Chapter 4: Really Seeing Ghosts
Gotham is an island connected by several bridges.
Jason is, and so is Jantis.
If it weren't for Jason's whim that day, Jantis would still be an uninhabited and uninhabitable island.
Coming home on this day — home... Jason thought about describing the safe house with Jantis in it and couldn't help but laugh. Maybe, he thought, it was the first time he considered that place a long-term base.
When he didn't consider it home, the girl didn't say it aloud, but she actually thought so. She was cautious, careful, and tried her best to appear reliable, obedient, and well-behaved.
On the surface, she was maintaining this strange family of theirs, but in reality, Jason understood her thoughts. She was afraid of being abandoned, afraid of returning to a place where no one understood her again.
Jason understood the feeling of not remembering who you are, where you come from, and where you should go.
The girl might not have been a simple character before, updating her source of inspiration every day, but her abilities were trained. However, Jason searched through recent foreign nationals entering Gotham during this time, and there was no information about Jantis.
She came into Gotham from outside, so the scope of the search became even wider.
If possible, Jason thought it would be more suitable for her to be with her own family, if they were still around.
If she didn't have a family and was raised by some strange organization, Jason said he would raise her himself.
The girl had an extraordinary sense of alertness and had the ability to be used for assassination.
One day, Jason thought about how every time he opened the door, Jantis would be very alert, so he changed the way he entered. Perhaps she wouldn't notice if he came through the window?
As a result, she did notice. Just as Jason opened the window of his room and one foot stepped in, the other foot was still on the windowsill, and a kitchen knife was placed horizontally on his neck.
Jason: ...
How did she come over without being noticed? Her control over her breath was extremely exquisite, and she came over silently. She could be said to be an exceptionally outstanding assassin or killer.
"Jenny, why aren't you sleeping again?" Jason helplessly pushed away her hand and took the knife from her. What's a little girl doing with a knife?
After Jantis came over and recognized him, she couldn't help but wonder why this guy was using the window instead of the door?
Jason answered, "Capable people use windows."
Jantis looked at him with an expression of incomprehension and complexity, as if she thought he was stupid.
"From now on, when I come in through the window, you lock the door properly. Don't worry about what's happening here." Jason couldn't help but rub the little girl's head helplessly. She must have heard the movement over here while she was sleeping, so she climbed up.
"Don't be afraid. I'm watching over here. Nothing will happen."
The little girl lacked a sense of security, and Jason was also worried about whether he could give her a sense of security that would make her feel at ease.
Jantis uttered a dull "oh."
Watching the girl go back to sleep with a sleepy look, Jason scratched his head and sighed helplessly.
The next day, after sending the girl to the tutoring class, Jason began to contemplate the girl's future.
Jantis's English learning was going well. Now, she had no problem with some simple conversations, but more complex ones would require deeper learning.
Jason wasn't worried about her learning. However, Jason couldn't find any information about the girl's past, which required further thought.
Jason wasn't afraid of the huge secrets that might be hidden in her past. He had come back from the dead once; what could be scarier than that?
It's just that if Jantis's enemies or her former organization came looking for her, her current abilities wouldn't be enough.
Jason thought, should he train the girl? Or should he let her live as an ordinary person?
But thinking that even if the girl had no memory, she still had muscle memory from her previous training, which couldn't be hidden.
Jason: Tsk, raising a child is really troublesome. How did old Batman keep picking them up one after another?
...
At night, Jason went out again, and Jantis naturally stayed at home to do her homework. The assignments from the tutoring class weren't difficult; they mainly focused on practicing spelling and reading.
Even though they weren't difficult, she still had to spend time completing them. Jantis didn't want Jason's money to go to waste.
Although she was completely being supported by Jason now.
As the night grew darker, the streets lost the hustle and bustle of the daytime, but the alleys of crime were not quiet at night.
After finishing her homework, Jantis calmly stared at the desktop, deep in thought. Actually, she wasn't curious about what Jason did, but she could sense that what he did wasn't ordinary. From the fact that he would come back with a smell of blood every few days, she could tell.
So if she were weak, she would definitely be a burden.
A strange electric buzzing sound passed through, and with a "snap," the lights went out.
The dim streetlights only illuminated a small spot on the windows, not very bright. When the lights in the room went out, there was darkness as if one couldn't see one's own hand.
After adjusting for a moment, Jantis adapted to the darkness and could vaguely see things around her. She swiftly got up and walked to the window, not waiting to figure out whether it was just one house without power or a blackout everywhere.
The streetlights outside also went out, and for a moment, there were complaints and curses coming from all around.
On moonless nights like this, Jantis standing by the window noticed that some windows were leaking faint white light, not very bright, which was the light from cell phones.
Some households had bright white lights shining, which were flashlights.
Jantis remembered that there were no spare flashlights at home, although she could use her phone. But her actions weren't restricted by the darkness, and she had completed her homework, so whether there was light or not didn't matter.
She closed the window, drew the curtains, and went to lock the door. Just as she was about to check Jason's room's window, in the quiet environment, another kind of sound came.
She stopped her movements, slowed her breathing, and restrained her breath.
—As if someone was crawling nearby.
The strange rustling sound stopped, and another sound entered her ears.
Jantis's gaze fell on the just-closed window — someone was fiercely scratching the glass with their nails. The piercing sound seemed to penetrate into the bone marrow, making one feel numb from head to toe, and causing nausea and irritability from the heart.
This was simply an invasive psychological attack.
She tightened her grip on the curtains, silently walked into the kitchen, and took a kitchen knife. Following the source of the sound step by step, she finally stopped in front of the window.
The glass window had been reinforced by Jason, who said it was bulletproof, and even the door locks were unbreakable by ordinary people. Logically, this place was already very safe.
At first, Jantis thought it was Jason's prank, but she realized he wouldn't scare her like this. Even if he came back through the window, he would only use the window of his own room.
The hand holding the knife tightened on the tightly drawn curtains, while the other hand took out her phone and turned on the flashlight.
The next second, as the light came on, she decisively and quickly opened the curtains again.
The light from the phone couldn't illuminate too far, but it clearly illuminated the scene outside the window, which was almost within reach.
Jantis subconsciously took a deep breath.
Outside the window, a woman was supported by something on the wall. Her jet-black long hair naturally hung down, covering most of her face, and only her eyes could be vaguely seen through the strands of hair, revealing dark blue lips.
She was wearing a white dress, and her skin was abnormally pale, with long and sharp nails.
This didn't look like a living person at all. The non-human sharp nails scratched the glass window, leaving behind marks, and the piercing sound continued incessantly.
Jantis stood still.
The person outside moved, shaking her head a few times. Although her body didn't move, her head reached a ninety-degree angle with her body, and she made eye contact with the little girl inside.
She leaned close to the glass, her hand never stopping, and Jantis met those resentful eyes.
The feeling of creepiness still lingered, Jantis steadied herself, slowly and slowly exhaled a breath, and with a swish, she closed the curtains, out of sight, out of mind.
Jantis stiffly walked back to her room. Carefully looking, she even had trouble moving her hands and feet, and the scratching sound on the glass paused for a moment. The next moment, seemingly angry at being ignored, the piercing sound continued incessantly.
Outside came a series of curses, followed by the sound of the window being forcefully closed, and the scratching sound disappeared.
...
When Jason returned to the room from the window, initially Jantis didn't come over, which pleased him. It indicated that his education was effective.
But when he turned on the light and saw the little head that shouldn't be in this room, Jason was still startled. "Jenny? Why aren't you sleeping? What are you doing here?"
Jason paused, calmed down, and saw the little girl curled up in the corner of the bed, clutching her pillow tightly, with a kitchen knife in her hand. Only her head was visible, and she even concealed her breath so well that he didn't notice her at first glance.
Jantis looked aggrieved as she huddled there, her expression not looking too good. When she saw him, her eyes suddenly became moist.
"Jason, I saw a ghost..."
The girl's voice trembled with a hint of panic, which softened Jason's heart. But... what did she mean by seeing a ghost?!
Weekly Power Status
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