Ghost Rider III.

Summary:

Spontaneously combusting at night does not sound like a teenage girl's regular night out. Becoming Hell's bounty hunter, and wanted dead by the bounty that I was looking for was NOT what I would call 'normal'. (Swearing and a tiny bit parental spanking)

Chapter Two.

Waking up at half past eleven the next morning wasn't fun.

I felt like I had a hangover, and my long black hair was all in my face and messed up. Which was exactly how I felt at that moment. My body was covered with sweat, a sure sign of nightmares. Or screwed up dreams at least. The most I could remember of this dream was some guy coming into the apartment, claiming he was the devil and forcing me to become some incredibly powerful bounty hunter.

A load of bullshit in my opinion.

"Oh well." I muttered, picking myself up from where I must have passed out from tiredness on the floor. "In the words of Albus Dumbledore 'It does not do, to dwell on dreams.'"

A flash of yellow was hazy before my eyes as I rose from the floor, and I stumbled into the kitchen, clumsily dropping the bread that I took out of the fridge and putting it into the toaster. Catching it as it popped up almost as black as my hair and spreading it with butter. Casually, I went to take a bite, but the burnt, blackened taste had me immediately spitting it out into the bin alongside a wad of toilet paper.

Chucking the rest of the ruined toast into the bin, I put the plate into the sink and quickly washed up the plate, a spoon and a mug that had also been left in there before drying them up and putting them away.

Wandering from the kitchen through to the bathroom, I winced at the morning light coming in from a small hazed over window and pulled the shower curtain across and quickly showered. Once I had washed, and my hair was all clean, I wrapped my soaking locks into a towel along with my body and dried myself, clambering into some new clean clothes with my riding gear on over the top.

I felt significantly more awake, and ready to tackle the day as I pulled my hair up into my signature high-pony tail. Starting with giving Martin that damned rent.

I walked over to the coffee table, which had my phone and rent money on it, when I heard a crackle beneath my feet. Frowning, I looked down to see that I had trampled a post-stick note under my black leather walking boots. I bent to pick it up, and as I read it, I froze.

"The Hidden…" I whispered. I stuffed it in my pocket hurriedly and grabbed the rent money that was sealed in the envelope labelled 'Number 3, Kira's rent money' , dashing out the door and across the street to post it through Martin's letterbox at number one.

Running back into the apartment, I grabbed my bike keys off of the table and pushed my bike, which I had christened 'Kakuzu' when I had bought it at the age of fifteen with my license to ride, out of the large apartment door and onto the road, making sure I had shut the door behind me securely as I jammed the keys into the bike's lock and twisting it several times to start it up, pulling my helmet on and climbing onto my smooth black beauty and kicking out onto the road, heading for the highway to go out of the city to find the nearest damn church.

Seems I needed to read up on religion.

I found my church after a good three hour drive, which I can tell you, made my butt absolutely kill when I glanced at my watch which now read three o'clock in the afternoon. Meaning that I had five hours until whatever was going to happen, was going to happen. Putting down Kakuzu's bike stop, I glanced around the graveyard which I just followed the road down through. It looked suspiciously well kept.

Taking myself inside the church, I smirked ironically. The devil's advocate seeking help in god's house. Well this was going to be good. I took a deep breath, hoping that the vicar was around.

"Uh…Hello? Anyone there? I was wondering if I could have some help, please?" I called out, my voice echoing around the ancient church stones.

There was a silence…and I thought about going back out to take a look around.

"You lookin' for something?" An old, gravel-like voice said from behind me. I shrieked, whipping around and preparing to strike whoever it was. I stopped myself in time as I saw that it was a rather tall man who looked like he was in his fifties, if the long white hair and moustache were anything to go by. He had a distinct Texan accent, and for some reason I felt oddly like he ought to be respected…

"Sorry…you…you scared me there." I apologised.

He laughed and dipped his hat to me in greeting, swinging a shovel up to come and rest on his right shoulder. "Sorry about that. Name's Carter Slade, caretaker of the church grounds."

"Slade…ok." I responded, shifting the motorbike hat under my arm from where it was starting to get uncomfortable by digging into my hip. I didn't particularly want to give my name out yet.

"Well then, what is it you're lookin' for?" He asked.

I glanced around, mentally preparing myself for studying. "Well…I need to do some research, and I was wondering if you had…a small…I don't know religious library? Anything from the bible, to angels…demons…the in-between and unknown…bounty hunters. All of it. There's something I need to know, and pretty quickly." I explained roughly, not wanting to give anything away.

Slade nodded and motioned for me to sit down at a small round table and chairs, a large white cross engraved into the middle of the brown oak table. "Sit here for a min' or two, and I'll get you your research materials." He said, winking at me kindly and ambling back outside to put away his shovel. For some reason I got the feeling that he knew…but I wasn't going to be the first to say anything.

I walked over to the table and carefully placed my helmet down on the chair. Starting to feel hot and sweaty on the hot summer day, I peeled off my bike clothes too, leaving just a new pair of black jeans and a dark green short-sleeved t-shirt. I straightened my pony-tail and draped the biker clothes over the back of the chair and placed the helmet down beside my feet as I sat down.

True to his word, Slade came back not a minute later with six books in his arms which I rushed to help carry by taking them from him.

"Oh my god thank you." I gushed, excited by the prospect of getting some answers. "When I'm done, do you want me to leave them here or come and find you with them?" I asked politely, feeling that I owed it to him.

"Call me over and I'll see if I can help make sense of anything, if you want." Slade said, tipping his hat to me and walking back out into the oven heat of the outside world.

I rubbed my hands together and nodded to myself. "O…k then. Sounds legit."

I got to work, reading up all I could. Anything to do with this Mephistopheles guy, or the devil. Things that related him to bounty hunters, or deals, contracts…I looked.

I found a few things.

'The contract of blood to sell ones soul,-'

'-of which a curse was wrought upon he who walked the night in search of the escaped demons of hell-'

But there was one name that kept getting repeated, the one that freaked me out the most, as it just made me shiver in fear.

'Ghost Rider.'

Nothing else helped, and it didn't really explain. It didn't explain what I was meant to do, how to do it, what was going to happen to me. It didn't explain what this 'Ghost Rider' thing was either. I hate religion, and here I was looking up some fantasy, all because I made a deal that was only now just starting to freak me the hell out.

I glared at the open book that was propped open in my hands and shut it decisively, slamming the book down on the table in anger and desperation. "FUCK." I shouted, letting my pent up anger out in one word, making me instantly feel better as I ran my hands through the hair and hid my face in my propped up elbows.

"You're in the house of god. You best apologise, girl." Slade called from where he was leant against the doorway with his arms folded and his hat pulled slightly low over his eyes.

I groaned and raised my head from my arms. "Sorry…" I called out to no one in particular. "Sorry for making the stupidest mistake of my life and selling my soul to some…some…demon thing who wants me to be a freaking bounty hunter starting tonight to do 'I-don't-know-what' and probably get myself killed because I'M ONLY SIXTEEN." I shouted, my voice to a yell as I stood up abruptly and flung the chair over backwards and running my hands through my black hair.

There was a moment of silence, and I could feel Slade watching me. With a sigh of momentary regret, I looked over to him, to see that he was in the same position…just watching me impassively. He raised an eyebrow at me and I groaned again. "Sorry." I muttered, leaning down and picking the chair up and setting it back on all four of its wooden legs. "Feeling a bit lost right now."

"I can tell. You've been readin' those books over and over again for the past four hours, so I'd be surprised if you weren't." Slade said shortly, but not unkindly. I checked my watch, which sure enough read five minutes past seven. He cocked his head to the left slightly. "Say, what was your name again?" He asked.

I looked up at him from where I was sat in the chair once more, fiddling with my fingers. "Hmm? Oh, Kira." I introduced. I guess there was no harm in telling him my name. I'll probably be dead by tomorrow if this thing is true.

"Kira…" Slade said. "You're a tad young to be Mephistopheles' bounty hunter. Y'know that?"

"You know about Mephistopheles?" I questioned, my curiosity aroused as I stared at him.

Slade sat down in the chair opposite me and gave me a small smile. "Sure I know of Mephistopheles. Myself and another that I know of…I called him as soon as I left you with those books…I think he may be able to help you…and your driving, no offence miss. I watched you come in, see."

I glared at him. "My driving is fine." I snapped. "Who is this guy any-"

The roaring of an approaching engine cut me off, and I glanced over to the doorway, standing up as Slade did opposite me. "I think you're about to find out." He said, waiting as he rocked back on his heels once or twice.

My eyes narrowed as a figure came in through the little archway entrance, dressed in a leather jacket, dark jeans. He was tall, and he had short tousled brown hair.

"Hey there Slade. Long time no see." The man said, warmly shaking hands with him in recognition. "The name's Johnny Blaze." The man said, introducing himself to me with a small smile.

Slade gestured to me slowly. "This here is Kira, and she seems to have a dangerous problem on her hands."

Suddenly it clicked for me. Johnny Blaze, the expert motorbike rider who had jumped over six helicopters on some football field. The legendary bike rider. I threw my hands up in the air. "Great. Just great. You think I'm dangerous on a bike so you call in the expert…screw this." I said angrily, turning on my heel and storming out of the little church.

I could hear them calling after me as I ran out into the evening's dying sunshine and up to where Kakuzu was waiting for me, but to be quite honest, I didn't give a damn. I jumped onto my bike and revved the engine before taking off at what I knew was a ridiculous speed and had the potential to get me killed.

I was onto the dirt track road in next to two minutes, doing up to around eighty, which was stupid, I know. But I couldn't help it, I was pissed off. I didn't need any help in riding a bike. I was doing fine on my own.

The sound of another, louder engine could be heard coming up behind me, and I sucked my cheeks in, making it look like I had just sucked a sour lemon.

Johnny pulled up alongside me, yelling at me over the engines. "STOP THE BIKE. I ONLY WANT TO HELP YOU."

"BUGGER OFF." I yelled back politely, speeding up along the dirt track until I hit eighty five, totally surpassing him.

He pulled up again, but obviously this time, he wasn't going to talk. Instead, he must have hit about one hundred and thirty, and he kept going up the dirt track until I could barely see him in the distance. It was only when I got a little bit closer, that I realised that if I didn't stop now, I was going to hit him from where he was parked in the middle of the track at nearly ninety miles an hour.

My hand clamped down on the brakes, easing on them to make sure I didn't throw myself off in the process, and Kakuzu's front wheel stopped not two millimetres in front of Blaze's own bike, 'Grace'.

I glared at him, and he raised an eyebrow at me as we both stepped off of our bikes to face each other. "Ready to talk yet?" He asked. In reply, I flipped him the bird. "Now that's just rude."

"I know. I wasn't intending on being polite. Now move your bike the fuck out of my way." I growled as I turned around to start making my way back over to my bike.

Pain exploded in the back of my head as Johnny's hand connected with it sharply. "Quit swearing already." He reprimanded me sternly. "And try to be a little more civil and cooperative…I'm trying to help."

I glowered at him. "Go to hell."

He rolled his eyes and shoved me over towards grace as he untied a length of chain from the back of his seat and tied it from there, securely to my own bike.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" I asked indignantly.

"Towing your bike back with us." He said simply.

"I'm not going anywhere, and neither is my bike you jumped up son of a bitch!" I yelled furiously, starting to head back over to my bike, intending to release the chain.

Instead, I felt my ear being grabbed and twisted painfully, making me yelp as Johnny pulled me by the ear back over to Grace and to lift me into her seat before sitting in front of me. He revved up the engine, and before I could think of escaping, he took off at about seventy miles per hour, making me cling onto him for dear life as I cursed in my head all the way back to that bloody church.

As soon as we arrived back, I looked up to see Slade leaning on a digging shovel, apparently waiting for us. The bikes drew to a halt, and Johnny locked it down before climbing off of it, pushing me ahead of him into the church as I cursed at him, Slade slowly following us with an intrigued look that was given away by a single raised eyebrow.

Johnny pushed me down into the seat I had knocked over earlier and stood next to me before sitting down in the chair next to me. "Look here Kira." He said, his tone dangerous. "Do NOT make me lose my patience." He warned me. "Understood?"

I nodded sullenly, refusing to look at him.

"Good. I'm here because Slade called me. He told me, that you made a certain deal…a certain deal with Mr. Mephistopheles…Am I right?"

I nodded again, resisting the urge to glare at them both. Seemed Blaze was serious, and I wasn't yet ready to take him on.

"Right. How much do you know about a Ghost Rider?" He asked as he glanced over to see Slade resting up against the edge of the archway.

I shook my head. "Not much." I muttered. "All I know is that I made some deal with the Mephistopheles guy, he claims to have my soul, and that I have to go do some…bounty hunter job for him for demons who have got to go back to Hell. Which I'm not prepared to do, because I am only sixteen, and I don't know what the hell this thing even involves." I growled at him.

He raised his eyebrow warningly, and I backed off a little bit.

"So you're scared?"

"NO!" I exploded, rubbing my hands over my face as I groaned quietly.

There was a silence.

"Yes…" I whispered finally.

"Right." Blaze said, glancing at his watch. "I think you'll only have about…what…fifteen minutes, if that, before this curse kicks in."

"How do you know all this?" I asked.

He shook his head and laid his hand flat on the table. "Doesn't matter. I'm helping you, ok?"

"I think quite literally, Hell knows I could do with some help." I said dryly, getting a smile out of him. "So…What do I need to do?" I asked.

Blaze cast a look up at Slade, who shrugged. "Best let it just take it's course but make sure she stays here for the whole time. I'm pretty sure we can keep her in line, right?" Slade chuckled, sharing a wry grin with Blaze.

I felt myself getting angry and confused again, and just as I opened my mouth to give them a piece of my mind, I screamed in agony. They turned to look at me, nonplussed, as though they'd seen it before. Slade stood upright and started to walk out into the night.

"I'll hook up the bikes so she can't go anywhere anytime soon." He called calmly.

"Good idea." Blaze called back, before turning his attention back to me. "Hey, I know it hurts, but don't fight it. It'll be quicker and easier that way." He said, his voice soft and understanding.

"Wh-What's happening…" I choked out, gasping as smoke filled my lungs and my I felt myself start to burn up like a witch at the stake.

Blaze smiled knowingly. "You're becoming a Ghost Rider."

I stared at him in disbelief, and I stopped fighting it for the second that those words had distracted me.

In that split second, every fibre of my being erupted, and I felt…powerful. But there was something pulling at me…something important that was telling me to go. Go somewhere, it felt like a tiny little voice-no…like the crackling, spitting embers of a fire that hissed two broken words at me repeatedly.

'Find…them…Find…them…FIND…THEM.'

I opened my mouth to give way to a scream, which turned into an inhuman roar as I bellowed to the ceiling of the church. Turning, I walked out into the night, shining like a beacon. Looking down at my hands, I could only see skeletal fingers, with a flame that was dancing around it, one that could never go out. It was beautiful and deadly…and I loved it.

There was no transport, meaning I had to go on foot to find them. It was my current life's meaning. To search and destroy.

Running towards the church, I quickly scaled the stone walls, which wouldn't have been hard anyway, there were uneven stones jutting out everywhere, providing multiple hand and footholds. Within mere seconds I was on the roof of the church, casually walking up the slates as my beacon shined out over the plains.

Jumping down to the inside of the church, I flicked the large bell, making it toll out as it left a black soot mark on it. My skeletal grin got wider, and I flicked all over the outside of the bell, making the ominous music of the night.

My neck clicked as I turned around and walked back out onto the roof, running the length of it and jumping, free-falling from the top of the building as I plummeted to the ground, only to land with a tremendous thump on my feet, like some kind of cat.

'Find…them…Find…them…FIND…THEM.' The voice started to call again. But I wasn't done playing yet. There was a nearby tree, and by extending my arm and quickly splaying my hand, fire shot out and caught the half-dead tree, making it burn up like paper.

Wreaking havoc as I went, I had at least four to five hours of fun before the voice finally got through to me and insisted its orders, adding a small craving to it which overwhelmed my skeletal frame.

I started running out through the graveyard, and it felt good. There were no muscles to complain at me, no lungs for me to lose my breath with, no heart or pulse to let me feel the effort it was taking to get oxygen around my body. Just freedom. Freedom with a purpose.

I laughed, a deep, cruel sound that emitted from the back of what would be my throat, which was now just the top of my spinal cord. "In the name of the Devil, impure souls of the living or dead shall be banished into eternal damnation."

"Amen." Came the human voice from behind me.

I came to an abrupt halt, and upon turning around fully, I spotted Johnny Blaze not three steps away from me. I cocked my skull to the right and stared at him. "Human…but not. Both innocent, and evil." I intoned, unable to make up my mind.

"Play time's over kid. Time to reign you in." Johnny said firmly.

"You can't stop me." My demonic voice replied.

Blaze chuckled. "Who says?" He asked, a length of chain dropping down from his hand. If I had had eyebrows, I would have raised one.

The chain suddenly whipped out, taking me by surprise as it wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my sides. Then he started to pull, quite literally reigning me in. I dug my heels in and snarled at him, taking a deep breath and exerting my power down the length of the chain, making it catch fire instead of melt.

That was wrong…it was supposed to melt.

He must of seen my confusion, because he smirked. "That's not going work you know…this chain is used to that kind of heat."

I snorted angrily, like a horse blowing out steam, and the fire turned blue, into a roaring flame. Kind of like the ones you could get from a Bunsen burner that they keep in those special labs.

Johnny raised an eyebrow, and as he did so, the blue flame changed to a white hot flame, burning almost as intensely as the fires of hell itself. Yet the chain, and him, remained completely fine. With one final heave, he pulled me to the floor in front of him.

"For a Ghost Rider…you're pretty tame…but we can work on that." He said, contemplating something.

I roared at him and kicked myself upright, kicking him in the chest powerfully, even though my torso was tightly bound. He went flying back, but he kept his grip on the chain, and he pulled me after him. We collided in the dirt and rolled, which inadvertently put my flames out for a good ten to fifteen seconds.

However, he must have known that would be the outcome, as he grabbed the chain and ran me over to the church, to where Slade had just finished setting up a tall wooden beam, and using the chain, he wrapped it around me and the pole together, securing it tightly so that there was no chance of me even trying to escape.

"Time out." Johnny said folding his arms over his chest as he stood next to Carter.

"Time…is running…out." I said eerily.

"No, the time's up. You've exhausted your limit." Carter said, leaning on his shovel.

I made to say something again as I struggled against the bonds that held me, when suddenly I felt that painful, burning sensation started to come back. Screaming in agony, deep down I felt surprised as I recognised it to be my own, normal voice. Laced with pain of course, but it was me. I thought back to what Johnny had said earlier.

'I know it hurts, but don't fight it. It'll be quicker and easier that way.'

Focusing as my lungs reformed, making me able to breathe, or rather…gasp in pain…I concentrated hard, and just…let go.

I forced myself to relax, making sure every current re-forming muscle and organ was totally relaxed and (if possible) comfortable. I wanted nothing more than to just keep screaming and fighting it, like my nature told me to. Like a gut instinct, which again was also currently reforming.

The transformation complete, the last thing I remembered was looking down at my burnt hands.

Then, for the second time in two nights…I passed out.

As I came to at about six o'clock in the morning, five hours later, I hissed in pain as the first rays of sunlight started to hit me, and they highlighted the still visible scratch on my cheek, which was now quite happily sewed back together. Now just a faint line.

I barked a small, quiet laugh suddenly. "Hah…If I used to be an insomniac, well, now I have an excuse."

I tried to move my limbs, but they instantly told me that it was a bad idea as the writhed and screamed in protest and agony. "Ow…ow…ow…Ok…ah…Fuck my life…" I muttered, letting myself hang in the chains that surrounded me, keeping me pinned to the pole.

Assessing the position of the chains that surrounded me, I figured that getting out of them wouldn't actually be too hard. One end of the chain had been properly hammered into the ground. Buried, almost…which sounded kind of ironic. I just…needed…to lift it…

It took me a good fifteen minutes to work the chain out of the earth with my feet, and a further five to actually unwrap it from around my body. It was a heavy chain, and this really was no easy feat. But I just about managed it. By the end of it, my arms ached, especially seeing as the blood was rushing down them, after having been starved of red blood cells for a while.

My jeans were ripped and torn, and my green t-shirt was a little charred, but it was nothing that wouldn't come out in the wash…probably. Without having to look in a mirror, I knew I was a mess.

Casting a look around me, I saw that neither Carter or Johnny were in sight. Which was a good thing. I could only just remember last night, in where they had left me to wreak havoc, only to pull me back when I got too far.

I had noted that Kakuzu had been moved across to the other side of the graveyard with Grace, both waiting patiently in the peaceful morning sunlight.

Not if I had anything to do with it.

Making a break for it, I started running. But I hadn't got more than halfway when a hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back, effectively stopping me.

"Good morning to you too." Came Slade's voice.

I groaned. I was not a morning person. Slade turned me around, and I saw that they were both standing there, knowing smiles on their faces.

"I think you've got some work ahead of you, missy." Slade said, raising an eyebrow as pushed me along at small interviews as he led the three of us back into the church and up a small, twisting flight of stairs.

I waved it away. "I know…I know…First night of turning into some weird skeleton Ghost Rider and there is no way that I could be strong enough to take on these guys that I've got to apparently hunt down. Yeah I know-"

"Actually, I was thinking a little more closer to home." Slade chuckled, throwing something at me as we walked into a large room that was at the top of the church, to the opposite end of it's steeple.

I caught it, nearly walking backwards into Blaze who was directly behind me from where he was leaning in the doorway, seeing that the object was a spray can of cleaning fluids. I frowned. "What's this for?" I asked, looking up to see Carter standing beside a huge bell.

That was covered in black marks.

"I think it's time for a bit of house cleanin'. Don't you?" He said, tapping the bell lightly so that some of the black dust-like stuff crumbled slightly at his touch.

"You've got to be kidding me…" I said with a sinking feeling as he walked back over and passed me on the way to the stairs.

"You best get going if you want lunch on time." Carter called as he disappeared down the stairs, leaving me with Blaze.

"Fuck." I muttered, staring at the bell.

Something whipped me painfully in the butt, making me yelp and swiftly turn around to see Johnny holding out a cleaning cloth towards me as I rubbed the spot ruefully. "I'll be watching you to make sure you do it properly…so you best mind your language whilst you're at it."

I plucked the cleaning towel from his grasp and set to work, giving him an evil glare. "Yes Sir." I mocked.

Two hours later, and I was grimy with streaks of soot, but half of the bell was almost spotless. I was a generally hard worker, so this wasn't gonna be an exception.

I still refused to say a word to him. It annoyed me to think that he was that much stronger than me. He was a mere human, and he had just simply tied me up. What the hell was with that? No doubt about it, Johnny could kick my ass even when I was in Ghost Rider mode. Granted, it had been the first time I had…what…transformed? But still. It royally pissed me off.

I channelled the anger into cleaning.

But he must have noticed, as he focused on me. "What's wrong?" He asked in concern.

"Nothing." I replied through gritted teeth.

"Still mad at me for chaining you up, eh." He said, rising off of the ledge he had been sitting on until then and coming to stand beside me.

I scowled, making him laugh. "I wouldn't worry about it Kira, I'm an old timer."

The cleaning paused. "What?" I asked him blankly.

"I've been through this already." He insisted. "Trust me when I say that I know and understand what you're going through."

I stared at him for a few seconds before taking back my attention and focusing on the cleaning once more, shaking my head disbelievingly. "Piss off. Now you're just taking the mick." I growled, furious with myself for even getting drawn into the conversation.

Johnny's face hardened and he showed me the back of his hand, letting it spontaneously combust, so that the flames enveloped his whole hand as the skin an muscle peeled away. The same flaming skeletal hand quickly rained down two sharp blows to my rear end, making me screech in pain, seeing as my jeans provided little protection against a fellow Ghost Rider's power.

"OW! Owwwww…" I wailed, biting down on the inner of my bottom lip. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry…Alright? You really are a Ghost Rider, I get it…ow…that really hurts, you know."

Johnny rolled his eyes, but nevertheless his hand returned to normal. "It was supposed to." He stated as he continued to watch me work, returning to the complete silence once more for at least another two hours, where I irritably yet continuously scrubbed away the last few remaining black marks on the church bell.

But something had been nagging at me, and I finally turned to him, the question literally exploding from me. "HOW DID YOU LEARN TO DO THAT?" I exclaimed, gesturing wildly as I talked. "It's not night-time. So how the f-…fudge did you just become part skeleton like that?"

He looked up in surprise. "What this?" He asked, holding his hand up and igniting it again.

"Yes! That!" I said enthusiastically. "Please teach me to do that!"

He laughed and stood up, walking around the full perimeter of the bell before standing next to me. "Well, Kira…seeing as you've finished cleaning the bell, I don't see why I shouldn't show you over lunch."

I grinned, for what felt like the first time in a long time, and grabbing the cleaning cloth and spray can, I darted down the stairs after him as my stomach growled in agreement.

As we walked into a small room at the back of the church, I saw Carter standing with his back to us as he stood in front of what looked like a cooker.

"Carter…are you cooking?" I asked incredulously, unsure if cooking in a church was allowed.

Carter turned around with a smile. "So what if I am? You won't be gettin' any if you ain't done that bell." He said, making me smile at him witheringly.

"I did it, and I did it good too." I said, feeling indignant. But I was proud of my work."Well then you might as well sit down the both of you, it'll be ready in a second. S'nothin' like a good old bacon sandwich." Carter said, turning his attention back to the bacon that he had been cooking on the stove.

Johnny and I sat down, and I yelped quietly and winced slightly as I did so, making Carter turn his head to look at me curiously so that I blushed and looked away in embarrassment, not missing the raised eyebrow that he threw at Johnny over my head, to which Johnny replied with a shrug.

Blaze leaned back and stripped himself of his leather jacket so that he was in just his regular grey t-shirt. He propped his elbows on the table and clasped his hands and he pointed to me to gain my attention."So. You want to know how to call forth the Rider's power during the day, right?" He asked.

I nodded, and Carter chuckled from behind me. "You sure that's safe with her?" He drawled heavily in his Texan accent. Johnny also smirked at the comment. I resisted the temptation to flip him the bird unbeknown to him, and tactfully chose to ignore the comment and waited for him to continue.

"Ok then...you have the spirit of the Ghost Rider in you, like I do, yes?" I nodded. "Yeah...obviously." "Right. Because at the moment, it is for want of a better word, controlling you. Like at night, when the Rider automatically comes out to hunt down his prey so that he can send them back to Hell." Johnny explained. I slumped down in my seat, a sickened expression on my face.

"This thing controls when it changes me?" I questioned, feeling even more depressed.

"Only at night." Johnny said. He held up one finger. "But...When I did some research, I found a way to gain control over the spirit. It told me, that the host can gain control of the possessing spirit through concentration on and manipulation of the fire element that exists within."

"He was a good reader at school you can tell." Carter said sarcastically from behind us, making me bite my lip so as not to laugh outright and annoy Johnny into not helping me.

I perked up a little bit as Johnny's words gained my interest. Now this was what I wanted. "Seriously?"

"Yes. Let's try it. Shall we? I want you to extend your hand out, palm up facing the ceiling. That's right, no, no. Just one hand. Ok, now I want you to say; Give me control over the possessing spirit."

Holding out my right hand as instructed palm up, I closed my eyes momentarily and took several deep breathes as I concentrated on trying to manipulate the fire element within me. I wasn't sure what it meant, but the closest thing I could think of, was when Mephistopheles had marked me as the Ghost Rider, and the fire that had ran throughout my entire body. Focusing on the memory of that, I concentrated as hard as I could on it, even though the memory itself was painful. "Give me control over the possessing spirit." I said, my voice a firm monotone as I opened my eyes and curled my fingers slightly.

Nothing happened.

Frustrated, I clicked my fingers. Like a cigarette lighter, a small bout of flame appeared and danced at my finger tips. I smirked and gave a small, almost breathless laugh at the success. "Wicked..." I whispered, trying out different things as I moved my hand in and out of it's skeletal...ness and experimented my abilities of controlling the flames.

"Uh oh, we got someone here who's being dangerous Carter, she's playing with fire." Johnny joked good-naturedly.

"Hmmm, well she better not set fire to that table-cloth. Else she'll get one helluva smack from me." Carter responded as he set three full platefuls of bacon sandwiches in the middle of the table and set three empty plates in front of us as he dusted his hands down before sitting with us, eyeing me pointedly.

Immediately I put out the flames, just to be on the safe side. Johnny smirked and shook his head.

"Well, for what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful." Carter recited, bowing his head.

"Amen." Johnny and I echoed.

"Dig in then guys. I made more than enough for the three of us." Carter said as he reached for one himself.

"I'm just hoping it's not got food poisoning if Johnny was pretending to be the match that lit the stove." I joked innocently as I took a bite from the heavenly bacon sandwich, causing Carter to nearly choke on his own with laughter.

Johnny snorted indignantly. "As if."

We talked as we ate. Things to do with Mephistopheles, others to do with types of pigs in relation to bacon, Johnny's upcoming bike jump show. We discussed in which hospitals we were born in, but not the dates of the guys, who joked that they were...sensitive about their age.

And then a question from Johnny hit me like a bomb.

"Hey Kira, won't your parents be worried about you? Or did you involve them in part of the deal?" He asked, taking a bite out of his fourth sandwich.

I paused in eating my third and swallowed hard, the morsel having gone bland in my mouth as soon as he'd asked the question.

"Uhh...No. My deal was more of a forced one. I didn't have any choice. As for my parents...I ran away when I was thirteen because they were drunk all the time. I work as a waitress in a rowdy pub two blocks away from my apartment where I pay rent." I said quietly, trying to be nonchalant as I took another mouthful.

Carter and Johnny shared a look. "For a Ghost Rider of your age, Hell, even as a normal girl your age, you should not, I repeat not, be living alone." Johnny said at last.

I shrugged. "I'm not bothered. The work's good pay. It pays the bills at least."

Carter shook his head. "That's ain't what we mean, but that's a part of it. We mean, that it's dangerous to live in Texas alone at that age. To be a Ghost Rider at this age and livin' alone, you're lucky it was you're first night and then we restrained you before you got out. As a Ghost Rider, you make enemies, and quickly. They find out they've got a newbie on their hands, you'll be dead," Carter clicked his fingers, "like that."

I gulped. "Th-thanks for being optimistic guys." I joked weakly.

There was a silence in which we finished the final bacon sandwiches. My head was hurting, and I felt like I wanted to cry. I closed my eyes quickly.

"Uhh, do you mind if I-" I stopped, unable to say anything else as feelings overwhelmed me, and I stood up and bolted from the room into the graveyard. I wandered around for what must have seemed like ages, glancing at the names and dates of various members of the dead who had been buried over time.

To relax myself, I played a morbid game of find the oldest headstone. Only problem with that was, the oldest one I found was near the church. I found it on the way back, but that wasn't the part I was worried about. It was the name on the headstone.

'Carter Slade.'

I ran back inside, to where the two men were sitting there still, as if waiting. I slammed my hands down on the table and turned to Slade.

"Why hell is there a bloody gravestone outside with your name on it?" I growled. "Is that some kind of sick joke?"

Slade looked at me slowly from underneath his Texan cowboy hat, but I held my ground. "So you noticed huh." He drawled. "You found the dead man's grave."

It gave me the chills to hear him say that, but I focused on what my suspicions were trying to tell me. "So if you were supposed to have died...What's keeping you alive? Hm?" I persisted.

There was a silence, and Johnny leaned back in his seat, putting his hands back behind his head. "Well?"

"Well now you see miss Kira, there are actually three Ghost Riders in this room." Carter said, a slow smirk spreading across his face.

I stared at him for a few seconds, blinking. "So...If Blaze is an 'old timer'...what are you, a 'super old timer'?"

Johnny sniggered uncontrollably, and Carter's moustache twitched as he cast a look at his friend. "I s'pose you could call it that. But I ain't showin' you. I do that, and I disintegrate. I've already served my time. Me being here on earth 'not-yet-dead' as it were, is the only thing allowin' Johnny to still transform into the Ghost Rider, and I've already agreed that I'll make sure that continues. Besides, who'll look after you otherwise?"

I looked to Johnny...back at Carter...back to Johnny...Carter...and my shoulders sagged. "Bloody Hell." I muttered, casting a wary look at Blaze as I said it, who merely raised an eyebrow.

Carter sighed and stood up. "Well then." He said, brushing himself down. "Johnny, get out here. We need to teach this girl some self-defence."

Thanks for the reviews guilygear and TRUMAN'S SHELL.

Guiltygear - I'm sorry if you don't like the story, but hey. Don't like, don't read. Besides, it was just how I wanted to start the story.

TRUMAN'S SHELL - Thank you! Hope this is ok! x)

SaintAugustana - Thanks for the story alert!^^

Will hopfully update soon! =)