Aaron strikes

Ramsey stepped closer, invading Hailey's personal space with a confident, predatory swagger. He ignored Cody completely, his eyes locked on Hailey's face.

"You know, Hailey," Ramsey purred, using Aaron’s voice to drop a pick-up line that made Aaron want to vomit. "I never realized how... appreciative... you could be. I should have possessed your brother years ago if I knew his sister looked this good up close." He winked, completely oblivious that the soul he had tormented was staring right back at him from behind those brown eyes.

Aaron's blood—or rather, Hailey's blood—boiled. *He has no idea. He thinks I'm gone.*

"Don't touch me," Aaron said, his voice trembling not with fear, but with suppressed power. He glanced sideways at Cody. "Grab my hand. Now."

"What? Why?" Cody whispered, eyeing Ramsey's aggressive stance and clenching his free fist.

"Just do it!"

Cody grabbed Hailey's hand. His grip was firm, warm, and sweaty. Aaron closed his eyes, ignoring the physical sensation of Cody's palm against his, and dug deep. He searched for that weightless, cold sensation he felt when he was a ghost. He visualized his soul not as a trapped prisoner, but as a compressed spring. He felt anchored by Cody, a tether that allowed him to lean out without losing his grip on the physical world.

Ramsey laughed, reaching out to stroke Hailey’s cheek. "Aww, protective brother holding hands? How cute. But I think she wants a real man, don't you, sweethe—"

Aaron’s eyes snapped open, glowing with a faint, violet luminescence that Hailey’s eyes shouldn’t be capable of.

"I said... GET OUT!"

He didn't swing Hailey's arm. Instead, he thrust his will forward. A violet, spectral version of Aaron’s upper body erupted from Hailey’s chest like a jack-in-the-box. It was a terrifying sight—a ghost emerging from a living girl, anchored only by their joined hands.

Ramsey’s eyes went wide, the smugness vanishing instantly. "Wha—"

Aaron's ghost fist connected squarely with Ramsey’s spectral jaw inside Aaron's body.

*CRACK.*

The sound was like a thunderclap that only the soul could hear. The **** of the blow was cataclysmic. It didn't just hurt Ramsey; it ejected him. A cloud of jagged, angry red mist was knocked backward out of Aaron’s body, forcefully expelled by the spiritual impact. It tumbled through the air, coalescing into the shape of the tall, white-haired man in the suit.

But the recoil was too much. The tether snapped.

Aaron felt himself being ripped away from Hailey’s physical form. The backlash flung his purple spirit backward, tumbling through the air away from Cody.

"Aaron!" Cody yelled, but his hands were suddenly holding dead weight.

Hailey’s body, vacant and ****, eyes rolling back in her head, crumpled toward the pavement. Cody barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground, scooping her limp form into his arms.

A few feet away, Aaron’s body did the same, collapsing face-first into the concrete with a sickening thud.

The coffee shop patio went silent. Stacy screamed, scrambling backward over the booth.

Aaron shook his head, stabilizing himself ten feet in the air. He was blue and purple again, transparent and free. He looked down at his spectral hands, then at the scene below. Cody was kneeling, holding the **** Hailey, looking back and forth between the two empty bodies in panic.

Across the parking lot, the red mist solidified fully. Ramsey hovered there, looking down at his hands, then at Aaron’s empty body, and finally up at Aaron. His face twisted into a mask of pure, chaotic rage.

"You little..." Ramsey snarled, his voice echoing with a supernatural reverb that made the windows of the coffee shop rattle. "You actually hit me?"

"I did more than hit you," Aaron shouted back, floating down to eye level, his fists glowing. "I evicted you."

"You think this is over?" Ramsey floated higher, his red aura flaring like a signal flare. He looked down at the prizes scattered on the concrete. "Now we're on my turf, kid. No rules. No notebooks." He grinned, revealing shark-like teeth. "Two empty vessels. One choice."