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Description
Chapter 3
August 29th

Birds flew through the sky as the sun shined on for miles, vanquishing the everlasting night. Their songs of communication crossing the sky, wishing a good morning to their neighbor. A trickle of this sunlight and song made it's way into Katherine's room, causing her to stir. She opened her eyes and sat up in bed, greeting the beautiful morning. She stretched out, letting out a small moan from the relaxing action. She turned to her window to see the sliver of light from the morning wishing to greet her and smiled, ready for a great day filled with fun and happiness.

Now back in reality, Katherine groaned out in protest as the ray of sunlight hit her face. She grabbed her pillow and used it as a shield from the sun, wishing to ignore that it was morning already. Soon the noises from the birds beat her ability to sleep and she gave a small cry of protest. She lazily sat herself up in bed, hair a mess, and scratched her back a bit. She turned to her window to see the sliver of light from the morning wishing to greet her and groaned, large bags under her eyes.

She sat on her bed in the same clothes as yesterday, minus the hoodie and shoes, and rubbed her head; the hangover from last night finally stopping by to say hello. She heard faint noises coming from her living room and decided it was probably time to pretend like she was going to by active today. She moved her legs over the edge of the bed but didn't do anything afterwards, besides just staring at her feet. She sighed and finally forced herself to go the rest of the way, standing up before falling back down onto her bed. She let out another groan and pushed herself back up, this time managing to stand wobbly.

She entered her living room and spotted Gabriel on her couch, looking about as bad as she was, but without the hangover. He was playing her old Nintendo and had her cartridge of Battletoads in the system. A spare controller was plugged in and sat next to him on the couch. She made her way to the couch and sat down next to him taking the controller. He gave a small grunt of acknowledgement and she returned it with a grunt of her own.

They began playing together at first doing rather well at working as a team but then their coordination slipped and they started killing each other. "Hm." Katherine grunted angrily as Gabriel accidentally punched her off-screen. "Hmm..." He groaned in annoyance as she returned the favor. "Hm..." She groaned as she gave him a disbelieving look as he took the health that she needed. He gave her a smug smile which quickly faded when she booted him off screen.

Meanwhile Serena only watched them in confusion. She knew that they weren't actually speaking but they understood each other as if they were. "Uh... Good morning." She finally said, "Hm." They both said in unison as they nodded their head in acknowledgement. They soon managed to resolve their differences and began working as a team once again, doing rather well. After a bit of playing they finally managed to beat the game.

Serena gave a little clap of applause as she smiled at their accomplishment, "Wow, you two work so well together."
"Maybe, but I'm still better than him. I mean look at my score and I joined later." Katherine boasted with a hint of smugness at being better than Gabe. "That's because you kept killing me." He said in his defense but she just brushed him off, "Excuses, excuses." He pouted a bit but let it go, "I'll go make us something to eat."

---

Katherine sat at the kitchen table, a pair of sunglasses on as the sun was just killing her eyes. Without the game to distract her, her hangover had made it's inevitable return. She groaned a bit as she drank her orange juice, Serena and Gabriel where meanwhile in kitchen cooking. "Wow, where did you learn how to cook?" Serena asked as she watched him work. He gave her a grin, "My mother, that's the thing about Latin folks, we love to cook and share." Serena frowned a bit, "I wish I could try it." She gave a small sigh before continuing, "A disadvantage of being dead I suppose."

She floated over towards Katherine who only stared off into space, "You know, you shouldn't drink. It's not good for you." Katherine merely stared at her, "You don't say..." Serena nodded her head, "Yep, ever since I was a little girl, my parents told me never to drink bec-" Katherine held her hand up in a halting motion, "Serena, please stop talking..." she rubbed her forehead with her other hand.

Gabriel placed the food on a plate and came over to the table, placing Katherine's plate in front of her. She looked down at the plate and saw that he had cooked her Huevos Rancheros with some rice. "I didn't even know I had rice." Gabriel chuckled a bit, "Yeah I was surprised to find your pantry so well stocked."

She picked up her fork and began slowly eating her breakfast. Gabriel joined her and they silently ate their breakfast for a small while when Katherine finally said, "Thanks for the breakfast." Gabriel merely nodded as he continued eating, "Don't mention it. I didn't expect you to be able to do much with that hangover." She ate a little more, "It's really good." He smiled, "You should try my Mother's. Makes mine look like some cheap knock off."

"So what's the plan?" Gabriel asked. She let out a small sigh, "I don't know, I guess I should tell some of the others and begin to figure out what to do with this phone." She placed it on the table and Gabriel picked it up to inspect it. She took the phone back from Gabriel and placed a number into it. It rang for a few moments before someone answered, "Hey Ale-" she moved her head from the phone and hung up. "What happened?" Gabriel asked, "Oh yeah, she's hung over too. She probably threw her phone across the room." Gabriel laughed, "Knowing her I wouldn't be surprised."

Katherine dialed a second number on the phone and brought it to her ear as it rang. "Hello..." came a soft voice through the receiver. "Hey Evelyn, it's me Katherine. I was wondering if you were busy right now." There was a minute of silence before Evelyn answered, "No I'm not busy, what do you need?"
"I was wondering if you could come over, I have something I need to share with you."
"Oh... ok. I'll be there in a couple of minutes."
"Great, thanks. See you soon."
"Bye." Evelyn then hung up and Katherine did as well. "Let's see how this goes."

---

Evelyn stayed true to her word and showed up a few moments later. She was wearing her normal attire today, but with the added accessories from her birthday last night. Katherine opened the door for her and Evelyn gave her a light smile, "Good morning." Katherine nodded, "Good enough with a hangover." Evelyn giggled a little bit, "Maybe you shouldn't drink so much." Katherine rolled her eyes, "So I've heard." She walked Evelyn in and she waved at Gabriel when she saw him, "Oh hello, good morning." Gabriel waved back, "Morning."

"So what do you need to tell me Katherine?" Katherine motioned for her to take a seat on the couch and began. "Ok, so last night I was visited by a strange visitor." Evelyn became worried, "Oh are you alright?" Katherine quickly calmed her down, "Yeah don't worry I'm fine. The thing is, I was visited by Death." Evelyn gasped in surprise and asked, "What did Death tell you?" Katherine and Gabe both looked confused, "How do you know it told me something?" Evelyn became unnerved, "Oh I just assumed it told you something since you aren't dead or anything."
Katherine was suspicious but continued, "Anyway, so Death told me that it was going to give me a way to communicate with the dead and gave me this." She handed Evelyn her new phone and she quickly looked it over, "Oh, you got something different."
"Different?" Gabe asked, Evelyn realized what she said and tried denying it, "Wh...What I meant was-"
"What are you talking about Evelyn?" Katherine said as she leaned in closer. Evelyn's cheeks grew red before she finally answered, "The same thing happened to me, a few months ago."

"What!?" Gabe and Katherine said simultaneously, "Death showed up in my bedroom a few months ago and told me that it was going to give me a way to talk to the dead."
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Katherine asked, "I thought you would all think I was crazy so I kept it to myself."
"Evelyn, you should have trusted us." Gabe said, She frowned and lowered her head a little, "I'm sorry, I just didn't want you guys to stop hanging out with me." Katherine sighed, "Evelyn, we're your friends, we would have given you support if we knew."
"I'm sorry..." Gabe had to ask, "You said that Katherine got something different, what did you get?"

Evelyn showed them the book that Katherine gave her last night, "Ok now I'm confused." Katherine said as she tried to figure out what Evelyn meant. "Death told me that I was meant to keep a record of the stories from the dead. So it gave me a blank book and told me that I would have to write down the stories of the dead whenever they presented themselves. It told me that whenever the book became full I would have to get a new one and write my name in blood on the front page. That way the new stories would transfer there." Katherine tried to remember the night before, "Is that why you had a bandage on your hand last night?" She nodded, "Yes, when I went to the restroom I cut myself and wrote my name in the book you gave me."

Katherine called out, "Serena, what's this all about?" Serena suddenly came out of the wall making Evelyn yelp out in surprise. "Who is that!?" She asked. "Oh, this is Serena. She's my assistant apparently." Serena waved at Evelyn happily, "It's nice to meet you." Evelyn nervously waved back and out of courtesy said, "It's nice to meet you too..."
"Didn't you get an assistant?" Katherine wondered, "Hm, no I guess it's because my task is pretty straight forward." Evelyn assumed, "Yeah, Death didn't really specify what I was suppose to do with the phone." Katherine mentioned.

"Well let's try to brainstorm some ideas for what you can do with a phone that can call the dead." Gabe suggested. They all took some time to think and Evelyn was the first to speak out, "Maybe you were meant to call the dead so you could fulfill their last request or maybe put their spirits to rest." Katherine thought that one over, "I suppose but it sounds too cliché and not only that but it sounds like it would be a lot of work for me to go out and fulfill everyone's last wish." Evelyn lowered her head, "I guess that is true."

Gabe was the next one to make a suggestion, "Maybe you have to do something similar to Evelyn and record their life stories or something." Katherine only shook her head, "I don't think that's it. I mean if I was meant to do the same thing as Evelyn, I'm sure I would have just been given a book instead of the phone. On the other hand, I suppose it is possible that more than one person would be assigned the same task since it seems impossible for one person to record all the tales of the dead." The group gave a collective sigh and pondered some more.

Serena surprisingly gave a suggestion, "Maybe the phone was meant for you to better yourself. To find some closure that you may feel that you were denied due to an untimely passing. So you could move on with your life and achieve your full potential." After she had finished, the mood in the room had drastically changed. Katherine really thought about that, there was something there, she had shown that last night when she hesitated to contact one specific person. She did want closure but at the same time felt that calling would only do more harm than good; she had moved on with her life and calling would only cause her to regress rather than advance. "No, I don't think I need to seek any closure. I've made peace with the past." Serena shrugged, "If you say so."

Katherine really wasn't too sure what she was meant to do with this phone, and this lack of direction was beginning to piss her off. She had thought about what Madam Fitzgerald had mentioned the night before and then a crazy thought popped in her head. "I think I have an idea. You all remember Madam Fitzgerald right? Well what if just like her I use this phone to make money?" No one said anything at first but Gabe was willing to break the silence, "Wow... are you serious?"
"Now hear me out. I know it sounds really selfish but in truth I can partially do what Evelyn suggested while making some money on the side." Gabe wanted a better explanation, "How so?" Katherine took a moment to configure her thoughts into a coherent sentence and began, "Well I could go around advertising that I can communicate with the dead, and then people who wish to speak with the departed can pay me to do so. That way I give people closure, maybe resolve some final wishes, and get paid all at the same time."

Gabe only shook his head, "It sounds like you're just exploiting people to make some money. I don't like it." Evelyn then chimed in, "While I do agree that it is a little exploitative, I don't think it's all too bad. I mean you are giving these people what they want, so it's not like you're ripping them off or anything. Also like you said, both parties may get the closure they have been looking for." They looked at Serena for input, "Oh, well as your assistant I will support whatever decision you decide to partake in, but I will also state that I would prefer it if you didn't charge people money for this service."

Katherine took all their thoughts into consideration and pondered on what was truly the best course of action. It was wrong to take advantage of people who were seeking closure but at the same time she was still unemployed and needed money to survive. She weighed the pros and cons from both sides of the argument before finally coming to her conclusion. "Well I guess that settles it. Looks like Katherine's Ghost Hotline is unofficially open for business." Gabe sighed, "Couldn't you have at least picked a better name than that?" Katherine pouted, "Quiet you." Evelyn giggled lightly, "Well I think it sounds cute." Serena floated over to Evelyn, "As do I." She gave Evelyn an agreeing smile which she returned it with a smile of her own.

Katherine nodded her head, "Great, let's get this business started people." Just then she felt another pounding in her head due to the hangover and sigh, "Starting tomorrow..."

Description
Chapter 3
August 29th

Birds flew through the sky as the sun shined on for miles, vanquishing the everlasting night. Their songs of communication crossing the sky, wishing a good morning to their neighbor. A trickle of this sunlight and song made it's way into Katherine's room, causing her to stir. She opened her eyes and sat up in bed, greeting the beautiful morning. She stretched out, letting out a small moan from the relaxing action. She turned to her window to see the sliver of light from the morning wishing to greet her and smiled, ready for a great day filled with fun and happiness.

Now back in reality, Katherine groaned out in protest as the ray of sunlight hit her face. She grabbed her pillow and used it as a shield from the sun, wishing to ignore that it was morning already. Soon the noises from the birds beat her ability to sleep and she gave a small cry of protest. She lazily sat herself up in bed, hair a mess, and scratched her back a bit. She turned to her window to see the sliver of light from the morning wishing to greet her and groaned, large bags under her eyes.

She sat on her bed in the same clothes as yesterday, minus the hoodie and shoes, and rubbed her head; the hangover from last night finally stopping by to say hello. She heard faint noises coming from her living room and decided it was probably time to pretend like she was going to by active today. She moved her legs over the edge of the bed but didn't do anything afterwards, besides just staring at her feet. She sighed and finally forced herself to go the rest of the way, standing up before falling back down onto her bed. She let out another groan and pushed herself back up, this time managing to stand wobbly.

She entered her living room and spotted Gabriel on her couch, looking about as bad as she was, but without the hangover. He was playing her old Nintendo and had her cartridge of Battletoads in the system. A spare controller was plugged in and sat next to him on the couch. She made her way to the couch and sat down next to him taking the controller. He gave a small grunt of acknowledgement and she returned it with a grunt of her own.

They began playing together at first doing rather well at working as a team but then their coordination slipped and they started killing each other. "Hm." Katherine grunted angrily as Gabriel accidentally punched her off-screen. "Hmm..." He groaned in annoyance as she returned the favor. "Hm..." She groaned as she gave him a disbelieving look as he took the health that she needed. He gave her a smug smile which quickly faded when she booted him off screen.

Meanwhile Serena only watched them in confusion. She knew that they weren't actually speaking but they understood each other as if they were. "Uh... Good morning." She finally said, "Hm." They both said in unison as they nodded their head in acknowledgement. They soon managed to resolve their differences and began working as a team once again, doing rather well. After a bit of playing they finally managed to beat the game.

Serena gave a little clap of applause as she smiled at their accomplishment, "Wow, you two work so well together."
"Maybe, but I'm still better than him. I mean look at my score and I joined later." Katherine boasted with a hint of smugness at being better than Gabe. "That's because you kept killing me." He said in his defense but she just brushed him off, "Excuses, excuses." He pouted a bit but let it go, "I'll go make us something to eat."

---

Katherine sat at the kitchen table, a pair of sunglasses on as the sun was just killing her eyes. Without the game to distract her, her hangover had made it's inevitable return. She groaned a bit as she drank her orange juice, Serena and Gabriel where meanwhile in kitchen cooking. "Wow, where did you learn how to cook?" Serena asked as she watched him work. He gave her a grin, "My mother, that's the thing about Latin folks, we love to cook and share." Serena frowned a bit, "I wish I could try it." She gave a small sigh before continuing, "A disadvantage of being dead I suppose."

She floated over towards Katherine who only stared off into space, "You know, you shouldn't drink. It's not good for you." Katherine merely stared at her, "You don't say..." Serena nodded her head, "Yep, ever since I was a little girl, my parents told me never to drink bec-" Katherine held her hand up in a halting motion, "Serena, please stop talking..." she rubbed her forehead with her other hand.

Gabriel placed the food on a plate and came over to the table, placing Katherine's plate in front of her. She looked down at the plate and saw that he had cooked her Huevos Rancheros with some rice. "I didn't even know I had rice." Gabriel chuckled a bit, "Yeah I was surprised to find your pantry so well stocked."

She picked up her fork and began slowly eating her breakfast. Gabriel joined her and they silently ate their breakfast for a small while when Katherine finally said, "Thanks for the breakfast." Gabriel merely nodded as he continued eating, "Don't mention it. I didn't expect you to be able to do much with that hangover." She ate a little more, "It's really good." He smiled, "You should try my Mother's. Makes mine look like some cheap knock off."

"So what's the plan?" Gabriel asked. She let out a small sigh, "I don't know, I guess I should tell some of the others and begin to figure out what to do with this phone." She placed it on the table and Gabriel picked it up to inspect it. She took the phone back from Gabriel and placed a number into it. It rang for a few moments before someone answered, "Hey Ale-" she moved her head from the phone and hung up. "What happened?" Gabriel asked, "Oh yeah, she's hung over too. She probably threw her phone across the room." Gabriel laughed, "Knowing her I wouldn't be surprised."

Katherine dialed a second number on the phone and brought it to her ear as it rang. "Hello..." came a soft voice through the receiver. "Hey Evelyn, it's me Katherine. I was wondering if you were busy right now." There was a minute of silence before Evelyn answered, "No I'm not busy, what do you need?"
"I was wondering if you could come over, I have something I need to share with you."
"Oh... ok. I'll be there in a couple of minutes."
"Great, thanks. See you soon."
"Bye." Evelyn then hung up and Katherine did as well. "Let's see how this goes."

---

Evelyn stayed true to her word and showed up a few moments later. She was wearing her normal attire today, but with the added accessories from her birthday last night. Katherine opened the door for her and Evelyn gave her a light smile, "Good morning." Katherine nodded, "Good enough with a hangover." Evelyn giggled a little bit, "Maybe you shouldn't drink so much." Katherine rolled her eyes, "So I've heard." She walked Evelyn in and she waved at Gabriel when she saw him, "Oh hello, good morning." Gabriel waved back, "Morning."

"So what do you need to tell me Katherine?" Katherine motioned for her to take a seat on the couch and began. "Ok, so last night I was visited by a strange visitor." Evelyn became worried, "Oh are you alright?" Katherine quickly calmed her down, "Yeah don't worry I'm fine. The thing is, I was visited by Death." Evelyn gasped in surprise and asked, "What did Death tell you?" Katherine and Gabe both looked confused, "How do you know it told me something?" Evelyn became unnerved, "Oh I just assumed it told you something since you aren't dead or anything."
Katherine was suspicious but continued, "Anyway, so Death told me that it was going to give me a way to communicate with the dead and gave me this." She handed Evelyn her new phone and she quickly looked it over, "Oh, you got something different."
"Different?" Gabe asked, Evelyn realized what she said and tried denying it, "Wh...What I meant was-"
"What are you talking about Evelyn?" Katherine said as she leaned in closer. Evelyn's cheeks grew red before she finally answered, "The same thing happened to me, a few months ago."

"What!?" Gabe and Katherine said simultaneously, "Death showed up in my bedroom a few months ago and told me that it was going to give me a way to talk to the dead."
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Katherine asked, "I thought you would all think I was crazy so I kept it to myself."
"Evelyn, you should have trusted us." Gabe said, She frowned and lowered her head a little, "I'm sorry, I just didn't want you guys to stop hanging out with me." Katherine sighed, "Evelyn, we're your friends, we would have given you support if we knew."
"I'm sorry..." Gabe had to ask, "You said that Katherine got something different, what did you get?"

Evelyn showed them the book that Katherine gave her last night, "Ok now I'm confused." Katherine said as she tried to figure out what Evelyn meant. "Death told me that I was meant to keep a record of the stories from the dead. So it gave me a blank book and told me that I would have to write down the stories of the dead whenever they presented themselves. It told me that whenever the book became full I would have to get a new one and write my name in blood on the front page. That way the new stories would transfer there." Katherine tried to remember the night before, "Is that why you had a bandage on your hand last night?" She nodded, "Yes, when I went to the restroom I cut myself and wrote my name in the book you gave me."

Katherine called out, "Serena, what's this all about?" Serena suddenly came out of the wall making Evelyn yelp out in surprise. "Who is that!?" She asked. "Oh, this is Serena. She's my assistant apparently." Serena waved at Evelyn happily, "It's nice to meet you." Evelyn nervously waved back and out of courtesy said, "It's nice to meet you too..."
"Didn't you get an assistant?" Katherine wondered, "Hm, no I guess it's because my task is pretty straight forward." Evelyn assumed, "Yeah, Death didn't really specify what I was suppose to do with the phone." Katherine mentioned.

"Well let's try to brainstorm some ideas for what you can do with a phone that can call the dead." Gabe suggested. They all took some time to think and Evelyn was the first to speak out, "Maybe you were meant to call the dead so you could fulfill their last request or maybe put their spirits to rest." Katherine thought that one over, "I suppose but it sounds too cliché and not only that but it sounds like it would be a lot of work for me to go out and fulfill everyone's last wish." Evelyn lowered her head, "I guess that is true."

Gabe was the next one to make a suggestion, "Maybe you have to do something similar to Evelyn and record their life stories or something." Katherine only shook her head, "I don't think that's it. I mean if I was meant to do the same thing as Evelyn, I'm sure I would have just been given a book instead of the phone. On the other hand, I suppose it is possible that more than one person would be assigned the same task since it seems impossible for one person to record all the tales of the dead." The group gave a collective sigh and pondered some more.

Serena surprisingly gave a suggestion, "Maybe the phone was meant for you to better yourself. To find some closure that you may feel that you were denied due to an untimely passing. So you could move on with your life and achieve your full potential." After she had finished, the mood in the room had drastically changed. Katherine really thought about that, there was something there, she had shown that last night when she hesitated to contact one specific person. She did want closure but at the same time felt that calling would only do more harm than good; she had moved on with her life and calling would only cause her to regress rather than advance. "No, I don't think I need to seek any closure. I've made peace with the past." Serena shrugged, "If you say so."

Katherine really wasn't too sure what she was meant to do with this phone, and this lack of direction was beginning to piss her off. She had thought about what Madam Fitzgerald had mentioned the night before and then a crazy thought popped in her head. "I think I have an idea. You all remember Madam Fitzgerald right? Well what if just like her I use this phone to make money?" No one said anything at first but Gabe was willing to break the silence, "Wow... are you serious?"
"Now hear me out. I know it sounds really selfish but in truth I can partially do what Evelyn suggested while making some money on the side." Gabe wanted a better explanation, "How so?" Katherine took a moment to configure her thoughts into a coherent sentence and began, "Well I could go around advertising that I can communicate with the dead, and then people who wish to speak with the departed can pay me to do so. That way I give people closure, maybe resolve some final wishes, and get paid all at the same time."

Gabe only shook his head, "It sounds like you're just exploiting people to make some money. I don't like it." Evelyn then chimed in, "While I do agree that it is a little exploitative, I don't think it's all too bad. I mean you are giving these people what they want, so it's not like you're ripping them off or anything. Also like you said, both parties may get the closure they have been looking for." They looked at Serena for input, "Oh, well as your assistant I will support whatever decision you decide to partake in, but I will also state that I would prefer it if you didn't charge people money for this service."

Katherine took all their thoughts into consideration and pondered on what was truly the best course of action. It was wrong to take advantage of people who were seeking closure but at the same time she was still unemployed and needed money to survive. She weighed the pros and cons from both sides of the argument before finally coming to her conclusion. "Well I guess that settles it. Looks like Katherine's Ghost Hotline is unofficially open for business." Gabe sighed, "Couldn't you have at least picked a better name than that?" Katherine pouted, "Quiet you." Evelyn giggled lightly, "Well I think it sounds cute." Serena floated over to Evelyn, "As do I." She gave Evelyn an agreeing smile which she returned it with a smile of her own.

Katherine nodded her head, "Great, let's get this business started people." Just then she felt another pounding in her head due to the hangover and sigh, "Starting tomorrow..."