Under his tired features, Léon wore a triumphant expression.

'I'll take a room in this hotel and we'll go back tomorrow at ten. Understood?'

Adja threw him out without a word, but both of them knew she would fall into his blackmail. What if that ring was Sylvana Dormeaux's? She couldn't afford to let something so horrible unfold before her eyes: stealing something from a ghost in its own house, where it died! What madness! Léon had no scruples to the point it was distressing. Sylvana was in a flaming rage, if she was aware of the theft! I will spend the entire day apologizing in this idiot's place and reassuring her, begging her to talk to me while he's here... great!

That night, Adja almost couldn't sleep. She would have wanted so much for Sylvana to follow Léon and haunt him, turning his dreams into nightmares. I'm the one she should be following. I would show her how the rest of the country looks like. Adja crossed her armes under the sheets to warm herself up, exhausted that she couldn't find any rest. I will adjust the spirit box so it doesn't catch my phone's waves. That will give me something to do. It was four in the morning.

The spirit box emitted the same unbearable noises she hated so much. She plugged her headphones in to avoid waking up the neighbors. Adja tinkered with the buttons until her phone stopped making interferences when she sent texts to herself. Ah, that's great! I hope Sylvana will talk to me, it would be so much better than Ouija...

Suddenly, the room temperature dropped of five degrees. The air around her face seemed glacial to her and she started trembling under the sheets. No, that's not fatigue, it's too strong... She then understood what had happened. Adja jumped out of the bed, her pyjamas stuck to her sweaty skin, and grabbed the K-II. Oh my god, maybe it's...

'Sylvana, is that you?'

Adja bit her lips, waiting for an answer. When the K-II diode blinked once, she sighed in relief, joyful as if she had found her bestfriend at the other side of the planet.

'You followed Léon, right? After his Ouija seance?'

'Yes.'

'You're the one who decided to make the atmosphere colder, right?'

Sylvana confirmed that she was there from the beginning, but had decided to wait until now to show her presence. Adja tightened her grip on the K-II. She was shaking so much that she was scared of dropping it.

'Have you heard everything, when Léon was talking to me? The blackmail, how much I hate him?'

Luckily, Sylvana said yes. I don't need to explain it... nice!

'I would like to test my spirit box. I will show you... You just need to speak next to me and I should be able to capture a few sounds.'

Sylvana agreed. Adja turned the K-II off and listened carefully to the hubbub that got out of her headphones. If I ever talk to her that way... A pure wonder!

'I'm waiting for you,' she said, her eyes closed.

Adja heard indistinct noises.

'I don't understand, but I can hear you're making efforts...'

'Tchtchtchtchtch... a... tchtchtch...'

'Yes? I heard a sound!' she whispered.

'Tchtchtchtchtch... Adja? ... tchtchtch...'

'I... I heard my name!'

Without any warning, Adja burst into tears. Her emotions were drowning her.

'I'm sorry... Sorry...,' she spluttered between sobs. I don't even know why I'm crying...'

'Tchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtch...'

'You said my name...'

Adja sniffed and lay down slowly, her headphones on her ears and the spirit box against her heart.

'I don't even want to record this,' she murmured. 'Are you still here?'

'Tchtchtchtch... yes... tchtchtchtch...'

Adja's tears doubled in intensity. The voice that came out of the spirit box was high but confident, even if she couldn't really judge her tone from two words. The device couldn't transcribe it very well, of course, but Adja would have to be satisfied with what she had: there was no better method on the market. She could feel Sylvana's presence, way more than when the Ouija planchette moved under her fingers.

Adja swallowed with difficulty. She was almost having a conversation with Sylvana. Reality slapped her in the face. She was in her bedroom and had spent hours here without being aware of Sylvana. Everything she had done had had an audience: her weirdly affectionate thoughts for her, everything else...

'I undressed in front of you to put my pyjamas on,' she said in a blank tone.

Adja was mortified. Paranormal was a solemn and serious thing, and she had dragged into the mud the last pieces of dignity she still had left. No one wondered if they were looked at when they got naked, but Adja had to deal with this. Oh my god.

'Tchtchtchtch... beautiful... tchtchtchtchtch...'

Petrified, Adja buried herself a little deeper in her mattress. How should she react? How could she change the subject? If she stopped the spirit box, Sylvana would settle in her room and wait until she went home. Nothing would make her leave, even trying the Ouija again. Adja felt terribly embarrassed and, for the second time, scared.

Women didn't compliment her, in her real life. She didn't meet enough people to make anyone want to date her. Having someone like Sylvana enjoy the view was not a habit, for sure. Adja wasn't flattered nor disgusted, the problem was more serious. I can't have a relationship with a deceased person! I don't know if I'm able to love her or not, but it's impossible anyway!

'Tchtchtchtch... think too much... tchtchtch... stop... thinking... tchtchtchtch...'

'You're...' Adja stuttered, you're kind of special for a 1884 girl, right? No one would have done something like this!'

'Tchtchtchtch... -one what? ... tchtchtchtch...'

'Looking at me, complimenting me on my appearance, I mean... There's no prudishness here, I don't know how to explain.'

This conversation isn't happening, I must be dreaming. I'm going to wake up. Adja felt a strong shiver go up her spine. Against her ribs, the spirit box seemed to weigh a hundredweight. Her breath was laborious. She swallowed before asking a question she didn't dare to ask.

'Sylvana... Did you like women, when you were alive?'

There was a long silence, interspersed by the annoying noise of the spirit box. Adja thought she had lost Sylvana when she heard:

'Tchtchtchtch... didn't like anyone before... tchtchtchtchtch...'

Adja hastily turned the spirit box off and put it way too violently on the floor. She tore the headphones from her ears and threw them at the other side of the room. Her chest shaking with sobs, she buried her face in her hands.

'Stop! Stop! You can't answer that kind of nonsense while I will never see you in the flesh! It's not normal! What am I supposed to answer?'

Silence.

'How can I investigate on your life after such a unhealthy discussion? It's not normal! Not normal!' she repeated, watching her tears fall on the dark blue sheets, powerless.

All of a sudden, Adja heard a thud and looked at her spirit box: the button had turned on by itself. The volume went up and broadcast Sylvana's screams.

'TCHTCHTCHTCH Léon??!! TCHTCHTCHTCHTCH Léon!!! TCHTCHTCH...'

Adja got out of the bed to turn the volume down and put the headphones back on her ears, even if Sylvana's cries could make her deaf. She went back into bed, shivering of cold.

'Sylvana... I don't think you've understood my problem, calm down. I don't want to get closer to Léon! Don't be jealous of him. He's repugnant and he'll go back home after his pitiful blackmail.'

'Tchtchtchtch... so? ... Tchtchtchtchtch...'

'So that's it, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't like sentimental stuff, I have never experienced any of that, and I feel like I'm going crazy. I'm talking about my love life to a ghost! That's what's not normal! Not that you're a woman or anything... '

'Tchtchtchtchtch... shut... tchtchtch...'

Adja wasn't sure she had heard Sylvana telling her to shut up in the middle of the spirit box noises, but she felt something cold running on her left side.

'What are you doing?!' she panicked, curling herself into a ball. Are you... coming under the sheets?'

'Tchtchtchtch... some rest... tchtchtchtch...'

Adja turned off the spirit box again so she wouldn't hear any of Sylvana's silliness. Her hands were shaking hard. If she wanted to seduce her and make her lose her mind, it was her problem. I'm strong, I won't fall for a ghost who... who can read my thoughts, damn.

Adja realized she was less and less cold, as if Sylvana's presence was fading.

'Sylvana?'

The cold came back. I'm weak, I'm so weak.

'Stay with me, whatever,' she asked her, defeated.

As soon as she closed her eyes, Sylvana's blank stare on her photograph appeared to her. I'm going mad, help me... Adja started shaking, both from fear and cold. Kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, highschool, her freelance years, her entire life was playing in front of her eyes. All that time spent living each day, without imagining one minute that she would end up in this situation, terrified, losing her grip on reality... She saw herself in the school library, interested in Lovecraft's novels. It was his fault... his fault... The temperature dropped again.

'Not too close, it's freezing...' Adja implored her, not even conscious of what she was saying.

She stayed like this, strangely snuggled against someone she couldn't feel, unable to sleep at six in the morning. What am I going to do? she thought, burying her tired face in the pillow. I will continue my investigation tomorrow, maybe the days after, and then? Can I bring Sylvana home at Dunkerque if I don't salute her with the Ouija board? She shivered from her own divagations, from the sheer horror of her idea.

Adja felt Sylvana moving closer, millimeter per millimeter, and cold fingers touched her left hip. She couldn't breathe.

'No, Sylvana, don't do anything else,' she ordered. Sleep.'

The cold went away as abruptly as it had appeared, and nothing made Sylvana come back to the room.