Chapter 17

"Plasmius? Plasmius is here too?" The temperature around them spiked as she shrieked. "Are you working for him? You better answer me, Dipstick."

Thrown off by her sudden hostility, Danny fumbled over his words. Unable to respond fast enough, he found himself tumbling across the asphalt by what felt like some form of shockwave. Glancing up, he found the ghost strumming an electric guitar. "Where'd that come from?" he mumbled to himself as he stood.

"Did Plasmius send you here?" she demanded as she rose into the air. She strummed a few cords with a windmill motion of the arm, and before he could respond, once again, it felt like something unseen hit him. "Do you have any idea what that man did? Well, aren't you going to say anything?"

Another wall of pressure slammed into him as she strummed again. There had to be some sort of connection between whatever was hitting him and her guitar, but what could he do? With the exception of the occasional floating and the one time he created what could only be described as a shield, he had no experience with his abilities. But, he needed to do something because her wild eyes and snarl told him she had no desire to stop any time soon.

He tried to think of something, of anything, but his panic was getting to him. Her attacks hurt, like really hurt. Until this point, the time he broke his arm while bike riding topped his pain experiences, but this was different. Was she trying to kill him? Or was she just trying to get him to talk? Either way, the damage she was causing couldn't be good for him.

"Aren't you going to fly?" she demanded as he rolled over to dodge another one of her attacks. "Are you really that new? Or are you just too stupid to remember you're a ghost?"

"Maybe if you… *pant* give me a moment to catch my breath…"

"Breath? News flash, dipstick: you're dead! You don't need to breathe!" After turning a knob on her guitar, she strummed her guitar again. This time, instead of an invisible wall of sound or energy or something, a pinkish blast came his way.

Yelping, he scrambled to move only to be thrown several feet as the blast barely missed him. He glanced to see a crater in the asphalt where the attack hit. Not wanting to get hit by the new type of attack, he decided his best attempt at surviving was to run.

"Aww, what's wrong? Don't you want to jam with me anymore?" Ember cackled as she followed him in the air. "Did you forget? You're the one who came to see me!"

He needed a moment to think, but she wouldn't give him a chance. Not only that, the temperature in the area had been steadily increasing. In the chilly autumn night, it was originally welcome, but as it became warmer, it became harder for him to catch his breath efficiently. His body also felt heavy and sluggish. She did briefly mention new ghosts couldn't stand the heat so maybe it was also doing damage.

"This is a misunderstanding!" Danny tried to plead as he jumped out of the way only to be hit by a different blast. Struggling to get back to his feet, he stared up at her and braced himself for another attack. "I'm not working for him! WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME?" A green dome surrounded him in time to bounce the most recent attack back towards Ember, knocking her backwards.

After staring at her and then at his hands, his attention turned towards the dome. It had to be the same thing that appeared when he managed to defend himself from that creature. What was it exactly? Hesitantly, he touched it only to have it shatter and vanish. "Well… that's something."

Noticing Ember still seemed stunned, he once again held his hands up in hopes he didn't look threatening. "Look! I don't know what issues you have with him, but I'm not working for Plasmius. He's the reason I'm like this!" he angrily gestured to his own body. "Do you want to continue kicking my butt? Or can we talk? Since I really don't know how to fight back, I'd really like us to talk."

The flames of her hair lessened as her posture relaxed. An expression, possibly pity, replaced her anger as her guitar faded into nothing while she floated back towards the ground. "You're really not working for him? Well, damn. I guess I jumped the gun. Sorry about that, Baby Pop."

"Look," he sighed as he rubbed his neck. He briefly made note of the cooling temperature. "Plasmius is just interested in me for some reason. I don't want anything to do with him, but that doesn't stop him from finding me when he wants. And that thing, he asked about it too."

"Let me ask you this first, what do you know about me?"

"Huh?" He hadn't expected that specific question. "Err… the you now? Or the you before… well…?"

"Either one."

After bringing out his phone and ignoring Ember's puzzled expression, he double checked the information Tucker sent to him. "Well, I know you lived in this area, and that you were in a band. The you now is said to start fires like every ten years. I'm not sure how true anything else is."

She nodded and pointed towards a house more charred than the rest. "That's where I lived with my mother. The details are hazy, but I know it was an accident and that my old bandmates were involved. When I awoke like this, I wanted answers. After finding a way to cross back over, I haunted my friends. I wanted to scare them into talking, and to make sure they knew it was me, I used some of our song lyrics."

"But, it's difficult, especially for a new spirit, to stay here for too long." Her gaze momentarily grew distant before she focused back on him. "When I finally returned, ten years past. The people who were involved with my death moved on with their lives, and I was infuriated. That's when I met Plasmius. He offered to help me take my revenge."

"Wait, Plasmius offered to help you? Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm getting to that. He asked if I cared what he did to them, and at the time, I didn't. I regret that. I found out afterwards Plasmius wanted humans for experiments of some kind. I have no idea exactly what he did or why he did it, but," her fists balled, and her hair blazed, "I saw the aftermath of what he did to one of my former friends. No one deserves what happened to him."

An icy pit formed in Danny's stomach as he thought about everything he experienced. "He's still carrying out experiments. My friend managed to take some of his files and is looking into it."

"You should keep away from him. It'll be safer for you if you do."

An uneasy silence fell between them until Danny spoke up again. "Err… is Plasmius the reason you set fire to that hotel?"

"Huh? Oh that. No, that was for me. When I'm on this side of the veil, I need a way to retain energy. Keeping my legend alive helps, but I've lost most of my taste for revenge so I've been targeting buildings that are either empty or can easily handle a fire. As you get older, you'll find out it can be hard to keep up your strength both here and on the other side. You'll figure out what's easiest for you." She relaxed into a lounging position as she continued to float above the road.

"It might come as a surprise, but I've also been trying to keep nosy kids away from this area. Amity is generally a safe place, but you probably have heard the stories of this area. It was just as bad when I was growing up. Stories made the rounds for years about kids in this area going missing. Some of it was crime, but after I passed away, I discovered there's a door to our world in the area. Kids that stumble through it don't often come back alive. With how close it is, it's probably the reason I came back as a ghost."

"Really? I thought those things only appeared in forests and stuff like that."

She narrowed her eyes as she floated closer to him. "How new are you?" Not waiting for his response, she continued to talk. "Anyways, they can appear anywhere. The ones in cities get some sort of interference or something from the electricity, so they aren't as regular as the ones out in the boonies. Say, do you want to know where it normally is? You probably aren't strong enough to go back and forth without one."

"Err… sure? I probably should know about it."

"Well, come on then." She floated up a little and glanced at him expectantly.

He couldn't look at her, and he could feel the blush spread across his checks. "I… err… can't really fly like you can. Don't have a clue how to even float. It just kinda happens."

Laugher erupted from her. "That's a good one, baby pop. All ghosts seem to just know how to use their basic powers after the first few days." When he continued to look at his feet, her amusement faded. "Wait, you're serious? Here."

He glanced up to see her extending him her hand. Hoping she wasn't suddenly going to change her mind about talking, he took the invitation. Some energy that wasn't his flooded through his body as she lifted him in the air, and an unpleasant fluttering sensation filled his chest.

"Seems your core is working just fine," she told him as she began pulling him forward. "It's a lot cooler than mine is. It'd be pretty neat if you develop water or ice based powers down the road. You don't tend to meet ghosts who do who look so human."

"Err… so, is it normal for ghosts not to look human?"

"Hmm? On average, the older the ghost, the less human that ghost looks, but that's not always the case. I don't really know any specifics. Some new ghosts look so weird that it's hard to imagine they were once human, and some old ghosts can pass as humans. But, I do know we often change as we gain power, and that can be pretty drastic."

That was an unnerving thought. He looked pretty normal now, but would he change in the future? Would it affect his human side too? If it did, how would he be able to hide it?

Ember must have noticed his distress. "Don't think about it too much, Baby Pop. That isn't something that happens until your current form is no longer a match for your strength. I was told that usually takes centuries."

"Usually?"

She shrugged. "There are lots of ways ghosts can gain power. Some say some of those methods can jump start things. I don't know really know, and don't really care. Most of the ways I've heard to do that aren't all that appealing to me. Anyways, here we are."

Danny glanced down to see the Centralia Bridge. It was an old railway bridge that was no longer used for anything other than the art skills of vandals. Most of it was still intact, but some of the planks were rotting so locals knew to be careful if the desire to attempt to traverse it ever came to mind.

Ember gently set him down near the one anchor point before pointing towards the concrete. "It's most commonly found around there. Seems like it's dormant at the moment. You can barely even feel it."

He nodded as a chill ran down his spine. It was a familiar feeling, and one that filled him with dread. Glancing around, it didn't seem like there was anyone else around, but he couldn't the notion something was wrong.

"What's up? I know it's not impressive right now. You should see it when it's open, then it's really something," she teased. However, her smirk disappeared after she caught sight of his expression. "You okay, baby pop?"

"We need to hide. Now!" When she just raised an eyebrow at him, he became more animated as his breath started to mist. "Look, I don't know how to explain it. Something's wrong. Something's watching. We shouldn't be here!"

Her eyes widened as she waved her hand in his misted breath. "How are you doing that? You shouldn't…" She shrieked and yanked him up in the air as something lunged at them. "You weren't kidding. That… that's the thing you were asking about?"

"Yea…yeah…" he stammered as he peered down at the creature.

It was that thing again. That same unnerving thing. The city lights hazily reflected off the thing's sickly grey skin as it stared at them. Its eyes burned with hatred, but it made no move towards them. After what could have been either seconds or minutes, it glanced at its hand which held an unknown item that leaked a dark liquid on its hand and the concrete beneath it before moving towards the bridge support.

It never took its eyes off of them as it used its free hand to stroke a finger along the concrete of the support. The action caused the pillar to shimmer some, and a pressure that caused his chest to thrum unpleasantly hit him. Before it disappeared, slipping into the shimmering area, the thing screeched in way that reminded Danny of a dying animal.

Once it was gone, neither him nor Ember spoke or moved. The unpleasant atmosphere the creature brought lessened, but the night air remained unnervingly still.

Their spell broke when his body decided it could no longer handle its ghostly form and forced him to become human again. Ember nearly dropped him in shock, but luckily managed to get a better hold of him before he truly fell. Scared, she flew the two of them back to Garnier Avenue.

"You… you told me you saw that thing, but… but I didn't believe you," she stammered after she safely put him down. "That's not something I ever thought I'd see."

"What exactly is it?" Nonstop shivers raced through his body.

"The older ghosts call them different things. 'Collector' and 'Wraith' are the most common." She stared into the distance as she spoke before she shook herself and turned her attention back to him. "But more pressingly, what are you? I thought you're just really good at hiding your appearance, but that's not it? You're somehow alive."

He helplessly shrugged before launching into an abridged explanation of what happened to him and the little he knew. "So, yeah, that's all I know. Clockwork suggested he'd get in touch, but I don't know how or when. So… going back to these 'Wraith' things. Are they like the 'Recruiters' I got warned about?"

Ember slowly shook her head. "I personally think you're more interesting. How someone like you is even possible is beyond me, but I guess I need to put my curiosity aside for now since it won't be any fun if that thing gets you." Her posture relaxed, and she floated in a sitting position as she listened. "I'm not completely sure what they are. Everything I've heard about them is from stories, but they're normally said to have been modified somehow." She leaned forward and rested her arms on her knees. "If I've heard correctly, they're designed to steal energy from the living… ah, but not in a relatively harmless way."

"That makes sense, in a twisted sort of way," he muttered. "The police think they've been killing people. I know I saw that thing standing…" He couldn't say it as the image of the deceased person filled his mind again. "I think it killed that person. The police hesitantly admitted the people they believe it killed had body parts missing."

"If that thing is in the area, you shouldn't be out in the open at night. I know they're dangerous, even to us ghosts, but I don't know how powerful they are. You might want to look at finding old wards against ghosts, if you're worried it might follow you." She stretched and grinned at him. "Since I kinda feel responsible for attacking you earlier, let me take you back home. You still can't fly, right?"

Warmth flooded his cheeks. Not sure if he was embarrassed from her being fairly attractive, even though she was dead, or if it was due to his inability to do something that apparently ghosts considered trivial, he stammered a polite 'no, thanks.'

She just rolled her eyes at him before grabbing him and pulling him into the sky again. "Don't complain. I'm not going to leave you out here with that thing loose. Now, where do you live?"

"Err… thanks?" he told her after pointing her in the right direction. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" She laughed when he raised an eyebrow at her. "Listen, baby pop. I'll be just fine. I'm strong enough to handle things on my own, but I am going to head to the other side of the veil and alert my contacts about that thing. My current boyfriend considers himself a hunter, so I know the story will at least find its way to the right people."

"Thanks. Wait, you have a boyfriend?"

"What? Is it so weird that a ghost is dating?"

Not wanting to sound offensive, he carefully phrased his answer. "Err… it really hadn't been something I thought about. It's not like I know too much about this stuff."

She hummed thoughtfully. "I'll give you a pass this time. Anyways, is this the place? How loaded are you?"

"It's not ours. A family friend is letting us stay here while the police investigate our house." He then directed her to the room that he was using.

She did something which made him shiver before the two of them passed through the wall. He stared at her in awe once she put him down. "You'll be able to do that too. It's not that hard, and almost all ghosts can do that," she preened. "Anyways, don't go looking for that thing. Stay low and practice your abilities. You're a sitting duck the way you are now."

"Thanks for everything, Ember. I hope you don't get in trouble or anything for this."

"Don't worry about me. I'm not sure if we'll meet again any time soon. I do have trouble trying to get back to this side, but I'm going to try to come back to check on you, so don't go dying all the way in the meantime, k?"

He barely had time to nod before she vanished from sight. After a quick check of the room to make sure she wasn't somehow still around, he decided to change into his bed clothes. He was about to call it a day when a knock at the door startled him.

"Daniel?"

It was Vlad. What in the world was he doing knocking on his bedroom door this time of night? After momentarily debating on whether or not he should pretend he's asleep, he decided to open the door. "What's up?" he asked while studying the man's face.

Vlad's brows were furrowed, and he wore a slight frown. He seemed concerned, but something about his gaze made him seem almost guarded. "Daniel, I understand you're a teenager, and teenagers sometimes sneak out, but with that thing out there, you shouldn't be risking your life like that."

"I'm sorry… Err, you aren't going to tell my parents, are you?"

The man gently smiled at him. "Not this time. I think we can just leave this our little secret." He then bid him a good night and disappeared down the hallway.

Somewhat unnerved, Danny closed the door and locked it. How in the world did Vlad know he snuck out?


Note: Another brief reference! If you're not familiar with it, Centralia is a town a little east of Allentown in Pennsylvania and south of State Game Lands Number 58 (yes, that area is called that). It was a mining town that's been mostly abandoned due to a mine fire that doesn't show signs of stopping. It's part of the inspiration of the Silent Hill game series.