Here we are, our third installment! And this is where things really start to get spooky. Thanks for the great reviews so far, guys. Hopefully, you'll find this chapter to be even better than the last two.
"Ghosts! That's preposterous!" Eve yelled, growling.
"There's no such thing as ghosts," Kate said behind her.
"Famous last words," the mysterious wolf responded.
"Not that I'm not digging the whole cryptic vibe and everything," Humphrey said, "but who are you guys?"
The three wolves stepped out of the shadows. They looked to be Omegas as they did not have the build of Alphas and each of their faces were grey with hints of black. They were about the same age as Humphrey and Kate.
Everybody just stared at them.
"Recognize us now?" their leader said.
"No," Eve said.
"Can't say that I do," Humphrey said.
"Not a clue," Kate added.
"Sorry," Lilly said quietly.
"Come on, you've got to know us!" the wolf continued. "We're Western Pack wolves too! It's me, Zack, and this is Nick and Aaron. You've got to remember us!"
(Author's Note: Some of you probably already know where I got those names. If you don't, you can read my message at the end of the story to find out.)
Everybody collectively shook their heads.
"Wow, I've never seen these guys before," Humphrey whispered to Kate. "They must be more useless than the vegetarians."
Unfortunately, Zack heard him and was none too pleased with the remark. "I'll have you know," he said, "that we happen to be Jasper Park's number-one experts on ghost-type phenomena! And ever since word got around the valley about Lilly being cursed–"
"Who said my baby was cursed?" Eve yelled, her full set of teeth showing.
"Forget ghosts," Aaron whispered to Nick. "That's scary!"
Garth cringed as he realized something. "Those three young wolves we brought back. They must be spreading rumors! That's how you guys heard about it!"
"That's how it happens in this business," Zack continued. "But it looks to me like you need a paranormal investigator."
"A para-what?" Humphrey remarked.
"A ghost hunter," Zack said flatly.
Winston now stepped forward. "And you three claim to have experience in hunting ghosts, is that right?"
Zack nodded. "That's right. Well, technically, we've never actually hunted ghosts. But I snuck into one of the human campers once and a TV program about hunting ghosts was on. So I think that counts as experience."
Winston shook his head in disdain. "Go back to your dens, you young pups."
"No we won't!" Zack barked back. "We're going down to the Haunted Caves to investigate! We're going to prove that a grade-A spirit-level extranormal phenomenon is occurring here."
"Yeah!" Nick said behind him. "And then we'll figure out if there are ghosts, too!"
Zack snarled at Nick over his shoulder. His way of telling him to shut up.
"You are absolutely forbidden to go down to those caves!" Winston yelled. He rarely lost his temper, but he had never had his authority so blatantly disregarded by Omegas before.
"Um, dad," Kate said. "Why don't we let them go down to the caves? The Haunted Caves are off-limits in Eastern Pack law, not ours. And we'd probably need to look for the cause of Lilly's illness in the caves anyway. If they do find anything, it could save us a lot of time and effort."
"Kate, I thought you didn't believe in ghosts!" Winston grumbled.
"I don't," Kate said, lowering her voice. "Actually, I just wanted an excuse to get them out of here before mom gets violent. You remember what happened when that group of wolves came through here tracking Bigfoot."
Winston shuddered. "It took weeks to get all the blood out of the den." He turned back to the ghost hunters. "Okay, you three, you can go. But be careful. Don't do anything to get yourselves killed and if there is any hint of danger, return here immediately. That's an order."
"Whatever," Zack said as he led the other two out of the den.
Eve continued to growl. "If they do come back alive, I'm going to kill them."
"Yes, dear," Winston said with a sigh. "But first let's attend to–"
"Lilly!" Garth yelled in concern. She had suddenly fallen back into unconsciousness.
It was a quiet, strangely gentle night at the Haunted Caves. The air was still, not even a breeze was felt. The sky was all blackness – not a star and no moon to be seen. Yet, somehow, the whole area seemed to shine with an unearthly glow.
Zack, Nick, and Aaron came trotting into the area. They were all very excited to be conducting their first "investigation."
"You guys think we'll see any ghosts?" Nick said.
"What does a ghost even look like?" Aaron said.
Zack growled. "Everybody knows what a ghost looks like! It looks like… It's about the size of… think of it like a… you know what, just keep on the lookout for any paranormal activity!"
"But what's paranormal activity look like?" Nick said.
Zack rolled his eyes. Back to square one. "It's like… It's like… that!"
Zack suddenly pointed toward a bush, one of only about two in the area. This bush was shaking furiously.
The intrepid investigators were filled with fear. None of them wanted to approach, for each had visions of the vile monstrosity that could be moving those branches.
And then, a small dark thing ran out of the bush.
"It's a ghost!" Aaron yelled.
"It's a squirrel," Zack said, picking up the animal by the tail.
Aaron studied it carefully. "It's a ghost!"
Zack rolled his eyes. "No, it's a squirrel."
"Yeah," Aaron responded, "but it could be a ghost squirrel."
Zack considered this. "You've got a point there. We'll take it along as evidence."
He gave it to Nick and continued to lead the way. Looking toward the big black cave at the foot of the path, he began to speak. "Is that the best you got? A little squirrel? We thought something cursed and evil was supposed to be here! Why don't you show us what you're really made of?"
For a long time, they waited. Nothing happened.
"When you taunt the ghost, is it not supposed to do anything?" Nick asked.
"Shut up!" Zack ordered. "This must not be a center of paranormal happening-ness. Let's try up at those caves over there."
Zack and Nick headed off. Aaron was about to follow, but suddenly he heard a whisper. He could not make out what it was saying, but he knew that he heard a voice.
"Um, guys?" he said, looking for the other two. But they had already gone too far to easily hear him.
Aaron turned back toward the large dark cave. And then, "Aaaaaaaahhhhh!"
"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!" Lilly screamed suddenly, jolting up as though she had just awoken from a terrible nightmare.
All the others, talking amongst themselves at the other end of the den, came running. Garth reached her first. "Lilly? What's wrong?"
Lilly looked at him blankly for a second. Finally, she recognized her mate and what he was asking. "Nothing's wrong. Why do you ask?"
"Lilly," Kate said. "You just woke up screaming."
"Did I?" Lilly said weakly. "I don't… I don't remember…"
"Something's definitely wrong, Winston!" Eve said in concern.
"Yeah, I told you what was wrong: ghosts!"
Everybody groaned. Zack was back.
But when they turned to face him they met a startling sight. Zack and Nick were running for the den, carrying Aaron between them. Aaron looked dazed, his eyes rolling back and forth. He seemed to be mumbling something, but nobody could make out what.
"What's eating him?" Humphrey said.
Zack and Nick threw Aaron down onto the floor of the den. "Ghosts!" they shouted together.
"We were only separated from him for a second or two," Zack said. "And then we suddenly hear this wild scream of his. So we race back and find him lying on the ground, just babbling incoherently to himself. We thought we should bring him back here."
Aaron began to roll around on the ground and laugh uncontrollably.
"You see, it has to be paranormalish!" Zack said.
"Now, hold on," Winston said. "There must be some sort of rational explanation."
"But we have proof!" Nick said, pulling the squirrel out from behind his back.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Humphrey said, "but isn't that a squirrel?"
"Yeah, a ghost squirrel!"
"Actually, I think it's just a squirrel. You know, the regular non-ghost kind."
"Some people just can't handle proof of the unexplained," Zack whispered to Nick.
And then, suddenly, the squirrel began to claw and bite Nick's paw, apparently not liking the way Nick was holding its tail. In pain, Nick dropped it and the squirrel began to run away.
"The ghost is escaping!" Nick yelled.
"Not on my watch," Zack said as he and Nick gave chase.
But the squirrel was lucky, because it was able to run right behind the paws of Janice, who had just come up the path. "There you are, Billy," she said. "Reba and I have been looking all over for you!" She and the squirrel walked away, the squirrel making sure to stick its tongue out at the ghost hunters as it left.
Zack and Nick just stood there watching. "Does this mean…" Nick began to ask.
Zack nodded. "Yes, it means she's a ghost too."
"As fascinating as this has all been," Eve said, coming up behind them, "why don't you two take your friend and GET OUT OF MY DEN BEFORE I TEAR ALL TWELVE OF YOUR LEGS OFF?"
"That might not be the best idea, dear," Winston said. He pointed to Aaron, who had fallen into an unnatural sleep, the kind that Lilly had been in for two days. "Let's get everybody out of here for now with the exception of this young wolf. I think we should keep him here under for a while to see what happens."
Garth and Lilly were walking outside in the warm air. Lilly was smiling – she now felt much better. But Garth looked deeply unhappy.
"What's wrong, Garth?" Lilly said.
Garth tried to smile. "Nothing, honey. I'm just worried about you…"
Lilly laughed a little. "Don't be worried, I'm fine. Really! I don't know what happened but I'm feeling completely better. Honest."
Garth cheered up a little. He was glad to see Lilly's old spark coming back. "I know. You just really scared us all. We didn't know if you were going to pull through."
"But I did," Lilly said as she began to trot. "I'm perfectly fine. In fact, I haven't felt this good in – Aaaaaaahhhhh!"
Garth was alarmed by Lilly's scream. But what alarmed him more was that it was not the only one. An equally disturbing scream was making its way down the path from the den. Garth knew it could only be from Aaron. He would have run to the den right then and there but he could not leave Lilly when something bad was happening to her.
But then Lilly recovered. "Yeah, I don't remember the last time I felt as good as I do now. So you don't have to worry or–"
"Lilly, what's wrong?" Garth said, almost panicking.
"Nothing's wrong, Garth! That's what I keep trying to tell you!"
"But you just screamed!"
Lilly's lavender eyes looked shocked, confused, afraid. "I… I did? I don't remember that."
Garth did not know how to answer. So, he said instead, "Follow me." And together they headed back for the den.
When they arrived, they found all the other wolves already there. Kate had apparently arrived first, since she was the one examining Aaron as he lay on the ground. She was particularly interested in a black mark – almost like a paw mark – on his shoulder.
Lilly could not believe what she was seeing. She walked up beside her sister. "Is he…"
"Yeah, he's dead," Kate said. "I guess things have just gotten a little more serious."
Okay, about the names. Zack, Nick, and Aaron are the three ghost hunters on Travel Channel's "paranormal reality" series Ghost Adventures. Since I needed three patsies to be the first non-Lilly victims of our mysterious evil, I figured it would be fitting to "honor" them by giving their names to the characters. Besides, it gave me an excuse to do a parody of the "investigating" featured on those types of shows.
Back to the story. Now we've had our first death! But how are our heroes going to react or protect themselves from something they can't even see? Will this finally force them to admit that ghosts exist?
Read on.
