Young Writers Society

Heliodor Everett opened his mouth to respond when a twig snapped in the distance.

Estella Fay whirled around, peering into the forest, her wings ruffling. “What was that?”

The sea of whispers started again, just like before. Estella Fay giggled nervously. “Oh, it’s just one of those things again. That’s not that bad.” She swallowed. “Not bad at all.”

Heliodor Everett’s face went back to its complete neutrality and he extinguished the flame in his hand by a close of his fist.

"Even if the last one didn't do anything but repeat the same sentence, I'm still not a fan of meeting another ghost," Jo said, shivering as she rubbed her arms. They really didn't like ghosts.

Kyle just watched ahead of them in the forest, waiting for the apparition to appear.

"...I hope it's friendly," Jo said with a gulp.

The ghost appeared looking... very normal for a ghost. There were no obvious injuries, only the slightly translucent quality making it stand out as a dead person.

Estella Fay hummed. "That's not that bad."

The ghost stood completely still, just staring at them.

Estella Fay cringed. "Maybe not that bad."

Jo paled.

"That looks pretty bad to me," Jo said, even though all the ghost was doing was staring. She really didn't like ghosts, and especially didn't like ones like this one. The ghost wasn't anything special. They just looked like a person with a winter coat and a scarf on.

The ghostly whispers finally became clear.

"Hate," the ghost whispered. One moment, they were several feet away. The next, they were right in front of the entire group. The scarf shifted and fell to reveal dark bruises on an otherwise transparent neck. The ghost raised their hands like they were going to strangle one of the group.

Estella Fay stepped back. "This one seems... a little less friendly."

The ghost trained their eyes on Kyle, their fingers twitching.

"Hey, apparition. Maybe we should-"

The ghost flickered again and was practically on top of Kyle, hands becoming suddenly solid as they choked Kyle.

Estella Fay shrieked and tried to grab the ghost, but her hands phased through. "Kyle!"

"I knew the ghost was dangerous!" Jo yelped, watching as it continued to choke Kyle. Soon Kyle would be dead, and then the ghost would turn on the rest of them, too!

Still, Jo had made a promise to Kyle, so she patted herself down in an attempt to find her phone. It wasn't anywhere to be found. It was just their luck, really.

"I don't have my phone on me!" she shouted to Kyle.

Kyle tried to tear the ghost's hands away from his throat. "Not...important-"

He made a choking noise.

"Should I count the old-fashioned way?" Jo asked. "Like one Mississippi, two Mississippi? Because I think you're going to die soon."

Kyle made another pained noise.

Estella Fay could barely think as she held out her hand. She could feel herself drawing in all of the light from the forest, creating thick shadows as she concentrated it into a blinding ball in the palm of her hand.

"I'd suggest closing your eyes, everyone!"

She shoved it towards the ghost, making it look more like a stick smear of light than a ball. The ghost's form flickered, the light overwhelming its ghostly glow so much that its hands slipped through Kyle's neck. Soon enough, though, it had recovered, turning its hungry, bloodthirsty gaze to Estella Fay.

She tried to gather more light into her hands, but the ghost was too quick to be caught a second time.

It materialized in front of her, effortlessly picking her up by the neck and slamming her into a tree, choking her just as it had down Kyle.

Estella Fay let out a pained cry, squirming uselessly against its grasp.

The moment that the ghost let go of Kyle's neck, he collapsed to the ground and took in several shaky breaths. Jo frantically glanced between him and Estella Fay. She couldn't tell if Kyle was about to die or not, or if he was even considering finishing it off so he wouldn't have to suffer through the shaky breaths and bruises already starting to form.

But that was besides the point. Kyle was okay. Estella Fay, as far as Jo knew, wouldn't be, and Jo couldn't waste time contemplating if Kyle needed help dying or not.

Jo rushed to Estella Fay's side and tugged at the ghost's strangely solid hands with as much force as they possibly could, but they weren't getting anywhere. Even when Jo made her arms and hands thick and muscular, the ghost held on with a supernatural strength.

"Let her go!" Jo shouted. When the ghost just gripped Estella Fay's neck tighter, Jo turned to Heliodor Everett. "Use your fire again! If her light could distract it, maybe your fire can, too!"

Heliodor Everett grabbed another ball of fire. “Is she immune to being burned? Because if not, this might hurt her as much as the ghost.”

Estella Fay desperately shook her head in an attempt to wrench the ghost’s hands away. Her lungs ached, her throat burned, and spots were dancing over her vision. She tried to gather the light again for just another second to breathe, but she couldn’t focus enough to gather it.

Fire. Would Heliodor Everett’s fire work? Was it bright enough?

Estella Fay wheezed. She was so dizzy.

"I think she'd prefer getting burned over dying," Jo pointed out, still tugging at the ghostly hands around Estella Fay's throat. Jo would prefer it, too, since she was probably going to get burned when Heliodor Everett threw that fire.

Kyle, meanwhile, kept struggling to catch his breath over on the ground. Jo wasn't worried about him.

Heliodor Everett sighed. “Try to lean back, then.”

He tossed it fairly accurate through the ghost’s head. Its face flickered, but it seemed fairly unaffected. It continued choking Estella Fay, slowly lifting her off of the ground.

Estella Fay’s struggle slowed. Moving was like swimming through thick syrup. All but the center of her vision pure black. She inhaled a sharp, painful gasp.

When the flames did close to nothing and Estella Fay still was getting choked, Jo felt panic really overtake her. They had already been panicking before, but now all they felt was dread. She knew that there was nothing else she could do to free Estella Fay. She didn't know what else she was supposed to do.

Then Kyle got to his feet.

With a cough and the bruises oh-so-clear on his throat, he loudly said, "You forgot about me."

The ghost, suddenly seeming to realize that Kyle was right, turned to him. It didn't stop strangling Estella Fay at first, but it did when Kyle grabbed a rock and threw it with surprisingly good aim at its hands.

The ghost dropped Estella Fay to the ground.

The ghost latched itself to Kyle’s neck again, choking him again with just as much fervor as before.

Estella Fay crumpled to the ground, wheezing for breath as spots danced over her vision. Heliodor Everett rushed to her side. “Okay, okay. Just keep breathing. I know it hurts right now, but that goes away in a bit. Everything gets worse if you stop breathing.”

Estella Fay nodded slowly.

"One Mississippi, two Mississippi," Jo started to count, now that the ghost had moved onto attacking Kyle again.

Kyle would have protested he wasn't dead yet, but the ghost was currently crushing his vocal cords and throat. He made a noise that sounded like a protest, then went limp when the ghost fully crushed his throat.

Kyle was dead.

The ghost let go. Kyle's limp, dead body collapsed to the ground.

The ghost flickered like a candle flame and with one last satisfied sigh, it simply stopped existing.

Estella Fay would’ve screamed if she was capable of making any noise. So, instead, she let out a high-pitched wheeze as tears pricked her eyes.

Heliodor Everett, however, was capable of making noise and he still didn’t scream. He froze, staring at Kyle’s body with wide eyes. “Kyle. He’s- he’s-“