Summary: He only needed answers. He only wanted to know what happened.
Characters: Lancer
Prompt: Rituals
Day Twenty-Seven
"Can you hear me?"
The flames on the black candles set around the circle flickered, casting strange shadows around the darkened room. The wax oozed down the stumpy sides of the used far too often candles, melting over the edges of the candleholders and dripping onto the cold, hard stone of the basement floor. If the light were better in the room, bottles of strange items could be found lining the shelves and countertops. Herbs and other rare and unusual plants were hung by strings dangling from the ceiling. The whole setup in the basement would baffle anyone that entered it, wondering what an overweight high school teacher was doing with such an odd assortment.
Lancer turned his attention back to the task at hand. In the center of the circle before him sat a bowl, the items inside it smoking after the incantation he chanted. But his eyes focused on what was above the bowl. Misty white, very transparent and almost like wasn't even there, floated the vague outline of a person, a young teenage boy. Lancer frowned sadly at the sight, almost wanting to lower his gaze away from the boy.
"What? Is someone there?"
Lancer had to strain to hear the voice, a whisper of sound echoing around the basement. "Yes," he responded, relieved that the ghost could hear him. There were many times before when his voice was unable to reach across the divide to be heard by the summoned ghost. "I'm here. Can you hear me all right?"
"I-" Confusion splashed through the features of the ghost, and Lancer had a sinking feeling with that look. "What's going on?"
"Can you describe anything about where you are?" His heart pained him, but he couldn't answer the boy's question. Not yet.
"I - I don't know." The uncertainty in the ghost's voice worried the teacher. "It's cold, and-" The ghost turned his head, glancing around wherever he was. "I think I'm alone. Oh god, I'm all alone. And it's so cold. Why is it so cold?" He wrapped his arms around his body, shivering as he perceived the sensation of being cold.
"Focus," Lancer ordered in a loud, firm voice that snapped the ghost's attention back to him. He knew ghosts had a difficult time, especially those that were recently dead, but if he allowed their attention to stray, he might never get the answers he needed from them. "I need you to tell me what you see around you and if you remember anything about what happened."
Puzzled was the best way to describe the ghost as his brow pinched and his mouth pulled downward, not understanding this line of demands from the teacher. "I'm not sure. It's just... dark. And cold. I can't really see anything. I can't - I can't feel anything but the cold!" A frightened look washed over the ghost. "What's going on? What happened to me? How are you talking to me like this? I don't understand!" The room grew colder, and the flames flickered more violently.
"Calm down," Lancer said in a gentle voice. The ghost was quickly becoming panicked, and that wasn't good. "If you can tell me what you remember, I might be able to help."
"Remember?" the ghost repeated, but he didn't look any calmer about his situation. He shook his head. "I don't want to! All I remember is pain. Burning fire and freezing ice. I don't want to remember that! I don't-" A terrible look struck the ghost's face. "No! No, no, no!" His head shook rapidly in denial of whatever thoughts were dancing through his head at that moment. "No, I can't be! I'm not dead! How can I be here talking to you if I was dead?" The form of the ghost shrank down, dropping to hands and knees as he bowed his head. "Oh." He laughed, an airy but hysterical sound. "I see. There's my body. It's not moving." Another strange laugh bubbled from him. "I guess it can't since I'm not in it anymore."
"I need you to tell me-"
"I don't want to talk anymore." The candle went out, leaving the basement in darkness as the ghost vanished, its misty existence evaporating like smoke in the air.
Lancer sighed, hanging his head as his shoulders slumped. "I can't lay your soul to rest until I find out what happened to you," he mumbled to the darkness.
MsFrizzle: Lancer is always awesome. 8D I love him~ Someone needs to talk some sense into them. XD;; Lancer and Vlad playing video games is sort of a head canon for me. XD;; Someone posted an image of Vlad's computer and it had Doomed on the desktop (they pretty much recycled from Danny's computer) but I thought it would be funny if Lancer and Vlad met in, like, college at a Pac Man tournament and they've been gaming together ever since. XD;;;
midnight: Yes~ 8D Yes they did.
sohrem666: XD I'm glad you enjoyed it and found it funny. =)
maltese: No~ D: Breathe! BREATHE! D: Don't die!
Just Will: Big bros are always protective of their siblings. =) The school made the most sense with the idea? orz I mean, there's no logical reason for Vlad and Danny to be fighting at Lancer's house after all. XD;; I guess it could have been the Nasty Burger, but other people would have been present, and Lancer wouldn't care as much about the damage costs.