Thar Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 [quote name='Burai S. Zero' timestamp='1352233162' post='6062344'] Gaming College Entering, and then leaving the Homestuck community. [b]Also cons. This year was awesome, as was the last year.[/b] [/quote] Dammit, why is everyone going to cons and not me? >.< I've looked up locations to cons nearby, but the closest one is all the way up in Raleigh. The second closest is in Charolette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Warden Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Don't you mean entering the homestuck community, annoying the crap out of it and then leaving? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake the Sage Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 [quote name='Burai S. Zero' timestamp='1352233162' post='6062344'] Oh hush you. It's been over a year, can't you at least be glad to see me for once? =.= [b]I am glad to see you, but do you think I'd honestly change at all in a year from what I have in the past? Ha! Nay sir, nay I say! I am epherial and thus cannot change by leaps and bounds noticeable by anybody but those closest to me. LOL[/b] Anyway, I have been doing the following. Gaming [b]Any to note?[/b] College [b]Cool same here. I'm only in my first year but its already gone so quickly that come December I'll be finished with my first semester- heres to hoping I pass all of my classes. LOL oh who am I kidding? I'll pass them (XD)[/b] Entering, and then leaving the Homestuck community. [b]Never got into it[/b] Also cons. This year was awesome, as was the last year. [b]I went to one as well, got to buy a Tobi Costume and everything[/b] [/quote] Actually that reminds me! Everyone was supposed to take pictures of themselves in costume for Halloween and post it here (>X | ) So come on people were are the pictures of everyone in masks and what not scaring the living daylights out of little candy-totting children!? [color=#ee82ee]If they don't want to post pictures then no one has to post pictures. Don't tell me you actually thought people would do it . . . oh and Hi Shadow![/color] Yes I did (>>) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simping For Hina Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I didn't have a halloween, so I can't post a picture about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desu the Blue Nerd Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 [quote name='Burai S. Zero' timestamp='1352233162' post='6062344'] Oh hush you. It's been over a year, can't you at least be glad to see me for once? =.= [color=#0000CD]There's no way it's been that long. Anyway, welcome back.[/color] Anyway, I have been doing the following. Gaming [color=#0000CD]Fun.[/color] College [color=#0000CD]Harsh.[/color] Entering, and then leaving the Homestuck community. [color=#0000CD]Heh?[/color] Also cons. This year was awesome, as was the last year. [color=#0000CD]Cool.[/color] [/quote] [quote name='Stone Cold Loki' timestamp='1352236426' post='6062385'] Dammit, why is everyone going to cons and not me? >.< [color=#0000CD]*Going to one in March. Has to keep telling Agro I won't go to it with him since plans have already been made with a friend and F*CK AGRO. Should also have the homestuck rage hoodie by then.* <3[/color] I've looked up locations to cons nearby, but the closest one is all the way up in Raleigh. The second closest is in Charolette. [color=#0000CD]Dang, man. That sucks. We have one in my town so I guess I'm pretty lucky.[/color] [/quote] [quote name='BrokenHeart15' timestamp='1352238781' post='6062417'] Don't you mean entering the homestuck community, annoying the crap out of it and then leaving? [/quote] [color=#0000CD]He never seemed too bad. I mean, I might be more obsessed with it than him. Or maybe I do just keep my interests to myself a tad bit more. :I[/color] [quote name='Jake the Sage' timestamp='1352249078' post='6062663'] Actually that reminds me! Everyone was supposed to take pictures of themselves in costume for Halloween and post it here (>X | ) [color=#0000CD]I never agreed to that.[/color] So come on people were are the pictures of everyone in masks and what not scaring the living daylights out of little candy-totting children!? [color=#0000CD]What don't you get of I didn't dress up and just handed out candy for like the hour my uncle wasn't here and even then not many kids came by.[/color] [color=#EE82EE]If they don't want to post pictures then no one has to post pictures. Don't tell me you actually thought people would do it . . . oh and Hi Shadow![/color] Yes I did (>>) [color=#0000CD]I think we have a word for people like you.[/color] [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake the Sage Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 DF I believe the word people usually apply to me in the case you're pointing out is: delusional. I tend to think of it as on the road to becoming a crazy successful person because I have plans upon plans within plans. [color=#ee82ee]He's just rambling now. Everyone ignore him. Okay well since it's my time to host since Dad isn't in a proper mindset, not that he ever has one, I guess I need to come up with a topic, right? Uh.....[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desu the Blue Nerd Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 [quote name='Jake the Sage' timestamp='1352262743' post='6062878'] DF I believe the word people usually apply to me in the case you're pointing out is: delusional. I tend to think of it as on the road to becoming a crazy successful person because I have plans upon plans within plans. [color=#EE82EE][color=#0000CD]Well I was going to say dumbass but sure, that works too.[/color][/color] [color=#EE82EE]He's just rambling now. Everyone ignore him. Okay well since it's my time to host since Dad isn't in a proper mindset, not that he ever has one, I guess I need to come up with a topic, right? Uh.....[/color] [color=#0000CD]Uhh...is a very...uhh...interesting topic to uhhh...talk about...uh....[/color] [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathanael D. Striker Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 It seems I have to make a topic myself. So, Obama has been projected to win reelection. TBH, I don't think it mattets much with the crisis America is in. To bring something to discuss, does it matter who won the election? Also, what are the big issues for the next 4 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Zero Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I personally was hoping that Obama would be voted out primarily because Obamacare is going to ruin things for my family. My mom cannot afford healthcare AND the house mortgage, so unless something changes, we are going to lose the house. *sighs* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake the Sage Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 [quote name='Archbaron Striker' timestamp='1352266137' post='6062934'] It seems I have to make a topic myself. So, Obama has been projected to win reelection. TBH, I don't think it matters much with the crisis America is in. To bring something to discuss, does it matter who won the election? Also, what are the big issues for the next 4 years. [/quote] Actually Obama did win but to be honest it really doesn't matter who wins the election. As I say about politics, "Democrats and Republicans are like Pepsi and Coke, same sh*t different can." What that really means is that they are saying the same thing but are going to go about it in a different way. But lets face it, neither of them are going to actually do what they said; though Obama now that it is his second term might get around to it since he was able to pay back his supporters in the first term. To me, personally, I don't think a single thing will change and America is heading towards financial collapse. There needs to be some kind of major event in the world so the US can get back on top. A World War maybe or possibly a Civil War . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thar Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 [quote name='Jake the Sage' timestamp='1352314588' post='6063195'] To me, personally, I don't think a single thing will change and America is heading towards financial collapse. There needs to be some kind of major event in the world so the US can get back on top. A World War maybe or possibly a Civil War . . . [/quote] A revolution, you mean? Yeah, a revolution might catch Obama's attention. As TJ (TheAmazingAtheist) stated in his reaction to the election results: we need to pressure him to get him to actually take action and not just promise things and hope for a miracle. It is OUR responsibility to make our country better, not his. We do the talking; He just does all the paperwork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Warden Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 [quote name="Jake the Sage"]A World War [/quote] I find it funny you said that Jake, considering that IS all your country is honestly good for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thar Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 [quote name='BrokenHeart15' timestamp='1352324689' post='6063330'] I find it funny you said that Jake, considering that IS all your country is honestly good for. [/quote] While your country is just sitting around all like WTF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Warden Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 At least we didn't blow ourselves up. And we're not the French, who are always le tired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathanael D. Striker Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Well Shadow, I do believe America needs Universal Healthcare. In fact, I've seen polls aying that most Americans want something. However, Obamacare is not what we need. It's a good start though, but changes are needed. Jake, we are doomed in 7 weeks if both sides can't compromise. This is a time where things need to get done. Just hope they can actually compromise, or we are screwed for years to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake the Sage Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 [quote name='BrokenHeart15' timestamp='1352324689' post='6063330'] I find it funny you said that Jake, considering that IS all your country is honestly good for. [/quote] I keep forgetting you're not an American Citizen, so you're opinion doesn't count (XD) No jk . . . jk [quote name='Archbaron Striker' timestamp='1352333269' post='6063464'] Jake, we are doomed in 7 weeks if both sides can't compromise. This is a time where things need to get done. Just hope they can actually compromise, or we are screwed for years to come. [/quote] Actually I just saw that they were planning on pushing the Fiscal Cliff back a year so they can continue debating and trying to figure out a solution. When I hear about that I almost flipped a chair shouting no. I mean once you have the power to push it back, a month or a year, doesn't really matter how much time, then you can do it anytime you get yourself in a pickle. It's like not knowing the answer to a question on a test but you can look at the teacher's answer sheet when the test is going to be over in five minutes. Instead of actually doing the test like you're supposed too, you wait those five minutes and then get all the answers. Point in case you begin to abuse it. [color=#ee82ee]Does that even make sense to anyone else?[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Zero Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 *shrugs* Makes some sense to me, although the way he stated the first part, I was thinking more waiting those give minutes and then causing the test deadline to be pushed back another hour, doing something to avoid having to give the answers so that you can wait until it's the next person's turn to sit where you are and just have him sit where you are to do your test instead of you doing it while you walk out without having to do a damned thing. I personally don't have a problem with universal healthcare itself. My problem lies in the two things that come with it. 1: You have to get it. You do not have a choice, because if you don't get it, you lose even more than it would have cost for the year. 2: There are people who are not poor enough to qualify for government help, and yet do not make enough money to be able to get healthcare themselves, and that group of people includes my family, and has been steadily growing in number. Also, Striker is still here? ...................................... *grabs Uzi and goes Striker hunting* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Warden Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 I wouldn't bother Shadow, as, if the numbers are correct, as of now, Striker is actually cooler than you are. Yeah... I'll just let that process a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake the Sage Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Shadow, Striker is a member of the club just like you so don't go "hunting" him or anything. You were once in the same shoes he is in so I think you'd be a bit more sympathetic . . . And if anybody has read my status update last night I finished the short story and it is here for everyone to read. [spoiler=The Haunting Of . . .] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe6E3VFVUwY"]Opening- The Ghost of You and I[/url] The sun was setting low in the west, turning the clouds a deep rich golden color, as the billions upon trillion of stars peeked out from behind the clouds. With the darkness of night encroaching ever rapidly on the world two headlights pierced through the veil, illuminating everything in their path. An expensive sports car pulled up near the abandoned building with its engine humming loudly. The engine cut off and all four doors opened so the group of teenagers inside, no older than High School students, could emerge; in everyone hand was a flashlight, backpacks and in one of the guys hands was a cooler filled with things to eat. Shivering in the cold autumn air one of the girls wrapped her arms around her, tugged her long coat closer to her body, and exhaled a warm breath into two shaking hands then peered up at the building. Standing alone with windows cracked or completely shattered it was frightening to her during the day but with the sun setting behind it so that the shadows reached out giving it an even more imposing appearance. Nervously she began tugging on one of her friend’s sleeve, “Dexter I don’t think this is a good idea. Let’s just leave and forget about the entire thing, please?” “What’s the matter Steph? All we’re doing is spending the night at some run down old warehouse,” Dexter replied pulling his sleeve away from her hand, fixing his goggles as he himself peered up at the massive structure. While the building was scarring his friend it only served to make Dexter more excited. Taking a deep breath of the cold air he exhaled. A brief talk with Stephanie managed to convince her that the building wasn’t scary at all and nothing bad was going to happen to her. With her back on board he took her hand and led her into the dark gaping opening where the doors had once been after the other three that had already gone on ahead of them. Walking in the pitch black darkness they could only see what the thin stream of lights from their flashlights illuminated, but they could easy make out the sound of the others chatting excitedly; the only problem was in the emptiness it sounded as if their voices were coming from everywhere at once. Even when Dexter called out for them his own voice echoed back horribly so that if they had answered he wouldn’t have heard them. Neither Dexter nor Stephanie could see their friends’ flashlights either now. “Those idiots, they couldn’t even wait for Steph and me,” Dexter thought to himself cautiously walking around the debris dotting the floors when his flashlight shone on it, sometimes bumping right into it at times, “Richard must be thinking that if he can get Ashley alone he can get to third base with her or something.” Stopping Dexter turned his head to look over his shoulders, though he couldn’t see anything an inch in front of his face without the flashlight, but it was what he heard that caught his attention- someone laughing. Listening to it for a moment he jumped a bit when Stephanie asked in such a low whisper he thought he might have been imagining it at first, “Do you hear that?” “Hear what?” he whispered back, his heart pounding, wondering if she was definitely talking about the laughter from a moment before was well. Shuffling closer to him Stephanie held her flashlight to the ground and, right beside him, she told him that she thought she heard someone following them. Dexter could actually feel her body shaking against his; if they were anywhere else the situation he was in, with Stephanie pressing her body against his in the dark, would’ve been a great turn on. But in an abandoned building and a mysterious laughter and or person following them it just made him as scared. Taking a gulp he could feel his dry mouth make it difficult to talk, “It . . . it could just be our footsteps echoing, y’know? O-Or it could be Richard trying to scare us.” Dexter leaped, spinning around so quickly he nearly made Stephanie fall over. The flashlight darted back and forth, shinning on rotting pillars and empty space, and Dexter for a moment was completely confused. Stephanie was panting beside him and though he couldn’t see it she was holding her chest from the scare he had unknowingly gave her, “What was that all about?” “S-Sorry Steph I thought someone grabbed my shoulder,” he admitted moving the flashlight to shine on her. Accepting the apology and his hand both of the teenagers decided that it would be better to continue looking for Richard and Ashley than stand around in the dark and let the stories that they heard earlier get to them. With both flashlights brightening the path ahead they walked side by side, hand in hand, and spoke in a hush tone about anything they could; both knew if they were silent their minds would return to the rumors about the abandoned building. They talked about school, Dexter’s soccer team losing to the ‘Yugo High Tormentors’, even about who they were going to go to the Fall Formal with. Anything to avoid that [i]one[/i] subject neither wanted to mention. They avoided areas were either the floor or roof above was weakened from rainwater or rot; they would have to cross what they thought was the entire building sometimes to find a safe passage. There were points when they even got flat on their stomachs and crawled through dirt, grim and cobwebs to get underneath a pile of debris that had completely blocked their path. Coming to an opening both stopped. They could hear the dripping sound of water somewhere eerily echoing and the sound of their own breathing. Dexter took the initiative, letting Stephanie’s hand go and bravely walking through the doorframe into the new black void- nothing is scarier than something unknown. Standing in the middle of the dark room Dexter shined the flashlight over every surface before turning back to Stephanie and giving a nod. Smiling she nodded back and too walked through the doorframe. The moment she crossed the threshold a howl came from nowhere, loud and right beside them; there was no mistaking where the howl came from, it was right in their ears. Turning to where the howl was coming from Dexter pulled his flashlight up, illuminating the giant black form of Richard. He had been behind one of the only things there was in the room that’d hide his muscular body when Dexter came into the room. Laughing hysterically at having scared his two friends Dexter gave him a glare, “You shouldn’t have scared Steph like that dumb ass.” Richard had been too busy laughing himself silly that he didn’t realize his prank had scared Stephanie so badly she nearly fainted, both hands resting on her knees and breathing heavily trying to slow her heart rate; the only reason she didn’t fall over was because Dexter had caught her by the shoulder. Realizing that he might have pushed the joke a little too much he held his hand out for her and apologized. Stephanie nodded and had him swear he wouldn’t do it again. Of course Richard agreed to the terms and was honestly a little disappointed when she didn’t accept his hand, instead choosing to cling to Dexter; he wouldn’t admit it out loud but he had developed a crush on Stephanie earlier in the school year. When Stephanie began hanging out with him and Dexter he thought it was too good to be true. It was. The catch for having the beautiful Stephanie as their friend was the final person in the group, currently pushing her glasses up. She stuck out sharply against the dirt and dust of the abandoned building in her crisp, clean school uniform; the contrast made her colors even more vibrant than they actually where. That was Ashley for you. Even in a school of extraordinary and prominent people she still seemed to stick out. The change of scenery didn’t seem to stop her ability to do so. With a low sigh she spoke in a voice fitting her personality, sharp and to-the-point, “Steph please try to at least act like you are the daughter of a Moderator would you? If Richard’s antics are enough to scare you, then maybe you should not have come along in the first place.” “Oh listen to miss cold calm confidence over here,” Richard said raising his dark skinned hands into the air while rolling his eyes at the same time. From the beginning Richard and Ashley had a love-hate relationship. The first few months she only called him by his middle name ‘Shelly’ just to get on his nerves and once she began calling him by his real name she still did things that got on his nerves, though a lot of the times he couldn’t tell if she was doing it on purpose or unconsciously. Yet when they were on the same page or had the same goals there wasn’t a man or woman who could prevent them from getting what they wanted. Now, with her having dissed Stephanie, Richard hadn’t been able to resist snapping back at her, pointing his flashlight at Ashley’s face, “You don’t even believe in ghosts so why did [i]you[/i] come along?” Gracefully hopping off of the dusted off table, her heels clacking against the tile floor, Ashley pointed her flashlight at Richard’s face to blind him a bit and answered that the reason was easy. But then she grew quiet and didn’t seem to want to answer. “I knew she didn’t have a reason,” Dexter thought to himself watching Richard walk up to Ashley, towering a full head over her. Once Richard was standing in front of her Ashley turned the light from Richard’s face and shinned it underneath her own to make it look scary, though it hardly was even here, and finished with a smirk, “I really would be kicking myself for passing up this grand opportunity to see you three make fools of yourselves!” “Oh, yeah right! I bet you’ll be the first person running out of here screaming her head off!” Richard barked back angrily bowing up to her so that he looked even taller than he already was. The stunt did nothing to intimidate Ashley, instead spurring her to act the same, “Is that so? Well if you are so certain that I will be the first person running out, why do we not make a bet? If I, as you claim, go running out of this building first then I will do all of your homework for an entire week.” “All of my classes for an entire w-” Richard began, already liking the idea of having Ashley do his homework; she was a straight ‘A’ student and even the Class President. However Ashley’s sharp tongue cut him off before he could finished, “Yet if I were to remain here and instead see you running scared first you will have to come to school for a week wearing a dress of my choosing!” “Come on guys can’t we please just go home?” Stephanie begged rubbing her hands over her arms, shivering in the empty room. She didn’t even want to be here much less make some silly bet out of it. But her words fell on deaf ears as Richard and Ashley worked out the details of their personal bet. Patting Stephanie on the shoulder he asked if she wanted to sit down and rest their feet while ‘dumb and dumber’ fought amongst each other. Nodding her head both of them walked over to a wall and was about to set the cooler down. Gasping Stephanie yanked Dexter back, her flashlight shaking, “Dexter did . . . did you just touch my hair?” “No why?” He really didn’t need to ask, being able to guess pretty much what had happened. After all he had had his shoulder tapped earlier on. He also knew it wasn’t Richard this time because he was across the room arguing with Ashley about whether or not he had to also wear panties if he lost the bet. Sniffling Stephanie screamed when her flashlight was snatched out from her hand and thrown across the room at Ashley, nearly hitting her in the head. Being pushed by Richard to avoid getting pegged in the head Ashley demanded to know why Stephanie threw her flashlight at her and didn’t accept that something “invisible” took it from her and threw it instead. Crossing her arms Ashley openly shouted, “There is no such [i]thing[/i] as ghosts! The stories that the locals told us about ghosts appearing in this place since the end of the Inactive War is just all in their delusional heads!” As if whatever spirits resided there had been waiting for Ashley to say those exact words the room grew colder. Their breath became visible in the beams of light and there was an uneasy feeling in the pit of everyone’s stomach. You know that uneasy feeling you get when you’ve done something bad, like shoplifting, and are certain you’re going to get caught? It’s the exact same feeling. Drawing the overcoat tighter around her body Stephanie glanced around everywhere turning around in a circle believing that there was someone standing right behind her. Her fears getting the better of her she called out in a shaky voice, “W-What’s going on?!” “It is nothing! The room just got colder because the sun must have finally gone down. It was almost dark when we came in after all,” Ashley answered coolly and no hint of fear at all; but even her heart was beginning to beat quicker from the uneasy feeling. Then she gave a shout, turning and looking at Richard before slapping his face and blaming him for grabbing her ass. Richard naturally defended himself but the knowledge that he had done that before didn’t help Ashley believe him. By now the room had gotten so cold everyone was shivering and walking closer to each other. Their flashlights aiming to light up every inch of the room they were in they didn’t move at all as it grew quiet. “em pleh enoemos esaelp” a voice came without a person for it to come from. ______________________________________________________________________________ Breathing heavily she looked behind her, darting in and out of the parked cars dotting the curbside. She had to run. If she didn’t run for her life she would be caught, then . . . then she didn’t even want to think of an “if”. She [i]had[/i] to escape. Her heart was pounding in her chest even before she leapt over a fence; she knew it would only slow her pursier. Stopping next to a brick building, hearing the low cackling of the dead leaves underfoot, she pressed against the cold stone trying to squeeze herself against the side as much as possible. For second she wished she could turn invisible. A sound in the distance made her heart leap. When the sound happened again she gave a sigh of relief, realizing that it was the children running about in their homemade costumes across the street at the elementary school; goblins and ghouls, even a little witch amongst them. As she watched the children a blood stained machete blade rose up behind her, the long gnarly fingers of the masked figure reaching out towards her neck. Screaming as the hand grabbed her shoulder she attempted to run forward before falling out into the street and laughing, the hockey masked man helped her up before being slugged in the shoulder, “Hey now what was that for Aisu?” “Don’t pretend you don’t know why,” she answered back through a lighthearted giggle lifting the mask off of him. Harvey looked at the red haired girl wearing a tight fitting army outfit, complete with a fake automatic rifle, and couldn’t help turn a bit red when she closed her eyes and lean in for him into a kiss her. Pulling back the man laughed, embarrassed, “Aisu, come on there are children around . . .” “So?” she retorted, not really caring who was around, since she hadn’t seen her boyfriend since the Freed had sent him overseas for missions he wasn’t even allowed to talk about. Most of the time when he was around they weren’t able to relax together but with Halloween rapidly approaching she was planning on making every moment they were together memorable, after all always being off on missions made it difficult for them to keep a steady relationship. Scratching the back of his head Harvey looked up and down at his girlfriend, admiring the way her tight fitting uniform made her look good in [i]all[/i] the right places, and surrendered to his girlfriend’s desires. Grinning he pulled her closer Harvey leaned forward and placed a kiss between her neck and shoulder blade so that a tiny shiver raced down her spine forcing her entire body to tremble against his. Breathing on her neck, the warm air making Goosebumps appear, he whispered in her ear while hugging her, “Well if we were somewhere more secluded . . .” “Say no more,” she whispered back at him, teasingly biting his ear and giving it a tug; she knew how to tease him so bad it hurt. Both of them walked into the alleyway so that once they were far enough inside and away from prying eyes. Leaning in both were nearly knocked to the ground when someone raced through, jumping to avoid plowing into the couple. Still racing down the alley the young boy shouted that he was ‘sorry’ over his shoulder as Harvey shouted back at him to watch where he was going. Darting out into the sidewalk to young man pulled out his cell phone and clicked it to examine the time: 6:50 am. [i]“D*mn it I’m going to be late!”[/i] his mind shouted at itself, calling himself a googan for staying up late last night playing shooters and missing the bus to school. He jay walked, nearly got ran over a couple times, pushed past innocent pedestrians when he couldn’t go around them, and kept going as fast as he could the entire way until he finally reached Yugo High just in time to hear the late bell going off. Doubled over, trying to catch his breath, Daniel looked up when someone’s shadow covered him. It was the principle, Mr. Maker. Now able to talk without gasping for air Daniel stood up and whipped his sweaty hair from his face, “How’s that Mr. Maker? I made it from my house to school in twenty five minutes. That’s . . . what . . . ten miles in twenty five minutes?” “Eight miles actually,” Principle Maker said showing no signs of humor. Sighing he asked Daniel just to head to class and to try and not be late again. Nodding his head Daniel jogged off to class, glad that the only reason he wasn’t sent to detention was that it was soccer season and the team needed him to win the championship; he wasn’t the MVP but he was a star player. Creeping into his class Daniel just manages to get reach his chair before his teacher coughs and asks him to just sit down and open his book to page 237. Turning red as the entire class laughs at him he sinks into the chair and pulls out his book, lowering his head down so he could hide behind his brown hair; hoping beyond hope that math class will go by quickly. Thankfully it did; nothing but taking notes and going over the homework from the night before. When the bell rang everyone rushed for the door at the same time, pushing and trying to squeeze through the door to escape for the next class. Sighing when most of the students had finished fighting over their opportunity to get out Daniel picked up his things and quietly made his way to his next class; he never understood why people had to fight over silly things like being the first out of class. Calmly exiting the room he turned the corner and continued on, only stopping when he heard his name being called. Turning he could see his best friend moving amongst the crowd, a smile on his face, “So you were late again?” “I wouldn’t say I saw [i]late[/i]. After all I was on school grounds when the bell rang. It’s not my fault I don’t have a ride,” Daniel answered turning his nose up so he looked down at Al. All Daniel’s reply did was make Alejandro, Al to everyone who knew him, laugh and pat him on the back, “You mean ‘I don’t have a ride’ [i]yet[/i], right?” Both boys laughed at Al’s joke. Daniel’s father had promised that if his team had won the soccer championship he would go out with him and buy any type of car he wanted; of course Daniel was doing everything he could to ensure he’d be driving around in style next year. De Loren, Dodge Viper, Mustang, Corvette, there was so many possibilities for Daniel too choose from. But then Daniel’s mind was quickly brought back to reality when he ran into a pole, smacking straight into it without stopping. Stumbling back again, holding his nose, Daniel turned and saw that everyone was laughing at him, causing his entire face to turn red in embarrassment. Turning to Al, who was probably laughing the loudest, Daniel snapped behind his hand, “Dude what the Hell?! You couldn’t tell me I was about to run into a pole you deef?” “Hey I’m not the googan who was daydreaming while walking,” Al retorted back as they walked away from the scene of the accident. Rubbing his nose occasionally to ensure that he hadn’t broken it from the impact Daniel let it slide since if he was in Al’s position he’d have probably done the same- or maybe worse. During the time they were walking to Daniel’s automotive class, he was really expecting to get that car his Dad bet him, the two conversed about the plans for later that day. Al had confirmed that they were going to meet up with the girls and Zugai before heading to get something to eat then visit the YCM Ultra Hotel’s ‘Curse of the Phantasm’. It was a usual thing for them every Halloween week to do something different and hopefully “frightening” since they were too old to go trick-or-treating; the last time they attempted to go trick-or-treating they not only felt out of place but they even had a few people ask if the kids, who would happened to walk up with them, were there’s. After that incident Lisa had everyone swear they’d never go trick-or-treating again. “So where are we meeting up?” Daniel questioned when they stopped in front of Al’s classroom. When Al found that he couldn’t recall it off the top of his head he pulled out his cell phone, flipped it open, and began reading through the hundreds of texts that gone between himself and Lisa. Finding the exact text that had the location a minute later he read it out for Daniel- Slender Vlogs at 3:03 pm. Scribbling the information down on his hand Daniel thanked Al before running off to class, leaving Alejandro standing in front of his biology class. Heading inside he shuddered seeing that they were going to be dissecting preserved baby pigs today. He didn’t have a problem with dissecting the animal since both Daniel and he had been trained in swords. The fact that it was a baby pig that got him. Alive or dead didn’t really matter. It was something about the thought of cutting open something that hadn’t been allowed to grow up that made his stomach churn. Walking inside he sat in his chair trying to think of an excuse to get out of the lab. Religious reasons? No. He could claim he had an allergy to pigs. That would sound dumber out loud than thinking it. He could get suddenly sick and go to Ms. Ayako at the nurse’s office. Then again the moment she saw he was feeling better he’d be sent right back. Standing up he decided that he could just skip class; his grade would slip from a B to a C but to him it was worth avoiding dissecting the piglet. “Alright class please be seated and don’t touch any of the dissecting utensils until I say so, alright?” the teacher said walking in reading a book, not a school book but a personal one titled ‘Beyond the Veil of Time and Space’. All of the students who hadn’t been sitting down already did so when prompted, leaving Al the only person remaining on his feet. Looking around at everyone he finally, albeit begrudgingly, did the same when his biology teacher asked him too. Looks like there was going to be no escape today. ______________________________________________________________________________ The crowd hooped and hollered as the acrobats swung through the air in their death defying show, barely making each leap and scaring those who watched with a seemingly mesmerized gaze. At any moment the acrobats could plummet to their deaths, as they had literally burned the net right before the act began, and yet no one could take their eyes away from the swinging handles or somersaulting bodies. Below the acrobats an assortment of ghoulish performers entertained any member of the audience whose head was not currently pointed up. Slender Vlog, in its short history of being an establishment, had always gone full out for their Halloween themed event. This year was no exception, going so far as to hire a renowned circus appropriately dubbed the “Nightmare Circus”. All of Yugo was generally like this around the holiday seasons, with each major business, minor business, burrow, school, neighborhood, and/or individual house doing all they could to attract the eyes of the public for various reasons; some wanted their seven minutes of fame while others, like the businesses, were trying to supplement their finances for the slower parts of the year. So while it was probably not the easiest place to be spotted in, Zugai had decided that since there was going to be a circus around Slender Vlog it would have a lot of places for them to choose from for something to eat; most places in Main Forum were high priced for a couple of teenagers and no one wanted M[sup]c[/sup]Doogals. Peering down at his watch Zugai in fact was still waiting for the others, huffing when he saw that everyone was already five minutes late. Tapping his foot he crossed, uncrossed, and then re-crossed his arms. He was so engrossed in looking for his friends he didn’t notice one of the acrobats above let go of the handles on the highest part of her arch, flipping in midair before she landed on the ground without any harm much to the relief of the spectators. The dark skinned performer walked up and tapped her sharp clawed finger against Zugai’s shoulder; the sudden touch made him jump a bit. Thinking it was one of his friends he turned and was understandably surprised to see a young beautiful girl dressed as a jester standing in front of him with an innocent smile. Her dark skin perfectly matching with the tight fitting and hellish apparel she had dawned for the act she was well known for. Looking at him with curiosity Zazie tilted her head slightly, making him cough and turn red. He began trying to talk however it only came out as mumbles and fidgeting hands. The moment Zugai decided it was better if he shut up now and save himself anymore humiliation the jester smiled again then pointed to his right. Looking to where she was pointing he could see through the crowd his friends walking aimlessly around and looking for, most likely, him. Glancing back at her Zugai thanked her; he never once wondered how she knew who he was waiting for or that they were looking for him. Nodding the girl ran off to entertain more people, leaving Zugai in the middle of the crowd. Finally managing to push past the crowd he stepped out in front of the entire group and asked, “Why are you guys late?” “You never told us where exactly we were supposed to meet. All the text said was we were going to meet at Slender Vlog, but you can see it’s kind of hard to spot someone in this kind of crowd.” Sarah gave a huff, looking down at Zugai knowing that she was right on all accounts. When she had finished her sister leaned over from behind her and followed up with the fact that if Zugai had bothered to look at his phone he would’ve seen everyone had texted him at least three times each. He didn’t even bother looking since both girls were probably right that everyone had texted him. Sighing he looked over to Daniel, “Why are your sisters here? I thought it was just going to be you, Al, Lisa, Amelia and myself.” “Well-” Daniel started but was quickly cut off by Sarah who even shoved him out of the way so she could step inside Zugai’s personal space and wave her finger at him. She quickly told him that he should be lucky that she and Keiko decided to join them since they had something much better to do than some lame old generic haunted hotel. Frowning Zugai looked behind Sarah’s blond hair and could only see Al shrugging his shoulder. Addressing Sarah again Zugai took a step back so she wasn’t uncomfortably close to him, “What do you mean you have something better to do?” “Oh, no we’re not going to tell everyone out here where we could be overheard,” Keiko retorted quickly with her trademark giggle, a smile stretching all across her face. Snapping her fingers Sarah turned her back to him and loftily mentioned that when they were sitting down somewhere private she and Keiko would explain what their new plans for the night were. Without a second word both blonds began to walk away. Marching close together Amelia apologized for Sarah’s overbearing attitude despite the fact Zugai was accustomed to it. Sarah had the knack for making other people do what she wanted whether they liked it or not. Add on that the twins were hardly separate from each other, which Daniel joked ‘weakened their mind control over people’, it was hard to voice an opinion much less have either girl accept it. Soon they found themselves in a small tent with punch and hot food in front of them. Everyone had grabbed something to eat and yet no one touched their food except for Sarah and Keiko. Finally Lisa leaned forward, “Okay Sarah spill . . . what do you and Keiko want everyone to do instead of the haunted hotel?” “Easy! Instead of some lame pretend haunted hotel I thought it would be cool to go visit a [i]real[/i] haunted building!” She was grinning like she had just revealed the biggest, most daring secret from a hated rival. She was enjoying the idea so much she was beginning to laugh a bit at the mere thought of going to a real haunted building. Her excitement changed to disbelief however when Al spoke up and flat out told her there was ‘no such thing as real ghosts.’ Growling Sarah slammed her witches brew filled cup on the table and stood up, “What makes you think there aren’t ghosts? Have you ever [i]not[/i] seen one? Can you tell me you are one hundred percent certain that ghosts can’t exist?” “Have you ever seen one yourself?” Alejandro asked back, managing to actually make Sarah stop talking and sit back down on her side of the table. Sipping her witches brew he could see she was trying to think of a clever comeback. Having heard of Sarah’s idea Amelia leaned forward, curious in a different way, “Sarah how do you know where a real haunted place is anyways? I mean we hang out a lot and you’ve never told me about this . . .” “You generally tell us anything you find exciting as soon as possible,” Lisa added in whipping her hands clean with the napkin and resting it on the empty plate; she had decided not to let good food go to waste. Still grumbling over trying to answer Al Sarah didn’t answer, leaving it to her twin to do so instead. Keiko explained that one of the members of the ‘Daughters of Darkness’ had told them that a classmate at the private school “Card Kingdom for Higher Learning” had told her she went to some supposed haunted building on a dare and ended up being scared silly by the disembodied voice of the spirit who lived there. Looking at Keiko Daniel leaned on his hand, pointing out that their information was third hand hearsay from someone who went to the stuck up private school. Sarah, over trying to think of an answer to Al, slammed her hand on the table shouting, “You don’t think the Daughters of Darkness are trustworthy?! Everything we say is the complete unadulterated truth! If she says her friend was scared by a ghost then she was scared by a ghost! If she said it was bigfoot I would believe her!” “You do know that the ‘Daughters of Darkness’ group your putting so much faith in is nothing more than Rachel and Lyn’s pet project, right?” Zugai asked returning from throwing away his and everyone else’s plates. Sitting back down he knew that his step-sisters had the mentality to bring a bunch of girls together for their own reasons and use them to gain information around the city- they were good at it too. But unlike the former Emperor, Rachel and Lyn would soon get bored with the idea of having to manage so many people and disband their little club. Yet Sarah nor Keiko seemed to care who was the person who created the ‘Daughters of Darkness’ or what they believed, urging them to go to the haunted building and see for themselves. “So do we need to pack anything?” Amelia asked when everything had been decided. They would go for fifteen minutes and if nothing interesting happened to them they would all leave to get to the YCM Hotel’s ‘Curse of the Phantasm” on time. Nodding her head Sarah quickly wrote down a list, shaking the pen so the ink would come out, of ghost hunting supplies they would pick up before getting to the haunted location: the list was everything from a voice recorder to d batteries for flashlights. Reading what his sister had put down Daniel wondered how they would pay for everything on the list. Unfortunately he would learn later that his sisters planned on him paying for everything out of his car savings and would be paid back. Only he’d never be paid back. He never got anything he let his sisters borrow before; he didn’t expect it to magically happen now. When all of the supplies had been charged to Daniel’s debit card and they’d walked the distance to the place Sarah’s friend had been told was where her classmate had seen the ghost everyone was in the mood for a ghost hunt. They had spent the entire time it took them to get there telling ghost stories they had heard as children or even made some up on the spot. Alejandro had come up with one of the best, retelling an old story his grandfather had told him, “Once there was a beautiful young woman growing up in a wealthy shipping family in New York. In those days, wealthy girls were expected to make enter society and marry a wealthy young man from a good family when they turned sixteen. But the girl was a bit of a rebel . . . actually Sarah kind of reminds me of her when Grandpa tells it . . . but when she grew old enough to marry, she hated the wealthy young society men in favor of an older man who worked as a servant in her house. Of course, there was a big argument when the girl told her family who she wanted to be her new husband. Her parents were furious, particularly her father, who accused the servant of trying to marry his daughter in order to gain a better position in the company. When the girl insisted on the marriage, her father finally gave in and gave the couple some money on the condition that they leave New York after the wedding and never come back. By the time the young couple reached the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone, the husband had gambled away all of the money that his wife’s family had given them. There was barely enough money for the couple to finish their honeymoon trip and not a single dollar to buy a house or start a family with. Needless to say the girl was upset with her husband and they had argued often about money during their honeymoon journey, and by this time, she knew that her father had been right about her new husband. Still, the couple was flat broke and needed something to pay the people of the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone, so she called her father to ask him for some money. He refused to give her even a penny. That night, the couple had a fight in their bedroom at the inn. The husband stalked out of the Inn in a fury, leaving his new wife locked in her room. The bride didn’t come out for days and finally the staff of the Inn sent someone to check on her. No one answered when the maid knocked on the door and, using the housekeeping key, the maid stepped into the room and gasped in shock. The room looked as if a hurricane had hit inside the room. Clothes were strewn everywhere and the sheets were partially on the floor. Worse, the housekeeper was overwhelmed by the metallic odor smell that seemed to be everywhere and on everything. There was no sign of the bride, but the stink that blew from the bathroom hinted at what the maid might see. Lying in the bathtub in a pool of dried blood was the body of the bride, which ended horrifically in the ragged stump of a neck. Her head was nowhere to be seen. The maid’s screams summoned the rest of the staff. The police were called, the family was notified and the room cleaned. Everything was done to locate the murderer, but the husband was never caught. Finally, the whole story was hushed up to avoid scandal to the girl’s rich family. A few days after the discovery of the murder, a foul smell up in the Crow’s Nest where the musicians often played for the evening dances was traced to its source: The bride’s severed head. Tangled blond curls framed the wide-eyed, horror-twisted face; already beginning to rot. The burial of the poor, murdered bride should have been the end of the terrible incident. And so it proved, until one midnight when a staff member who was up late reading a book heard a strange noise coming from the lobby. It was the stroke of midnight when he hurried out onto the balcony and looked upward, seeking the source of the noise. He looked up towards the Crow’s Nest, far above, and saw a glowing figure in white slowly descending the stairs from the Crow’s Nest. Tucked under its arm was a tousle-curled, wide-eyed head! Frozen with horror, the man watched the bride descend the steps and float along the corridor until she reached the door of her room. Then she vanished! From that day onward, there are people who say they can see the headless bride walking down the stairs from the Crow’s Nest at the stroke of midnight; sadly seeking for her lost husband and her lost dreams. Grandpa himself admits he’s never stayed up to see.” “Did your Grandpa really believe in a headless ghost bride?” Amelia asked holding onto Daniel’s shoulder shivering like a leaf. She wasn’t good with scary things and didn’t even watch horror movies without all of the lights on. Why she had allowed herself to be convinced to go ghost hunting was beyond her. However she was relieved when Al admitted that it was just a story his Grandpa heard from his grandfather and that it was a family tradition to pass it down. Flicking on the flashlight Keiko voiced that it was kind of romantic that the ghost remained behind looking for her husband and possibly drag them back to the afterlife with her; of course this got Zugai questioning Keiko’s sense of what was romantic. Examining the wide mouth of the abandoned building Sarah gave a low whistle which echoed back at her, the noise of the circus barely audible where they were. Stepping aside Sarah gave a low bow to usher everyone in, welcoming them to ‘Sarah Link’s midnight real life . . . or afterlife haunted house tour.’ Groaning at the ridiculous idea of spending even five minutes in some old rundown place he personally had walked by hundreds of times during the day, Al laughed at himself taking the first step forward and confidently walking inside without any hesitation, [i]“Now at night it’s supposed to be scary?”[/i] Inside the damp room Al flicked on the flashlight and peered around the empty room, turning back to look at Sarah, “Okay we’re here and so far there is nothing scary about this place at all.” “Idiot you have to go farther in. The ghost doesn’t hang out at the front door waiting for guests.” Pushing on Al’s shoulder Sarah forced him to keep walking in front of the group while at the same time leading him. The group grew quiet as they walked, looking for any sign of movement or a mysterious noise. Following the same path that the students from Card Kingdom for Higher Learning took, they finally made it to the middle of the entire building. Sitting down on a desk Al leaned back with his arms crossed, asking if anyone else was going to keep track of the fifteen minutes. Zugai offered holding out his light-up watch with a timer already set. Nodding Sarah sat down and dug through her backpack as Daniel suggested they tell another ghost story. Gulping Amelia, still clinging to Daniel’s side, spoke up, “Can’t we just wait here and leave when the fifteen minutes is up? I mean if there is such things as ghosts then maybe they don’t want to be disturbed.” “Where’s the fun in that!?” Sarah shouted over her shoulder tossing a voice recorder for her scared friend to catch and continued digging for whatever it was she was looking for. Sarah did believe in ghosts, or at least in an afterlife, but didn’t have any second thoughts of disturbing some supernatural forces for a good thrill. Finally pulling out what first everyone thought was a board game they crowded around her to get a better look. Instead of a board game like they had originally thought it was an Ouija Board that happened to glow in the dark. Setting it aside Sarah looked back at everyone with a smug grin, “This should get our otherworldly friends in the mood to talk, don’t you think?” “Sarah, did you have to bring something like that? Dad said that Ouija Boards opened a portal to the other side and nothing ever good comes from other [i]there[/i],” Amelia complained with a small moan seeing the infamous board sitting neatly in the dust with Sarah’s flashlight shining on it. Sarah didn’t even give her a reply opting instead to convince everyone that this didn’t change the deal they made with her to stay here for fifteen minutes then leave, but instead just made it spookier. Lisa had already gotten in the right mindset to accept using a notorious item such as the Ouija Board and when she sat down she scooted closer to it, picking up the magnifying glass to look through it before questioning how to use it- much to Amelia’s dismay. Like a flood gate had burst open everyone else sat down around the board and listened to Keiko, who was the only one who took the proper time to learn how to use it, explain. It was actually quite simply. All they had to do was each put their hands gently on the magnifying glass, properly known as the planchette, and begin asking questions to the ghost or ghosts around them. Nodding their heads everyone reached forward and placed all of his or her fingers onto the large magnifying glass and tried their best not to move it. All except for Amelia and Zugai, that is. Instead she was sitting with her back to everyone and her arms crossed while Zugai remained sitting on the desk to keep track of the time. Letting go of the magnifying glass Daniel scurried in front of Amelia and asked why she wasn’t going to join them, “Because! Because I know what happens when someone uses those things . . . a demon or something evil is going to come through and then we’ll be in real trouble or worse . . . what if the ghosts follow us home and then we have to live in a haunted house for the rest of our lives?” “I actually think it would be cool to live in a haunted house,” Al admitted and was nudged to be quieted by Lisa, who in turn told Amelia that she didn’t have to participate if she didn’t want too. Amelia only nodded and remained in her spot amongst the dust. Now that everyone had decided if they were going to participate or not Al, Daniel, Sarah, Keiko, and Lisa gathered around the Ouija Board. Shutting off the flashlights so that they were in completely darkness, save for the faint eerie green glow of the board, Keiko stated it would add a level of creepiness than doing it with the lights on. Sitting there, in the dark, there wasn’t a single sound except for the deep breathing from the person next to you. Suddenly the magnifying glass jerked left. Then right. Sliding around the board as if of its own free will everyone began asking who was moving the board- no one admitted to being the one to move it. The magnifying glass now in full motion, constantly moving from place to place and circling around the board no one spoke at all. Watching the board spring to life had made everyone a bit caution; even Sarah and Keiko who didn’t think anything of it was becoming wary of what was going on. In a shaky voice Keiko looked in the direction were Lisa was supposed to be, though in the faint glow of light she could only see the faintest traces of her red hair, “L-Lisa why don’t you ask it a question?” “Why do I have to ask it a question? Why don’t you ask it a question Keiko?” Lisa snapped back in a low whisper, afraid that if she yelled she’d loose her nerve and leave right then and there. For a little bit the two girls went back and forth between who would be the one to ask a question, pointing at the others on occasion to see if they would be the ones. Ultimately Al was the one to speak up. He asked a single question- was anyone with them right now? The board moved to ‘Yes’. Gasping in shock Lisa let go of the magnifying glass and again asked if anyone had moved it to answer Al. Once again everyone claimed innocents. Trembling fingers rejoined her friends as the group continued using the Ouija Board with Al, having gotten a little bolder having asked the first question, continued. The next questions were standard, probably in all incidences when someone used the Ouija Board to contact the dead: Are you here right now? Yes. Are you able to see us? Yes. How are you? G-o-o-d. Eventually Sarah spoke up, “Who is Amelia going to marry?” D-a-n-i-e-l-L-i-n-k. Of course Amelia didn’t find this funny nor did Daniel for that matter either. Daniel let go of the magnifying glass, crossed his arms, and told Sarah that he didn’t think it was funny for her to ask something like that and move the glass to spell out his name. Sarah, in a sarcastic tone, loft fully admitted she didn’t do a thing and that it was the [i]ghost[/i] who said he’d marry Amelia. Putting his hands back on the board Daniel warned her that if she pulled something like that again he would leave before the fifteen minutes was up. Nodding the small group continued their little adventure into the realm of ghosts yet this time with less personal questions and instead focusing on the supposed spirit himself . . . or herself. The glass moved around in a wide circle at the same time as the next question was asked, ‘are you dead?’ The magnifying glass stopped dead in the middle of the board, not moving for a little while before resuming its previous circular movement then rested on ‘Yes’, “Whoa that is freaky.” “Come on Al you can’t stop now,” Sarah tried to convince him that things were only getting good but nothing she said made Alejandro want to continue messing with the Ouija Board. In fact Lisa also stopped at the same time figuring that if they were really talking to a dead person she didn’t want to risk upsetting him or her. Sighing in disappointment the anxious teenager asked Daniel if he was going to continue with her and Keiko, luckily for her Daniel went against his better judgment and agreed. Now only three pairs of hands on the magnifying glass to move it Keiko asked, “If you’re dead then when did you die?” The magnifying glass encircled four numbers: 20XX. Taking in a deep breath Daniel could hear that Keiko was getting scared and didn’t want to continue either. At this moment Zugai mentioned that they had only five more minutes before they could go. Removing her hands Keiko suggested that they use the last five minutes to get everything ready to leave and stop now; Daniel took this opportunity to also let go of the magnifying glass. Though Keiko couldn’t see her sister glaring at her she could feel it. Sarah had wanted to continue and would stay behind by herself if not for the fact she wanted to get home and sleep in her own soft bed. Turning back to the board Sarah demanded, instead of asking politely which everyone had done so far, that the ghost tell her how she died. The board grew silent, not even moving an inch in any direction. Shivering Sarah let go of the magnifying glass to rub her cold arms together, [i]“Why is it cold? Did the sun go down?”[/i] Amelia’s flashlight came to life as she held it in her hand, standing up and telling everyone that they should get going since its getting cold out. Nodding everyone stood up and dusted themselves free of dirt and dust. With no one touching the magnifying glass it flew off of the Ouija Board and across the room much to the shock of everyone, specifically Sarah. Blinking for a minute she got up and dusted herself off, “Very funny guys, hitting the board.” “Sarah, just leave it,” Keiko begged now honestly afraid, grabbing her twins arm and pulling her back. Sarah pulled away from her sister as if instead of just being pulled Keiko had forcefully yanked her arm back. Apparently that was what Sarah thought Keiko had done, instantly going off demanding to know why she yanked her arm. Zugai, who had been watching everyone from his spot, was the first one to Keiko’s defense. He explained that Keiko didn’t pull her arm hard enough to hurt her at all. Rubbing it Sarah looked from Zugai to Keiko, “Then why is my arm burning?” Amelia walked over and held Sarah’s jacket when she removed it to investigate the burning sensation. Turning her arm around see could see that there were five red scratches running all the way up and down it as if someone had just racked their nails over her skin. Taking a step back Amelia shinned her light back on the guys ordering them to get everything because they were leaving ‘right now.’ Even Sarah was now ready to go, not able to come up with a plausible answer for the scratch marks on her arm, yet still quickly ran to get the magnifying glass. Picking it up Sarah gave a yelp as she rushed back; when they investigated Sarah they discovered that her hand had teeth marks on it. That was it for Sarah. Grabbing all of her things she was leading the group, running as fast as she could through the dark hallways and panicking whenever she came to a dead ending. After six horrid minutes of wandering around amidst the dark they spotted a light in the distance and raced towards it with all of their might. All at once the entire world opened up with the starry sky high above them and the nearly deafening noise of the Halloween events occurring all around them. Despite being out of the haunted building Sarah kept running for a bit until her legs gave out underneath her tripping and skidding on her knee. Coughing and trying to catch her breath she rolled over on her rear and moved some blond hair out of the way, her blue eyes as wide as dinner plates. Gulping she was helped up by Keiko and stood there shaking despite her bravado earlier on when they first entered the building. Looking back over his shoulder Zugai gazed at the building for a moment before hearing something coming out of it after them. Pulling out his diamond knuckles he quickly put them on and got in a fighting stance; even when Sarah asked him what good his weapon would do against a ghost he didn’t move. The next moment he was being run over by Al and Lisa, who had gotten separated from the group a few minutes ago. Panting both looked around then gave a relieved sigh, dropping to their knees and voicing how thankful they were to be out of there. Raising his eyebrow Zugai sat up, “Why?” “Well,” Lisa began remembering what had happened when they had gotten separated from the rest of their friends. Al and Lisa had managed to accidentally take a wrong turn and, of course, this lead to them getting separated when the other’s flashlights weren’t in sight. With only Al and herself Lisa was just as scared as Al; when you have something like that happen to you being a big guy doesn’t mean jack sh*t. Waving her flashlight around wildly in a vain attempt to make the entire room filled with light she stepped back and screamed. She had tripped over a mannequin and had gotten cobwebs sticking to her hair. Helping her up Al kept her close against him to try and calm her down, though in doing so she could easily hear his heart beating as fast as her own, and then pointed around to try and find a way out. Then when things couldn’t get any weirder they heard the unmistakable giggle of a girl. Moving the flashlight to the right both Al and Lisa could see a blonde girl standing in the distance. Seeing this flesh-and-blood person instead of what they were afraid of seeing, a horrific looking ghost, Al and Lisa chased after her before coming out of the building and running into Zugai. Looking at Sarah Al mentioned, “Thanks for coming back and leading us out.” “But did you have to giggle like that?” Lisa asked able to breathe normally. Sarah seemed confused by this and neither Al nor Lisa could understand why until Zugai told them. Sarah never went back into the building after they had managed to get out. In fact when they got out there was no one else in the building but Al and Lisa. Covering her ears Lisa shook her head back and forth, walking around in a circle, “No! No, no, no! Don’t tell me that Zugai! Please just let me think it was Sarah!” After that the entire group decided, unanimously, that they would burn the Ouija Board and go home to forget the events of tonight had ever transpired. ______________________________________________________________________________ It’s been a few days since the group’s little ‘ghost adventure’ took an unexpected turn when a real ghost decided to show up. Since then, like promised, Sarah had the Ouija Board burned at Rachel and Lyn’s place; she did this because her house didn’t have a fireplace and mainly because her she had bought it with money she was supposed to be saving. And her father angry was more frightening than a ghost any day of the year. No one also spoke about the events that happened to them. Whenever someone Sarah asked about the scratches she explained she had gotten in a fight with Amelia and in the ruckus she accidentally scratched her. Despite hating being pinned as the villain Amelia agreed to the excuse. Now, with the weekend over and Halloween tomorrow Aka knocked on Lisa’s door to wake her up for school. She could still hear the alarm ringing inside her daughter’s room and began banging harder to wake Lisa up for school; she knew Lisa hated the idea of a holiday being tomorrow yet still having to go to school. When banging on the door didn’t work Aka warned her she was coming in, just in case she wasn’t properly dressed, and opened the door. To her surprise Lisa wasn’t in the bed at all. Jumping when the door down the hall swung open suddenly Aka looked back and saw Lisa holding onto the doorknob and still in her pajamas. Immediately knowing something wasn’t right she walked over to Lisa’s side and managed to catch her when she stumbled, feeling her forehead. She wasn’t burning up. Coughing Aka asked Lisa if she felt alright; she was answered when Lisa pushed off of her mother and barely managed to pull a nearby wastebasket underneath her and throw up. Coughing whilst she continued emptying her stomach Aka gently rubbed her back to help, “You probably caught the flu honey. I’ll call the school and get you some medicine.” Managing to crawl back in bed, now with a bucket beside it, Lisa curled up underneath the covers and yet still shivered. She didn’t remember when she began feeling sick but right now all she could think about was that she wanted nothing more than to get over whatever she had caught. Coughing she grabbed the bucket again, holding it underneath her face then set it back down when the coughing fit had passed. Breathing in a raspy voice she drifted off to sleep. In her dreams Lisa found herself a building she didn’t recognize. Looking around she spotted two figures in the distance, one was completely dwarfed by the other. Curiosity taking hold of her, her entire body moved forward as the giant figure lashed out at the smaller one. It grabbed the smaller person by the head, slamming its gigantic fists into the other’s torso so badly that Lisa could hear the person’s bones breaking. She didn’t know why, but her mouth opened up and she was shouting at the giant to stop what he was doing and leave the stranger alone. To her disbelief it did, dropping the person and looking up at her. The person’s face was familiar. She couldn’t place where she had seen his face before but Lisa was certain she had seen him before. The gigantic man stepped forward; crushing the other man’s left leg with a stomach churning crunch. When the man was standing right in front of her she realized how she knew him. She had indeed seen his face before, many times before. It was Gary Shippo, the man who would become the first and only world Dictator under the new moniker ‘Lord Life’. Standing there with Lord Life she could hear him breathing, the smell of sweat and the metallic tang of blood in her nose, and then his hands. Large and rough grabbing hold of her entire shoulder so hard she thought it might break under the pressure. Then she was lifted off her feet, dangling in the air like a doll in Lord Life’s hands. Opening a single eye Lisa could see a look in his eye, she couldn’t know but it was bloodlust, then he said in a confident voice, “It seems your boyfriend failed his promise . . . now you die.” The next moment Lisa was sitting up in her bed in a dead sweat, coughing and heaving. It was already past noon. She had slept six hours already. Groaning Lisa swung her feet out from underneath the covers and set them on the cold wooden floor. Shivering she stood up and trudged out of her room then into the kitchen. Seeing her mother preparing something to eat she sat down, laying her head on the table so her red locks covered her head with a small groan. Turning from the microwave Aka walked behind her daughter and gently rubbed her back again, “Feeling any better?” “Not really,” she admitted groaning a bit more, though she was enjoying having her mother rub her back. Setting both elbows onto the table Lisa rested her head into the palms of her hands whilst her mom checked to see if she had a fever, nothing. Turning back to the microwave when she heard the ding Aka pulled out a bowl of hot soup for Lisa and put it in front of her, mentioning she had planned on bringing it to her while she was still in bed in case she was feeling well enough to eat. Picking up the spoon Lisa twirled it around in her hand, “No I feel a bit better. I think I just stayed up too much this weekend is all.” “Well just make sure you don’t get worse. And if you’re feeling any better tomorrow you can take Davie out to trick-or-treat.” “Mom David is already twelve years old. You don’t think he might be too old to go trick-or-treating?” Lisa spooned a good portion of the noodles and a few chunks of chicken into the metal utensil, blowing on it before putting it in her mouth, looking up at her mother when she mentioned that only a few years ago she and the others went out trick-or-treating. Swallowing the soup she removed the spoon and recalled how horrible an event it turned out to be. Giggling Aka repeated at the same time with her daughter that they had been mistaken for the children’s parents, continuing that it still would be good for her to spend some quality time with her little brother. Lisa shook her head, [i]“Why do I have to hang out with pipsqueak? It’s not like we don’t hang out enough already. Mom must be worried that David doesn’t have a lot of friends.”[/i] As soon as she finished her bowl of soup Lisa tossed it into the sink and stood up, grabbing her head from a massive headache and a dizzy spell. A cold sweat washing over her Lisa looked back up at her concerned mother before asking something she had never asked for before, “Hey Mom do we have any pickled onions?” “Pickled onions? Nope. None that I know of, why?” Aka raised her eyebrow wondering why she had asked for pickled onions of all things. Normally Lisa detested onions of any kind. But all she said was that ‘I just wanted some for some reason’ and went back to her room. When school had let out the others came over to check and see why Lisa never showed up for school, Al being the first to walk into the house and greet Mrs. Denver. Daniel set his backpack on the cough before asking why Lisa hadn’t been in school, honestly surprised when he learned that she had been throwing up and slept until just a few hours ago. When the topic of what she had come up Aka let the kids know she didn’t have the flu or a cold, so it was more than alright if they wanted to go see if Lisa was feeling any better; of course if Lisa was asleep or didn’t feel up to it no one wanted to impose. Thankfully the moment they opened the door everyone saw that Lisa was up, but her room looked like a tornado had touched down. Her dresser was completely turned over and cloths were strewn everywhere. Picking up a pair of pink panties Al turned red, seeing Lisa tearing through an album of pictures, and coughed to catch her attention. Holding up the panties he looked away sheepishly. The next moment he was on the ground from a well-placed kick to the chin, knocking him off the feet and flat on his ass. This was usual for them if Al ever got caught by Lisa in an undesirable position; she would always lash out first and ask questions later. Rubbing his chin to make sure no teeth were knocked out Amelia walked in and patted Al on the shoulder in a ‘you know you shouldn’t have done that’ kind of way. Inside the room she looked around before making a joke, “Redecorating Lisa? You know if you are having trouble finding something I’d be more than happy to help. That way you have two sets of eyes and one of them won’t be Al’s.” “Get out.” “Lisa?” Amelia blinked at the sharp tone her best friend gave her. It wasn’t just angry but so much so Amelia couldn’t even recall the last time she had Lisa be so mad at her; now it was for something she didn’t even know. Turning around Lisa looked at Amelia, Daniel and Al with a deep glare before throwing the first thing her hands could reach for, a plush rabbit called Mr. Bun-Bun Al had given her for her birthday when they were six years old. Mr. Bun-Bun sailed through the air and popped Amelia in the shoulder before landing on his head. Amelia is a patient girl. In fact out of the entire group she is the least likely to get upset. But when she has no idea why someone is mad at her and then have something thrown at her, plush or not, her nerves are quick to be tried. Picking up Mr. Bun-Bun and handing it to Daniel she stamped over to Lisa and hoisted her up by the wrist demanding to know what’s gotten into her. Holding her wrist in as tight a grip as she could manage Amelia glared back at her friend, who didn’t even bother answering. The tension continued to grow until Daniel, Mr. Bun-Bun still in hand, attempted to calm Lisa down by doing the only thing reasonable to do in a situation like this. He spoke calmly to her. For his troubles Lisa threw them all out of her room before slamming and locking the door. “Is something wrong?” everyone could hear down the hall hurried footsteps, Aka appearing in the hallway with a rag and a plate in hand. She had her head slightly tilted to the side in curiosity after the sound of the door slamming had spread all through the house. Daniel handed Mrs. Denver Mr. Bun-Bun, explaining that Lisa had told them to get out of her room and seemed to not want anyone visiting today. Rubbing the clean plate a few times in thought she nodded mentioning that if Lisa didn’t feel good it was best to leave her for now until she was in better spirits. Nodding everyone decided that it was best for them to leave Lisa alone and come back tomorrow. Exiting the house with a gleeful wave from Mrs. Denver the small group of friends walked off of the porch and into the freezing night air. “So what is everyone planning on doing for the rest of the day?” Pulling his coat closer around him Al looked from Daniel to Amelia. Al was personally thinking of just heading home to get a good home cooked meal and warm up. However if one of them had something better planned he might join them. Without a second thought Daniel told Al he was planning on hitting the fields to practice some soccer kicks that he had been meaning to do; this of course made Al and Amelia laugh, knowing the only reason he was doing this was to ensure he would get that d*mn car. After some thought Amelia answered that she was going to go home. His arms crossed Al gave a sigh, “Guess I’ll go home too.” ______________________________________________________________________________ It was already dark when Daniel finished his soccer practice. With Halloween day in a few hours he was certainly upset he hadn’t gone home at a proper time. Shivering as he waited for a bus to come by so he could board then head back home. Sitting on the ice cold bench he remained there shivering. While waiting it dawned on him that there was someone else around and looked up to see someone walking towards him with a green overcoat on covering his or her head. Scooting aside, thinking it might be just another bus goer, he looked up when the person flashed something quickly then pulling out a picture from the coat pocket. He or she asked in a hush tone, “Do you know who this man is? Have you seen him?” “Uh . . .” Daniel began having heard the person, unmistakably female, and then looked at the photograph. When he finally got a good look at the person he began laughing before standing up- he was certain who was standing in front of him and who was in the picture. Putting both hands inside his jeans he asked Lisa what she was doing out while being sick. Remaining still Lisa didn’t move except for lifting the photograph back up for Daniel to see again. She repeated her questions. [i]“She’s probably trying to pull a joke on me,”[/i] he thought, his face turning from a grin to a stern expression. Crossing his arms Daniel asked Lisa what she was playing at. From underneath the hood he could see Lisa frown and shove the picture back inside the coat. When she had finished putting the picture away she lashed out, almost punching Daniel in the face if he hadn’t managed to grab hold of her wrist and toss her over him. On his back Daniel quickly scrambled to his feet. Lisa was already on hers and kicking him square in the chest she then pointed at him, “Kid you better go home.” Before he was even able to get up and stop her, she was gone. Coughing from the blow to his chest he pulled out his cell phone and quickly hit the speed dial button. The phone dialed the numbers before finally someone answered on the other side. Zugai had nearly fallen asleep on the couch watching ‘Halloween’ when the phone rang across the room. Rubbing his eyes he threw the covers off of him and bound across the room to answer, hearing an out of breath Daniel speaking a mile-a-minute on the other side. All he could hear was something about Lisa and everything else was inaudible. Trying to get his friend to calm down Zugai had to spend five entire minutes before he was finally able to understand him properly. All of the room was silent as he listened to him speaking over the phone. Once it was all over he could hardly believe what he had been told. According to Daniel, Lisa wasn’t acting herself and had asked where her father was, but she didn’t call him ‘dad’ or ‘father’ instead just addressing him as ‘this man’. She even stated that she had attacked him before running off; that was what got him since Lisa only hurt Al, which was simply because both of them had a weird relationship. Sitting back down on the couch he put the phone to the other ear, “Do you think she is experiencing a delusion because she’s sick?” “Believe me man, you don’t drop kick someone in the chest like that while being under a delusion,” Daniel replied still rubbing his still aching chest. He hadn’t remained at the soccer area after Lisa had fled instead giving chase the moment he could breathe properly. He was racing through the city streets trying his hardest to not only find Lisa but continue speaking with Zugai. On the other side of the phone his friend was already strapping on his boots to leave and join Daniel in the search for Lisa. Opening his door he asked Daniel where he was and if he wanted him to join up to look together or go to a separate area to double their search. Panting Daniel skidded to a stop to avoid being ran over, “Dude just do whatever you think is best. I don’t know what is wrong with her but we need to find Lisa. Call Al to let him know what is hap-” The phone clicked off as Daniel shut it, slowly putting it away; he had been so focused on talking on the phone he hadn’t realized there were people following him. Now in an alley they had managed to cut off the front and back exits leaving him completely surrounded with nothing more than a soccer ball. Every single one of them had their faces covered like Lisa had when she first walked up to Daniel. Some were cracking their knuckles while others were pulling out switchblades. One of them shouted in a deep voice if Daniel was one of the people who were peddling drugs around “their turf.” Clenching his fist Daniel wished for once he took his parents advice and kept his steel claws on him all the time. Shouting back that he was in no way involved in any type of drugs, trafficking or otherwise, he demanded to be let go. When no one moved he got ready to fight his way out; luckily the sound of someone shouting his name seemed to part the people around him. The last person he expected then came walking through the crowd, Zugai’s stepsister- Rachel. She wasn’t wearing a hooded outfit like everyone else, her cap, goggles and overall steampunk-ish appearance making her stand out against the crowd. A giant wrench over her should Rachel looked at Daniel like a cat not satisfied with the mouse it had just caught, “What are you doing out so late Danny?” “It’s Daniel Rachel, not Danny. And I could ask you the same question.” “My gang is doing sweeps of the city whenever we can for these people who are starting to sell a specific kind of drug here lately. We call ourselves-” Daniel interrupted her remembering what Zugai had heard the name from Keiko. Frowning Rachel withheld clocking him upside the head with her wrench for interrupting her, but instead demanded he answer now. Listening to the entire story Rachel just turned around and waved her hand. She had no interest in why Lisa was acting ‘out of her mind’ or helping either Daniel or her little stepbrother in finding the current raving lunatic. Her mind changed, however, when Daniel came up with the excuse that it would be good practice for her ‘Daughters of Darkness’ to find the people she is interested in; if she knew the target they were after then it will help them later on when they find out who is selling drugs. Mulling the idea over in her head for a few seconds Rachel nodded and then turned to Daniel with her finger outstretched towards him, “Alright Daniel you have the full support of the Daughters of Darkness! Alright ladies! I need a squadron to return to base and inform Lyn of what is going on so she can rouse the remaining troops! Everyone else, your target is Lisa Rose Denver, red hair and green eyes! She attends Yugo High and some of you might have a class with her. For those of you who do not know what she looks like, partner up with someone else and find her!” Snapping her fingers the entire group that had been surrounding Daniel began running away, heading this way and that to search for Lisa. Watching all of this he couldn’t help but be a little in awe that Rachel, who was only a year older than him, was able to order around a group as big as that and make it looks so easy. Rachel turned back around with her cap pulled down close to her eyes, “Alright Daniel everyone is going to be out looking for Lisa in a few minutes so I think our time should be best spent hitting all of the specific places you know she’d visit.” “Specific places?” Daniel repeated raising his eyebrow. He couldn’t think of a single place that she would visit that you couldn’t randomly bump into her by going there yourself on a whim. Aggravated that nothing came to mind of significance he could hear Rachel laughing at him, but not in a mocking demeanor but one that showed she was amused by how hard he was trying. Shooting her a nasty glare she shot one back. Unable to think of a single place Rachel suggesting that maybe they should ask someone who knew “more personal things about her” than he did. For a moment Daniel had no idea who could know anything more personal about Lisa than himself, since they had grown up. But after handing his cell phone to Rachel when she asked for it he realized who she was talking about- the phone was currently dialing Al’s number. “Daniel?!” Al had shouted so loud into the phone that Rachel had to pull it away from her ear, rubbing it with her pinkie. When the her eardrum was no longer ringing she told Al that Daniel is with her and that she has been brought up on the situation. She could hear a sigh of relief from Al, who had thought something happened to him Zugai called frantic after his phone cut out; Daniel of course pulled the phone to him and gave an apology. Accepting it Al asked the only question that was on his mind. Had they found Lisa? When he heard that they hadn’t he leaned against the cold glass of a closed deli and groaned in concern wondering what was going on with her. Listening to Rachel talk over the phone he paid only as much attention as needed, his mind too preoccupied with thinking about Lisa. Snapping up he realized that Rachel had been asking him if he was still there or if he had seen anything; he had spaced out too much. Putting the phone back to the side of his head he answered, “Sorry Rachel I lost you for a moment, can you repeat what you said?” “I asked if you knew anywhere specific that Lisa might visit. You know . . . special places she wouldn’t let most people know about.” “Well,” Al may have been close but when he thought about it Lisa was so open he had a hard time figuring out if she had a secret place or if she let everyone know about those things. While he was thinking he could remember certain things in their shared past that she made him swore, under penalty of death and some pinkie swears, that he could never tell anyone about; Al’s face unconsciously turned into a smile when the memory of her making him pinkie swear never to tell anyone she wet the bed once when everyone was having a sleep over came back. Shaking his head Al resumed thinking of a specific place Lisa might go, telling the two on the phone he was still thinking. Then one place came to him. One place that she always went too and that she felt odd with other people joining her when she went there- the memorial for those lost in the Inactive War. Beginning to run even before he told Daniel and Rachel he felt the cold air whipping against his face. Hanging up and putting away the phone he kept moving even when his chest felt like it was going to burst. He made it in no less than ten minutes, having been close already, and stopped doubled over. Lifting his head he looked around. The Memorial grounds were barren of a single living soul. The entire night was spent looking for Lisa and in the wee hours of Halloween day the entire group came walking through the front door of the Denver household, feet tired and black bags underneath their eyes. Groaning Al walked right over to the couch and fell onto it, pulling one of the cushions underneath his head and nearly passing out right there. Amelia, equally as tired, sat down on the recliner and mentioned that she still couldn’t believe they couldn’t find Lisa even with the assistance of the Daughters of Darkness. Slamming the door behind her Lyn, who had taken her sisters place, had lead the group from one place to another when Al’s hunch came up cold, turned to Amelia with a weary glare; her eyes didn’t have noticeable black bags since she was used to pulling all-nighters for projects and looking for the people selling drugs. That didn’t mean she didn’t like Amelia insulting her gang so openly. Setting his backpack on the ground Zugai ran his fingers through his hair, commenting that the only thing they could do now is go home and hope that Lisa comes back on her own, and it was at that time that the sound of Mrs. Denver came approaching from her room in a night gown; her eyes were equally adorned with black bags from staying up all night. Stopping midstride when she saw that it was not Lisa her head lowered a bit in grief before trying to act happy to see them, “So . . . nothing?” “No ma’am,” Daniel answered still carrying his soccer ball around. When she had been told that no one spotted her daughter Aka paced back and forth, back and forth, muttering to herself about what she would tell her husband when he came back home; Christopher worked nights and returned in the morning just in time to see his daughter off to school. As she was talking to herself she just barely heard Lyn asking where the bathroom was, answering her without losing a step, and then stopped. She could see the others were not only exhausted but they were hungry. Smiling she offered to cook them something- coming up with an excuse would have to come later. No one wanted Mrs. Denver to go through the trouble of cooking for all of them after she herself had stayed up the entire night waiting for Lisa to come home. Even when she insisted that she would be happy to make them something, they kindly refused. In the end the only thing everyone wanted was to know where Lisa was. Sitting in his spot on the ground Daniel rolled the soccer ball back and forth, “Maybe there’s a chance she ran off to buy some of the drugs Rachel and Lyn were talking about.” “Bullsh*t!” Al kicked Daniel in the back of the head for even suggesting Lisa would do something like that. Daniel turned around and grabbed his friend’s leg, yanking him off the chair, and pressed his foot onto his chest shouting back that he had no reason to kick him for saying what he had. Wrenching his foot away from Daniel, Al was up on his feet in an instant and in his face shouting back that if he thought Lisa was the kind of person to take drugs then he didn’t know her at all. Both began shouting at each other, being pulled away by Zugai and Amelia who were likewise shouting at the both of them to calm down and stop fighting. When the door opened and Mr. Denver stepped through he was greeted with quite a sight. In the middle of his living room was two High School guys shouting at each other and almost throwing punches if not for the other two holding on as best they could. Slowly shutting the door and coughing to get their attention, and when it failed he finally gave both boys a good hard knock upside the head to straighten them out. Looking from Alejandro to Daniel he raised an eyebrow, “Been out late?” “Y-Yes sir,” was all either of them could say while rubbing the bump that he had given them. Mrs. Denver came running into the room a few seconds later hearing her husband coming home, wrapping her arms around him and greeting him like normal. Mr. Denver hugged his wife back happily, giving her a kiss despite the crowd of teenagers, and then asked if they were here to pick up Lisa. At the sound of her name everyone couldn’t find the will to look him in the eyes. Of course one instantly notices if everybody around them adverts their eyes from yours. Mr. Denver was no different. Moving his wife go so he held onto her shoulders he asked, his voice hinted at a bit of worry, “Akane what’s wrong? Did something happen to Lisa?” “No nothing,” she answered trying her hardest to look him in the eyes. She knew his daughter was the only other thing besides herself that Christopher would do anything for. If he heard that she had ran off in the middle of the night and not even call or come back yet he’d instantly turn around, rush out the door, and begin searching the entire city himself. Even if she gave the excuse ‘she went to school ahead of time’ he’d be able to tell that it wasn’t true. So there was no point in lying. Finally looking up at him he was shocked seeing that there were tears in her eyes, “Fusion Lisa is . . .” “Is what?” No one had even heard the door open or shut, so the sound of someone speaking caused quite a few of them to jump. They did so even more when they saw that it was Lisa who had spoken, standing in the room with them covered in dirt, leaves, and twigs. She looked like she had just gone through Hell but she had a smile on her face. Mrs. Denver was already on her, hugging and picking leaves out of her hair. When Lisa was finally able to pull away from her mother she was greeted by the others who were just as happy to see her, hugging her or patting her dirty back voicing how worried they were. The scene didn’t change the fact Mr. Denver still had no idea what was going on, “Okay is someone going to fill me in?” “Lisa ran off last night and we spent the entire night looking for her,” Amelia explained finally, knowing that it was alright to let her father know what had happened. Nodding his head Mr. Denver understood why everyone didn’t look him in the eye and why Akane had been on the verge of crying, [i]“Honestly they think I baby her. I mean she’s old enough to stay out on her own.”[/i] She pulled herself out from underneath Al’s arm Lisa took a couple steps back before asking something no one thought she’d ask, “What are you guys talking about? I’ve been in my room all night.” “What?” “Lisa you ran off last night and no one could find you,” Amelia said looking at her best friend in confusion and worry. Daniel stepped forward and showed her the mark she made in their previous encounter, telling her she kicked him square in the chest after asking if he knew where her father was. Lisa didn’t believing a single word anybody said because it sounded completely crazy and was completely convinced that they were trying to pull a prank on her or something, laughing. Her laughter stopped when Al pulled a twig out of her hair and showed it to her, “Then why are you covered in dirt and leaves?” “I-I’m not,” she began but when she looked down, as if noticing it for the first time, she saw she was filthy. She moved over to a mirror hanging in the room to get a better look, eyes growing wide when she saw her reflection. Lisa could hardly recognize herself. Her red hair was completely covered with dirt so much that it looked like she had dyed it brown and her face had barely a spot on her that wasn’t hidden behind the grime as well. Her cloths were torn and nearly in rags. Worse, when she tried to remember what she had done last night nothing came to mind- it was all a blank. The last thing she could remember was brushing her hair in her room then . . . nothing. Reaching out she hesitated to touch the mirror for a moment, pressing her fingers against the glass and slowly sliding them onto the cool surface. Her head then dropped low and Mr. Denver walking behind his daughter, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. When she looked up her eyes grew wide again, as if in shock, and then turned around so that her back knocked against the nightstand. For a moment she stared at him then finally threw her arms around him, laughing and hugging him tightly, “Fusion!” Lisa had tackled him so hard that both of them fell onto the ground, though this didn’t release him from her now ironclad hug. Her face buried in his chest, smearing the dirt into his shoulder, she was laughing so hard it brought tears to her eyes. No one knew what the hell was going on. When finally Mr. Denver, who Lisa had oddly called by his nickname Fusion, managed to convince Lisa to get off of him he looked at her grinning face. Taking in a deep breath she sighed, her gaze never turning away from Fusion so much so it made him a little self-conscious. After a few seconds of no one speaking Lisa was the one to break the silence, “It’s good to see you again Fusion.” “Lisa?” Al walked over to her and reached out for her, but she pushed it aside before looking up at him. She gave him the kind of look that you get when you’ve mistaken someone on the bus for someone else. Turning back to Fusion he pointed at Al and asked for his name, always referring to her father by his nickname. Nonetheless everyone was stunned to hear that Lisa didn’t recognize the one guy most thought she had a crush on. Everyone rushed towards Lisa and began asking her if she knew who they were and where she was. No one she could name, save for Fusion. Even her own mother she couldn’t remember, though mentioning that she looked familiar. Everyone fell back astonished. Amnesia? No, that doesn’t make sense because a few minutes ago Lisa was acting completely normal. Remaining beside Fusion’s side Lisa looked amongst the crowd before leaning over and asking Fusion who everyone was. Looking at her he decided to go along with it, naming everyone one by one. Finally it came that there was only one question left to answer. Sitting down in front of Lisa Al pointed at her and asked in a stern voice, “Now what is [i]your[/i] name?” Giving a warm smile and leaning forward a bit Lisa answered, “Alejandro my name is Rosa Seijro.” ______________________________________________________________________________ Rosa. Not just any Rosa, but Rosa Seijro. If Fusion didn’t know any better he could have sworn someone just punch him in the stomach hard enough to knock all of the wind out of him. His eyes not leaving Lisa for a moment the children were asking each other if they knew who ‘Rosa’ was and none of them seemed to know, but Akane knew; when she and Fusion had begun dating they would often quarrel about Rosa whenever he compared her to him or the she reminded him that she wasn’t Rosa. But right now in front of him his daughter was claiming to be her, to be Rosa. He knew it was impossible considering the glaring fact that Rosa Seijro had died twenty five years ago during the Inactive War. As the thought repeated in his mind Fusion grew angry, grabbing hold of Lisa’s shoulders, “That’s enough! You’re not Rosa, you’re Lisa and I don’t want you ever to make a joke of that name again, got it!?” “I figured you’d react like that,” Lisa, or Rosa, smiled not even the slightest bit scared nor concerned when Fusion grabbed hold of her shoulders. Instead she remained just as calm as she had been moment prior. Taking in a deep breath she exhaled. Fusion let go of her shoulders when he felt Akane’s fingers slipping underneath his hand and coiling around it into a tight squeeze. Glancing up her face was riddled with concern. The room grew quiet again. Scooting up beside Lisa/Rosa, Daniel looked at her, possibly trying to analyze her, “Lisa . . . I mean Rosa, if you are her, then how do you know Fusion?” “Oh?” Lisa/Rosa seemed honestly surprised about this, looking at Fusion with disbelief. Even if he didn’t believe it was Rosa the situation caused him to look down in a bit of shame. Surprise instantly turned to a tiny unhappy smile. Lisa looked down for a moment, her eyes darting left and right while her mind raced. When she had finished thinking her eyes returned to Fusion’s, holding hands with his wife, and a single tear fell from her eyes. With a small lump in her throat Lisa began to hum in a low tone and then sing, carrying on the same tone she had used to hum, “[i]Standing close to me, close enough to reach perfect time to tell her. But I can't even put the words together. Beveling eyes getting in my disguise, can't you see me hiding? What am I afraid of her finding? I know what I'm thinking, but the words won't come out. If eyes could speak, one look would say everything. About the way you smile, the way you laugh, the way you dress, the way your beauty leaves me breathless. If eyes could speak, I wouldn't have to talk. Here we go again trying to pretend my hands are steady. The way she looks tonight isn't helping. Vision's getting blurred, got to calm my nerves, it's now or never. There's only one way to the answer. I know what to tell her, but the words won't come out. If eyes could speak, one look would say everything. About the way you smile, the way you laugh, the way you dress, the way your beauty leaves me breathless. If eyes could speak, I wouldn't have to talk. Maybe I can finally get it right. Finally get the nerves to speak my mind and tell you the things I can't say. And baby I would look into your eyes. And maybe you will finally realize words are just words anyway. If eyes could speak, one look would say everything. About the way you smile, the way you laugh, the way you dress, the way your beauty leaves me breathless[/i][i]. [i]If eyes could speak, I wouldn't have to talk. If eyes could speak, I wouldn't have to talk. If eyes could speak, I tell you all about, the way you smile, the way you laugh, the way you dress, the way your beauty leaves me breathless. If eyes could speak, I wouldn't have to talk.”[/i][/i] Al, Daniel, Amelia, Zugai and even Akane didn’t understand what the song meant. How could they? In the years that followed the Inactive War, Fusion had never once told anyone who wasn’t present that fateful day about that song. It was far too painful to remember and repeating it only made the wound burn like new. Now, with his daughter sitting in front of him with tears rolling down her dirty face, he could feel that old wound resurfacing. His heart beating quickly he only barely heard her, “Those were the words you sang to me when I died . . . you tried protecting me but . . .” “Rosa I-” “No, I forgave you even before I died so don’t apologize,” Rosa said putting a finger to his lips and smiling, though the happiness of him accepting this was not a joke did nothing to stem the tears. Akane looked back at Fusion, her mouth slightly hanging open, and then at her daughter. The two were sharing an intimate moment together, one that out of context would not be appropriate, but in context it was even stranger. She could hardly wrap her head around it, [i]“Rosa is possessing Lisa?”[/i] It was Alejandro who finally voiced what Aka had thought seconds before; he himself wasn’t enjoying the thought of his childhood crush being possessed by some dead girl, even if it did have ties with Lisa’s father. When Rosa looked over and finally noticed that Al was sitting there with both arms crossed and a very dissatisfied look on his face she let out a small giggle. Even though it wasn’t Lisa, and Al knew it, it was still her voice and the giggle made him turn red in embarrassment. Turning to face everyone Rosa gave a small bow then introduced herself formally, “I am Rosa Seijro, first and only daughter of Umbra Seijro and sister to Atman Seijro. I’m sorry for taking over your friend but it seems she is the only one who I can possess.” The next few hours, in an awkward and ‘Twilight Zone’ kind of way, were spent promptly with a possessed Lisa cleaning herself up from the grime she had remained covered in since coming home followed by her and her once-upon-a-time boyfriend catching up. The two had twenty years of history to go through and even some things Fusion told her it seemed Rosa already knew; she knew that her father had passed on, claiming she had “felt it” when it happened. She was more surprised to hear that Akane was Lord Life’s daughter and once a member of the Inactive herself; this lead to some teasing about Fusion being Life’s son-in-law that he had become accustomed to whenever someone knew learned of his in-laws. Once they had caught up as much as possible Rosa was introduced to everyone else and had a lengthy discussion with them about things. She laughed hearing that Yugo High hadn’t changed much, that Mr. B still was the art teacher, and answered all of their questions as best she could. However there was one question she couldn’t answer, ‘what is the afterlife like?’ It was, naturally, Zugai who asked it. The question seemed to change Rosa’s attitude, going from happy to serious in a snap, “Zugai I can’t tell you that. The afterlife is for the dead. I’m only here because of the Ouija Board you guys brought to the building.” “Ouija Board? What is she talking about?” Aka asked turning to the rest. No one had spoken about the Ouija Board or what happened in the supposed, though now that is kind of ironic, haunted building. The entire night was refreshed in the children’s minds. The ghost they had contacted and then attacked Sarah. When they remembered the scratch marks on her friends Amelia, after Al had told what Rosa was talking about, asked if it was her who had hurt Sarah. In a serious face Rosa shook her head, “No, but I came through the board with the same spirit that hurt your friend. I would’ve normally just returned to ‘my haunting place’ but the other ghost . . . you saw for yourself it isn’t exactly a ‘friendly ghost’.” “So what, we have an evil ghost running around?” Al asked in a bit of disbelief. Sure he could buy that Lisa was being possessed by some dead girl, but it was a stretch even for him that there was specifically “good ghosts” and “evil ghosts”. Weren’t they all just dead people? According to the dead girl in the room, there is such a thing as dead ghosts. As she explained it, when someone dies with a specific emotion, a strong one, or regrets they’re tied to this world and cannot “move on”; the emotion could be anything like love, hate, sadness, etc. and the reasons are innumerous. Amelia took hold of Rosa’s hands and gave her a confident nod, “How can we help?” “Hey!” “Al if Rosa is going to stick around until this ‘evil ghost’ is gone then shouldn’t we help her as much as possible?” Daniel had said it so matter-of-factly that Al thought for a moment he was actually joking. That is until he looked at him, the determined look he had every time he went onto the soccer field- aiming for that new car. Finally the voice of reason, Aka, spoke up, “But how are we going to find an evil ghost, much less get rid of it when we find it?” No one had an answer. Not even Rosa, a ghost herself, could tell them how to get rid of an angry ghost when and if they found him or her. The Church would never believe them and no one wanted to make a crack about calling the ‘Ghost Busters[sup]©[/sup]’. Tapping his foot constantly Fusion ran through his mind until something came up, something that he had seen and heard last Halloween during a party he had attended. Shuffling up off the floor quickly everyone watched as he reached for the cordless phone, punching in the numbers while Aka asked if he had thought of someone or something. The phone to his ear he gave her and everyone else a nod. Last Halloween he had attended an ‘All Hallows Eve Party’ at the YCM Ultra Hotel when the CEO, Jake, had invited him and the others. While wandering around looking at the decorations he had learned Jake was deep into the supernatural. So much so that he even ordered occult books and preformed a few magic spells, or so he claimed. The phone rang and rang. It kept ranging so much that Fusion started to believe that he wasn’t at his office, the only number he had for Jake, but finally someone answered the other end, “Jake? Jake this is Fusion I need to ask you a quest-” “Whoa, whoa, whoa dude hold on,” the voice on the other end said quickly to cut Fusion off. The other person on the line gave a low sigh before explaining that he wasn’t Jake and, worse, he had just missed him leaving for a personal vacation. Hearing that Jake wasn’t there Fusion lowered his head, asking if Jake had another number he could call. The man mentioned that Jake did have a personal cell phone, but in his rush he left it behind. Whoever Fusion was speaking to then asked if he could write down a message and he’d give it to Jake the moment he got back. Thankful Fusion mentioned that he really couldn’t wait for him to get back, stating it was urgent. Urgent seemed to peek the man’s interest as Fusion could hear him shuffling around to sit down then asking what it was he needed from Jake and that maybe he could help them. Holding the mouth piece of the phone with his hand Fusion turned back at Aka, explaining the short conversation. “We’ll sound crazy if we ask him if he knows how to find and remove ghosts,” Aka frowned with that thought, but Zugai of course was the first to point out they had nothing important to loose. Daniel and Amelia agreed; Alejandro voiced that he didn’t care how they got the job done, he just wanted the incident to be done and other with. Nodding Fusion removed his hand, “Uh yeah . . . I remember Jake said he dabbled in the supernatural and . . .” “Yeah?” “We have a small . . . ghost problem . . . that we don’t know how to get rid of.” Rosa pouted hearing that last part. The other end of the phone went dead quiet. Fusion thought he might have hung up it was so quiet. Not a single word was said and he couldn’t even hear the man breathing on the other end. Eventually he learned that he hadn’t been hung up on, although he might have preferred to be, when he heard the guy laughing over the phone. It wasn’t the kind of laugh you make when you know how to help or are glad someone called you specifically, more the kind of laugh when you’ve just heard something ridiculous and the person who said it was dead serious; no one could see it, but the guy was laughing so hard he was shaking. When he had managed to catch his breath and speak without bursting into another round of laughter he asked sarcastically, “You call the Ghostbusters? No, no . . . if you’re being haunted by Casper the best person to call is Danny Phantom! Oh wait I know! Why don’t you try calling that quack Daemon to come and help?” Without another word the man hung up. “Well? What did he say?” Fusion looked over to Aka and everyone else who was waiting with serious expressions. Setting the phone onto the charger he answered that Jake wasn’t there and the person on the other end hadn’t believed them. Amelia asked if there was anything else. She couldn’t believe that there was nothing else they could do. Not knowing if it would do any good he told them that the man had told them they could call someone named Daemon but he had no idea who he was talking about. Without a word Rachel grabbed the phone off of the charger, knocking it to the ground when she did, and began rapidly punching in numbers- ignoring everyone who was trying to ask her what she was doing. She was just concentrating in dialing the phone number. When she finally hit all ten digits and put it to her ear she answered, “If we don’t know who this Daemon person is then I’ll have Lyn find out for us. The ‘Daughters of Darkness’ knows everything that is going on in Yugo City, so finding a single person should be easy enough.” “Lyn's house of ‘how may I save your ass today?’” “Lyn, Lyn I need you to look up a name for me.” “Lyn we need it done as fast as you can,” Al added in moving the phone over so that he could speak into it. Raising an eyebrow Lyn had no idea why her sister was calling her but she shrugged her shoulders while tightening a bolt on a machine they had been working on. Thinking that the name wasn’t actually important enough to run over to the computer and begin searching for it, Al had a tendency to make everything sound urgent, and she commented ‘give me a minute’ and kept tightening the bolt. That is until the Bluetooth in her ear allowed her sister to scream angrily directly into her ear so she dropped the wrench, fell from her perch, and landed on her back after a decent fall. She hadn’t been expecting it- making the shout that much worse. Groaning she could hear Rachel telling her something yet she couldn’t make it out over the ringing in her ears. Removing the Bluetooth she toyed with her ears until the ringing stopped then put it back in, “Whoa . . . whoa, whoa sis calm down! Can you repeat yourself I couldn’t hear you with my ears ringing.” “I [i]said[/i] I need you to look up anybody in Yugo City who has the name, nickname, username or also goes by in any shape or form ‘Daemon’.” “Daemon, eh? Alright I’ll see what I can find,” Lyn repeated moving over to the chair and sitting down, scooting the wheels up into a comfortable position. Cracking her knuckles she began racing her fingers over the keyboard, letters and numbers appearing at an amazing pace. Working through the impressive personally built computer system Lyn removed every barrier they had put in place to keep intruders out; passwords, keywords and even fingerprints were utilized in their security system. You couldn’t tell when she was finished typing in passwords and had moved onto actually looking for the person. Pressing the ‘enter’ key she leaned back with a sigh. She and the others had to just wait for the computer to run a quick five minute scan then they would have everyone in the entire city who had ever even typed up the name Daemon before. As she waited Lyn leaned back, grabbed a grape soda from her mini-fridge, popped the top, stuck a straw into it, and then took a sip. [i]“Wonder if his guy kidnapped Lisa or something?”[/i] Lyn thought not even aware of everything that had transpired at the Denver home. All she knew was what she had been ordered to do. While the scan continued a shiver ran down Lyn’s spin and to warm herself up she rubbed her bare arms. Now shivering uncontrollably Lyn took up the grape soda again and pushed the chair back. She was about to get up when the scanning finished, seeing a single number pop up, “Okay guys I have the number it’s ‘631-403-9000’.” “Any other information you can give us about him?” “Yeah, since I have the phone number it’ll be easy to get a name,” Lyn said leaning over and typing something in. The screen buzzed to life as it spit out the information she requested, “Alright Hiran Sendo, also known as Daemon, 43 Chinese American currently working for a computer graphics company that recently just signed a major deal with Microsoft netting them $10 million dollars in funding. Apparently they’re the leading people in personal virtual reality systems . . . ha . . . like they couldn’t have had us do that for them.” “Lyn stay on topic,” Daniel reminded her. Nodding she continued reading off the rest of the information she had managed to get with a quick search. He wasn’t married and was a single child, moved to Yugo City when a transfer into the city had opening and he had a small personal website dedicated to recording ghost stories throughout Yugo City; there was even a small part where he claimed he would come in and purify a place for the right price. Everyone agreed it sounded like he was trying to scam people. Standing up Lyn rubbed her arms again, her breath visible, “Hold on guys I’ll be right back.” “Why? Lyn what’s going on?” “Nothing it’s just getting a little too cold in here for me.” Leaving the lighting of the computer screen she walked over to the thermostat to turn up the heat so she could stop shivering, pausing for a moment when she saw that it was reading 85°. Tapping it to see if it might have broken she let out a ‘Hu’ when the needle barely shook; of course on the other end of the phone everyone wanted to know what was going on. Lyn let them finally exhale when she told Rachel they needed to get the heating in their base fixed because it was freezing and yet the thermostat was reading 85°. A red light instantly went off for Rosa and grabbing the phone tried to warn her, her voice drowned out when Lyn screamed on the other end. There was no need to ask questions. Everyone was out of the door and in a vehicle, heading to hideout of the Daughters of Darkness. ______________________________________________________________________________ When everyone arrived they could see that the ‘Daughters of Darkness’ were based in nothing more than the unused portion of Yugo High. However now the side of the entire building was shattered into rubble, exposing the machines and computers which had also been torn apart by whatever had caused the damage; it looked more like an explosion had detonated. Shutting the door Fusion saw Aka and Rachel running towards the gaping side of the building, hearing her moments later shouting back that she is going to check inside and for Fusion to call the Free. Fusion nodded and was on the phone, leaving the children to be almost completely unsupervised if not for Rosa keeping an eye on them. Groaning Rachel would walk from place to place before finally getting frustrated enough with just sitting back to take it anymore. Walking up to Rosa she picked her up by the collar of her shirt; of course since it was still Lisa’s body Al was the first to start pulling her off before Lisa ended up with a black eye or broken nose. Rosa only smiled and told Rachel she wouldn’t stop her if she wanted to go look for her sister, “I understand that you want to make sure she is safe. So go ahead, I’ll keep Fusion distracted for you too.” “Uh . . . ah . . .” Rachel was stunned for a moment. However she quickly recovered, nodded her head, and ran towards the opening full force; Alejandro and Zugai on her heels. A tap on his shoulder caught Daniel’s attention and when he looked over he could see Rosa pointing to everyone else heading into the building as well. Groaning he looked back to Fusion, still trying to get through to someone in the Free, and slowly inched away until he was certain he could run and not get seen. Then he and Amelia were inside the building chasing after Al and Zugai’s back. Inside was stuffy with the smell of concrete and dust in the air, forcing Amelia and Daniel to sneeze when it entered their noses. They only stopped when they could hear Rachel shouting ‘I found her!’ Shouting back everyone eventually found their way to Rachel and Aka, with Alejandro and Zugai arriving a few seconds before them. They could see, somehow underneath the only overhanging light that seemed to still exist in the entire place, Rachel leaning over and shaking Lyn’s limp body. Skidding down Amelia gasped, closing her eyes and grabbing hold of Daniel’s arm for support; Al couldn’t move a muscle hearing Rachel telling her sister she couldn’t die on her. Zugai and Aka moved down beside Rachel and Lyn, Zugai pulling her off of her sister. Aka was on her knees, bent over with her index and middle fingers pressing against the side of Lyn’s neck. She could feel a pulse, faint but it meant that Lyn was still alive; of course Rachel was relieved to hear her sister wasn’t dead- Yet. Aka had little time to make sure that didn’t happen; it’s at times like this she thanked Rui for dragging her to help her study for nurse school. Lifting Lyn’s head up at an angle she opened her mouth a bit then began preforming CPR- 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4. Pause. Check. When she would hear no exhale Aka leaned over, pressing her lips to Lyn’s and breathing into her still lifeless body. 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . repeat the entire process, again and again. “Is she going to be okay?” Rachel was adamant about knowing if her sister was going to pull through or not, holding onto Zugai’s arm so tightly her knuckles were white; later on he had bruises from this, but Rachel always calmly told him if he wasn’t ‘such a deef’ he wouldn’t have been bruised. But at the moment neither of them bothered to notice. No one knew how long it was but finally Lyn coughed, rolling over then at last took a sharp breath. Holding her chest Aka asked Zugai to keep Rachel away from Lyn for a little bit longer until she could get her breath. But Lyn wouldn’t have any of it, “I-I’m find . . . really just got . . . the . . . the wind knocked out of me.” “Lyn if you aren’t alright then you don’t have to push yourself.” “I said I’m alright,” she snapped at her own sister, harshly enough that Rachel recoiled, even when she saw that Lyn was clearly stumbling and had tried to keep her from falling. She was barely able to stand but through will alone she was managing too and even walk. Everyone trailed behind her for a short while as she headed out of the ruined hideout. The moment she emerged into the cool night air Fusion and Rosa quickly ran towards her to ensure she was alright; they too met the same resistance that the others did. She was covered in blood and dirt, but no matter what condition she was in Lyn was able to walk with no more than a small limp and a groan of pain here or there. Scooting over to a bench located on the sidewalk, Lyn rested her legs giving them a well needed massage; now that Lyn was in no apparent harm and doing alright the obvious question needed to be answered. What happened? Lyn, her face strangely twisting into a frown, told Fusion that she had been attacked by Odin Zeth when she saw the door was opened . . . “When I saw the thermostat was broken I could hear someone speaking through the phone at me, but I couldn’t really make out what they were saying. Well when I turned my back to it I saw that the door was open and Hiru was standing there with his sword out,” Lyn grabbed her throat, giving it a slight rub as if trying to coax the last sentence out, “Then he attacked me for no reason. He took out the ceiling above me and I thought I was going to be crushed, luckily I only got pinned. Before I blacked out I could see him looking down at me, but his eyes . . . I don’t know how to describe it but . . . his eyes looked wrong.” “He must have been possessed by the evil ghost,” Rosa nodded after her statement. It was the only thing that made sense. Sure she didn’t know who this Hiru person was, though the last name let her know he was somehow related to Joseph Zeth, she knew him as JZ, yet the way Lyn had acted would make one think she was uncomfortable with the thought of having him attack her; having to voice it noticeably wasn’t much better. No one else in the group was able to think of another reason why Hiru would attack Lyn without a reason. So it had to be the ghost. Pulling out his cell phone Daniel flipped it open. Since he and Hiru were cousins he had been given Hiru’s personal number to call in case of an emergency; never once did Daniel think he’d be calling his cousin in to remove an evil ghost from him. Pressing the few buttons he stopped seeing headlights driving towards them on the deserted road. A grey Pontiac Aztek rolled to a stop then shut off, the headlights still remaining on. When the door swung open a very dark haired man, slowly pulling a red baseball cap on, stepped out from the driver’s side. Red eyes’ peering out from underneath the low brim of his hat the stranger took a step forward and was nearly tackled by Zugai and Alejandro. Neither of them was in the mood for surprises. Both hands of the teenager boys seemed to go through the man, though he wasn’t a ghost like they simultaneously thought for a moment; no he had just moved fast enough to have them fly underneath his arms and right into his jacket. Arms still raised high into the air he gave a warm smile, “I promise I’m not here to cause trouble.” “I called him while everyone was inside looking for Lyn,” Rosa stepped forward and introduced Hiran Sendo, the man who they had been referred too under the name Daemon. Able to put his hands down without worrying that he’d be tackled to the ground, Daemon looked at Al and Zugai’s cautious eyes. He tried to resist but he let out a small laugh that made both of them ask for the reason. A wide grin on his face Daemon noted that he never got over how people seemed to raise their guard around him; he even went on to point out that it was his eyes that was making them uncomfortable. It was. Daemon gave a quick explanation of why his eyes, both of them, were red- come to find out it was because he was diagnosed with albinism at an early age, thus his eyes were red since his body didn’t produce the pigments to make them any other color. His hair and everything else were dyed to a certain color. In fact Daemon mused that, being albino and unable to really go out into bright sunlight without risking his health, might have been why he began going out at night more often and researching the occult. The occult had been the perfect opening for Rosa to ask Daemon if he could help them with their ghost problem. Rosa’s question caused Daemon raise an eyebrow, “Well I’ll be honest . . . this is the first time a ghosts personally asked me to exorcise them from their host but . . .” “Hu? Oh . . . oh! Oh no, no . . . you have it all wrong,” Rosa flailed her arms before hiding behind Fusion. The reaction only confused Daemon who looked to Fusion and had to be given the entire story from when the children had gone into the abandoned building to playing with the Ouija Board and then Lisa becoming possessed by Rosa’s ghost who was looking for a second ghost that had escaped. The entire situation made his head hurt, [i]“When will people learn those things aren’t toys?!”[/i] His mood only changed when Rachel told him that they had a suspect and had been trying to call him when he pulled up; Daniel had already opened his cell phone again, ready to call. Nodding he dialed the number, getting an answer before the phone rang three times, "Hiru? I . . . I mean Enigma, sorry man . . . dude I said I was sorry! Look, where are you?” “He says he’s home,” Daniel had covered the mouthpiece so Hiru couldn’t hear him, looking at Fusion and Daemon. Aka pointed out that it didn’t make sense for him to be at home after attacking Lyn, but Al reminded her that Lisa came home when Rosa stopped controlling her body. Daemon instructed Daniel how to get him to come out and meet him without bringing Valor along; as Fake Type Knights both were popular vigilantes and together had proven trouble to be taken down on more than one occasion, and with only two true veteran fighters it’d be hard to take them out. Luckily there was no need for much convincing as Hiru quickly agreed to meet Daniel. Shutting the phone he looked back at Daemon, giving a nod. The man’s face twisted into a gleeful smile, his hands clasped together and rubbing over each other, “Alright that means we have the advantage. The ghost doesn’t know we’re onto it since Hiru agreed so easily to meet us. If the ghost had any suspicion it would’ve taken control of him immediately to escape. So in the meantime until he gets here I can get prepared. Everyone else I need you out of sight.” “Yeah, no problem” “Sure” “Anywhere specific you want us to be or do?” “No I just need to make sure everyone is out of the way. But if you want Fusion, Akane, please make sure Lyn doesn’t get too close. If the ghost sees that her body is weak it might try to jump from Hiru to her to prevent me from exorcising it.” Simultaneously they nodded and everyone set out to hide during which Daemon took out some chalk from a little bag in his jacket then set to drawing in the middle of the street. ______________________________________________________________________________ Hiru didn’t drive a car, so it was difficult knowing exactly when he would arrive. It’d be a good hour or so for a normal person to walk from the suburbs to downtown Main Forum, but since Hiru was a Fake Type Knight he had trained to get from point a to point b in as little time as possible. So not only his arrival time, but being on foot Hiru would be almost completely silent while he was approaching unless someone was really listening for him; even then the sound of children trick-or-treating in the distance made it difficult. Daemon, hurrying to finish the last bit of his “art project” glanced up on occasion to see if he could spot Hiru in the distance. He nearly had a heart attack hearing him speak directly behind him, “So tell me . . . is it supposed to be a magic circle or a signal to space aliens?” Shuffling away from Hiru, Daemon looked over and asked when he had gotten here: three minutes ago. Hiru had on a bulletproof vest on over tight fitting clothing with an emblem on it, a uniform he dawned when going out on missions as a Fake Type Knight, and his sword belted to his side; Daemon could see his hand was lightly resting on the pommel. Hiru didn’t seem to be focused too much on Daemon or the circle he had been drawing and was looking around for Daniel, growing more cautious as the seconds ticked by. He had told his cousin never to call him on his private line unless it was an emergency. So now that he had called him and was nowhere to be seen Hiru was ready to strike at anything that even remotely looked like an enemy. Turning back to Daemon he unsheathed his weapon, keeping it low so it wasn’t pointing at Daemon’s face, “Okay I have one question . . . and you have one chance to answer it correctly. Where is my cousin?” “I’m over here,” Daniel shouted walking out into the middle of the empty street despite Rosa’s attempt to keep him hidden in the shadows. Now in the well-lit area of the streetlights his cousin could see he had his steel claws on both hands and a serious expression. For a moment Hiru wondered what he was doing with his weapons out in public, and then he realized where he was. Glancing over to the opening in a certain building, [i]“That’s Rachel and Lyn’s hideout . . .”[/i] Turning back to Daniel he took a step forward then stopped questioning why he called him and if it was about the hole in his friend’s hideout. Daniel didn’t answer. He could barely hear Hiru talking with the loud thumping of his heart and didn’t know whether to believe if it was actually Hiru speaking to him or if it was the evil ghost. Daemon had managed to finish the circle while Daniel kept Hiru’s mind off of him and the moment it was finished he stood up and gave a shout, “Push him into the circle!” In a rush Hiru realized he was surrounded. On his left was Fusion, his wife and their daughter. To the right Zugai, Amelia, and Al were charging with weapons drawn. In front of him he saw Rachel and Lyn blocking off any route he could take for a quick escape. His mind reeled back, raising his sword in time to block Daniel’s claws from grazing his chest; the impact making him move back an inch or so. Gritting his teeth Hiru had no idea why everyone was attacking him, but he wasn’t about to let them do whatever they were planning on doing. Kicking Daniel in the chest he whirled around in time to knock away an attempt to grab him by Daemon, throwing him into Fusion just as he went to swing. Both men collided together and tumbled to the ground. But that wasn’t the bad part. When Daemon had been grabbed by Hiru he had realized something, yet with his head throbbing he wasn’t able to shout it. Skipping backwards Hiru didn’t bother asking questions, Fake Type Knights don’t back down when they get attacked, even from family and friends, but with it ten against one he knew he’d not last this hit-and-dodge tactic for long. Parrying Alejandro’s Bloncordo Sword with his own he kept dodging and parrying his attacks. From the corner of his eye he could see Zugai trying to position himself in a certain place, Alejandro trying to push him into an ambush, but Hiru managed to knock Alejandro back enough that he could break away. Managing to slide underneath a bench he dug underneath his bulletproof vest for his phone. Rolling to his feet as the bench burst into splinters from a Zugai’s punch Hiru opened it and pressed one to get back-up: Valor. Raising the phone up a gunshot rang through the air. The phone tore out of his grasp then landed on the ground in pieces. The gunshot had made everyone freeze in their tracks. Their hearts leaped when another rang out and they saw Hiru’s sword flying into the air. “Lyn are you crazy?!” Rachel shouted at her sister, holding the smoking gun barrel up as Aka ran over to see if Hiru was injured badly; he wasn’t moving after the second shot had hit him in the chest. Looking at her sister Lyn gave a sweet smile answering in a matter-of-fact tone, “He had a bulletproof vest on Rachel. Beside we couldn’t let him call Valor for back-up, right?” “You didn’t have to shoot him,” Zugai looked over his shoulders towards the sisters, removing his diamond knuckles and glaring at Lyn. Ripping open the front of his shirt Akane examined his chest then confirmed he had a broken rip from the impact of the bullet to his chest- he was still lucky to be alive thanks to the vest he always wore. Now that it was confirmed that Hiru wasn’t going to die, Amelia asked if it would be alright to exorcise the evil ghost from his body or if he was too weak. Coughing, Daemon managed to gather his thoughts, push Fusion off of him, and look up in time to see the last thing he wanted to see- Lyn grabbing hold of Hiru’s sword. Opening his mouth he shouted, “Hiru isn’t possessed! It’s a trap!” “No sh*t Sherlock,” Lyn said raising the sword up and swinging it down, sending a wave of energy that threw everyone back and against the buildings across the street. The glass shattering around them Akane pulled a shard out of her leg looking up. She could see Lyn swaying in the autumn wind and what looked like black smoke surrounding her as she let out a low string of laughter. Alejandro was the first person up and, in his usual manner, he charged at Lyn swinging the Bloncordo Sword down at her. Sparks flew as the swords connected, and a burst of air flew in all directions. [i]“Sh*t!”[/i] Al’s eyes grew wide seeing that she had been able to block his attack with one mere hand, feeling it give slightly underneath his weapon before being knocked back. Lyn had managed to knock Al off of her and with a swift shift in her footing sent him flying with her shoulder. “Wait you mean Lyn is the one possessed?!” Akane asked unable to wrap her head around the entire situation, being told by Daemon that he had realized it only when Hiru had thrown him; since he could see spirits and sense them the moment he was thrown he knew only Hiru’s own soul resided inside his body. Turning and pointing the sword at Rachel the evil spirit commanding her sister’s body spoke, [b]“I only want the girl and her sister! I won’t kill anybody if you just hand them over . . .”[/b] “And what do you plan on doing with Rachel and Lyn?” Fusion stood up keeping a firm grip on his hammer, turning it around and around every so often. Lyn looked at him, twisting Lyn’s face into a cruel smile and let out a low chuckle. Raising the sword up the evil spirit said one word: Revenge. [i]“Revenge? For what?”[/i] Fusion thought but never got the chance to ask, Daniel and Zugai had pressed the attack Al had begun a minute ago. Zugai swung with his fists, aiming to take out Lyn’s legs and let Daniel’s steel claws snatch the sword away from her. That was their plan, but Lyn moved so quick that by the time Zugai was swinging she had already moved the sword to slap him with the blunt end and then used the pistol she still had to shoot Daniel in the shoulder. Both boys toppling to the ground and Lyn’s hair falling around her head framing the still cruel smile the evil spirit asked again, [b]“Well? You can see I am able to kill without remorse, but I only want this girl . . .”[/b] as the spirit said that it patted Lyn’s chest, [b]“And the other one.”[/b] KRACK! Falling flat onto her back Lyn held her forehead, red with the mark the hammer had left. Even before the spirit gave out its demands a second time Fusion wasn’t interested in hearing them. No one was. Shooting Daniel in the shoulder sealed any deal it might make with them and so they resolved to continue the plan as normal; knowing it would easily shoot someone it didn’t “want to kill” confirmed that it was going to kill Rachel and Lyn when it got its hands on them. Daemon told everyone that now they knew who was possessed they needed to get Lyn’s body into the circle and he could exorcise her of the evil spirit. Nodding they got ready to surround Lyn, but had to make a quick retreat when she twirled the sword around and sent a circular energy wave in every direction. Flipping through the air and Alejandro landed with his sword buried in the ground for support, “Whoa!? Since when did the sword do that?!” “Let me ask,” Zugai shouted running with his diamond knuckles sparking on the ground and slide underneath the wave of energy, kicking upwards and hitting Lyn in the stomach. His foot pressing into her chest he pushed up with his right hand and gave her another kick, twisting his body so that he could slam his other foot into her side. Yet by this time Lyn had recovered and, holding the foot that had kicked her twice, twisted him around so that he went to opposite direction. Before anything else could happen she had to let go and begin running to hide behind a parked car, Rachel shooting at her with rage filled in her eyes. At first it looked like she was shooting wildly at Lyn, but when Amelia slide beside her she noticed that Rachel was only aiming for the area around her feet so that it’d force her towards the circle; taking out a bow Amelia notched an arrow to assist. Pinned behind the car the evil spirit clenched the sword tightly, the mind overshadowing Lyn thinking quickly. Digging into Lyn’s pockets she pulled out three small marble-sized orbs and let them clack together, smiling as she threw them out into the street. Shouting Rachel knocked Amelia to the ground as an explosion of light erupted from the three devices, “Flash Bomb!” When everyone could see again Lyn was nowhere to be seen and Rachel was missing too. Cursing out loud Daniel kicked over a trash bin and winced when his shoulder throbbed, being supported by Aka. Fusion had raced over to Daemon the moment they could see, asking if he could tell where they went- he couldn’t. By now everyone was ready to run out and find where the two sisters had vanished too, but without their group to assist finding them would be difficult. Luckily enough Hiru had managed to come to and sat with groaning loudly. Opening one eye and seeing Aka and Daniel close to him he felt his side, wincing, “Is someone going to tell me why you guys gave me three broken rips?” “Well you see . . .” Hiru didn’t need much convincing on the highlighted story he was told and even better knew how to find the girls, specifically Lyn. Getting to his feet he pulled out a small gadget and turned it on so that a small blip appeared; he and Sven put tracking chips into their weapons so if they disappeared on a mission the other could track where they were. [i]“Good they haven’t gone more than a block or so,”[/i] Hiru put away the gadget, told them the direction the girls had went, and was about to chase after them when Aka put her hand in front of him. Her eyes showed that he wasn’t going to convince her to go into a fight with three broken ribs and Daniel, nodding his head at his cousin, knew he was out of the fight too with an injured shoulder. Groaning Hiru looked at the ground. Daemon chose to remain behind and get ready to begin the exorcism the moment Lyn stepped into the circle while Amelia also remained behind to give him cover fire. “That leaves me with Al and Zugai for back up,” Fusion said taking the device from Hiru. A quick tap on his shoulders caught his attention and he saw Lisa looking at him with a frown, Rosa speaking through her, “You know I am here too, remember? I’m not sitting out this time. Your daughter has some skills she’s learned and I promise I won’t let -” “Thanks Rosa” With that they were off after the spirit that had possessed Lyn and Rachel. ______________________________________________________________________________ “So tell me, besides some sick fetish I don’t even want to know about, why are you tying me up?” Rachel asked feeling the ropes coil tighter around her chest so her breasts pushed up, glaring at Lyn as she knotted the ends. Slapping Rachel when she walked around Lyn rubbed the back of her now reddening hand and told her to be quiet or else. Chuckling at the failed threat Rachel spat out at her feet, her eyes more determined than ever, “I don’t know who you are . . . or were . . . but I’ll make you wish you could die again when I get a hold of you.” [b]“If you ever [i]get[/i] the chance,”[/b] the spirit noted raising the sword up so that it was over Lyn’s head, [b]“Sadly it’ll never happen.”[/b] “Then at least tell me why you want revenge on me and my sister!” Rachel shouted closing her eyes when the sword swung down. When she finally opened them again she saw that the tip of the sword had barely managed to wedge itself into the fake tree- if it hadn’t she’d have lost her entire right arm. She needed that arm. Hiding how scared she actually was Rachel wet her lips and moved her bound legs around so she was sitting on them and continued, “If we did anything wrong to you then at least you can tell us what it was before killing us.” Thinking it over for a second the spirit yanked the sword out from the tree and rested it on Lyn’s shoulders, [b]“It’s not you or your sister who did me wrong. I would much prefer to get my revenge your father, but since I can’t find him I’ll make do with his daughters.”[/b] “Thanks for that,” Rachel smiled and leaped forward, head-butting Lyn in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of her. Rolling into her back Rachel hopped to her feet, jumped around a bit to keep from falling, then jumped and landed on Lyn again to knock the wind out of her again. Still on top of her sister Rachel swung her legs over to rest her the sword between each foot and shook them up and down to cut the binds, “Sorry sis but I’m not letting some pissed off Casper kill us for something that b*stard of a Dad did.” “Rachel!” “Lyn!” The ropes snapping Rachel peered up and saw that Al, Lisa, Zugai and Mr. Denver were running towards her with weapons ready. On her feet she pulled the ropes off of her, waving and shouting, “It’s alright! I managed to knock her out when the spirit let down it’s guard!” “No! Behind you!” “W-Wha-?” Rachel felt a cold chill run down her spine and, out of the corner of her eye, saw a black mass rising out of her sister’s mouth and standing 6’ 1’’ total. Her mind urged her to run, but her legs had locked up in fear and wouldn’t budge. Then everything went dark for a moment when the spirit looked like it tackled her, disappearing into her body. Her stomach twisted, her body convulsed, and she reeled back. Her legs lost their strength so she fell to the ground; her left hand gained a life of its own and reached for the discarded sword. [i]“Oh, nuh-uh!”[/i] Rachel thought grabbing the other hand and trying to keep it away, pulling it up and biting a finger so hard she drew blood. The sharp pain cleared her mind momentarily and she got to her feet, being caught by Zugai. He asked if she was alright and if the spirit was gone, only to be punch in the face and his hair grabbed so he couldn’t fall. Rachel let a tired smile spread across her face as she struggled to make the other hand let go, “No it’s still here.[b] Sorry to disappoint.”[/b] Fusion grabbed Rachel’s hand, prying each finger back with some effort, and Zugai dropped to the ground; he lost a clump of hair in the process though. With Rachel’s left hand reaching for his throat he heard Rosa telling Rachel to fight it, ‘easier said than done Lisa!’ Shoving Fusion back Rachel jumped backward and took out her gun, pointing it to her own head and shouting, “Alright you son of a b*tch! I’m not going to be controlled, I’d rather die and I wonder what will happen if you’re in my body when I pull this trigger!” The left hand went limp. For a moment everyone was able to take a sigh of relief. Then the hand holding the gun shot forward, the trigger finger squeezing down without hesitation to shoot at Fusion; Rosa pushed him out of the way in time, though she had been hit in the process. Laughing Rachel swung the gun and kept Al and Zugai back, [b]“Kids these days don’t know to keep their guards up! When Life ruled the world you couldn’t even sleep without worrying if you’d be dead in the morning!”[/b] “Says you!” Rachel struggled again to regain control, raising the gun into the air so any shots were useless. Now that the gun wasn’t a problem Al had a chance to tackle her and he took it, slamming both of them to the ground. On top of Rachel, Al looked down at her and felt sorry for a moment, “Rachel you okay?” [b]“Are you?”[/b] Al was thrown into the air and landed a few feet away, standing up as the black mass disappeared inside him. Rachel gasped when her head became clear again and saw Al raising his sword towards her. His eyes were completely black and it didn’t take long to realize what happened. Rolling out of the way as he charged to skewer her she shouted to Zugai to do something. Nodding he went forward, grabbing Al’s sword he swung down and punched him in the stomach. Pressing the attack he kept punching Al in the stomach over and over. When he sidestepped the attack, bringing his knee in, Zugai caught the knee and flung his head up to hit his face. Rachel would have helped Zugia, but her mind had gone to Mr. Denver and Lisa to try and get them up and help. Over at the side of the battle Fusion was checking Lisa’s arm, seeing the blood oozing continuously out of the gaping wound, and was panicking trying to get it to stop; Rosa admitted it hurt but was trying to convince him they needed to get back to the fight. When Rachel made it over to them she didn’t bother with if Lisa was injured or not, she wanted to speak to Rosa’s ghost; she had come up with a plan. Sternly looking at her she asked, “Can you possess other people?” “Yes, why?” “That thing wants both of us, Lyn and me. So if I run away with you possessing me . . .” her voice trailed off and Rosa knew what she wanted. It was a crazy plan but then again nothing that was happening right now was exactly normal. It was X-Files strange. Nodding Rosa agreed to possess Rachel, or at least share the body with her, and get the evil spirit to give chase. It wanted both of them so the moment one made a break for it, it should give chase all the way into the exorcism circle. Fusion looked at Rachel and then to Rosa, worried about what was about to happen next. Putting her hand on his cheek Rosa gave a sweet smile, “Fusion don’t worry about me. I’m happy knowing you’re alright and have a happy family. I don’t need to stay knowing that. So let me do this for you, please?” Fusion opened his mouth to answer, but his objections were silenced by a kiss. For a moment Rosa and Fusion shared a kiss they hadn’t been able to have in over twenty five years. Rachel gave a cough to cut the passionate embrace short. Blushing Fusion looked away and Rosa nodded, leaving Lisa’s body and entering Rachel. Shivering at the still strange sensation of having a second soul occupying the same body Rachel looked at Fusion with a smile; she could feel Rosa’s affection for him making her own heart beat faster looking at him. When everyone asked her later about it she venomously stated she hated the sensations Rosa shared with her about Fusion. Leaning over Rachel grinned, “Before I leave I just have to point out . . . you just had a passionate incestuous kiss with your own daughter. Food for thought!” [i]“Rachel you didn’t have to put it that way!”[/i] Rosa shouted inside her mind, but the teenager paid her no mind, turning and shouting at the still fighting Al and Zugai,” Hey whatever your name is . . . see ya!” Dashing away as fast as she could Rachel looked back and saw that it was Zugai giving chase; this meant of course that the evil spirit must’ve swapped bodies during the fight. Running through the streets Rachel leaped over cars and turned around corners to avoid having possessed Zugai close too much distance between her. She was lucky the spirit was currently in control of Zugai since he didn’t have any range attacks, stuck with his diamond knuckles as he was. “Rachel, how much farther is it?” “It’s probably about a block or two.” Rachel shook her head trying to get Rosa’s voice out of her head and kept pushing her legs to go faster. Finally, with possessed Zugai still on her tail, Rachel skidding into the empty street where Daemon and the rest had been waiting. Moving so that she was standing in front of the exorcism circle she saw a few second later Zugai round the corner as well. Patting her chest Rachel shouted out, “Here I am! Come at me bro!” The spirit gave a howl of anger, leaping out of Zugai’s body and racing at Rachel; Zugai lost consciousness instantly, falling to the ground. The spirit entering her with enough force that she fell back into the circle Rachel’s eyes glassed over. Inside her mind she was thrust into a pool of mixing memories: hers, Rosa’s and now the evil spirit that had joined him in her body. She saw glimpses of a Christmas show with Mr. Denver sitting beside her; working beside her sister on a project they planned on selling; sitting in a chair and hearing a man’s voice ordering Mr. Make around. Her mind felt like it would tear itself apart from all of the memories inside her head. And just when it self like it was too much it ceased. Inside her mind she could see two figured locked together hand-in-hand struggling to gain control over the other. One was a female and Rachel knew it must be Rosa, her blond hair floating around her head as she struggled. The other, a male, she knew from pictures in history books. His brownish-red hair lying thick on his head as green eyes fiercely remained locked with Rosa’s cerulean blues. It made sense to her who it was and why he became a ghost. Then another sensation filled her mind and body, a clearing light that made it feel like she was floating. Turning Rosa gave a smile, thanking Rachel for letting her help until the end. [b]“No! I won’t let it end like this!”[/b] the man shouted throwing Rosa to the side and ran at Rachel, the light nipping at his heels. Before he could reach her however the light finally caught him, wrapping around him and piercing through his body at random points. He kept his hand reaching out at her as his body slowly disappeared. In a strange act of kindness Rachel took hold of his hand and held it tightly, looking at him with sympathy, “I’m sorry about what happened too you . . .” The next moment Rachel was looking up at the curious faces of Daemon, Akane and Daniel; Hiru remained seated where he was. Her head felt like a jackhammer had been pressed against it and the slightest move made it only worse, so when Daniel tried to help her sit up she knocked his hands aside, “I can move it’s just my head hurts . . . what happened?” “I have exorcised the demons,” Daemon sat down, visibly drained and sweat covering his entire face, “If I knew you were going to do something suicidal like that I might have brought someone else with me. You let two ghosts possess you, have them exorcised, and all you have is a headache? I feel like I’m about to pass out . . .” “Indomitable will,” was all Rachel said with a smile, “Indomitable will.” ______________________________________________________________________________ “So you’re telling me we missed not one, but two ghosts running around possessing people because we set them free with my Ouija Board?” Sarah asked at school the following week, everyone who had been a part had to be hospitalized and then released. Nodding his head Daniel pointed with the only good hand he had at Sarah, telling her that she better believe them or else when he could use both of his hands again he was going to send [i]her[/i] to the hospital. Keiko let out a laugh and patted Daniel on his injured, making him wince in pain, shoulder telling him they accepted the story. Sarah though in her own mind she truly believed that what Daniel and Al and Zugai said was true, that Lisa and Lyn had been possessed, [i]“After all if ghosts exist and can hurt you, it’s not hard to imagine they can possess somebody.”[/i] Daniel only stopped his yelling at Keiko for hitting his shoulder when he heard Lisa and Amelia coming from down the hall. Walking up to them Lisa was wearing a cast covered in colorful signatures from classmates. Stopping she walked over to Daniel and Al, asking the former if he’d be well enough to play the rest of the soccer games and participate in the championship. Scratching the back of his head he answered, “Well not all of the games, but if I let it heal normally it will be ready in time for the Championship . . . that is if Keiko stops hitting it every thirty seconds.” “I do not!” “Well make sure you are good for the Championship so you can win that bet Daniel,” with a wave Lisa walked off to their next class with Al carrying her books for her. With them gone and the twins deciding to head to class Daniel turned too Amelia, “So Lisa doesn’t remember anything about being possessed?” “Nothing,” Amelia shook her head. She had spent the first few days making sure she was alright and the next few days asking her questions about the times Rosa had been in control of her body. As far as Lisa knew the times in question were complete blanks, she couldn’t even remember how she broke her arm; it was Al who came up with the story she fell carrying groceries inside. And as far as Amelia was told, Lyn also didn’t remember anything while she was possessed by the evil spirit. No one knew who the evil spirit had been in life, not even Daemon, and when Rachel gave a knowing sigh she was asked if she knew who it was. Denying anything it was obvious she did. Now in the hallway Daniel and Amelia speculated over who it might have been. It was someone who they knew and had died. If the person became an evil ghost, according to Rosa, they had to have died with a lot of negative emotions. As far as either knew there wasn’t a soul who fit the description. Spotting Zugai Daniel pulled him by his collar and asked, “Man has your sister told you who the evil ghost was?” “Yeah we kept trying to think of it and we can’t think of anyone who she knew that would become an evil vengeful ghost.” “Well,” Zugai fidgeted a bit before giving in, “Rachel told me the spirit wasn’t after them because it knew them. Actually it wanted revenge on their Dad and since it couldn’t locate him it went after her and Lyn.” “You mean Mr. Hollow?” Amelia asked tilting her head. Blake Hollow was a Mod and because of it was very easily noticeable and could be found on even the most basic of search engines. Zugai confused her and Daniel even more when he shook his head. He explained that Blake Hollow was [i]his[/i] Dad and that Rachel and Lyn are his step sisters. When his Dad had met his mother, Emma Comali, she had already had Rachel and Lyn. When they got married he was born a year later. There was never a picture of Emma’s first husband and she never talked about him when anybody asked, so it was soon forgotten. Hearing this Daniel and Amelia looked at each other and then at Zugai, “So not even Rachel knows who her Dad was?” “She was one when he left so I don’t think so. And I’m certain she’s searched for him before on the computer, but I doubt with Mom being so tight lipped she ever found anything . . .” Tightening the last bolt onto the giant project she had been working on Rachel wiped her forehead free of sweat then rolled onto her back, the bright sun warming her face. She took in a deep cool breath of air and exhaled. In her mind she was thinking about what she could do with her knew project finally completed until a lingering memory snapped into the forefront of her mind- the man sitting at a table with her father and others, greeting Mr. Make. Her hand leaving her forehead she lied back down and raised a clench fist up into the air, “God d*mn it you good for nothing b*stard father!” [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_QOF8-mUHg"]Closing- Daughters of Darkness[/url] [/spoiler] 40 pages and over 25,000 words Questions, Comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spirit of DMG Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 I've got two questions, Jake: 1) do I have to read that? 2) is it possible to transplant the horn gene on a narwhal into a horse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake the Sage Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 [quote name='Nmbr101:DonovynMikaraGerra' timestamp='1352393133' post='6063859'] I've got two questions, Jake: 1) do I have to read that? [b]Normally I would say you don't have to read it if you don't want too, but for you Donovyn since you asked I have to say- Yes! Yes you have to read all of it and write me a full paragraph explanation of what you thought was good or bad about it (XD) Okay no honestly if you don't want to read it I can't force you. I would LIKE you to read it though . . .[/b] 2) is it possible to transplant the horn gene on a narwhal into a horse? [b]No as narwhals are not the same, or even close, species as a horse.[/b] [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Zero Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Coolness points on these forums ceased to matter to me a long time ago, and then hunting remark was really more of a joke than anything else. *tossess aside the Uzi with an empty clip* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake the Sage Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 [quote name='Burai S. Zero' timestamp='1352404643' post='6063956'] Coolness points on these forums ceased to matter to me a long time ago, and then hunting remark was really more of a joke than anything else. *tossess aside the Uzi with an empty clip* [/quote] Yeah, yeah . . . well can you not do it? Also like I said we're trying to cut back on the spam posts so we don't get locked so that was just one right there- Opal points them out sometimes. So try and have something added on we that can continue the topic. Sorry about the hassle though . . . On topic who has read the entire story yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Warden Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 And the joke wasn't funny anyways. No, I haven't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Zero Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 I haven't, for a myriad of reasons, one of them being that I am only visiting, and will most likely go through an inevitable disappearance again. New Topic: Twilight Princess. Who here has played it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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