Ch. 8

Skulker was definitely not the first ghost I wanted to see here in this strange new…dimension-thingy. I backed up a bit, looking up into his face and getting terrified shivers down my back. I was getting pretty tired of being terrified, though, and there would probably be no better chance to vent my frustration over Puck than right here, already dead and in front of the biggest guy I had ever come face to face with.

"Oh do please specify over which exact ghost boy you mean, won't you? 'Cause I've met about ten thousand of 'em in a course of a month! I am so flippin' tired of ghost kids it is insane! Where are all the ghost presidents, hmm? Don't see any of those guys hangin' 'round, do ya? Damned be he who even mentions another ghost boy in front of me!" I yelled at him, floating up into his face for the full effect. Skulker blinked at me with surprise, completely taken aback by my outburst. "I've only seen the one-" he began, but I was already floating away. "No! I don't care! No more! No mas! Leave me alone so I can enjoy my god damned after life already!"

I was pretty surprised that he didn't come and, I dunno, shoot me or something for yelling at him like that, but I guess he knew better than to argue with a pissed off teenager. We're pretty hardheaded as a rule.

For a while after that I simply wandered, floating in the so called wind of the dead. Just being there, alone with my thoughts with nowhere to be and nowhere to go…well it was actually kind of relaxing after I got used to random ghost monsters popping up everywhere. It was almost like I was a fish in the middle of the ocean. A really small, insignificant fish that no one paid attention to. I kind of started to enjoy it.

My content didn't stay with me for very long, however. Being alone with just my thoughts eventually lead me back to thinking about Dad. Where was he right now? Would he even know I was dead? This brought an important fact forth. I hadn't seen a body in the crater where I had fallen. I was absolutely sure of it. Talk about strange!

"You look mighty lost, young one," said a low voice ahead of me. Startled, I stopped and looked up, fighting between the urge to yell at them to leave me be and to run away out of fright. The first one seemed to be the handier option. There was no way I could scare every ghost who came my way, though. Fortunately, the ghost in front of me was not as huge and intimidating as Skulker was. She was actually a very pretty young woman dressed in a torn nightgown with long, bright cyan hair and eyes that were almost white they were so pale. Her skin was gray, but other than that she looked rather lovely. "Lost is an understatement," I muttered, trying to hold tight to my frustration lest I needed to channel it again but for some reason it just…ebbed away as she looked at me. Some kind of voodoo ghost vibe, I guess, but there was something about her that made me feel almost peaceful and at home. Why, she seemed downright familiar, and yet I knew for sure that I had never seen her around before in Amity Park.

The lady's gaze saddened in a way that made my dead heart break. "This was not the life I had intended for you, Maximum," she said softly. Hearing my full name made my breath catch as I backed up. "How do you know my name?" I demanded, the familiar terror and panic racing down my spine. She reached out with a pale hand and gently stroked my own cyan hair. Fear held me in place, but curiosity mingled as well. "I'm sorry, so sorry that we had to meet like this. You were supposed to have a normal life, happy and healthy," she said, then sighed deeply. I had never been so freaked out before in my life. "Listen, Lady, I don't know who you are, but you're really freakin' me out here. Who are you, exactly?" I asked again, batting her hand away from my head. The most sorrowful expression filled her face, as if she had hoped I wouldn't ask her that. "Can't guess, can you?" she asked, almost hopefully.

Well, there were plenty of theories racing around my head, but I was pretty sure she wasn't God. Well, maybe 75%. "You're…my fairy godmother?" I guessed with a shrug, really at a loss. The smallest of smiles graced her face, but then it was gone again. "You know who I am, Maximum. Stop denying it, please. You're only making it harder on the both of us," she whispered, a pleading look in her eyes. The fight fell out of me, my shoulders slumped. I knew who she was, but I didn't want her to be.

"Mom?"