With Max

"….Oh….god…'m…rry…you…OK?…."

Ugh, my head. What's that voice?

"…ay…ake up….wake up…."

Oh! It must be my friends. Why are they telling me to wake up? Did I pass out?

"Hey! Wake up already!"

"OK, OK. Calm down guys." I said as I slowly sat up.

Then I remembered everything. The haunted house, the hands on my shoulders, being pushed into the basement,… the door closing on its own. My eyes flew open. Beside me was a boy about my age with medium length raven-black hair. He was actually rather handsome.

No! Not the time Max! You don't even know him!

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Who are you?"

He sighed in relief, "I'm sooo sorry! I didn't realize you were in front of the basement. Are you OK? I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. Oh god! I'm such a dumbass!"

"Whoa, calm down. I'm fine, just a little shaken up, that's all." I said, putting my hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.

He looked up at my touch, "You can see me!? You can touch me!?"

"Yeah… I take it that's not normal, is it?" I smiled at him.

"No, it's not. Most people can't even hear us let alone see and touch us. People who can do all three, like you, are almost nonexistent." He sighed.

I laughed, "Hahaha! Yeah, I definitely don't fall under the category of normal. Though, that's not always a bad thing."

"Hahaha! That's true." His laugh sounded amazing.

Oh god, I need to stop thinking these things.

I looked at him, I needed some answers. "Who are you? Why did you bring me down here? What's going on?" I asked.

He looked me in the eye. I looked into his eyes, they were a deep azure.

So pretty…. No! Stop! Now!

He sighed, "My name is G. I brought you down here because my friends and I need your help. We're being trapped here. We can't leave, can't pass on. We don't like being stuck here. My friends and I want to leave. We want to be free."

"What exactly is trapping you here?" I asked him.

"A very powerful demon." He looked away from me as he said it. "We're all actually pretty strong ghosts. We just can't fight him on our own. We need a living physical conduit to focus our powers through." He explained.

I looked at him confused, "Why not just use a dog or a mouse?"

"A mouse's body wouldn't be strong enough. A dog might work, but we'd need to have a deep bond with it. A human is the safest option, for both us and the conduit." He explained.

I smiled, "OK."

He looked at me in surprise, "What?"

I stared into his eyes, god they were gorgeous. "OK. I said OK. I'll help you."

"Thank you! You have no idea how happy this makes me!" He was so excited he hugged me without realizing it.

"OK, let's go get my friends." I said, breaking the awkward hug.

He blushed, embarrassed, "Yeah, right."

When we left the basement we found Kira waiting in the library as though she had never left. After we got all the doors unlocked and everybody was together we all went back into the library.

Kira looked around at the 5 ghosts, "OK, I think some introductions are in order."

Archer, Saphira, and I looked around. We nodded in agreement.

Rygart frowned, "Wait, you guys can see them? Damn, I wish I could see them too."

"Well they're a little transparent for me, but yeah." Archer explained.

Saphira looked at Archer in agreement, "Yeah, they're transparent for me as well."

Kira shook her head, "Not for me. To me they look exactly like you guys do. If I didn't know better I'd think they were normal living people. No offence."

G looked at her and smiled, "None taken."

"Hmm, what about you Max, how well can you see them?" Rosalina asked deep in thought.

"Well, they look the same as you guys, but…" I paused, thinking of how to word it. "But somehow I can tell they're ghosts. I don't know how, but I can just tell." I finished smiling.

All the ghosts stared at me as soon as I said that I could tell the difference between them and the living.

I was starting to feel awkward under their stares. "What?"

James was the first to react, "Nothing, it's just that's never happened before. A living person that's able to see us perfectly and tell us apart from the living is new to us. And some of us have been here for a long time." He explained.

"Yeah that sounds like Max alright. Definitely not normal." Rosalina deadpanned.

I grinned, "Yep! Normal's overrated anyway."

Kira laughed, "Hahaha, yeah. Anyway, introductions anyone?"

"Oh right! My name's G. These are my friends; James, Bethany, Amy, and Zach." G said, pointing to each of them in turn.

My grin grew even bigger, "My turn! My name's Max and these guys are my friends; Archer, Rosalina, Saphira, Rygart, and Kira." I pointed to each of them as I said their name.

We started talking to each other and telling each other about ourselves. We learned a lot about our new friends. G was 18 when he died in 1774. He was killed by pirates in a raid. James was 24 when he died. He died in 1947, in a train accident. Amy died in 1962 in a house fire. She was only 8. Bethany died in a car accident in the year 2005 at age 13. Zach died when he was only 6. He was born with a rare heart problem, he died in 2012. After we got to know each other a little better it was time to get down to business. We had to help our new friends escape after all.

My grin faded, "So how's this going to work anyway? How does one be a conduit?"

G stopped smiling, "Well we kind of have to sort of possess you… If you don't want to help any more that's fine." He said as he looked down at the floor.

I smiled, "No. I promised I'd help you and I intend to keep that promise. I think my friends would agree with me, right guys?"

"Right!" They all said in unison.

Amy looked like she was about to cry, "Thank you so much. You didn't have to agree to this, but you did. We finally have a chance to get out of here. Thank you."

Saphira tried to comfort her, "Hey don't mention it. Besides, when Max sets her mind to something it happens. No matter what. You can't really argue with her when that happens, we learned that about her very quickly."

At that Rosalina laughed, "Hahaha! That's an understatement!"

"Anyway, if you're going to help us we need to determine which of you, if any, we would be able to use as a conduit." James brought up a good point. "I'd say if you don't break apart after 5 minutes, you're good."

"OK, let's get this over with. The sooner this is done the sooner you guys can pass on… Who wants to go first?" I asked looking at my friends.

"Oh! Me! I'll go first!" Kira squealed as she practically bounced around the room.

"Your eagerness is almost scary." Saphira sighed.

Archer laughed, "Scary but contagious."

G smiled, "OK. Um, Bethany why don't you give it a try?"

Bethany looked at him worried, "A-Are you sure?... OK."

Everyone backed away from Kira to give her and Bethany some space. Those of us who could see the ghosts watched as Bethany concentrated. When she was ready she went over to Kira and just stepped into her. We held our breath as we waited for something to happen. After about 10 seconds Bethany reappeared and was practically thrown across the room. Kira was gasping in exhaustion.

"Well that didn't work." G sighed, going over to Bethany to help her up. Rosalina did the same with Kira.

G looked back at us, "Who's next?"

After Kira and Bethany we tried Archer and James, with the same results. Saphira and Amy didn't fare much better. Rygart and Zach lasted a hole 2 minutes before breaking apart. Bethany wanted to try again, so she went with Rosalina. They lasted no more than a minute.

"OK, I guess that makes it my turn." I sighed. "I really hope I can do this, if only for you guys."

G looked at me, "Thanks again for helping us."

I smiled, "Hey, don't mention it."

G smiled back, "Alright, get ready."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "OK. I'm ready."

"OK. Here we go." He said as he came closer.