Sorry this is a day late! I didn't have time to update yesterday and I am still suffering from what I think is an ear infection ¬_¬ It has eased slightly now so I can type!

Thanks to splitheart1120, Foxgrl18, LuckyTigger, lightwolfheart, AnimexLuver4Ever, IgglybuffPichuandOrcha3000, TheMomeRaths, Starfire1407 and AikoAkahana for reviewing. Sorry for being late guys but I am being slightly more of a wuss lately with this thing T_T

Chapter Ten: The Spook

"Welcome, ghost hunters of all kinds," Mr Ketchum greeted the large number of ghost hunters in the main hall, "We have permission to search this house for ghosts for tonight only. Remember we only have until the sun comes up to find them."

"Why until sunrise?" Vi asked Ash. Reggie looked down at his younger sister and step-brother.

"Ghosts seem to have a better presence during the night rather than during the day," Ash explained. Vi nodded slowly.

"I hope they've gone into hiding," Vi stated. Ash gave a laugh.

"Paul probably ordered it but you know Drew and Rusty," Ash said, "We'll find them in no time."

"I hope so," Reggie said, "I want to finally see these ghosts."

Vi glanced at Reggie for a few seconds. She eyed him carefully figuring that there was something different about her brother. She couldn't place her finger on it but he seemed slightly odd. He was smiling like Reggie and talking like Reggie but it didn't feel like Reggie. Ash didn't seem to notice but Ash was too preoccupied with his father to notice anything.

"There are supposed to be five ghosts in this house," Mr Ketchum went on, "Each coming through the ages. My son and step-daughter say they are not repetitive ghosts but wondering ghosts."

"And that mean?" Vi asked Ash. Ash looked a little annoyed at explaining everything so Vi fell quiet. Reggie smiled at her.

"It means they walk about rather than doing the same things over and over," Reggie explained quietly so that Ash could listen to his father.

"Makes sense," Vi said.

"And we have some new technology to try out," Mr Ketchum said. Now this had Vi and Reggie's attention. They watched as Mr Ketchum picked up, what looked like, a water gun. It had a hollow canister on the back of it but it was pulled into a rucksack. "This will allow us to capture a ghost for the first time."

"Wow," Ash said.

"What do you mean, wow?" Vi snapped, "They're our ghosts! You can't take them away from us!"

"Young lady," Mr Ketchum said, "This is a study of ghosts we need to take one to study."

"You can't do that, dad," Leaf said. She was sat by her mother close to Mr Ketchum. "They'll disappear if you take them out of the grounds."

"How do you know that?" Mr Ketchum asked.

"Dawn told me," Leaf replied in a small voice like everyone else was sneering at her. Reggie blinked a few times before he looked at Vi. Vi looked positively annoyed by this development. She eyes were glittering with anger while her body was tensed.

"I doubt it will work," Reggie told Vi, "It looks like its something out of Ghost Busters."

Vi let out a quiet giggle as Reggie said this. She looked at her older brother, smiling at him. She frowned suddenly at him as she wondered where his sudden sense of humour had come from and why was he trying to cheer her up? Reggie blinked a few times wondering why Vi was frowning like she was.

"Something wrong, sis?" he asked.

"No," she replied. She turned her head back to Mr Ketchum. Reggie eyed the young girl warily. She was onto him. He smirked but only slightly. She was cleverer than he gave her credit.

"We will divide into teams," Mr Ketchum was saying, "Five at the most since there are five ghosts."

"Right," the other ghost hunters cheered.

Reggie and Vi stayed close to Ash as they got into a group of seven. They were with two rather cooky couples that seemed totally into ghosts. Reggie and Vi exchanged looks. This was going to be a long night.

Dawn and Drew looked down at a team as they passed through the corridor to go to the kitchens. Since both Drew and Dawn knew this area of the house quite well, Paul had given it to them to look after.

"Dawn," Drew said, "Stay hidden."

"OK," Dawn replied as she faded through the ceiling. Drew cracked his fingers.

"It's show time," he told himself before he set to work.

Misty was hanging round the old library. They were bound to come into this room since this is where most people ended up. She was half hidden in a book case, waiting for a team to find her. Finally the door to the room opened and a team of eight poured into the library. They looked around for a few minutes. Misty saw her chance. She let out an evil laugh as she began her part in the plan.

"Oh, I hate this," May muttered to herself as she floated from dinning room to hallway. She was meant to be in the dinning room but she knew that no one would be able to find her in there by themselves. Instead she was walking in a pattern like she could only do that route. No one was coming her way. After half an hour or so someone finally spotted her. They rushed into the dinning room to find it empty.

"A repetitive ghost," one of the weird ghost hunters said.

May faded through the floor near to the doors and slamed them shut. She smiled at the group in front of her.

"Amazing," another one said.

"Won't you play with me?" May asked, tilting her head to the right side. She looked incredibly cute and totally misleading. "There's not another air raid for ages yet. So play?"

"Let's see if we can get any data on her."

"Play with me?" May asked again. She pouted suddenly as the scientists ignored her and started to play with weird gadgets. "Hey!"

They turned to look at her in shock.

"I want to play," she demanded, "So we will play."

The scientists went pale as three drawers full of silver opened.

Vi and Ash paused as they heard pained screams coming from all over the house. Reggie looked around before smirking evilly to himself.

"What was that?" Mr Rogers, a slightly over weight, simple minded man asked. His wife, just as simple minded as he was, clung to his arm. There were another few shouts of pain from various places around the house.

"I hope the ghosts aren't hurting people," Mrs Rogers said.

"They can't," Ash said, "Unless Paul is out to get them."

"Let's continue," Mr Holmes, the other husband of the second couple, suggested. The others nodded and continued through the halls. They made it out onto a balcony which over looked a large empty hall. Vi and Ash looked at it gone out. Reggie gave a laugh.

"Did you realise this was here?" he asked. Vi and Ash shook their heads. "It's the ballroom. I thought you would have found it by now."

"No," Vi said.

"It's amazing," Ash said happily, "I wonder if any of the ghosts are hanging around near here."

Reggie frowned slightly at Ash's use of the word ghosts. For a few seconds he sounded just like the other hunters. It annoyed Reggie to no end. Vi looked around the ballroom with her eyes wide.

"We so should have a party in here," Vi muttered. She looked over the nicely decorated floor. Sure it was still a little dirty and needed some more work but it would be perfect for a party one day. Her eyes fell on something in the centre of the ballroom.

It looked like a boy. He had wild purple hair, smirking very evilly up at Vi. He was wearing all black: black shirt, black jacket, black breeches and black boots. The boy held up a hand to Vi.

"Ash?" Vi asked, pointing at the boy, "Is that Paul?"

Both Ash and Reggie turned to see what their sister was looking at. They immediately saw the boy in the centre of the room. Reggie's eyes widened in shock for a few seconds before he looked at Ash. Ash shook his head slowly.

"I've never seen him before," Ash mumbled, "Who is he?"

Reggie glanced back at the boy. The boy was looking directly at Reggie now, smile widened in almost a manic way. Reggie tilted his head to the side. There was something oddly familiar about that boy but he couldn't put his finger on it. The boy moved his raised hand towards Reggie. Something was not right with this kid. A dark ball of energy was emerging from the kid's palm. Reggie jumped to the side as the boy released the attack on him. Vi screamed while Ash gave out a shocked yell. Reggie landed on the floor unharmed but slightly worried.

He finally remembered that kid.

Vi stumbled backwards towards the banister. She gripped onto it tightly as if the floor was going to disappear beneath her. She glanced at her brother. Reggie was on his feet, staring intently at the kid on the dance floor.

"You're very bad," the boy told him, "You must die."

"Too late for that, kid," Reggie replied. The kid shot another black orb of power but not at Reggie. He shot it at where Vi was stood. She screamed again as she fell backwards, falling down off the balcony. Reggie glanced around. The adults had seemingly ran away at the first sign of danger. Ash was laying on the floor unconscious. How helpful. Reggie jumped after Vi, catching her and landing on the floor like a cat. Both of them were unharmed.

Reggie straightened up with Vi in his arms. He gently let his sister go and placed her on the floor.

"Who are you?" Reggie asked the kid.

"I'm me," the boy said, smiling at Reggie. The boy conjured another orb in his hands. Reggie's eyes widened. This was not good at all. This kid wanted to kill him. Why? The problem was that Reggie couldn't use powers. Reggie turned to Vi.

"Please don't scream," he told her. Vi looked confused for a few seconds before pure horror etched into her expression. Something floated out from Reggie. It was a boy with purple hair and black eyes. A ghost. Reggie fell limply to the ground. The ghost sent an attack of his own towards the boy. It felt like a strong gust of wind. Vi covered her eyes it was so strong.

"Oh, you're dead already?" the kid asked the ghost, "Too bad. Maybe next time."

The kid disappeared in a wisp of smoke leaving Vi and the ghost to stare after him. Vi fell to her knees. They were suddenly too weak to support her. Something had just tried to kill her but she was saved by another ghost. Was that possible?

"Master Paul?" the female voice rung through the ballroom before a woman rushed into the room. She looked scared. She ran up to the other ghost and stopped just short of him. "Are you OK? I thought you were in danger."

"I'm fine," Paul told Dawn, "Whatever it was is now gone."

"What was what?" Dawn asked looking slightly confused.

"I'm not sure," Paul replied. He looked at Dawn. She looked as terrified as he felt. Maybe she was picking up on that. He hated to admit it but that 'thing', that boy, had made him purely terrified. Using his powers against it took a lot of guts.

"Wh-what's going on?" Vi cried suddenly, "Who are you people? What was that thing?"

Dawn turned to look at the girl. She had been solely focused on finding Paul that she hadn't realised that there was another person conscious in the room. Paul put a hand on Dawn's shoulder.

"Look after her," Paul told her softly, "I'll go and handle the rest of the plan."

"Yes, sir," Dawn said with a bob. The two ghosts departed. Paul walked through the house until he reached the main hall where the ghost hunters had converged. Some had cutlery stuck in their machines, others were covered with gloop, soaps suds, dust or had books through their machines. Maybe the others over did it a little, Paul thought.

He looked around, smirk settling on his lips as he pushed the thoughts of the strange boy to the back of his head. Time to get to work, he thought. That's when he started clapping.

OK so you have now caught up to me :O I really need to write more! Update should be next Saturday unless my plot fairy escapes *glares at plot fairy*. Please review!

RSx