(POV: Ava)
---
There are a few constants in life: taxes, never knowing what to do with your hands in group photos, and Leo showing up late but somehow still stealing the spotlight.
We were back at our usual café, the one with slightly wobbly tables and suspiciously addictive croissants. Ethan was sipping his drink like it had personally offended him. Sophia had just finished her third rant of the day about the tragic lack of decent bookstores in the city. And I was trying to figure out if the barista's new mustache was ironic or a cry for help.
Leo was there, in his usual hoodie, scrolling through his phone like it owed him money.
Then out of nowhere, he chuckled.
A small, casual "heh" that immediately set off our internal sirens.
"What's funny?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
He blinked up. "Oh. Nothing. Just remembered something from last month when I was staying with a friend."
"Wait," Sophia leaned in. "You have friends?"
"Outside us?" Ethan added, dramatically betrayed.
"Plural?" I said, because, let's be honest, this was news.
Leo shrugged, casual as ever. "Yeah. I travel sometimes. You meet people."
"Wait." Sophia held up a hand. "So you have friends in other cities?"
"Other countries, actually," he corrected, still weirdly nonchalant.
Ethan sputtered. "You have international connections? Since when are you a low-key spy?"
Leo shrugged. "Met some people. Stayed with a friend abroad for a few days. Nice place. Had a burglar."
We all froze.
"Hold on," I said slowly. "You just said that like you were describing the weather. You had a burglar?!"
"Yeah, don't say that like ' Nice place with nice view and a burglar '." Sophia added.
"Technically the house had a burglar. I was just the extra in the horror movie."
"You got robbed?" Sophia gasped.
"No, no," Leo said, waving it off. "We scared him off. Kinda."
"Kinda?" Ethan repeated. "Leo. Begin at the beginning before I flip this table."
He leaned back, like he was trying to remember it all chronologically.
---
Flashback: One Week Ago
Leo had been staying at his friend Dev's place—"an acquaintance, lives in a hill city, big on board games, owns more coffee mugs than a café." Dev had gone out that night to meet up with a friend, leaving Leo home alone.
"I couldn't sleep," Leo explained. "Got up around 2 a.m. to get water. That's when I heard a noise. Then I saw a flashlight."
Sophia leaned in. "What kind of flashlight?"
"The 'you're not supposed to be here' kind."
"Could've been your friend?" Sophia offered.
"He doesn't own a flashlight," Leo said. "Thinks it attracts ghost energy."
Ethan held up a finger. "Okay, valid concern."
So naturally, Leo went back upstairs and hid in the closet like a very calm raccoon.
"And you called the cops?" Ethan guessed.
Leo shook his head. "I called Dev."
---
Cut to: Closet. Darkness. Leo whispering on the phone.
"There's someone in the house," he whispered. "I saw a flashlight downstairs."
"You're in the closet?!" Dev whispered back. "Dude, I have pepper spray. Use that!"
"I'm not going to pepper spray my own face trying to aim in the dark. Can you come back?"
Dev, who was with two of his friends nearby, hatched a plan with Leo: they'd scare the burglar instead of confronting him.
"Dev came back five minutes later," Leo said, "unlocked the door loudly and yelled—"
"The sacrifice has fallen into the trap!"
We stared.
Ethan burst out laughing.
"No way he said that."
Leo nodded. "With full drama. Like it was a scene from a cult documentary."
"They whispered," Leo continued, "'Begin the Ritual.'"
According to him, they banged on doors, turned lights on and off, and one of Dev's friends kept whispering, "The eyes are watching..."
"I think that one went off-script," Leo muttered.
---
Apparently, the burglar panicked. Ran straight into the upstairs room where Leo was hiding.
"And that's when I pulled the classic horror reveal."
"What did you say?" I asked.
Leo leaned forward and deadpanned, "I turned my phone flashlight under my chin, stepped out of the closet and said, 'You've disturbed the resting place of the cursed one. Now pay with your soul.'"
Sophia dropped her spoon.
Ethan stopped breathing.
"He screamed like a kettle," Leo added. "Tripped over the carpet and bolted.Right into the street—where a police car happened to be passing."
I blinked. "You accidentally summoned the police with fear."
"Not exactly," Leo said. "The neighbor had heard the screaming and called them."
By the time the burglar ran outside—sweating, pale, probably questioning every life decision—there were two patrol cars pulling up.
"The guy told the cops he'll never go near that house again," Leo finished, sipping his drink. "Said it was cursed."
"They asked us to explain everything. The guy was still shaking. One of the officers said, and I quote:
'I've heard of people using alarms, not emotional trauma.'"
---
Back in the café, there was stunned silence.
"You traumatized a criminal," Ethan said, finally.
"Technically, he traumatized himself," Leo replied.
Sophia blinked. "You realize you're a walking Twilight Zone episode, right?"
I just stared at him. "You have the face of someone who returns shopping carts. How are you the same person pulling off soul harvesting hours in real life?"
Ethan added, "Remind me to never sneak into your house."
He just shrugged.
___
End of Chapter 41.