```The Story of a Writer```

VII

Dear readers,

The wires of the collapsed lamp detached from the lamp and wrapped themselves around Tiffany, binding her hands and legs. Harvard tried to reach Tiffany, but he was bound by something else. Tiffany felt severe pain as the steel wire tightened around her as if it was trying to force itself into her skin. Then, it lifted her and pinned her against the wall nearby by driving its sharp points into the wall. Harvard looked in fear at Tiffany suffering. The spirit wrapped her hands around him.

Tiffany’s blood slowly flowed down the wall. She began to lose consciousness. Harvard tried to break free but he could not. Instead, he felt weaker and weaker. He looked at his hands, it was turning colour. His veins began to disappear, the colour of his skin turned pale.

“Ah… The teenage soul… Ever refreshing…” The lady was enjoying herself.

Tiffany was barely conscious, but she could see that the lady was sucking out Harvard’s soul. She saw a second Harvard slowly emerging from Harvard’s body. The lady was fusing with Harvard’s soul. Harvard was becoming pale, and his skin was drying up fast. Tiffany was worried and scared, but not for Harvard alone. She herself was about to be murdered by a wire from a broken ceiling lamp. The wires danced around her flesh as the two wires that pinned her to the wall were turning deeper into the wall.

It was almost over. Tiffany was losing her strength; Harvard’s spirit was close to complete fusion with the lady spirit. For an instant there, Tiffany was very sure she saw something other than that ghost and Harvard in front of her. Ah yes… there was a smile…

A loud crashing sound came from nowhere. The entire ground shook violently.

“Stupid big brainless cannibal of a donkey! Stop!” cursed the lady as she vanished from the room.

The broken lamp that was binding Tiffany had also vanished along with the spirit. Harvard’s spirit levitated awhile above his body before it got sucked in by a force, life force probably, from Harvard. He regained his spirit, literally. Tiffany had bled too much. The disappearance of the lamp did not take along its effects. She leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. The pain was excruciating. Harvard went to her in fear.

“Tif, how are you? I mean… how can I help you…? I mean… please don’t close your eyes… Stay with me…” Harvard said as he thought of ways to heal her.

“Through that shelf, turn left when you see water blocking your path. It is not a dead end.”

Harvard turned as he heard the voice. The voice faded away as he stared outside the room. There was no one. He gulped. Then, he felt Tiffany’s grasp tightened. He looked down. The wounds were healing, fast…

“You’re healing,” Harvard said as he smiled in joy.

“Yeah, somehow,” Tiffany said as she slowly felt herself regaining full consciousness.

“We got to go, before that ghost returns,” Harvard said as he helped Tiffany up.

Harvard walked towards the shelves of books. How to get through? He fiddled with the books hoping it would reveal some hidden passage. Tiffany on the other hand set her eyes on something else. It was a medallion hanging at the corner of a shelf. Harvard saw a book entitled, “opening the shelf”. It had to be the key. He reached for it as Tiffany reached for the medallion. Tiffany took the medallion and the book shelf immediately glided towards the left. Harvard did not touch the book.

“Wow… The medallion is the key?” Harvard was clearly amazed.

“I have no idea,” Tiffany said sarcastically as she shook her head and walked into the hidden passage.

The lady ghost re-entered the room after a while. She was shocked to see the couple had disappeared. Her red eyes scanned the room. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the hidden passage revealed. She glided towards the shelf, grinned satisfyingly and vanished into thin air… The shelf shifted back to its original position, with the “opening the shelf” book jutting out. A young girl’s hand pushed the book into the shelf…

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