Guardian Ghost

Chapter 10: The trio walking home

"So then, you think of the shape in three dimensions, as a rotation around the x-axis."

"Uh huh."

"So it's like bam! Rectangle turns into cylinder! Triangle turns into cone! Mind blooownnnn!" Allen threw his hands up in the air. "Like, I never thought about it, but a cylinder is just a bunch of circles stacked! And a cone is just smaller and smaller circles stacked on a big circle."

"Yeah, actually that is pretty cool." I sighed. "I wish I took Higher Level Math."

"You should have!" Allen harrumphed. "Then I could copy off your notes!"

"Allen, please, math is the one thing where it will always be me needing your notes."

Allen acknowledged. "But still, at least you get it when I explain things."

I smirked. "What, you mean people don't get it when you grow your hands up in the air and say 'hallelujah, a rectangle is a cylinder'?"

"Unfortunately, no." Allen scoffed. "And people say I'm stupid!"

"I admit I think he's less stupid now," Xiang muttered from beside me. "But he's still an idiot."

"Hey, Allen, Xiang says you're an idiot."

"Join the club." Allen beamed. "Hey, do you think I can get my own fanclub like Lay?"

"You might get an angry mob," I told him gently.

"Hm..." Allen considered. "But would me being endangered by an angry mob endear me to Lay?" Xiang looked at me incredulously. Allen couldn't see his look so he just continued, "Well, never know until I try! Shang or whatever, be the honorary vengeful spirit in my angry mob!"

"I might just..." Xiang was still giving me an incredulous look. "Is he doing it on purpose?"

"What on purpose?"

"Shang thinks I have the brainpower to do things on purpose?" Allen pretended to be shy. "Aw, shucks."

"I don't think that's what he means," I said, chuckling.

"My name's not Shang," Xiang continued, refusing to be derailed.

"Allen takes time learning these things." Allen looked at me curiously. I sighed, "Allen, Xiang is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. You might as well get his name right."

"Aw, but that's no fun!"

"Allen..."

"Fine, fine." Allen eyes what looked to him like empty space beside me warily. "But I think it's just as rude to talk about someone badly right to their face."

"You--"

"Alright, chill boys." I blocked a hand in front of Xiang, who was stepping forward. He bumped into it and materialized. "Now make nice before my hand stops working, please.

"Wah, I'm sorry," Allen apologized. It still sounded sarcastic as hell, but his apologizes had definitely gotten better over the years. "Xiang, I'll get your name right."

"No, it's..." Xiang probably hadn't expected Allen to be so whipped and looked at me in surprise. I just gave him a smug smirk back. "... I'm sorry, too."

"Yay, were all friends again!" We had now walked down through the little woodland and were entering the park area. Today, unlike yesterday, was bustling with the right amount of activity. A few children were playing in the sandpits and their parents were watching from benches nearby. There was one person a run, threading through the small trails nearby. Another person was walking their dog, a big golden retriever.

"What did you do yesterday?"

"I told you I had a doctor's--"

"Not you, Allen." I returned Xiang's even gaze. "There was no one here yesterday."

"Why do you assume I did something?" Xiang raised an eyebrow. "Why can't I just the victim of impeccable timing?"

"Hm..." I guessed what he was saying was possible. "Still a crazy coincidence though." I gestured to Allen that we should walk right under the old oak tree. Once we were standing beneath its leaves, I looked at the trunk. At where I had seen Xiang embedded the day before.

Nothing.

Not a scratch on the bark.

Allen was scratching his head. "Yuelian, what's wrong?"

"Allen, do you want to hear how I met Xiang?"

"Omygod, story time with Yuelian!" Allen beamed, only half sarcastically. "Sure, sure! Tell me everything!"

"Basically, he was stuck the this tree." I pointed at the place on the trunk where I had found him. "He was impaled to it by a knife."

"Damnnnn."

"But it's like he's a ghost, so he's still totally conscious, talking normally. There was all this blood on the grass but he was just looking at me calmly like pull the knife out."

"..."

"So I pulled the knife out and he fell forward off the tree and I went to check on him. But by then the blood and wound were gone."

"Hey, Xiang, can you actually get injured? Can you die again?"

"...It's unlikely." I saw Xiang moving out of the corner of my eye. When I turned to look, he was shaking his head. But he wasn't staring at me, he was staring at the tree. His expression was very strange. Wistful, maybe? But he was impaled there...

"Did he say yes?" Allen asked me, not having heard Xiang's answer.

"..." I shook my head as well. "I guess let's just hope we never have to find out."

"Is the knife what killed you?" Allen asked, his eyes darting around, trying to place where Xiang might be standing.

Xiang hesitated a moment. But then he said, "No, it's not."

"Then why did I find you like that?" I asked.

Xiang chuckled. It surprised me. You're chuckling about being impaled to a tree??? "You can figure that one out yourself."

"Where's the knife now, anyways?" Allen asked suddenly. "Shouldn't we take it away? What if a kid finds it?"

"Wow, that's the most considerate thing I've heard you say in a while." I held up a finger to stop Allen from continuing to talk and undoing all the good he had just spouted. "Xiang, where is it?"

"Don't worry, it's gone." Xiang waved his hand dismissively. "You'll never see it again. It was a one-time thing."

"He's saying it's gone. Apparently it was a one-time thing." I still eyed the ground warily. "So no kid or their parent is going to find it?"

"Nope, they never will."

"If that didn't have anything to do with how you died, why the heck would you present yourself that way?" I was still confused. Xiang was already walking away from the tree. "Xiang? Hey, don't just walk away! Why the knife?"

"..." Xiang stopped and gave me a sidelong glance back.

"Because arrows are hard to find nowadays."

"Arrows...?"

"There's an arrow, too? Where?!"

"Shut up, Allen."

"Huh? Why so meannn?"

Motioning for Allen to follow, I hurried to catch up with Xiang. Under the autumn sun, his back as he walked away looked very real. But he didn't cast a shadow. And his feet stepping over leaves didn't make a sound. Though I had only known him for one day, for some reason, I felt fear in my heart. Fear that if I didn't stay close, Xiang might disappear just like that knife. 

Or maybe he would be like that arrow--like he had never existed at all.