Season 3 Chapter 6: S3, E5: Poltergeist, a so weird fanfic

Season 3, Episode 5: "Poltergeist"

We've all heard about ghosts, whether it's in movies or haunted houses. They can go through walls, and they scare people. There are stories, though, about ghosts that do more than that. In India, they're known as "mumai." In Germany and the rest of the world, they're known as poltergeists. They make noise and haunt houses, but it's also said that they're extremely violent. Rumor has it that some poltergeists are just angry spirits that were wronged in life, but what if they're more sinister than that? What if they just want to hurt us?

"What do you mean, 'postponed?'" Molly said, trying to keep her indignation quiet.

"I understand that it's a serious safety issue, but you could have given a little more notice. We're already almost in Arkansas," she continued, irritated. The person on the other end of the line seemed hell-bent on not working with her.

"Fine. Four days," she said finally, hanging up the phone. Irene looked skeptically at the musician from across the table.

"What was that all about?" she asked, flipping the pages of the magazine she was skimming.

"The club manager said that they need to take care of a rat infestation. It'll be four days before we can play," Molly explained, setting the phone down on the table.

"Well, what are we going to do until then?" Irene inquired.

"How about we go to an amusement park or something?" Carey chimed in, looking up from the notebook he was writing in.

"And risk you hurting your ankle because you walked too much? No way, mister," she responded, looking at her elder son. "The doctor said three weeks of rest."

"Aw, come on, mom. It'll just be for a few hours," he pleaded. The look he got back from his mother told him her answer.

"How about we…" Fi started, but was cut off from the rest of her sentence by the phone's ringing. Molly picked it up and answered it.

"Hello? This is she. Andrea, hi! How have you been?" She sounded excited to hear the other person's voice, and they made small talk.

"Come for a visit? Wow, that works out great. My gig in St. Louis got postponed, so we're free for the next few days. Why don't I talk to everyone and get back to you? Okay, bye." Molly hung up the phone.

"That was Andrea Davis. She's a guitarist in a band that the PKB toured with for a few months, and she invited us for a visit to her house near Little Rock. It's only an hour away, and we've got some time. What does everyone think?" she asked, addressing the group. Almost unanimously, they all wanted to visit.

"I'll call her back and tell her we're coming," she said, smiling as she dialed the phone.

-X-

The sun had barely started its descent in the sky when they got to Andrea's place and as soon as the bus doors opened, a woman with long brown hair, fair skin, and a huge smile greeted them.

"Molly Phillips, it's been ages!" Andrea said, embracing her friend.

"It's been too long," Molly replied.

"Oh, you look as good as you did back in the band days," Andrea commented, studying Molly. "And who are these people?"

"Andrea, this is my daughter Fiona, my son Jack, my head roadie Ned, his wife Irene, and their son Carey." She gestured to each of them as she introduced the group. "Andrea is the guitarist for Soft Spoken."

Everyone expressed their pleasure at meeting her.

"So, who's ready for some tea?" Andrea asked, smiling cheerfully.

-X-

"Ms. Davis, this is the best egg salad I've ever had," Fi exuded, taking another bite of her sandwich.

"I got that recipe from my mother," Andrea commented, pouring more tea into her cup.

"So, where's Todd?" Molly asked, spooning some sugar into her tea.

"Oh, he's been visiting his sister in Baton Rouge for the last few weeks," Andrea explained. "He was really excited because her son is graduating high school."

"Oh! Well, tell him that I said congrats when you talk to him next," Molly said.

"So where are you going to stay for the next few days?" Andrea asked, taking a sip of tea.

"Oh, I don't know. We'll probably just end up getting a hotel in St. Louis until the gig," Molly answered, shrugging.

"Nonsense! I won't have it. St. Louis is only…what, six hours from here? Plus, I can guarantee you that my cooking is better than any hotel food. You can leave in a couple days when you need to rehearse. I won't take no for an answer," Andrea insisted, causing Molly to bite her lip.

"Well, I guess we could stay here," she said finally, causing Andrea's grin to become even wider.

"Great! I'll go get the guest rooms ready," Andrea said, but was interrupted by Irene's phone ringing.

"Excuse me," she said, smiling sheepishly as she got up and left the room. She came back a couple of minutes later.

"So, the owner of the club in St. Louis said that it'd be more than a week until the place was clear, BUT he said that he could swing it so that you could play a friend's club in Memphis instead of his for two nights starting the day after tomorrow since you were inconvenienced. He also said that the people who were supposed to see you in St. Louis would make the extra trip to see you in Memphis…" Irene said, covering the phone's mouthpiece.

"I don't know…" Molly said, torn. She didn't want to pass up an offer like that, but it meant that they'd only be able to stay one night instead of three.

"Fi? Jack? What do you want to do?" she asked her children finally.

"Can we stay here?" Fi chimed in before her brother could say anything, and Jack slumped in his chair.

"You know, someone's going to have to look after you," he said, shrugging.

"Well what about Carey?" Molly looked over at the Bells.

"I can stay here. It's not like I'd be playing anyway," Carey replied nonchalantly, not looking up from the magazine he was reading.

"Okay, fine. Jack, Carey, and Fi can stay here, and we can swing back on the way to New Orleans," Irene said, uncovering the mouthpiece of the phone and exiting to talk.

-X-

If 2x + 50 = 95, solve for x.

Fi gritted her teeth and poised her pencil above the paper, processing the final equation on her algebra quiz. With a few quick pencil strokes, she came to the conclusion that x = 22.5 and sat back, letting out a big sigh of relief. She wasn't done with assignments by any means, but she could relax for now. Hearing noise coming from the living room, she got up and left the kitchen.

When she got there, Molly, Irene and Andrea were sitting around, laughing about something.

"Hey, baby! All done with your quiz?" Molly asked.

"Yeah. What's so funny?" Fi answered, taking a seat in an overstuffed armchair.

"Oh, your mother and I were talking about a gig we played in Tennessee once. She forgot the words to her own song!" Andrea said, causing all three women to erupt into laughter.

"Hey, it wasn't the last time that happened. Remember that gig where we ran into Ty Spencer? I've been performing In the Darkness for so many years now that it should be routine," Molly said, rolling her eyes at the memory. She still hadn't forgotten about reading the article before her show happened, but it was something she tried to keep at the back of her mind.

"Well, you haven't messed up since then," Fi commented, adjusting her position in the chair. Molly smiled.

"Hey, Ms. Davis, is there a place I could set up my laptop?" Fi asked.

"Oh, please, call me Andy. Yes, actually; there's a study upstairs, if you'd like to set up there," Andrea said, laughing. Fi thanked her and got up to go outside, but on her way to the door, she heard a crash and whirled around to see broken glass littering the floor. Her mouth fell open as the three women came running into the entryway of the house.

"Oh my…Oh, Andy, I'm sorry. Whatever she broke, I'll buy you a new one," Molly said anxiously.

"Don't worry about it, Mol. She broke a glass cat. Todd's mother gave that to us for our anniversary and, to tell you the truth, I'm glad it's broken. That thing was hideous!" Andrea reassured her, bursting into laughter. Fi, on the other hand, wasn't laughing.

"I didn't bump that shelf…" she said quietly, turning and leaving the house.

-X-

Upstairs in the study, Fi sat in a high-backed chair browsing the Internet for anything weird. As she clicked on a link, her eyes drifted to a framed photo that stood on the desk. She squinted against the glare created by the sun coming in through the window to see five people standing on a stage. On the right were Andy and who she assumed to be Todd, but her breath caught in her throat when she realized that the Phillips-Kane Band was standing right beside them. They all looked so happy, and even though she didn't know if she had even been alive when the picture was taken, it still hurt slightly to look at it.

"If you're looking at what I think you're looking at, that was the last show the PKB and Soft Spoken ever did together," came a voice from the doorway, and Fi looked up to see Andy standing in the doorway.

"Oh, sorry," Fi said.

"Don't worry about it. Your mother lost her copy of it, but I keep this one safe," Andy reassured her, walking over to the desk.

"So you toured with my mom and dad? What was it like?" Fi asked, tearing her attention away from her laptop to look at the older woman.

"Well, we were only on tour together for a few months, but Rick and Todd got along like best friends. Touring with your mom and dad was great, but then…well, your dad died," Andy said, sounding extremely sad. She reached over and picked up the picture, studying it with a sad nostalgia.

"Hey, do you think you could tell me stuff about my dad? Like from when you toured with him?" Fi inquired suddenly, causing Andy to set the picture back on the desk.

"Well, your dad was a great musician, and he and your mother were so happy…until a few months before the band stopped touring." Andy bit her lip.

"What do you mean?" Fi pressed.

"He seemed…distracted. I don't know how else to describe it. Your mother didn't seem too happy, either, but I figured they'd just hit a rough patch. You know how things can get on tour." Andy gave a weak chuckle at the end of her last statement. The chords Fi had played while using a medium to contact her father ran through her head as she thought of the man she'd never known. She'd come close in New York, but now that she was elsewhere, she felt farther from him than ever. All of a sudden, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Is something wrong?" Andy asked, slightly concerned when she saw the shift in Fi's expression. As quickly as it had come, whatever had spooked Fi was gone.

"No, it's nothing," she said, still worried that what she'd just said might have been a lie.

-X-

After a wonderful homemade dinner, dessert, and numerous conversations, everyone turned in for the night. The big house was quiet with nobody awake, and a gentle breeze blew in through the open window of the bedroom Molly and Fi were sharing. Fi turned over in bed, but her sleep was restless.

Both sleepers' eyes shot open when they heard a loud crash.

"What was that?" Molly asked, her voice quiet.

"I don't know," Fi replied, squinting in the darkness for anything. Molly got out of bed and flipped the light switch on, revealing a nightstand that had originally been between the two beds broken on the floor in front of the opposite wall. It looked like someone had thrown it with a great amount of force, and the sight chilled Fi's blood. First the shelf, now this?

There was a knock at the door and Andy opened it.

"What happened?" she asked, surveying the damage.

"I don't know," Fi said, squinting when she saw the woman's face at the sight of the nightstand. She didn't seem shocked; rather, she seemed worried, like something weird was going on. Andy walked over to the fallen furniture and picked it up.

"I'll take care of this. You two get back to sleep," she ordered, turning the light off as she left. Molly and Fi, however, took a bit to do as they'd been told.

-X-

"Is everything ready? Good. Now, be good for Andy and try not to break anything else, okay?" Molly asked Fi, kissing her daughter on the forehead.

"Mom, I'm 14. I think I can take care of myself," Fi replied, squirming under her mother's inquisitive glare.

"Watch your sister," Molly said, kissing Jack as well. "Bye!"

They all got on the bus and drove off, leaving Fi, Jack, and Carey with Andy.

"Well now, who wants lunch?" Andy asked cheerfully.

-X-

Muintir.

The word unlocked Fi's virtual diary and she began to type.

We're at someone's house and some strange stuff is going on. A shelf moved on its own and the nightstand in our room threw itself against the wall. Could it be a ghost trying to tell us something? I always thought that ghosts couldn't actually do anything, but I've got to research this more.

She clicked "SAVE" and looked up just in time to hear a crash and a yell from the living room. Getting up, she ran out of the room and down the stairs to see Carey, wincing in pain and holding his injured leg.

"Carey, what happened?" she asked, kneeling beside him.

"I don't know…I was resting my foot on that ottoman and it just flew out from under me!" he said, grimacing. She looked over and saw that the ottoman had overturned a chair; it reminded her exactly of the nightstand.

"Here, I'll go get a stool or something," she said, getting up and turning around to see Andy standing in the doorway.

"Don't worry about it. I have a stepstool in the guest bedroom," the woman said, disappearing from view and returning, stool in hand. Fi helped to prop Carey's leg up on it, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Andy knew more than she let on about the weird things that had been happening. She resolved to ask her about it later.

-X-

Fi walked into the kitchen, seeing Andy stirring something in a bowl.

"Oh, hey, Fi! I thought you'd be off on your laptop," Andy remarked, chuckling.

"Actually, I was wondering if you knew anything about what was going on around here," Fi said, taking a seat on a chair at the kitchen table. The older woman averted her gaze and pretended to be more interested in the floor tiles.

"What do you mean?" she asked, setting the bowl down on the counter and looking over at the girl.

"Well, things flying across the room, stuff breaking...it seems like you'd notice that sort of thing if it went on, right?" Fi asked, trying to catch Andy's gaze.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," she said finally, picking the bowl up again.

"Andy, this thing, whatever it is, is violent. It already hurt Carey and it could hurt the rest of us," Fi countered, almost causing Andy to drop the bowl.

"I don't know what it is." Andy bowed her head as her voice got quieter.

"How long has it been here?" Fi's fingers dug into the kitchen table.

"A month." The response stunned her.

"Wait, it's been here for a month and you invited us over? Weren't you worried about us getting hurt?" Indignation crept into her voice.

"I didn't think anything was going to happen! I mean, there was only a handful of times where something strange happened, but it seems like that got worse when you all got here." Andy's words gave Fi pause. Why was that the case?

"Didn't you try to find a way to get rid of it?" Fi asked.

"I did, but I couldn't find anything that would help. I don't even know what it is," Andy replied, her expression falling.

"Okay. All that matters is that we find out what it is and how to stop it before something really bad happens. Let me do some research and see what I can find," Fi said, her slight indignation vanishing as she got up and made her way to the study.

-X-

Fi stared intensely at her laptop's screen, trying to find any bit of helpful information.

"Ghosts…ghosts…" she murmured, typing terms into the search bar.

GHOSTS VIOLENT MOVING

Biting her lip, she added another term.

GHOSTS VIOLENT MOVING FURNITURE

Her eyes widened when she read the results that came up.

"Poltergeists?" She clicked the first article.

Poltergeists are spirit manifestations that can affect the mortal plane. They are violent, often throwing furniture across rooms or causing harm to people. Although we don't know why they haunt certain places, we do know that…

The screen went black as her laptop lifted into the air, and she lurched forward to grab onto it. An invisible force pulled it away, and she dug her feet into the floor to get a better grip, struggling to get it back. One final wrench backward had her and the computer tumbling to the ground, leaving her in shock.

-X-

"So, did you find anything?" Andy asked hopefully, and Fi set her laptop down on the kitchen table.

"It seems like it doesn't want me to know anything about it. It tried to take my laptop before I could read anything," she said, and Andy's hopeful smile fell.

"I did find out what's haunting you, though…a poltergeist." Fi's new answer caused her smile to return slightly.

"Okay, you're going to have to explain that to someone who isn't used to dealing with this sort of thing." Andy took a seat at the table across from Fi.

"Well, it said that poltergeists are violent spirits that can affect things in our physical plane," Fi explained, calling the article she'd barely gotten the chance to read to memory.

"So why's it here? Did I do something to provoke it?" Andy became concerned.

"It also said that they don't know why poltergeists haunt certain places," Fi added, and Andy let out a sigh.

"What am I going to do?" the musician mused despondently.

-X-

Great. I'm stuck in Arkansas watching my sister while my mom's away in Tennessee.

Jack sat in the back of the house on a porch swing that was gently rocking back and forth. As much as he would have liked to go with his mom to Memphis, he knew that he wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving Fi in Little Rock; it wouldn't have felt right. He didn't know why and he didn't think he ever would, but he figured that it was a big brother thing.

As the swing continued to move, he felt himself being lulled to sleep. It didn't make any sense, as he'd gotten enough sleep the night before, but before he knew it, his eyes were closed and he was drifting off.

-X-

"Is something wrong?"

He turned around, seeing a woman wearing an elegant green dress standing in the entryway to the room. Sighing, he took one more look out the window behind him before crossing the room to her.

"I…do not know," he said, seeing her features go soft with a small smile. The air in the room around them seemed thick somehow, and the stone walls did nothing to keep the night's chill from entering. The fire roaring in the large fireplace recessed into the wall helped slightly.

"You do not know? Or do not want to tell me?" she asked, her smile becoming more knowing. He sighed again.

"I think it might be both." His answer didn't satisfy her question, and this was apparent on her face.

"Henry tells me you both saw something on your way back here," she said, her smile vanishing. He avoided her gaze momentarily.

"What exactly did Henry tell you that we saw?"

"He could not properly describe it to me…at least, not enough for me to have any idea what he was speaking of. He mentioned something about a light, but he also told me that it scared both of you."

"We saw nothing!" His face set in an expression that mirrored this sentiment.

"You have seen the life disappear from a man's eyes and have not drawn back in fear, but you see something that can scare you so? It sounds to me like you did not see nothing," she said, a hint of anger in her voice.

"I do not wish to discuss this with you." His voice became angry as well.

"Very well. I will not force you to speak to me of what you saw, although I am only concerned for your well-being," she said, walking over to him and planting a soft kiss on his cheek. He watched as she turned and left the room, leaving him alone once again.

-X-

Jack's eyes opened slowly and he realized that he'd fallen asleep, but he was more concerned with the dream he'd had during his nap. Normally, he knew he was dreaming when he woke up, but he didn't feel like that now, despite the fact that he consciously knew he'd dreamt. It had been more vivid than any dream he could remember having, but he was more bothered by the fact that nothing in it related to anything about him. Usually, he could pinpoint one thing that stemmed from something in his life, but that hadn't been the case.

"Come on, Jack, it was just a dream," he said aloud, feeling better as soon as he said those words. He'd drifted off to sleep and dreamt about something weird; that was it. Getting up from the porch swing, he went inside to go see what Carey was up to.

-X-

Carey sat on the living room couch, fast asleep. Having a broken ankle had put a damper on everything, and now he was forced to sit around and do nothing. Boredom had caught up to him.

Jack entered the room and stopped when he saw the guitar player, a mischievous smile growing on his face as he got an idea. He tried as hard as he could to stay quiet as he walked over to the couch, and then leaned forward until his face was inches away from Carey's; close enough to hear soft breaths.

"Carey," he said quickly in a hushed voice, and it didn't take long for something to happen. Carey's eyes shot open, and after a second, let out a yell of surprise. Jack stumbled backwards, caught off-guard by the reaction; however, he caught himself at the last second just before he was about to fall.

"Dude, you scared the crap out of me!" Carey said, breathing heavily. Jack laughed, amused.

"That's not funny." Carey glared at the brunette.

"Sorry, sorry. I just wanted to ask you something," Jack said, still chuckling.

"What's up?" Carey asked, calm now.

"Well…have you ever had a weird dream?" Jack replied, taking a seat in an armchair.

"All of my dreams are weird. That's how dreams are," Carey answered, looking at Jack like he was crazy.

"That's not what I'm talking about. Have you ever had a dream that…didn't seem like it was yours? Like, nothing in the dream related to anything in your life?" Jack felt ridiculous asking the question.

"I can't say that I have. Why, did you?" Carey raised an eyebrow.

"I think so. I dozed off on the porch and had a weird dream about some guy and a woman talking about a light or something, and I don't think they were even speaking English…well, not any English I've heard," Jack explained.

"Maybe Fi's weirdness is rubbing off on you," Carey joked, laughing.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Jack agreed, chuckling weakly. As much as he was trying to convince himself that it was just a fluke, he didn't know that he could…at least, not completely.

-X-

Fi sat in the study again, trying to search for something that might help; however, this was incredibly difficult as every time she tried to do a direct search for poltergeists, she got the sense that her laptop would get taken away again.

"How can I find anything if it won't let me?" she said aloud, frustrated. As she sat there, she started to think of anything she could do to outwit an invisible entity that seemed to be extremely intelligent as well.

"Wait a second…" She looked up as she got an idea, but she couldn't do anything where she was. Unplugging her laptop from its charger cord, she ran out of the room and down the stairs, trying to find Andy. She ran into Jack in the kitchen.

"Jack, have you seen Andy?" she asked, her voice urgent.

"She's in the laundry room," he answered, pointing to a doorway.

"Thanks," she said hurriedly and ran into the laundry room, where the older woman was folding some sheets.

"Hey, Andy, I have a question. Has anything strange happened to you outside of the house?" Her words came out all at once, surprising Andy.

"Actually, now that I think about it, no," Andy said, looking upwards pensively.

"Okay. I think I might be able to find a way to get rid of this thing." Without another word, Fi turned around and ran through the house toward the front door.

-X-

Across the street from Andy's house, Fi sat down by a tree and opened her Internet browser, taking a deep breath and typing in "POLTERGEISTS." When nothing happened, she clicked search and braced herself. The results page popped up and she clicked on the link to the article she'd read before, relieved when her laptop stayed right where it was.

If tormented by a poltergeist, the person it is tied to can banish it by simply gathering up the force of will to do so.

"That's it!" she said triumphantly, but her joy quickly vanished as she got the sense that something was very wrong.

"Andy…" she said, closing her laptop and running across the street as soon as it was safe. When she got to the front door, she heard something that froze her blood: screaming. She ran through the house, trying to locate its source. In the kitchen, she saw Jack looking around wildly.

"What happened?" she asked, her heart racing.

"I don't know! Andy's locked in the laundry room," he said, still looking for something. She ran past her brother to the laundry room door, where she was almost floored by the overwhelming realization that Andy was trapped by the poltergeist.

"Andy!" she yelled, pounding on the door. Through it, she could hear loud noises and more screaming, and it sounded like Andy was in trouble.

-X-

Bottles of laundry detergent hurled themselves at Andy, who dodged them just in time. The door wouldn't open and every time she tried to go near it, things flew at her.

"Fi! Help!" she called, hearing the girl's voice on the other side of the door. Fear flooded her when she saw her washer start to rock back and forth, making loud metallic clangs. Violently, it tipped over, and she screamed again.

"Andy! I found out how to get rid of it! You have to make it go away!" She heard what Fi said, but she wasn't sure what it meant. She had to get rid of it?

"How?" she yelled, dodging a shelf as it tore away from the wall and hit the wall near her head.

"You have to gather the force of will to banish it!" came the reply, and it only served to confuse her even more. It didn't make sense, but she had to get rid of this thing before it seriously hurt her.

"Go away," she said quietly, trying to calm her fear. She jumped when the fallen washer slid across the floor.

"Go away," she said louder, still extremely afraid. How could someone like her banish something like a poltergeist?

"Go away!" Her voice was gaining conviction, but she was still afraid. Suddenly, she thought of Todd. This thing hadn't shown up until he left, but what if it was still here when he came back? What if it hurt him? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, using the image of her husband in her head to gather strength.

"GO AWAY!" Her words seemed to come alive, resounding through the laundry room. She was blown backwards into the wall, but when she opened her eyes, everything felt different. The evil presence she'd felt ever since the poltergeist had arrived was gone, and all the damage it had caused in the laundry room had been repaired. She tried to calm her heart as Fi opened the door, looking fearful.

"I think it's gone," Andy said, smiling weakly.

-X-

The next day, Andy found Fi in the study again, doing something on her laptop.

"Hey. I just wanted to say thanks for helping me get rid of that thing," she said, smiling at the girl.

"Oh, it was no problem. I still can't figure out why it was tied to you, though," Fi remarked, looking up from the screen.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now," she said, laughing. The last few weeks had been scary, but she'd felt a lot better ever since the poltergeist had been banished. As an afterthought, she asked, "But how did you know it was tied to me?"

"Well, I remembered you saying that it had been here for a month, but I also remembered that Todd had been gone for that long. You were the only one here it could have been tied to," Fi explained, and Andy nodded.

"Hey, do you remember when you asked me about your dad?" Fi looked suddenly interested.

"Well, I have something for you. We were playing a gig in South Carolina and your dad dropped something. I meant to give it back to him, but I forgot about it until now." Andy pulled out a folded piece of paper and slid it across the desk. Fi picked it up, almost not breathing as she opened it. The piece of paper looked like it had been torn out of a small notebook, except that it was missing the top left corner. On the blank space, it looked like her father had drawn something, but she had no idea what it was.

It looked like something akin to a piece of a donut that had been cut in four, except the sides weren't rounded. There were no notes telling her what it was, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was significant.

"Thanks," she said finally, folding the paper and putting it in her pocket. Andy nodded and left the room, leaving her alone.

What was the thing her father had drawn? Was it some sort of supernatural artifact? She resolved to find out, but knowing her, she would find out sooner or later.