Disclaimer: Time for a personality quiz. Who owns ParaNorman? a) you, b) me, c) a space monkey, or d) Laika? The results: a) you're a dreamer, b) you're a nice dreamer, c) you need psychiatric help, d) you're a realist

Chapter Seven-Things Get Worse

Martha sat on her bed nervously, trying to steady her nerves. Easier said than done. She had always been afraid of thunderstorms, from the time she was a little girl. She flashed back to when she was nine years old, hiding under the covers and trying not to cry as a storm raged outside.

"Martha? Hey, you okay in there?" Ten-year-old Hester pulled up the covers a little, staring intently at her younger sister's shivering form. Martha didn't answer, sniffling instead. Hester bit her lip sympathetically.

"Yeah, it's a pretty bad storm out there, huh?" Martha nodded slightly, her lip trembling as she closed her eyes, letting tears run down her face.

"It's okay." Hester said, sitting next to her. "Mr. Igthorn says that the storm should blow over soon. He should know, he used to be a weatherman." Martha stared at her.

"Hester, Mr. Igthorn's been dead for almost a year now."

"Yeah, and?" Martha mentally facepalmed. How could she forget her sister's special ability? She could just imagine Mr. Igthorn's translucent, portly figure floating next to her older sister, shaking his finger at her, a gentle smile on his face.

"Hester?" Martha asked, finally scooting out from under the covers, "Is it...scary? Seeing dead people, I mean?"

"Not really." Hester answered, a small smile on her face. "They're the same as they were when they were alive. A lot of them are really sad, though. Their family and friends can't see them anymore, and I'm the only one they can talk to. It's the same with their loved ones. You remember the O'Gradys? They had a terrible fight the night before Mrs. O'Grady died. She told me to tell her husband that she forgave him." She sighed. Even though she was still smiling, there was a sad look in her eyes. "That was the first time I ever saw a man cry."

"Poor guy." Martha said, sympathetically.

"It's not an easy job, being a medium." Hester said. "But if it helps people to mend loose ends, and not be so scared of death, it's worth it."

Back in the present, a tear rolled down Martha's cheek. She didn't even realize she had been crying. She had always looked up to her sister. Even if everyone else was afraid of or mistrusting of her, she thought it was a good thing her sister did, helping to bridge the gap between the living and the dead. She imagined Joseph felt the same way about Aggie. She'd seen him asking her questions about the ghosts she talked to, his eyes lighting up with wonder as he expressed his wish that he could see ghosts, too. Martha smiled, feeling some of her worry disappear.

"I'd better go check on them." Getting up from the bed, she grabbed a flashlight and walked over to her son's bedroom. She shined the light in the room-and let out a cry of horror at what she saw.

Joseph was nowhere to be found. Additionally, his window was open, and Martha could see that a bunch of sheets were tied together, leading down to the outside.

"JOSEPH!"


About seven blocks away, Aggie and the others were on their way to City Hall. Suddenly, as soon as it had started, the storm died down.

"Huh? It's over?" Neil asked.

"Not yet." William answered, though only Aggie could hear him. Suddenly, an old abandoned building next to them went up in flames. Next was a parked car, then a garbage can.

"Come on!" Aggie said, grabbing Neil's arm to drag him along. She let out a cry as a fire spontaneously roared to life in front of her. She and the others ran to avoid the blazing inferno, and Aggie's eyes lit up as she saw City Hall in front of them.

"It's right there! Now we just have to...!" The sound of sirens suddenly cut her off. She and the others turned around, and Aggie's heart sank as she saw a police car driving up behind them. It pulled to a stop, and a fat black woman came out.

"Agatha Prenderghast?" she asked. "Does this belong to you?" She opened the back door, and Joseph came tumbling out.

"Aggie!" He said.

"Joseph?" Aggie asked. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to help you!" He said. "I snuck out to come with you and the others, but the police found me!"

"And it's a good thing we did, too." The policewoman said. "Sneaking out in the middle of a freak storm to do who knows what, dragging other kids with you..."

"I didn't drag them out here!" Aggie shouted. As soon as she said this, she knew it was a lie. She'd convinced her friends to come out here and risk their lives, just because she was scared. She shook her head, then looked up at the grown-ups.

"Look, this is something I have to do, okay?! Everything that's happened tonight is because of a witch, and I'm the only one who can stop him!" The woman stared at her, clearly not believing a word.

"Are you two buying this?" She asked Neil and Salma. Nobody said a word. Finally, after a few seconds, Salma sighed.

"I-I don't know."

"What?!" Aggie asked in disbelief.

"Well hey, you talk all the time about these ghosts only you can see!" Salma said. "All I ever see is you talking to yourself! I never asked to be a part of this!"

"Salma!"

"The only reason I even started hanging around with you is because I felt sorry for you!" Aggie felt like she'd been punched in the gut. She turned to Neil.

"Neil, you believe me, right? Right?!" Neil just stared down at the street and said nothing. The policewoman's partner chose that moment to intervene.

"Alright kids, you're coming with us." He reached for Aggie, but she just pulled away.

"Aggie!" Joseph said. Aggie's legs moved on their own, carrying her away from everyone.

A/N: Poor Aggie :( Just in case you guys couldn't guess, Aggie never reunited Neil with his dead dog like Norman did in the original movie, so technically he's never had any contact with ghosts. And as for Salma, well, I imagined her as kind of a skeptical character. Even in the original movie when she was saying that stuff about witches she had kind of a high and mighty feel about her, so hopefully this isn't too much of a stretch. She didn't get a whole lot of characterization in the movie anyway, so...

Well, anyway, I hope you liked the chapter at least a little. Please review!