Children of Fire P2
"Wow, that dress is going to look great on you Mabel," Pacifica complimented absently, as Mabel shoved the item back into one of the quartet of bags dangling from her arms. Pacifica possessing none of her own was quite conspicuous.
"I'm surprised you haven't found anything you like…" Mabel replied worriedly. She could tell her friend was trying to maintain the façade of her bouncy and confident self on the outside, but something was definitely off with her that evening. More than just getting shaken up by a traffic accident. "Is there any particular shop you'd like to go to next before the mall closes? I feel like I've been dragging you around everywhere I want to go and that's not fair…"
"Nah, I'm good with just window shopping for a change. Don't forget, I'm trying to shake the entitled rich girl image, and frivolous spending in front of a decent chunk of the townsfolk isn't going to help with that."
"Oh, who cares what they think?! Like you're never supposed to spend any of your own money ever again? Especially now that you're working for a living and actually earning your own spending cash! How's the job going by the way, Miss CEO of… Um, what was it again?"
"It's a tech company… That's why I'm taking online college courses in computer science. You know, so I can sound halfway like I know what I'm talking about when I'm sitting in those board meetings…"
"Why bother though?" Mabel laughed it off. "You're basically the figurehead of a company your family owns! All you need to do is look pretty and rake in the money while you let the nerds do all the hard stuff!"
Pacifica looked at her friend and frowned. "To rid myself of that perception right there! I don't want to be looked at like the spoiled rich brat whose father handed her, her own company so she wouldn't have to get a real job, regardless of whether or not that's actually what happened or not! That's the reason I want to learn this stuff… So I can sit in those company meetings and actually look and sound like I belong, and not like I'm just there for decoration!"
Mabel's eyes sparked in admiration as she listened to her friend go. "That's awesome Pacifica! Sorry I assumed. I was going off of what I'd totally do if I were in your shoes. I totally respect you wanting to be your own person who gets by on her own merits."
"I just wish I'd gotten more of a head start on that… It's gona take years to prove to these suites that I'm more than just my father's daughter…"
"Hey, that's the great thing about being the boss! What exactly are they going to be able to do if they don't like it?" Pacifica smirked at that thought, but before she could respond, Mabel got distracted as she tended to do. "Ewe look, the bookstore! Do you mind if we make one last stop?"
"A bookstore… Really? Did you take up reading as a hobby while I wasn't looking?"
"Oh hush you! I've been known to read a novel or two… Mostly romance, but it still counts!" Mabel smirked as she continued. "But no, I do most of my reading on the internet. Since I've become Gravity Falls Inc.'s record keeper… Position name is still pending, but one of my jobs is to gather books and records on folklore and all that other spooky creepy crawly stuff my brother is in to… Bookstores have a surprisingly decent sized selection of the spooky stuff. I've actually been amazed at all the different books I've been able to find and add to the collection!"
"Good to hear… Go knock yourself out then… I think I'll wait out here for you though… I'm about dead on my feet here."
"Last stop, then home, I promise! Would you mind watching my bags for me, so I don't have to lug the things all around the shop?" Pacifica pouted cutely to Mabel's delight, especially when she nodded her head regardless. "Thanks Paz! I'll only be a few minutes! Scouts honor!"
Knowing full well a few minutes for Mabel could mean half an hour, Pacifica found herself a bench and crashed there, setting Mabel's spoils beside her. A few minutes passed with Pacifica struggling to stay awake, though the persistent throbbing from the headache brought on from smacking her head earlier was helping to keep her from nodding off. The entire ordeal from earlier that day was taking its toll on her. What finally woke her up completely was the sight of a dress in one of the shop windows, one showcasing quite a generous display of purple. She might not have been planning on buying anything that trip, but she never promised herself she wouldn't look.
Pacifica walked over to the display, but quickly decided the dress looked better from afar. Before she could walk back to her bench though, she noticed something else in the display window after one innocent blink. It wasn't another mannequin for sure. It was a very tall boy whose fashion sense didn't jive with modern sensibilities at all. His lack of eyes though, that distracted from his attire perfectly. Pacifica froze in place, a soft squeak escaping her mouth as the ghoulish figure placed his hand on the glass right in front of Pacifica's face. She stared directly into where the figures eyes should've been, breathing heavily… The eyeless horror briefly rested his head against the glass of the display window… Before slamming his head into it with a loud crash, causing the glass to crack.
Pacifica shrieked and backed away. She whirled around to motor on out of there only to discover the figures of two badly burnt young girls blocking her path. Both the roasted child and the groups apparent leader. As she backed away from the girls, a now familiar set of syllables wrang in her ear.
"Brownstone…" Pacifica jumped, and no sooner had that sound revibrated in her ear did she notice the flames begin to rise from behind the two girls. They spread quickly up to the ceiling, traveling to the shops to the left of where they were standing, and racing towards the plaza to their right. Pacifica watched in horror as the flames approached dangerously close to mall goers who didn't seem to realize the mortal danger they were in.
"What are you guys doing?! Please stop this!" Realizing there was no point in trying to reason with the spirits, Pacifica resorted to trying to reason with her fellow mall-trotters. "FIRE, FIRE! Everybody, get out of the mall now! There's a fire in the plaza!"
She knew she'd gotten people's attention as many eyes had fallen upon her… Only they were looking at her like she had lost her mind and were indeed not about to get incinerated by the flames threatening to consume the building. Frustrated that nobody else appeared to appreciate the danger they were in, Pacifica raced towards the nearest bathroom and removed a fire extinguisher from its emergency casing. She raced back over towards the fire, spraying the foam like substance onto the flames like a woman possessed, but they just seemed to spread faster and burn hotter.
"Pacifica!" A voice called out to her, but it went unanswered as the blonde continued to empty the contents of the fire extinguisher. "Pacifica, get a hold of yourself! What do you think you're doing?!"
Mabel's voice finally broke through to her, Pacifica blinking wildly as if she'd just been ripped out of a deep sleep. She looked down at the extinguisher in her hands, and a bit more panicked, searched for the fire that appeared to have magically extinguished itself. In fact, there were no signs there was ever a fire in the first place. Just white residue left over from the chemicals inside the fire extinguisher that appeared to have been blasted about randomly. "But… The building was on fire! I saw the flames I…"
"Paz…" Mabel gently placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "There is no fire… You were screaming at the top of your lungs like there was, but there's not a single flame anywhere in sight… I heard someone mention something about contacting security, so please just get ahold of yourself!"
"But I saw it… And the boy in the…" At her wits end, Pacifica ripped her shoulder from Mabel's touch, taking a few steps forward before burying her face in her hands. "I can't do this anymore! Everywhere I go, everywhere I look, they're always there!"
Pacifica felt that hand touch her shoulder again. "Don't touch me!" She snarled as she rounded on who she thought was Mabel… Only to see the skeletal half of a now familiar face, partially hidden by her charred blonde hair.
"I can make this all stop," she offered temptingly. "You'll never see us again… All you have to do is let me take you we're we need you to be…"
"I'll…" The desperation in the blonde's eyes would've made a grizzled sailor's heart bleed. "I'll do whatever you guys want if it gets you to leave me alone! Anything, I swear it!"
Mabel looked on anxiously as she watched Pacifica appear to stare into space before seemingly asking the air itself to leave her alone. After summoning up the nerve, Mabel cautiously approached her friend. Pacifica rounded on her before Mabel could get a word out, her lip quivering as tears brimmed in her eyes. To Mabel's surprise, Pacifica launched herself at the slightly shorter girl, hugging her tightly as she cried into her shoulder. Mabel reciprocated in kind. "Paz, what is going on with you?"
"I don't know Mabel! I'm seeing things that aren't there… I think I'm losing my mind here…"
"No, no, no! I'm sure it's nothing like that Pacifica… Whatever's going on, you've got friends and we can help… Why don't we go back to my place for a while? You might feel more comfortable there…"
"No!" she refused, more vehemently than she had intended. She composed herself and pushed away from Mabel gently. "I think… I just need to be by myself for a little while… I'll find another way home okay?"
"Being by yourself is the last thing you need right now!"
"I'm sorry… I just…. I gotta go!" Without any further explanation, Pacifica sprinted away through the mall, headed towards the nearest exit.
"Pacifica, wait!" Mabel chased after her for the briefest of moments before thinking better of it. The Northwest Heiress wasn't the type who responded well to being pushed when her mind was set to something. Chasing after her might just cause even more damage.
Feeling defeated, and very much done with shopping for that evening, Mabel walked over to the bench where her purchases still remained undisturbed. She gathered her things and prepared to leave, but first she reached into her purse to find her phone so she could let Dipper in on what had just gone down with their mutual friend. While fishing for the communication device, she noticed something else of the jingly variety was dubious by its absence… She opened her purse wide to take a closer look, but unfortunately she hadn't just overlooked them… Her keys were missing. She then thought back to the abrupt hug Pacifica had enveloped her in, and a terrible thought occurred to her. Mabel rushed outside to the parking lot just in time to see her car speeding out of the parking lot, a blonde head behind the wheel.
After squandering much of his family's fortune, Preston Northwest had reaccumulated a lot of that wealth since the days of Weirdmageddon. The Northwest's still weren't anywhere near as rich as they had been during their glory days, but they still managed to horde enough wealth to be the richest family in Gravity Falls outside of maybe Old Man Mcgucket. They were definitely wealthy enough to take up residence in a lavish new mansion sealed off from the rest of the world by a metal gate. Dipper Pines, flanked by Wendy, was currently pressing repeatedly on the button just below the speaker box, attempting to annoy/slash communicate with the man of the house.
"Yoo-hoo! Preston are you home?! This is your old friend Dipper Pines, and we need to have a little chat!"
The Northwest's butler, a touch aggravated at the incessant beeping of the radio was moments away from shooing the pests responsible away, when Preston himself snuck up behind his butler. "What is all this racket about?! Who'd even have the nerve to disturb me at this late hour?"
"It's a Mr. Dipper Pines sir… I was just preparing to send them away."
"Dipper Pines you say?" If an evil grin could twirl a mustache, Preston's would have. "Step aside Wellington, I'll handle our visitors… I insist…"
"Come on Preston, I haven't got all night!" Dipper goaded, as he continued to spam the button.
"Ah, Dipper Pines! What brings you uninvited to my door this evening?"
Dipper recoiled slightly, caught off guard that the man would actually address him himself rather than forcing them to communicate with one of his servants. "You surprise me Preston. I thought I'd have to pester the help for a while before I finally earned your attention."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous my boy! I couldn't resist the opportunity to turn you away myself. Do get on with it though, there's only so much patience I can muster before I contact the authorities."
"Should've figured he couldn't resist takin' a few digs at ya," Wendy commented, though Dipper ignored it.
"We need to have a little discussion Preston… One regarding some old family business that might interest you."
"Oh, I highly doubt you have anything to say that could possibly be of any interest to me but do go ahead and I'll humor you. I can use a good laugh after a long day of rebuilding my empire."
"You sure about that? Beaverton and the Sanders family don't mean anything to you? Or that old house that used to stand on Brownstone Road?"
A long pause followed that information drop… Dipper could almost picture Preston's jaw dropping along with it. Without another word spoken, the gate opened allowing Dipper and Wendy access to Northwest Mansion.
Preston Northwest met his visitors, calling them guests would've been a stretch, at the door refusing to allow them further entry into his home beyond that point. He never had forgiven them, Dipper in particular, for corrupting his daughter so thoroughly that she strayed off the path he had laid out for her.
"What exactly is it you think you know?" Preston asked defiantly.
"I know there was a suspicious fire at that location that killed four members of the Sanders family, all children… I also know your family owned the land and profited greatly from the ability to develop it since the last home in that area conveniently burnt to ash."
"That fire was a tragic accident, nothing more! My father was cleared of all wrongdoing decades ago! Such an act wouldn't even make sense from a financial standpoint, seeing as it would've been much easier and less messy just to boot the family out of the home in the first place!"
"Yeah, I already kind of came to that conclusion myself… And I'm inclined to believe it. That's why I needed to talk to you. If there wasn't any foul play involved, why would the ghosts of the dead Sanders children be haunting your daughter?"
Preston gasped, stunned and somehow appalled and incredulous at the same time. "What an absurd thing to presume! Pacifica would've informed me if she were being harassed by… The previously departed again."
"Well, maybe you've forgotten that you kind of squandered most of your daughter's trust in you," Dipper spat, spiteful of the man's ignorance. "She was worried you wouldn't take her seriously if you couldn't see tangible evidence of the ghostly presence yourself. Are you aware your daughter was in a car accident earlier today?"
"What?!" Preston advanced on Dipper. "How did this happen?! Is she alright?! Why wasn't I informed?!"
"Yes, Pacifica is fine, physically at last…. She's out shopping with Mabel… We didn't feel it was a good idea to leave her alone with her current mental state… I have no idea why she hasn't contacted you. You'll have to talk to her about that yourself… As for how the accident happened well… Getting spooked by the sight of four ghosts hitching a ride with you will do that to a person." Dipper continued to scowl, now taking his turn to size Preston up visually. "I know we don't like each other, but we both care about Pacifica and her wellbeing, so I'm asking you to put the hard feelings aside for a moment and think… These ghosts have been terrorizing Pacifica for months potentially, and she obviously wasn't around when they were alive to wrong them. The only link is her family line. If there was no funny business involved with that fire, then why are the victims of it haunting her?"
"I…" Preston began to argue mostly out of habit. When he really thought about the question he was being asked, he really didn't have an answer. "There's nothing! Unless father held a serious grudge against the family, I see no benefit it him burning down the home, let alone to target the children. If that fire was anyone's fault it was the electrician that wired the home!"
"Or the dude that hired the guy who did the crappy job," Wendy snarked, though Preston didn't appear as eager to verbally spar with her as he was Dipper. It really was a marvel to see whenever Dipper and Preston came face-to-face and got into it with one another. It was like anybody else that might've been in the room with them ceased to exist. Wendy would definitely wager that the pair got a weird sense of enjoyment out of verbally sparring with each other.
"Or maybe the kids just hold the family responsible since the Northwest's were their landlords," Dipper sighed. "I'm not going to lie Northwest. I was hoping for some more concrete information that I might've been able to use to get these ghosts to leave your daughter alone."
"I wasn't even born yet when it happened… The only information I possess is what my father felt was appropriate to share with me. Now that I think back to that story, that was one of the few occasions I saw him appear legitimately shaken up by something…"
"Why did you open the gate so readily then? You clearly recognized the event I was referring to immediately, so obviously I touched a nerve somewhere."
"That 'event' was a blackmark of the family legacy… I won't mix words here as we all know my family's history isn't clean but… Resorting to child murder? That's not a taste that travels well down my throat Pines. For all my families deeds, this is one that our hands are absolutely clean of."
"And wouldn't it be ironic if this was the one you went down for?" Before Dipper could continue the banter, his cell phone began ringing, filling the room with the familiar sound of his sister's ring tone. "Speaking of Pacifica… I better take this and make sure everything's okay."
Dipper accepted the call and replied, "Hey Mabel, is everything…"
"She's gone Dipper!" Mabel interrupted and proceeded to rant. "We were shopping and then she freaked out and said she was seeing things that weren't there and tried to put out an invisible fire! Now I'm stranded at the Mall since Paz pilfered my keys and made off with my car!"
"She took your car! How did she get ahold of your keys?"
"I don't know! She must've fished them out of my purse when she hugged me pretending she needed support… I'm really worried about her Dipper… She would stop for minutes at a time and just stare at things that weren't there and sometimes even talk to them… Like she's seeing things only she can see apparently… Now she's taken off with my car and I have no idea where she's going!"
"I think I do…" Dipper growled, a plan formulating in his head. "Wendy and I will swing by the mall to pick you up, and then we're heading for Beaverton. We'll explain along the way."
Dipper hung up and looked to Wendy who nodded her head in agreement. "What are waitin' for then dude? Let's get a move on!"
"Wait just a minute here!" Preston impeded. "I demand to know what's going on with my daughter!"
"Apparently she had another episode with our ghost family which caused her to hallucinate a fire at the mall," Dipper informed him calmly. "This experience must've finally been too much, since she's stolen Mabel's car and taken off on her own. I have no idea what the Sanders children want with her, but we need to get to Brownstone Road and hope my suspicions are wrong…"
Pacifica drove the vehicle onto the property of the office building, sneaking in the back way to avoid the minor roadblock of construction vehicles and equipment that were partially obstructing the main entrance. The absent look in Pacifica's eyes dissipated, replaced by one of confusion as she took in her surroundings. She'd been keenly aware of what she was doing when she pilfered Mabel's keys. She remembered getting behind the wheel of Mabel's car and the drive to this location though parts of the trip were still a bit hazy… She just wasn't sure how exactly she knew to drive here or what compelled her to make the trip… No, that was lie. The ghostly apparition seated next to her was responsible somehow. Oddly, Pacifica didn't even feel all that frightened at the moment. She was going through the motions, hoping that submitting to the spirits whims would finally end the months of torment.
"Well… We're here, wherever here is… What exactly is it you want from me?"
The girl may have been grinning… It was hard to tell with Pacifica's view limited to the skeletal half of her face. "Don't worry about it… This will be over soon if you cooperate. Just grab the buckets out of the back of the car and head inside the building… Our purpose for you will become obvious soon enough."
Buckets? Pacifica then vaguely remembered a brief stop they made along the way to pick up several buckets filled with water. The fact that they were full didn't make any sense to her. Why not empty buckets and fill them up with water when they got to where they were going?
That cloud that fogged her head wasn't interest in that question when she first picked up the buckets and it didn't care to entertain it now, so she grabbed the handles, two in each hand, and removed them form the back of the car. Without the slightest hint of hesitation, she settled her anxious breathing and walked inside the temporarily abandoned building. With no previous knowledge of the inner workings of the office building, Pacifica somehow knew to go to the nearest elevator and press the number three. Standing perfectly still, she waited stoically until the elevator reached the third floor and the doors slowly opened. When Pacifica exited the lift, she wasn't greeted by rows of cubicles, or a hallway lined with doors representing various businesses. Instead, she found herself in the living room of your typical family home.
Well, typical might've been a generous description. To put it nicely, the home could be described as being 'lived in'… Hard, for about 150 years. The family who called this place home was clearly of meager means. Curious more than disturbed, Pacifica placed her buckets down and began to explore what could only be described as a portal to the past. The living room was decked out for Christmas, or at least decked out to the best of the downtrodden families capabilities. The tree was decent enough, the bottom decorated with a small smattering of gifts wrapped in a cheap looking material that resembled brown paper bags. Another string of those big bulb C9 lights was strung haphazardly across the mantel of the chimney.
Pacifica walked over to the fireplace, counting ten stockings in all… Literal stockings, meaning the actual socks belonging to the children as was the custom once-upon-a-time. Pacifica was pulled out of her contemplative stupor by the sound of children giggling. She turned just in time to see two small children whiz passed her, neither appearing to notice the stranger's presence in their home at all. She tried to get a good look at their faces, but they both appeared blurry with no discernable features the heiress could make out.
A knock at the door diverted her attention yet again. There was a call from the kitchen, a woman's voice that seemed to be asking a male she was familiar with to answer the door, followed by what sounded like the slightly disgruntled acceptance of the task. Pacifica stood unnoticed again as she was passed by a tall man, also featureless, that the blonde could only guess was the man of the house. He answered the door and began a tense conversation with a man on the other side. His face was equal parts blurred, but he was clearly wearing a nice suite and coat combo, and a fedora atop his head. The conversation had been muffled at first, but gradually, Pacifica began to understand the words being spoken between the two.
"This is downright harassment! The mortgage is paid up for the month!"
"I'm here to deliver this." Pacifica could almost make out the evil sneer hidden within that blurred-out face. "Merry Christmas…"
The father ripped open the envelope angrily and began to read over the documents inside. "What… What is this?!"
"An eviction notice Mr. Sanders… Mr. Northwest has been extremely generous with the time he's granted you to find another place to relocate your family. His patience is running thin I'm afraid."
"We don't want to relocate! Four generations of my family have lived in this house! We've done everything asked of us! We've caught up with the mortgage and paid all of Auldman's ridiculous side fees! I don't know how my family is going to eat in the coming months, but the dues were paid!"
"And Mr. Northwest appreciates you settling your debt. However, what he's paid in rent for this eyesore of a house is a mere pittance compared to what the company will make when our plans for the development of the land gets underway. You had your chance to get your affairs in order George. You have to the end of the week to remove your family and possessions from the estate."
"But that's in three days! It's Christmas Eve for Christ's sake!"
"Tell me something Mr. Sanders… Does money cease to be green based on what day of the year it is? You've been given as much leeway as Mr. Northwest is willing to allow. You lost your right to protest the moment you sold the land to us in the first place."
Pacifica flinched at the now all too familiar disregard her families representative offered this beleaguered family. There was a point in her life when Pacifica would've witnessed a scene like this and not have paid a single care for this poor family about to be thrown out onto the street like trash. Hearing sounds coming from behind her now, Pacifica turned around and found herself in the Sanders kitchen… The man she now knew as George was seated at the table with a faceless woman she assumed was his wife standing over him, her hands resting on his shoulders in a comforting manor.
"I did everything… Every ridiculous demand that bastard made of me, I met every last one until he'd squeezed every last nickel out of us that he could…"
"Believing that man would ever stay true to his word was your mistake dear… That's why his demands were so ludicrous… They were never meant to be achievable, so when you exceeded his expectations, he changed the rules on us. Driving us off this land has been the goal ever since we were forced to sell it to him…"
"And like a fool, I believed him when he promised to let us stay in our home as long as we kept up with the payments… The fact that he'd already bulldozed half the houses in the area should've been a bloody red flag shouldn't of it?! Now we have nothing… No land, no home, scarcely a penny to our godforsaken names! What am I supposed to tell the kids? All those double shifts and late nights away from home with the promise they'd always have a roof over their heads! Where are we supposed to go? I swear, I'd burn this whole damn place to the ground just to spite the bastard, if I didn't know I was likely makin' life easier for him!"
"We'll figure something out deer… We need to keep ourselves together for the children. The kids are all alive and healthy. That's all that matters in the end."
Pacifica gulped sensing those words might prove to be cursed. The scene abruptly changed again, and Pacifica found herself back in the living room, only this time the room appeared to have been consumed by shadow. She couldn't smell the smoke, but she could distinctly see it rolling down the staircase from the second floor, and she could most certainly hear the sounds of the flames as they consumed the home, mixed in with the horrified cries for help from panicked children. Playing off the cries of the children were the screams of an adult male that seemed to be struggling to reach the kids before the fire claimed them all.
The scene was absolutely horrifying, even if completely left too Pacifica's own imagination. The fire continued to rage unopposed, quickly reaching the first floor and beginning to feast upon the living room. The ripped and worn furniture, the meager worldly possessions, and even the Christmas tree were no match for the inferno's wrath. Pacifica had seen enough. As certain as she was now that she was being forced to relive some event from the past, she could no longer bring herself to stand by and do nothing. That's when she remembered the buckets of water… She grabbed one of the pales and tried to slow down the flames. As if by magic, the bucket seemed to fill back up with water immediately allowing Pacifica to attack the flames continuously. When one bucket finally did run dry, she moved on to the next and continued to fight the flames until every last drop of water was spent. It was too difficult to tell if she'd made any significant dent in the blaze, the fire was too mighty, and the smell of gas was getting stronger. Was there really any hope in defeating a long-faded memory to begin with?
"Pacifica!"
The sound of her name brought the blonde back into reality. She was no longer standing trapped inside of a burning house, but in a third-floor hallway of an office building her family owned. She turned towards the sound of the voice to see the concerned faces of her friends Dipper and Mabel, Wendy alongside them looking shocked at what she was witnessing. "Dipper… Mabel…"
"Please just… Put it down Pacifica… I don't know what the ghosts of the Sanders children are making you see, but it's definitely not what you think you're seeing!"
"I'm not crazy okay! I'm not just making things up in my head! There was this old house decorated for Christmas and it was on fire with these kids trapped inside… I was trying to help put out the flames with… The buckets of water! Wait where are the buckets…" There were no buckets to be found… Just several empty containers of gasoline scattered about the place… Wait a minute…
"There is no fire Pacifica… Yet," Dipper explained. "You've spent the last few minutes dousing this entire area in gasoline… If you lite that thing, this entire building is going up in smoke!"
"What are you…" Before that question could finish leaving her lips, see saw the match held firmly between her right thumb and index finger. "How did I?..."
"Don't worry about where you got it…" Dipper coached, as he slowly approached her. "Just put it away and let's get out of here before anything bad happens."
Pacifica could find no reason to disagree with Dipper's logic… But she didn't comply. She stood there with a blank look in her eyes, like she'd wandered off again, a dangerous smirk crossing her lips. Dipper froze, realizing his friend might not be in control of herself at the moment. He was right as he watched helplessly as the blonde struck the match against the wall, creating a small flame at the head of the matchstick. Whatever seemed to have possessed the girl let go, allowing Pacifica to regain her senses enough to wonder what was happening. "What just… I feel dizzy all of the sudden…"
"Blow it out Pacifica! Quickly, blow it out!"
"Huh?" Before the girl realized the mystery match she'd been holding had now somehow been lit, she panicked and fumbled the matchstick, watching wide eyed as the match seemed to flutter towards the floor in slow motion. After connecting with the carpet, the tiny flame found a patch of accelerant, a line of flames quickly beginning to spread in a straight line across the baseboard of the hallway. "No, no, no, no!" Pacifica panicked, pulling off her jacket and trying in vain to stop the spreading flames by swatting at them with it, at least until Dipper gently grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away.
"There's nothing we can do to stop the fire now! Let's get the hell out of here!"
"But… I have to do something! I can't let her win!"
"Sorry Princess, but you're gona have to take the 'L' on this one! Let's get to the stairwell while we still have a chance!" Wendy ushered for the others to follow her to the exit, each of the Pines Twins taking hold of one of Pacifica's arms and pulling her along with them. Mere feet away from their destination, the double doors they'd left propped open for an easy escape if needed, slammed shut. Now blocking their path to safety were two ghoulish figures… That of the eyeless boy and the twisted husk of a girl. Pacifica stiffened, recognizing the otherworldly roadblocks immediately. To her surprise though, the others reacted in pretty much the same manner as her.
"What the frig are those?!" Mabel bellowed, the site of the girl in particular nearly making her want to vomit.
"The Sanders children I presume…" Dipper looked to Pacifica. Keeping the blonde's secret just wasn't a higher priority than getting out of the building alive. "Are these two of the ghosts you've been seeing?"
"Yes… You can see them now too?"
"It's kind of hard to miss 'em…" Wendy complained. "The real question is, how do we get 'em the heck out of our way!"
"Still, I wonder why they'd show themselves to us now…" Dipper tensed as he felt a strong presence at his back… He tensed even harder as an unfamiliar voice quickly followed that eerie feeling.
"Because we're a lot stronger here…" All eyes were now on the head of the ghostly Sanders clan, only Pacifica resisting the urge to gasp at her ghastly appearance. The burnt figure started to circle the group as if she were a predator sizing up her prey. In the meantime, the flames had started to spread from the floors to begin their ascent up the walls. Her voice was gravely and created the illusion of an echo as she spoke. "This was where our home once stood after all, so we can show ourselves to whomever we please here… It doesn't take nearly as much effort at home as it did to reach out to Miss Northwest here…Now, none of you are going anywhere! Especially not her…"
"Why single out her though!" Dipper demanded of the ghost. "She's never done anything wrong by you! You died forty years before she was even born." Pacifica's stare turned to Dipper, wondering what on Earth he was talking about… Though it probably shouldn't have surprised her that he'd gain more information on her ghostly tormenters within one day of learning about their existence than she had suffering through months of harassment. "Why use her to burn down this building? Is it just revenge for the sake of revenge? Why burn the place down at all?!"
"My, my, you're a nosey one aren't you?" the ghost sneered, as the smoke from the fire finally set off the building's alarm system. The deluge of water from the ceiling was enough to slow down the flames but not quite enough to stop them. They were spreading too far and too fast. "Why not use the girl? The Northwest's have never hesitated to use whomever they please. As for why we'd want to turn this building into ash, well, how do you think you'd feel if you were dead, and someone desecrated your final resting place."
"This isn't your grave though girl!" Wendy argued. "You kids may have died here, but you weren't buried here!"
"Actually, she might not be as wrong about that as you might think Wendy," Dipper sighed, realizing he'd left out an important part of the story. "You see, the bodies of the Sanders children were never found after the fire… The complete lack of remains led to rumors that the kids may not have died at all, and the fire was a front for a kidnapping. Most experts believe though that the fire just burned so hot that the bodies were completely incinerated. If true, then their ashes would've mixed in with the rubble, so yeah… This area was their final resting place."
"That still doesn't explain why you're taking your anger out on Pacifica!" Mabel added. "She's actually been working very hard to make up for some of her families past wrong doings! She's the last member of her family who deserves this!"
"I don't care… My family was wronged, that's all that matters to me. Nothing short of a Northwest burning in this same spot just as I once did is going to satisfy me!"
"Look… Melanie isn't it?" the female ghost did not respond to Dipper. "I understand why you'd want to hold the Northwest family responsible, but the fire wasn't their fault. It was an accident. Auldman Northwest stood to gain nothing from the destruction, even less so with the four of you still inside!"
The ghost presumably known as Melanie stared at Dipper incredulously, the young man trembling slightly beneath her hate filled gaze. "I already know that… Do you think that fire was the only crime the Northwest family ever committed against mine?!... My father was a good man… He never had much but he provided us with everything he could… Until he was led to believe he'd found us salvation in the form of a man named Auldman Northwest, only for that weasel to turn around and take away what little we had left! The mortgage we could barely afford as it was turned into rent that was more than half the wage my father earned in a month! Not to mention a leaky roof that never got patched, tainted water from shoddy plumbing, and a complete lack of heat in the wintertime all caused by issues with the house Northwest promised to fix but either never did or cut corners as we slowly realized he was trying to go back on his promise that we could stay in our home by trying to force us out! I don't know what actually started the fire that night… We woke up surrounded by flames with no means of escape! Most of us anyway… Auldman Northwest may not have started that fire directly, but he bought the matches that would spark it!"
"Why Pacifica though?" Dipper coughed as smoke started to billow into the hallway. It wouldn't be long before it started to cause the group major problems. "She played no part in any of this!"
Melanie cocked her head to the side, regarding this boy who was strangely defensive of the reprehensible Northwest wench. "Auldman didn't seem to care which members of my family he hurt… Why should I care which of his kin I take my pound of flesh from?"
Dipper stared back at the ghoulish girl in disbelief. How does one possibly negotiate with someone, or former person in this case, who was so utterly uncompromising? There was something off with the way Melanie spoke too. Fifteen-year-old girls didn't speak this way… Perhaps the mental state of the spirit matured even though her physical appearance remained forever trapped in the state her body was in when she died? Or perhaps the girl's rage had transformed her into something else entirely.
"You've got me, so please let them go!" Pacifica spoke up suddenly, to everyone's surprise and immediate protest. "It's my family you want revenge on, so there's no reason to make them suffer for my family's mistakes."
"Not a chance girl! If we're getting out of here then we're all doing it together!"
"No Mabel… Not this time…" Pacifica pushed passed the others and walked right up to Melanie's spirit, meeting the surprisingly tall girls gaze. "What do you say then? Open the doors and let them leave and I'll willingly wait right here with you while you get to watch me burn."
"Pacifica, what are you doing?!"
Both girls ignored Dipper, and evil grin forming on the spirit's lips. "You think one simple act of humility is going to reduce me to a sentimental fool? They chose to stand beside you and your wicked family. They can burn along with you for all I give a damn!"
Pacifica flinched as her will was all but shattered. "But please! You have…" The girl was interrupted by the sound of banging coming from the other side of the doors the other two eldest Sanders siblings were guarding. A couple of bangs later, the ghoulish guards disappeared as the doors were shoved open, revealing some most unexpected backup.
"Pacifica! Are you…" Preston Northwest paused, simultaneously thrilled by the sight of his daughter very much alive and horrified by the grizzly image that stood beside her. It was almost impossible to make out the smirk that had spread across the specter's face. Preston regained his composure and motioned everyone towards the exit. "Well, what are you standing around for fools! Unless your goal is to get roasted alive, we need to get out of this building now!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Wendy yelled as she was the first person passed Preston and out the door. Mabel was next, shortly followed by Dipper who was big enough to offer the man he loathed a curt nod. Pacifica was next, crushing her father in a hug before she escaped out the exit.
"Thank you daddy…"
"Thank me later," he told her with a relieved smile. "Let's get clear of the area first."
Pacifica nodded and headed out the door, soon reaching the stairs. Before Preston could follow after, he felt a hard tug on the back of his suite. The elder Northwest found himself violently pulled back through the doors which immediately slammed shut behind him. "Dad, no!" Pacifica ran up towards the doors only for her way to be blocked again by a familiar pair of ghostly sentries. Weary of this game she'd been playing with these ghosts, Pacifica balled her fists in frustration. "Get out of my way! My dad's still in there!"
The ghostly guards remained ever silent as they refused to move an inch. Pacifica's frustration gave way to tears. "Why are you doing this?! I don't know how I know, but I do know that you two aren't as hateful as your sister! Why are you helping her?!"
That question, unexpectedly, seemed to get the ghosts attention. They even looked at one another briefly. As they turned back to face the desperate blonde, the eyeless boy picked that moment to speak for the first time in all the months Pacifica had been aware of his presence. "Melanie… She's stronger than us… She keeps here… We can't rest… Until she gets what she wants."
"Well, I'm sorry but I can't let your sister have what she wants if that something is hurting my father! Please get out of my way?!"
"Sorry… Can't do that…"
"Well then…" Pacifica trembled as a soft purple glow began to shroud her body. "I'm afraid I'll have to insist!" Maybe it was the fact that these ghosts were weaker than Melanie… Maybe it had something to do with her psychic link to the afterlife manifesting itself but… A desperate Pacifica pushed right passed the two ghosts, both dissipating on contact as she reached for the door…
Meanwhile, on the other side of that door, Preston was pressed up against it as Melanie advanced on him slowly. "Auldman…"
"I'm not Auldman…" Preston stuttered as he slid down onto his ass, failing not to show how terrified he really was. "Auldman was my father…"
"Oh…" Melanie stopped her advance ever so briefly. "You look enough like him, so you'll do…"
"You… I'm the one you really wanted weren't I? But you used my daughter to get to me!" Preston trembled with barely suppressed rage. "Why?"
Melanie was now standing overtop of Preston, leaning down so her badly burnt face was level with his. "Simple… Because of her talent." Preston clearly looked confused as the ghost clarified. "Normally, I'd be trapped within these wells… But your daughter, I found I could reach out too… Talk too… Manipulate into doing my bidding. You were beyond my reach at the time, but I knew I could get to you through her. And now that I have you… You get to repay the debt you father owes to us!"
Melanie reached down to put her hand gently on his terrified face… When the door burst open, knocking the shocked man over. With help from Dipper and Wendy, Pacifica grabbed hold of Preston and pulled him through the third-floor stair exit before the ghostly Sanders child could react. Rage seethed all through Melanie's being as the door closed in her face. She knew she wasn't strong enough to physically interact with anyone outside of the 3rd floor. She'd missed out on her chance for revenge. "NOOOO!"
The five still living souls in the building raced down the stairs, unaware that the leader of the Sanders clan could no longer pursue them properly. That didn't mean she couldn't make a further nuisance of herself, however. When Dipper and company reached ground level, they found the front doors had been mysteriously chained up and padlocked. An entrance that been conspicuously left unlocked when each individual or group had arrived… Possibly Melanie's doing as well.
"How the hell did…" Dipper panted as he played with the lock. "Aren't these doors supposed to be chained up from the other side?"
"Right, because this situation should suddenly start makin' sense now!" Wendy nudged Dipper out her way, as she drew her axe. "This might take me a minute, but I cut through these chains no problem!"
"No need to bother," Preston said, as he retrieved an office chair from behind the receptionists desk. He casually rolled it over to the nearest window, a long, tall pane of glass that wrapped around the front of the building to the sides of the reception area. He picked up the chair and almost effortlessly tossed it through the window, shattering the glass instantly. Preston adjusted his tie and cleared his throat as the young adults all looked to him incredulously. "Cheap glass… Now, are waiting for the floors above us to crash down upon our heads or should we take our leave now?"
Take their leave they did, as the group carefully stepped through the massive hole. They gathered in the parking lot around their respective vehicles, Preston placing a call to 9-1-1 to report the fire, and the others staring up at the building in awe as it was gradually engulfed in flames. Pacifica in particular was fixated on the third floor… And the four faces staring down at her through the third-floor windows. It was strange but she… She could almost swear she felt what they were feeling in that moment. Three of those spirits appeared comfortingly at peace with the situation. The other was absolutely teeming with frustration and rage.
"I was so close… I was so close!" Melanie wailed, as she tried to bang on the window to no avail. Her youngest sibling looked up at her, a veil of wisdom shrouding that boy's face that defied his apparent age.
"It's over sister… Without this building to tether you to this world, you'll no longer be strong enough to reach out to her… You'll no longer be strong enough to bind us here…"
"I never should've needed to use force to get my own family to help me!"
"We got what we wanted… Once this building is gone, we'll finally be able to rest undisturbed… You should join us sister…"
"I can't rest… I can never rest!... Not until I make them pay!"
"That is unfortunate… We'll be waiting for you… When you're finally ready." With that, the three siblings disappeared into the ether, leaving Melanie on her own. Barely paying any mind to being abandoned, her eyes were fixated on the image of the youngest member of the Northwest family line. With a rage only contained by her incorporeal nature, she slammed her fist against the glass again, opened her mouth and unleashed a silent scream.
An hour had ticked by, but Dipper and company were still on the scene, though now watching from a safe distance away from what the firefighters had dubbed as an unnaturally fast-moving fire that all but consumed the building but had yet to spread anywhere else. The first responders had done their absolute best to contain the blaze, but for the most part, they were mainly trying to keep their distance as they waited for the structures inevitable collapse. The crew was sticking around mainly due to the request from the local authorities who naturally wanted to question the group that just happened to be found at the scene of a raging inferno. Luckily, Preston turned out to be a good hand to have around in a situation like this, as the simple mention of his name was enough to speed the process along considerably. He'd made up some sort of half-baked story about vandals with a grudge against his family being responsible for the fire, and decided he didn't really want to bother with pressing chargers… Not that he was totally in control over that decision when it came to a case of potential arson. The gang would've much preferred a story that centered more around an accidental fire breaking out, but the fire marshals were eventually going to detect those traces of the gasoline accelerant at the scene, making the ruling of an accidental fire nearly impossible. Dipper hated lying about it, but what else were they going to do that would keep Pacifica out of jail for arson? Somehow, he didn't think ghost possession was a defense that was going to hold up in court.
"Thank you by the way Preston…" Dipper said reluctantly. "If you hadn't showed up when you did…"
"I merely came to ensure my daughter's well-being Pines… The fact that you also benefited from my arrival was simply and unfortunate byproduct… You're welcome I suppose though…"
"How are you doing Paz?" Mabel asked her. "You've been so quiet since we escaped the fire…"
Pacifica smiled ever so slightly. "Actually, I feel pretty good right now. It's strange but… I can almost feel what the spirits are feeling. Melanie is still around and still very angry, but she also feels frustrated and desperate… I keep getting this sense that the destruction of this office building is going to severely weaken her… I don't think she's going to be bothering me anymore."
"In other words, as long as nothing else is built on this property, the Sanders kids can finally rest in peace." Dipper looked up at Preston expectantly. The wealthy man pretended not to understand what Dipper was alluding too at first but finally acquiesced with a shrug of his shoulders. "Fine! This dump barely made a profit to begin with… I see fairly little benefit from rebuilding on his site…"
"I think…" Pacifica's smirk turned into a full-blown grin. "I might have an idea."
Several days had passed since the incident with the Sanders children, which meant only a few days remained before the grand opening of Dipper's Museum to the general public. That left just enough time to add a new exhibit to commemorate recent events. He just needed, or rather at the very least wanted the approval of a certain someone before deciding to put the exhibit on display. Even though she somewhat tentatively agreed, Pacifica's initial reaction was making him doubt how comfortable with it she was.
"Are you sure displaying this in the museum isn't going to bother you? If it's too soon, I'd be more than happy to take it down."
"Oh, it's definitely going to make me uncomfortable… But this isn't just about me. No matter how in low regard I keep Melanie in particular, those kids deserve to have their story told no matter how farfetched it's going to seem to other people."
"That's very noble of you Pacifica. I wouldn't blame you for wanting nothing to do with such a traumatic experience…"
"I'm serious about changing my family's image Mason… Our legacy has been built upon burying the past for so long, how can I be any better if I try to bury their story? No matter what effect it had on me personally. Hopefully by facing my family's demons head on, they'll eventually stop literally digging themselves up to come back and haunt me."
Dipper nodded in appreciation, his admiration ever growing for this girl that at one point in his life, he had written off as a soulless entitled brat. He turned his attention back to the new exhibit as he and Pacifica continued to admire it. It wasn't a full display like most of the others, but a smaller one off to the side. Inside a medium-sized glass box was a rather faithful recreation of the old Sanders Family Home. Surrounding the display were several plaques commemorating, 'The Children of Fire', telling a condensed version of the tragic story of the Sanders family. They even included notes about some of the wilder kidnapping theories. Of course, mixed in with all the nonsense was at least the partial truth… The rumors of the deceased children haunting the building that had been constructed over the ashes of their home. Of course the general public would never know the exact details of what happened, but the now public knowledge that the very same building mentioned in this tale had recently burnt to the ground… Well, it was going to get the conspiracy nuts and hardened truthers tongues wagging, and hey why not? All good Urban Legends tend to sprout from a kernel of truth.
Some months later in Beaverton, the rubble from the location of the town's most infamous fire… Or 'fires' as it stood now, had been cleared away. Preston made good on his word not to rebuild on the sight. Instead, he allowed his daughter and her friends to erect a memorial in dedication to the deceased Sander's children. It was a six-by-six marble slab, engraved with the date of the fire, the names of the child victims, and a brief description of what had happened that Christmas Eve at the Sanders home.
A lone ghostly image, who ironically looked like she just stepped out of a blazing fire herself, stood over the plague positively shaking with rage. "So, they finally decided to give my family a headstone after sixty years…All my families suffering… They have the nerve to think a damn memorial is enough! That this washes away all the Northwest families sins! I refuse to rest… I never will… Not until they've felt my pain… I'll make them all burn!"
Melanie Sanders didn't know how she was going to do it. Her strength had waned considerably… Now that she technically had a proper resting place, she couldn't wander very far from the memorial without feeling weak. She would find a way though… That Northwest girl… Pacifica, had already visited the memorial several times. Melanie knew the blonde could hear her, and the ghoul made sure the heiress knew what she thought about her presence. There had to be a way to untether herself from this place. That blonde girl had to be the key.
She was going to find a way to haunt that girl's dreams again. Until her spirit burnt out, she would never allow the Northwest family to find peace… Never…
Never.
CF004: Children of Fire
Status: Case Closed
-Yeah… Not sure if I'm entirely happy with this installment and the way it comes across… Normally, I stand by anything I publish regardless of how crap I may feel it is afterwards, but I might have to make an exception in this case and go back and rework this one sometime in the future. I took a long break from writing to recharge the batteries, and I feel like I kind of rushed this one a little bit to compensate. I'm trying to work at producing content at a faster rate, but if it means not being satisfied with the end product, I may have to go back to the old mentality of the chapters/cases will get done when they get done.
-Some clarification on what's going on with Pacifica. She is a sensitive, not a PSYCHIC. In the paranormal field, a sensitive is someone who claims they see, feel, and even communicate with the dead. I knew I'd probably be bringing in a character sensitive to the spiritual world for ghost related cases eventually, so instead of creating another OC for the role, why not give the role to an established character I've been looking for ways to utilize more often anyway? And an ability that helps make her useful to the team no less! I also liked the idea of approaching the subject with her as someone who not only doesn't really understand her ability but is completely disinterested in using it and even terrified over having the ability yet finds herself forced to face it, since for her, trying not to see the dead is going to be like trying to not to blink.
-This case is based off the real-life story of the Sodder Children, where five of the families ten children died in a tragic house fire on Christmas Eve in 1945. No remains of any of the children were ever found, leading to rumors that the fire was a front to kidnap the missing children, a twist that turned this unfortunate disaster into an Urban Legend. I wasn't originally planning on using the Sodder case as the base for the last two chapters, the idea just kind of slapped me in the face one night as I was outlining the story. I changed the family name from Sodder to Sanders out of respect due to the fact I'm dealing with real-life likely deceased children, so using the actual family name felt in poor taste. I also reduced the number of kids to four since five ghosts running around felt like one too many, and I aged them up a bit for story purposes. Believe it or not, the Christmas theme was purely coincidental.
-Till next time my friends. For our next case, a death in the family brings the Pines to New Jersey to pay their respects… And to look into a recent rash of sightings of a certain devilish creature rumored to frequent the area.
