The World of Paranormal.

I get home from my job annoyed. I have to find a missing kid who  knows I have two ghosts in my house. If my job finds out, I’ll be fired. And since I actually like my job getting rid of ghosts, I don’t want that to happen. I get home and Christine, one of the ghosts, says, “Hi, honey. How was your day at work?”

She notices the gloomy look on my face and continues, “Did they find out about me?” “No, but I have to find a kid who knows about you. If I find him and he tells, I’m fired and you’re going away.” “Please, make sure that doesn’t happen.” “I’ll try.” 

“Well, on a happier note, I taught Cooper some tricks.” “Really? Can I see?” “Sure. Cooper, come here, boy.” Cooper the ghost dog, runs into the room and sits next to Christine. Christine makes Cooper do some tricks, and it makes me forget about work for a while. But the next day, when I wake up, I realise that I’m going to have to do something about the kid.

I don’t have work today, but I still decide to look for the kid. I have to make him forget Christine and Cooper. So I go into the forest and after about an hour, I find him under a tree sleeping. I carefully lift his head up and put my hand over his hair. I whisper, “Erase his memories of Christine and Cooper.” 

There’s a green glow and I put his head down. I call my boss. When he picks up, he asks, “James, why are you calling? It’s saturday.” “I found him.” “Really? Great. Well, you can bring him over here.” “I don’t have my car with me.” “Of course you don’t. Where are you? I’ll pick you up.” “I’m in the Aldurn forest.” “Okay. Meet you in twenty minutes.” I wake the kid up, saying, “Hey. My name’s James and I just need to take you to my office to make sure you’re okay. Can you walk?” “Yeah. But why do I feel like I’m forgetting something about you?” “I don’t know. Maybe you hit your head?” The kid gets up and says, “It feels like I knew you before this or something. My name’s Jake, by the way.” 

“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry.” When his eyes ask, “how do you know my name?” I say, “Everyone in my office was looking for you. We’re ghost hunters, and we were worried you were kidnapped by paranormal activity.” “Oh, okay.”

We walk in silence to the parking lot near the forest, and my boss is waiting there. I explain to him what happened, and he agrees that we should make sure he’s okay.  We all sit in silence until my boss asks, “How did you find him?” I reply, “I was just taking a walk when I noticed him. I thought he looked familiar and then I remembered that we were looking for him.”

“Brilliant!! You get a pay raise AND a promotion!! From now on, you’ll be the head ghost hunter!!” We go to the office and the boss announces, “James just found Jake!!” People come up to me and say congratulations, and I hear someone mutter, “Why would James be looking for Jake on a saturday?” After about an hour, the boss says that I can go home now.

I get an uber home and when I walk in, Christine asks, “Where were you?” “I was walking and I found Jake. I had to take him to the office.” “Oh, did he tell?” “No. I erased his memories about you and Cooper before I called my boss. He gave me a pay raise and a promotion. But I heard someone mutter about why I would be looking for Jake on a saturday.” Cooper comes up demanding attention. The next day, I wake up to my phone ringing. I look at the caller id. It’s my boss. I pick up and he says, “Hey James, there’s another missing kid. It’s one of Jake’s friends.”

 “Oh okay, should I come in?” “You just need to look for the kid, okay? I’ll send you a photo.” “Okay.” The boss hangs up and a couple of minutes later, he sends me a photo of a kid. Short auburn hair and emerald eyes. There’s another text after that. “Fred.”

As I’m about to leave, Christine comes up and asks, “Where are you going?”“I need to look for another kid.” “Oh, okay. Be safe.” I run out of the house and back to the forest. After some walking, I find Fred. I couldn’t see it clearly, and so I say, “Okay kid, we need to go to my office to make sure you’re okay,” but then I notice he’s dead. 

So I call my boss. When he picks up, he asks, “Well, did you find him?” “Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news first?” “Good news.” “I found Fred. But I think he’s dead.” “Um, okay, did you call the police?”  “No, but I’m going to.” “Well, you do that and I’m coming.” “Okay, bye.” 

“Thanks for finding him.” Both of us hang up and I call 911. After that, the boss comes and together we wait. “The parents are going to kill me if he’s dead.” “Sorry. Tell them to kill me instead. It’s my fault.” 

The rest of the day was a blur. Waiting in a room and police and interviews and angry parents. And one dead kid. Like the boss said, Fred’s parents were furious. When I told them it was my fault and I should’ve found him sooner, they say in unison, “No, you were the one who found him. Thank you.” They then continue yelling at my boss. When I’m finally able to come home, Christine’s waiting. I tell her about everything, and she says, “If I see him, I’ll let him know his parents miss him.” “Wait, what do you mean if you see him?” “Us ghosts like to meet up with each other.” “Okay.” 

I go upstairs to my bedroom and collapse. I’m so screwed.What if the boss fires me tomorrow? I fall asleep, replaying that scenario in my mind ten million times. But when I wake up, I feel something cold next to me. It’s Fred. “Hey, Fred. Your name’s Fred, right?” “Yeah.” “What are you doing here?” “I don’t know. I just randomly came here.” 

“Okay. Did you see who killed you?” “Yeah. Slenderman.” “Wait, no. Slenderman doesn’t exist.” “Yes,he does.” “Listen, kid, I have to go to work. Nice talking to you.” I get up and leave to go to work, Fred following me. When I notice him, I say, “You probably don’t want to go in there. They’ll kill you. Literally.” “Okay.” I go in and he follows. 

People stare because a ghost has the nerve to go in there. Fred goes up to one of them and jokingly says, “Hi.” The person just stares and tries to capture him without success. He flies around the room, everyone chasing after him. He then flies out the window, even more people outside staring. I sigh, embarrassed of him, but I don’t try to do anything. 

When I get home that night, Christine asks, “You know why you’re doing this for me, right?” “Yeah. Because I killed you.”