kilograms of ‘tea’.”

He raises his brow, “How long you wagering?”

“How much if I get them to Greater Yang City by the end of the week?”

“Ho!” He stifles his laughter and slaps one of his men on the back, “Ya hear that, Van! Within a week he says! Heh! Bit ambitious, even for me.” He looks back at the door and back at me, “If you can do it within three days, I’ll pay you fifteen thousand Circlets.”

“Seventeen.”

“…Fine.”

Seventeen thousand Circlets is a good amount. I’ll have enough for the next six months. Four if there’s an emergency. He hands me a heavy pouch. I sift through the circular coins. “The other half?”

“When the job is done.”

I walk to the far end of the room and place my hands on the antique cupboard which has always been in mother’s family.

“Are you trying to move that?” Idris sounds sceptical. “It’s fixed to the floor…”

I lift the heavy cupboard with ease and set it down to the side.

“…”

Underneath it is the little latch leading to an underground basement I dug out when I first started working with sketchy folks. Over the years, I expanded the basement into a system of tunnels that run beneath the town, connecting it to various points in the city, mostly where each gang stations their collectors. I’ve been keeping it hidden from mother, since there have been times when I’ve had to dispose of weapons through the tunnel system too. It does wonders to own a generally immovable antique cupboard. I look down into the dark space and motion to one of the guys, “Load everything in that large crate at the bottom. I’ll ship it through the night. Please give me a flashlight, though.”

Van, the man Idris was slapping with laughter earlier, comes up and peers into the hole. “Good God. How long would it take you to ship it to YCU?”

“The University? It’s a five day trip from here on foot.”

“So how do you expect to get this done in three days?”

“I have a cat.”

Van looks at me with a puzzled expression. Idris slaps his back again and laughs, “He means he can do it in two, but with a grace period of a day for his cat to catch a break!”

Confusion remains on Van’s face. He looks at the sacks on the floor, then at the cupboard, then peers down into the deep tunnel, then looks up at me. He slowly walks to the cupboard and tries to push it. His face turns red with strain until he sheepishly turns back to Idris.

I smile at Van. “I only need me.”

After getting the contact of their collector and requesting a phone for use, the deal is set in motion. Five of them are loading the stuff down in the cart while Idris and Van discuss their plans. “Hey Yin,” Idris turns to me, “You didn’t happen to, uh, meet anyone else before us, right?

“No, I was running away from–”

I’m thrown into the door before I can finish my sentence. Shouts of surprise and fear yelp out from behind me as I try to lift myself up, only to be met with a white snarling face with hollow grinning eyes, inches away from my face. “!!” I jerk up and stumble back into someone.

“What in God’s name is going on?!” Van shouts from behind me.

“Get back!”

The door bursts open and a bony hand grabs my neck, dragging me outside. I cough and latch onto her hands, but the ground hits me like a brick. I taste blood at the back of my throat. A hand plunges deep into my chest, trying to reach for my soul. “Get off me!” I send a knee right into her stomach and she snarls, letting go. I scramble to my feet and throw a punch without thinking. “Leave me alone!”

“Aaa-aaa-aa!” Her skull has split down the middle, the brain springs out and lands on the ground. I trip on my own feet. “I’m–I’m sorry!”

“Reeed soouullll…” In the blink of an eye, I feel a damp sensation spreading through my shoulder.

“Yin!” Idris’s voice calls out from behind and I feel his hand brace my fall. The lady’s nails have elongated and pierced right through my arm, my sweater has been pushed into my skin. I shove her back as Idris drags me back into the house. I grit my teeth. “Idris, let me go!”

“B-But there’s a ghost!”

“Get down!” I push him down just as her claw-like nails sweep over our heads. “Are you blind?!”

“I can’t see like you!”

Ahh! These regular people!!!

I shove him inside the house and tackle the spirit as she makes another sweep. Her nails whizz past my ear, I grab her wrist and snap it in half. A shriek fills the air like a siren. “Sorry for the rough–treatment!” I grab her by the hair and swing her straight into the ground, unafraid of the pain in my shoulder. There’s a startling crack as the rocks beneath fissure before she stops moving all together. My knuckles are white. It takes me a second to let go of her hair and stand up. I press down on my shoulder and take deep breaths. There was no colour within that spirit. There was no soul at all. She was…soulless. Thin red strands are leaking out from my wound. Is it because I got hurt or because she tried to pry my soul out?

Idris and his men slowly step out of my house and stare at me. There’s blood pooling around the head of the body, and blood dripping down my arm. My heart is racing, I cannot feel the pain yet. “Idris, do me a favour please.” My voice is shaky.

He looks at my arm and then at the damp ground. His eyes are searching…he can’t see the spirit. “You…yer a monster…”

“Load…all the stuff down there before dawn. I’ll shift it halfway by noon. This would’ve drawn attention. Leave before the Shamans come.”

I don’t want to involve them in my mess. I avoid looking at the broken spirit on the ground. I was too rough.

“Yer…” He gulps down his words. “Boys…clean up. Leave no evidence! Van! Get the gauze, patch Yin up. Leave the goods in the basement, make sure the scene looks like nothin’ has changed.”

Van is instantly by my side, wrapping my shoulder. I silently nod at Idris who has a mortified expression on his face. “…I’m never getting on yer bad side.” He cautiously approaches me and stares at the wound. “S-Somethin’ was here. Somethin’ evil. It hurt you.”

“This? Oh this is nothing. I didn’t know I could actually fist-fight her…” I can’t help but glance at the body as a smoky aura begins to gather around it. “Idris, you should take your men and leave, now. Come back in approximately ten minutes. Something else is coming. I can sense it.”

He doesn’t argue with me. “Boys! M-Move quickly!” He turns around and nods firmly before running into the forest with the rest of them. The pain slowly spreads through my shoulder. I look at the wound. Red strands are still seeping out of it like a heavy fog.

The moon is almost setting and the touches of dawn glisten like dew at the horizon. The black smoke gathering around the body on the ground can only signify one thing.

“Why are you here?”