"Dr. Harvey... I don't know what to do...!" Casper explained as he floatingly paced back and forth. "My Uncles are all REALLY happy because of their friend being around, and yet Melle is really bothered by it. I mean, I'm happy that my Uncles are happy and Ms. Fiona, But then... I'm sad for Melle because she isn't. I like seeing them all enjoying themselves and scaring like They do, Though I feel I don't know... TORN! I'm just torn, I want to say something to My Uncles about this show them what they're doing! Though I want to see them happy at the same time, but then, If my Uncles are all happy then Melle isn't happy because what they're doing is hurting her, but if I get Uncle Stinkie to hang around Melle again, then Uncle Stretch and Fatso will be sad, and maybe Ms. Fiona.. and ugh!! What should I DO!? Even little Azriel is noticing his father's changing!" The Ghost huffed and puffed as he awaited an answer from Dr. Harvey on this matter.
"I can see where you're coming from Casper. The thing is, is that, someone is going to be sad no matter what the out come. I'd hate to say it like that, but, I think it's only fair that I be truthful. Melle isn't used to being without Stinkie. It's bothering her the most because she's lived without anyone to love her or be near her. She was traumatized by that. Though it was a long long time ago, it can travel on through. However, Stinkie is only hu-...a..ghost. He like any other person be it human or ghost does like to have a little bit of freedom. It's always good for a couple to be able to know when and how to let someone go. Rather, I mean, To allow them to have fun without them needing to be there by their side all of the time. It can sometimes be Suffocating to one or the other. Now don't get me wrong, I don't condone Stinkie ignoring her so badly and not paying attention to her worries and needs. Though I do condone him for wanting to have a LITTLE fun. Now Fiona is a completely other issue. As for Stretch and Fatso, I'm sure they'd understand if you tried to talk with them about this. However..." The Doctor trailed off as he played with his pencil and paper.
"However...?" Casper questioned wanting to know the rest.
"This really isn't your problem Casper. I think it'd be best if you just allowed Melle and Stinkie to deal with this. It is their problem, and THEY need to fix it. They need to learn how to communicate their feelings of anger and sadness just like you and I do. My best advice is leave it to them, don't... get involved. If they need help themselves, I'm always here to listen to them. I'll council them the best I can when they're ready." Dr. Harvey just smiled and hoped that Casper understood.
What the Doctor had said was true. Was he really being too nosy and butting in on this..? Well it'd been 2 months already and he had closed his mouth the whole time. It was just he really hated seeing those two sad. "Okay, Thanks Dr. Harvey." With a smile Casper floated out of the room and was greeted by Kat. He still couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to help them.
"So what'd he say...?" Kat walked up beside him as they started through the halls of Whipstaff.
"He said I should just leave it to them. They have to fix it themselves.." A frown formed on Casper's face as he sighed softly. Kat who understood Casper and his love for all of his family just quietly hugged him. She knew it was really hard on him. This had been the most fighting they'd ever experienced around Whipstaff since Casper had died. Not that there was a lot of yelling but there had been a few times. "C'mon... let's go check on Azriel, maybe he'd like to play." He offered a smile having felt relieved from Kat's warm hug.
A few months would pass and nothing would have changed for the better. Ghastly had started hanging around Melle again to help her not feel so lonely since The Trio and Fiona always seemed to be off goofing around. The arguments between Stinkie and Melle had increased. The Trio and Fiona ALWAYS returned home late at night now, so when Melle was home she'd never get to see him. Either it'd be too late and she was asleep or Stinkie would be asleep. Also there'd be many times where Azriel had found himself in trouble at school. The disappearing thing getting worse and worse. His ghost powers definitely weren't controlled well. So he was always yelled at for things he couldn't understand. Every time it came to when Melle needed Stinkie to go with her to speak with the teacher to work out a plan, he was never around. He always managed to disappear as well. It bothered Melle, when were they going to act like a family again...? She started feeling as if she were a single mother...
As Halloween approached quickly Azriel tried his hardest not to disappear or do anything unwanted. He had been warned that if he disappeared one more time, he wouldn't go trick-or-treating. Azriel strolled down the second floor hall when he noticed his Uncle Stretch teasing Ghastly in the hall. It always perplexed him as to why he did the things he did to her. What was with him and grabbing those round things on her chest...? He'd never figure his Uncle out. But then that didn't matter when all he needed was his help. "H-hey Uncle Stretch...?" Azriel wandered up to him and tugged on his tail.
"Hngh...? KID!" Stretch's hands quickly flew off of Ghastly. "Whatta ya want shorty...? Me an' dis lady were kinda busy 'ere..." He coughed and tried to hide his blush as he eyed the kid down annoyed.
"I...I... want...your.. help with..SOMETHING." Azriel gazed from Ghastly to Stretch. He remembered his powers were just THEIR secret so Ghastly wasn't allowed to know. Stretch raised an eyebrow before it dawned on him.
"Hngh, Aw Geeze kid, It's gonna have ta wait 'til latuh.." His voice trailed off as he placed an arm around Ghastly.
"BUT you'll be BUSY later, and then there's trick-or-treating... and...!!" Begging he started hugging his tail. "PLEASE!!"
"Haha, Oh, go on and help him out with it Stretch. I'll go check up on Melle... I'm sure she could used the company." Smiling Ghastly winked and floated off, after giving Stretch a kiss. It had actually given her an excuse to get out of there after being embarrassed in front of the kid.
"ALRIGHT kid, dis better be good..!" Stretch folded his arms as he glared down at him.
"I... I...keep disappearing.. a-and I don't meant to. I-it must be a power... but I don't know how to stop it..!" Azriel frowned and formed tears in his eyes. "I... I don't wanna be yelled at anymore.. I'm scared...!! Please... Help me...!" Slowly he covered his face. "I.. wanna ask Momma or Papa, but then..T-they don't know...and..."
Stretch was taken back by the kid as he cried. His eyes shifted to the side as he remembered it was their secret. It figured that this would happen. Looking back at the kid he pondered on whether or not to help him. Though with the increased saddened look on the kids face he groaned, "Ok, ok, I'll help ya's! I shoulda known bettuh den ta drag myself inta dis sorta ting."
Relieved Azriel hugged onto him tightly and laughed. "Thank you Uncle!!! THANK YOU!!" A wide smile soon formed as he followed his Uncle down the hall.
"Yea' yea'...! Now c'mon..." Stretch honestly felt bad for the kid. He knew how ignored he was, outside of Melle of course. It caused him to remember his past and how Their family ignored him and his brothers. The only one's that were payed attention to were Casper's father, that spoiled brat and the other. When they arrived to their training room he inhaled deeply and started to explain the situation. "Now look kid, I want ya ta tell me what yer thinkin' of when ya disappear."
"Well... That.. I ..I'm ignored by the other kids. About papa not paying attention to me...and no one seeing me. No one wants to play.. Momma's the only one who pays attention.. So.. I... I..." and without realizing it the kid started turning invisible.
"WHOA WHOA, hey now kiddo, stop dat...!! LOOK AT ME. I'm talkin' to ya's. I'm noticing ya." Stretch grabbed Azriel's shoulders as he watched him turn into a ghost and then invisible. "Yer definitely gonna need ta get dat unduh control. Alright kiddo, here's whatcha gonna do." As Stretch explained Azriel payed close attention. For the next hour and a half the two would continue on practicing until he got it right.
Meanwhile up in hers and Stinkie's room Melle worked on cleaning it a little. After all she hadn't had the chance to do it when she worked all week, so, now was as good a time as any. Not to mention when Ghastly had been in there she'd suggested it. So happily she hummed as she placed the dirty clothes into a basket. Without knowing Fiona entered into the room and watched her in an invisible state. Her green eyes narrowed down at Melle as she watched her clean. HRMPF, How dare she be able to sleep with Stinkie in bed. Placing her hand to her chin she grinned evilly as she thought up a WICKED idea on how to Scare her. Quickly she morphed herself to look like Blayne and planted herself in a position for scaring. As Melle turned around to have yet another look around the room for anymore clothes, her eyes landed directly on 'Blayne', who just happened to look as if he'd HUNG himself there. There was a loud gasp and soon, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Melle screamed at the top of her lungs as she noticed that, her eyes almost immediately filled up with tears. She covered her mouth as she stumbled back and actually landed in the clothes basket. For a brief moment she closed her eyes and when she reopened them, it had completely disappeared!
Stretch who'd been teaching Azriel paused, "HANG ON KID! MELLE?!!" He quickly passed through the walls until he reached her room. His eyes quirked he looked around the whole room. "W-WHAT?! WHAT IS IT!? What happened?!" He demanded to know from her as he looked down to see her crying with her face covered.
"I... I don't know why...! I don't!!!! B-B-But, I was cleaning a-and then... I looked over there a-and there was.. B-Blayne! b-BUT it looked like he'd hung himself from the light and..." She just continued to cry as she couldn't get over what had just happened. Stretch just stared at her a moment then looked at the light. That was the ODDEST thing he'd ever heard. It only then occurred to him that someone had just purposely haunted this poor girl. WELL, THAT was just one thing he WOULDN'T float for. HOW DARE ANY SPOOK scare ANYONE in -HIS- domain! That was -HIS- job and -HIS- job ALONE. This news just pissed him off the more he thought about it.
"..Melle someone just tried ta haunt ya's. Stinkie wouldn' EVER do somethin' like dat, an' Fatso's too stupid ta think somethin' like dat up. I didn' do it 'cause I was playin' wit Azriel." Stretch hummed to himself as he started thinking about Fiona. It HAD to be her, but he couldn't prove it, even if she WAS the only other ghost in the house who'd Haunt. Just then Azriel screamed and ran into Melle's room crying loudly. Stretch again was confused by this reaction. "Wh-what happened!?"
"PAPA SCARED ME!!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "H-he was... A-all bloody... and talked... really.. funny..a-an'... his eyes looked like..." Azriel did his best to mimic them and continued to cry. "P-papa hates meeee...!!" Grabbing onto his Mom Azriel cried roughly.
"H-HE...He did what?!" Melle demanded to know. If it REALLY WAS Stinkie he'd be in a WORLD OF PAIN.
"NO MELLE, He wouldn' do somethin' like dat!! I would.. but him..? Dat ain't Stink's style! Dere's somethin' goin' on 'ere an I ain't likin' it! Dis MY HOUSE, I'M DA ONLY ONE ALLOWED T'SCARE FLESHIES IN IT!!" Stretch roared angrily as he disgustedly floated down through the floors to go find Fiona. When he arrived downstairs he was surprised when he'd found Fiona and Stinkie sitting on the couch and watching TV. This troubled him, there really WAS someone trying to scare HIS humans.
For the remainder of the day Melle and Azriel stayed side-by-side. When the time finally came for trick-or-treating, Stinkie actually joined them for the fun. He morphed himself out a pair of legs and walked around the streets with them. He figured it was the one day of the year he could actually do something with them where he wouldn't be automatically seen as a ghost. As the family walked both Melle and Azriel looked at Stinkie from time to time. They couldn't take their mind off of what had happened earlier. Stinkie just looked at them however and smiled lightly and wondered why they had stared at him.
"So Uh, What's with de Eyeballin' me ey..? Ya thinkin' somethin' naughty...?" Stinkie chuckled and winked at Melle. He growled playfully into her ear as he patted Azriel on his head. "Here's ya first house! Now go getcha candy big-guy!" hugging him Stinkie then scooted him along. Melle who'd still had her mind planted on what she saw earlier, shivered and blushed at what Stinkie said but, she couldn't react how she wanted to. It weirded her out what happened and now there he was being his normal goofy self.
"Oh, Stop that you." Melle smirked and decided to just go along with it as if there'd been nothing wrong. "I missed getting to be alone with you.." Happily she hugged onto him tightly and buried her face into his chest. "Mmmgg..."
Stinkie just stared oddly at her and then frowned. He HAD been gone a lot recently, but he hadn't noticed it was that bad on her. He hugged her back just as tightly and nuzzled her cheek. "I'm sorry I'mma ham head.. Whatta YOU wanna do t'night when we're done wit dis...?"
Melle just blushed brightly a smile having formed widely across her face. "R-REALLY?! We can do something...?? JUST us??" She clasped tightly onto his hands.
"Pfft, O'COURSE! I wouldn' offuh if I didn' - OOMPF!" His eyes widened as he found himself kissed deeply. Azriel who'd wanted his parents to have that little talk moved on. When he noticed the two of them being all lovey dovey in public though he made a face.
"C'MON Mom, Dad!!! Before it's too late!!" He shouted from a few houses down. Melle and Stinkie who pulled from the kiss looked at him with disbelief. He'd already went to 5 houses! Boy that kid was fast. At one point during the trick-or-treating some older kid decided he'd steal Azriel's bag of candy and started running with it. Azriel cried out and chased after him, "GIVE IT BACK!! THAT'S MINE!!" Stinkie's anger immediately built up as he watched this punk takes his boys treats.
Within seconds Stinkie flew and stopped right in front of the punk, "HEY YOU JOIK!!DAT'S MY KID'S CANDY!!" Angrily he snatched the bag from the boy. "Since you tricked MY boy, HERE'S MY TREAT ta YOU!!" with that a belch erupted into the kids face. All of the trick-or-treaters including parents and everything. Stopped and screamed out in terror at the sight of a real ghost. They all started flooring it to get away from Stinkie as quickly as they could. There were grown-ups who slammed there doors shut. There were teenagers jumping over fences and running through yards with Beware of dog signs, and some even diving into pools to hide. All of the other kids just screamed and scattered for their lives.
Melle and Azriel just stood there and sighed but then they looked at each other and laughed. Hey, this IS what Halloween was all about after all right?? Azriel more than anything enjoyed watching his dad Scare the fleshies. After all, he accidentally started it might as well purposely finish it! That night when they returned home, Fatso and Azriel decided they'd split the bag of candy. The two of them placed on his bed as they bargained over who got what. Meanwhile... Up in Melle and Stinkie's room the two laughed and threw popcorn at each other. They watched some Halloween specials together and even snuggled up lovingly.
Stretch and Ghastly had also decided to do their own form of scaring that night in a few theaters across town. While Casper and Kat passed out treats to those who hadn't been scared off. The only one who wouldn't be happy this Halloween night was Fiona. She was pissed that her scare she performed earlier, hadn't done enough damage to make Melle want to stay away from Stinkie for the night. Especially his kid too...! Either way, she had more planned up her sleeve. She'd find her way around this...