You work night security for a local harbor. Normally the job is pretty dull, since all you ever have to do is walk around and scare off the occasional high school student up to no good. The last few weeks, however, have been more eventful. Some of your coworkers have been talking about strange things happening during the night shift. Gates that should have been locked are being found open. Some people are hearing noises, almost like someone or something is skulking about in the shadows. A few workers even claim to have seen a pair of glowing eyes, bright yellow like the color of amber, watching them from the darkness. There have been whispers about a ghost haunting the docks, playing tricks on anyone unfortunate enough to cross its path. You don't believe this, of course, but since this "haunting" is starting to become a problem, you decide to do something about it. Tonight, you're going to stake out the area where most people have encountered this "ghost" and prove that it's nothing. Maybe a raccoon or some other kind of animal snuck into the harbor and has been living off of food scraps. Maybe some kids are playing a prank on you and your coworkers. Regardless, you're determined to solve this little ghost problem.
For the first few hours, everything is quiet. A gentle breeze blows in from the sea, and the full moon shines brightly overhead. This would be the perfect night to slack off, but you’re dead set on putting this ghost matter to rest tonight. You head back to the security office to check the cameras for anything strange, but see nothing out of the ordinary. You wait a while and check again. Nothing. Coming to the conclusion that you won’t find anything even if you keep your eyes glued to the security feed, you decide to begin patrolling the harbor in hopes of finding something out of the ordinary. Other than the occasional call of seagulls, and the creaking of the ships, you hear nothing. That is, until a strange noise catches your attention. In the distance, you hear the distinctive sound of a gate opening somewhere in the distance. It lets out a loud creak as it turns on its worn-down hinges, then everything is quiet again. Even though you expect to find nothing more than a few kids up to no good, you decide to head in the direction of the sound.
When you get to the gate, you find it partially opened, but you don’t see anything else out of the ordinary. That is, until you look down. Starting from the gate and leading into the darkness is a trail of some kind. Upon closer inspection, you see that it’s a trail of small seeds, like the kind you’d feed birds. You have no idea why you’d find birdseed of all things here, but since the trail clearly leads somewhere, you decide to follow it in hopes you’ll find your mystery guest. After following the trail for a few minutes, you start to get a strange feeling. It’s probably just your paranoia, but you feel like you’re being watched. You look around, and you swear that you see something yellow in the darkness. When you try to get a closer look, however, whatever it was is gone. Could that have been the ghost everyone’s been talking about? Your coworkers did mention a pair of glowing yellow eyes, after all. A shiver runs down your spine while you consider the possibility that there might be more to their ghost stories than you first thought, but you quickly shake the thought from your mind. As the trail of birdseed ends here, you decide to walk further into the harbor in hopes of finding another sign of an intruder.
Another hour or so passes without incident, but then you start seeing the eyes again from the darkness. At first, they’re just glimpses here and there, but as you keep noticing them, you can’t shake the feeling that these brilliant golden eyes, and their mysterious owner, are watching you. You’ve tried to shine your flashlight into the gloom to see just what it is that’s made its way into the harbor tonight, but every time your attempts have been in vain. At this point, you do it almost out of habit, not expecting to see anything. Having given up on figuring anything out, you decide to begin the walk back to the security station. On your way, however, you see something that makes you stop dead in your tracks. No more than 30 feet in front of you is something bright white, seemingly floating in the air. Is it a ghost? A puff of smoke that’s somehow standing perfectly still? A trick of the light? You have no clue, but your hands begin to tremble as you reach for your flashlight. As you turn it on, your mind races, both fearing and looking forward to what you’re about to see.
Nothing could have prepared you for what you found, however. Standing in front of you is a girl, dressed almost all in black. If it wasn’t for the perfect split in her hair between black and white, she would have blended in perfectly with the shadows. Her bright yellow eyes stare at you in disbelief, almost like how a deer stares at an oncoming car. You should be angry at her for trespassing and scaring so many of your coworkers, but you can’t help but be drawn in by her beauty. Clearing your throat, you ask her a simple question. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
For a second, she hesitates, but seemingly deciding that it’ll be easier to answer you than to run away, she begins to speak. “I’m Shiori.” she says in a meek tone. You give her a few seconds to say more, but she returns to her silence.
“You’re not allowed to be here.”, you say, still wondering what could bring such a shy girl to a place such as this. “I’m going to ask again. What are you doing here?”
Shiori shuffles around on her feet and looks away, but eventually turns toward you and starts speaking.
“I… I was looking for bugs.” she says.
“Bugs? You were looking for bugs? In the middle of the night, on private property?” You want to say more, want to tell her that that is the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard. But you hold yourself back. Something about this girl makes you believe her, so instead you ask her a much simpler question.
“Did you find anything?”
Shiori’s face instantly lights up as she seems to forget that she’s trespassing. “I did! Just look!” She reaches into her pockets and pulls out an absurd variety of bugs, all of them dead. Butterflies, caterpillars, beetles, flies, roaches, spiders, and any other type you can think of. She begins laying them out on the ground and naming them one by one. “This one is a common house spider, but it’s really big. And this is a luna moth. They’re really rare! This is a tick I found on one of the stray cats around here, this is a wharf roach, and this one is a fruit fly!” She keeps talking about her bugs, naming them one by one and listing off facts about each one. seemingly absorbed in her own little world. There’s something undeniably cute about her passion, despite the… unique subject of her interest. You feel like you could listen to her talk for hours, regardless of the topic. Realizing that you still need to do something about her, you speak up.
“Well, Shiori, it’s great that you found so many bugs, but this is private property. You’re not allowed to be here.”
Shiori looks up at you in protest and says “But there are so many bugs here! I’m not hurting anyone by coming in and looking for bugs, am I?”
She has a point. She’s not stealing anything, and other than scaring your coworkers, she’s not doing any harm.
“That’s true.” you say. “The thing is you’re scaring some of the other workers with your after-dark bug hunts. There are even rumors that this place is haunted.”
“Haunted!?” she exclaims. “I love hunting ghosts! This place just keeps getting better! I’m going to go get my ghost hunting equipment, then I’ll be right back!”
Realizing that she’s off in her own little world and will probably just come back even if you tell her to leave, you just stand there, staring at her. This strange, beautiful, bug and ghost obsessed girl is one of the most mysterious, yet also most beautiful, people you’ve ever met. You want to know more about her. You need to know more about her. That’s when it hits you. You know exactly how to resolve this situation in a way that works out for everyone.
“Hey, Shiori.” You say. “I think I know a way that you can keep coming here. You won’t even have to break in through the back gate like you did tonight. There’s only one condition, though.”
Shiori, both excited and confused, looks straight into your eyes and asks “And what’s that?”
Smiling, you say “Let me come with you next time”