The mansion was silent. Rain still beat against the windows, but inside, the air was thick, heavy, like the moment before a storm breaks. Elias stood in the center of his study, back to the desk, eyes locked on the ghost girl in the corner. She hadn't moved. She just watched him, that same knowing smile on her lips, like she had already seen everything he would do.
"You're the ghost I've been waiting for," she had said.
Elias didn't believe in ghosts. He believed in systems, in control, in cause and effect. But this… this felt different. It wasn't a hallucination. It wasn't a glitch in his neural implant. It was real. And that made it dangerous.
"Who are you?" he asked again, voice calm, cold, like a surgeon before a cut.
She tilted her head, as if amused by the question. "Lira," she said. "A Veil Ghost. A remnant of the old world, the world between life and death."
"Why me?"
"Because you're empty," she said, stepping forward. Her feet didn't make a sound on the marble floor. "Your soul is rotting from boredom. You have everything, but you feel nothing. That makes you perfect."
"Perfect for what?"
"For a deal," she said, and suddenly, a thin, glowing scroll appeared in her hand. It wasn't paper. It looked like solidified shadow, with writing in a language Elias didn't know, but somehow understood.
"A contract," she said. "Blood for power. A little of your humanity for a little of mine."
Elias didn't move. He studied her, the way she stood, the way she smiled, the way her eyes never blinked. He had spent his life reading people, seeing through their lies, their masks, their fake emotions. He could see the cracks in their souls. But her? She was different. She wasn't lying. She wasn't pretending. She was exactly what she claimed to be: a ghost, a predator, a being from the Veil.
And she wanted him.
"What kind of power?" he asked.
"Ghost powers," she said. "In stages. First, you'll see what others can't. Then, you'll steal what they don't know they have. Then, you'll control them. Then, you'll become something beyond human."
"And the cost?"
"Each stage takes a piece of you," she said. "Your emotions. Your memories. Your soul. The more power you take, the less human you become. In the end, you'll be a monster. But you'll be a monster with control. With power. With purpose."
Elias didn't laugh. He didn't sneer. He just thought.
He had spent his life building control. He had crushed rivals, broken enemies, manipulated entire nations from the shadows. But it had never filled the emptiness. It had never made him feel alive.
Now, this ghost was offering him a way out of that emptiness. Not happiness. Not love. Not peace.
Power.
Real power.
The kind that didn't just move money or influence people, but changed reality itself.
"And if I refuse?" he asked.
"Then you stay as you are," she said. "Bored. Empty. A machine in a human body. You'll keep playing your little games, keep pretending to be alive, until one day, you realize you've already died."
Elias looked at the contract. The writing pulsed, like a heartbeat. He could feel it, even from across the room. A cold, hungry pull, like a black hole in his chest.
He walked to his desk, opened a drawer, and took out a small, sharp knife. He didn't hesitate. He didn't tremble. He just held it in his hand, testing the weight, the balance.
Lira watched him, still smiling.
Elias cut his left thumb. A thin line of blood welled up. He pressed his thumb against the contract.
The moment his blood touched the scroll, the room changed.
The air turned icy. The lights flickered. Shadows stretched unnaturally, like living things. The contract glowed brighter, the writing burning into his skin, not on his thumb, but on his forearm, like a brand. The pain was sharp, then gone, replaced by a deep, cold hum, like a machine waking up inside him.
He looked at his arm. The contract was now a series of dark, intricate symbols, glowing faintly, then fading into his skin, like a tattoo.
Lira smiled wider. "Welcome, Elias. The first stage has begun."
***
For the next few hours, Elias tested his new power.
It started small. He could see ghosts. Not just Lira, but others. A dead maid in the hallway, still cleaning, unaware she was dead. A man in a business suit, sitting in the garden, staring at nothing, a noose mark around his neck. A child in the pool, laughing, but her body was pale, her eyes empty.
They didn't see him. They didn't react to him. They were echoes, trapped in their own loops, their own pain.
But Elias could see them. And he could see something else.
Auras.
Every living person had a color around them, a faint glow that showed their true state.
His butler, James, had a dull gray aura, mixed with streaks of fear and loyalty. His assistant, Sarah, had a bright green aura, but with dark veins of envy and ambition. His driver, Mark, had a red aura, pulsing with anger and resentment.
Elias didn't feel shock. He didn't feel fear. He felt… interest.
This was data. Pure, unfiltered data. No lies. No masks. Just truth.
He called Sarah into his study.
She walked in, professional, calm, smiling. "You wanted to see me, sir?"
Elias looked at her aura. Green, strong, but with those dark veins. He could see the exact moment she thought about stealing from him, about selling his secrets to a rival, about sleeping with his business partner.
He didn't react. He just smiled. "Close the door."
She did.
"Sit."
She sat.
Elias leaned forward. "You've been thinking about leaving, haven't you?"
Her smile froze. "I… I don't know what you mean, sir."
"The green in your aura is strong," he said, voice soft. "Ambition. But the dark veins… they're about money. About power. About betrayal."
Her face went pale. "What… what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the email you sent last night," Elias said. "To my rival, offering to sell him the details of the new SoulLink model."
She stared at him, eyes wide. "How… how do you know that?"
Elias didn't answer. He just watched her aura. The green flickered, the dark veins spread. Fear. Panic. Guilt.
He stood, walked around the desk, and stood in front of her. "You're not the first," he said. "You won't be the last. But you're the first who's going to learn what happens when you betray me."
He reached out, not to touch her, but to focus on her. He could feel something inside her, something warm, something alive. A piece of her soul. Her will. Her confidence. Her drive.
He pulled.
It wasn't physical. It was like grabbing a thread and yanking it out.
Sarah gasped. Her body jerked. Her aura dimmed, the green fading, the dark veins spreading like ink in water. She looked at him, eyes wide with terror.
"What… what did you do to me?"
Elias smiled. "I took a piece of you. A small piece. But it's enough."
He sat back in his chair. "You can go now."
She stood, unsteady, like a puppet with cut strings. She walked to the door, opened it, and left without another word.
Elias watched her aura through the door, down the hall, until it faded into the distance.
He felt nothing. No guilt. No satisfaction. No joy.
Just the cold, sharp hum of power.
***
The next day, Elias tested his power on a bigger target.
He went to his company's main lab, where his scientists were working on the next version of SoulLink. He walked through the rows of machines, the rows of people, watching their auras.
Most were gray, mixed with fear and obedience. A few were green, ambitious. One, in particular, stood out.
Dr. Alan Reed. Lead scientist. Brilliant. Arrogant. Ambitious. His aura was bright green, almost blinding, with thick, dark veins of pride and greed.
Elias had known for months that Reed was planning to steal the SoulLink design and sell it to a foreign government. He had let it happen, waiting for the right moment.
Now, the right moment had come.
He called Reed into his private office.
Reed walked in, confident, smug, like he already owned the company. "You wanted to see me, Elias?"
Elias didn't stand. He just looked at him, at his aura, at the greed, the pride, the betrayal.
"Yes," Elias said. "I wanted to talk about the SoulLink 8 project."
Reed smiled. "It's going well. We're ahead of schedule."
"Good," Elias said. "Because I'm going to kill you."
Reed's smile froze. "What?"
"I said, I'm going to kill you," Elias repeated, voice calm. "Right here. Right now."
Reed laughed, but it was forced. "You're joking."
"No," Elias said. "I'm not. You've been planning to steal my work, sell it to the Chinese government, and disappear. I know everything. I know the dates, the contacts, the money. I know you've already transferred half the data."
Reed's face went pale. "You… you can't prove that."
"I don't need to prove it," Elias said. "I just need to act."
He stood, walked around the desk, and looked into Reed's eyes. "You're not the first traitor. You won't be the last. But you're the first who's going to die because of what I can do now."
Reed backed away. "Security! Security!"
No one came.
Elias smiled. "They can't hear you. They can't see what I'm about to do."
He reached out, not to touch Reed, but to focus on him. He could feel Reed's soul, his will, his fear. He grabbed a larger piece this time, not just a thread, but a chunk.
Reed screamed.
Not from pain. From terror.
His body convulsed. His aura shattered, the green breaking apart, the dark veins spreading like cracks in glass. He fell to his knees, gasping, eyes wide, like he was reliving his worst memory.
Elias didn't stop. He kept pulling, feeding on Reed's soul, making him weaker, more broken.
Then, he pushed.
Not physically. Mentally.
He forced Reed to relive the moment he had first decided to betray Elias. The moment he had chosen greed over loyalty. The moment he had sold his soul.
Reed screamed again, louder, more desperate. He clawed at his head, at his chest, like he was trying to tear the memory out.
Elias watched, calm, cold, like a scientist observing an experiment.
After a few minutes, Reed collapsed. He didn't move. He didn't breathe.
Elias checked his pulse. Nothing.
He had died.
Not from a heart attack. Not from a stroke.
From soul loss.
Elias felt nothing. No guilt. No fear. No regret.
Just the cold, sharp hum of power.
He called security. "Dr. Reed had a heart attack. Clean it up. Make it look natural."
They did.
No one questioned it.
No one ever did.
***
That night, Elias stood in his study again, looking at the city through the rain.
Lira appeared beside him, silent, watching.
"You killed him," she said.
"Yes," Elias said.
"Did it feel good?"
"No," he said. "It felt… right."
Lira smiled. "Good. The first stage is complete. The second stage begins tomorrow."
Elias looked at his arm. The contract glowed faintly, the symbols shifting, changing.
He didn't feel human anymore.
He didn't want to.
He wanted power.
He wanted control.
He wanted the game.
And he was just getting started.