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 Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 3:41 pm
Oh! They were here! The clerk looked up and forced a smile when Toby spoke. "Hello," she said. "I'm Gwen." She took his hand and shook it. "You just have to sign this," she offered the guestbook to him.
"Do you think you can?" She asked. She looked hesitant for a moment. "Listen, this ghost or whatever it is. It's horrible..." She glanced over her shoulder quickly. "It attacks everyone who comes in. Please be careful."
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 3:48 pm
Toby nodded and took up a pen to scrawl his name. Sometimes they gave false monikers, but when the ghost could be listening it wasn't a good idea to lie. They didn't know whose side it was on yet, or if it was still conscious at all.
"Have yo had any experiences yourself?" Dari asked, ignoring the question of 'if.' Of course they could. They'd succeeded every time so far, and just look how far Michael had come! He took the pen from Toby to sign off, then handed it to Michael who became only briefly tangible. He signed the book in his usual practiced script. Victorian folks liked their writing neat. Once he set the pen down again, though, he slipped back into intangibility and stepped back.
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 3:58 pm
The woman waited while Toby signed, and seemed to stiffen at Dari's question. She looked towards him, eyes wide. "Once," she said. For a moment, it didn't seem like she'd continue. "I saw it." She glanced over her shoulder as if she expected the ghost to be behind her. "It's horrible. His face..." she shuddered.
"We shouldn't talk about it. It'll come." She wanted to get home and safe before anything happened. "I'd really prefer not to see it again."
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 4:02 pm
"Well we're sort of here to see it, Ma'am," Toby said with a smile, "but we won't ask here. I think we got enough reports over the phone." It was best to not let anyone get too familiar with your face, after all, even in another state.
"Don't worry. This is our job," Dari said, shouldering his bag. He had a little camcorder on him already, just in case things started to pick up right away.
Michael was just standing there, looking and listening. Toby thought he wasn't doing anything to dispel the "creepy" vibes, but Michael probably didn't care. He could be very business-like.
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 4:36 pm
The woman stared at Toby for a long moment and shook her head at him. "You WANT to see that monster?" she asked with some horror. She looked to Dari though, and nodded. Right. They probably dealt with ghosts like this on a regular basis.
"It's usually just down the hall," the woman offered. "You'll see it soon enough. Please be safe." They hadn't been allowing people in since the ghost had started attacking people. "I don't want anyone getting hurt."
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 4:48 pm
"Of course. You can't banish what you don't understand," Toby said. "Are they letting you go? If you need to hang around, you can go to the staff room or something. I mean, I can show you our credentials. We're not in the business of breaking things."
Michael turned to the blonde brothers: "I'm going to go start looking down the hall."
Toby and Dari nodded and Michael went off in the direction the clerk has gestured. Shortly before turning the corner and disappearing from sight, he flickered out of reality to look for their target.
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 6:41 pm
"You're sure?" The clerk asked, but it was clear she wanted to go. "You guys won't be needing me?" She didn't wait for an answer, though, instead gathering up her things. "Thank you for this," she said, looking to Toby and Dari gratefully. "Stay safe!" She practically fled.
The ghost was waiting down the hall. "You are not welcome here," it intoned. It was apparently sightless. The sound of gunfire sounded from behind it.
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 6:52 pm
"No, go on. We'll take the blame if there is any," Toby said, and he watched the woman escape. He couldn't blame her. Ghosts terrified all sorts of living people, not just humans by a long shot. Poor Michael. He turned to Dari.
"Let's start bringing things inside, at least until we see Michael again."
Down the hall, Michael studied the spirit. He was well past the pointed of gouged-out eyes bothering him, but it didn't seem like a battle-type injury really. Maybe it was just an affectation? He couldn't know yet. The gunshots certainly sounded convincing, though.
"I am. By the people who own this fort." He had appeared in shirtsleeves and slacks, considering that was a look from well before his time even so far as now.
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 12:12 pm
The ghost stared for a good long moment. At least... it seemed to be staring. It's once-eyes never left Michael. It disappeared then, and repeated closer to the other ghost. It leaned forward, a cruel smile crossing his lips.
"Fight me for it, then," he challenged. Gunshots sounded from behind him, and then the sound of rocks shattering. "You will not take our fort!"
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 2:35 pm
Michael might have rolled his eyes if he wasn't so practiced at this. Fight him for it? Did the spirit think that he was still alive? That either of them were? The anger in this one was immense, as could be expected, but that was workable. As far as he knew it was just the one, and not an "I am Legion and we are many" sort of deal. An army would be more difficult.
"I'm not going to fight you," he said frankly. He'd prefer to avoid it, and so would his superiors. "The war is over. I have a feeling you know that you're dead, and it's time for you to cross over and find some peace."
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 2:53 pm
"You're a coward!" The ghost crowed, once it heard Michael wouldn't fight. "You're a coward, and you will lose!" It jabbed a finger at Michael's chest. "Oh no, the war has only just begun!" The ghost cackled. "The war's just begun! And you're going to fight! You've come, and you will die here!"
The ghost's gorged out eyes faded into bright blue ones. They were lit with a crazy passion. "You will fight or leave!"
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 3:02 pm
Michael shook his head.
"I'm not a coward," he assured the spirit, "and I will win. This isn't a battle you want to start. I am much older, and much more decidedly dead."At the ghost's sudden eye-change he thought, no, it had been human once. No demon would choose to have plain old blue eyes when it reversed the gouge, and it wasn't mirroring Michael either. They weren't the right shade for that.
Then something in Michael began to build. You could only go the nice route so many times. Someone some time was going to make you fight, and there was a dark seed in the center of Michael's soul that enjoyed it. Blood began to run freely from his nose.
"If you insist. We will fight, you and I."
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 3:43 pm
"You are," the ghost insisted. Fighting was equal to bravery. War was glory. "Stop talking!" he ordered. This one would not win. No one won after he was through with them. They fled with terror! Only he was brave!
He didn't seem alarmed by the blood. "A battle wound?" It asked. "Maybe you have a spine after all! Ha!" The ghost disappeared again, this time it didn't reappear.
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 3:50 pm
Michael's eyes went a bit stark and insane at the questioning, widening tenfold. He hadn't really been in control of the bleeding, but he supposed it was a nice touch. Then the ghost was gone, teleported somewhere else. Oh, sure, but Michael was the coward? He disappeared himself and began to rove the halls at inhuman pace, searching for it. He didn't want it going after Toby or Dari.
When he couldn't find it within the first few seconds, he sped out to the pair quickly.
"Keep a lookout," he echoed in their heads, "We're doing battle."
Toby and Dari both nodded, and then Michael was off again in search of the dangerous spirit.
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 4:11 pm
"Get your weapons ready you coward!" The ghost's voice echoed through the halls. It rang with amusement. It was confident that it would beat Michael. "Oh, civilians. Come to watch me fill this one with lead?" Glass shattered, gunfire sounded. What sounded like an explosion came from outside the building.
"You can't win! You're not prepared!" The ghost appeared before Michael. A gun was in his hand, but it didn't seem altogether solid. It wasn't there. "Draw your weapon then, coward."
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