Linked

26: trust me.

Ariel's attractiveness points have gone down to -100.

As Ortega bothered Suji to tell him what had just happened, I was carefully watching Sol. His expression was still unreadable, but I was beginning to get hints of betrayal. Of course he feels betrayed. His best friend basically killed him.

"Let's test out my demon abilities," Sol suddenly said, looking up at the ceiling.

I blinked. "What? Why?" I was expecting him to vow revenge on Ariel.

Sol stared at me for a long time. I could tell he was debating on whether he should answer me or not. His reason must be something that I don't agree with.

"I think we should test out his demon abilities! It'll be so cool!" Ortega cried.

Suji wacked him on the back of his head. "Don't encourage it!" The she stood up and faced Sol. "I already don't like the idea of a demon like you staying in my apartment and being linked to my friend. But now you expect me to agree to test out your demon abilities? You're funny."

Sol tilted his head and glared at Suji. "I'm stuck as a demon, right? I might as well get used to being a demon. It's Ariel's fault that I'm like this. Shouldn't I show him what I've become next time I see him?"

I've caught on. "Are you going to kill him...?"

Suji shook her head. "Okay, I understand you're pissed off and everything, but don't do this. Ariel's a public figure. Even if you do succeed in killing him, that would cause lots of attention, then what would you do if people see you? And then what if pictures or videos of you go viral?"

"He doesn't appear in pictures or videos so it's fine," I said.

"He doesn't?" Suji asked.

"Yo, how did you even know that Ariel watched Benjie starve to death? And how did you know that Ariel knows Benjie was in there and that he provided him the code?" Sol asked.

"Oh..." I glanced at Jasai who was pacing back and forth before I answered. "Ariel showed up to my workplace and he showed me security footage of me in the safe, so I kinda put two and two together. He didn't deny anything. Jasai says that there was no security when he broke in, right? Benjie also broke into the safe that day. Ariel must have disabled the security."

"Wait, who's Benjie? And what about Ariel? What were you guys talking about!? I can't hear the ghost guy talk!" Ortega whined.

All of us glared at Ortega.

"Get the fuck out! You're so fucking annoying!" Suji yelled.

"Bruh! We're dealing with something serious! Shut up!" Sol yelled.

"Ortega. Just no," I said.

Jasai simply shook his head.

Ortega pouted as he made his way to the front door. "I'll remember this!" Then, he left.

"Okay, continue," Suji said once Ortega was gone.

"You're saying that Ariel came to you with a video of you taking money from Sol's money vault?" Jasai asked.

I nodded. "I don't know why he hasn't reported me for theft or anything, but it seemed like he wanted to make a deal or something. Like, in exchange for not reporting me, he wants me to do something for him."

"Yeah, that's how it was like," Jasai answered. "Did he tell you want he wants?"

"No, I left before he got to. Then, I revealed to him that I know about Benjie-" I gasped. "Would he kill me since I know about Benjie!?"

Jasai stopped pacing and he crossed his arms, looking at the side. "Look at me. I'm a ghost. What do you think?"

The second I was given the answer, I quickly rolled down my left sleeve and looked at my wrist. Then, I let out the breath that I didn't realize that I was holding when I saw that there were still 3 tallies on my wrist. Not a good thing, but it's better than 4. But that 4th one is coming.

I knew Sol was thinking the same thing since he was looking down at his left wrist as well. When he noticed that I was looking at him, he looked up at me. "I'll do us a favor and get rid of him. In fact, ima do it right now."

Chills ran down my spine and I clenched my fists. "No. Don't do it." I said. I understand that what Ariel did is wrong but it still doesn't feel right for us to kill him, especially when he hasn't taken responsibility for the crimes he's committed.

Sol narrowed his eyes at me. "You high? What do you mean by don't do it? Are you trying to kill yourself? If I wasn't linked to you, then I would have gladly let you do whatever the fuck you want. But we're linked. If you die, I die too."

Jasai blinked. "Linked?"

Suji sighed. "Long story."

"Untie me," Sol said in a calm but threatening voice.

Suji slowly made her way to Sol and untied him. Then, he reached out to me and grabbed me by my left wrist.

"We have 3 strikes. 4 more, and we're out. I'm not asking for your permission. I don't even want you to be around when I do this. I'm already dead so I know how the death thing works. When it comes to life or death things, you take care of the life stuff and I'll take care of the death stuff," Sol explained.

I frowned. "Last time we saw Jamila, she had taken over Jamal's body and made him turn himself in. Now his getting punished for his crimes. If you kill Ariel now, nobody will know what he did and even if people do find out, he won't be punished. So is it worth it?"

"She has a point..." Suji said quietly.

I slid my wrist out of Sol's grip and grabbed onto his arm. "Please listen to me. Your right a lot of the times but this is one of those times that you're not. Can you for once just follow my way of doing things?"

"So you want me to just wait around until people find out what he did?" Sol asked as he attempted to control his anger.

"We can leave a tip. Even better, Jasai can possess his body and make him confess to his crimes," I answered, hoping my calm voice would settle his nerves. He's panicking and he's angry. I can feel it from just touching him.

Sol stared at me for a long time. Then, with a sigh, he pushed my hand off of him and walked over to the kitchen. "Call Ariel. Tell him that you want to meet him in my money safe. You're interested in doing whatever he tells you to do as long as he doesn't report you."

"Wait, why!?" I asked.

"Trust me on this," Sol answered.

I crossed my arms. "How can I trust you when I know that you're obviously planning something? And you won't even tell me what you're planning?"

Sol turned to face me. "If you don't know, then you won't be an accomplice. You'll be innocent."

I looked at Suji who was nervously biting on her thumbnail. Then I looked at Jasai who simply shrugged. Finally, I looked back at Sol. "At least tell me one thing. Does Ariel end up dead?"

Please. Please tell me he doesn't. Please please please tell me he doesn't!

Sol sighed. "No."

I felt a large weight get lifted off my shoulders, although I still felt uneasy. I pulled my phone out and went to me recent calls. There was Ariel's number.

"When Ariel enters the safe, I want you to leave and close the door behind you. You can open it back up when you feel me pinch myself or something," Sol told me calmly.

I slowly nodded as I pressed Ariel's number. Then, I put my phone up to my ear. "Hello?"

...

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