As the whirlwind of fire died down, in front of Shifa stood a man who was well in his forties. He wore a crumpled suit that a few moments ago had become wet from the surprise of the whirlwind.
Staring at the face of the girl, the first thing Evan did was not introduce himself or even exclaim anything in surprise, but ran to his dresser.
There he proceeded to strip. Afterwards, he wiped himself with toilet paper and put on a new fresh suit.
As a man who still had some dignity, he could not confront this supernatural being in the state that he was in before.
Shifa, who had watched him leave, waited: inside she was panicking. She had no idea what she was doing; she also felt bad for the old man as she had caused him to wet his pants.
Looking around she realized just how bare the apartment was, noting that it looked exactly like a place that a ghost would live in.
Desolate and abandoned, there was no painting on the walls nor any furniture in the living room for that matter.
She wondered if perhaps the man was a minimalist or if he perhaps was unable to afford furniture.
Finally done dressing himself up, Evan walked with a new-found purpose as he sought to find out who this ghost girl was and, more importantly, how to get rid of her.
Breathing in, then out, Evan contorted his face into the one that he put on for investors. A robotic smile that, when put on, made many investors believe that he could still smile at you while you were being burnt alive in torture and agony from entering a volcano.
Entering the living room, he noticed how the girl hadn't moved since her first appearance.
This made him begin to question whether this was real or not.
As he looked around the room, he realized that, despite the fire, nothing in his room had been burnt or singed in any way.
Looking at the girl, he now realized just how insane it was that he so readily believed that this girl was not only a ghost but also real.
And now he was going to have a talk with her as if she were some kind of investor that he had to schmooze up to.
He knew that this was perhaps certifiably insane, but at this point he had gone too far to back out now.
Approaching the girl, he said "Hello, I'm Evan", then put his hand out to shake hers as if she truly was anyone else but a ghost.
The girl on reflex put out her hand, responding to "Shifa" as her hand passed through Evans.
The passing of her hand through Evans caused his hands to shiver as he was exposed to the cold emanating from her hand.
He did not let this perturb him as he calmly put his hand to his side. He asked in his most accommodating voice, "You must be tired. I know there is nowhere to sit, but I think it would be fine if we both sat on the floor."
"Okay"
Both of them started warily and slowly started sitting themselves down in a cross-legged position. They watched each other like hawks, almost like they were waiting for the other one to do something wrong or make a move.
Once sat down, Shifa, who up until that point was quite a bit out of her element, also felt out of her depth as she saw Evan acclimate incredibly fast to the situation in front of him.
This made her feel like she had to do something as she decided to start the conversation. "Well, I'm sure you're wondering why I am here."
"Quite sure," Evan answered back almost instantaneously.
"I'm sorry" the spontaneity of the answer had thrown her off as she looked unsure as to what she should say.
"Well, why are you here?" quickly gained frustration as Shifa's face revealed how nervous and out of her depth she was.
"Uuh". She was unsure what to say should she be honest and tell him or tell him a lie on the idea that he may not believe her.
She thought about it, then realized that this entire situation was bizarre and that it probably didn't matter what she told him, she would probably believe him.
Yet she was supposed to change this man. How could she do that if she started lying to him from the beginning?
"You are a ------"
"What" as Evan's face went from frustration to anger from Shifa's undecipherable words.
Shifa, seeing what had happened, realized that she couldn't tell him his fate. Perhaps this was part of the Devils' challenge, as if she just outright told people their fates the challenge would be too easy.
"I was sent here by someone, and they ordered me to watch you. I'm sorry, that's all I can tell you."
Having finally had enough of this, Evan got up and started walking.
"Wait, where are you going?"
Not bothering to answer the ghost girl, he plunked himself into bed and hoped that when he woke up tomorrow this would all be a dream.