Day 3
Karkat and Jade had made some pretty good progress in going across America. They had made it to the state of Alabama by the time the day was half way over.
"This state is Alabama. I know it's a little bit less exciting than Florida or Georgia, but it's still pretty fucking neat to me." Karkat had said as Jade looked around, in awe of the forest they had made their way into. Karkat had let her explore parts of Florida and Georgia pretty much every day, telling her all about each state. She turned to face him when they found a nice, shady tree to lie under.
"Karkat, how do you know so much about the states?" she asked. Karkat shrugged.
"I've been dead for awhile, so I got a chance to explore around. I've made my way around the entire US. So I'm assuming you're not from here then? Because it sure as hell seems like you don't know anything about the US." he said smirking.
"You're correct! Like I told you before, I used to live with grandpa all the time on an island kind of far away from here." she said, reminiscing about the easier days. Karkat nodded as if he understood. They began to talk as the sun slowly made it's way around the Earth. When it began to set, the air suddenly got colder. Even the ghost kids could feel it.
"Damn, it really got freezing. I almost forgot I could feel anything." Karkat said, curling up into a ball to keep warm. Jade huddled beside him, and tried to keep herself warm too. Karkat was kind of surprised.
"How the hell did you manage to get cold that fucking fast?" he said wrapping his transparent arms around her. She just giggled and replied with an "I don't know." Karkat just rolled his eyes, but smirked in spite of himself. Suddenly, the wind whipped up faster, and Karkat had a feeling this wasn't going to be a regular windstorm.
"Shit. Jade, I think that a tornado is coming on. We have to get underground." he said, pulling her along.
"But wait, we're ghosts, so doesn't it not matter if we're pulled in?" she said.
"Technically, you are right. But trust me, i got pulled into a hurricane when I was in Florida, and the next morning I woke up with a headache that hurt like a bitch." he said bitterly. Jade didn't even know that ghosts could feel pain, but she took Karkat's word for it. They hurried off until they found an abandoned farm. This farm, like almost every other place in Alabama, had a tornado shelter. They flew through the already closed doors and hid underground. The pair could hear the rumble of thunder outside as rain and hail pounded against the ground.
"So how long do we have to wait this out?" Jade asked. Karkat just shrugged, still listening to the hail and rain outside. Suddenly, there was a blood curdling screech that made them both jump.
"What was that?" Jade asked in a panicked tone. Karkat only glared as more screeches were heard, and put a finger to his lips, as if to signal silence. After the storm and the screeches had finally stopped, he removed the finger from his lips and spoke.
"Soul Demons." he said.
"What?"
"The things you heard earlier during the storm. They're called Soul Demons, because if they catch you, they'll eat your spirit and send you straight to Hell. Once you're in Hell, there's no going back. They're here because they only feast on the poor fuckers not lucky enough to pass on." he said in a serious tone. Jade was shocked and scared.
"H-how do you know a-about these th-things?" she asked, feeling herself tremble in fear. Karkat sighed.
"I met this ghost guy named Tavros who knew all about these guys even before he died. Ironically, he ended up being killed by one himself." Karkat said bitterly. Jade still trembled in fear.
"Oh my God. Karkat I'm scared."
"Don't be. They only come during storms." a random voice from out of nowhere said. Jade and Karkat looked around for the source. Suddenly, a ghastly figure came out from the dirt wall. It appeared to be a taller, lankier figure of a ghost girl. She had long, flowing hair, and she wore a black tattered skirt.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Karkat asked cautiously.
"My apologies for intruding on the conversation. My name's Aradia. And your name is Karkat as far as I'm concerned." Aradia said with a small grin. Karkat nodded as if to confirm that fact.
"My name is Jade! It's nice to meet you Aradia!" Jade said, earning another small grin from the girl.
"So why are you here anyway? I mean, besides the storm and all." Kakat asked.
"Well I heard you two talking, and I was surprised to hear other ghosts besides myself. Plus I died here anyway, so I stuck around." Aradia said. Karkat gave her a questioning look, and she knew she was going to have to explain how she died.
"I like archeology, but one of my excursions went horribly wrong, and now here I am." she said. Jade and Karkat nodded. After a few hours of conversing, Karkat and Jade had decided to let Aradia join them on their trip to passing on to the other side. Jade was starting to see this trip as a Wizard of Oz type, where she met new people along the way, but instead wanting to see the wizard, they all only had one goal in mind: get to the other side before the Soul Demons got them.