Lizzie pulled up her beat up and clunky jeep next to the sidewalk of an old dilapidated house in the middle of nowhere. Her car gave a moaning and hissing sound as it came to a stop. Lizzie sighed. She loved her car but it seriously was in need of some upgrades.
She didn't get out of the car immediately but instead chose to study at the house. Catherine de Bourgh used to live here with her husband and daughter many years ago. Her husband and daughter had died under mysterious circumstances. Not long afterwards, she had killed herself. Rumor had it that she had somehow killed them both before unable to bear the guilt and had taken her own life. Certainly made for a pleasant story, Lizzie thought humorlessly. Something like this would've fazed her when she had just started out but after years on the job, she had become cynical and desensitized to the more gruesome stuff. Anyways, Catherine's spirit had been haunting the house ever since. It was your typical haunting case but after several weeks of dealing with demons and wendigos, she decided that this was a nice change of pace. The irony was not lost on her.
Lizzie got out of her jeep and opened the trunk of her car. She pulled out an old rusted crowbar, salt, a flashlight, and her uncle's old shot gun. She put the salt inside of her backpack, the gun inside of her holster and decided to keep the crowbar in her hands. Luckily for her, this was a pretty desolate neighborhood so she didn't have to worry about being spotted coupled with the fact that it was pretty dark outside already.
She walked up to front of the house and was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't locked. Slowly and cautiously, she crept into the house. She coughed almost immediately after going in. It was incredibly dusty and musty along with numerous cobwebs told Lizzie that this house had not been inhabited for a while.
Lizzie slowly navigates her way around the house, trying not to disturb anything. She came here to find some evidence of where Catherine had been buried since all the files she had found on the subject had been unsurprisingly unhelpful on that matter. She shined her flashlight around and saw old pictures on the wall. They look at least a hundred years old and she assumes they are of Catherine and her family. Before she could inspect the pictures any further, she heard a noise and immediately whirled around, holding the crowbar tightly in her hands.
Instead of finding a ghost, she found a wild-eyed girl smiling widely at her. The girl is around her height but a little shorter, with brilliant red hair, green eyes, and sports a leather jacket with jeans and knee high boots. She looked a bit younger than Lizzie. Before Lizzie had time to react, the girl immediately started talking.
"Oh my gosh," the girl rushed out, "are you a hunter? You totes are! You have a crowbar and you look like you wanna kill me. This is so awesome. I have never met another hunter before. Who are you? What's your name?"
"Woah, woah," Lizzie held up a hand, interrupting the eager girl. "Hold up a bit. How do you know I'm a hunter?"
The girl rolled her eyes while still smiling all the while.
"Because I'm a hunter too duh!" She took off one of the backpack straps off her shoulder and reached in and took out a crowbar for Lizzie to see. "I'm Lydia. That's pronounced Ly-dee-yaaahh." She said while stretching out the last syllable.
Lizzie was uncertain. While the girl, Lydia, did seem to be a hunter, she didn't quite trust her. In her experience, overtly friendly people ended up to be the most deadly and cruel people. They would stab a knife in your back while smiling all the while.
"Lizzie," she muttered. "Are you here for Catherine?" Lizzie figured that the sooner Catherine was taken care of, the sooner she could get away from this strange girl.
Lydia nodded almost maniacally. "Yeah this house is totes creepy and a total bummer but I did find out where she's buried."
Lizzie quirked an eyebrow. It was impressive that Lydia was able to find where Catherine was buried. Maybe she wasn't as useless as Lizzie had first judged her to be.
"So," Lizzie said, "where's she buried?"
Lydia smiled even wider. "In the walls," she whispered.
Lizzie groaned. "The walls? Are we supposed to knock down every wall until we can find her?"
Lydia shrugged. "Guess so."
Suddenly, Lizzie heard a movement and Lydia's smile dropped instantaneously.
"Look out behind you!" Lydia all but screamed.
Lizzie instinctively dropped down, turned, and slashed the air with her crowbar. Luckily, the crowbar managed to go through the ghost's body and Lizzie saw a trace of Catherine's stern face before the ghost disappeared.
"Okay, we have to find Catherine's body and we have to do it now," Lizzie said authoritatively. Lydia instantly nodded. "Let's split up. I'll take upstairs and you take this floor. Do you have salt?" Lydia nodded again. "Good. Let's go."
Without another word, Lizzie ran upstairs and went into the first room she saw. It's a large room with a king sized bed. Lizzie touched the wall closest to her and she looked to see if there was some sort of indicator that it had been disturbed. She didn't feel anything out of the ordinary but decided to swing at it with the crowbar. It took her two tries before she managed to knock a hole into it. A couple more swings told her that Catherine's body wasn't in that particular wall.
"Lizzie!" A muffled scream came from below. "Come here! Hurry!"
Lizzie immediately ran out of the room and down the stairs. She clutched the crowbar tightly in her hands and slowed into a brisk walk, just in case the ghost had returned. She found Lydia in the kitchen of the house with a giant hole in the wall.
"I found her!" Lydia yelled triumphantly when she saw Lizzie. "How awesome am I? Now, c'mon hurry before creep-o makes a return." Lizzie was impressed against her will. Lydia apparently was a lot stronger than she looked.
Suddenly, Lizzie heard a noise and saw that the ghost was right behind Lydia.
"Behind you!"
Lydia turned around but stumbled during the act. The ghost advanced upon her and she froze. Lizzie ran across the kitchen and slashed the crowbar through the ghost's body once again. She held out a hand for Lydia which she gratefully accepted.
"Thanks," she panted. Lizzie nodded.
"We have to hurry. Salt and burn it."
Lizzie immediately rushed to get the salt out of her backpack and pours salt into a circle around them while Lydia poured the salt onto the decomposing body. After she was done salting the body, Lydia took out a matchbook.
"Ready?" Lydia nodded. "Three, two, one!" The ghost appeared in front of them and shrieked at them. Lydia flicked the lit match on to the body and the ghost disappeared with a howl.
Lizzie sank down on the floor, panting. That had been too close for her liking. Lydia mimicked her actions and shook her head. They watched the body burn.
"Thank you," Lydia said sincerely. "For saving me."
Lizzie turned her head to face Lydia and Lydia smiled at her gratefully. This smile was different from her usual maniacal smile.
"Don't mention it," Lizzie replied. Lydia got up from the ground and Lizzie did the same. They walk out of the house with the still burning body inside. Once they're a few miles away, Lizzie will call the fire department.
"So," Lizzie sighed. "It was nice meeting you." Lizzie looked around and noticed that her car was the only one around. "Where's your car?"
Lydia smiled sheepishly. "I kiiinda hitchhiked here."
Lizzie's mouth opened. "You hitchhiked? Do you know how dangerous that is? How can you be a hunter if you don't have a car?"
Lydia rolled her eyes. "I'm cute. I manage."
"Oh for the love of god," Lizzie groaned. "Here, I'll give you a ride."
Lydia squealed and gave Lizzie a hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Lizzie detached herself from Lydia. "Don't mention it. Just... don't hug me."
Lydia wrinkled her nose. "You're such a killjoy. C'mon live a little."
Lizzie started walking to her car and muttered under her breath, "I've already lived enough for one night already." Apparently, Lydia had supersonic hearing because she laughed uproariously.
Once both women were in the car, Lizzie started it and began driving. Before Lizzie can ask Lydia where to drop her off, Lydia immediately started talking.
"Seriously though, what we did back there? Totes ah-mazing!"
Lizzie grunted. "What's your point?"
"My point is, dummy, is that we should partner up! Like Donny and Clyde! Two kick-ass girls who save the world from supernatural stuff."
"It's Bonny and Clyde and my answer is no. I prefer to work alone."
Lydia made an unhappy sound. "Whatevs. But seriously though, we made a great team. Plus two is better than one. We would look out for each other and stuff."
"No." Lydia was nothing if not persistent. Lizzie felt her resolve weakening though. As annoying as Lydia was, and Lydia was very annoying, it would be nice to have someone keep her company. She used to have her cat, Kitty, keep her company but Kitty had been killed during a skirmish with another hunter.
"Pleeeeaaaaaasssseeeeeeeee," Lydia begged. "With cherry on top?"
Lizzie sighed. "...Alright... fine." She was totally going to regret this.
"Yes!" Lydia shrieked. Lizzie winced and rubbed a hand against her eardrum. "This is gonna be awesome!"
Lizzie rubbed a hand against her temple. She regretted this already. Lizzie turned on the radio and to her pleasant surprise, one of her favorite bands was playing. Lydia went to change the radio station but Lizzie squatted away her hand.
"Rule number one," Lizzie said, "no touching the radio."
Lydia groaned. "But this music sucks. Can't you put on some Lady Gaga or something?"
Lizzie scrunched up her face in utter confusion. "Lady who?"
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Can't you just put on something else?"
"Fine," Lizzie sighed. She rummaged around for a CD underneath her seat until she found one and put it in the CD drive.
"Mellencamp? You have got to be kidding me."
Lizzie just smiled and kept on driving.