Chapter 03: All's Well That's Small
Stephnie immediately took a small bottle of holy water from her pocket and sprinkled a little on herself and then on her friends, so that no spirit might harm Claire, Stephnie, or Lily. Yet Stephnie was surprised to see that the spirits were not attacking them; they were merely drifting about the house. Then, the doctor's spirit — which had been laughing menacingly in his bedroom — floated down into the hall and stood before the three girls, as if openly challenging Claire and her companions.
Even amid the tension, Lily found it all amusing and teased Stephnie, "Steph, this doctor reminds me of your uncle who came to see you at college last year and took eight hundred dollars for 'treatment' — then left to buy liquor."
Stephnie scolded Lily softly and told them both to stay alert to the activity around them, so that if any spirit tried to attach itself from any direction, Stephnie, Claire, and Lily would be ready. Claire said to Stephnie, "This is our debut story; we came here without knowing the full history of this house. From the look of the doctor's spirit, it seems he might even try to imprison our souls here."
"Don't worry, Claire. As long as we remain inside this enchanted circle, the doctor's spirit—or any other spirit—cannot attack us," Stephnie reassured her. "But we must speak with the doctor's spirit and calm him soon. At three o'clock the strength of any spirit doubles, and if that happens while we are outside the circle, it could inflict some harm."
At that moment Lily noticed a girl's spirit pointing toward the doctor's family portrait. Before Lily could tell her friends, the doctor's spirit spoke up, "How long will you sit in that enchanted circle? Sooner or later you will step outside, won't you? For now I will leave, but if any of you set foot beyond that circle, I will kill them at once." Laughing loudly, the doctor's spirit vanished. With him went the storm inside the house — and all the other spirits disappeared as well.
"What will we do now, Stephnie? The doctor is right — we can't stand inside this circle all night, can we? It's already 1:30, and I really need to use the bathroom. You should find a way to send the doctor's spirit to the afterlife," Claire said, trembling.
Lily put in, "Steph, Claire, I have something to tell you…."
But Stephnie and Claire, knowing Lily's tendency to joke in every situation, ignored her and assumed she was being playful. Stephnie then took from her bag a diary that had belonged to her grandmother, a renowned exorcist. The diary contained methods for dealing with all kinds of spirits. Claire held a Bible in her hand and read passages aloud to reduce the oppressive negativity in the house and to help guide the wandering spirits toward the afterlife.
Seeing that her friends were not taking her seriously, Lily quieted down and took out her phone to snap a selfie in the midst of the eerie scene.
Stephnie scanned her grandmother's diary for a means to confront the doctor's spirit and found a ritual: one must form a circle with salt and holy water, read a command loudly from the Bible, then hold a cross and pray to Jesus, asking for the spirit's release and forgiveness for its sins. There was, however, a problem — the ritual required that the spirit itself step into the circle of salt and holy water. Everyone knew the doctor's spirit would never do that willingly. The second problem was that to make a new enchanted circle, someone would have to step outside the current circle — and stepping outside would mean becoming a target for the doctor's spirit.
"Look, if something happens to Stephnie, we're doomed anyway," Claire said, glancing at Lily. "Stephnie's the only one who knows how to send the doctor's spirit to the afterlife. So either you or I will have to go out there and make the circle."
"But Claire, how can we be sure the doctor's spirit will even step inside that circle?" Lily asked anxiously. "What if one of us goes out and the doctor's spirit attacks before we finish? We should think of another way to trap him."
Hearing Lily's fear, Claire looked to Stephnie for guidance. Stephnie took a deep breath. "I've read every ritual in this diary. Believe me—this is the only way. You both stay here inside the circle. I'll go out and make the new one, and try to trap the spirit inside it."
She picked up her bag and began to step out of the circle, but Claire grabbed her hand."No, Stephnie—you stay here and prepare the prayer. I'll go make the circle. Give me the holy water."
Before Stephnie could protest, Claire stepped outside the protective circle and began forming the second boundary. Suddenly, a freezing wind swept through the hall, and the doctor's spirit appeared out of nowhere. With a shriek, it hurled Claire across the floor and spoke in a thunderous voice, "If you want your friend to live, step outside that circle—now!"
Claire struggled to hide and fight back, using all her strength as the doctor's ghost advanced. Stephnie, terrified but determined, rushed out of the circle to continue the ritual. But before she could finish, Lily remembered something—how a young woman's spirit had earlier pointed toward the doctor's family photo.
"Stephnie! I think I know how to stop him!" Lily shouted.
The storm inside the house grew stronger. The roaring wind drowned Lily's voice."What are you saying, Lily? I can't hear you!" Stephnie yelled back.
Meanwhile, poor Claire was running from corner to corner as the doctor's spirit relentlessly hunted her. Desperate, Lily grabbed Stephnie's phone and texted her quickly:
"That girl's spirit was showing me the doctor's family photo — I think his anger isn't about Jasmine betraying him, but about his wife. Maybe Jasmine and her boyfriend killed her too."
As soon as Stephnie read the message, realization dawned—perhaps the doctor's spirit wasn't raging for revenge on his daughter but for the death of his beloved wife, Olivia. If Olivia's spirit could be summoned, it might calm him.
Stephnie immediately began chanting, calling out to Olivia's spirit. Within moments, the chaos inside the house froze. The air turned still—too still. The doctor's ghost sensed that Stephnie was performing another ritual and, furious, left Claire and rushed toward her.
He seized Stephnie by the throat, lifting her into the air as she gasped for breath. Claire, watching from the staircase, screamed, "Let her go!"
At that instant, Lily acted. Remembering the salt bottle Stephnie had given her earlier to seal windows and doors, she grabbed it and threw all the salt onto the doctor's spirit. The ghost roared in agony and dropped Stephnie.
Stephnie stumbled back into the protective circle beside Lily. The doctor's ghost steadied himself, now burning with fury—his eyes glowing blood-red. He turned toward Claire, ready to strike.
But just as he lunged, a soft light filled the hall. From within the glow, another figure appeared—it was Olivia, the doctor's wife. Her spirit reached out and grasped the doctor's hand.
The ghost of the doctor's wife stepped forward, her eyes filled with tears."Until when will you keep punishing yourself like this?" Olivia's spirit asked softly. "How long will you go on taking innocent lives? It's enough, my love. Our daughter was lost, misguided. That was her fault, not anyone else's. Please, release these innocent girls—and the other trapped souls too."
The doctor's ghost trembled, his voice breaking."You know, Oli… I was never angry because Jasmine disobeyed me, or even because she took my life for money. I hated her because she killed you—her own mother, the woman who carried her for nine months and loved her unconditionally. Every time I wanted to punish her, you stopped me. And yet… she took you away from me."
As he spoke, the darkness that surrounded him began to fade. The doctor's ghost—once terrifying, drenched in blood and shadow—slowly transformed. His torn white coat turned pure again, his face calm, his eyes clear. Olivia's spirit glowed like soft moonlight. They embraced one another, the centuries of pain dissolving between them.
Stephnie, Claire, and Lily watched silently. Even their eyes filled with tears—witnessing that love could outlast life and death.
Olivia turned toward the girls. "Thank you," she said warmly. "You gave me the courage to face my husband. For years, I blamed myself for his death and hid away in this house. But now, because of you, both our souls can finally be free."
The girls bowed respectfully. The doctor's soul had lingered on earth, bound by rage, and every person he had killed remained trapped with him. But now, with his forgiveness found, one by one, all the restless spirits began to fade—ascending peacefully into the light.
Before leaving, the doctor's spirit spoke once more."There's something you should know. In the hall where my wife and I were killed, I had hidden a secret camera—meant only for security. That camera recorded everything that happened the night of our deaths. Retrieve that cassette and give it to the police. Jasmine and her lover must answer for what they did."
The girls nodded. They bowed one final time as the doctor and Olivia's souls embraced and rose toward the light—finally at peace.
Later that night, Claire and Lily found the secret room and the old cassette. They digitized the tape, sending it anonymously to the Los Angeles Police Department. When they finally reached home, it was 3:45 a.m. Exhausted, Stephnie and Claire collapsed on the bed, but Lily stayed awake long enough to edit the night's footage and upload it to their paranormal YouTube channel—"The Ghost Mentors."
By the next afternoon, the sunlight streamed through their apartment windows. Stephnie was in the kitchen making noodles when Claire woke up with a start."Oh no! We didn't even go to college today!" she gasped.
"After everything we did last night—fighting ghosts, saving souls—I think we've earned a day off," Lily said, half-asleep under her blanket.
"Enough joking, both of you," Stephnie called from the kitchen. "Get up and get ready. We need to go to the supermarket—this is the last packet of noodles."
Claire headed to the washroom while Lily opened her laptop to check their latest upload. A second later, she screamed."What happened?" Stephnie and Claire rushed out.
"Our video went viral!" Lily said, jumping with joy. "It's trending! Sure, some people think it's fake—but who cares? We're getting thousands of views! We're basically celebrities now!"
The three friends laughed, proud and relieved. But just as they turned on the TV, the news froze their smiles.
On-screen was Jasmine, now fifty-one years old, being arrested with her husband for the decades-old murder of her parents.
"Guess she never imagined justice would catch up to her—thirty years later," Claire murmured.
Before they could say anything more, a knock came at the door. Claire went to open it—but no one was there. She stepped outside, looking around the quiet hallway. Lily bent down to see a small parcel left on the chair by the door.
In neat black letters, it read:"Ready for the next Ghost Mystery?"
Lily looked up at Claire, a slow, excited smile spreading across her face.