Chapter 10
Spook In Need
A few weeks had passed since Josette had been brought before the Haunter Committee, accused of taking the life of a mortal during one of her hauntings. And while Charles had intervened, bringing to light the fact that the mortal would have perished shortly either way, Josette was still not off the hook. The Committee would discuss the event and get back to her once they had reached a decision, during which time she would continue with her duties as normal.
The thing was, after her last haunting, a mission to an old mansion, she hadn't heard anything from the Committee. Not a single message. No new missions. Not even Charles had contacted her.
She was getting very worried. She feared that they would still punish her, and she especially feared what would happen to her team. The fact that everyone had gotten very restless wasn't helping either.
But finally, a portal opened in the map room. Had Josette still had a beating heart, it would have pounded hard in her chest as she got extremely nervous of what might come.
Her non beating heart would also have skipped a beat when she saw who stepped through the portal, as it was none other than Caius Talius, the Phantom representative of the Frighteners for the Haunters Committee.
"Ghost Master Josette." he said, looking at Josette with a look of disappointment.
"Yes?"
"We have come to a verdict regarding the incident, and I have been… chosen to deliver it. On the charges of taking a mortal's life, we find you… not guilty."
"Wait, what?!" That was not what she had expected when she saw Caius arrive.
"You are not guilty. The unique circumstances of this case have forced us to see this in another light, and the incredibly short time that the mortal would have lived with such a weak heart anyway further cements this as nothing but an unfortunate accident."
"So, that is it?" she asked, still not sure what had just happened.
"Nearly, her spirit is however trapped in that location. If you can aid her in moving on, all will be forgiven. I will personally go over the mission details with you and your team in just a moment. But there is one final thing, or two things actually. First, I… I must apologize to you. You have done a great job, and I have been unjust towards you. I hope that this might be a suitable apology."
Reaching inside his robes, he pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment and gave it to Josette.
"By the will of the Committee, as of this moment, your training is complete, you are now a fully fledged Ghost Master. Congratulations."
Josette took the parchment, opened it and read it several times, just to be certain that she wasn't imagining it, and she wasn't. She struggled to contain her excitement, as well as a giggle over the fact that one of her classmates had made a bet on him becoming a true Ghost Master before the rest. She could almost see the look upon his face when the news would hit him.
"Now, with that out of the way…" Caius said, clearing his throat before continuing. "Please summon your Haunters, you got work to do tonight."
A familiar structure on the map had its ethereal bat replaced with a green glow, as Caius was about to brief the squad on their new mission, though he felt very uncomfortable, not only with the to him menial task, but he could feel that he was far from well-liked by the other spirits.
"Your mission tonight is rather simple. Return to the dormitory, and help the spirit of Wendy Weaver move on. Find her and listen to her request, and once you are done, proceed with scaring everyone else away, to make up for lost time. Since your last visit, the two witches have left the area, so you will have no problem with them, and as such, six Haunters will suffice."
Taking one last look at all the spirits around him, Caius felt that he had outstayed his welcome and opened a portal back to the Spirit Realm.
"Well, I believe you can handle it from here, so I will take my leave. Best of luck to you all." he said before stepping through the portal.
"Good riddance, I say." Jack spat once the portal had closed. "But congratulations on your promotion, boss!"
"Indeed, and a well earned one at that." said the Count.
"Thank you, but we will have to wait with celebrating until after we are done with this mission."
"So, which of us are you taking with you?" asked Booby.
Giving it some thought, Josette tried to remember what kind of fetters the dormitory had available.
"I think I want Snakepit, the Count, Chuckles and Jabu. And maybe Gravedigger and Firecracker as well."
"We're ready when you are boss." the Fire Elemental said excitedly. "Let's get to work!"
Emerging once again above the dormitory, Josette went on ahead of her team to locate the spirit of poor Wendy. Despite that she would have perished through natural means by now, Josette still felt incredibly guilty for what had happened, and promised herself to do anything she could to help Wendy, they owed her that much at least.
It didn't take long to locate Wendy, as she was bound to her room, which had clearly been searched by someone, for everything was all over the place. Evidently, the mortals here didn't respect their dead, and that only made Josette feel even worse.
Wendy, now a Spook, had changed quite a lot compared to her mortal form, though she still retained her facial features, parted hair and glasses. Her ghostly body was completely white and had a slight feminine build, complete with a short skirt or dress-like part, and she had only three fingers on each hand.
"Excuse me." Josette said, catching the Spook's attention.
"Huh? W-who, or what, are you?" Wendy responded, clearly afraid of Josette.
"Please, Wendy, there is no need to be frightened. My name is Josette, and I am here to help you."
"Help me? How can you help me? And how do you know my name?"
"Because it is because of me and my team that you died." Josette explained with a sad voice.
"What?! You killed me?! Why?! What did I ever do to you?!"
"It was a very unfortunate accident. If you will just let me explain, I will answer your questions as best I can."
Not really feeling that she had any other options, Wendy decided to listen to what Josette had to say. And it did shed some light on things.
"So, I would've been dead now anyway?"
"Sadly, yes. And while it does not change anything, I am truly sorry for what we did to you. And as I said, we are here tonight to help you move on, to free you from the chain binding you to this realm."
"And then what? Will I just disappear or something?"
"No, you will not. For the time being, you will follow us to our base here in Sunshine Valley, from there we will be able to help you to the Spirit Realm."
"Okay… So, how do you help me? Do you got, like, a ghostly locksmith?"
"You will have to tell me, only you can feel what you need in order to move on."
"What I feel?" Wendy took a moment to think about it, looking around her room, then she figured it out. "Well, after I died, there were a few of my 'friends' that didn't waste much time going through my stuff, leaving me with this mess. Deal with them, and then we'll see where we stand."
"With pleasure. Those that do not respect the dead must learn their place."
"Then start with Louise Jameson, she was the first one to loot my stuff. She's the red-headed bimbo that acts like the leader of this place."
"As you wish." Josette said with a slight bow and left to locate the mortal before going back to her team.
However, as she searched the dormitory, she did come across something that caught her attention, a strong presence that seemed to emanate from the common room. Yet she could not see any spirits in the area, just a group of mortals and a small dog, most likely a puppy, its leash tied to a leg of the couch.
Feeling that it was something suspicious about the little dog, Josette moved closer to the small canine. Its short fur mostly grey with a few patches of brown, one such around it's left eye, and it wore a red collar.
As she got close, the puppy's shadow grew darker and began to boil like thick, black tar, and a larger figure slowly rose from it behind the puppy. The entity took the vague shape of a large dog, completely covered or made out of tar, with only its red eyes, sharp white teeth and large bone spikes along the spine as the exceptions.
With a long snarl, it looked at the leash that bound the puppy, then back at Josette again, and only then did she notice the there was a spectral chain that overlapped with the actual leash.
"This snare holds me… free me from it and I will hunt with you…" it said with a dark
and growling voice.
"Who are you?" Josette asked.
"I was never given a name… you may just call me… Puppy…"
"Puppy…? As you wish. We will free you from your snare."
Returning to her team, Josette explained the situation for them, especially the request of Wendy.
"So she wants us to specifically target certain mortals?" said Chuckles.
"Correct, and our first target is a Louise Jameson. Until we have dealt with her, we should avoid the other mortals, just in case. Still, we need to build up some more plasm, so feel free to soften up the others as well, just be careful not to scare them away. Not yet anyway."
"Asss you sssay." said Snakepit, as he and the others spread out across the area.
Not much later, the team had already collected a decent amount of plasm. Firecracker would use Cut Lights to darken a whole room, while Jabu and Gravedigger used Moan and Stink respectively to unsettle the mortals. Chuckles used Fright to put some of the tougher mortals to the scare, really softening them up for later on.
With the plasm levels high enough, the ghosts sought out their target, who had also been exposed to the initial move of the spirits, and now, she would get the full force. The redhead was in the kitchen together with two of her 'minions', other girls that followed her every whim, hoping to be as popular as her.
Firecracker made the first move, using Bonfire to set the entire kitchen ablaze, and easily scaring the three young women out of it. The two minions out into the garden, and Louise into the common room where the Count waited for her. The foosball table was filled with violent and emotional energies, allowing it to be used by many spirits. A Spooky Surprise followed by a Legion were more than enough to send her screaming into the night, the visage of the vampire-like spirit and his horde of red-eyed ghost bats permanently burned into her memory.
Hearing the screams brought a smile to Wendy, and shortly after, Josette returned.
"The first one has been dealt with."
"Yeah, I heard that. And it felt good to know that that cow got what she deserved. Okay, next I want you to take care of Elaine Harding, she would always try and find some way to disturb my studies, throwing loud parties right before an important test, same thing every time."
"She will not remain here for long." Josette promised with a bow. Consulting her handbook, she found the mortal she was looking for, a short-haired blond with a few piercings. With the image of Elaine transmitted to all her haunters, all Josette had to do was wait.
Having retreated to her room with a young man she fancied, they thought that they would be all alone, but they were dead wrong. Without any warning, her feet were ripped from the floor and she dangled upside down in the middle of the room in front of the shocked young man. Then everything in the room started flying all over, and once Elaine was dropped on the floor, the two mortals hurried out of the room, escaping into the garden, leaving the duo of Jabu and Chuckles laughing in the bedroom.
The mortals were not any safer outside though, for Gravedigger and Snakepit awaited them in the garden. Elaine and the young man had luckily run in different directions, luckily for the spirits that is, so they could focus all their attention on poor Elaine.
Stopping to get her breath back, she suddenly started sinking into the soil beneath her, all the way up to her chest. Panicking, she desperately tried to dig herself out, but thinks went from bad to worse when a horde of spectral snakes surrounded her, many of them slithering over her as well.
As suddenly as it all started, it also stopped, and Elaine was released from her earthly prison, and she didn't waste any time running for her life, still screaming as she vanished in the dark of the night.
Together with Josette, Wendy could see Elaine through the window, running away for a good distance, and she felt really good about it all.
"Serves her right. If only I could have done something like this to her earlier." she said with a wide smile. "Let's see here… next I want you to deal with Bruce Travol. That pig has hit on every girl in school except me, because I was 'too ugly for him'. I can stand not being attractive to him, but he don't have to walk up to me and say it to my face right out of the blue in front of everyone at school."
"Do not worry, he will not escape his fate."
The mortal known as Bruce Travol was at that moment down in the basement, having already witnessed some of the Haunters' powers, and thus he had already been softened up a bit. With nothing having happened for a while, he thought it was safe to return upstairs. As brave and cocky as he appeared to others, he was in fact a big coward, hiding behind the facade that he had built up over years.
But such things didn't concern the spirits, especially not Chuckles, whom used his Aura Reading to learn Bruce's deepest fear so the others could exploit it. Hitting a mortal with their fears was very effective, as they would feel like something was out to get them, and it also awarded the team bonus points on the mission evaluation.
With Bruce's fear of fire uncovered, a certain Fire Elemental grinned almost wickedly and hurried to the boiler before the mortal could leave the area. Using his newest power, that Josette had had him learn during the long wait, the energy of Human Torch stuck the unknowing mortal without mercy.
Bruce never had any time to really understand how he could just spontaneously burst into flames, before he was overwhelmed by an all consuming panic. Firecracker just couldn't stop laughing as the hapless mortal ran around in the basement like a headless chicken for almost a minute before he finally managed to escape the basement and eventually the dorm as well. His burning form also scared a lot of the remaining mortals, and was visible in the dark for a very long time.
Back in Wendy's room, she could hear the screams of terror as Bruce fled the area, and she felt… free, that justice had been delivered. And with that, her chain snapped and dissolved. But before either she or Josette could say anything, Jabu arrived.
"Mission done, boss mon!" he said proudly with a very lax salute.
"I already know, Jabu, but thank you all the same."
At that point, Jabu noticed the female spook and stopped for a moment before regaining his composure.
"'Ello dere!" he said, adjusting his large hat and floated over to her. "Name be Jabu, and you be?"
"Um… well, I'm… uh… Wendy." she answered nervously.
"Wendy. Pretty name for pretty lady!"
"Oh, thank you."
If she could, Wendy would have blushed at the attention, and Josette could only smiled in response.
"Please, Jabu, give her some room. We will all have time to get to know her after we are done here. We still have one more spirit to aid, and after that, we will scare away every mortal that remains."
"Mind if I give a hand?" Wendy asked. "The three worst ones may have gotten what they deserved, but, like, nobody here have been nice to me."
"It would be my pleasure."
With three of the present mortals gone, only fifteen remained, and many of them were already shaken from either their own experienced or from seeing what had happened to the others, and things were just about to get worse.
With half of them gathered in the common room, together with Puppy, the team had a great opportunity. With the TV-set as his fetter, Firecracker used Bonfire to light the entire room on fire, efficiently scaring the whole lot of mortals, and that was not all that happened. As most of the mortals ran around, trying to escape the fire, and a few trying to put out the flames in what way they could, they all forgot about the little puppy.
Yet, the animal was unharmed by the fire, just like the mortals, and unlike them, it didn't even react to the event. But the leash was, the flames consuming it without mercy, unlike the rest of the interior, and with the leach destroyed, the spirit was freed.
"At long last… now, let this Shadow be cast over our victims…" Puppy growled approvingly, the spectral shadow and the physical puppy both dissolving into shadows, appearing as one next to Josette.
"That should be all spirits then." Josette thought out aloud, then she reached out to her team telepathically with a single order. "Listen up everyone… Enjoy yourselves."
That was all they needed to hear, the team quickly spread out all over the Haunting area, each with a wide grin, even Puppy followed its new pack into the hunt of the night. But there was one ghosts that wasn't as enthusiastic as the rest.
"Um… so… yeah… should I just… hang around here and look spooky?" Wendy asked Josette. "Or is there something that I'm missing?"
"You do have powers at your disposal, all you have to do is tap into our supply of plasm and use it to power your powers, unleashing it on the mortals."
"Okay… and how do I do that? I'm still very new to all this."
"Of course, I will explain in more detail."
It took a few minutes for Wendy to grasp the concept of her new abilities, but Josette was a good and patient teacher, still being rather fresh out of school herself. And while they did that, the rest of the team were having a blast.
Being more mobile thanks to his Indoor fetters, Jabu herded mortals towards the others with his Chase and Kinesis. Firecracker also helped with that, thanks to the large amount of Electrical fetters in the building, and any who would try to escape outside would soon fall victim to Snakepit.
With two thirds of the mortals already going or gone, the mission was drawing to an end. Two more mortals ran out screaming from the common room, pursued by a Legion of bats, only to trip and fall in the yard because the eight foot tall weeds created by Snakepit's Creepers power. Struggling to get up again, they got an additional incentive when the weeds disappeared and dozens of snakes slithered all over the place.
One lone mortal managed to escape into Wendy's room, hoping that she would be safe there.
She wasn't.
Nervously, Wendy appeared in front of the mortal, having gathered up all her courage to do a Brief Scare. Her attempt at a scary face was far from high quality, but it was more than enough to scare away the already terrified mortal. Though, the mortal's horrified scream scared Wendy as well, and her own scream just added to the terror of the mortal.
With the equivalent of a heart racing, Wendy faded back to the normal state for a ghost, getting comforted by Josette.
"You did good, Wendy. Very good for your first try." she said.
"… thank you…" Wendy said, still trying to calm down.
"So, how did it feel?"
"It was… terrifying… I felt so nervous… but… it was fun."
"I know that feeling. Now there are only a few mortals left, then we will return to our base."
A few more mortals hurried out in the backyard, aiming to avoid the haunted inside of the dormitory, and with everything that had happened lately it was understandable. As they reached the middle of the yard, the barking of a small dog caught their attention.
Looking to their left, they saw the little puppy running towards them, all happy to see them. A blonde woman instantly picked up the puppy and cradled it in her arms.
"Thank God that you're okay!" she said.
But that's when all went south, for a thick and tar-like mass exploded out from the puppy and took the horrifying form of the Shadow known as Puppy, materialising in front of the mortals, growling loudly.
With all of the remaining mortals running for their lives after Puppy's Hide and Seek, the spirit unleashed one final power against the slowest of them, Mania. At once, the blonde woman's mind was filled with bizarre and horrible images, which was more than she could handle and her mind broke.
Laughing like a madwoman, she just dropped to the ground, took a mouthful of grass, rolled over onto her back and kept laughing. She would keep that up until the next day, when she was finally rescued by medical personnel and taken to a psychiatrist.
But that was beyond the concerns of the Haunting team, for as the woman succumbed to insanity, all sane mortals had been driven away, and the portal back to the Ghoul Room opened, beckoning the team to return home.
Once they returned home, they got praise from Charles for rescuing Wendy and for their performance, especially for driving one of the mortals insane, something that scored twice the points of scaring one away in the mission evaluation, and thus gained them more gold plasm.
Wendy was offered a place to stay and rest until she could decide what she wanted to do. Taking residence in one of the apartments, in a room very similar to her old one, she felt at peace and accepted for the first time in years. She was also exhausted, so she quickly fell asleep.
The Shadow Puppy settled outside in the yard, joining his fellow hunters Skelesaurus and Lonewolf. Woe to anyone who would enter the garden without their approval.
With the night drawing to an end, Josette retreated to her chambers and let her team do what they pleased, she had enough on her mind. The night had been nothing but good, being able to help Wendy, as well the unknown spirit Puppy, made her feel very good. And then there was the fact that she had been promoted to a fully fledged Ghost Master, something that she still had a hard time to believe. Still, it didn't really change anything.
Actually, that wasn't completely true. While her work wouldn't change, she now had even higher expectations on her, both from the Committee and from herself.
And so ends a way too long overdue chapter. Seriously, I'm so sorry for taking so long on this chapter, I just couldn't get past the darn block on this story, so I kept working on my main stories instead, which just took even more time from this.
Hopefully it will not take nearly as long for the next chapter to be written.
Also, new pics on my Deviantart will be up shortly.