(A/N): OK, this is the third chapter. You know, just in case you want to read the last one.

One-shot: Ghosts.

Mara lied sleeping on the couch, still in complete school uniform. She had had been on the couch ever since she arrived back at the house earlier that day. Trudy forced Victor to let the girl sleep since she had not been feeling well ever since that morning, worrying it may be the flu or some other illness.

Suddenly, the grandfather clock in the other room chimed, causing the sleeping girl to shoot up from her slumber. Mara looked around the darkened room, trying to remember where she was.

She didn't have time to think because she heard another sound, a moan. A scary, evil moan. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up in fear. "Hello?" She whispered, barely audible even to her own ears.

She heard the moan again, this time closer and louder. Mara's eyes widened and a high pitched squeak released from her mouth. She quickly laid face down on the couch, trying to block out the fear she was feeling. She has always been a scaredy-cat, ever since she was little.

*Flashback*

A younger looking Mara sat in a carriage, squeezing her mother's hand tightly. "Daddy, I want to go home." She said, turning to a slender man on her left.

"The ride's almost over, Mars Bar, you'll be fine." The man said, kissing his daughter's forehead. Mara looked at her father skeptically, but trusted him.

"This is the part where we get to see ghosts." Mara's mum whispered in her ear.

"Ghosts?"

"Yes, and maybe some monsters." Mrs. Jaffray said. "But if you ever get scared, I'm here for you, ok honey?" Mara nodded.

Suddenly, a very scary looking clown popped out beside the carriage. Mara screamed and buried her head into her mother's blouse.

"Mummy, make it go away!" The little girl cried. Mrs. Jaffray held onto the little girl in an effort to comfort her.

"Shh, it's ok. Everything's ok. Look, the clown is gone now." Mara lifted her head to see the clown was no longer there. She smiled slightly before she heard the sound of hands banging on wood and loud, scary moans.

"Ghost!" Mara shouted, spotting a white figure surrounded by mist in the distance. Mara curled up in a ball, scared out of her mind. She started to cry.

Suddenly, she felt a bony hand tickle her spine. "AAAAHHH!" Mara screamed through her tears. "I want to go home." Mara mumbled. "I want to go home…"

*End of Flashback*

Mara was still lying on the couch, the ghostly moan coming closer to her. Mara screwed her eyes shut, wanting to disappear.

The owner of the moan was now right next to her. Mara was frozen with fear. She was about to run when a hand touched her face.

As fast as lightning, Mara grabbed a pillow right next to her and threw it in the general direction of the noise, her eyes still tightly shut.

"Uuuuuuh-OW!" The moan suddenly became familiar when the pillow made contact with the person. Mara's eyes flew open.

"Jerome!" She hissed. The tall boy removed a bed sheet that he was wearing, his face showing the obvious amusement he took from pranking his girlfriend. "Jerome, that was the cruelest, most heartless thing anyone has ever done to me!"

"You have to admit it was pretty funny." Jerome chuckled. It only earned him another pillow to the face. "Hey!"

(A/N): Yeah, I'm not the greatest writer of scary stories, I'll admit. And this isn't my greatest work, now is it? Hope you enjoyed it.

And besides, it's not a Charn story without Jara, is it?