Poltergeist

Christian was determined to stir Charlize into action, not for amusement or life mentorship, but to fulfill his promise to the blonde girl – to capture the ghosts that tormented her, especially "Alexis".

Suspicion often fuels malevolent spirits. People are haunted by ghosts and dark entities mainly due to the influence of the negativity within their hearts. The old saying that "misfortune befalls those who invite it" often holds.

As he had analyzed, Charlize was targeted by "Alexis" because, after experiencing setbacks, her inner turmoil and sense of loss had given "Alexis" the opportunity to attach itself to her, triggering a series of incidents. To rid Charlize of "Alexis," the first step was to purge her of these negative emotions. The aim was to cut off the ghosts' source of power, making them significantly easier to deal with.

If left alone, there was a chance that Charlize might eventually overcome her problems. "Alexis" was not a malevolent spirit. Once the girl managed to master her negative emotions, it should lose its grip on her, fading away with time.

However, Christian didn't want to leave it to chance. On one hand, he felt that the deep-seated darkness in Charlize's heart, which had attracted "Alexis" to her, might be more entrenched than he initially suspected. Thus, deeper measures were needed. On the other hand, although he had extensive theoretical knowledge, he had never put it into practice. Now that a prime opportunity had presented itself, he couldn't let it slip away.

"Do you feel more agitated than usual?" Christian asked Charlize as they went about their preparations.

Night had already fallen, and after some more investigative work at the local police station to confirm the details about Alexis, they returned to Charlize's home to make preparations.

"What are you doing?"

In Charlize's bedroom, Christian began by sprinkling some salt around the room, at his own expense, as Charlize's financial situation couldn't support such purchases. He then had Charlize stand at the bedside while he drew a circle of pure white salt.

"In various legends, salt is considered a sacred substance that can ward off evil spirits. There's some truth to it, though its effectiveness is quite limited."

While he explained, Christian continued to sprinkle salt.

"Salt's power to ward off evil is modest at best, barely affecting newly born, weaker malevolent entities. Even a ghost-like Alexis, who is rather weak, isn't easily intimidated by it. But salt, despite its modest power, is an excellent indicator. It reacts to the presence of evil spirits in a special way, just as litmus paper turns blue when it encounters an alkali. So, provided there are malevolent entities nearby, the salt when sprinkled in a particular manner, will immediately show a reaction."

"What sort of reaction?" Despite her growing fear, Charlize was becoming intrigued.

"It becomes erratic. To put it simply, while I was slowly sprinkling the salt, the salt should form lines close to straight lines, following the laws of gravity and air resistance. But if ghosts or evil entities are present nearby, the salt, due to their disturbances, deviates significantly from its usual course. This is what results in the chaotic lines, as you see here."

"I see," Charlize said. She had realized that this strange sight wasn't just frightening but also oddly fascinating. 

"Have you ever been bitten by a mosquito? They're annoying, aren't they?"

"Of course"

"Well, think of it this way: when ghosts face salt – tiny grains that are as annoying to them as mosquitoes are to you – they react instinctively, much like how you'd swat away a bothersome mosquito."

"Right."

"So when dealing with these grains of salt, ghosts are doing what comes naturally, even though it has little impact. Their actions are a way of lashing out at the annoyance, which is why it appears messy. A grain of salt is very lightweight. Even a minor disturbance, such as a ghost's reaction, can cause a significant deviation in the salt's fall, leading to the patterns you see here."

"Good explanation," Charlize said, nodding. "This is fascinating, though it's getting creepier by the second."

"But what's even creepier," Christian continued, "is that these salt patterns you see – they indicate that 'Alexis' is always by your side."

"But I don't feel her at all."

"Because, as I mentioned earlier, 'Alexis' is not a particularly powerful ghost."

Christian retrieved a broomstick and began cleaning up the salt that he had scattered. 

"It doesn't even have a persistent consciousness. Most of the time, it's just a chaotic mental entity, responding instinctively like a poltergeist. Only when it's attracted by your heightened negative emotions does it become conscious, attaching itself to you and influencing your actions when you're essentially unconscious and unable to control your body effectively?"

"Ah, I see." Charlize finally grasped the concept.

"Good, then you can clean up the rest yourself," Christian said as he handed her the broomstick.

Charlize took the broomstick with a pouting expression. While sweeping away the salt, she noticed that some of the small grains were mixed with her curly golden hair, which made her blush with embarrassment.

"Why are you sweeping it away?" Charlize asked.

"Because I need to," Christian replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Spreading the salt initially was just to confirm whether 'Alexis' is always by your side. If she's not always attached to you or in your proximity, but in other situations, the plan will change. Since it's confirmed now, we need to clean up the salt to prevent it from agitating 'Alexis.' If it keeps bothering her, I won't be able to draw her into the setup I have in mind."

"Setup? What do you mean?"

"You know, it's called a trap," Christian responded. "When humans deal with ghosts and malevolent spirits, they have to deceive and manipulate them. You can't rely solely on your strength to confront them. It's like trying to sprint against a cheetah or race a dolphin in the water. More often than not, you have to rely on this…"

Christian knocked his head and chuckled. 

"Never mind, you can handle the rest of the cleaning. I have other preparations to make."

He passed the broom to Charlize and left the room, looking impatient.

Charlize swept away the remaining salt grains while muttering, "You're acting like a charlatan."

Christian turned back, revealing a knowing grin. 

'I used to be one.'

Charlize eventually finished sweeping, only to find that Christian had removed her prized "First Blood 3" poster, which Sylvester Stallone had autographed. It was her only autographed poster, and she had held onto it tightly.

"You idiot! This poster is the only one I have with Mr. Stallone's signature. If it's damaged, how will you compensate me?" She accused him, her eyes blazing.

But Christian wasn't moved. He didn't even spare her an apologetic glance. He was now affixing three square pieces of paper with ink that hadn't yet dried to the space where the Rambo poster had been.

"Is that in Japanese?" Charlize asked, trying to make sense of the characters, but they looked like illegible scribbles.

"No, it's Chinese," Christian replied without looking at her.