Sometimes I hated Shadow. The looks I got when I returned to school didn't help. Though, the fact that Dash and his cronies (the "A-listers", whatever that meant) didn't approach me helped somewhat. Tucker snorted into his milk at lunch when I complained to my friends. I had ended up seated next to Danny, and while the (slightly older) boy didn't seem to mind, it made me antsy.
"Wait so, you're telling us that your ghost came to school and got your schoolwork," Tucker tried to simplify, "and now your teachers won't look at you?"
"I can only be thankful that he didn't draw attention to himself," I sighed, rubbing at the blind side of my face. "And thankful that he didn't decide to play my Pokemon Go."
"What team are you?" Sam asked curiously, leaning on her left hand. Somehow, Sam was the one who enjoyed playing Pokemon with me and not Tucker. It was surprising, if only because I hadn't thought that Tucker would willingly miss out on something techno-based.
"Mystic. You?"
"Hell yeah, Mystic!" We fist-bumped and chuckled together, though I was startled out of it by Danny startnig to laugh. I edged away from him, staring at him with decently-hidden fear. "Danny, do you play Pokemon Go?"
"No, but it's funny to watch you two dork out together," Danny coughed. He hid a yelp when Sam kicked him in the shin. Those combat boots really hurt- Shadow had told me.
[line break]
I was turning 16 that Friday. All three of my friends were already 16, with Tucker almost 17 and Danny the closest to my age. But I was still younger than all of them. However, with my birthday approaching, I needed to get something off my chest; they needed to be made aware.
I knew their secret.
It's not like it was hard; if Danny wanted to hide his halfa status, he should learn duplication better. He really did do a horrible job at hiding it; he kept rubbing at the spot where Shadow had bitten him; he blatantly used intangibility to reach into his locker on multiple occasions; Phantom and he were never seen near each other; and, honestly, they even looked similar. So I decided that it was only fair that if I knew their secret, they should know mine. Mutually assured destruction or whatever that nut in Wisconsin would call it.
Pulling the trio into an empty janitor's closet, I stated bluntly, "I know your secret."
Danny intelligently stuttered and coughed before managing to say, unconvincingly, "What secret? I-I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Oh please," I snorted, "drop the stupid act. I'm not gonna go tell anyone. That would be absolute mayhem and if the people of Amity Park aren't smart enough to make the connections themselves, I don't really care about making it for them." The trio seemed to relax, though they were all still tense. I rolled my eyes and let my own rings of crackling electricity wash over me, allowing me access to Shadow's ghostly body. "Besides, it'd be mutually assured destruction if I blabbed." I watched Sam's eyes widen and then make the connection, while Tucker looked like he was going to faint and Danny was startled beyond comprehension. I let my human body fade back to me as I turned towards the door, only stopping when Shadow reminded me of something. "Oh, and Danny? A mixture of raw ectoplasm and Wolfsbane should heal that bite faster. Sorry for biting you, but, y'know, full moon. Don't worry, no one's been turned yet."
And then I left them there, trotting away feeling far less confident than I looked.
[line break]
Avoiding my trio of friends was easy. All I had to do was stay somewhat closer to Dash than normal, and the giant blonde idiot did the rest for me. He was overjoyed to find that I was near him, and forced me to sit at lunch with him. This would have been okay, except I was being shoved between Dash and another giant boy by the name of Kwan. My shoulders kept getting bumped as they stupidly roughhoused, which I ignored in favor of trying to calm Shadow down. The girls (a Latina named Paulina and a white bitch named Star) weren't much better, fawning over me (probably due to my shortness, which I hated) and my nails. They kept asking stupid questions too, like: what brand is that? (OPI.) What color? ("I can't Hear Myself" Pink.) Do you use a topcoat? (Yes, I use a clear nail polish as a topcoat.)
Finally, the bell rang and I was able to escape with a half-assed excuse and a bolt for the door.
"Bad idea," I wheezed as I slowed down near the Science corridor. "Note to self: don't ever stoke Dash's ego. You will be suffocated with giant, smelly boys."
"Did you mean what you said?" Danny's voice was uncharacteristically quiet, and it startled me. "About not telling?" I stepped away from the halfa, my core pounding painfully as Shadow whirled in my head.
"Mutually assured destruction, Danny," I coughed, retrieving my asthma inhaler and regulating my breathing. "I wouldn't have told you that I knew if I couldn't do something to put you guys on equal footing."
"How did it happen?" Dann'y voice remained quiet, not prying but curious. "How did you become a halfa?"
I stiffened with rage at his words. Without me noticing, Shadow's voice seeped out in a growl with my own. "We are not a halfa." I gained control over it, gently pushing Shadow back. "We are not a halfa," I repeated in a cold voice. "Tell me, Danny- what do you know about hallowed ghosts?"
"Hallowed ghosts?" He sounded confused. "Well... there's only one in existence, right? And a hallowed ghost is a forced fusion between a human and a ghost?"
"Yes," I hissed, taking a step towards the halfa. "Exactly." I got close enough to bite his throat if I wanted to, and I felt Shadow hover over my mind, ready to stop me if I lunged. "We are the lost hallowed ghost."
Shadow sensed my intentions and forcibly took hold, fading my body out of visibility and getting us out of there.
[line break]
The one memory that Shadow and I shared, remembered clearly and vibrantly, even, was a sad one. We remembered the old music box that that strange time ghost had put out. It was underneath a portal that dripped water continuously onto it, though, drowning it out. So we created an ectoplasmic umbrella (that stayed long after our concentration broke and we fled). We heard the tune first... and then we heard the lyrics.
"Chi-ld lost and filled with des-pair, the rain keeps fall-ing down;
"Dis-tant mu-sic floats through the air; rain cause-es it to drown;
"One chi-ld has been for-got-ten; what was their name a-gain...?
"A mess-age that can-not reach them; for what were they con-demned?
"Reach-ing out to try and save him; whim on de-ter-min-a-tion;
"Cries all carr-ied off by the wind; lost all of their re-la-tions...
"You can pass, please don't be worr-ied; I'll keep play-ing my song;
"The past has been dead and bur-ied; no one can sing a-long...
"I can feel the beat-ing rhy-thm; it rests with-in your heart...
"All bro-ken through-out the king-dom; it's tear-ing him a-part...
"Con-tin-ue and nev-er give up;
"He can't come back with us...
"Can-not hand-le this af-fec-tion;
"Pre-ferr-ing just de-ser-tion..."
Neither of us knew when we had begun to sob, but our haunting cry echoed throughout the area and began entrapped within the music box; when the loop restarted, we fled.
And we didn't visit that part of the Ghost Zone again.
Hey! The lyrics above are from KHTLL13's "Memory (Original Lyrics)"! Not mine, they belong to that lovely person! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review if you did!