You wake up to menacing smoke and a letter one day. Welcome to ghost academy...join or else suffer the concequences, it says. You're not dead. You are not a ghost. Is this school what it seems?
Elona closed her eyes, trying to ignore what was happening. But, she could feel the blood from the paper cut on her thumb, from when she had opened the letter. She looked at the letter, finally giving in to this demonic game. The letter read, You have been accepted to the school for GHOSTs without your will. End of. Join throught the haunted manion in two weeks.... Or else. Elona felt dread welling in her stomach. She wasn't a ghost! She wasn't dead! Or... was she? No, she wasn't. And she wasn't joining that school. NO MATTER WHAT THE SIRCUMASTANCES WERE.
You have been accepted to the School for GHOSTS and are required to attend under accordance of law.
Two week's time.
The letter lay open on a frilly pink bed sheet. The closet doors were closed, the drawers tucked in, and the books sorted neatly on the shelves. The prim child's room opened up to a garden if the white french doors were opened.
A sly wind from a window blew against the soft pink curtains, and the letter fell to the floor before landing under the dresser.
The window stood open.
Later in the day when a woman would come searching for her daughter, she'd only find muddy footprints leading out of the gate before fading away down the streets.
Melody was gone.
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." ~Dr. Seuss
The rain pitter-pattered on the broad windows of Hughes Mansion. It was sprinkling only five minutes ago, but it soon evolved into a heavy downpour. Water spewed out of the gutters onto the already-soggy ground below.
Tobias looked out of his bedroom window, to see a van in his driveway. He saw his parents loading equipment in the back. Both of them were wearing jumpsuits with gear attached to their belts. He heard the engine starting, and he watched as it backed out of the driveway and drove off.
A smile stretched across his face.
He walked over to his bed and bent down. He had to reach around for a minute, but eventually he grabbed hold of a box. To anyone unassuming enough, it would have just looked like a regular cube ottoman. But Tobias knew what secrets it held.
He lifted the top off and peered inside. Various books were stacked on their sides, with their spine facing outward. These were not normal books, like the ones on the bookshelf by his window. No, these books were not normal at all--in fact, they were paranormal.
Tobias simply loved anything paranormal--werewolves, zombies, vampires, and many others. He found the subject to be quite fastinating, and would spend hours upon hours reading about it. His most favorite creatures of all were ghosts, although he couldn't exactly pinpoint why; perhaps it was their abilities like flying or invisibility, or maybe it was the element of mystery that surrounded them.
Alas, his parents did not seem to agree with his interests. They were paranormal investigators, and they believed that anything paranormal was a blight on this world that should be erraticated. If they ever found out he had this secret collection of books, he would never hear the end of it.
Luckily for him, his parents were gone for hours when they were working. There was a babysitter downstairs, but she had left him to his own devices. He fingered the book spines until he found the perfect one. He pulled it out and looked at the cover. The Adventurer's Guide to Creepies and Cryptids.
Perfect, thought Tobias.
He climbed up to the bay window and sat down. He leaned against some stuffed animals and pillows and pulled a blanket around himself.
He looked out of the window at the rain falling outside. In his reflection, he saw a boy with unusually pale skin and hair. Tobias was born with albinism, a rare condition where his body did not produce enough pigment.
His reflection almost looked like a ghost.
He smiled. Perhaps that was why he liked ghosts so much--because he saw himself in them.
He opened the book, and to his surprise, a letter fell out. He picked it up. It read:
Tobias Hughes,
You have been accepted to the School for GHOSTS. Your attendance is required, or else you may suffer great consequences
Both the letter and the book fell out of his hands in a poof of smoke.
Tobias was gone.
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(Art by me)
Last edited by GengarIsBestBoy on Tue Aug 08, 2023 7:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
That’s the thing with life: no one makes it out alive.
—Beetlejuice,Beetlejuice the Musical
[Gengar! they/she] [Spooky month fan, internet cryptid, certified nerd]
Elona woke up in a really nice house. It was nice, though. Like, really nice. The house was one of those modern fancy houses. With black and white colors, new furniture, bamboo plant..... yeah. That stuff.
And, a big poster on the wall said, The school for GHOSTS oh. Oh. OH. Elona jumped right up and screamed, the loudest she possibly could.
"SCHOOL FOR GHOSTS?!" She asked. "NOPE." She jumped up, off the soft carpet where she had been laying, and tried to thing of an escape plan. She looked out the window. There were a few palm trees, and a fake beach, with fake sand and waves and everything. Whoever made this school seemed rich. They also seemed to have a really dark sense of humor.
"Am I a ghost?!" Elona gasped. She did not want to be a ghost. And that was that. The end.
"No." said a voice, and Elona turned around to see a floating sheet. She screamed some more, and fainted.
The ghost sighed. "And, you think they learn by now." It said. 'And then you're wrong." The ghost floated off to the kitchen to make a cup of tea for when the new student woke up, muttering, "wimps."
Tobias slowly opened his eyes to find himself in an unfamiliar room. It was much bigger than his own bedroom—which was saying something, considering how wealthy his family was.
The walls were a soft shade of green, with some leaf detailing in a darker color. A wide balcony window gave him the perfect view of a beach. Tobias sat up, and found that he was on a large bed. The sheets were all white, and they smelled as if they had been washed recently.
On the night stand next to him was an empty teacup. To his surprise, though, it started to fill itself! He re-adjusted his glasses to make sure he was seeing things right.
The tea seemed to be coming out of thin air. He watched as it fell from its unknown source into the cup.
And then, something peculiar happened. the air wiggled and changed, until something was visible when it wasn’t there before
A man stood by the bed, pouring the last drop of tea into the cup. Except, he wasn’t a man at all; he was see-through and was wearing clothes from 100s of years ago.
Tobias gasped, looking at the ghost in shock and wonder.
The ghost turned to Tobias. “Why hello there, young lad,” he said, “You must be Tobias, hmm?”
Tobias could not contain his excitement. “Whoa, are you… a ghost? A real-life ghost?” He had read about ghosts plenty of times, he had never actually see one in real life.
The ghost laughed gingerly. “Why yes, I am.” He handed Tobias a flyer. “You have been chosen to attend the School for Ghosts. I am your personal ghost butler, Amos. We hope you enjoy your time here.” He bowed, then disappeared.
Tobias looked down at the flyer. A school? For ghosts? He flopped back onto the bed. It was like a dream come true!
That’s the thing with life: no one makes it out alive.
—Beetlejuice,Beetlejuice the Musical
[Gengar! they/she] [Spooky month fan, internet cryptid, certified nerd]
Raquel awoke in the center of an eerie chamber, it appeared that she was in some kind of prison. Her wrists were bound together with strong rope in a painful way. She pulled, hoping the rope would disappear, but instead it dug deeper into her wrists. Raquel hissed at the pain, a trail of blood escaping.
Raquel looked around cautiously, blinking several times to adjust to the bright light that surrounded her. The whole room was plain white, the bed she was lying on, the blanket that covered her and the rope that she hated so much at this moment. It was all making her feel queasy. She carefully got off the bed with the long piece of rope tied to the headboard. She was wearing a simple black top and jeans with mud on them, and her black hair, which fell down either side of her shoulders, was messy, like really messy.
Raquel pulled at it again, the pain in her wrists increasing. Panicking at this point would certainly not help. Despite the million thoughts running through her mind, she managed to stay calm. Think of the possibilities. There was a door, of course, a white door. The door was locked when she approached it and thought for a minute. Would there be anyone outside who could help her, or would there be someone ready to knock her down? She looked around the room, nothing but the bed and no cameras. Whoever had decided to keep her here must have wanted something unusual, but this person was no fool.
Suddenly a voice came out of nowhere, "Raquel Margarita Rodrigo, you have been accepted at the school for GHOSTS," said a man approaching her in a black suit and black sunglasses. "There is only one rule, that you must follow; if you don't, you will perish. Which option do you prefer, Ms. Rodrigo?"
Raquel was thinking about the words the man had just said, "Am I Dead? What's going on? Tell me first," She wasn't scared but she was also not stupid. The man smiled coldly and raised one of his eyebrows, "You are smart, Raquecita, but not that smart." "Where did you get that from? What did you do to my brother? " Raquel screamed at the man, but he did not even move a toe.
This time, she was in a fancy, huge room. Two of the walls were knocked out to make a balcony. She was lying on what must have been the softest bed EVER, surrounded in comfortable sheets, pillows, and stuffed animals. Mainly Squishmallows, her sister's favorite things in the world. And, best of all, there was a gigantic flat-screen television on the wall!
Elona groaned and sat up. Her ears were ringing from who knows what, and she was incredibly stiff. Her vision went black for a few seconds as she adjusted her position, a sure sign of low blood sugar.
She suddenly felt something smooth and folded up underneath her hand. Elona quickly picked whatever it was up, and stared at it.
It was a brochure for the school of GHOSTS! There was an image of a few large, fancy, mansions glinting happily in the sun. Children and ghosts alike were standing outside, smiling and giving thumbs-up. It was just to ironic that Elona almost laughed aloud.
Suddenly, the door opened, and she quickly closed her eyes and feigned unconsciousness, because she had no idea what had walked in, and she honestly didn't want to know.
A few pappy voices filtered out, and Elona opened an eye, just a crack. Two boys and a girl were talking happily. They were all wearing the hottest styles, and looked amazing, happy, and just... perfect.
"Oh, look, she's still asleep?" asked the girl. "She's probably faking it."
"Totally," said one of the boys. "Wait! I know what to do! Be right back!" He raced out of the room, and the others stared at Elona.
"You don't think..." said the girl.
"No way." said the boy.
After a few minutes, the boy was back, this time with a bowl, filled up with water.
"Oh, shoot!" said the boy.
The other boy crept up by Elona, and sneakily tried to slip her hand into the bowl...
How immature, thought Elona.
The people waited and waited, only for nothing to happen.
"Maybe we should pour it on her-" the sneaky kid suggested, and just began to tip over his bowl when Elona sprang up and screamed, as did everyone else.
"WHOOOA!" yelled the girl.
Elona was sure that the School for GHOSTS wasn't going to be as bad as she thought... but not as good, either.
Sofia looked down at the letter in her shaking hands. She squeezed her eyes shut. This can't be happening, she thought. She read the letter again, hoping that if the words ran through her brain enough times she'd realize that they weren't really saying what she thought they said. But no matter how many times her eyes scanned the page, the words still said the same thing.
Sofia Grenwood,
You have been accepted into the prestigious school for GHOSTS. You are required to attend and will be picked up in two weeks to head for the haunted mansion. If you do not comply, you will be taken by force. If force does not work on you, you will suffer severe consequences.
We gladly await your arrival and hope to see you soon. (Most conveniently in one piece.)
Sofia collapsed on her pale purple bed cover. Two weeks? The letter had been sitting in her room unopened for two weeks! Sofia cursed her mom for forgetting to tell her that she had placed mail for her on her desk. What if the ghosts came for her now?
Sofia sat back up and stared at the dusty purple-grey envelope she had opened only moments ago. As soon as she had lifted the flap, smoke poured out. Maybe this is actually legit, she thought. Who puts smoke in an envelope? It totally sounds like something a ghost academy would do.
Normally Sofia wouldn't believe in this kind of superstitious stuff, but ever since the Social Media Spill, as everyone at school called it, she had been dreaming of a new world to dive into, where she didn't have to worry about friends, the internet, or other people. A place where she could just be... Sofia.
Suddenly, Sofia jumped and dropped the letter. A sound had come from behind her pink and gold stained glass-patterned curtains. It sounded like someone was scratching at the window with a pointy stick. Sofia stood up and drew back the curtains.
There was nothing there.
Sofia turned around to go back to her bed but before she could take a step, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
they/she]
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