Paranelope, a ghost hunter who's been cancelled for faking evidence, must discover the truth behind a local cryptid in order to clear her name.
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Penelope, better known as the ghost hunter PARANELOPE to her millions of followers, has only ever want...
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With a shaking hand, Penelope dragged her finger across the screen of her phone to answer the call.
"Penelope?" came Daevon's voice from the other side. When she didn't immediately answer, his voice came again. "Penelope, are you there?"
"Y-Yes," she replied, finally, her voice barely a whisper. Her whole body was shaking now. It had been less than two weeks since she had last seen him, just before he had posted his video, but it felt like ages and now the distance that had grown between them was immense. She didn't know what to say to him. He no longer felt like someone she knew.
"Are you okay?" Daevon demanded. "Where are you? You haven't been answering my calls, and when I went by your house, no one was home!"
A sudden spark awoke inside her, angry and hot. It spread through her, flaring out until it reached the tips of her shaking fingers, stilling them as her grip tightened around her phone. She ground her teeth together.
"Why do you care?"
"You're my girlfriend," Daevon said like it was obvious. "Of course I'd care!"
That stunned Penelope into silence, dampening the flame for a moment. "You... You still think I'm your girlfriend?"
"What? Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you... You blindsided me by uploading that video! You gave me no warning before blowing up my life! You ruined everything!"
"I wanted to tell you, I really did, but," he sighed, "everything just happened so fast. That's why I was looking for you, so I could explain it all..."
Despite the heat that flowed through her, her heart panged. Maybe he isn't some conniving liar, maybe he had a good reason to do this... "Explain what?"
"I'd like to do this in person," Daevon said, matter-of-fact, the emotion gone from his voice. "Where are you? I'll come meet you."
"I'm out of town."
"When will you be back?"
Penelope paused. She suddenly remembered why she had pulled out her phone in the first place—to call her dad so they could leave this damned town as soon as possible. But talking to Daevon only reminded her that going home was just as bad, if not worse.
