A/N: Arg, it's national "Talk Like a Pirate Day." What an interesting day to have, huh? Well, I guess you could kind of say this is in honor of that. Honestly I think all the cool Halloween stuff at the stores has inspired me. You know that one part of TLA where you go up to the door on Picard's/Pier's/the Blue Lemurian's ship and you can't open the door because it's being held shut by a powerful force? Well, what if there was someone else on the other side of the door. This is just another one of those "what if" fics! Have fun and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Picard/Pier's got mad because he's not in here (I still haven't rescued him) so he stole the disclaimer that tells you I own nothing. I guess he wants Camelot to sue me...

Edited 10/18/2008

"Isaac, we've been traveling for hours," Ivan whined, trailing behind his companions.

Garet glanced behind him at the younger adept and voiced his agreement. "Yeah, Isaac, we have been walking for a long time now. We should rest somewhere." Mia didn't speak but nodded her head in agreement.

Isaac sighed. "We will, we will," he promised them. "As soon as we find a proper resting place or the next town," he reminded them, his eyes darting around lest a monster attack them offguard.

"Hopefully, a town with normal people," Mia muttered, "unlike those lunatics at the last one." Ivan and Isaac both turned slightly pink. Garet laughed.

"That bad?" Ivan ventured.

Mia nodded and sighed. "If you hadn't been so out of it, you'd agree."

"Mia," Garet slowed his pace to match Ivan and Mia's, "when traveling with us you have to expect wild and grand adventures."

Mia raised her eyebrows. "Wild, I understand, but grand?"

"Of course this is grand," Garet grinned, "trust me. Some people would give anything to be traveling with us on this grand quest so consider yourself lucky!"

Mia shot Garet an amused look. "Oh, I trust you all right. I trust you to get us into lots and lots and lots of trouble that I'll have to bail us out of." With that she quickened her pace so her word would be the last on the matter. "Isaac," she caught up to the Venus adept, "Do you think we could just take a break for a little bit? I doubt any monsters would jump us." Isaac didn't look convinced.

"We can't risk having monsters injure any of us, Mia," he told her never slowing down. Mia was about to protest when Isaac came to a sudden halt. Mia skidded to a stop as well and the two stared ahead wide eyed. Garet came up behind them.

"Glad you finally decided to take a..." he trailed off as his eyes found what Mia and Isaac were staring at. "Whoa."

"Wow," Ivan breathed, stopping beside Isaac, "it looks kind of like ours."

The four stared at the large ship that was anchored off the coast. A light wind ruffled the sails and the ship swayed gently back and forth.

"It almost looks...lonely," Mia observed. Isaac began making his way towards the ship.

"Looks like we found a proper resting spot," he grinned.

Mia frowned. "Are you sure? What if someone's there?"

"I doubt anyone's there. You just said yourself it looks lonely," Garet pointed out. "Besides I heard in town that some ship had been abandoned hundreds of years ago," Garet continued, "this must be the ship."

Mia's eyebrows shot up as she gave Garet a skeptical glance. "I don't know, Garet, this ship doesn't look hundreds of years old."

"Looks can be deceiving," Ivan spoke up. "I was with Garet when that old couple told him that story. They sounded serious and were pretty convincing," he told Mia and Isaac.

"And what did they have to say?" Isaac inquired.

"They said that there was a man called Captain Loot," Ivan began. Mia stifled a giggle at the name. Garet shot her a look and Ivan continued. "This man sailed here from a faraway land searching for his lost love. Apparently she'd been kidnapped by some other pirates and they had thrown her off the plank. He traveled here in hopes of finding her, but when he got here, he wasn't too pleased with what he found."

"Okay, okay, let me tell some of it," Garet cut in excitedly. "They said that he found his wife in an inn. She'd been injured and was dying. He made it to her side right just as she drew her last breath."

"That's sad!" Mia interrupted horrified. Garet nodded.

"That isn't all, though," he continued. "They say Captain Loot died of a broken heart afterwards. But, he never completed his last mission which was to sail to another land and retrieve treasure to help fund a memorial for his dead daughter. So now he just kind of lurks around his ship waiting for someone to sail away with it."

"But no one ever does," Ivan picked up the story when Garet paused. "Because Captain Loot doesn't want anyone else manning his ship."

"Then how will he ever leave?" Mia asked, engrossed in the story. Isaac rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, but he's very possessive of his boat," Ivan shrugged.

"He attacks people that attempt to steer it with flying swords and he keeps undead wolves with him to scare people away," Garet continued in a low voice. "They say when you hear the wolves howling you know that Captain Loot isn't far behind." Mia shuddered but didn't look like she believed the whole story. Isaac shook his head amused.

"Did you two actually believe all of that?" he asked. Ivan laughed at this.

"Not really, Isaac," he admitted, "but you have to agree that it was an interesting story."

"Interesting is an understatement," Isaac told him.

Mia nodded. "It was interesting all right," she agreed. "I wonder why the ship is really here."

Garet scoffed at them. "Skeptics."

"You believe that story?" Mia asked curiously.

"Not really," Garet admitted, "But you never know."

"Oh, please," Isaac looked at his best friend stunned. "You actually think that that's possible?"

Garet's face reflected Isaac's stunned one. "Isaac!" Garet exclaimed, aghast. "You don't think it's possible?!" Isaac shook his head and Garet looked like someone had just slapped his face. He stared at Isaac, mouth agape. "After all we've been through? It's not like we didn't just fight a ghost that long ago! Or watch two people fuse into some freaky gigantic dragon! Or...or..." Garet mentally went through all the out-of-the-ordinary things that they'd been through.

"Okay, okay," Isaac stopped Garet's jabbering. "I guess it could be a possibility. Could be."

"Well, at least you think it could be now," Garet sighed, still slightly shocked at Isaac's adamant skepticism about... everything.

"Come on," Isaac began climbing the ladder that was hanging off the side of the ship, "ghosts or not, we're resting here." Garet grabbed a rung and also began climbing. Ivan followed him and Mia brought up the rear.

"When did you two hear that story?" Mia asked as the question suddenly popped into her head. "And where were me and Isaac?"

"We were in that old couple's house, remember? When you and Isaac went to buy herbs from the shop." Ivan reminded her.

"Oh, that's right," Mia's face lit up with understanding. "You two were nagging that old, weird couple."

"No wonder they told you such a ridiculous story," Isaac laughed.

"We were not nagging!" Garet defended indignantly.

"Garet," Isaac smiled, trying to hold in his laughter. "Tugging on that poor old lady's shirt and begging her to cook homemade cookies like your grandmother does qualify as nagging."

"And annoying," Mia muttered under her breath.

"We weren't..." Garet let his voice trail off as the sky darkened and flashes of light lit up the area in the distance. Suddenly swords could be seen slicing through the air.

"What is that?!" Isaac exclaimed, reaching the end of the ladder and hopping onto the deck.

Garet had froze and looked frantic. "It's-it's Captain Loot!" he exclaimed trying to climb the ladder faster. Unfortunately his right foot slipped and made contact with Ivan's hand which just so happened to be reaching for the next rung. Ivan lost his balance and tumbled downward. Mia let out a yelp and clung tighter to the ladder as Ivan went sprawling towards the ground. A few seconds later a loud splash was heard.

"Ivan!" Isaac leaned over the side of the boat, "Can you hear me?" Mia and Garet stayed frozen in place unsure whether to climb up or down.

"Loud and clear, Isaac," Ivan's voice caused Isaac to let out a sigh of relief. "Just soaking wet!!" The Jupiter adept groaned as he made his way back to the ladder. It was cold!

"Garet, you need to be more careful," Mia scolded.

"I'm sorry!" Garet apologized sincerely. "I just didn't really believe those old people about Captain Loot!"

"That's not Captain Loot," Mia said with much conviction. A second later a loud, horrifying howl echoed throughout the land. Mia's conviction quickly vanished. "Or maybe," she whimpered. "Climb faster, Garet!" she urged. "Ivan, hurry up and get up here!"

"Glad you could finally make it up here," Isaac greeted Garet when the Mars adept climbed aboard. Mia rolled onto the deck a few seconds later gasping for breath.

"We need to hide!" she panicked. Isaac looked down at Ivan who was quickly ascending the ladder.

"I want to go in there," Isaac pointed to a cabin in the middle of the ship with a large door. "But the door is shut tight. I think it's like our boat and needs an orb. And guess who has our orb?"

"Hurry up, Ivan!" Garet shouted. "Captain Loot's getting closer!"

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying," Ivan shouted back. A minute later he joined his comrades. The four rushed to the door and Ivan used the orb on it. The door slowly began creaking open. Very slowly.

"We're going to be here forever!" Mia shrieked, clawing at the door. Garet looked over his shoulder.

"Those lights and swords are getting closer!" he screeched, pushing Mia aside and trying his best to help the door open faster. A couple minutes later, the crack in the door was finally big enough for them to slip through. "Okay, okay, close it!" Garet commanded as soon as he was in.

"Hey!" Mia cried, slipping in the room. She glared at Garet. "Nice to know you care."

"Really!" Isaac entered the room.

Ivan stumbled in a second later and used the orb to shut the door. They all watched, anxious as the door slowly closed. It eventually slammed shut much to their relief. "That was scary," Ivan plopped onto the floor.

Mia wandered around the room inspecting everything. "This doesn't look like a ghost pirates ship," she thought aloud.

"But, remember, Mia, looks can be deceiving," Garet reminded her also checking out the cabin. Isaac pressed his ear against the door. Ivan looked at him confused.

"What are you doing?" the young adept questioned his leader with raised brows.

Isaac grinned confidently. "I'm listening. Maybe he'll go the other way." A loud howl pierced their ears. "Or not."

Ivan looked pale. "That didn't sound too far at all."

OoOoO

"This looks a lot like Menardi's ship," Kraden stated as he, Felix, Sheba, and Jenna took in the sight.

"Only floating," Jenna quipped.

"I guess we could look around for a little bit," Felix said slowly, glancing at the sky. "Not too long, though. It'll be getting dark soon."

Sheba twirled her hair and bit her lip as she eyed the ship. "I don't know..." she muttered uncertainly. Felix raised his eyebrows and gave her a look that told her to expand on what she didn't know. "Well," Sheba began slowly, "back home we'd get people from a wide variety of places who'd stop and rest at our village." She paused.

Jenna gave an exasperated sigh. "Okaaaaaaay, travelers would stop and rest at your village. That makes you...not want to get on the ship?" Jenna placed her hands on her hips and glared at Sheba impatiently.

Sheba sighed and shook her head. "It was what the travelers would tell us that makes me nervous about getting on the ship," she explained.

"And they told you...?" Jenna's impatience was still rather obvious.

"Well, they'd tell us that every once in awhile they'd run into an old, empty boat like this," she waved towards the ship. "And when they did it was never a pleasant experience. Apparently these are 'ghost ships,'" the last word rolled off Sheba's lips as if she'd tasted poison and she shuddered.

Jenna arched her brow and looked at Sheba, annoyed the younger girl had stopped there. "And what exactly made these ships 'ghost ships'?"

"They said that crews used to fight over ships. They'd slay each other for ownership of the boat. Sometimes, though, well, neither crew would win, and they'd all wind up dead."

Felix rolled his eyes and Jenna shuddered. "That's creepy!"

"This part's really creepy," Sheba warned her, "when neither would win other crews would stop by and they'd "clean" the ship so to speak."

Jenna frowned. "Cleaned the ship? How so?"

"They would apparently throw the challenging crew members overboard and they'd stick the original crew members in the cabin of the boat." Sheba explained.

"I fail to see how that's cleaning," Jenna's mouth hung open. "You mean they'd stick the people who were first on that boat into the cabin? Even if they were all dead?!" Sheba nodded gravely and Jenna's face contorted with disgust. "That's GROSS!!"

"I don't understand why they'd throw one crew off and keep the other on," Kraden commented, looking confused but the short story had obviously held him captive.

"Because the original crew members bravely defended their ship. They died doing so, but the main thing is that they were able to prevent if from being stolen so other crews felt that they should be honored." Sheba told them in an obvious rehearsal of what someone else had told her.

"So, they'd stick those people in their cabin?" Felix asked, finding the whole thing ridiculously far-fetched.

"Yup, because, well, I don't know...I guess they felt since they spent most of their life in the cabins they should 'rest' in their cabins," Sheba figured. "But they say that if that's the case no one else will sail the boat-they refuse to! Apparently that crew won't to let anyone else sail it or even be on their boat long. Since they defended it to the death they think no deserves to own their boat. No one."

"I suppose that makes sense," Kraden commented. "Defending the possession you gave your life for."

"Listen to yourselves!" Felix exclaimed. "They're dead! How are they going to defend it?"

"They could be ghosts, dear brother," Jenna gave Felix a meaningful look. Felix returned it with a skeptical one. "Come on," his sister's eyes went wide in disbelief. "You can't tell me that there's no possible way that the crew couldn't be ghosts-I mean, we just fought a ghost not that long ago!"

Felix gave a resigned sigh before nodding his head. "Yes, we did, but I just find the story kind of kiddy. I mean, it sounds like something you'd tell little kids in order to scare them."

"But every tale usually has some truth to it," Kraden was quick to point out.

"Okay, okay," Felix held up his hands in a quick defeat. He'd learned long ago that arguing with these three was rather pointless. "If you didn't want to go on the ship all you had to do was say so."

"NO!" Kraden, Jenna, and Sheba all exclaimed. Felix stared at them confused.

"I'd like to go on and see if those stories are true," Sheba commented.

"Me too," Kraden agreed.

Jenna intertwined her hands and looked at her brother sheepishly. "Me too."

"Wait, we've come this far and you're all willing to risk everything to see if ghosts are actually on a ship?" Felix looked at the three in utter disbelief. "What if it is true and they're dangerous and we all die?"

"We could be ghost adepts," Jenna muttered. She glanced at Kraden. "Well, we could be and Kraden could be ghostman or something..." This earned Jenna a glare from "ghostman."

"Ghost adepts?" Felix repeated stunned. Sheba bit down on her lip and offered Felix an impish smile. Felix rolled his eyes. "I don't know."

"Well, either way, we'd have to go up there to rest," Jenna pointed out. "That pack of wolves was following us and I've run out of my sword dance psynergy."

"Yeah, no more flying swords, and that seemed to be the only thing that hurt those wolves," Sheba quickly jumped on this excuse. She really wanted to get on that ship.

"Yes, Felix, that's correct," Kraden stated as Jenna and Sheba took off towards the ladder that led up to the ship.

Felix sighed. "I just know this is going to blow up in my face."

Kraden smirked. "Like the Inn experience we recently experienced?"

"Not a word," Felix growled. The two began following the girls.

"Felix, if this tale is true, imagine how much we can learn! Maybe we can catch a ghost. Or maybe we can get one to speak with us!" Kraden suddenly became giddy with excitement much to Felix's annoyance. "I mean connections with the supernatural world. Just imagine the possibilities!! They're endless!"

"Weren't endless possibilities part of the reason you and Isaac, Garet, Jenna, and those other kids got involved in this?" Felix said pointedly. Kraden's smile drooped and he nodded.

"Correct, but," Kraden's face lit up again. "These endless possibilities have much more potential! I could possibly get a ghost to escort me from realm to realm and...Felix? Felix?"

Felix had quickened his pace in order to spare his ears from Kraden's ranting. If only he could hear how ridiculous he sounds, Felix thought as he noted that Jenna was on the ship already and Sheba was over halfway up the ladder. He grabbed the bottom rung and began ascending.

"Do you hear that?" Jenna whispered as Sheba climbed aboard.

"What?"

"That noise," Jenna shivered. "It sounds like it's coming from the...the...the," she swallowed before finishing, "cabin. Listen," she whispered.

Sheba strained her ears. Sure enough noises could be heard coming from that general direction. Her eyes went wide. She grabbed Jenna and the two clung together as all sorts of mental images flew through their minds. They huddled and stared wide eyed at the cabin. Felix climbed on the ship shortly followed by Kraden. They both stared at the two frightened girls.

"Do I want to know?" Felix asked warily.

Kraden looked at them expectantly. "Did you see a ghost?"

"No," Sheba shook her head, "listen," she pointed towards the cabin. A loud crash was heard and Jenna, Kraden, and Sheba all jumped and yelped. Felix started a bit and twirled around to face the cabin.

"What was that?!"

OoOoO

"Garet!! Why'd you do that?!" Mia screeched quietly staring at Garet horrified. The Mars adept had seen a nice vase atop a shelf and had wanted to inspect it closer. Bad idea. The vase was now in pieces on the floor. Garet stared at his hand where the vase had been seconds ago.

Ivan spun on his heels and frowned at Garet. "Wait to go! You know Captain Loot heard that!"

Isaac jerked his head away from the door suddenly and Ivan spun back around to face him.

"What is it, Isaac?" the younger boy asked.

"I heard someone...I think whoever's out there heard that," Isaac told them. Garet, Mia, and Ivan's eyes all got considerably wider, which means Ivan's eyes would be really big because his were already enormous to begin with. "And I really doubt its Captain Loot," Isaac added giving them all an exasperated look. "We're not being chased by some freakish ghost."

Garet and Mia both folded their arms and Ivan glared at Isaac. "Then open the door," the Jupiter adept instructed. Isaac chewed his lip nervously as he considered the idea. His three friends looked horrified that he was even considering such a dreadful idea.

"Isaac, please tell me you're not thinking about opening the door," Mia pleaded.

Garet nodded in agreement. "Yes, Isaac please tell us you're not going to do that."

"Well..." Isaac paused obviously in deep thought about the idea. Ivan groaned inwardly as he picked up on some of Isaac's thoughts. Isaac was seriously considering that idea. Ivan clutched the orb. Why did he have to open his big mouth? Well, if Isaac did want to open the door he wouldn't be able to do so. Ivan would make sure of that. He slowly began to crawl across the room to where a couple of floor cupboards were stationed. He could always hide in there... with the orb.

"Isaac, there is no way we're going to allow you to open that door," Garet growled. He and Mia had moved closer to Isaac and both looked ready to pounce on him should he even lay a hand on the door.

"Come on, I'm sure there's just a monster or something on deck," Isaac reasoned. "Ivan, let me see the orb...Ivan?" Isaac turned to where Ivan had been crouching earlier. He was gone. "Where'd he go?"

"Captain Loot must've gotten him!" Garet cried, grabbing Mia with one hand and Isaac with the other. "Don't worry, if we all stick together he won't be able to get another one of us," he told them pulling them close together. Mia looked around frantically but kept her grip on Garet. In her state of panic Garet seemed to be making an unusual amount of sense. Isaac groaned as he tried to escape Garet's grasp.

"Garet, please, I doubt anyone took Ivan," Isaac assured his friend, but this only caused the red head's grip to tighten on his friend's hand.

Mia continued to search the room for any sign of their friend. "Then where did he disappear too, Isaac?!" she demanded.

Isaac shrugged still struggling with Garet. "How should I know? Maybe he's hiding or something. He has the orb so it's not like I could open the door if he 'disappeared,'" Isaac pointed out giving Mia and Garet a look.

Mia gasped and Garet's mouth fell. "Are you saying that we hid Ivan?!" Garet accused Isaac, shocked.

Isaac stared at his friend. "Well, no, but you all could've decided that it'd be best if the orb..." Isaac let his voice trail off as his friends gave him disbelieving looks.

"Ivan wouldn't go anywhere by himself right now, anyway." Mia said, "And we certainly wouldn't conspire to hide him somewhere."

"Besides when would we have had the time to do so?" Garet looked confused. "We just found out that Captain Loot is following us."

Isaac finally yanked his arm free of Garet. "Look, there's no Captain Loot!" He exclaimed. "And Ivan probably hid somewhere in here so I couldn't open the door."

"Like where?" Garet demanded as he crossed his arms. Isaac shrugged carelessly and leaned up against the door again.

"Isaac what exactly do you hope to accomplish by doing that?" Mia shook her head and rolled her eyes. "What if they stick a sword through the door? They could stab you!" She grabbed his sleeve and tried to jerk him away.

Garet had decided to see if Ivan was hiding. He was on his hands and knees crawling around the cabin. "Ivan?" he whispered. "Ivan? Oh, Ivaaaaaaaaan."

"Garet?" a reply caused Garet to stop in front of the floor cupboards. Garet leaned back on his heels and opened the door cautiously. Purple eyes stared out at him.

"Ivan, what are you doing?" the Mars adept demanded. "Me and Mia thought Captain Loot had gotten you. Isaac didn't seem to care..."

"I'm hiding from Isaac so he can't get the orb and open the door," Ivan explained patiently. "I picked up on his thoughts and he's pretty determined to see what's on the other side of that stupid door."

"Oh," Garet frowned. "But that's what Isaac said you were doing. You two didn't plan that, did you?" Garet eyed his friend suspiciously. Ivan sighed and shook his head. He was about to say something when a sudden yelp from both Mia and Isaac caught their attention. Mia had fled across the room and was staring at the door petrified. Isaac had backed away from it and was eyeing it nervously.

Ivan crawled out of the cupboard with some help from Garet and the two went over to Isaac. "What happened?" Garet asked.

Mia sank to the ground and clenched her fist. "You don't want to know."

"Something tried to open the door," Isaac explained. Garet and Ivan both joined Mia on the other side of the room. Isaac began backing towards them as another loud jolt was heard from the other side of the door.

OoOoO

"Ugh, it won't open," Felix lamented as he put all his weight against the door and pushed with all his might. Kraden stood behind him uncertainly. Jenna and Sheba had finally managed to get to their feet. However, they refused to leave the spot next to the ladder. They found it comforting that if something did come out of the cabin they knew they could make a quick and hopefully successful escape.

Kraden watched Felix with much amusement. "Felix? I don't think the door will open. You've already tried psynergy and you obviously can't push it open. I don't think it will be opening."

Felix nodded his head in agreement and stepped back. "It's like some powerful force is holding the door shut," Felix told him. "It's weird," Felix stated quietly so only the elderly man could hear him, or so he thought. "I think there's something in there."

Kraden nodded. "Yes, I heard the cries of surprise the first time you tried to get it open."

"What?!" Sheba and Jenna both screeched. Jenna placed her hands on her hips. "You mean you know someone's in there and we're still up here?!"

"I want to prove to you that there's no ghosts of some dead crew members here," Felix told her. "It's probably some kids from the next town over stealing stuff while the owner's away."

"Riiiiiiight, who would let their kids out at this time of the night?!" Jenna exclaimed. "Besides this is too far for any kid to just want to come out to so they could steal from it."

"And it would be rather dangerous with all the monsters lurking around," Sheba pointed out.

Kraden nodded. "Especially at night."

Felix threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine! Fine! There are ghosts on the other side of this thing. Petrified ghosts who freak out when I try to open the door and they haven't even gone through the walls!"

Kraden tilted his head a bit and seemed to drift off into deep thought. He looked at Sheba. Sheba met his eyes apprehensively.

"Um, Kraden what exactly are you thinking?" Sheba asked cautiously.

Kraden smiled slightly. "Sheba you can pick up thoughts on the other side of walls, right?"

Sheba nodded. "If I concentrate hard enough..."

OoOoO

"Look, Ivan, I just want you to see if you can read their thoughts!" Isaac told the younger boy as he dragged him towards the door. Ivan clawed at the floor and looked at Garet and Mia pleadingly, eyes bright with fear. Garet shrugged and Mia smiled encouragingly.

"Isaac, you've got to be kidding! What if they're capable of taking over minds and stuff?! Then I'd turn into a zombie!!" Ivan cried kicking his feet and trying to escape from Isaac's firm grip.

"Nothing's going to happen," Isaac assured him.

"Nothing's going to happen?" Ivan whispered before falling limp resignedly.

"Yes, nothing's going to happen," Isaac reassured him. Ivan whimpered a bit as he and Isaac stopped by the door.

"Isaac, I don't wanna do this!" he whined. "What if they turn me into a ghost?! I don't wanna be ghost!"

Isaac tugged on Ivan's collar till he was standing at full height. "Please, Ivan, no one's going to turn you into a ghost! Now see if you can mind read them. If you can then they're probably not ghosts. If you can't, then, well, you've got nothing to worry about!"

OoOoO

"Okay, Sheba, ready?" Kraden asked the trembling girl.

"Not really," she muttered.

Jenna was staring at the three people by the door astonished. There was no way she was going to get any closer to that door. As a matter of fact she already had one of her feet on the top rung of the ladder. Her brother, teacher, and friend might be a group of lunatics willing to risk their life on the off chance that there wasn't something sinister on the other side of that door, but she wasn't!

"Just see if you can read any thoughts," Felix instructed Sheba as she began to use her mind read ability.

"How do you know they won't do anything to her?" Jenna asked from her perch. "What if they turn her into a zombie or a ghost or vampire or something?"

Sheba's eyes went wide and she stepped away from the door. "What if they can do that?!"

Felix rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to her," he growled, glaring at his sister. "Just see if you can read any thoughts."

Sheba nodded and stepped towards the door. Please let Jenna be wrong. I don't wanna be a ghost. I don't want to be a ghost. I don't wanna be a ghost. Don't wanna be a vampire-or a zombie or a ghost...she thought as she cast her mind read ability.

OoOoO

Ivan placed his hand on the door and began his mind read ability. Please don't turn me into a ghost. I don't wanna turn into a ghost. I don't wanna turn into a ghost…he thought as he picked up on the thoughts on the other side of the door.

"...wanna be a vampire-or a zombie or a ghost". Ivan's eyes went wide and he reeled back from the door letting out a horrified shout.

OoOoO

Sheba's eyes were closed as she picked up on another's thoughts.

"...turn into a ghost." Sheba yelled terrified, ran past Kraden, pushed Jenna aside and began climbing down the ladder.

"Did you hear that shout?!" Felix exclaimed.

"I heard two," Kraden backed away from the door. More shouts were heard from inside which caused Sheba to scream in fear. Jenna also let out a fearful scream and began following Sheba.

"What happened?" Jenna asked the younger girl.

Sheba shook visibly as more shouts were heard. "They want to turn me into a ghost!" she yelled. "That's what those shouts are! It's some ritual and they're trying to turn me into one of them!"

"Is that what their thoughts were?!" Jenna jumped off the ladder after Sheba.

"Something like that," Sheba nodded. Felix and Kraden climbed off the boat after the two girls.

Kraden looked up at the boat where moans, screams, and shouts could still be heard. "Well, I think we won't be resting here."

"Come on, let's go find the nearest town," Felix motioned with his hand.

Jenna eyed Sheba nervously. "Are you sure she should tag along? What if they turn her into a ghost half way there?"

Felix gave his sister a look. "Let's go!" he ordered. He took off running towards the last town and the other three were quick to follow him, even Kraden seemed to have gained some extra speed due to all the chaos and fear.

"That's the last time I'm ever getting on a ship," Sheba loudly proclaimed as they entered the nearest town a little later and headed towards the inn.

OoOoO

"What happened?!" Isaac yelled as he caught Ivan who had fallen backwards from sheer shock. Suddenly shouts could be heard on the other side of the door.

"We're going to die!!" Garet yelled as he and Mia clung to each other in utter fear. Another scream from outside was heard which caused Mia to let out a high pitched shrill of her own. Garet winced and tried to break free of her. Going deaf before his death wasn't exactly on Garet's list of things he wanted to accomplish in life. It wasn't a very long list, granted, but it was still a list and that particular desire wasn't on it. More screams and shouts were heard from outside the cabin.

Ivan screamed horror-struck as he quickly crawled to the floor cupboards again. "I don't want to be a vampire, ghost, or zombie," he garbled as he let out a fearful cry every time a shout from outside was heard.

"What happened?!" Isaac demanded again. The shouts and screams seemed to be getting further away. A deadly silence engulfed them with Ivan mumbling incoherently in the background. Mia sighed shakily and slowly let go of Garet looking around the room wide eyed as though she expected a ghost to jump out at her.

Garet looked around as well. "I guess that proves that this place really is haunted!" he told Isaac, triumphantly. His victory soon faded as he glanced around. "But how are we going to live? There's no food here and I'm feeling kind of claustrophobic."

Isaac raised his eyebrows. "We're not staying here."

"We're going to go out there?" Garet asked horrified at the idea.

"Well, we can't stay in here, Garet, we'd starve," Isaac pointed out then headed to the other side of the room. He squatted in front of the cupboards and opened them. "Ivan, you can come out now. Whatever was out there is gone," he told the boy softly.

"That's okay," Ivan muttered, hugging his knees. "I think I'll wait here for a while."

"So, it could think?" Isaac inquired.

"Thinking ghosts...that's just great," Garet muttered.

"I didn't even think ghosts could think, really," Mia admitted.

Ivan nodded in response to Isaac's question. "And it seemed to be thinking logically...I didn't focus on it's thoughts too long, obviously."

Isaac grinned a little at this. "Hey, Garet," Isaac turned to meet his friend's eyes. "On the upside one good thing did come out of this experience."

"What's that?" Garet asked, curiously.

"We know for certain that there's no way you could be a ghost," Isaac laughed.

Garet gave Isaac an indignant look. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed that!! Please leave me a review and let me know if you did or not! It's greatly appreciated!