Chapter 4 Stranded in the Ghost Zone

She felt cold. That was Ari's first initial thought when she woke up in the Ghost Zone. She didn't remember passing out after storming out of her aunt's house, but she felt like she had been swallowed by something. Then she woke up here. Greyish, purple dirt coated the right side of her face as she stood up.

"What's going on? Wh-Where am I?" Ari thought aloud, confused beyond all measure on where the hell she was. Green skies swirled over the ash-colored earth, the segments of land being fairly minimal, somehow floating in midair. Curious about where she was, she walked about seven paces before yipping slightly at the sudden drop off her little island had, making her back away very quickly.

This land, this place, was not normal. It wasn't... what was the word? Normal? Human? Whatever it was, it certainly felt... eerie. Like something out of supernatural or horror novel. She didn't like it. The more primal, instinctive part of her felt like she wasn't supposed to be here. Maybe she was dreaming? She looked back down at the edge of her island. She could jump off the piece of earth because dying in a dream usually woke her up. But on the odd chance that this wasn't a dream, she didn't want to end her life, especially over a hunch. That was, also, if the swirly green abyss below had a bottom. Putting those thoughts out of her mind, she relayed back to the situation at hand.

How long had she been out? The growl in her stomach told her that she definitely had missed a meal or two, but she wasn't parched. That was something at least, but she would have to find water soon. If she was going to get out of here, she would have to make sure she survived here first before anything else. Remembering she had unconsciously brought her satchel with her when she left the house, she quickly turned it over for supplies. Most of what she had inside were textbooks and school supplies, but what she did find was her cellphone, some gum, and a granola bar. She tried her cellphone first. No service available. At least with the granola bar and gum, she wouldn't go hungry. Opening up the granola bar, she nibbled on part of it before stashing it back into her bag, saving it for later. The gum would stay her hunger, but it would also make her crave water, so she held off chewing a stick. She needed to find food and water and then, find a way out of here.

None of the landmasses of floating rock seemed close enough to jump to, her pitiful island not even having enough land to get a running start. She did notice, however, that there was a dead tree on a nearby island. If she could somehow create some rope, she would be able to swing over to the other island. But what would she make the rope out of? Looking through her supplies, she tried to look for something useful. She had some rubber bands, but they wouldn't be nearly durable enough to sustain her weight. She glared at her large pile of textbooks. Why was it that textbooks were only useful when it came to paperweights? She looked at her calculus book and picked at her teal book cover. Those things were really flexible... Wait! That was it!

All of the school's textbooks required book covers. If she undid all the book covers and tied them together, she could create a makeshift rope. The elastic was supposed to fit most seven by twelve inch textbooks, so it should be pretty flexible. Now she had rope, but how would she wrap the rope around the tree from far away? She would need something heavy enough that, with enough centripetal force, it would wrap around itself like a bolo. Sifting through her supplies, she uncovered a large, navy-blue, metal stapler. That would do the trick. Thank god she was thorough with her school supplies this year! She now had everything she needed to make the jump.

Swinging her makeshift rope around like a lasso by her side, she launched and flung it at the side of the tree, where it wrapped around the base of its trunk. Yes! She cheered at her success, taking a starting leap off the island before she noticed her items passing through the tree like it wasn't there.

"No!" she shrieked too late, already sailing towards the other island. I should have checked to see if the rope was secure! she thought, expecting to meet her maker very soon. However, instead of falling to her death, she was gliding towards the tree. She braced for impact, only to pass right through it.

What?! she gaped. How was that possible? It phased through it like it was a hologram. Maybe the tree was composed of energy?

"W-Whoa!" She exclaimed, trying to right herself through the ghostly air. For some reason, this realm had different laws of physics, which mean that it would be at least easier to navigate through the area. But how would she control where she was going and, as she quickly found out as a purple door floated in front of her, how would she stop? Expecting to phase through it, she was surprised when she hit her head against the purple door.

"Oww, that hurt!" she whined, rubbing her injured forehead. Okay, clearly not all things in this area were intangible to her. Why was this door even here? Seeing that, as logic dictates, one would not have something like this just floating in the sky for no reason. Maybe it lead to somewhere else. Somewhere like home? But which one to pick.

There were a million doors floating around, each with its own lock, style, and mystery on what lay beyond. Better try this one first, she thought to herself, turning the lock, only to find an angry, grey Cyclops roaring at her. Frightened by the behemoth, she forcefully shut the door and fled to another door nearby. Inside it was a table of four green ghosts playing poker. Startled by the interruption, they all looked at her in mild irritation, for her presence stopped their game, before she closed that door too. She tried one last door, but she was too horrified to even begin to describe what was inside it.

"Okay, avoiding doors in this place...forever!" she observed in fear as she kicked off from the door and sped through the zone. Why were there monsters behind every door she looked at? Maybe they weren't so much as doors as they were homes for whatever lived inside. This would explain so much about children claiming monsters were in their closets. Something told Ari that after this experience, she was going to have a high aversion to closets in the near future.

The longer she sped through the area, the more control she had of moving through it. Apparently, if she leaned forward enough and bent her back at the right angle, she could project the direction she wanted to go and how fast to do it. While she felt silly acting like she was Superman, this was a much less goofier method than her attempts at trying to move through the area with the breaststroke. After a while, it actually became a bit enjoyable. She'd never had the ability to fly before, so this was an exhilarating experience to her to say the least, but she still had no luck finding food, water, or a way out. You win some, you lose some. Hopefully, she would stumble across a solution. She seemed to be good at that.

Aside from her Twilight Zone encounters with the creatures behind the doors, she had not encountered any form of life since she had been there. While the area was unpleasant, it didn't seem inhospitable to life. She could still breathe fine, and, aside from the cold chill, it was livable. So where was the wildlife? The dead tree she phased through seemed to be the only thing that even resembled anything remotely close to life in this entire realm. She was starting to grow weary from travel, curious as to how long she had been flying. Minutes? Hours? Days? She had no watch to tell her otherwise and with the anxiety of stress, hunger, and fatigue, she was close to giving up on finding anything familiar. Until she jerked back and abruptly stopped midflight. A large white building floated about five hundred yards away from where she was.

Was... was that her school floating over there? It sure looked like her school, but it was all in black and white. Not really having any other options, she glided over towards the doors and forced them open. Maybe it was the way she would get back. Everyone was in black and white, and they seemed to be wearing fifties clothing, like poodle skirts and leather jackets.

"Who's the dolly?" asked a greaser, noticing Ari's presence.

"She sure is a classy chassis," observed his jock friend.

"A what?" Ari wondered aloud as the letterman quickly wandered over towards her.

"Hey kitty cat, how about you and I grab a bite and maybe we can do a little backseat bingo later where we stable the horses."

"N-No thank you," she mumbled, not having a clue what this guy was saying, but she didn't want to be involved. Draping his arm around her shoulder, he pulled her uncomfortably close. The contact made her feel cornered and especially uneasy.

"Now don't have a cow, baby. You'd be running with the coolest cats in town. My crew and I got a sweet hotrod that could make your brain spin. It'll be a blast."

"I said no!" she growled, angrily pushing the teen away before retracting her hand back in stunned silence. Normally, she wouldn't ever lash out at someone. What was wrong with her? Why was she so emotional? Had the stress of everything finally caught up to her?

"Back off, buster-brown. Can't you see she's not comfortable with your slick talk?" She turned to see a short kid with combed black hair, glasses, and buckteeth. He looked like the embodiment of all things nerd, but that didn't seem to dampen his spirits.

"Mind your own business, Poindexter," the jock frowned, mildly annoyed that the geek had decided to interrupt his talk with Ari.

"When you bully others, Rodney, you make it my business, bub," Poindexter huffed. "Now scram before I get the teachers to make you agitate the gravel." The letterman hesitated, seriously contemplating whether or not he wanted to pummel the nerdling or get detention before he backed off.

"This isn't over, Poindexter," Rodney growled skulking away bitterly. Proud that he had successfully stood up to the bully, Poindexter looked towards Ari in concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked the quiet teen. Now getting a good look at her, he thought he had seen her from somewhere before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. She was in color, so she clearly wasn't from around here. It was the way that she looked at her shoes that made him recognize her.

"Wait a minute... it's you! You're the one who got my old locker," the boy recalled. It took her a couple of seconds to process exactly what he said before realization struck her.

"S-Sidney?" she gasped. No, that wasn't possible. He was supposed to be dead. Did that mean... was she dead too? She didn't want to be dead! There was too much left she wanted to do in life. This was just too much! Everything was just too much!

"What are you doing here? You're human! You shouldn't be here," he began before noticing Ari was now hunched over with large streams of tears flowing down her cheeks. "Oh gosh, don't cry Miss! Uh... umm...!" He didn't really know what to do. Most girls never even talked to him, let alone cried in front of him. "Here!" Pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket, he handed it to her.

"Th-Thank you..." she hiccupped, dabbing her eyes a bit with the handkerchief. It had the initials S.P. embroidered in the corner.

"Your name... it's Inari, right?" he asked unsurely.

"...M-My friends call me Ari," she stammered, managing to wipe away most of her tears by then.

"Well Ari, what seems to be the trouble? How can we turn that frown of yours upside down?" he asked, sympathetically patting her shoulder. "Do you need an egg cream? I know that's what I like to have when I'm feeling upset."

"...A what?" She looked up at him, tilting her head slightly. "An egg cream...? ...You m-mean like food! Actual food?!" She got really excited at this prospect.

"Sure," he smiled, glad seeing that Ari was feeling better. "I'll get you an egg cream from the cafeteria. My treat." He led her to the cafeteria and pulled out a nickel to put into the vending machine. Apparently, an egg cream was basically a cream soda as he pulled out a bottle opener and handed her the cola. Not really caring that she looked undignified, she gulped down the cream soda fairly quickly.

"Gee willickers, you must have been hungry," he observed, noticing her large appetite.

"Mmhmm," she nodded before finishing off the soda. "I can't remember the last time I've eaten. Feels like days." She didn't know why, but she felt like she could really open up to Sidney. A couple sips into her next soda, and she soon found herself blurting out everything. The move, the new school, the divorce. She had no idea why she was spilling her guts out to this complete stranger. She wasn't normally this open with anyone but her closest friends. But he seemed to mean well, and she found no other comforts in the realm she was in.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you'd had a crummy day," he deadpanned.

"So... am I dead?" she finally asked, dreading the answer. Sidney nearly choked on his soda in response.

"No! Gosh golly, no! I hope not!" He blurted. "You're human and still alive, which makes me wonder why in good gravy you're in the Ghost Zone."

"The Ghost Zone?" Her eyebrows really arched at that statement.

"You see, the place you ended up in is called the Ghost Zone. It's the flipside of the human world, where you live. Only ghosts reside in this realm."

"Huh." Seemed like she had only just been introduced to ghosts being real, and she hasn't seen anything but ghost since she'd gotten there. "So if this is the Ghost Zone, why can I phase through things but you can't. You're a ghost, right?" she asked, feeling her arm slip through the table before she made it solid again.

"In the Ghost Zone, everything is made out of ectoplasm. Humans and real world objects have properties that we ghosts would normally have in your world, like phasing through walls. It's because ectoplasm is on a different frequency than human world objects."

"So... I have ghost powers now?"

"In a way," he shrugged. "Only intangibility though, and only here in the Ghost Zone. Any other human body would also react this way towards this dimension."

"But how did I get here?" Ari placed her arm on the table and leaned on her chin, itching for answers to her problem.

"An excellent question. Do you remember what you were doing before you got here?"

"I remember fighting with my mom and wishing that I was anywhere but here," she sadly looked down at her feet before shaking off her emotions. "But you can't get anywhere in life by wishing for it."

"Actually, you can. I think you had an encounter with Desiree."

"Who's Desiree?"

"She's the wishing ghost. Any wish she hears, she grants, but at dire consequences for the wisher."

"...So you're saying that she sent me to the Ghost Zone because I wished for it?" Ari inquired, her eyes widening at the odd possibility.

"Pretty much, though I think she had more creative freedom with your wish, since you weren't very specific on where you wanted to be." Sitting back in her chair, she tried to take in the situation. She couldn't believe that she ended up here, on a whim of some ghost who got her kicks from twisting wishes around for her own gain. She had heard of the phrase 'be careful what you wish for,' but this was taking it a bit too literally!

"So how do I get out of the Ghost Zone?"

"I'm not sure. I, myself, can never leave the realm because I am bound to it. I do know that sometimes natural portals do open up from time to time that can lead you to the real world."

"So how do I find one of those?"

"I don't know. You'd probably need the Infi-Map. I heard it can locate any place just by thinking about it, even natural portals. But it's been lost for centuries, and sometimes the portals it takes you to don't even belong to the correct time period."

"So you're saying I'm stuck here until a portal just magically shows up, and it might not even take me to my own time?"

"Well, there is another way. There's a ghost you could contact. His name is Clockwork. He's the ghost that precedes over all time. He knows everything, and he's really skilled with portals. He might be able to help you. However, his realm in the Ghost Zone exists outside of time. He's sort of in a dimension between dimensions. I'm not really sure where he lives specifically."

"So there goes that option." Ari really began wishing for that Infi-Map right about now.

"There's also the option that you could find Desiree and wish yourself back home," Sidney suggested.

"Where is she?"

"Well, judging that she was able to grant your wish, she has to be in the mortal world."

"So basically, you have no idea where she is," Ari said, turning a bit downcast.

"But I know where she's going to be," he grinned cleverly. "Anytime that Phantom kid captures one of us, we get sent to the Storage Room. It's where all the ghosts are sent once they are released and where real world items end up when they fall through a ghost portal. Judging by how quickly he acts when we crossover to his world, she should arrive there soon."

"That seems plausible. Is there any way you can take me there?"

"No. Unfortunately, I cannot leave my world unless in dire circumstances. However, I do know a guy who can transport you there safely. He's one of the few spirits that visits the mortal world for mostly non-malevolent reasons. He could probably try to take you home too, if you don't find her. He navigates pretty well through the Ghost Zone," He pulled out a quarter from his pocket. "I just need to make a call."

"Thank you... Umm, d-do you have a bathroom I could use?" Ari asked shyly.

"The girls' lavatory is on your right, three doors down," he replied, not even phased by her question.

"Thanks," she said, shuffling quickly towards her destination. Good thing she ran into this place. She was kind of terrified to figure out what would happen if she had to go outside in the Ghost Zone. A bit of freshening up later, reality hit her hard.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me, she thought as she left the bathroom. No wonder she was so miserable! She was on her period! The first couple days always made her an emotional wreck. The only problem now was getting some... um... feminine hygiene products. But where on Earth was she going to find that?

"Ah, there you are. My friend's going to meet us at the front of the school. He should be here any second," Poindexter greeted Ari as she came back from the restroom.

"Great..." she smiled weakly, trying to not feel anymore awkward about her latest development. She squirmed at the front doors of the school for a bit before she saw her ghostly friend being shoved to the ground.

"Told you I would get you back, Poindexter," Rodney laughed before picking him up by the scruff of his shirt. "I don't care if you did stand up to the Halfa. You're still a geek, inside and out." He emphasized the last part of his sentence with a sharp punch to Sidney's face, knocking off and disfiguring his glasses. Students in the hall began gathering around the two, yelling 'Fight! Fight! Fight!' and cheering with every blow Rodney landed. Ari held up her hands to her face in horror, flinching with every punch Sidney received.

No... No! Stop it! You're hurting him! She wanted to cry out, but she was too terrified. What was she to do? Her friend was going to be beaten up, all because of her! It's all your fault. It's all your fault!

"I-!" she began before the loud roar of a machine cut her off. Bursting through the door was man with short blonde hair and ghostly green eyes, who rode on a black motorcycle with the green number '13' etched into the side of his bike. Skidding to a dramatic halt, he got off his machine, leaving a trail of green smoke in his wake. He looked like he was in his early twenties and was a sharp contrast to Sidney's teenage black and white features.

"Hey, Poindexter, you said you needed a favor?" the stranger asked before frowning at the student holding Sidney up. "Is there a problem here?"

"Johnny 13!" Rodney exclaimed before sheepishly saying, "N-No. No problem at all, Johnny. Just dealing with a nerd infestation."

"Well, your 'nerd infestation' is gonna have to wait. I gotta settle a deal with the small fry you got right there," Johnny pointed at Sidney who, despite having a black eye and bloody lip, looked down smugly at the jock. "So I'd put him down and bug off, unless you're seriously cruisin' for a bruisin'." Johnny emphasized this by clutching his leather, fingerless gloved hand into a fist.

"S-Sure thing, Johnny. No problem," Rodney chuckled nervously, gently setting down the geek before turning tail and running down the hall.

"Coward..." Johnny frowned before looking down at the grey-colored geek. "Consider my debt paid, Poindexter. Whatever your favor was, forget about it. I was done with high school the first time I graduated. I don't need to be bothered by all this." And with that statement, he shuffled back to his bike.

"No! Wait! Now hang on just a minute, Clyde!" Sidney fired back, walking quickly after Johnny, babbling about his plans to help Ari out, but Johnny didn't seem to care. He was already leading his bike back to the front of the school before Sidney yelled, "You can't just back out of a deal, Johnathan Cade! You still owe me that favor!" This made the biker ghost stop dead in his tracks, causing him to glare down the nerd with a look that could kill.

"I told you to never call me that, punk!" Johnny growled, picking up Sidney by the scruff of his shirt, angry that he had used his real name. Now that Ari got a better look at the guy, he looked like he was from the fifties like Sidney, but he was all in color. His bike even had the same look. Wait... his bike. Was it? Could it be?!

"Oh my god, is that a Velocette Viper!?" Ari exclaimed happily, causing both of the ghosts to turn and dumbly look at her.

"...You know about bikes?" Johnny questioned curiously, dropping Sidney to the ground.

"Are you kidding!? I used to race hogs like this back home! Granted, they were BMX motocross dirt bikes, but still!" Ari beamed hyperly, not able to keep the excited word vomit down her throat. "She's beautiful, and in such good condition! How did you get her? They stopped making them in the 70s!"

"Well, she's always been with me. She's a part of me, I guess, so I have to keep her regularly maintained," Johnny scratched the back of his head before grinning. Finally, someone appreciated the work he had done on his baby.

"Soooo, is that a 'yes' to you doing me a favor?" Poindexter grinned a Cheshire Cat grin, cocking one of his eyebrows. Johnny pulled a brief frown before giving in and sighing in defeat.

"Fine, but only because your mecha friend here is a total bodacious babe," he grinned deviously before offering her a leg up. "Hop on." She looked back at Sidney Poindexter, who began dusting himself off.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Sidney asked, picking up his glasses from the floor.

"Are you kidding? I should be asking you that," she laughed, surprised that even though he was the one who got beaten up, Sidney was the one who asked if she was alright.

"Ah, don't worry about me. I'm right as rain. I can take care of myself," Poindexter shrugged before wiping his nose, taking on a masculine pose of showing his muscles. "Just wait until tomorrow. That bully won't know what hit him."

"Oh, wait!" She remembered, pulling his handkerchief out of her jacket pocket before handing it to him. "Here, I almost forgot."

"Keep it," he pushed her hand back. "That way, I'll know you'll be okay, wherever you are, 'cause you'll carry a little piece of me with you." It was then that she uncharacteristically pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you, Sidney... For everything," she whispered. "You're a real sweetheart."

"N-No problemo," he blushed before pulling out of the hug to straighten his glasses. "N-Now get a move on! You got to find Desiree, right?"

"Right," she nodded before climbing onto the hog. "Y-Your name's Johnny, right?"

"Yeah. By the way, if you tell anyone my real name-" Johnny threatened before Ari put up both her hands defensively.

"N-No, no. I-I get it." Looks like her stutter was back.

"Good. Now hold on tight, babe. It's gonna be a bumpy ride," he grinned, firing up the engine of his bike as she nervously held onto his back. He kicked it into a wheelie before they sped off into the Ghost Zone.