Casper was gone for about four hours as he just wondered away from the manor. Getting farther and farther away from what he called "home". He didn't even know where to go, then he began to have second thoughts. Would his uncles even be worried about him? No. Of course not. They didn't care, did they? Well, if you call that caring, then what was coldness? No. They didn't care. The child ghost heavily sighed as he continued his way. Maybe he would return. Maybe. Depends how things go in his new afterlife.
The full moon was high in the dark sky with light-grey clouds drifting in front of it as he made his way to town, considering there was no where else for him to go. The streets never seemed so lonely and the world never seemed so silent before as the young ghost just floated through, avoiding people, not wanting to scare them. He saw people smiling and laughing as they walked with their friends or dates.
They seemed so happy.
The ghost couldn't help wonder what his life would've been like if he lived. Would he be like his father or just like any other human? Would his parents be proud of him or not? Casper just hugged himself as he kept his blue eyes locked ahead of him. He was going to make his own afterlife. No matter what people said. He then came to a gloomy street with an old, abandoned theatre. He wanted to get out of the streets, but didn't want to stop until dawn came, so he carried on his way.
Until a smooth voice asked, "What are you doing here, kid?"
Casper turned around to a tall and thin, shadowy figure with strange white eyes. Never before has he seen a ghost like this one before. "Just passing through," he answered, trying to hide his fear.
"What's you're name?" The shadowy figure asked as he slowly approached the little ghost.
Casper stood his ground. "Casper," he answered strongly.
"Where you from, kid?"
Man, does this guy ask a lot of questions, he thought to himself. "I don't remember," he lied, thinking his answer through. There was no way he was going to tell this stranger the truth.
"A newbie?"
Casper just stayed silent at question.
The figure chuckled and looked at him with his white eyes. "The name's Hyde. I've got friends who stay at the theatre. If you want, you can come with me. It's better than the streets with these mortals walking about."
The child chuckled nervously as he tried get away from him. "No, thanks. I can't manage."
Hyde chuckled as he turned and began to walk away. "Kid, you're a real idiot then if you're just going to stay out here, but suit yourself." Then he walked away.
For some reason, he didn't like the way he said that. "Wait!" Casper cried, making the leader stop. "I'll come."
He chuckled. "Then catch up, kid." He continued to walk.
Casper hoped that this was a good idea, but he had no where else to go. Besides, he was only going to stay temporarily.
It was thee in the morning when the trio came home laughing, talking about the scares they had caused. Then Stretch slowly began to quite down as they entered the manor. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said, silencing his brothers. "Something's off." His violet eyes narrowed. "Caspter?" He hollered out.
No response.
"Casper!" He yelled louder.
Silence.
Stretch heavily sighed with annoyance. "I'll check his room." He floated up the stairs, to his nephew's room at the end of the hall. When he opened the door, he gasped in horror and fear. He flew down the hall and looked down the stairs at his two brothers with wide eyes. "Casper's gone."
The two traded looks.
Stinkie then looked up at his older brother. "Come again?"
"Casper is missing!" He shouted with annoyance.
As if it was a command, the two then dashed in opposite directions.
"I'll search the upstairs!" Stretch shouted as he hurried off to every nook and and cranny in the upstairs floor, calling for his nephew as he could distantly hear the other doing the same. No matter what door he opened, there was no Casper. He even went to the tower of the manor and sure enough there was no Casper. He tried no to panic as he was thinking about every single room in the top floor, then he bolted to the manor's tower and checked outside, hoping to find his nephew. "No," he whispered as he came to a dead end. He then hurried back down and searched all of upstairs for over thirty minutes. "Damn it, Casper," he growled as he went back to this child's room. "Where the hell are you?"
Not giving up, he went downstairs, hoping that the others would've found him. When they met up in the entrance hall of the house, they all had panic and worry on their faces.
"I checked the lab," Stinkie stated with wide, panic-filled eyes. "He wasn't there."
"We both checked around the house and downstairs," Fatso added, trying to stay calm.
"Okay," Stretch said, trying to keep his mind straight. "The kid wouldn't just ditch without telling us. It's not his style."
"What if he did?" Stinkie asked sorrowfully.
The two looked at him with worry.
The leader of the trio shook his head, getting annoyed and frustrated. "Then we need to find that kid before we lose 'im! Why did he even leave in the first place?"
"What if he's coming back?" Fatso asked.
"Okay," Stretch said, trying to stay calm as hard as he could. "We'll wait for about ten minutes. If that doesn't work, we're lookin' for him."
"Right," they both stated simultaneously.
Then the three of them just stood there, worried and panicking in their own minds.
Casper had to come back, right?
Of course he had to. He had no where else to go.
Stretch couldn't take it anymore and threw his hands in the air. "Screw it! We're lookin' for him!"
Then the three of them bolted out the door.
It was three in the morning as Casper was in the abandoned theatre and had to admit, he was feeling pretty happy. There were five other shadowy figures who turned out to be pretty friendly and would talk to him like one of their own. The leader, Hyde of course, would have Casper's back if anything went wrong. The two of them were sitting on the top balcony, looking down at the rest of the Shadow People down below. "I know," Hyde began in his smooth voice, "that you are hiding something from me, Casper, and whatever it is, you can tell me. I know that you've been a ghost much longer."
Casper didn't look at him. He didn't really want to tell him anything.
Hyde gave short chuckle. "Fine. Let me guess: You're alone and you're used to being alone, but you hate it. Right?"
Casper looked at him, taken aback at his words. "How did you-"
The leader chuckled. "I know things."
The young ghost slowly looked in front of him. "I ran away from my three uncles," he admitted softly. "They never cared about me. Even when we were all alive, they didn't really care." He barely remembered how when he was alive and his uncles would come over, they hardly ever paid attention to him. "So I left. I highly doubt that they even care that I'm gone," he muttered.
The shadow laughed. "You've got guts, kid!"
The young ghost looked at him with large eyes in wonder.
Hyde grinned down at him with sharp teeth. "Casper, you're going to be just fine with us. Just listen and keep her sense up and stick to the shadows, then you'll be just fine."
Casper didn't know what to say, so he turned back to the stage, lost in his own mind. He was wondering what Hyde meant by that, but right now, he couldn't even help wonder what his uncles were doing. Getting tired, Casper curled up in his seat and closed his eyes, just wanting sleep to consume him as he heard Hyde get up and drift away.