6The Ghost Of You
.chapter two.
Ghost Hunter
Ugh. Is this English or nap time?
I sat in my desk lazily with my head resting on my arm. I tried really hard to listen to Mrs. Peters, but her monotonous drone only succeeded in making me drowsy. Almost half the class was asleep already while the other half was on the verge of dozing off or doing a better job than me at listening. I sighed and looked out the window to my left and began daydreaming about becoming famous at... whatever and people hording me while asking for my autograph. I think that was around the time I fell asleep.
"Psst. Lyssa!"
I grumbled and furrowed my eyebrows in annoyance. "Go away."
"Alyssa, seriously!"
My eyes snapped open and I glared at the spirit kneeling down beside my desk. "What?"
"Uh, Miss Stone? Would you like to share something?"
I sat up quickly, feeling the heat rushing to my face. All eyes were on me. Dammit, I forgot to keep my voice down. "Umm." Mrs. Peters raised her eyebrows expectantly as some of my classmates started laughing. "May I be excused?"
"Of course." The teacher shot me a concerned look as I hurried out of the classroom. Practically speed-walking, I went to the girls' bathroom and jumped up on the counter dropping my head into my hands. That was so embarrassing. I really need to be more careful or else everyone in school is going to think I'm crazy. Oh, who am I kidding, they probably already do!
A chuckle erupted from my right. "Wow, that was great."
I hopped off the counter. "I wish I could bring you back to life just so I could kill you again!"
Matt, still laughing, walked forward until we were inches apart. "I wish you could bring me back to life so you could do other things to me." He waggled his eyebrows.
I made a sound of disgust. "You're sick. What the hell are you doing in my school?"
The change in his mood was suddenly drastic. Enough to give me whiplash. "There's something going on around here -"
Suddenly one of the stall doors opened and a freshman shuffled out awkwardly. She didn't look me in the eye as she practically sprinted out of the bathroom. Oh my god, I am getting so freaking careless!
I groaned, but shook off the embarrassment and asked Matt, "What do you mean?"
He started pacing – which was really just floating back and forth. "Ghosts are... they're like turning into these things... I don't know what they are, but they're scary. I saw one. I-it sucked the soul out of a human."
"What?" I stared at him, wide-eyed. What's he talking about? I've never heard of anything like this. "What are they?"
"I don't know!" He stopped pacing and threw his hands in the air. He was shaking, but I don't think he noticed. "They look like... like shadows, kinda. They don't look like regular ghosts at all; they're a little bigger than average and they have these- these glowing red eyes. You can just sense the evil in them."
Matt's never been this serious before. I want to think it's was a joke, but I don't think he's that good of an actor. His fear isn't fake. What's happening then? Why all this suddenly? What are these 'shadows' and where did they come from?
"You said ghosts turn into these things?" I asked as I ran my fingers through my hair. A sign of anxiety and stress.
Matt nodded once. "I saw it happen. I was wandering around the middle of town near Main Street and I saw this ghost having a seizure. He was convulsing... it was nasty. This black stuff was coming out of his eyes and nose and mouth and ears. I went over to help, but by the time I got there the black stuff had spread all over his body. It's like I said earlier – he looked like a big shadow. It was still on the ground though..." Matt shuddered, "it was making these weird sounds like howling... that's when it's eyes turned blood red. I got out of there fast."
Now this is the first time since I've ever met Matt that I just wanted to give him a hug and comfort him. He looked absolutely terrified. Hesitantly, I asked him another question. "You said you saw one... sucking out a person's soul?"
His eyes grew wide at the memory. "Yeah. I didn't watch all of it though. It – it was... horrible." I saw him shiver slightly.
I nodded grimly. I wouldn't push him to explain, he seemed freaked out enough. "What are we going to do?" I sank to the floor silently and stared at the opposite wall.
Matt joined me. "I don't know. This is really bad."
"What do you think it is that makes the ghosts turn into those... whatever they are?"
He looked down at his hands quietly for a second. "Something evil. That's for sure."
I walked home after school alone. Matt left soon after telling me and I haven't seen him since. Even though he's usually a pain in the ass, I really hope he's okay.
I glanced around warily with every step I took, looking out for big, scary shadows with blood-red eyes. They're not getting my soul. I wondered at the moment who the person was who got their soul taken. Were they dead now? Or just... zombified? Which would be worse?
I passed Luke's house and sped up to pass it. I hope I never have to face him again. My cheeks flamed at the thought of him still laughing at me somewhere, telling all his friends about the crazy girl he saw. He must go to my school, I realized suddenly. He's not in my grade if that's the case, I probably would have noticed him. Maybe he's a senior. He did look about a year old than me.
My thoughts were interrupted when a ghost passed me. It was running. From what? I don't know, but I have a hunch. Should I run away with the ghost, or get a look at this shadow thing for myself? In a split second my mind was made up. I think I need a good look at what it is. Maybe I can kill it somehow... or something.
I ran in the opposite direction of the ghost, toward the danger. The spirit glanced back at me with wide-eyes before disappearing altogether.
Suddenly I slammed straight into something hard. And warm. I really need to pay more attention while I'm running. I screamed and launched away. Wait... why would a shadow be warm? Not to mention hard?
"Wait! Come back you stupid ghost! I'm trying to help you!" A boy my age or older was standing shouting at the spot the spirit disappeared, angrily. He looked frustrated. The boy looked down at me where I was on the ground. He had slammed into me pretty hard. "Ugh! I probably would have gotten it if you had watched where you were going!"
I stood up, confused and annoyed. So this jerk can see them, too? "Whatever!" My voice raised in anger. I hate it when people yell at me. "It disappeared before we ran into each other! You wouldn't have gotten him in the first place, dumb ass. What do you want with him – not it - anyway?"
He jerked in surprise. "Wait, so you can see ghosts?"
I quirked an eyebrow. How stupid is this guy? "Uh, obviously!"
His eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Why don't you just run along now and stay out of my way so I can get back to work, little girl?"
I took a step forward, my fists curling. "Who are you calling 'little girl'? We're about the same age! And what kind of work do you do, besides terrorizing innocent ghosts?"
He growled in annoyance. "I'm a ghost hunter! I find ghosts and I help them cross over!"
I snorted. Is he serious? A ghost hunter? "Oh in that case, I am so sorry. I'll let you get back to your little game."
The boy started seething. "It's not a game! This is my job! I was born and trained to do this!"
"How have I not heard about these 'ghost hunters' then?" I said putting air quotes around 'ghost hunters'.
"It's not like we prance around town wearing signs around our necks declaring that we're ghost hunters!"
I could feel my face turning red. "You might as well considering all the shouting you've been doing about it!"
"Well I wouldn't be shouting if you hadn't thrown yourself at me!"
"I didn't throw myself at you, idiot! You ran into me!"
"You were the one who wasn't paying attention to where you were going!"
"Obviously you weren't either if you didn't notice me running towards you!"
He let out an exasperated groan. "You're a waste of my time!"
"You're a waste of air!" I shouted. What's this guy's deal? I didn't do anything to him. Well, except run into him... but he could be civilized about it!
"Just get out of my way already!"
I started walking away, throwing over my shoulder. "With pleasure!"
Clenching and unclenching my fists, I walked towards my house. I turned around for one last insult. "I hope your soul gets eaten by a shadow-thingy!" Shadow-thingy? Smooth. But it seemed to effect him because he stopped dead in his tracks.
The boy turned on his heal and stalked towards me until we were inches away. He bent down slightly so we were face to face. "What did you just say?" His tone was completely serious. No more anger or annoyance. He sounded maybe a little... afraid.
My voice didn't work for a second. Him being so close was throwing me off. I hadn't noticed how... gorgeous he was. With his jet black hair in a messy style that he really pulls off and his eyes the color of glittering sapphires- wait, shut up. He's annoying and stupid and a jerk. Not at all hot.
"I said... I hope your soul gets eaten by a shadow-thingy."
He stepped back and his eyes widened. "You – wha – how -" He paused, taking a deep breath. "Where have you seen Shadows?"
He's scaring me now. The Shadows (very original) must be as evil as Matt described them. "Uh... I haven't... but this ghost – a friend of mine – told me about them. H-he said there have been spirits turning into them recently."
"Here?" The boy looked genuinely scared now. I nodded once, freaked out. He started talking to himself. "Oh my god... we need professionals for this. I'm only a level 2 hunter! I can't handle Shadows... oh no. This sucks." He groaned.
"Uh..." I cut in, "what are you talking about?"
He looked at me, annoyance flaring up in his features again. "It's none of your business. Why didn't you tell me earlier there were Shadows here?! This is bad, really bad."
"I don't think I -"
"This town is going to be wiped out if we don't do something!" He started pacing, reminding me of Matt. "We need level fives for this. Shadows... this is bad. But -" he perked up, "if I get rid of the Shadows the council will probably let me off of my punishment!"
"I am so lost," I muttered. I spoke up, "Do you have some kind of multiple personality disorder?"
He turned on me. "Shut up! Why are you still here?"
"Explain, ghost buster, what's going on here?"
He narrowed his eyes at me. "Ghost hunter."
I rolled my eyes. "Right. What's going on?" I repeated.
"It's the Dark Disease. A plague only ghosts can get. It turns them into Shadows, and the Shadows eat the souls of humans and they don't stop until one of us kills them all. I need to stop it." He explained, for once not yelling at me.
"You think you can do that all by yourself?" I said skeptically.
He growled. "No. But – I need to."
"And whys that?"
"Because -" he sighed, "I don't know why I'm telling you this. I'm due for an execution, okay? At least I will be once they find out what I did."
Startled, I looked up at him. "What did you do? And who's they?"
"It's nothing." At my suspicious glances he said, "I didn't kill anyone."
I felt a little relief, but I was still worried. What did this guy do to earn an execution? And who's the one who'll be ordering it? Some kind of ghost hunter committee? This is all too weird.
"So how are you going to do this?" I asked.
"I don't know! I- I need help."
"I can help." Wait, did I just say that? Who am I kidding? I know nothing about these Shadows or how to kill them. I'm not a ghost hunter. But it's obviously in my blood.
The boy snorted. "Yeah, right."
"I can!" I shouted indignantly.
"How?" He said, matching my skeptical tone from earlier.
Indeed, how? I can't fight. Or use any weird ghosty weapons this dude probably has. Oh, but... "You can teach me."
He sent me a sidelong glance. "No way."
"Look, I'm not just going to sit here and let some idiot try to save the day all by himself. This town is filled with people I've known all my life. And plus, do you want to die?"
He winced. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. He's gotta let me help, there's no way he can do this all by himself. But then again, he might as well with the zero experience I have with Shadows. But if he teaches me to be a ghost hunter, I bet we could do it. Maybe. It's worth a try, at least.
"Fine. I'll teach you. But we have to start as soon as possible and be done in a week. The Black Disease spreads too quickly to spend much time on training you."
I nodded. "Sounds good to me."
"So first things first, what's your name?"
"Huh?" The question caught me off guard.
"What, you expect me to train you and not even know your name?" He asked, sounding annoyed.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Alyssa Stone."
He smiled arrogantly. "Sam Lovett."
I rolled my eyes. Jerk.
A/N: You like? I meant to update yesterday, but I didn't really get around to it lol. Hopefully I'll update tomorrow, but no guarantees. :P Tell me how you like my characters so far :D Sam's my favorite, even though he's kind of a meanie sometimes :PP But I also like Paul... and Luke, so I don't know. Lol. Reviews are appreciated :)