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"C'mon, man! I know you can hear me!"

Groaning, I kept on walking down the street. I felt the presence of the spirit walking beside me, trying to get my attention. I ignored the spirit, concentrating on getting to the grocery store.

"C'MON! They tell me that ya' can see us!" The spirit said, running his bloodied hand through his red hair. The spirit was around my age, 18, and was a tall male. His eyes were bloodshot, the dark orbs surrounded by large bruises. However this spirit died, it wasn't a pretty death.

"Ya' gotta help me, broad!" The spirit said, placing his hand on my shoulder. I heard the spirit gasp as his hand didn't faze through my flesh.

"H-how come I can touch you?! This is just proof-YOU CAN SEE ME!" The boy shouted, making my ears burn. I tightened my scarf around my mouth, so no one could see my mouth moving.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked, shooting a glance at the dead spirit.

"Finally! Now, was that so hard?" The spirit cooed, toying with the zipper of his bloodied and torn jacket.

"Goodbye." I huffed, taking a turn and walking across the street. The spirit yelped, following behind me.

"C'mon girl, ya gotta help me!" The spirit cried again, grating my last nerve. With a small scream, which earned me many wary looks, I marched over into the nearest alley. Tugging the scarf from around my lower face, I glared at the spirit.

"What do you want?" I growled, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I need you to help me! My death really wasn't…planned. I-I have money that I left behind for my only buddy in the whole world..but he doesn't know where it is." The spirit said, wincing at my rather loathsome glare.

"So..you just want me to call up this guy and tell him where the money is?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. The spirit sighed, shrugging.

"Well..he doesn't have a phone. We live in a van."

"…So you want me to..?"

"Track down the van, and make sure he's safe and gets my money which is hidden under my mattress in said van."

"Why don't you ask Santa to do that for you for Christmas, 'kay?" I said shortly, turning and walking out of the alley. The spirit screamed, grabbing the back of my jacket and dragged me back into the shadowed alley.

"What the hell is your problem?!" I screamed, aiming my fist for the spirit's face. The spirit was knocked back by my punch, but he just shook his head and stood himself up.

"You're like them ghost whisperers on TV! It's your job to help me!" The spirit cried, fisting his hair.

"I'm unemployed." I grumbled, scowling at the spirit. "I've got my own problems Angle Face, find another Seer."

"That's your name? Seer?" The spirit asked, seemingly calm.

"No, I'm not named Seer. I AM a Seer. I'm Era." I sighed, palming my face in irritation. Today was just not my goddamn day.

"Oh, I'm Max Kanya." The spirit said, bowing low at his waist.

"I suppose it's nice to meet you then, Max." I sighed, attempting to be civil. It's not this poor guy's fault that he's dead and has unfinished business. "When did you die, Angel Face?"

"Last week. I was ah…stepping out on the town and got hit by a car." Max smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, so you're pretty fresh. Does your..ah..family have your…remains?" I asked shoddily. I usually try not to talk to the spirits, that was my older Cousin's job, not mine.

"Yeah, they've got my body buried and everything already." Max didn't seem to upset about the fact that his human body was six feet under a bunch of dirt.

"Was the..funeral to your liking?" I had no idea what to ask. Max seemed unfazed by the question, shrugging his bloody shoulders.

"I suppose, not enough drinking. Too much crying." Max sighed, kicking the ground lightly. Sighing, I checked the clock on my phone quickly.

"Listen…I live next door to my older Cousin, she's a Seer too. She actually likes to help the spirits, so if you stick around with me, I'll bring you to her." I said, shouldering my large bag. Max cheered, jumping up and down.

"LET'S ROLL! Where we going?" Max chirped as I wrapped my scarf back around my lower face.

"The store. It's going to be December soon and I need to get supplies to make Christmas presents." I murmured, stepping back out onto the street. Max laughed, throwing his head back.

"Who are you?-Santa?" Max continued to laugh the whole way to the store.

Sweet God..I should have left him in the alley.


"You come bearing gifts." Tara, my older cousin, laughed, catching sight of Max as I opened the door to her small house.

"You know the drill. Good luck." I murmured, leaving Max and Tara to talk. I trudged down the sidewalk to my house and headed up to my room, dragging my over loaded shopping bags behind me. I placed the heavy bags down on the ground with a winded sigh and looked out the window.

"GUYS-It's snowing." I called out my open window, hearing Max whoop in joy and Tara laugh at his antics. I started sorting through all the supplies that I'd bought, deciding how I was going to put together my Christmas presents.

"Era, can you come back here for a moment?" Tara called calmly from her window. Smiling, I hauled myself off my bed and down the creaky stairs. The chilly walk outside was cold and windy, so I practically ran into Tara's house. Max was sitting on an arm chair across the coffee table from Tara, who was calmly drinking what looked like apple cider.

"Max here knows exactly where his friend is." Tara smiled happily, taking another sip of cider.

"Great." I said. "That makes your job easier."

"Oh Cupcake, you'll have to bring Max to his friend and be his interpreter." Tara giggled, taking another large mouthful of cider.

"W-what? Why?!" I cried, dropping my shoulders.

"I've got a meeting tonight." Tara said, smiling up at me.

"How far away is this guy?" I cried, looking towards Max.

"He's just at the edge of town. 'Bout half-an-hour away." Max said, smiling brightly.

"I don't understand why you can't go now and be back before this so called 'meeting' of yours." I grumbled out, cocking my hip to one side. Tara smiled, giggling slightly.

"Oh Cupcake, I'm drunk. I've been drinking this hard cider since breakfast." Tara giggled, taking a large gulp of her beverage. Now that she said it, I do notice a strange rosiness to her cheeks.

"Goddamn it."


"This is a really nice car." Max hummed sarcastically, kicking his feet up onto the dusty dashboard of my car. Huffing, I slapped at his leg, dried blood crusting off and turning my hand a strange shade of rust.

"Your actions don't match your chi." Max yawned, keeping his mucky shoes on my dash.

"My..chi?" I asked, speeding down the road. It was still snowing, the grey pavement slowly turning white in a film of powdery snow.

"Your inner self, your true self: your chi. Your chi isn't like this fake personality you're strutting about." Max said, toying with the radio and air conditioning knobs.

"Don't pretend like you know me." I grumbled, putting the car into third gear with a rough jerk. Max sighed, stretching and putting his hands behind his head.

"But I can see your chi, so I know the truest you." Max said like it was nothing, shrugging his shoulders.

"Max…just, don't screw with me. I'm helping you here." I sighed, pressing the heel of my palm into my temple. I'd talked to spirits before and none of them ever mentioned this chi bullshit. Was Max some kind of special spirit, or could all spirits see someone else's chi?

"Your chi isn't this grumpy." Max whispered, rolling his eyes. I sighed, rolling my eyes and shifted into the next gear.

"Your chi is light, it's like air. You're very emotional, and you're an easy crier." Max kept talking, getting louder and louder. I felt my heart twitch at the truth behind his words, and I knew that he couldn't just make up all that about me..and be completely correct.

"Stop." I grumbled, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"Oh no. Tsk tsk tsk. Such a warm soul to be covered by such a bitchy exterior."

"Oh go fuck yourself, right in the tinkle taco." I hissed angrily, my knuckles turning white. Max burst out laughing, slapping his knees in mirth. I scowled, turning the wheel as a bend in the road appeared. Just as I opened my mouth to tell the spirit off, my jaw dropped.

"E-E-Era..BLIZZARD!" Max shouted the obvious, as I slammed on the brakes. A massive wave of snow was barreling our way, looking more like an avalanche than a blizzard. I screamed, spinning the car around and began to speed away.

"DRIVE, ERA, DRIVE! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Max shouted, buckling his seatbelt.

"YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD!" I screamed, frantic as the snow started to creep in on us. Hail began to pelt the car violently, and the once serene landscape was now a snowy death camp. Suddenly, the car jerked to the right and began to spin.

"BLACK ICE! BLACK ICE!" Max yelped, holding onto the car door with one hand and using the other to throw across my chest like a makeshift seat belt. His arm held my upper chest to the seat while at the same time comforting me.

What can I say, the ghost was right. I'm a big cry baby.

"HOLD ON, WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" Max screamed, his dark eyes locked on a thick tree. I stopped screaming, let go of the steering wheel, and clung to Max's arm.

CRASH.


MAX'S POV:

I never knew that ghosts could pass out. I mean..I knew we could sleep, so yeah, I guess we'd be able to pass out. I woke up in the passenger seat of Era's car, thankfully with Era in one piece next to me. My new Seer friend was unconscious, but the rise and fall of her chest calmed the thought of her joining me in ghostlyhood. Groaning I managed to kick open the crushed door of Era's ancient clunker of a car, and stumbled out into the snow.

"Wow, you and she certainly took a tumble."

Yelping, I turned to the voice. It was a guy, around my and Era's age. He was a spirit like me, since there was no way that he was human. The guy was white, like paper white-out white. His hair was silvery white, and the dude wasn't wearing any shoes.

"Didja hear me? What's wrong? Get a little brain damage?" The guy laughed, leaning against a knotted, wooden staff.

"T-this isn't a time to joke around! My friend-she's hurt!" I huffed, getting up off my knees and dashing to the driver's side of the car. I yanked the door open and quickly unbuckled Era's seat belt. Was I supposed to move her? Had she broken her neck? Carefully, I slid her out of the leather seat and into my arms. Stripping myself of my ratty coat, I laid her down on top of the dirty coat.

"Is she..is she hurt?" The strange spirit asked, worriedly wringing his staff. The fellow spirit didn't seem shocked that I was able to touch her without fazing through; I guess he was too much in shock to think reasonably.

"What do you think?! That goddamn blizzard came out of nowhere, blew us around into a patch of black ice and into a fucking tree." I growled, vaguely recognizing the guy behind me.

When you die, you're introduced to the hidden supernatural secrets of the world, by who-I don't fully know. All us ghouls were told about how fairy tales and fantasy creatures were actually real. Like Santa and all that jazz.

Then it hit me, this guy in front of us.

"You…Jack Frost!" I said, turning and glaring at the other spirit. Frost smirked, going from concerned to egotistical.

"So you've heard of me, from the big guy upstairs obviously." Frost laughed, leaning up against his staff.

"Yeah, you control the weather, which means you caused that big fucking storm back there!" I yelled, pointing towards the destruction left behind by his little happy time fun. Trees and power lines were knocked down, everything that was once tranquil was an absolute wreck.

"This is your fault, Frostie." I said coldly. "You better hope she lives." I hissed, turning back to the unconscious Seer.


JACK'S POV:

I stared down at the fellow spirit in amazement. Why was he saving that girl, and more importantly, how? His hands weren't fazing through her body, and she wasn't fazing through his. The spirit was a rather bloody looking ghost, he obviously died a violent death.

The girl looked to be mortal, but she was hurt. She was bruised pretty badly and there were a few cuts on her brow, dangerously close to her eyes. The girl was short, wearing plain jeans and a navy blue baseball jersey. Her honey brown hair was shoulder length and knotted behind her head in a shabby braid.

"H-how hurt is she?" I managed to ask, seeing the fellow spirit pick her up into his arms.

"She's alive." He said shortly, gathering her into his arms. "I'm Max. This is Era."

"Call me Jack." I said quietly, watching the ghost start to walk away.

"Wait! Where are you going?" I called, pushing off the ground and floating over to them.

"I'm bringing her…somewhere!" Max said, clearly frustrated.

"How? Let's walk her into a hospital, where it looks like she's just nonchalantly floating herself in." I snipped, stopping in front of Max and Era.

"Well, what do you expect me to do?" Max growled, looking up at me with angered eyes. Sighing, I ran my hand through the scruff of my hair.

"Come. Follow me." I ordered, pushing myself off the ground. Max sighed, clutching Era to him and pushing into the air after me.

"Where are we going?" Max called over the wind as we sped higher into the sky.

"We're going to go bring her home. You know where that is, right?" I said, veering higher above the clouds. Max jerked a little behind me, then sped forwards to match my pace.

"C'mon, before hell freezes over." I joked, increasing my speed.


ERA'S POV:

"Ugh, my aching head." I groaned, rolling over in the bed. My eyes snapped open as I snuggled into the warm quilts around me. The last thing I remembered was spinning and sliding towards my imminent doom. I leapt from the bed, sighing when I saw that I was still wearing my clothes, sans boots.

"Woah, Era, sit back down!" Max said floating over to my bedside, helping me sit back down into the cushioned mattress.

"Max, how did we get home?" I whimpered, letting him hold my elbow as he lowered me down into the quilts. Max chuckled, setting himself down on my bed.

"Well, we crashed, Jack Frost came out, he's very sorry by the way, we brought you back here, Tara ditched her work meeting, brought me to make sure my friend got his money, we came back to the house, Tara went to stay with her boyfriend for the week, and we waited for you to wake up." Max rambled off the list of things, using his slightly pale fingers to count.

"Wait..who's we?" I asked, cracking my neck. Max rolled his eyes, plopping himself down on my computer chair.

"Me and Slushie. He feels really bad about the blizzard." Max said, taking one of my pens and trying to balance it on his upper lip while balancing the chair on two legs.

"Slushie?" I echoed, turning my head so my ear was closer to his mouth. Suddenly, a blast of icy air blew in through the opened door. Ice appeared out of nowhere, inching forward on the floor until it was underneath Max. The chair legs seemed to slip on the shimmering ice, knocking Max onto his ass.

"Don't call me Slushie."

I looked up towards the threshold of my bedroom door, and there was another fucking spirit. It was another boy around my age, with snow white skin, silver hair, and pretty ice cyan eyes. The spirit was wearing a dark blue hoodie, brown pants, and no shoes. The spirit was leaning against the door post, a large wooden staff in his hands.

"Hello." The spirit said, cocking his head to his side.