Young Writers Society

Lorcan faltered mid-bite at Kazimir's question.

He knew where he was from. He could tell him exactly where he was born and how to get there now - if he was back there instead of here. But Kazimir wasn't looking for that place. He was looking for where Lorcan had been right before ending up here. That place was Charlotte's house, and saying it was her house wasn't going to answer the question.

He swallowed.

"I'm supposed to be in a small town in the north," Lorcan quietly said, staring down at his apple. It had to be the north. The temperatures were cooler up north where he was from; it didn't make any sense for them not to share the same pattern here.

He glanced over at the doll and tried not to think of where its owner was now.

"I'm from the big city," Bobby said quietly, though he didn't think anyone was actually listening.

He pulled his knees up to his chest and hunched over them, his eyes scanning their surroundings. This place was creepy, the kind of place you'd dump a body. Gods, he hoped he didn't find another dead body.

Kazimir looked between Lorcan and Bobby. Both of their answers were geographically vague, but maybe they had their reasons. The names of small towns wouldn't mean much to him anyway, and Bobby was still a kid. Maybe he didn't know the city he was from? That, and because he was a kid, he probably didn't want to tell strange adults things. That made sense.

He hummed and nodded as he scarfed down more jerky and pulled out a sandwich, starting on it next.

"What about you two?" he asked Chloe and Jack, still talking through chews.

Bobby’s eye caught on a building a little ways away. It was just as dreary as all the others, just as unsafe and creepy, and right on the other side of the street. The remains of the bright yellow paint that used to cover the building was all faded and chipped off to the point where it was hard to tell that it ever had been yellow.

Bobby squinted. Maybe it was actually just a really faded green?

He was looking at the base of the window, right under the trim where the color was a little less faded, when the tattered curtains fluttered. For the briefest of moments, a set of dark eyes were staring at him through the window.

And then they were gone.

"We're from Arachnion!" Chloe said, her eyes shut and a wide smile forming on her face. Jack sensed something strange when he looked at Bobby.

"What is it? Are you alright?" He said with a small amount of concern in his voice.

Bobby didn't get to answer Jack's question.

The moment that followed the words leaving his mouth, Lorcan caught sight of movement right outside the building that Bobby had been staring out. The person that appeared right before their group almost looked human, but she had the same strange gray skin that illagers had. When Lorcan realized he could see the row of buildings on the other side of the muddy street through her, it clicked.

She was a ghost.

She had long, matted hair and a suspiciously stained night gown. There were marks that must have been left by hands. She would glide for a moment, glitch out of existence, and then pop back up a few feet away from where she had been before.

The air had already been cold, but the temperature plummeted as she drew closer. And even though her dark eyes were blank and lifeless, Lorcan couldn't shake the feeling that she was dangerous.

When she suddenly lunged for Kazimir's neck with outstretched arms, Lorcan's worst fears were proven right.

Kazimir watched with equal parts awe-filled fascination and mild trepidation as the ghost flickered in and out of existence. They really were living in the middle of a horror movie, huh. That would explain how they got here, and why everything was ridiculously creepy.

Ghosts. Ghosts were responsible for everything.

He watched casually, with his sandwich in his lap until the ghost came rushing towards him. He got up, ready to fight the apparition, but how could you fight a ghost? Kazimir tried to dodge its ghostly little hands but it got him, wrapped its fingers around his neck, lifted him up in the air, and slammed him against the building wall. Kazimir's eyes went wide and he spat on the ghostly face. Or at least, that was his intention. He was pretty sure the spit just fell to the ground, but he didn't know. He was a little preoccupied at the moment, being choked.

Bobby had gotten up when he saw the ghost and started to back away, itching to break into a sprint but not wanting to draw its attention.

And then it grabbed Kazimir.

Bobby screamed and ran at the ghost, trying to-to do something. To get it to let go. But it wasn't there. All his hands met was air and more air as frustration and desperation built up in his chest like a capped pot about to overboil.

Jack's face began to grow a little pale with nervousness that he just couldn't shake off. His eyes and palms began to glow green.

Chloe who seemed to notice the troubled look on Jack's face put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. If only, the trauma from Jack's past didn't have to do with ghosts...

Little, desperate strands of darkness started to appear in Lorcan's right hand, but it wasn't nearly enough to actually be considered a weapon - and he knew it wouldn't do anything about ghosts. Swords couldn't hurt something that was already dead.

What could hurt a ghost? He knew he didn't have long to figure that out. Kazimir was being strangled, and he'd die if Lorcan didn't do something-

There was a sudden cascade of white from up above Kazimir and the ghost.

It took Lorcan a moment to realize that the white was salt. It coated both Kaz and the ghost. The ghost started to recoil the moment the salt touched her, but she abruptly let go of Kazimir when more came pouring down. The ghost flickered for a moment before retreating. When Lorcan saw her next, she was little more than a speck on the horizon before she vanished.

Lorcan rushed over to Kazimir's side to make sure he was okay, but he looked up for just a moment to see where the salt had come from. All he saw was the briefest glimpse of a person disappearing down the other side of the roof - and the glimpse was too quick for him to make out any details.

Jack ran right after it. He also disappeared, a fraction of a second later. He ran as long as he saw a figure in front of him.

Chloe freaked out. A sword appeared in her hand and she released her wings. She flew right after.

Kazimir got salt in his eyes, in his mouth, in his shirt. It was everywhere, and his eyes were stinging. He fell to the ground with no warning, and he spat and spat on what he assumed was the ground.

“What the—?!” He shook his hands and swiped at his eyes. He wasn’t crying, but his eyes were sure as hell watering after whatever that was. His vision was fuzzy.

He assumed the ghost was gone. That, or she was just watching all of this. That would be rude.

“Who the f*** dumped f***in’ salt on me?”

Bobby shook the salt from his borrowed hat and stepped back slightly from Kazimir. He seemed pretty mad right now and Bobby didn't want to be right there.

"Are you alright?" he asked hesitantly."

Bobby asked the question that Lorcan had been more concerned about, but it was Kazimir's question that Lorcan knew the answer to - or some of it.

"There was someone on the roof," Lorcan said. He glanced up; they were gone now. Gone like the ghost who had attacked Kazimir, and gone like Jack and Chloe - who must have gone running after it. "They left right after pouring the salt down on you. I think it would be too late to catch them now."

Kazimir squinted, looking up at the roof with his eyes still watering. If the kid wasn't there in front of him, he would've gotten up and found a way to climb to the top of that building and give the salt waster a piece of his mind.

Instead he just sighed and looked over to Bobby. "I'm fine," he said, rubbing his neck a little. The ghost lady had a really strong grip for a dead person.

"I can speak just fine so she didn't damage my windpipe. The salt happened before that."

He got to his feet, wiping salt off his clothes. There was a lot.

"Where are the two neon kids?"