"Malum?"
Bewilderment.
A blond girl with a purple beanie, a short-haired girl with glasses, a tall, dark-skinned young man, a shorter one who's a bit grumpy and Adam the President.
"I've never heard about an angel called Malum before."
Rosa, the girl with blond hair to her shoulder, wearing a purple beanie, crosses her arms. A finger to her button nose, her blue eyes flickering softly, trying to recall the names of angels. Malum is not a widely known angel name. Not that she knew of.
The girl with shorter brown hair leaned closer to Ene, curious. Her large, roundish glasses with clear frames glinted under the soft lighting. Green eyes blinked with anticipation as she inquired.
"Where did you hear about Malum?
Ene's eyes shake slightly as her smile falters somewhat, trying to think of an answer.
"W-Well... Hehe..."
"Malum, Malum, I have questions~"
One evening, the little lady was trying to get his attention by circling him. Calling out to him, only to be ignored for a while longer. His eyes closed shut. He stood with his hands behind his back on the orphanage's lawn. Ene was pestering him yet again.
"Malum, are you an angel?"
"No."
"Are you a demon?"
"No."
"Are you my guardian?"
"No."
"Are you a spirit?"
"No."
Annoyance settled on her soft features as if he were playing around with her.
"Are you telling the truth?"
"No."
That answer took her by surprise. Ene frowned as her tiny arms crossed. Pouting her lips, dissatisfied, her voice grumpy.
"So you lied to me?"
"No."
"Wait, what? So are you telling the truth or not?"
"No."
"So you're just going to answer 'no' to all my questions?"
"Yes."
"Malum!!!"
Ene sighs, remembering that Q&A session, as clear as day in her memory. That was the only 'Yes' she had ever heard from him. Whenever she asked anything, she only met with an obvious 'No'.
"So?"
Hayley was still waiting for her answer as her glasses reflected the coming light of an open curtain. Ene shakes her hands, feigning obliviousness.
"I-I don't know. I just heard it before. That Malum might be an angel."
She tried not to appear as if she were hiding the fact that Malum had always lingered around her. Given that Malum refused to answer any of her questions or even to reveal his identity to her, these people were the only ones she could turn to for answers. She peered to the side.
'These people' aren't people at all. It was those spirits and demons instead; they have a greater understanding and knowledge of what Malum is, as they appeared to be from the same plane of existence.
Tapping of keyboard heard in the relatively quiet clubroom, as they turned to the sound of Michael typing something into his laptop. The dark-skinned young man had soft features, especially his light-brown, gentle eyes and well-defined lips. Each of his movements is efficient, despite his somewhat taller, toned physique. Michael's voice was low as he shared his findings, turning his attention to them.
"Malum. It has two definitions. First is an apple. Second... Evil or wrongdoing, especially if we're translating it from Old Latin. An apple doesn't really make sense, but the second definition doesn't really sound like an angel description."
"More like a demon."
Adam concluded with a casual tone. His curly brown hair seems to sway slightly with each motion. He had soft freckles on his cheeks and the bridge of his Roman nose, not that obvious. He was crossing his arms over his black t-shirt with an unknown rock band logo, probably a plus-size shirt, which was somewhat loosely fitted.
That answer doesn't sit well with Ene at all, seeing a bit of ceasing between her brows. Malum had always stayed by her side. He watched her grow up, and he is the closest thing to her, considered family despite being non-human.
Evil... wrongdoing... I already know those definitions. But I've never seen Malum hurt anyone else, much less hurt me; he even protected me. Sure, he is a bit distant and mean, but that's all to it. I don't think... he would ever hurt anyone... or me.
Appearing as if she were not bothered, she tried to look carefree once again.
"Who knows~ like an angel that records evil and wrongdoings? I mean, even the Angel of Death is called Death for a reason. That doesn't sound nice at all."
Hearing her argument, they contemplated for a while.
"Why not ask the spirits?"
The shorter young man suggested. Joshua is probably the same height as Ene at 5ft tall and has the outlook of someone sly, wearing a frown that always seems to be in a bad mood. Whether it was just his natural resting face, Ene wouldn't dare to comment on that.
The others are clear in agreement, without needing to say anything. Evident from the spark of life in their eyes, except for the unreadable Joshua. Michael went to the back shelves to find something, towering rows and rows of those cursed items.
Her eyes catch how easily they passed through the unseen. Whenever she accidentally passed through a spirit or demon, Ene would get sick. Yet as she grew older, fewer and fewer spirits or demons disturbed her. It had always just been Miss Alya, the ghost lady inhabiting her current house.
A flicker graced her eyes, remembering her source of protection, just like what happens before with the stray demon that somehow reached their apartment. Malum had always been protecting her, in between what she knows and what she does not.
"Found it."
Waving around the battered Ouija board. It made her squint slightly, much to her disappointment.
I can... talk to them. Do I really need to do this? I wouldn't want anything to attach to me. Malum wouldn't like that. He'll know I'm trying to dig his past again. He didn't like it last time.
They set up the Ouija board on the table and sat in a circle.
"Is this still useful? The past alumni kinda battered it up, don't you think so?"
Much to Hayley's suspicion, lifting her glasses to look at the board much closer, it was worn out, even to its planchette. Some words couldn't even be made out anymore.
"We should buy a new one."
"No way! This is heritage!"
Adam feigned hurt after hearing Hayley's remarks, dramatically clutching the board after swiftly grabbing it from the table. Ene couldn't help but giggle softly at their wacky dramatization.
"Okay, okay. Stop playing, guys, be serious. But don't worry, Ene, after being used so many times, this Ouija board is one of our best ways of direct communication."
Rosa pulled the board from Adam's clutches and returned it to the table. Everyone put their finger on the planchette placed above the board, except for Ene.
"Come on, Ene. Put your finger down too."
Everyone's eyes were on her now, waiting for her, especially after Adam's invitation. She shakes her hand in response to turning down the offer.
"No, no. I'll watch."
"Oh? Are you afraid? It's just an Ouija board. We have many challenging activities later, much spoooookkyyyyyyy~"
A smirk touched his lips as he teased her, while everyone had a humorous snicker. It made her chuckle, too.
"It's fine, I just want to watch for now. Make sure to ask about Malum."
They respected her decision as a nod passed between the members.
"Fine, but next time, no sitting out of an activity. You're a Paranormal Research Club Member after all. Got it?"
She nodded to Adam's reminder, as they began the ritual. With the planchette originally at Hello, it now slides to the middle as they circle it around the board in unison.
"Spirit, spirit. Are you there?"
The planchette kept circling for a while without any response, much to the members' bewilderment. Usually, they would have got a response by now, yet it kept spinning and spinning for almost 10 minutes.
"What's wrong with this? Usually, we would immediately get a response, but it's already too long."
Rosa already had her head resting against her palm, bored. The other also slumped slightly, yet their fingers still connected to the planchette before they finally decided to stop. Returning the planchette to the Goodbye, everyone was somewhat perplexed.
"What are you doing?"
A deep, low voice muttered against her ear as Ene jolted off her seat, surprising everyone instantly. Her hands covered her mouth with a held back muffled sound between her palms, eyes and brows scrunched hard. Luckily, only her heart was thumping loudly against her rib cage. He totally caught her off guard this time.
"What's wrong, Ene?"
The others looked at her, concerned. Yet, her eyes were plastered to that tall man in his all too familiar regal attire. Malum put his hands behind his back as he leaned away after frightening her.
"No, it's nothing. Just a bug or something."
She tried to remain composed as everyone laughed at her overly dramatic reaction to a bug.
"Or maybe it was the ghost, huuuuuu~."
Adam's words caused another wave of laughter inside the quiet clubroom, before Ene's smile faltered. She stared at Adam for a while, as he noticed her staring at him.
"What's wrong, Ene? You looked like you've seen a ghost or something."
Yet still, a short snickers made by him. Ene's gaze was silent, as only now had she noticed the room was eerily empty.
Where's the...
None of the spirits and demons were inside the clubroom anymore. Left only humans occupying the space and him, Malum. Even the one attached tightly to Adam's body had vanished. She didn't even realize it had happened.
"You're looking for those spirits, aren't you? You're trying to look into my background again."
"Ene."
That utterance of her name rumbling low, not at all a good sign. Malum's presence was heavy as he took a single step, instantly making him tower over her; his gaze was much colder this time. Ene's eyes flicker softly as to meet those slicing stares, holding their gaze by inches away.
Busted.