24. Haunted house.

The house looked rather dark and run down with weeds and plants overgrown the entire area.

It gave off a rather spooky vibe even during the daytime. I went and knocked on the door only for it to fall off its hinges.

"Fantastic." I mutter stepping around the door into the house.

Using my senses I could pick up life signs from a floor up. Seems to be the person who is making this place 'Haunted.'

The house is covered in dust and cob webs but I can make out various little feet print around the area as I walk towards the creaky stairs.

I look around a bit before walking down the hallway towards the life force I felt.

It seems this place used to be pretty nice but now it's kind of dilapidated.

I arrive outside the room and push the door open only to spot a pair of big black eyes looking at me with fear.

The person seems to be maybe 12 years old, covered in rags and dirt, pale white skin and holding a teddy bear which has been stitched up. Her hair has a pinkish tinted underneath all the dirt and I think I recognize the person in front of me.

"Are you here to hurt me?" She asks with a frown.

I shake my head. "Nope, why would I be here to hurt you princess?" I smile and lean down looking at the little girl.

"There are always people throwing rocks at me or yelling at me. They are scared of my friends." She says raising her hand and showing a small white round ghost.

"Oh? I think its cute." I chuckle as her eyes sparkle.

"Really? Me too! They keep me company and help me get food." She smiles happily at the ghost.

"Oh? That's nice of them. So do you just live here alone or just with your friends?" I ask.

"Yeah! I found this place and I've been living here since then. I even found this teddy bear here isn't it cute?!" She asks holding up the patched up bear.

"Sure is! Say are you hungry?" I offer pulling out some hot food from my spatial ring and her eyes sparkle.

"Wow! Was that magic?!" She says looking at the food.

"Something like that. Here sit." i pat the floor next to me and pull out some spoons i had made and hand her one. "Go ahead and eat." I put some food into my mouth and she follows happily.

"Yum! This is so good mister!" She says shoveling more food into her mouth.

"My friend makes my food because I'm bad at cooking. I alway burn everything. So you didnt tell me your name?" I ask.

"Perona!" She says in between mouthfuls of food.

"Ah I see, well you can call me Ryan."

"Mmm!" She nods.

"So what all can your ghost friends do?" I ask curiously.

"Well if people are mean to me then the ghosts make them sad and then they go away forever!" She says with a grin.

Those ghosts cause severe depression to the point of people wanting to commit suicide, they can also be used to spy on people, make a clone of her body and even explode.

"I see, well they shouldn't be mean to you to begin with." i nod. "Say how would you like to leave this village? Me and my two friends are traveling on a large boat and have plenty of space. You could get all the hot food you want, maybe a couple of pretty dresses and your own room. Even some toys or dolls if you want." i offer.

"Really?" She asks excitedly.

"Sure, you wont have to live here alone either and the villages wont bother you." i explain.

"Yeah! That sounds nice, can I see the ship?" She asks.

"Sure, just finish eating and we can go look." i tell her.

She starts shoveling food into her mouth at high speed eager to see the boat.

After she is full we head out of the grubby house with her practically dragging me until we reach the village were most of the villagers look at her in fear.

"Its fine they wont do anything while I'm here." I pat her head and she nods meekly.

People quickly get out of the way as we head towards the beach. You can easily see my ship floating in the water.

"Want to see it up close?" I ask.

Perona nods quickly.

I scoop her up and hop towards the ship making her eyes sparkle. "You can fly?" She asks eagerly.

"Yep, right now I'm just jumping though." I explain.

"Are you like me? Did you est one of those icky fruits?" She asks curiously.

"I did. They are called devil fruits. My fruit controls darkness." I raise my hand showing off the black shadowy shape.

A second before we land on the ship.

Her eyes instantly lock onto the brown cat napping happily.

"Is that your kitty?" She asks.

"Yep, that's Wonder. You can pet him if you like." She scurries off to pet the kitten who purrs happily.

"Where is everyone else?" She asks looking around after she snatches up wonder.

"They are shopping for food and water and some stuff for the ship. This is a new ship I took from some pirates who were slobs so it needs a bit of a fix up. To make it more homey." I tell her.

I'll also probably make some adjustments and add some formations or something. Add some better furniture, make a couple of repairs or adjustments here or there.

"Anyway you can pick out a room and I'll send the girls off to pick you out some clothes and dolls, would you like that?" I ask the little pink haired girl.

"Yeah!" she rushes off into the deeper part of the boat in search of a room.

(Remember if you wish to support my midnight slushy funds, send me a dollar to my Cash App, $Ryantheholy. Caffeine keeps me going. Probably shouldn't be drinking slushies at midnight but Hey. I do what I want.)