Chapter 4:
It was nearly 11:30pm now and the two had watched more than just the ghost movie. They had gone through Netflix before finding some movies in the "Children's" Section to help calm Barry down. They ended up doing a running commentary on some of the movies.
Well more like Barry did a lot of talking and Rachel would join in on one or two comments here and there. After the last movie, Rachel was about to get ready for bed when Barry seemed to remember something.
"Hey Rachel…" She glanced over at him with a confused look. "Whose Doctor Danny?"
Rachel blinked at the name.
"Who?"
"Oh uh… Well last week before your blackout… You said 'Doctor Danny' before passing out… I just forgot to ask the last few times we all met up," Barry explained allowing Rachel to think the name over for a moment.
Nothing turned up for a little while before a headache began. Barry was worried as she looked in pain from the headache… it almost felt like the last time.
"Rach-" Barry began, only for the blonde to snap out of it with wide eyes.
"He… He was my therapist… years ago." Barry blinked at that, he had not expected an answer like that at all. He watched as she turned to him with her eyes still wide. "What… what caused me to say that name?"
Barry shifted a little at the question. He remembered that it happened after he told the story of the haunted church… and he was naturally just uncomfortable talking about it.
"Tell me… please…" the desperation in her voice and what little could be seen on her face caused him to give in.
"I'll… I'll just get to the main points of the story," He sighed and leaned back trying to get comfortable. He took a deep breath to prepare himself before he finally got around to it.
"I went to the church Nick goes to often… you know to visit that Reverend Black guy. I was in the library and I accidently broke something. I freaked out and grabbed a book to pretend that I was reading when I heard someone coming in. The guy called my bluff instantly and well… he was this freaky ass doctor covered in blood… Though aside from that… the guys eyes really freaked me out the most."
"His… eyes?"
"Yeah… I remember them most… Mostly because he stared in my mine… His left one seemed normal but his right… it… it was like someone shoved two different-"
"Eyes together." Barry paused after the two spoke at the exact same time. Rachel also seemed to pause and rub at one of her temples, eyes narrowed in confusion.
"... Okay how did you know what I was gonna say… I don't think I've ever even told Katie that part… wait did I?"
"I… I don't know… it… seemed right to say."
A silence fell between the two, both trying to figure out what that was all about. Barry suddenly thought of something different from what Rachel was thinking.
Is… this because I haven't taken my medicine?... What's going on?
"Maybe we found something that gets through your blackouts!" Barry exclaimed suddenly very excited and proud. Rachel blinked at that but also realized… she did remember something from when she was close to turning thirteen. She's never remembered anything from that time… except for her parent's death… and waking up in the hospital months after her thirteenth birthday.
An idea came to her immediately as she turned to Barry.
"... Could you take me to that church?"
Barry jumped at that.
"What?!" Rachel flinched at the volume of his voice and immediately avoided eye contact. The pink haired boy quickly apologized before he revised what he said. "Why… would you want ME, to take you to a haunted place?"
"... When you spoke about the ghost you saw… I remembered a few things… If… If I could see the ghost for myself then… then maybe I could remember some more," she answered quietly, her gaze still away from Barry's face and seemed to be more focused on her own hands on her lap.
Barry was hesitant, looking at his friend for a moment… He suddenly raised his own fist and punched himself in the face, startling Rachel.
"Fffff- Okay… ow… I'll help."
"Did… you have to punch yourself?"
"Nah… I had to punch a coward… But just to be safe. Cereal you ready for walkies?"
The white puppy barked happily and started running around at the mentioned walks. Rachel however couldn't help but smile a little… despite the words entering her head that always helped to add the hint of sadness in her smiles.
….
Barry nearly lost his nerve when they parked near the church. The old Gothic building looking so much more creepy at night with little light from the streetlamps to brighten it up at all. He was half tempted to punch himself again when Rachel opened up the passenger side door and jumped out. Cereal's leash in her hands and the small dog following her out as she did.
"AH wait!" Barry quickly pulled the keys out of his car's ignition and went into the glove compartment to pull out a flashlight from within. He exited the car soon after and followed after the blond. He turned the light on only for it to flicker a bit… as he was about to hit it though a light flashed in his face as Rachel held up her cellphone with it's flashlight app activated.
"... Your phone is charged right?" the blond asked as Barry stared blankly before quickly slapping himself for being an idiot. Rachel flinched as he did that.
"Sorry… I wasn't thinking." A bark came from his dog, who immediately got the attention of the pink haired boy, who tried to shoosh his dog. "Cereal no, we're trying to be stealthy."
"I don't think flashlights help with that…"
"... So we should turn the lights on in the church?"
"That's an even worse idea Barry…" Rachel then handed the leash over to the proper owner and the duo, plus the dog, went right up to the door for a moment before reconsidering that idea.
"... Maybe someone left a window unlocked?" Barry suggested and noticed that Rachel was already ahead of him looking for one. Sucking it up he followed her with his dog by his side, only to stop when said dog started sniffing around like he needed to go.
"Hold up, can't let Cereal go inside yet."
Rachel paused at that only to blink and face Barry after noticing something.
"Uh Barry…"
"Hm?"
"Cereal's sniffing a cross…"
"Yeah and…! Cereal no!"
It was too late… the dog had relieved itself on the cross making Barry's jaw drop and Rachel to just look away. The little white dog finished up before trotting over to Barry with happy pants while the pink haired boy continued to stand there in shock.
"... My dog's going to hell for that…"
"Probably…" Rachel simply responded before noticing… something in one of the windows. It… looked like a figure of a kid standing in the shadows of the building. She was about to point her phone's light at it only to watch it raise it's hand and… unlock the window before leaving quickly. She glanced back to Barry, wondering if he noticed the figure as well only to see he was still fussing over his pet… and seemed to be begging to God to forgive the little guy for following nature's call.
Glancing back and forth between the window and Barry for a bit she decided to speak up finally.
"… This window's unlocked…" She wasn't sure if telling him that someone had unlocked it for them was the best thing to say at the moment… but if it turned out that someone was dangerous she was at least prepared this time. Barry perked up at the sound of her voice and saw the latch for the window was indeed up, allowing it to be opened.
"Whoa, that's lucky!" Barry flinched at how loud his own voice got… maybe he really wasn't good at this whole sneaking around thing after all. After making sure no one was going to appear and question them, they opened up the window. They were completely thankful that it didn't have a screen that needed to be taken care of. It was clearly big enough to crawl through but the biggest problem was how high it was… Rachel would need a little boost to get in with her shorter height.
"... Mind helping me up?"
"No problem." With a grin Barry, easily lifted her enough that she could get through the rest of the way on her own. With a mild drop to the ground she was able to stand up straight and lean out the window a bit for Barry to hand her Cereal. As soon as he brought the dog inside she thought she heard something… no, someone saying her name.
She turned and tried to find the source of the voice… it wasn't Barry's at all, that much she knew. She also knew something was causing Cereal to feel uneasy as the tiny dog started to growl in her arms at nothing. Rachel was starting to feel a little uncomfortable in there as when she shined the light all around the room there was no sign of another living being other than her and the dog. Barry soon crawled his way in and noticed how both Rachel and Cereal seemed on edge.
"What's wrong?"
"... I… thought I heard someone say my name…" Barry's face remained blank for a moment… before he tried to get out through the window he JUST came through in a panic. Rachel had to stop him… thankfully she did but Barry was still kind of freaked out.
"What if it was the doctor ghost?" Barry shuddered while Rachel thought it over for a bit while Cereal continued to growl at nothing. Barry was more worried about that as he knows his dog… and his dog doesn't just growl at nothing.
"But… how would he know my name? I've… I've never been to this church before…"
"Please don't make this creepier then it already is," Barry pleaded as he took his dog back from the blond, the presence of the tiny dog making him feel a little more brave but not by much. Rachel didn't seem to hear him as she was more uncomfortable with whatever had said her name.
Taking a deep breath Rachel straightened up and began walking off, Barry noticing this quickly and following close behind. He was looking around with discomfort and it didn't help that his dog was still growling at nothing… only to seemingly stop and glance around confused. Barry really didn't like that part.
"Actually you know what, let's go back. I mean-"
"You can go back if you want… I'm not stopping you," Rachel cut him off quickly. Barry hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and following her.
"... You still need a ride and I don't abandon my friends remember…"
The blond paused at that and looked down. Of course she remembered… most of the time that is. There was one time she swears she will never forget though.
"... Sorry…"
It was all she felt that could be said at the moment… until she saw someone behind Barry. She was about to say something until the person poked the pink haired boy, causing said boy to scream.
"Are you trying to wake the dead?" it was a child's voice asking the question. The kid didn't look older than 12, he had a playful smirk on his face and it showed in his green eyes. His auburn hair looked messy, like he hardly ever took time to brush through it or always wore something over it. He wore a closed jacket with a red scarf, a pair of blue jeans and some black boots.
"HOLY-" Barry started to loudly say only for both the kid and Rachel to stop him.
"Shhh."
"... A-Are you a ghost?" Barry asked after quieting down, his heart pounding in his chest. The boy gave him a deadpanned look.
"I don't know much about ghosts… but I'm pretty sure if I was one I wouldn't have poked you. Pretty sure we also wouldn't be having this conversation right now either."
Rachel could have sworn she saw a small smirk crossing the boy's face… But then again the kid did kneel down and beckon towards Cereal so it could have been more towards the dog then anything else.
"Bullshit… I had one with a ghost once!"
"Oh? Huh the more you know," the kid looked kinda surprised before he started petting the small white dog, who in turn started sniffing at him before wagging his tail happily to the attention.
"... What are you doing here anyways?" Rachel finally asked. The boy smiled up at her.
"Oh I heard a rumor of this place being haunted. So I made a bet with a few friends. I prove this place isn't haunted by staying the night, and I get twenty bucks."
"It is haunted kid," Barry growled, causing the boy's smile to fade into a look of disinterest when he looked over to the pink haired boy.
"Coming from a guy with Pink hair and screams like a girl at a minor poke in the side…"
"First off, I lost a bet. Secondly I was expecting this place to be empty."
"Oh then who unlocked the window for you?" the kid smirked as Barry tried to come up with a retort only to pause and actually try thinking about it.
"... That was you I saw... wasn't it?" Rachel asked. Barry turned towards her quickly with a "What the fuck" look on his face.
"You saw someone unlock a window and you didn't tell me?!"
"... We got in didn't we?"
"You're welcome."
Barry was starting to notice a minor pattern with how this kid spoke… mostly with how nice and friendly he sounded when talking to Rachel… and how annoyed he sounded when talking to him.
This kid is out of his league… she's also a lot older than you kid, Barry thought to himself and holding back on actually punching the kid… after all he only has four things on his list of things to never punch. Friends are number one, Elderly are number two, Children are number three and finally he will never punch the disabled.
"Aren't you supposed to be in bed though kid?" Barry asked, his tone dripping with his growing annoyance with the kid.
"Well I was till I heard some yelling outside." Barry grew embarrassed at this, before straightening up.
"At home?"
"The bet remember you idiot?" The kid smirked as Barry was so close to punching the kid but held himself back.
"You're so lucky I don't hit kids.."
"... Aren't your parent's going to be worried though?" Rachel spoke up, the kid glanced over to her with… an almost sad look?
"Nah, they just think I'm at a friend's place is all… so you gonna continue this twenty questions without introductions?"
"... God damn it this kid is like a mini Nick…"
"... What?"
"He's a friend of ours… I'm Rachel Gard-... Stewarts…" Rachel said catching herself before saying her last name she had before she got adopted… she still wasn't used to the last name "Stewarts" even after all these years. But it was still better to use as for some reason she had reporters trying to get interviews with her for a while until she moved.
The kid didn't seem to react to her almost slip up, but instead smiled.
"Edward Kingsley. Call me Eddie please."
"We're seriously doing this?" Barry questioned, to annoyed with the kid to even give a proper introduction of himself to the kid.
"He's Barry McCoy… and his dog Cereal Killer."
"RACHEL!"
"Serial Killer?"
"... He kills cereal boxes."
"Cereal box- OH Cereal Killer," Eddie laughed. Barry pretty much groaned while staring up to the ceiling… almost begging to a silent god to give him strength to endure this.
….
Nick was back at home, wide awake and on his laptop. A pair of reading glasses on his face as he looked up cases involving the recent Back Alley Murders.
Every killer has an MO… There's gotta be something that connects all these cases together aside from the multiple stab wounds… and the location. Nick thought to himself, having already gone through one night before with no sleep and was approaching his second… an average thing by this point.
It's usually harder for his friends to detect when he's missed his first night, as he's learned to better handle it… the second day though he knows for a fact both his family and his friends will be trying to get him to go to bed. He promised himself he would go to bed… when he picked up what connected all these killings or even any hint that this could have been done by multiple people.
"But Nick, that's something for the police, not a seventeen year old…" Yeah well a Seventeen year old would normally not be in Law School this early either, and it's called research… Am I seriously talking to myself in my head now? Nick paused his work at that thought, his expression going from confusion to wide eyed realization.
"I'm more tired than I thought…." Checking the time his laptop displayed he swore that he would try to wrap up in the next hour to head off and get some sleep… maybe.
Gazing back at his search window he scrolled through the links that he had already checked out, and checking a few other ones here and there only to back out as it was apparent they wouldn't give him the info he needed. Going through he stopped at one in particular.
It was of a news article from six years ago. Pushing his glasses up a bit he began reading through the article… finding more of the story on how the original Back Alley Murderer got caught… and the girl who survived. Rachel Gardner.
He knew that was Rachel's name before she was adopted… but he never expected her to be in anything big like this… or even at the site of a building collapse.
She was found with a gunshot wound in her side, passed out from loss of blood and sent to a hospital… at the hospital it seemed that when she woke up she practically begged to see the murderer… Stockholm Syndrome? Doctors found traces of some unknown hallucinogenic in some of the blood along with even more minor traces of some poison… What the hell was going on?
Nick was curious… and infuriated at the same time. This was something that had happened to his friend from a past she barely remembered… but at the same time he wanted to question her more on it so he could find out just WHAT happened. Though he doubted he would ever get those answers. After all Rachel's memories weren't a reliable source anymore… not with her blackouts being a constant thing that just removes said memories when triggered.
"DAMN IT!"
"Hey Nick! I know you don't sleep but some people in this house do so shut up!" the voice of his sister shouted back at him. Before he could retort back the stern voice of his father broke through to both of them.
"IT'S 1:28 AM BOTH OF YOU GO TO SLEEP!"
"Sorry dad!" Joan called out, before presumably turning over in her bed and trying to go back to sleep.
"Sorry…" Nick muttered, but didn't follow through with what his father told him to do. Instead he turned his attention back to the news article… and the picture it had of his friend when she was Thirteen.
… She doesn't look that bad with long hair I guess… but it feels weird that it's not shoulder length. I wonder though…. Is there any way to at least jog her memory?
Curiously he opened up a new search window and began looking for ways to try and jog someone's memory. He bookmarked a few that seemed promising… but scoffed at one entirely.
Hypnotism… that's just plain stupid.
Still engrossed in his own research he jumped at the sound of his cell phone ringing at… 2:53 am?
"Shouldn't whoever you are be asleep?" Nick asked immediately when he answered the call.
"... You know Barry and Katie would be saying the same thing…" It was Rachel's voice on the other end. Suddenly it didn't surprise him as much that she would be calling him… after all Barry was more likely than not asleep and she DID witness Eric's murder… unless she had a blackout then this is a lot more confusing.
"... What's wrong?" There was a pause at the other end of the phone.
"Um… theoretically speaking… how… how would one defend themselves from a ghost?"
Silence… Nick couldn't believe what he had just been asked. Rachel… one of his most rational friends… was asking him something so irrational it made his brain hurt trying to even ponder just what caused her to even THINK of asking something like that.
"... Why the hell are you asking me this?"
Silence was on the other end of the line… though listening carefully he could pick up the sounds of rustling papers and other almost unidentifiable noises… only to hear Barry's voice in the background asking something he couldn't pick up completely.
"Did Barry set you up to this?"
"... No…."
"Then why the hell are you calling me at nearly three in the morning for something as stupid as this?"
"... Don't tell Katie…."
"... What are you doing?"
"... Barry and I… snuck into the church… and got attacked by a ghost…"
Nick was quiet. He was trying to process just what he was told by his blonde friend. It made absolutely no logical sense to him. Being attacked by ghosts? Sneaking into a church at night? The fact that Rachel believed in ghosts?
"... What kind of drugs did your doctor prescribe you?"
"... Antidepressants…. Last I checked…."
Nick groaned.
"Okay… What the hell did you two DO in the church to 'get attacked' then?"
"... You don't believe me."
"You called me at three in the morning asking about ghosts, which do not exist. I'm going to have a hard time believing anything about that."
The line went dead at that. Nick pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his reading glasses up as he did… only for him to realize after a little while that he was kind of an asshole at the end there. Clearly she sounded kind of scared and was honestly looking for advice… and he was a dick who didn't even try to humor the idea of spirits to try and calm her down. Hell she was attacked and had seen a murder HOURS AGO and was probably still paranoid about that.
"Damn it…" He picked his phone up again and dialed her number. Mostly to apologize for how much of an ass he was… only for it to go to voicemail. He tried again at least two more times, getting the same result and practically slamming his head on his desk.
I really fucked up if she's doing this… Taking a deep breath he speed dialed Barry's number, knowing he would have his phone and that he would be with her. After the first two rings the line was picked up.
"Yo, whatcha still doing up?"
"Don't play dumb Barry… You know Rachel called me… could you just put her on the line for a moment?"
"Wha- OH that's right her phone died. Alright give me a minute and I'll put you on speaker."
Nick paused at that… he… hadn't upset Rachel enough to cause her to hang up… and not answer his calls? Her phone just died…
"Alright you're on!"
"Do you seriously have to yell?" an unfamiliar child's voice was heard in immediate response to Barry's loud voice.
"Shut up Nick Jr.!"
"And will you quit calling me that!"
"... Sorry you have to deal with that Nick."
"... Who the hell is this 'Nick Jr.'?"
"MY NAME IS EDDIE! Christ is that too hard to remember?"
"... No it's actually pretty easy to remember…"
"Don't go taking Nick Jr.'s side on this!"
"For the hundredth time it's EDDIE!"
"Will someone explain what the hell is going on?"
"Forgive them Nicolas… Children will be children after all." The voice of Reverend Black seemed to stop the other sounds going on…
"HEY!"
Except for that comment from both Barry and this Eddie he heard on the phone.
"Reverend Black? What are you doing up?"
"Well your friends were none too quiet… to the point I woke to the sound of a teenage girl screaming bloody murder. To my surprise it wasn't the girl who screamed, and my Library was in ruins."
"... We're helping pick it up before we leave…"
Nick was now trying to process exactly what the fuck was going on now… and was having trouble picking it up at all. He wanted, no needed to figure out just what the fuck was going on. Screw curfew laws, he was driving over to the church right now and seeing this disaster for himself. He didn't bother telling them or even saying anything as he hung up the phone and proceeded to exit his room to grab his dad's keys.
He had just started the truck and left immediately… forgetting how most of his family consists of light sleepers… and how his sister watched him drive off with their father's vehicle from her window.
….
As soon as Nick arrived he hurried right into the church… only to slam into the front doors as they were locked.
"Fuck… Going around… ugh." Nick groaned in slight pain. He turned around and walked away from the doors. He rounded his way to the back of the church knowing for a fact if the Reverend was in, that's where he would have more likely than not come in… after all the front of the church had stairs while the back was wheelchair access.
Nick ran around, not really paying attention to the opened window as he hurried. When he got to the back, he tried the door and boom he got a stroke of luck with the door being left unlocked. With the door open he went right inside and navigated by memory to the Library… Oh wait… the lights were on.
Wow I'm out of it… He thought for a moment before making way to the Library. When he entered it looked like a disaster zone. Books were thrown everywhere, some bookshelves had fallen, a few of the potted plants were smashed on the ground… basically it looked more like a Tornado had blown through rather than two teenagers and a… whatever age this Eddie kid was.
Speaking of which the three mentioned people, he was pretty sure with the number of people that he heard over the phone that the auburn haired boy was Eddie, were picking up… or at least stopped to stare at him as he entered. Reverend Black was the only one who didn't look as surprised as the others… and instead looked rather disappointed… and had Eddie's dog sleeping on his lap.
"You know I would have been more surprised if you actually stayed home like any other person," the Reverend spoke, the other three still more confused on just why he was even here.
"... I had to see what the hell just happened… and I still have no idea what the fuck happened here…"
"Being completely honest that's a piece of information I would like to know as well," the priest responded, casting his gaze over to the three other occupants of the room… all but one shifted uncomfortably under said gaze. Rachel simply averted her eyes to her hands that held some of the fallen books, allowing the clear bruise on her face to be made seen… but also for Nick to notice that her hand seemed to be injured.
"... Well we got attacked for starters…" Barry started… Which to Nick it meant everything was going to go downhill from there.
Fun Fact 4: This chapter was actually my second favorite chapter to write, Chapter 5 being number one as you will see when I do post it. I'm sure there's gonna be other ones in the future but both Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 were part of something I had long planned out before the rest of the story itself.