I stared at the two ghosts in front of me, and heaved a sigh. The Lunch Lady looked at me grouchily, while Box Lunch was glaring intensely. The Box Ghost had crossed over some time ago, but had left the two of them behind. The Lunch Lady was set to go – we had figured out what was holding her here – but she wouldn't leave her daughter. Box Lunch had effectively stumped me, Tucker, and Jazz. She was the product of two ghosts. She had never been human, so was there even somewhere for her to cross over to?
It had taken the better chunk of July and the first part of August, but Jazz believed that she had found a solution. The Lunch Lady just wasn't going to like it.
"Explain it again!" The Lunch Lady ordered me.
"The thing anchoring Box Lunch to this world is her parents – you and the Box Ghost. The Box Ghost is gone, so one of the ties has already been cut," I recited, trying not to sound bored and annoyed, because then she'd get even more frustrated with me. I just wasn't in the mood for her to attack me right now. "If you leave then she will have nothing holding her here, so she will be free to follow you into the next world."
"I don't trust him," Box Lunch squeaked. I really wanted to hit the little bitch. She annoyed me even more than her father had, and that's fucking saying something.
"Me either," The Lunch Lady cooed, sounding so sweet that it made my skin crawl.
"What possible reason would I have to lie to you?" I asked her.
The Lunch Lady stayed quiet, but she glared at me. Half poised behind her, Box Lunch was looking just as pissed as her mother did.
"Look, I know that you both want to move on. I'm here to help you do that. I've helped all of the other ghosts … I'm not out to get you."
"He's out to get us!" Box Lunch shrieked.
Punching her in the fucking face wouldn't help my cause, but it was ridiculously tempting.
"I. Want. To. Help. You." I looked to the Lunch Lady. "I don't want her left behind without her parents. I can assure you that if you cross over, she'll be right behind you, and then you can both go join the Box Ghost and live in harmony forever on the other side."
The Lunch Lady turned her back on me so that she could squat down in front of Box Lunch. The Lunch Lady may have been one psycho bitch, but she was still a mom, and even I could notice how much she cared for her daughter. She took Box Lunch's hands in her own, murmuring to her in a voice so low that I couldn't hear the words said, only the sweet tones that were used. It wasn't the fake sweet tone that I was used to hearing from her, but it was something genuine.
Finally, the Lunch Lady turned to face me, Box Lunch's smaller hand in her own. "All right … I will cross over and I will trust you to send Box Lunch to me."
I opened my mouth, but she kept talking.
"And know that if you don't send her, my little girl is going to make your life a living hell."
"I wouldn't expect anything less," I grumbled under my breath. Then, I raised my voice. "This is the part that's up to you. It kind of goes differently for every ghost. Some of them like to chant, some of them just disappear. You know your past. You understand why you became a ghost. Now it's time to release your hatred and let your humanity return."
The Lunch Lady looked over her shoulder at Box Lunch, and then she closed her wrinkled eyes. She dropped her daughter's hand, and for a moment, she was completely still. I watched as the Lunch Lady seemed to find her inner peace, and she began to disappear. I watched as her feet slowly turned invisible. It worked its way up her legs, to her arms and torso. When it was at her shoulders, she opened her eyes one last time. But instead of looking down at Box Lunch, like I expected her to do, she looked straight into my eyes, until her head disappeared with the rest of her.
"Mom?" Box Lunch squeaked, and then she reached out to touch the space where the Lunch Lady had just been. She then looked to me and panicked. I realized just how young Box Lunch was – maybe eight or nine at the most. She may have been a cranky brat, but she was just a child.
"Hey, Box Lunch," I said soothingly. She glared at me suspiciously. I was the ghost kid, I wasn't supposed to sound nice. "It's okay, you can follow her right now."
"How?"
"Box Lunch, do you want to be here?"
She looked around us, to the house in the distance then to the grass underneath her semi-transparent feet. Finally, she shook her head and tugged viciously at one of her spiky black pigtails. "I want to be with Mom and Dad."
"That's good." I bit my lip, not sure what to say next. But I had to say something. "I want you to try and close your eyes."
"What are you gonna do?" She asked me.
"Nothing." I crouched down so that I wasn't standing above her, but I didn't get any closer to her. "I'm just going to be right here, not doing anything else."
"Okay …" she agreed slowly. She closed her eyes. "Now what?"
"I want you to picture your Mom. Tell me when you can see her."
"I see her," Box Lunch whispered.
"Great. Now I want you to picture your Dad. Tell me when you can see him."
She was silent for longer this time. "I see him. He's with Mom."
"What are they doing?" I asked her.
"They want me to go with them."
"Good," I murmured to myself. "What do you want?"
"I want to go with them," Box Lunch admitted. Then, her eyes tore open. "No, it's scary! This is all in my head! Where did they go?"
Internally, I sighed. We'd been so fucking close. "They're on the other side."
"What is the other side?" She screeched.
I stopped. I had no idea what the other side was. I just knew that it had to exist, otherwise, there would be way more ghosts here than there had been; otherwise, the ghosts that had been here would have nowhere to go. And they were all clearly going somewhere.
"It's a nice place," I explained to Box Lunch. "It's a place where there are no ghost hunters, and you get to be with your Mom and Dad, no troubles around. Everyone gets to be happy on the other side."
"Really?" Box Lunch asked. "Promise?"
"Really, I promise," I swore to her. "Now, close your eyes again."
I expected another bout of rebellion from her, but she closed her eyes. Without any prompting from me, she said, "I see them. They want me to be with them and I want to go with them. I don't want to be here without them."
I tried to keep an eye on her feet and on her middle. The Box Ghost had disappeared from his stomach out, like he was being sucked into a vacuum or something. I figured, since Box Lunch was their daughter, she'd go out the same way as one of them.
"Keep talking to me," I encouraged her. "Tell me why you don't want to be here without them."
"Well, everyone's leaving. And they're Mom and Dad. I don't know what to do without them. I'm always with Mom. Who else will love me?"
Her feet were starting to disappear, just like the Lunch Lady's had.
"Do you love them?" I asked her.
"Of course!" Box Lunch said indignantly. "I miss Dad. It feels like he's been gone for so long."
"You're almost there," I told her. "You're doing great."
Only her jawline and up was left. She began to smile, and then she too was gone. I rocked back off my feet and onto my ass, sitting heavily on the ground. For some reason, watching mother and daughter go was more emotional than any other ghost that I had helped. I drew in a long breath and then I huffed it out. I fished my phone out of my spandex, and sent a text to Jazz.
Me: Lunch Lady and Box lunch are gone. You were right.
Jazz: always am. Tucker's here. He wants to strategize.
Me: Tonight?
Jazz: why? Have plans?
Me: … well …
Jazz: Danny, no. Come home.
Me: See you in twenty.
Jazz: fifteen.
Me: fine.
I put my phone away. Screw Jazz for always knowing what was going on. She knew Sam and Gregor were on their date tonight, just like I did. I didn't know where the rat was taking Sam, but in a town the size of Amity Park, it wouldn't be hard to find them. I wanted to check in on them, make sure that he wasn't hurting her … or touching her in any way, shape, or form. But, apparently, my self-appointed conscience wasn't going to let me do that. I forced myself to my feet and made it back to FentonWorks within Jazz's fifteen minute time limit.
I transformed back into my human self and stumbled through my front door.
"Danny?" Mom called from the kitchen.
I paused. "Yeah?"
"Come here for a minute!"
I made my way into the kitchen and leaned against the doorway. "What, Mom?"
She turned around, looking concerned. "Tucker came over about half an hour ago."
I nodded. "Yeah, Jazz texted me and told me."
"I thought you were with Tucker."
"Oh …"
Mom put her hands on her hips. "Is that really all you have to say for yourself?"
Left with no other option, I just nodded.
She sighed. "Danny, I know you're an adult now but, to sound like a classic mother, you will always be my baby. I still worry about you."
"You don't have to worry about me, Mom. I'm not getting into any trouble. And I do have friends outside of Tucker, you know."
I saw the moment that she almost protested that, saying that Tucker was the only person that I really spent time with. But then her face softened. She wasn't looking for a fight. She just wanted to understand, and I couldn't let her. I had kept the truth of my ghostly self hidden for so long that to tell my parents now would be like a slap in the face.
"It's okay, really." I went to turn away and go find Tucker and Jazz, when the Lunch Lady and Box Lunch popped into my mind. I faced my mother again, but this time I walked over to her and I hugged her. She grabbed me around the waist, and for the first time in my life, my mother felt small to me. I had always known that she wasn't a big woman, but my mother was always so strong and powerful that she had never felt little before.
"I know it's okay sweetie," Mom said, and she kissed my cheek. "Go find Tucker. I'm sure Jazz has bored him to tears by now."
"My poor friend," I griped, letting go of Mom. "Why'd you have a girl?"
"Just to bother you," Mom laughed.
"So you had it out for me since before I was born?" I cried, faking distress. "I knew she was the favourite."
"Was there any ever doubt?" Mom teased me, although her face was so serious that I believed her for a minute.
"I'm going upstairs."
"Then go," Mom encouraged, and I left her.
Jazz and Tucker were in my room. Jazz was sitting in my desk chair, a broken ectogun on her lap. Tucker was reclining across my bed.
"What took you so long?" Jazz demanded.
"I was downstairs with Mom!"
"Sure." Jazz rolled her eyes. "You weren't peeking in on Sam."
"No," I said, "but is that you giving me permission to?"
Jazz glared at me. "No. Sit down. We have some ideas."
I groaned as I sat down, but my mind was on Sam the entire time.
I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my betas: Forever Sky.
~TLL~
