Young Writers Society

"We were dropped into this underground town or something," Violet told the girl. "I think we should stick together," she said to the whole group. "This place gives me a really bad feeling."

The only thing that was giving me a bad feeling was Vankous, but I could admittedly see the point. This town seemed like just the right kind of place for the Problem. The only true ghost I could see was the Phantom, but there was nothing to say that another ghost wasn't about to show up unexpected.

And there was nothing to say that the ghost would be even the least bit friendly.

Without giving any kind of warning or indication of what I was doing, I started walking down the street we had been spit out on. If I walked far enough, I was sure I'd find something. Who knew? If I was lucky, I could even run into someone I actually knew. Maybe our little group wasn't the only batch of people that had been brought her by mysterious, unknown powers.

As I try to sink in what was happing. I brush off my pants that got a little dusty. I start to realize my surroundings trying to figure why did I deserve this.

Ok yes, sometimes I had my little anger tendencies that led to some violent urges to just strangle some people. But hey, don't we all!

As I start to look around, trying to what group I can slide in without question. Perhaps I can get at least someone here to trust me. Then that's when it hit me. A guy can't be any older than me. I notice him wandering off. Where is he going? I started to make my over to him, as I got closer I started to notice a few things about him.

His skull Mask...
Huh? weird how come he is the only one who gets a cool mask stuck to his face.


Finally, trying to fall in step with him

"So pretty boy how come your the only one who wants to wander off?"

Sophie wasn't quite sure how to classify everyone in the group yet, but she had the feeling that this ghost girl could actually be quite nice. Especially because she had somehow received approval from her.

But while Sophie was still thinking about how to proceed, she noticed Skull slowly saying goodbye to the group. Somehow it didn't suit Sophie that suddenly what she hoped to put together was falling apart. At the same time, Sophie wondered if she had to play mother to everyone so that they would all stay.

Without noticing, she marched dead straight after him, not paying attention to what the street looked like around her.

"Hey! Come back! We're not supposed to separate from the group!"

But Skull didn't seem to hear her and Sophie stepped up a gear to come after him.

What kind of group is this? Everyone does what they want... It's just like school!

She stumbled over an empty can lying in front of her. She almost reached Skull, but now she was lying flat on the ground.

"Hey! You there! Come back!"

Sophie became angry. But not at anyone, but at the can. Slowly she got to her feet again and threw the can after Skull, hoping somehow to get his attention.

Vankous POV

Vankous nearly laughed as Skull stalked off on his own. Well, that was that problem sorted. He then turned to face Susan who was stammering some sort of reply to one of the girls here. That girl really needed to find a girlfriend at some point or she was going to be a liability in any mission that involved that particular gender.

Mentally debating between going some other direction and following along, Vankous decided maybe following along was the best idea. After all, he couldn't annoy the man if he wasn't nearby.

He gestured for Susan to follow and proceeded to head in the general direction Skull was going in, forming a nice protective bubble around him as he did so, gently rising a few feet into the air so he could drift along nonchalantly.

Behind him, Susan stammered something else to the girl that sounded vaguely like "I've been to creep..creepy, crepe, no, I mean creepier places, but this is definitely not on my vacation list. We definitely should stick together, as in this group, not we, that would be weird, what am I saying, sorry, ignore me."

Susan POV

She really wanted to sink into the floor right about now. Her mouth was wayy out of control, so she decided to shut it, plastering a smile on her face and gently allowing herself to drift backwards after Vankous, going partially invisible as she did so.

"Because I'm the only one who has a mind of their own, apparently-" I started to say with a shrug. If I hadn't suddenly had a can thrown my way, I might have commented on the pretty boy nickname. I hated how that applied to me now, even though I looked nowhere near as sophisticated as Natty boy or Lockwood.

I might have been able to catch the can with my powers if I had actually noticed it was coming my way, but I didn't have the luck. I winced as it collided with the back of my head, then spun around to face whoever had thrown it. I expected that it was Vankous, seeing that we already didn't like each other.

Then I realized it was Sophie.

I rubbed the back of my head, a scowl on my face. "What was that for?"

With a loud whimper, Sophie froze and began to sink back to the ground. At first, she was busy looking at Skull and hoping that he would eventually continue talking of his own accord, but to Sophie, it felt as if it had been two and a half hours since Skull had spoken, (although it was only five seconds) and she took the floor.

"We... we are not supposed to run away alone. So... that also means you... should not... go alone. Please...?"

Wow, that was great...I´m so convincing...

Sophie still wanted to wait for a reaction to Skull, but her conscience now took over and suddenly Sophie was on her feet again.

"If you know anything you want to share with us, do so. But it would be too dangerous for you to go off on your own. We should try to have a plan first before we get ourselves killed."

"Please."

She added quickly and sank back to the ground.

I faltered.

I hadn't expected my scowl to actually scare anyone. It might have scared Lucy, once, but everyone who knew me now—who saw me as a friend, even though the word felt strange when I thought it—didn't see me as a threat. Sophie looked so scared when she first started speaking. She regained some of the bravado that must have been there when she threw that can, but it was lost again as quickly as it had reappeared.

I rubbed the back of my head again. My hand returned to its side, and the scowl disappeared. I felt guilty, even though I wasn't going to admit it.

"I was just going ahead," I said. I wasn't entirely sure why I was looking away now. "We decided to explore this place, so I thought I'd start—we didn't need to sit around and keep talking about it."

The explanation sounded weak to even my own ears, but I hadn't been planning on leaving this group behind. Except maybe Vankous, but leaving him behind would mean leaving everyone else, too. It had been a long time since I had last wanted that without a good reason.

When Sophie had heard his words, and she noticed how he averted his gaze from him, she felt pity.

Maybe I was a bit too hard on him after all.

Sophie stood up and slowly plodded forward. She wanted to shake his hand and apologise, but her voice kept talking.

What he said had neither head nor tail.

As she walked forward, she tried to think of some words. She wanted to be like the characters in her video games who could keep a cool head in any situation. She was now just in front of him and stopped.

"That still doesn't help us. If you die, we'll be just as smart as before. Only then we'll have to look for a body. That would not be a funny sidequest. Besides, it's too early to die."

Sophie took a deep breath because she noticed that her legs were beginning to tremble.

"We should split up, maybe into two groups, and troop number one should go in one direction and troop number two in the other. That way we'll at least have some information to hand if one dies."

She no longer felt comfortable reaching out to apologise, but now actually wanted Skull to do it. Sophie was convinced that her reasoning was the best she had ever given. At least in an exceptional situation.

Worse than that one presentation at school where I wore two different pairs of shoes and everyone just wanted to ask me about the shoes... Why did this happen always to me...?

Vankous floated along besides Skull and Sophie who'd been following him. A rather entertaining little drama had played out between the two and Vankous was genuinely at a loss with what reaction to give to that particular one.

Once Sophie started to suggest splitting up however, he decided perhaps it was time to step in.

"Splitting up is how everyone dies," he said, rather flatly.

The guilt was still there, but it skillfully hid itself the moment Sophie commented on the possibility of me dying. A smirk spread across my face. If only she knew how unlikely that was. I had stood at death's door twice and had it spit me back out both times. If I died here, I was sure it would find another creative way to return me back to the living.

"Not me," I said. I had my ways of protecting myself. As the smirk remained on my lips, I felt my mask pressing up against my skin. It was a reminder that I didn't really know who or what had brought us here, or why they had brought us here. I didn't know what they could do, either.

I doubted they could kill me, but the others...

For a moment, the air grew just a degree colder.

"Other solution," I said, turning away from Vankous and Sophie. The temperature returned to normal. I took a step forward—back in the direction I had originally be heading. "I start walking this way, and everyone follows because we don't have anywhere else to go."

"Works for me," said Violet, shrugging. "Hey, if we see any bars or taverns or whatever it's called, I'm stopping for a drink."

Waking up in a strange world of masquerades and ghost towns took a lot, and her throat was parched.

The shadows from the dim lamps looked extra dark on the street corners and in the alleyways. Their footsteps echoed on the paved road. The windows were dark. It didn't look or feel like there was a soul in town.

"I'm with you on that one" After today and all the hell we've been through. I'm going to need something to calm my nerves before they get out of control. I don't want anyone to see that side of me yet.



Who would think that Katherina Petrova would be stuck in a ghost town with strangers that don't even realize they are walking with a monster.

I stopped dead in my tracks. I thought they were gone she told me they wouldn't bother me anymore.

Your a monster accept it.


Deep breathe
Focus on your breathing

They haven't even noticed that you are no longer walking beside them.

Do you think these people actually like you?

no, but maybe they--


[i]See that's the problem, there is no maybe. You can't trust them. You can't even trust yourself. You run from your problems. You manipulate, you thirst for power, you control, you punish, but your actions are driven by one singular place deep inside. Katherine, you are alone, and you hate it. That's why you will always be stuck with me.

Deep breathe
Inhale Exhale

I sank to the ground and brought my knees up to my chest as I stuck in on what they said. re running it through my head.

You're a monster!
You will always be stuck with us


I start to mumble the words over and over again.
"I'm always going to be alone"
"I'm a monster"

Sophie didn't expect anyone else to be listening when she spoke to Skull. She was all the more surprised when Vankous came up to her and made his comment.

Sophie wanted to raise her eyebrow to offer a counter-argument, but it was probably something no one could see because of her mask. She gave a quick smile to Vankous and tried to keep calm.

On the one hand, she wanted to prove to him that she was in the right and on the other hand, she did not want to rebel against anyone. Who knows how much longer they had to be together. Sophie was busy questioning everything again. From thoughts that this was a dream or she was trapped in her TV to a cruel hidden camera game show, anything was possible.

She was absolutely sure that she was suddenly the centre of attention and yet she had the feeling that she was not. She didn't want to start a discussion at all but didn't want to go down alone somewhere.

"So let's just set off together, shall we? Like a squad team somehow?"

After she had spoken the words, she wished to vanish into thin air, which unfortunately had not worked.

Vankous POV

Vankous immediately snapped back towards Susan as Skull made his declaration. This needed to be dealt with immediately. It was smarter for everyone to go in one direction and since Skull plus Sophie was already walking off that way along with a couple of the others, it was the better option. But he'd die long before he admitted that out loud, so the only solution was to follow them, invisibly. Well, sort of. Only Susan could be truly invisible, but he could do something that would ensure he was for all intents and purposes invisible to most people here.

Susan POV

Susan was about to question Vankous on what he was going to say when she saw one of their number fall to her feet and start mumbling something. Susan was absolutely terrible when it came to dealing with people in situations like that, but since no one else seemed to be doing anything she couldn't just leave the poor girl like that. She immediately moved to kneel down next to the girl.

She put a hand on the girl's shoulder, taking care to make it solid. She knew it wasn't exactly going to be comforting. Her hands were always ice cold, but she hoped it would do something.

"Hello, can you hear me?"

Vankous POV

Vankous frowned as Susan knelt next to one of the girls. A quick scan of the girl's currently broadcasted emotions showcased signs of something that could end up being rather serious. Well, that's great. He couldn't just leave that be. He marched over, maintaining a bit of distance to see what response she would give Susan.