Chapter 5

So tear me open, but beware

There's things inside without a care

"I don't think I can do this."

Casper argued. He and Kat were sitting in the car in the high school's parking lot, the sound of car doors slamming and horns blaring all around. She had been gathering her books together when he had said that statement, now she stopped to reassure him.

"It'll be fine; I transferred from a different school, so no one's going to know you, or where you came from."

"I guess. I'm going to have the same classes as you right?"

"Of Course, come on."

The pair got out from the car, Casper hesitating a bit. Kat clasped his hand, he felt better already. Together they walked up to the double doors and to the blue tinged hallway. There was the usual ruckus of lockers closing and people shouting, Casper couldn't shake off some of the eyes that were following him. A couple of girls looked up from their conversations, eyeing him even as he walked past. He knew these jeans that he had picked out were too snug. Kat squeezed his hand gently and moved closer so they were brushing shoulders. They reached her locker and she broke contact to unlock it, dump some books in and take new ones out. Casper looked around, it seemed ok enough, but it would've been better if everyone would stop staring! It seemed to take forever, but she finished and replaced her hand in his.

"You have to go register in the office. You have your stuff?"

"Yes."

He pulled from his pocket a small packet of papers. It contained his birth certificate and a bill for proof of address. They had to make a few slight changes to dates, but overall the documents looked official. Kat led him to the main office. As soon as he walked in, a middle aged woman came to greet them.

"New student, right?"

"Yes." He handed her the papers.

"McFadden? Are you related to that family who built the mansion?"

"Distant relatives." He smiled

"I didn't know they had any family left, my grandmother knew them, wonderful people, very odd brothers though."

He chuckled a bit and turned to Kat, who was in turn looking at a man walking out of the office. She couldn't help but notice the strange color his eyes were, like rich wine. He couldn't be more than a couple of years older than she was, so he couldn't be a student. He saw her staring and winked, then disappeared out the door.

"Did you see that guy?" She breathed to Casper. But he just shrugged his shoulders.

The day started off with history, which was a breeze for Casper, of course. He got the highest score on the test! After that, it was chemistry which was a little tougher, but he remembered what his father, a brilliant inventor and chemist, had taught him. By the time lunch had rolled around, nearly the whole school knew about him. Whispers about his relations to the people who built the "creepy funhouse on the cliff" were spreading like a plague. Several students, mostly boys, walked on the other side of the hall to avoid him, thinking that they might get cursed or something. A few were even mad, because their girlfriends stopped paying attention to them, and instead walked over to flirt with Casper!

That was the very occurrence that happened at lunch. Casper and Kat seating themselves at an isolated part of the lunchroom, a group of girls looked over slyly. Casper poked and munched on his food, pretending not to notice.

"Not to be mean, but this tastes like Dr. Harvey's cooking…"

"Agreed, I'll get us some of the better pizza."

Kat jumped up to throw away the trays when the gaggle of giggling girls made their move. One walked up, trying to sway her hips seductively, but ended up looking like a gorilla with a broken thighbone, Kat tried to control her laughter.

"Hi." She said in the poorest impression of Marilyn Monroe Kat had ever seen.

Casper lifted an eyebrow. "Hi?" She sat down in Kat's seat, fluttering her clumped eyelashes. Kat couldn't hear the rest of what they were saying because she went in line, but when she came out, Casper's eyes started darted around looking for her, or a way to escape. Deciding he's been tortured enough, she came to his rescue. She walked up to him just as the girl asked, "Do you have a date for the dance?"

"I'm going with Kat." He said definitively, and Kat smiled.

The cluster frowned, as did their leader. "Fine, but you're missing out." She replied, and they left.

"Thanks for rescuing me." He said, taking the pizza from her.

"It's nothing. I deal with them from all the time, don't worry about them."

The pair began to eat quietly. Casper was on guard for any more of his "admirers."

"They called you my… girlfriend, is that…ok? 'Cause we can just be friends, you know, I don't want rush you."

"Oh Casper, you're so sweet." Kat laughed and blushed. "That's perfectly fine."

The bell rang, ending the lunch period. Art was next. As Kat walked into the door, she stopped. Behind the desk wasn't the normal quirky Ms. Matthews, it was the man who Kat saw earlier that morning. He smiled at her disarmingly, his strange eyes boring into her.

"It's that guy." She nudged Casper in the ribs.

"He does look awful familiar." He remarked.

The man watched with little interest at the students coming in and taking their seats, he would glance over at the two and give Kat looks every so often. Casper put an arm protectively around Kat's chair, giving the substitute the coldest look she had ever seen on the former ghost's face. The man turned around and began to write on the board, Kat read as he went along. When he was finished, they both drew in a breath.

"Casper…?" She asked, confused.

The dark haired man had written on the chalkboard in slightly sloppy letters,

Mr. McFadden.

"Oh no, he must've taken the deal..." Casper looked shocked.

"Who is that? What's the matter?" Kat asked, sounding alarmed.

"Kat, that's my uncle!"

"WHAT! Which one!"

"Stretch."