Lucas sat up straighter on the mattress, his eyes darting to every dark corner of the cellar.
Kade stood by the cracked lamp, arms crossed, spectral glow casting faint ripples across the walls.
"So," the ghost began, spinning a translucent coin between his fingers, "Rule Number One—don't scream. Already broke that. Rule Number Two—don't try to stab me. But, hey, maybe you're saving that for the morning."
Lucas swallowed hard. "Are you… Are you gonna kill me?"
Kade paused mid-spin, then burst out laughing. "Kill you? Kid, I'm dead. I couldn't slap a mosquito if it begged me."
Lucas's fingers dug into the bed. "Then… what do you want?"
Kade turned, dramatic, arms wide. "You! Congratulations. You've been chosen as my final assignment."
Lucas blinked. "Final... assignment?"
"Yeah," Kade said, taking a ghostly seat on Lucas's rickety desk chair. "Think of it like teacher training. Dead teacher. Living student. I've been given exactly one soul to impact. Change your life, and I get a golden ticket to Paradise. The Big P. Eternal peace. Spa treatment for the soul."
He leaned forward, grinning. "But if I fail… boom. Oblivion. And not the fun Skyrim kind."
Lucas stared. "You're serious."
"As the judge who roasted me into this job," Kade muttered. "So let's start this little mentorship off right."
He extended a ghostly hand.
"Name?"
Lucas hesitated. "Uh… Lucas. Lucas Rain."
Kade nodded slowly. "Lucas Rain. Sounds like a comic book sidekick, but I'll work with it."
Lucas looked down, unsure if he should feel honored or insulted.
Kade stood up, stretching his arms like a tired gym coach. "Alright, Lucas, I'll give you some time to wrap your fragile mind around all this. In the meantime, I'm gonna take a peek around your haunted excuse of a home."
He saluted lazily. "BRB."
Then—whoosh.
Kade sank straight into the floor like a glitch in reality.
Lucas's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He leapt off the bed, breath ragged.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
He rushed toward a wooden drawer and yanked it open, shuffling aside socks, old assignments, and a half-melted chocolate bar until—
There.
His childhood Bible, dust-covered and bent.
And next to it—
A plastic cross from Sunday school. The kind that glows faintly in the dark.
Lucas grabbed both.
The air went still.
And then—
Kade popped back up—head first through the floor like a reverse zombie. He blinked at Lucas and then flinched back dramatically.
"Yeesh! You live with THESE people?! Who the hell puts beans and mayonnaise in spaghetti?! That should be illegal in fifteen states."
Lucas didn't respond. He just raised the Bible in one hand, cross in the other, and started muttering verses under his breath.
Kade raised a brow.
"Uh… whatcha doin' there, Pope Junior?"
Lucas didn't stop. "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the—"
Kade gasped. "OH. You're exorcising me?"
Lucas looked hopeful. "...Is it working?"
Kade gave him a long look. Then—
"Absolutely not."
Lucas deflated like a punctured balloon. "Figures."
Kade floated closer, hands up. "Yeah, hate to break it to you, champ, but holy water and bedtime verses don't do squat to dead guys like me. Ghosts aren't allergic to religion. That's movie logic. We're more… morally uninvited."
Lucas dropped the Bible and the cross, shoulders sagging in defeat.
"I'm gonna die," he muttered. "I'm gonna die and share a basement with a sarcastic ghost."
"Hey," Kade said, mock offended. "Don't feel bad. You're not my first client."
Lucas blinked. "Wait. What?"
Kade nodded proudly. "Oh yeah. Had over two thousand and nine before you."
Lucas's mouth dropped. "Two... two thousand—?!"
"Yup," Kade said with a wide grin. "You're number 2010. Lucky you."
Lucas stared at him in horror. "W-What happened to the other two thousand and nine?"
Kade scratched the back of his head. "Ah. Well. You see… technically... I failed them."
"FAILED—?!"
Kade held up a hand. "In my defense, some of them were *really* messed up. One guy was a cannibal. Another thought aliens lived in his mattress. One girl tried to marry me."
Lucas paled.
Kade floated casually to the corner of the room. "Anyway, most of them kinda… spiraled into eternal damnation. But hey! I've got a good feeling about you."
Lucas stood frozen. "Y-You led over two thousand souls to Hell?!"
"Hey, don't phrase it like that," Kade said. "You make it sound like a school field trip."
Lucas collapsed back on the bed, hands over his face.
"This can't be real…"
Kade drifted closer, lowering his voice. "But it is. And unless you want to join the others, we'd better turn your sad life into a redemption arc."
Lucas peeked through his fingers. "And if I say no?"
Kade smirked.
"Then we both go to Hell."
Lucas sat up sharply. "Go to hell? Why would I go to hell? It's not like I'm dying."
Kade scoffed. "Wow. The optimism in this room is suffocating. You think people only end up in Hell when they die?"
He floated back and snapped his fingers.
In the center of the room, air shimmered.
A crackling ripple appeared—then widened into a full-sized, fog-edged mirror. Not nailed to the wall. Floating. Like something out of a haunted funhouse.
Lucas stumbled back.
"What the heck is that?!"
"Visual aid," Kade said, stepping aside like a magician presenting his grand finale. "Or as I like to call it: 'Your Life If You Keep Being a Doormat: Extended Cut.'"
Lucas narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Kade just grinned. "Buckle up, buckaroo."
The mirror lit up.
A blurry image formed. Lucas leaned in.
At first, all he saw was... himself. Older. Late twenties maybe. A scruffy beard, bags under his eyes, and a dead look that made him shiver.
This Lucas wore a black hoodie, bloodstains on the sleeves, and something even worse on his face—rage.
He stood in a dark alley. A frail old woman clutched a purse, backing away in terror.
Then—
Bang!
Gunshot.
The woman crumpled.
Lucas screamed, staggering back, his own breath catching in his throat.
The mirror didn't stop.
Now Older Lucas was on the run, weaving through streets as flashing red and blue lights painted the walls. His arms were covered in tattoos—skulls, dollar signs, and flames. Something demonic curled around his neck like a brand.
Sirens wailed.
Bang. Bang.
Police bullets.
Then—black screen.
Silence.
The mirror faded into nothing.
Lucas stood frozen, eyes wide, heart racing.
"What… what was that?"
Kade shrugged. "Tuesday."
He floated back to his chair with zero urgency. "That, my dear traumatized sidekick, is your Life Show. One of my ghostly party tricks. It shows what happens if you keep on your current path."
Lucas's throat felt like sandpaper. "But I'd never shoot someone. I'd never—"
"You'd never," Kade said, interrupting, "but he would. Future You. Broken. Twisted. The world beats you down long enough, and one day, you snap like overcooked spaghetti."
Lucas flopped onto the bed, shaking.
"That's not me…"
Kade floated beside him. "Not yet. But every day you live in silence, every time you let people walk over you, you inch closer."
Lucas looked up slowly.
"What if I… what if I don't redeem you?"
Kade's face darkened.
"Then I vanish into the Void. No reincarnation. No afterlife. Just… nothing. Ever been nothing? It sucks."
He floated back up, arms folded. "And Hell? Don't even think about it. I spent fifty years down there. They don't do rehab—they do replays. Over and over. Your worst memory on loop. Forever."
Lucas flinched.
Kade leaned closer. "Mine was the day I let someone down. The day I chose myself over saving a kid like you. That moment haunts me so much, even the demons got bored watching it."
Lucas looked down.
For a moment, silence settled.
Then—
BANG!
Something smacked the ceiling.
Lucas jumped.
"LUCAS!!!" a woman's voice shrieked from above.
The broom banged again.
"THE PLATES. NOW!"
Kade floated midair, deadpan. "Oof. That voice could peel paint."
Lucas groaned, already dragging himself off the bed. "That's my mom."
"Is she possessed?" Kade asked casually. "Or is this her normal volume setting?"
Lucas gave him a tired glare. "Normal."
As Lucas started to climb the stairs, Kade called after him.
"Think about it, Sidekick! Change your life, save mine. It's a package deal."
Lucas paused halfway up the stairs.
And for the first time, he didn't dismiss it.
He just whispered, "What the hell is happening to my life…"
Behind him, Kade grinned.
"Exactly what's supposed to."