Introduction: Basicly this is a story set 5 years after the first Casper Movie, the plot follows Kat and her Sister Michelle living by themselves at Whipstaff Manor for about a year or so...Dr. Harvey having sadly passed away a year before the events of this story, strangly enough Casper vanishes one night and in his place a young 18 year old boy named Michael Hart (Played By Devon Sawa) becomes close friends with Kat, He and his Mom having just moved to Friendship.

It takes awhile for Kat to make the connection but Michael Hart is closely tied to Casper, in finding out why though is the truth behind Caspers vanishing without a trace. Kat is now a leading Doctor in the field of Parapsychology with which she was using to try an find a way to bring Casper back into the realm of the living, but now that he has vanished she shifts into more of trying to find what happened to him. Kat & Michael become very close, almost as close as she and Casper were 5 years ago at the first Halloween Party held at Whipstaff Manor...It is at this time Michael begins saying things that only Casper would know, then claiming he doesn't know how he knows these things.

Kat is about to gain a friend she can trust but perhaps one she has known all along, sparks fly and emotions run high when Michaels biggest secret, is revealed!

Michaels mother Elizabeth however, holds a dark secret of her own. That secret being the fact that she works covertly for the company Lazarus Inc whom fight to understand and control why some, like Michael/Casper are displaced every once in awhile and given a new chance at life. The Company views it as if they can control who lives, who dies and who gets a second chance, then they will be able to further their goals around the world. It will be upto Michael and Kat to put an end to Lazarus Inc's reign of terror and insure no one else is hurt by them, but where does Michael and Kat's future go? Only time can tell.

Cast

Devon Sawa As Michael Hart/Casper (????)

Christina Ricci As Dr. Kat Harvey

Miranda Cosgrove As Michelle Harvey

Josh Hutcherson As Jonathan Lazarus

Latham Gaines As James-Michael Lazarus III

~*~

Chapter 1: "Prologue: The Lazarus Rising"

Location: Whipstaff Manor (Friendship, Maine) ~5 Days Before The Story Begins~

Kat sighed as she looked around the Manor for her ghostly friend but alas, there were no signs of Casper or any of the Ghostly Trio for that matter...It was as if they had all vanished without a trace or something, Kat felt deep down something was wrong but it was hard for her to explain exactly what or why she felt that way.

"Kat..." Michelle called out as she walked down the huge stairs, which led to Whipstaff's upper levels. "This mansion seems so empty, we should throw a party...Afterall, Halloween is only a couple of months away."

Kat gave her younger sibling a quick smile then nodded remembering Whipstaff's first Halloween party, the night she still remembers even though it was 5 years ago...Casper was granted a revival for saving her father, but the problem was it didn't last and Casper returned to his ghostly form.

"I think that would be pretty cool, Michelle." Kat looked around as if she expected to see Casper fly out of a wall at any moment, but that was not to be as only Michelle and Kat's voices could be heard. "If you want invite your class, I think Whipstaff could very well host another Halloween party this year."

"Thanks Kat!" Michelle ran over and gave her sister a hug. "You are the best sister anyone could have, I'm so glad I decided to move here."

Kat smirks a little before hearing the front doorbell ring, she took a deep breath and turned to walk to the door; she peeks out the curtain which covered the glass on the door seeing a young man standing there...She opens the door and what she saw startled even her, this person looked so much like Casper in his human form but this couldn't be him...Could it? Kat's thoughts raced as her heartbeat elevated.

"Hi, me and my family ust moved in a little ways down the street." He began. "I thought I would drop by and say hello, it's kinda hard to miss a house when it's this big."

"Hi..." Was all Kat could manage to say, her tounge getting tied very easily. "Wha-What's your name?"

"Are you ok?" He asked, a small but playful smirk appearing on his lips. "You look as if you just saw a ghost."

"I may have..." Kat whispered to herself.

"My name is Michael, Michael Hart." Michael offered his hand for Kat to shake which she gladly took, she hoped that her hand would pass right through his but alas whoever he was he was truly Flesh and Blood.

"I'm Kat..." Kat managed after a moment to compose herself and gain a measure of stability. "I'm sorry for how I'm acting, it's just you look so much like a friend I had..."

"Oh, did something happen to him?" Michael asked as the smirk faded away, being replaced by more of a frown. "I'm sorry if I upsetted you, maybe I should go."

"No!" Kat smiled a bit and motioned for him to come in. "You said you came over to say hi, well why don't you stay for a little while? We could use a hand decorating the house anyways."

"Oh, whats the occassion..." Michael started but then gained another smirk. "Let me guess, it's your sisters birthday in a few days, right?"

"How did you know that?" Kat asked a questioning look on her face. "Or better yet, how do you know my sister lives here? Or let alone that I even have a sister?"

"I don't know..." Michael shrugged his shoulders and walks into the mansion before turning back to Kat. "You know for some odd reason I feel at home here, almost like I've lived here my whole life, it's a feeling i've never had before."

"You mean not even in your own home?" Kat questioned finding that a bit strange.

"No, I feel more at home here than I do at home." Michael laughed a little. "I know that sounds stupid, but it's the truth."

Michelle walked into the room and looked from Kat to Michael then back to Kat. "Who's he?" She asked.

"A friend." Kat responded. "Michelle, look at him closely."

Michelle stepped a little closer and looked Michael over, she stopped a moment then put a hand to her mouth. "Casper..." She whispered.

"Casper?" Michael asked. "Oh, is that your friend that passed away?"

"You could say that." Kat sighed a bit then looked at Michelle. "Michael is going to help us decorate for your birthday party, go get some of the supplies and i'll be up in a bit to help."

Michelle nodded and ran back upstairs leaving Michael and Kat downstairs to talk.

"You said you just moved here, where were you before moving to Friendship?" Kat asked gently.

"I have no idea..." Michael shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs. "Me And My Mom move around so much, it is hard to keep a track of where we are at times."

"Why do you move around alot?" Kat was trying to be as friendly as possible.

"She is the C.E.O of Lazarus Inc, a company that specializes in Paranormal Investigations and Research into something called The Lazarus." Michael looked at Kat and smiles. "Her job requires that she move around alot, so in the process I have to move with her."

"What's your moms name?" Kat was unknowingly subjecting Michael to a line of questioning she normaly reserved for Spiritual Entities or Ghosts, whom she was investigating as a Paranormal Researcher.

Michael shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. "How are you doing after your dad's death? Dr. Harvey was his name, wasn't it?"

"What?" Kat looked around before looking back at Michael. "How do you know my dads name?"

"You told me." Michael said before setting up straight. "You said he died last year."

"Oh, thats right..." Kat shook her head slowly knowing she didn't tell Michael anything about her dad, this becoming very strange in her mind as Michael knew things she hadn't told anyone, atleast not anyone with a reflection in a mirror anyway.

~*~

Location: Lazarus Incorporated Main Office (Unknown, North Carolina)

"Come on dad." Jonathan Lazarus sat in his fathers office. "What could be so importaint that we have to miss my football game?"

"I may have found it." James looked to his son then back to the computer infront of him. "I believe I have found a Post-Revived Spiritual Entity, something the Lazarus alone cannot achieve. This boy has been brought back completely with no side-effects whatsoever, we must find the source of how this is possible."

"Whatever..." Jonathan shook his head hating it when his dad got into a mood like this, always Lazarus this and Lazarus that...Sometime he wished he weren't a Lazarus, and that he had never heard of the stupid machine called The Lazarus.

"I must relay this information to Elizabeth, we were right in sending her to Friendship." James took a deep breath. "Things have been displaced in order to support this boys new life, she must've been choosen to act as his mother...She is the closest to him and he must be brought in, we cannout lose this chance to study someone who has been choosen."

Jonathan just shrugged throwing the football up in the air then catching it, he unlike his father was a kind and gentle hearted person whereas his father would do anything in the name of research...He disliked his father in a way for that very trait, especially after he raided Whipstaff manor a year ago and stole The Lazarus. Yeah he did allow the owners of the mansion to continue living there, but that wasn't until the raid caused the untimely death of one of them...Getting them so upset they had a heart attack and died shortly after.

"This signal is coming from Whipstaff Manor." James rubbed his chin. "We must send a team out there at once, this time I am taking special control of it."

"Dad, no." Jonathan shook his head. "My friend Michelle lives there, you already cost her fathers life...Don't take her home to."

"I don't have time to argue son, time is precious." James stood up from the chair and walked out of the office.

Jonathan took his football and threw it as hard as he could at the door, his anger boiling from the attitude his father showed towards other people. He sighed and stood up, vowing his father wouldn't do this even if it ment warning the Harvey's before James could even make it to Friendship.

~*~

Location: Whipstaff Manor (Friendship, Maine) ~5 Days After The Story Begins~

Kat and Michael sat out in the night sky watching as clouds roll by one by one, she looked over to him and smirked a bit. "Do you remember the past 5 years?" She asked softly.

"I remember that I love you." He replied. "Can I still keep you?"

"Of course you can." Kat snuggled up beside him falling gently to sleep, his instinct to embrace her which he did gladly.

"I like being alive..." Michael smirked a bit his memory beginning to flood back to him, his time as Casper was over and now he was Michael...Alive, and free to do the things that humans enjoyed everyday. "Sleep tight..."

Kat smiled a bit in her sleep hoping this moment would never end, alas The Lazarus Company was already heading out to Friendship...Their mission, capture Michael Hart at any cost!

[To Be Continued] Chapter 2: "Second Chances"