𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 | dead boy detectives

1.4| milkshake

the group walk to follow crystal as she guide them to the side of the street. she point at a big house on the other side. "there. she last wore this shoe on the porch of that house."

"do you know anything about this house?" charles ask winnie as he look at her. winnie didn't really recognize this part of neighbourhood, so she couldn't be much of help. she shakes her head with a dissapointed face. "sorry, i rarely travelled around this part."

"so much for helping." edwin muttered as winnie glared at him. a some kind of telescope is pulled of charles' bag. "aces. let's have a little sneak peek, yeah?" winnie squinted her eyes to see the house from a far. the house is rather big and there is a greenhouse at the lawn.

"pots on the stove. crow in cage. no signs of anyone." winnie puts her hands in the pocket of her jacket. she turned her head to see a cat come to them.

"piss off cat." charles only glances at the cat before continuing to see the inside of the house. "wait a tick." edwin crouches in front of the cat. winnie stands beside him as she looks at the cat with a grin.

"cat, you live near here aren't you? do you know anything about this house?" winnie asks nicely before edwin could say anything. crystal scoffs as she heard her "what are you doing it's not like the cat is gonna talk-"

"fuck you." a grumpy old man voice coming from the brown tabby cat shocked crystal as she stared at the cat in disbelief. "i'm not going to tell you about the witch that lives in that house. especially to you." the cat growls at winnie. in which she only responds with a snicker.

she put her hands on her knees to bend down lower. "are you still mad about the pool thing? i told you it was an accident!" the cat hiss at her before running of elsewhere.

"cats can talk?" crystal looks at charles. "wild isn't it. they just don't talk to humans." the boy crosses his arms. edwin stand up straight again before dusting his jacket off. "bad news is that house belongs to a witch. they're tricky.. and dangerous." winnie only stands next to crystal again. she looks at the house with a frown. she never realises that this town has a witch. but she should've known better. this town has all sorts of supernaturals.

"but you guys can handle a witch right?" crystal's question went unanswered. "right?"

*⁠.⁠✧

"we need to know more details about the witch before going into her house." they are now in a diner to discuss a plan. winnie sit beside crystal as she twist and turn in her seat.

"so we just left said house without even looking for becky?" crystal stir the milkshake she had ordered with a straw. winnie look at it curiously. she had already forgotten how things taste like since being a ghost doesn't come with a tastebud.

"it isn't like we can just barge into her house. she will see us. anyone that has been near death or a supernatural can see us ghosts." edwin explains as he looks at winnie who is staring curiously at crystal's milkshake.

"if she can see us, she can hurt us. at least give it a solid throw." charles give her a cheeky smile. "well, it's confirmed that this is a supernatural case. we got a witch, talking cats and now there's creepy fog outside." crystal mumbled as she looks at the surrounding outside through the window if the diner.

she face forward again to see a group of girls whispering and giggling as they keep glancing at crystal. anyone can guess that they're talking about the poor girl. crystal clear her throat as she fiddled with her finger and the milkshake "those girls are looking at me." she whispered softly. winnie raise her head to look at the group of girls.

she recognizes these girls. they're students at the port townsend high school and she often saw these girls bullying other people. and often, she stop the bullying by throwing things around them and scare them off. the one thing that winnie hate is definitely bullies. what gives them rights to torture people weaker than them? but, she knows that she can't really said things like that. after all, she is also once a bully too.

winnie blink and focuses again when edwin said in a mocking manner. "maybe it's because of your outfit." crystal laugh sarcastically before flipping him off. "nah it's probably because it looks like you're talking to yourself. made you look a bit messed up in the head." winnie added with a grin.

crystal sighs as she stands up "i'm going to wait in the bathroom until they leave." winnie's eyes follows her as she walks pass the group of girls to enter the bathroom. she felt bad for the girl. "she's.. an unusual girl." i start as i revert my attention to the boys. "and i don't mean by her powers. what is she doing here alone.. with a bunch of ghosts? how do you meet her?" winnie has so much question about the unlikely trio.

charles sighs as he stretch his arms. "she was originally possessed by a demon. after we exorcist the demon out of her body, she.. forgot all about herself. basically lost her memories." edwin can only rolls his eyes. "if not for her power we would have let her be." winnie glance at edwin. "but that's horrible, isn't it?" she give edwin a dissaproving look. "how can she get her memories back?" winnie ask charles because she knows that edwin won't care about crystal's problem.

"we don't know about it yet. but.. as soon as we found becky, we will help her next, right edwin?" charles ask hopefully to edwin. the said boy raised his eyebrows, opening his mouth to say no, when crystal step out of the bathroom.

winnie raises her head to look at crystal. except.. she wasn't looking like herself. her eyes are white and she was mumbling to herself. the group of girls look at her weirdly and just let her past them.

"crystal?" charles calls out to her but she didn't answer. she even scream and threatening to no one in particular. the girls whispering worriedly and one of them even took out her phone to record her.

at this point everyone in the diner put their attention to the girl talking to herself. "oi, crystal!" charles pulls her by the back of her jacket and crystal's eyes went back to normal. she takes a deep breath and look around bewildered. winnie looks at her in concern.

"are you okay there, crystal? you just said some crazy things right in front of us." charles look at her in confusion. she turns to look around in fear. almost like she was scared.. of someone. "are you okay, hon?" the kind owner of the diner asks her gently like she is a mentally ill person.

edwin stands from his seat and walks slowly to crystal. "you just talked to a demon in the middle of a friendly malt shop." winnie looks at edwin's back in confusion before crystal turns around storm out of the shop.

*⁠.⁠✧