Sorry, my descriptions won't be as technical as they are on the show. I don't own Bones, Danny Phantom, or Ghost Whisperer.
There's No Such Thing As Ghosts
"What have we got?" Slapping on white latex gloves, Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth walked into the taped off music store. Today was just like any other day together, the beginning of a new investigation.
In the very centre of the room, a large black leather guitar case was left open. Inside there was not a musical instrument. Instead, there was a burnt, decaying body.
"The store was reopened three days ago. Some customers came in to look at the case and smelled something rotting inside. The owner found the body when he opened the case." Booth answered, grimacing at the sight of the corpse. Brennan was not phased by it though, instead she started examining it casually. This was not the first time she'd had to deal with this sort of thing. That's why her nickname was Bones.
"Judging from the skull shape and jaw the victim is female. Probably around sixteen or seventeen years old." clarified Bones. "At some point the remains will have to be sent to the Jeffersonian Institute, but for now they will be more useful with me."
Bones and Booth were not in Washington. This case was in Amity Park in Central America. This was the first time either of them had ever heard of the place, and so far they were not impressed. The town seemed rather eerie and dark, and most of the people they had seen so far seemed very afraid of their hometown. Neither of the pair could imagine why.
"Oh, by the way Bones, I ran into one of my old friends from high school. She thinks she could be helpful in the case." Booth said, trying not to look at the corpse Bones was dealing with.
"Is she a forensic anthropologist?" Bones asked, still examining the body.
"No." answered Booth. "A cop or part of law enforcement?" Bones asked. "No." Booth repeated again, getting a little impatient. "Does she even have a degree?" asked Bones. "No, just…" Booth stammered, getting annoyed with Bone's questions. "Look, here she comes now. Why don't you ask her, I'm going to go talk to the store owner." He pointed in the direction of the door, then walked another way to find the man.
A young woman that looked like she was in her late 30's or early 40's with short, wavy, chestnut brown hair walked up to her. She was wearing a black jacket, baby blue t-shirt, and denim skinny jeans. A black bead necklace was around her neck. When she came up to Bones, she immediately started talking.
"Miss Brennan, it's so wonderful to finally meet you. Booth told me so much about you when we met up yesterday. I hope I can be of some assistance in this tragic case."
She eyed the corpse a little queasily, but other then that, made no notice that it was bothering her. Then she introduced myself. "My name is Melinda Gordon. Booth and I have been friends since we were in elementary school together. The last time we saw each other was when we graduated though."
"It's always nice to reunite with individuals you haven't seen for eons." Brennan agreed. "It's an incredibly enlightening experience."
Noticing Melinda's bewildered expression, she spoke again. "I apologize if you are unable to comprehend every word I speak. I'm quite aware that my social skills aren't very good."
"Oh. No need to apologize." Melinda assured her. "I'm alright with it. You're not the only person who finds it hard to make people like you."
Temperance eyed her with interest. "The tone of your voice indicates that you are referring to yourself."
Melinda smiled a little bit. "Well, people think I'm strange."
Temperance nodded, then went back to thinking about the case. "Agent Booth said that you thought you could be of some assistance in this case."
Melinda nodded back. "Yes, that's right." She gazed down at the burnt body, shivered, and folded her arms across her chest. Temperance looked as though she was expecting more then that. "Could you give me a little bit of an explanation as to why you think that?"
"Oh of course." Melinda exclaimed quickly, acting a little bit flustered. "Well…I see ghosts."
"Excuse me?" Bones asked, not quite sure if she had heard correctly. "I see ghosts. I'm a medium, so I think that if there's a ghost from this body still around, I can convince it to move into the light. I've been doing this for years. My power is actually why I came here to Amity Park. I've heard that this place has held the record for 'Most Ghost Sightings' for ten years. Also, from what I've heard, the ghosts here are very different from what I've seen in other parts of America. I was very curious to see some."
"With all due respect Melinda, I don't believe in ghosts." Temperance told her seriously. Just as she was saying that, Booth came back. "What's going on?"
"Melinda believes that she can help us by talking to ghosts." Temperance informed him, speaking as though Melinda was not there.
Booth looked at Melinda in shock. "Wait, what? Ghosts?" He asked her in bafflement. "How are you going to talk to ghosts?"
"I can see them just like normal people. But anybody can tell when they're in the same room as you if strange things start happening." Melinda explained to him, hoping that he didn't think she was crazy like Bones did.
"Strange things?" Booth repeated. "Like what?"
Melinda started to answer, but was interrupted as a guitar behind them started to play, creating an eerie melody. "Like that." she breathed.
"Hey." A tough female's voice surprised Melinda and she whirled around. Bones and Booth copied her, wondering what was behind them.
Melinda could see a pale teenager sitting beside the guitar, casually strumming the strings as though she was using no effort creating the melody. Her hair was electric blue, and was literally made of flame. It was held up in a high ponytail, but there were two little pieces that fell on the sides of her face creating an 'M' shape around her face. It flew behind her even though there was no wind in the room.
Her outfit was one of the strangest that Melinda had ever seen. Her black tank top only had one arm hole, and it exposed her skinny belly. She wore dark leather pants, and shoes that looked like skulls. There was a black choker around her neck and a black braclet on one wrist. On the opposite arm she wore a long black glove that covered most of it. The girl's appearance made Melinda shiver, but the creepiest part was her eyes. The girl's eyes were sharp, cold, and an eerie green that reminded Melinda of toxic waste. Around them were strange markings made in black eyeliner.
The girl's eyes stared challengingly at Melinda as she spoke. "What do you want, dipstick?"
"Are…" Melinda started to speak, but her words got caught in her throat. She took a deep breath in, then out before she started talking again. "Is that you?" She finally asked, pointing at the body in the guitar case.
"Why do you care?" The girl snapped, her hair flaring and crackling. She stopped playing the guitar, and put her electric blue pick in one of the pockets of her pants. "Nobody else cares. Nobody's ever cared about me."
"These people care." Melinda responded breathlessly, gesturing towards Bones and Booth, who were staring at the guitar in confusion. "Melinda, who are you talking to?" Booth asked her. Melinda didn't answer.
The ghost girl eyed the F.B.I agent and the forensic anthropologist with interest. "They can't see me? Interesting. Everybody around here can see ghosts."
"Everybody?" repeated Melinda. "Really?" She couldn't believe it. A whole town filled with people like her? It didn't seem possible.
"Yeah. Everybody. Isn't it peachy keen?" The girl said sarcastically. Then she turned her attention back to Booth and Bones. "So why do those people care about that body?"
"It's their job." Melinda told them. "Brennan finds out what happened to people who are killed, and Booth puts the people who killed them in jail. Could you tell me what they want to know?"
"Maybe I don't want them to know. Did you ever think of that?" The ghost snapped back rudely. "It's my business. Not theirs."
"Ah. So that is your body." discovered Melinda, thinking out loud.
The ghost sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes. "Yeah. It's my body. But that's all I'm gonna tell you. Got it?"
"But couldn't you tell me your name?" Melinda pleaded. "It'd be nice to know who I'm talking to."
The ghost girl eyed her with suspicion. Melinda tried to look as trustworthy as possible. Finally the ghost gave in. "Ember." She answered. "My name is Ember Mclain."
Then without another word, she faded away, leaving behind the scent of smoke. Melinda gasped, and started walking backwards. She tripped and almost fell on her back.
"Whoa! Easy!" Booth cried out in surprise, catching her, and helping her sit down. "What happened?"
Melinda was too surprised to tell him. But she managed to choke out, "Ember."
"What?" Booth asked, not understanding her. "What did you say?"
Melinda took some deep breaths, then tried to speak calmly. "I saw the victim's ghost. Her name is Ember Mclain."
"That's ridiculous. You couldn't know that, there's no evidence. You must be assuming that is her name." Temperance piped up.
Melinda shook her head from side to side, hair flinging in her face. "Just trust me on this. Her name is Ember Mclain."
Booth and Brennan looked at each other, but before they could say anything, one of the workers at the crime scene burst into the shop. "Agent Booth, there's something in the trunk of your car!"
Forgetting about the ghost incident instantly, Booth, Bones, and Melinda Gordon leapt to their feet and dashed outside. Sure enough, there was something crashing around in Booth's trunk.
"Stand back." he ordered, and Melinda gladly obliged. But Brennan ignored him and went right up to the trunk with him. He started to protest immediately. "Bones, do you ever listen to me?"
He took out his gun, and his key for his car. "Want me to hold the gun?" Bones whispered.
Booth looked at her incredulously. "You're kidding right? Knowing you, if I let you use my gun, you'd shoot me, not whatever's in there."
Everybody around the trunk was quiet. Not a sound was made. The suspense was building up. Carefully, Booth used his key to unlock the trunk. Then he quickly flung it open, and something popped up like a clown inside a jack-in-the-box. Everybody screamed at the top of their lungs, and Booth's gun went off, hitting the back window of his car.
What do you think was hiding in the trunk? Or, here's a better question. WHO do you think was in there? Please read and review and tell me!