When this world announces it's end, the bell filled with happiness will reverberate. It's almost like it became a lullaby, so that someone will defiantly be able to commit to the wish in their hands.

Ah, it is for the sake of the arriving future.

Skylight

On that day, the sky had been bright. Not a single cloud was above him, there was no hint of rain. In the movies, when something terrible and terrifying was about to happen, the characters could somehow always feel it. He didn't get a warning, a sign to turn back, a foreboding cloud weighing down in the air. There wasn't the slightest fear in his heart that his life was going to be changed forever when he got out of bed that morning.

The world around him was quiet, like a predator hiding itself in the thick foliage, it's body perfectly still as it watched it's prey fumble about without a care. The prey had no idea that its own end was looming right behind it, the foul and rancid breath of death itself licking up the back of his neck in thick, heavy bursts.

The sun was shining, and he was going to die.

Brass

The piping on the new invention his parents had been vigorously toiling away at for the last two years were made from shining brass. An unusual metal, but the project was even stranger. Cords and thin wires were tangled all over the basement, stretching over every surface and even tacked to the walls. The lab was like something out of a bad sci-fi horror flick, and he had always hated it.

Even now, standing in the middle of the room with his two best friends and his mother and father, all the hair on his arms raised, and he felt cold.

Honey

When the invention had been a bust, for the first time in his life he felt like he wanted to try to help his parents. They had been working at this for so long, and to have it just short out like that had been devastating. Although they had told the kids to stay away from it, he didn't listen. Sam and Tucker didn't mind poking around either, and they made it clear that they weren't leaving without a picture.

They messed with things outside the portal, and plugged in all the loose cords they could find. No matter what they did, however, it still sat lifeless in it's place. Finally, he decided to check the inside. There had to be something they were missing. There were countless cords wrapped over and around each other littering the floor of the machine, reminding him of a writhing mass of snakes. He slowly crept into the inky blackness that seemed to seep from every crevice and crack in the long metal hole, his chest growing tight with uneasiness as his breaths grew smaller and smaller.

A startled gasp tore from his throat as his foot caught on one of the cords, and he was pitched forward. His arms flew out in a hasty attempt to right himself, or catch something to hang onto. There was an audible click as he felt his fingers flick some sort of switch on the wall. A whirring noise started up, and then everything went white.

—-

Weightlessness. The first thought in his mind was that he felt like a feather. The second was a sheer panic as he realized his feet weren't touching anything. His eyes darted around, looking for some sort of land not to far down under him, so that when he hit it nothing would hurt and he would be okay and he felt bile rising up in his throat and-

He wasn't falling. That was impossible. He wasn't touching anything, but… he wasn't falling. He felt the air wheeze from his lungs, and he remembered how to breathe. Somehow, he was okay.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here."

His eyes widened. Coming from behind him-

A voice that sounded like honey.

Barrier

He whipped around as best he could, given that gravity wasn't exactly on his side at the moment. Floating behind him was a bright figure. It had no defining features, only the vague shape of a human. It had two glowing green eyes, calculating yet wild at the same time, bored into it's odd face. An oozing smile ripped through it's 'jaw,' and he felt like the thing might have been laughing. A cold shiver ran up his spine, and he decided that whatever this thing was, he didn't like it.

After all, there was no way it could be a ghost. Even if his parents were headset in their ectoplasmic craze, he wouldn't be fooled. Ghosts didn't exist.

The thing's absurd grin stretched even further, and it's hollow eyes crinkled in mock joy. "You wouldn't be… a human?" The thing's voice was practically dripping with unsettling delight, and it spoke in a strange, lilting tone.

He tried to swallow, but it caught in his throat. "O-of course I am. And you're not?"

The thing just kept staring at him unblinkingly. "Do I look human to you?"

"… No."

"Then that answers your question, I think."

After staring at the creature for a few more moments, he looked around at his surroundings. "Where… am I? What's going on?" He seemed to be floating in some kind of empty void, blank and desolate.

"You're on the other side, kiddo."

"Other side? What are you talking about?" The words kept tumbling out of his mouth, running like an engine.

"The other side of your portal. This is where ghosts live, of course." It's head begun to rock from side to side like one of those bobblehead dolls his father had gotten him for his birthday last year, only now it wasn't quite so endearing.

"G-ghosts?! Ghosts don't exist!" He spat the words out with venom, and his mind replayed hundreds of memories of his parents leaving him alone to hunt for ghosts, forgetting about him to study ghosts, ignoring him to build a portal to find ghosts.

The thing stopped its bobbing, and reared it's head back to choke out a harsh, cracking laugh. "Don't exist?! Then what am I?!" It chortled.

"You- you're… I-"

"See? You don't know."
"Just because I don't know what you are doesn't mean you're a ghost."

He wrung his hands together, and looked for an escape, an exit, a way out. There was nothing. For as far as his eyes could see, it was purely empty.

"True. But you also can't prove that I'm not a ghost. But, details, details. We have a much more important matter to discuss." The thing's floating body slowly gravitated closer to him, stopping mere inches away from his face.

"We… do? I- I don't understand-" He tried to back up, but he didn't have anywhere near as much control over how he moved than the thing did. He only managed to float backwards an inch or so.

"Yes. You see, by activating that portal, you've… how do I put this so that a simple uneducated human like yourself can understand…? Ah, yes. You've cracked it." It's last words were a low hiss, almost angry in nature.

"Cracked? Cracked what?"

"The wall. Between the two worlds - yours, and mine - is a sort of wall. You've gone and cracked the wall."

"What… does that mean? What's going to happen?"

"Your world is going to be overrun by maddened and vengeful spectres. Every single silly human is going to be consumed and eaten by the ghosts of this realm as they escape into your world. What a way to go, you know?"

He felt his beating heart leap into his throat. "What- what the hell do you mean? That's-"

"It's the truth, I'm afraid. You're all going to die."

"There's- there has to be something? Anything! Please, you have to know of something I can do to fix this!" He was nearly shrieking, and his tiny hands shook at his sides.

"I have no idea how to fix the wall, kiddo. I wish I did. If the knowledge even exists, it would be somewhere hidden away in the human world. After all, it was humans that built the wall."

"Can't you escape through the- the crack you said I made like the others you were talking about?!"

"I'm afraid not. See, I'm not like the others. I'm forcefully sealed here. There's only one way for me to leave."

Lodger

It was quiet for a moment, until he finally spoke up. "What… how can you get out?"

It froze, becoming perfectly still. It's green eyes, however, still tracked him like an animal. "I need to make a pact with a human." It's gleeful voice had simmered down, and was almost monotone. It almost seemed… testing.

"Well, I'm a human, right?! You could make a pact with me!"

The thing hadn't started moving again yet. It watched him quietly. "That would be preferable. See, the way this sort of thing works is like this - there are two beings. One human, one not. Each offers something to the other, and when the trade is complete, a price is taken and the deal is set." It waited for him to make some sort of comment or objection, and when none were made, it continued speaking. "Here's what we would do, kid. You want to protect your home, right?"

He nodded jerkily, his face set into a fearful expression.

"I can give you power. Power to fight off the beings like myself that will soon begin to swarm your world. Until a permanent solution is found, you will be able to protect those people… that you love most."

Neither of the two moved an inch.

"In return… I want out. Out of here. If I posses you and make you my vessel, I will be able to slip through the chains that bind me here."

He stared at the thing, unable to take in air. "What would that entail? I'd still be… me, right?"

It laughed again, clearly amused at the question. "I'm not going to eat you. All I would do is become this little… voice at the back of your head. I would hide inside of you. Almost like a lodger, staying in someone else's house and paying rent until it finds another home.

Do you agree?"