"Listen, Nick, we've been doing business together for a long time now, you and me. You know it hurts my heart deep to double cross a standup partner like you of all people." The heavy-set thug grinned widely at his captive, making it difficult to trust the sincerity of his words. "But the Boss wants things taken care of. And you know what the Boss is like. So I've got no choice. You understand what it's like, don't you? It's just business, nothing personal."

From his position in the middle of the room, Nick snarled a curse through the dirty rag currently serving as his gag. His hands were bound behind his back, and the noose was tight around his throat. His feet barely touched the stool which had been shoved underneath him to prolong his suffering. But then, they were partners, and he had always known Raymond to be a sadistic bastard. He just hadn't imagined when he had come to the usual spot for some poker that he would be greeted with a gun in his face rather than the usual sly grin.

"Seems pretty perfect when you think about it, doesn't it? You, dying on Halloween. Hell," he chuckled, "You're even wearing one of your best suits. How much is this one supposed to be worth, like $3000? Seems like a little much for one outfit, but we always knew you were a little bit faggy. At least this way they won't have to worry about changing your clothes for the funeral."

Nick growled and lunged forward, coughing and groaning as his precarious footing slipped momentarily. Raymond laughed harshly and gave the stool a swift kick. There was a garbled yell and then a sharp, sudden crack brought a momentary silence to the room.

Raymond smirked and gave the hanging body a nudge before turning away. "Goodbye, Nick. See you in hell."

Outside, the wind gave a low, lonely whistle.

(Time skip)

"Hot damn!" Ellis lowered the last cardboard box with a grunt and placed his hands on his hips as he surveyed the place he would be calling home from now on. It was a beautiful little two story place isolated from the hustle and bustle of the city, up a long, winding dirt road through some beautiful forest that took a few solid minutes to drive just to get back onto the road that would take you back to town.

It was utterly perfect. Sure, his Ma had said it was a little big for a single guy like him, but that just left plenty of room to grow, in his mind. And it had been abandoned out here for a long time apparently, so it needed a little life back in it before it ended up crumbling away into nothing. Now that would definitely be a shame. Just because of some old ghost story, people were going to let a beautiful home like this turn to dust.

"Man, this place is gonna be awesome." Ellis sorted through his boxes until he found one meant for the upstairs and headed up two steps at a time, ducking his head into every doorway as he passed, like an excited puppy exploring his new territory.

He dropped the box on the floor in the bathroom, taking a moment to admire the footed bathtub and the perfectly preserved flooring, and then continued on, counting off rooms on his fingers. Master bedroom, master bathroom, office, guest bed and bath… He stopped at the final door and was thrilled to see yet another flight of stairs. The attic! He had forgotten all about it! And this wasn't some old rickety ladder from the ceiling; this was a built-in staircase leading up to what was technically the third floor of the house. He'd never really lived in a house with a full attic before; it had been much more like a crawl space than anything else.

Ellis tromped up the stairs and tried the knob, only to find it locked. He frowned. "Now how in the hell…" He scratched the back of his head just where his cap ended and tried it again, but it stood firm. "Huh. M'gonna have to find a key or somethin' for this door." If it came down to it, he could always just take it down and have a new lock installed. Though why anyone would need to lock their attic was beyond him.

Mystified, Ellis headed back downstairs to continue moving around his boxes to their proper rooms. Soon he was whistling cheerily, the attic puzzle long forgotten. He was busy enough trying to rearrange all his belongings in his new home. The attic would wait.

Meanwhile, upstairs…

A sleeping beast stirred.

(Time skip)

That night, the noises woke him. Boards creaked loudly overhead, as if someone was pacing in the attic. Pipes rattled in the walls as if the whole house wanted to come down around him. The whistling wind slammed the window shutters that still needed repairing, even though the weather had been forecast as clear all night, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Ellis swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up, clad only in his boxers. "'Scuse me, Mr. Ghost?" he called to the house in general. "Yeah, I'm tryin' t'sleep, 'cause I've gotta finish unpackin' an' all tomorrow. So if you could jus' be quiet tonight, you can try an' scare me tomorrow, okay?"

The rattling stopped, as did the wind. A chill ran down Ellis' spine. He had only been kidding, a joking nod to the ghost stories that had come with the old house he had moved into. The footsteps upstairs, however, were coming closer. And as they grew closer, they got louder.

Very clearly, Ellis tracked them across the attic, down the stairs, and down the hall to his room. Now, Ellis' Granny had taught him not to mess with spirits, but she also taught him not to fear them. But even Ellis couldn't fight the shiver from running down his spine as he sat there and watched his bedroom door, fighting against the growing wave of apprehension that was washing through him. He had never thought he'd have to use the information she had passed on to him.

The door slammed open and bounced off the opposite wall, resounding loudly through the room and down the hall. But the doorway was empty. Ellis shifted his feet up a little higher onto the mattress as he realized there was an odd, blue-ish mist leaking into the room, creeping toward his bed. "Get oooouuuuttt!" A deep, gravelly voice seemed to come from everywhere and yet nowhere at once.

Ellis scooted up a little higher into his blankets and tugged them up to his waist "Holy shit, holy shit," he muttered, pawing at his hat agitatedly. The stories hadn't been stories, they were fucking true! "G-get the fuck outta here!" he ordered, wincing at the tremble that snuck into his voice. The blue mist encircled the bed, wafting up as if it would creep onto the bed with him, then drawing back. Ellis nearly gave himself whiplash trying to track the multiple tendrils that seemed to be trying to sneak up on him. "I-I'm serious!" he snapped, "If you don' get outta here, I'll… I'll… I'll take care'a you!"

Lucky for Ellis, this was not the ordinary ghost.

The mist began to solidify, and streaks of white joined the blue, swirling upward until it began to take on the shape of a man. A rather tall man. And very well dressed. A pale, transparent hand ran over dark, slicked-back hair as if any of it could possibly be out of place, an annoyed scowl tugging down the thin lips of an admittedly handsome ghost. The apparition tugged the lapels of its white suit into place and glared at him.

"What the hell do you mean, you'll 'take care'a me'?" The echo was mocking, exaggerating his already thick accent unnecessarily. "I've been here for over a decade, kiddo. I probably made my first kill while you were still in diapers. What the fuck do you know, huh?"

Ellis tugged nervously on a lock of dirty blonde hair that had fallen into his face. "You heard me," he confirmed shakily, "M-my Granny taught me how t'ward off unfriendly spirits. Jus' 'cause you scared everyone else off don' mean it's gonna work on me. I'm here t'stay."

The spirit raised an eyebrow at him. "Listen, sport, I'm sure 'yer granny'," he drawled condescendingly, "was good at taking care of whatever little two-bit ghosts hung around your hick town, but I'm not your average fucking specter. How else do you think I've managed to keep this place empty for so long? Your bravery's cute and all, but I give you a week before you're packing your shit and getting the hell out."

Ellis sat up a little straighter, frowning now despite himself. Ghost or not, his pride didn't quite appreciate the blow. "S'that so? An' jus' what's yer name, Mr. All-Powerful Ghost?"

"Name's Nick," he said, brushing off the front of his transparent suit, "but don't bother remembering it, because you're not going to be here for much longer."

Ellis' eyes narrowed. He didn't particularly like this ghost's attitude. Any warnings his granny might have issued were easily forgotten as his oh-so-rare temper flared. "We'll jus' see about that."

Nick cocked his head at him, a smirk gradually tugging the corners up his mouth up. "Is that a challenge?"

"If ya like. I'm not goin' anywhere, so if yer gonna try an' scare me off, I'm gonna fight back."

Nick chuckled humorlessly. "It's war, then. I'll be seeing you in the morning, kiddo." He turned away as his body started to fade, pausing to glance back at him for just a moment to add, "If I had any money in this form, I'd be betting on it."

And like that, he was gone. Ellis grumbled as he crawled back under his blankets and settled his head on his pillow. First thing in the morning, he was going out for supplies.

If this Nick fella wanted a war, Ellis was going to give one to him.

(Time skip)

The first thing Ellis did when he woke up the next morning was head straight back into town to do some serious shopping. If everything his old Granny had ever told him was true, he knew exactly what he would need to protect himself – and perhaps even fight back against – this angry spirit haunting his new home. Part of him wanted to retreat instead, just pack right back up and find some other fixer upper to move into. One that didn't come with a permanent house guest. But to turn tail and run now would be like admitting defeat to the other. And Ellis wasn't about to give up without at least trying to fight back. Even if the thought of returning to his haunted house was sending chills down his spine.

The cashier – not to mention some of his fellow early morning shoppers – gave him more than his fair share of odd looks as several pounds of salt, a large spray bottle, white candles, and several other common items that all together made quite an unconventional picture were rung up.

How strange this new addition to their little town was turning out to be, they couldn't help but think to themselves. Of course, he had to be at least a little strange to be so willing to buy the cursed property he now lived on.

Meanwhile, Nick was making preparations of his own. This wasn't his first time around the block, after all. If that little hick wanted to try and fight with him, he was going to make sure the kid regretted it in a hurry.

Right after he'd died, Nick had come to terms very quickly with the fact that there was, in fact, a fiery pit of Hell that housed the souls of the unrepentant damned. And he was one of them. Rather than go toward the light, as he had heard all his life, Nick avoided it determinedly and clung to the place of his death. Revenge had driven him, gave him the strength to attain this half-life he had fought for and was now currently stuck with. Even if he wanted to consign himself to the fires of Hades, he didn't know how to get back to it anymore.

Instead of moping about it, Nick decided to make the best of it. Any time anyone tried to come anywhere near what he now considered to be his house, he made sure to scare them off again. The first had, for obvious reasons, been his double-crossing partner Raymond. Guilt had played a helping hand in that, ultimately resulting in the other's death in a desperate attempt at escape from the vengeful specter. Watching his filthy soul get sucked into the bowels of hell had made the darkest parts of his heart feel all warm and fuzzy.

It hadn't taken more than five or six instances of hauntings before people stopped trying to buy the house, and the realtors stopped trying to sell it. Nick had won.

With his success, however, had also come an intolerable boredom. With no one around to harass, Nick found himself drifting aimlessly through the rooms of his domain, toying with the barriers between himself and reality. As time passed, it grew harder and harder to manipulate even the most simple of devices. Where once he could have lifted the sofa and heaved it across the room with a thought, now he could barely exert the energy necessary to make the lights flicker.

As much as he hated this new presence in his home, Nick couldn't help but feel the old anticipation building within him. He drifted through a door and into the kitchen, casting a thoughtful look around the room. With Ellis still gone – God only knew where – Nick felt free to roam the house and see what the little twerp had been up to while he'd been sleeping. There were boxes all over the fucking place, cluttering up his otherwise neat – if not dusty – abode.

As early afternoon eased slowly into evening, Nick was growing rather impatient. If they were supposed to be battling for ownership of the house, the hick was going to have to actually be there to battle with. He kicked at a box as he passed by it and made it shudder a little bit. Brows furrowing, he scowled and turned to face it, kicking out at it again. Frustration bloomed when there was once again little effect, and this time when he kicked out at it the box skidded a foot across the room, and the light bulb overhead blew out. He snorted out an unnecessary breath. It was so fucking annoying having to channel emotions to be able to accomplish anything corporeal.

Outside, Ellis stopped for a moment on the porch, his breath hitching slightly in his throat at the sounds coming from within. He swallowed and reached for the door, trying to quell the shaking in his hand as he pushed the wooden barrier open and stepped inside through the portal, tracking the sounds to the kitchen. He spotted the ghost from the night before standing in the middle of the room, glaring viciously at one of his boxes where it now sat on the other side of the room. Looking at him now, fully-formed and in the light of day, he wasn't quite so scary anymore.

Satisfied with his brief tantrum's results for the time being, Nick turned away and spotted Ellis standing in the doorway, clearly having missed the sound of his clunky old truck returning during his little fit. Immediately he phased into a mist and drifted up toward the ceiling vent, intent on returning to the attic. Now that Ellis was home, he could officially begin to torment him as he so deserved for disturbing his slumber.

But before he could, Ellis pulled out his newly-acquired spray bottle and aimed it right at the fleeing mist, releasing a spray that significantly speeded the spirit's progress from the room. "What the fuck?" he demanded, the voice pained as it came floating down from the vent.

"Holy water," said Ellis with a grin, giving the bottle a little shake. The sight of the powerful ghost from the night before fleeing from his attack only boosted his confidence and determination further. He was here to stay.

"Fucking hell!"

Ellis laughed as Nick made his escape, leaving him alone once more. He decided to make use of the time to make the rest of his preparations. He had a feeling that by the time Nick recovered and came after him, the specter wasn't going to be holding back. But he intended to be more than ready for him.

It got ugly fast.

Not all of his attempts to subdue his angry ghost worked, and Ellis paid the price for it, but he always managed to get his own back. He figured out very quickly that crosses didn't work. Neither did the candles, even though he'd had them blessed at the church in town. The priest had been willing to help him after he had explained his situation to him, which was also how he had managed to get his spray bottle filled with holy water. He had even said a blessing for him. The salt helped, but it wasn't quite as powerful as he had hoped it would be. Rather than creating an impenetrable barrier, it just slowed Nick down. He would take what he could get, though.

After a few days, Ellis figured out that his best defense was his holy water, which unfortunately was also the one resource that would be the most difficult to replenish. He doubted the old priest would be willing to keep filling him up every time he came into town.

Regardless, whenever the deceased male made the mistake of actually materializing around him, Ellis made sure he got a full shot of it in the face that would drive him back into hiding, cursing a blue streak all the while. Nick more than made up for it at every opportunity, though, keeping the hick up in the night and tormenting him from afar in the day with the relentless noises, tremors, and whispers of things unseen. Sometimes he even hid things, like his car keys and his wallet. Shadows flitted about in his peripheral vision, forcing him to constantly check over his shoulder to see if he was actually being followed. The faulty hot water which he knew was due to Nick rather than the old house was starting to actually piss him off. But he had to admit, it could be worse.

And then one day, things seemed to reach a breaking point.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Ellis whipped around and spotted his poltergeist standing just behind him, looking extremely annoyed. Ellis' hand immediately shot to his hip where his spray bottle – now half-empty – hung at his belt, and Nick immediately vanished. "Hold off on the squirt gun there, fireball! I come in peace, or whatever fucking cliché you'd like to hear."

Suspiciously, Ellis lowered the bottle but kept his hand on it, finger locked carefully around the plastic trigger. "What do you want?"

"Firstly, for you to stop spraying that fucking stuff at me. It burns like hell. Trust me, I'd know." Nick reappeared cautiously, watching for any sudden movements toward the bottle. "And secondly, I repeat: what the hell is the matter with you?"

Ellis wrinkled his nose. "What do ya mean?"

Nick scowled. "Why the hell can't you just move somewhere else? There are a lot of nice places you can go around here. Why are you so damn determined to stay here?"

Ellis tucked his hands into the pockets of his coveralls and rocked back on his heels. "Because I bought this place an' that makes it mine. I like it here an' I don' wanna go anywhere."

Nick kicked at the door frame, scowling when his foot went right through it. The light overhead flickered briefly, causing Ellis to duck his head and glance at it and then him warily, fingers twitching as he considered reaching for his spray bottle once more. "Well, I'm not going anywhere either. Wait. Allow me to rephrase that: I can't go anywhere."

Ellis frowned at the ghost's bitter tone. "Ain't you supposed t'be searchin' for a way into 'the light' or somethin'?"

Nick shook his head. "Trust me, there's nothing worth searching for there, even if I knew where to start looking. I'd much rather stay here and just take it easy for the rest of eternity. No hellfire and damnation for me, thanks all the same."

"So… what're we gonna do?" Ellis asked him seriously, tugging off his cap to scratch his head, clearly puzzled. "We gonna jus' keep fightin' like this all the time? I gotta tell ya, it's getting' old, man."

Nick rolled his eyes, narrowing them into a glare. "Right, says the one who's only been losing a little sleep and enjoying a cold shower or two. Do you know how long it fucking takes for that shit you've been spraying me with to stop burning? How about I hold a hot poker to your face for a while and we'll see how you like it."

Ellis held up his hands. "All right, all right, m'sorry. But I had t'do somethin' t'defend myself against ya, you know."

Nick sighed and ran his hand over his hair. "This would be a lot fucking easier if you would just move out, kiddo." Ellis crossed his arms, brows furrowed stubbornly, and Nick grumbled a curse. "Who needs the easy way? Not me. An eternity of peace and quiet, that's all I'm asking for. Whatever. Instead I'll just take on a fucking roommate."

Ellis shook his head and dropped his arms. "C'mon, Nick. It's not gonna be so bad as all that, just you wait an' see!" He offered the transparent man a grin. "Hell, you've spent so much time bein' scary an' all, maybe you'll actually like havin' me around for a change!"

Nick stared at him for a long moment, his expression strained, and then dropped his face into his palms and faded out of sight. "If I wasn't already dead I might just kill myself…"

(This is just part one. ^^ I hope everyone enjoys! Read and review! :D)