Ghost Names

Somewhere, a short drive outside of Pine Ridge, concealed among untouched trees and unmaintained roads, slept an old building—hidden away, out of sight and, therefore, out of mind. Or, at least out of the minds of anyone who would tear it down.

It was an old building, and the harsh weather and harsher urban legends that surrounded the place had worn it down in the decades since it was proverbially laid to rest. Whether the stories were true or not was up for debate, but whispers of words like "Ghost" and "Haunted" had done a good job of keeping almost everyone away.

Almost everyone.

"Amelia," Ollie complained as he walked, throwing his head back and groaning. "I'm sorry, but an abandoned building? Really?"

"What?" Amelia asked, clutching her Spook Snare and scanning, giving Ollie her best 'innocent' look. "A few workers came out here a few days ago, and they reported hearing a voice calling out the name "John"!"

"John? Why John?" Ollie asked in a skeptical, thoughtful voice, and eyebrow raised as he ran the light of his flashlight over the broken-down machinery and looking to Amelia. "And, why would a ghost hang out here? I mean, scientifically? What reason would Mr. Haunter have for haunting this place?"

He kicked a pebble along the stony, metallic ground. "It just seems like a whole lotta boring to me."

Amelia smiled and rolled her eyes, giving a playful sigh. "Because, genius, Mr. Haunter died here in a tragic accident!"

"That's… actually a pretty good theory," mused Ollie, running his hand over a machine, wiping up dust that had been there possibly since the place had been shut down. "Was there a tragic accident here? And why would he be saying John?"

"Pop Pop said there was an accident, it all over the news at the time," shrugged Amelia, waving her Spook Snare at everything, still picking up nothing. "someone named John Haunter died here on the clock back in nineteen odd-seventy."

"And," she said, turning to look at Ollie. "Mr. haunter is saying his own name! Probably because he wants to be remembered, or reunite with a long-lost lover or something!"

Ollie raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Okay, but our ghost was actually named John Haunter? Now that's a coincidence."

Amelia grinned as she stepped over the rubble of a fallen ceiling. "Maybe he changed his name to Haunter to fit his new ghostly life!"

She paused. "…You know, before he died."

"You mean to fit his new ghostly afterlife." Ollie corrected with another grin.

"I'd change my name if I became a ghost," mused Amelia, watching as Ollie's flashlight illuminated the near-empty room, shining on rats and long-forgotten machinery. "I could be Amelia… um… Amelia Scarehart?"

"Ha! Scarehart? That's the best you can come up with?" Ollie laughed loudly—more of a snort, really—and nudged her on the shoulder, playfully teasing. "You sound like a lawn tombstone, not a ghost!"

"It was the first thing that popped into my head!" defended Amelia, playfully exasperated, nearly tripping on an errant steel beam. "Maybe… Amelia Bones!"

Ollie grinned wider and did a 'meh' signal with his hand. "Eh, you can do better. How about… um… Amelia… Jones, Jones…"

Then he completely zoned out, folding into a 'The Thinker' pose as he walked, absentmindedly pointing the flashlight forward. "Jones… Bones, Clones, Moans… Phones, Stones, Tones, Zones… Jones, Jones…"

"I'm gonna be Amelia Groans if you don't stop that." Amelia laughed, nudging him with her elbow. "What's your ghost name?"

He sunk deeper into his pose, giving a loud "Hmm…!" for several seconds until he lit up and snapped his fingers. "I've got it!"

He went up behind her, pointing the flashlight up at his face to give himself scary lighting, doing a spooky voice and using his free hand to do a creepy-crawly spider motion. "I'm Ollie Akana-You-Stay-Away-From-My-Resting-Place?"

"But Amelia Scarehart was bad?" Amelia laughed loudly. "You said-"

That was when they heard it—

"John, John,"

"Be quiet, Ollie!" Amelia whispered excitedly. "That was him! Give me the flashlight!"

"No, I keep the flashlight, you keep the Spook Snare!" Ollie whisper-screamed back.

"Give it to me!"

"No!"

"Ollie, I-"

Before either of them knew what happened, the flashlight went flying out of their hands, into the darkness and out of sight.

"Oh, man," moaned Ollie.

"Come on, let's go get it." Said Amelia, dropping into a serious demeanor. "It went this way. I think his voice was coming from there, anyway."

Ollie pulled out his phone and clicked on the flashlight—decidedly dimmer than the one they lost—and together they stumbled through a large doorway, one that Ollie assumed must have contained a door at some point.

When they entered, they saw the flashlight, beaming directly at an oddly-shaped broken window that rested at about eyelevel. Suddenly, a gust of wind came through.

"John," the wind whistled. "John, John,"

"I don't believe it," said Amelia, her voice a blend of amusement, confusion, and disappointment. "it really was the wind."

Ollie picked up the flashlight and sighed, smiling sympathetically at her. "Come on, Ms. Scarehart. Let's go home."

"Hey, hey, I didn't commit to that name!" Amelia said, bouncing over to follow Ollie as he walked away. "I need more time to come up with a good one! How about… um…"

"No more ghost names, okay?" Ollie said, trying to conceal the smile in his voice. "I've had enough ghosts for one night."

"But we didn't even find any ghosts!" Amelia complained, also trying to hide a smile. "How is none too many?"

Arm in arm, they walked out of the building and into the moonlight, heading for home. As they went outside, Amelia turned her head to look at the building, and Ollie did too.

"Goodbye, Mr. Haunter." Said Amelia.

They turned away, before Ollie heard a voice. "Goodbye,"

Ollie did a double take and turned to look at the building. Was he hearing things?

"Did you say something, Ollie?" asked Amelia.

Ollie hesitated a moment, then sighed. "No," he said. "it was probably the wind."

The End.