Young Writers Society

"I hope there isn't any s***," Jaron whispered, looking up at the man who'd spoken. He realized at the last second that it might be one of those 'expressions,' but it was honestly so hard to tell. Jaron never quite understood why people couldn't be literal. "And yeah, I'm not human. In, in case you can't tell."

Orrin was trying his best to take this all in. He had already been aware that Lucifer wasn't normal due to the fact that he was the Devil, and that Levi/Kartiel wasn't exactly normal because of his ability to teleport, but it still was difficult to accept that he didn't necessarily have to hide who he was.

He took a deep breath.

"You're right," he said to Lucifer. "I'm not sure what I am, but I'm not a human. I can't die, and I can...I can do things."

Kartiel raised an eyebrow. "You have to be more specific than that."

Orrin sighed. "I can see ghosts, and I can make a weapon appear out of thin air."

"Oh. That's interesting." Adeline said helpfully, trying to diffuse the tension that had been created in the group over its members' humanity.

Jaron watched the awkward silence settle over the rest of the group. Finally, something familiar. He almost hated to break it, but he hadn't heard from Thytes or Kendrik, and he was starting to get worried.

"That's nice," Jaron said. "Is that what you were doing earlier?"

Orrin nodded.

"I don't get it," Kartiel said, folding his arms and looking Orrin over. "Lucifer said you're a fake, but you can see ghosts. How does that work?"

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm an actor, so I act. I point out places were ghosts don't actually exist, and then help out the ghosts that really do live in those areas when no one's looking." He met Kartiel's gaze. "I don't want them to have to deal with people trampling through their homes, so I do my best to point everyone in the wrong direction."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lucifer watching him with a small smile steadily growing on his face. It was more than a little disturbing to see the Devil of all people giving him a look like that, especially when he had no idea why Lucifer looked so happy.

"You're a good person," he quietly said. "Are you a Christian?"

Orrin blinked. "Uh..."

Lucifer fiddled with his pencil. "I know you can't die, but if you ever do, somehow, I think my brother would really like you..."

He immediately paled. "Your b-brother?"

Lucifer nodded.

"Is your brother in charge of H-Hell, too?"

He nodded again, and Orrin paled even more. When Lucifer finally noticed this reaction, he hurriedly added, "Hell's not what you think it is! It's-It's just a place where the bad Christians go when they die, and it works just like a normal prison. And my brother's kind of scary, but he's really kind. He's God."

James looked over to Maahes wearily as the others went on and on. He didn't bother to try and explain his world to them. It would've just been more confusion.

"If you saw ghosts earlier -" he interjected, looking at Orrin. "Did you see anything important? Any kind of hints about this place?"

"Yeah," Jaron whispered, shrinking back from James. Something about James' cold stare and general attitude scared Jaron. "That's kinda why we were, were walking and stuff."

Orrin noticed Jaron's unease, but didn't directly address it - he just made sure he was standing in between Jaron and James. James did seem to have a cold demeanor, though Orrin wasn't sure how much of that could be attributed to his actual personality or him appearing so unhealthy at the moment.

"I talked to a ghost back in another one of the buildings," he elaborated. "He said that everyone in town had a radio where they were receiving broadcasts about some mysterious arrival, and that I could get my hands on one if I went to the town hall. I tried getting more information from him, but he's not all there."

He didn't add that it was that fact that worried him the most. The man hadn't been a partial. Not truly one, anyways. But whatever had happened to him had made him lose sight of reality, and most ghosts didn't seem to experience that even after they died.

Adeline's eyes widened, part out of fascination and part out of fear. "There are ghosts here?? And- and what it was telling you about... a broadcast on a radio. What does that mean? Is that a special type of record-keeping?"

Jaron wrapped his arm around one of Reyes's. He felt more comfortable around Reyes than around James, and this made him feel slightly more secure.

When he looked back at the alleyway, he tightened his grip a little more. "I don't see them anymore," Jaron whispered.

Orrin glanced over at Adeline. "It kind of is. A radio is a way that people can transmit messages, stories, songs-" He was about to continue with the list, but then what Jaron had said after grabbing onto him finally registered. Though he hadn't specified who "they" were, Orrin suspected he was talking about Thytes and Kendrik. He glanced around the area in search of them. They had gone off to talk with each other ages ago. Why hadn't they returned yet?

"Was that ghost a partial?"

Orrin's gaze snapped back to the group assembled. The term was something that only people like him tended to use, and he had never expected to hear it uttered from the mouth of one of the other people present. He hadn't even truly heard it spoken - most of his knowledge on the terminology associated with ghosts came from online forums and blogs.

He finally figured out who had spoken.

It was Lucifer.

"He wasn't a partial," he said. "At least, I don't think he was. I don't think he was...mentally stable before he died, but his soul wasn't in pieces and he was able to hold somewhat normal conversations with me-" He cut himself off for a second time, though it was now because he had just realized he was talking about souls in front of complete strangers.

Lucifer gave him a small smile, his fangs glinting in the light. "I can see souls, too." Was Orrin supposed to take solace in the Devil having the same abilities as him? Then the smile faded, and Lucifer nervously glanced around the street they were currently standing in. "If he was like that when he died, then it must have been traumatic..."

"He hung himself," Orrin clarified. "And I think a religious cult might have been involved - they were probably in charge of the broadcasts."

Lucifer turned pale. "If one person committed suicide, then there might be other similar deaths. Suicides usually leave ghosts behind because of their regrets, and if the people here weren't in a good mental state..."

Oh no.

Orrin's eyes widened in horror. "We could be dealing with a town full of partials. Partials who are probably going to be more violent, which means that we shouldn't split up. But Kendrik and Thytes are already gone!"

Jaron rested his snout on Reyes's shoulder, gripped his arm even tighter, and very quietly screamed.

James didn't reply to the scream. The information hit him like a wall. Amongst everything else that'd happened since being transported magically down into an underground beach with a city, of course there would be ghosts. Things were just getting more and more bizarre. That didn't mean he was looking forward to it, but he was already numbed to the idea. So he just stared at Reyes. "Did anyone see where they went?" he asked in monotone. "We should find them, them. And stick together while we're at it."

Orrin raised a shaking hand and pointed in the direction he thought he remembered the two heading in. He wasn't necessarily scared of the ghosts themselves; he was scared of what they might do to Thytes and Kendrik if they got their spectral fingers on them. "I think they went off that way."

James followed Orrin's finger. "Then let's get going," he said harshly, not waiting for the others before leading the way. He did, however, grab Maahes's hand to drag him with him. "Hurry up," he said to the others.