Chapter 2:

Shadow people: These ghosts appear to be human-like in form; they can't interact directly with humans. Their method of being seen is often in the corner of your eyes. They emit feelings of unease, casting feelings of fear and of being watched. Rarely they will take form as an apparition. They are attracted by the attention they receive, a method of getting rid of them is ignoring them. - Expiriavit Manas Libri

I check my phone, 5 hours have passed since I entered my childhood home and put on the ring. I stare at it, it's glowing unnaturally and I sense an apparition in the room with me. I turn around and see a thin transparent image of a man who seems to be young and far above average looking.

He has black hair, he wears a freshly steamed black tuxedo that compliments his sharp jawline and clean stubble on his face. His cheeky smile brings back memories, I have definitely seen that shit eating grin a multitude of times.

Hey Laura, long time no see, don't pretend like you don't miss me." He grins and flashes unnaturally white teeth. I roll my eyes, and walk through him and up through the stairs with a box filled with the ink, leather backed notebook, and the handwritten notes.

"You look vastly different since the last time I've seen you, although you haven't grown too much taller." I ignore him, the old wooden box in my hand and I walk out of the house. The sky has gone from a dark grey to a dark high of blue.

"Well, if we aren't on joking terms may I ask you a question?" I continued to my car and he phased through to the passenger seat, ignoring him.

"I'll go ahead and ask you anyway, why did you put the Exspiravit Anulum back on?" That question makes me think, was what I wanted to accomplish worth putting the ring on? It had to be, I pushed away all those conflicting thoughts. Who else would help those unfortunate enough to be teased in the afterlife? I've felt for the paranormal ever since I had seen them for the first time, when I was 8. I had even felt bad for Lamorri; he was just another apparition that was desperate for attention.

After he shoots more questions, I ignore all of them.
"You escape one abyss and see the first person in what seems like an eternity and still feel trapped. Emptiness and a replay of regret are the only thing accompanying you." I don't say anything, we make it to a stop light. It stays red and then turns green. The hum of the vehicle turns into a growl as my foot pushes on the gas. "Memories, people- long gone come and go in the innermost labyrinths of the mind." Lmaorri's voice quivered and for the first time since reconnecting with him I feel uneasy. "Laura," he pauses. "It's so lonely please for the sake of me, notice me. Don't ignore me, notice me, you can understand what I feel but you won't ever get it." Silence, the silence of my making is suddenly loud, Lamorri's words stop and so does everything around us. I think of his last sentence, 'You can understand what I feel but you won't ever get it.'

I turn down a long road, the orange lights complement the sun that is just beginning to kiss the dark sky. I cut into the driveway of a tiny house that I call home. It isn't much bigger than the one I had just left, the only difference was the condition the house was in. On the front porch I notice something with my newfound ability: the ability to not only see Lamorri but the ability to see other supernatural entities. It appears to be a shadow but it's not quite bright enough for shadows. It appears as a man with a top hat except the proportions are wrong, his head for one is stretched vertically and his torso is also elongated.

"Oh, a shadow person but only one? How interesting." I hear Lamorri say above me, he's floating there in a laying-like position. I think it's interesting to see a shadow person but pretend to be disinterested. It turns its head as I walk into my home, the shadow person begs for any spouts of my attention. When we walk in I toss my boots off, in the corner of my eye I'm sure I see another shadow person but it disappears before I can test my theory.

"Oh so that one just likes greeting you." He laughs at his own joke, and I can't help but smile just a little. My room is dark until I flip a switch causing the dark to run into nothing. The light reveals a symphony of items that have no correlation. A pile filled with empty water bottles, an unopened book, a blank dvd, candles, and some leftover fast food catches my attention. One part of my room remains clean, it is the tools I attempted to use to study the dead. A homemade deck of tarot cards, an ouija board, a pendulum board and pendulum, herbs, incense, all types of books about the supernatural, and books about theories for the supernatural.

My body feels disgusting after being in an abandoned house for hours, and passing out on the floor. I debate on taking a shower and decide against it. I clear a spot on my bed, it's of course not made and lay down. Lamorri begins to make himself comfortable, he doesn't hesitate to look around. He says something, probably about the current state of my room but I don't hear him.
Exhaustion takes over my body. My mind aches as the day's events slap me in my face. Was what I had done worth it? Could I get rid of the Exspiravit Anulum again if I wanted to? The world fades to black, I awake to a conversation. Lamorri is sitting down, talking to one of the shadow people. Whatever they're talking about isn't in a language I understand. I can pick up on some words like "Mortem" and " Vos". The shadow person looks to be a girl but it's hard to tell, an old style hat and what looks to be a dress company the shadow.

Whatever they're talking about seems to be going the wrong way. The figure starts vibrating frantically, and Lamori's voice begins to rise in a crescendo. Lamorri's smile retreats from his face and is replaced by worry. As if to confirm my suspicions the shadow fades to nothing and appears behind Lamorri and attempts to choke him, he suspects the maneuver and easily dodges it. She begins to fade in and out again, she disappears and once again she is swinging on Lamorri. He barely dodges this one and she begins to start her ritual again.

"Laura, touch her!" He shouts, worry stabs an open wound in his voice. Grogginess from my sleep has left. I stumble before I can get to my feet. I touch the shadow person, it feels like air against my hand. The shadow person looks down as I touch it, a bright light is produced from the ring on my finger encasing the room. Soon the figure is gone, replaced by a golden envelope with a red wax stamp.