Chloe had stopped. Jack was no longer in her sight. She could hear distant yelling from the direction of the party they had left, but she stayed where she was in case Jack returned.
Jack continued running after the figure ahead. It was stunning how this thing was almost as fast as him. He slowly gained on the ghost-like figure and didn't look back once as he did so.
Just as Jack almost reached the ghost, the ghost suddenly vanished - leaving behind a patch of cool air hanging in the misty twilight.
Back near Kazimir, Lorcan watched as Chloe came to a stop. He could barely make her out; it was even harder to see Jack in the distance. He was little more than a dot on the horizon at this point.
Bobby cringed slightly when Kazimir looked directly at him. "Yessir," he muttered, eyes flitting across the dirt on his shoes. The new dirt on his shoes. He couldn't remember what color his shoes had been when they were donated.
Jack walked back towards Chloe. There was a mix of horror, rage and disappointment on his face. The sight of an actual ghost had triggered something far too primal for him to deal with.
He reached Chloe and fell to the floor, on his back. It was only now visible that he was drenched in sweat. His hoodie disappeared, revealing a crystal blue Tee underneath. "What the f*ck was that thing?"
"I think that was a ghost," Lorcan said, shaking the little bit of salt that had landed on his shoes off. He wasn't too close to Chloe and Jack right now, but he couldn't help but overhear the conversation - his hearing had always been exceptional. It didn't even occur to him that Kazimir and Bobby might not have heard Jack's question.
His gaze traveled back to the two in question.
Bobby looked nervous, but Kazimir didn't seem to have done anything wrong. It reminded him almost of Hero when other people met him for the first time - he always came off as more intimidating than he actually was. He had a feeling that Kazimir wasn't all bark and no bite, but he also doubted that Kazimir wanted to actually hurt Bobby.
"A ghost... Just a ghost?" Said Jack, trying to hide the shock behind a smile, though his awe at what just happened was evident on his face from the amount of sweat that rolled down his forehead each second, and of course, his pale Lorcan-like face.
Chloe couldn't help but notice the last bit. She kept moving her eyes from Jack to Lorcan, trying to understand just how similar their faces looked. And they looked surprisingly similar!
Kazimir noticed that Bobby was uncomfortable, but he didn't think his silly comment warranted a "yes sir." That was the kind of stuff Kazimir's father demanded from people and children, and Kazimir didn't like feeling like his father.
"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt ya for having an opinion, kid," Kazimir said, looking from Bobby, to the others, and back to Bobby. He was afraid the kid was going to run off into the dark by himself and get eaten by a ghost at this rate. Like, he understood that logic. As a scared kid, it made sense. Run from the untrustworthy adults that you don't know because "stranger danger" and into the arms of ghosts who could choke you to death.
Okay, maybe it didn't make sense. Whatever. Kids had problems. Everyone had problems. That was evident by Jack running like a madman after the ghost, Bobby flinching at being noticed, Chloe not being able to keep up with Jack, and Lorcan being a vampire.
"You have a favorite color? I like brown. And sometimes green."
Lorcan was torn between paying attention to Bobby or to Jack, but it looked like Kazimir had comforting Bobby covered. Lorcan also doubted that Bobby would find much comfort in anything he said; the thought made him absentmindedly run his tongue over his sharp incisors.
He turned his attention to Jack, trying to not feel self-conscious when he saw Chloe glancing between the two of them.
"It was just a ghost," Lorcan confirmed, giving the kind of smile that showed just how put-off he was by the whole thing, too. He tried to pretend that the smile didn't show off his fangs. "I don't know why she attacked us, but..."
He faltered.
"The salt seemed to help," he finally said. "Maybe we should find some more to protect ourselves with in case she comes back."
Kazimir sighed. Well, he tried. Whatever. He'd just make sure the kid didn't get hurt or do anything too stupid.
He followed behind Bobby to go with the other and check on Jack. When he got closer, Jack was looking a hecka lot like Lorcan - all pale and vampire-y. Was this whole town full of vampires? That, or maybe Jack had a wound he wasn't mentioning and had lost a lot of blood? Nah, Kazimir would've noticed that. And smelt it, probably. Right?
Eh.
He put one hand on his hip and stood from a small distance, not wanting to crowd Bobby or the others since they all seemed jumpy as h*ll.
Gender:
Points: 1234
Reviews: 590