Chapter 8
Gwen watched as the large chubby ghost continued to gobble down the food Heather brought out of the kitchen while DJ scrambled to make more food for the ghost. Considering how scared the both of them were it was obvious the ghost had frightened them into serving it meaning it was not something to be underestimated. First off, how to get DJ and Heather out of here? Taking a look around the room she watched as Heather quickly put another plate of food on the table for ghost to eat.
Noticing a closet nearby Gwen waited as Heather quickly headed for the kitchen. Making the ghost was not looking she deactivated her cloaking spell as she waited in the closet. Just as Heather walked by the closet Gwen covered Heather's mouth as she pulled her into the closet. Heather struggled a bit as Gwen spun her around and closed the closet. Using Andromeda's power as a light source but hiding it so Heather would think it was a light switch Gwen held it up so Heather could see her.
Heather stopped struggling as soon as she saw Gwen.
"You!" She whispered, not wanting the ghost to hear her.
"Nice outfit." Gwen pointed to maid outfit Heather was wearing. "Decide to go from Ice Queen of the Year to this?"
"Shut up!" Heather hissed. "This isn't funny Gwen!"
"Relax I know what's going on," Gwen said. "But I need to take big and gruesome by surprise. Can you do something to distract him so I can get behind him?"
"Whatever you're planning better work, he said he'd eat us if we try anything!" Heather glanced at the ghost, who had his face literally stuck in a bowl.
"It'll work, just do your thing!" Gwen then removed the light. "And be inconspicuous about it!"
Heather walked out of the closet and headed for the kitchen to pick up the next meal DJ had just finished. DJ quickly started on the next mean knowing what would happen if he slowed down. Heather picked up the next meal into the dining room. She sat it down in front of the ghost as it threw the bowel.
"Excellent!" The ghost grinned as it picked up the plate and opened its mouth.
Heather closed her eyes as it held the plate above it and dropped the food into its mouth. Chewing the food, Heather stepped back as pieces flew across the room.
"Uh...I don't want to interrupt your eating but we're running a little low on dishes in the kitchen." Heather said, trying to sound convincing.
"What makes you think I care?" The ghost growled as it set the plate down. "All that matter is you keep bringing me more food! Use the dirty ones if you have to, just get me more food!"
Heather stepped back as small crumbs came flying out of the ghost's mouth and some hit her in the face.
"Right! Right away!" Heather meekly replied as she stepped back.
"That's better! Now be a good girl and keep quiet! I like to enjoy my meals without interruption." The ghost growled as he picked up his plate again.
"I think it's time you go on a diet." The ghost heard a voice behind him but was too late to do anything about it.
Just as he tried to turn Gwen activated the Seal of Constraint with her Omni-Glove and the large chubby ghost was sucked into the glowing symbol. He let out one final scream before he vanished into the glowing symbol. There was a brief flash of light before it was over. Gwen looked down at the card that fell onto the floor in front of her.
"What a waste." Gwen said, referring to the dirty plates on the table and in the kitchen.
"Gwen!" DJ came out of the kitchen when he heard the noise.
"Hey, DJ!" Gwen smiled. "It's safe to come out now. Take a break."
DJ sighed in relief as he fell against the wall. "Oh man! I am so tired!"
"What the hell was that?" Heather asked as she leaned against the table to give her legs some rest from running back and forth carrying food.
"You tell me. I just got here." Gwen replied.
"We followed the map to this mansion and started looking for the prize money. But when we went inside we got chased by those... ghosts!" DJ squeaked in fear. "They were everywhere! I mean everywhere! We ran for it, trying to get out but they blocked us in and we tried to hide but we got caught!"
"And you ended up in here working for that slob?" Gwen pointed to the chair where the fat ghost sat.
"Yeah, it said it heard of how good a cook I was and wanted me to be its chef. I tried to say no but it got really angry and said it wanted to eat me!" DJ cried.
"And you..." Gwen looked at Heather.
"It was too lazy to get up and get its own food so it had me bring it the food." Heather looked down at the messy maid outfit she had been forced to wear.
"Well, it's over now. DJ, did you see anybody else before you got dragged in here?" Gwen asked.
"Sorry, I was too frightened to see anything." DJ shrugged.
"You think I actually had the time to look for anyone around here?" Heather growled which made Gwen glare at her.
"I wasn't asking you, Cat Breath." Gwen replied which made Heather even more angry.
After Gwen posted that video on the Internet everyone at Heather's school had given her that annoying nickname with a few others.
"DJ, a few of the others are outside at the entrance right now. Get out of here and stay out. I'll go on ahead and look for the others. You sure you didn't see anyone else around here? Who was the last person you saw?" Gwen looked to DJ.
"I...think I heard Bridgette screaming a while back." DJ rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't see where she was but it sounded way back like it was coming from the outside."
"How do you know?"
"There's a window in the kitchen. When I was cooking I heard Bridgette from that window."
Gwen walked into the kitchen and looked out the window. "Did you see a way out there or should I just jump through the window?"
"There's a door to the outside at the end of the kitchen." DJ pointed to a door. "I ain't headin' out there though, there's all sorts of stuff gettin' thrown against the window."
"Stuff?"
A garden gnome smashed through the window. It smashed against the opposite wall.
"That stuff." DJ nodded.
"Whoa boy," Gwen opened the door and looked out into the area beyond.
"You're not really goin' out there, are you?" DJ asked.
"I kind of...have to," Gwen explained. "Go wait out front with the others."
"But-"DJ started but was cut off.
"Don't argue with me, go!" Gwen shut the door.
Xxx
Gwen walked out onto a grassy lawn, finding herself in some kind of courtyard. There was a single tree near the fence with a garden nearby. Gwen walked over to the garden to see the plants had been recently placed there. A growling sound was heard, making Gwen turned around to see...
"A ghost dog?" Gwen asked.
It was indeed a ghost dog, sitting in a dog house labelled 'Spike'. It was a bulldog with large teeth and white glowing eyes. It had white fur and a long tongue rolled out of its mouth.
"Oh hey, Snoopy. You're cute." Gwen said, trying not to get the dog angry.
The dog growled as it came out of its dog house. Gwen pulled out her sword, thinking that things were going to get ugly. The dog charged at her, barking at her which showed her its white sharp teeth. Gwen jumped out of the way and dog landed in the garden, knocking some plants over. The dog turned around and charged at Gwen again who dodged like before. The dog landed on front its house, knocking its water bowl over. The dog growled as it turned and ran at her again.
"This is fun. Getting chased around a courtyard of a haunted mansion by an undead fleabag." Gwen grunted as she dodged the dog again.
"Shut the hell up you annoying mutt!" A voice shouted.
Gwen looked over to see a garden shed with a ghost kicking the door open. The ghost was dressed like a gardener as he stomped and he dragged someone else out...
"Bridgette!" Gwen exclaimed.
Bridgette's clothes were covered in dirt and her hair was out of its pony tail with dirt in it.
"Gwen!" Bridgette looked up when she heard Gwen's voice.
"They send another one to help out? Good! You can start by standing still and let that stupid dog bite you." The gardener ghost smirked.
"Yeah right." Gwen jumped, dodging the dog as it leaped at her again. "I got a better idea."
She ran forward at the gardener who laughed. "You can't hit me! No human can touch a ghost."
His laughter was cut off when Gwen reared back the hand that her Omni-Glove and slugged the gardener in the face. He fell to the ground clutching his now broken nose.
"My nose! You're not supposed to touch me...unless you're an avatar!" The gardener pointed at the smirking Gwen as she stood over him.
"Good for you."
"Get her, you mangy mutt!" The gardener shouted as the dog charged at Gwen with her back turned to it.
"Gwen look out!" Bridgette shouted.
Gwen quickly moved out of the way as the dog jumped but missed her and landed on top of the gardener.
"Get off me!" The gardener tried to get the dog off him but it biting at him.
They wrestled into the ground as Gwen walked and stopped in front of them.
"Looks like we both found someone we dislike." Gwen said as she activated the Seal of Constraint.
"What are yo-AH!" The gardener shouted as he and the dog were sucked into the symbol.
There was a flash of light and they were gone. Gwen knelt down and picked up a card with a picture of the gardener trying to get the ghost dog off him.
"A picture worth a thousand words," She slid it into her pocket with the other cards. "Man at this rate I'll start my own trading card franchise."
"Gwen, how the heck did you do all of that?" Bridgette asked as she began to wipe dirt off of her clothes and out of her hair.
"Wish I could explain but I can't...but can you tell me what happened to you?" Gwen asked.
"That crazy gardener was making me sort through bags of soil in there," Bridgette replied. "He wanted me to take over his job."
"Well luckily you won't have to, and Geoff is waiting for you outside," Gwen pointed to the kitchen door. "Just head back to the foyer and head out the front door."
"You found Geoff?" Bridgette asked with a hopeful look on her face. "Is he all right?"
"He's fine, a few cuts but nothing bad." Gwen reassured her. "I found a few of the others but there are still a lot of them missing. Did you see anyone before you got caught?"
"I think I heard someone crying in the graveyard." Bridgette pointed over the fence. "There's a graveyard out back of the house behind the fence."
"All right, go out and wait with everyone else. I'll look for the others and meet you later." Gwen walked over the fence.
"Gwen, wait! This is crazy!" Bridgette ran up to her.
"You have no idea." Gwen smirked.
"Look, Gwen, I don't know what's going on but I can't let you go out there on your own." Bridgette said.
"Actually, yeah because you don't want to make Geoff worry. Now get out of here." Gwen jumped onto the top of the fence and jumped onto the other side.
She landed on the other side and looked at the graveyard on the other side.
"Don't follow me, Bridge." Gwen called over the fence.
She turned towards the graveyard and walked through it, looking for whoever might be hiding here.
Xxx
"Bridge!" Geoff grinned as his girlfriend came out of the mansion.
"Geoff!" they ran towards each other and embraced...and then made out.
"Oh come on!" DJ sighed.
"Never miss a cue," LeShawna nodded.
"Really? Now?" Heather shouted.
"...wow Heather, nice outfit," Bridgette giggled at Heather who growled since everyone had laughed at her since she hadn't had time to change out of the maid outfit.
"Yeah, we all thought the same," Harold chuckled.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Geoff asked as they pulled apart.
"I got caught by a ghost gardener and his dog and forced to do gardening. I tried to run but his dog kept me from running and almost bit my hand off." Bridgette replied. "Gwen showed up and she...I don't know what she did but she turned them into cards."
"That's what she did to the crazy piano lady who was forcing me to play the piano. She also blasted the piano apart with some lightning attack." Geoff said.
"She also did it to that dancing couple who were controlling me and LeShawna and forcing us to ball room dance." Harold said.
"And to those guys who shrunk me!"
Bridgette looked to see Izzy who...was smaller than a chipmunk sitting on Lindsay's shoulder who had a dark blue coat wrapped around her to keep her warm.
"Izzy...What happened?" Bridgette stared in so much shock she almost couldn't even ask the question.
"I got shrunk by these two ghosts who left me in their kid's room to be his plaything." Izzy whined. "Gwen took them out but they told us I was cursed! The only way to lift this curse if this 'Master' is taken out or reverses it!"
"So there's a big bad...ghost in this mansion?" Bridgette asked, feeling very scared.
"Sounds like it, girl." LeShawna nodded grimly.
"We don't even know if they are ghosts. This might all be some sick joke and gothy's just in on it!" Heather scoffed.
"Yeah right! She just saved your ungrateful ass even after all the crap you put her through and still you're trying to blame her!" LeShawna shouted, turning to her. "I don't know what to believe here either but I'm pretty sure this is all real."
"I think it's real too. I still ache from all that cooking." DJ nodded.
"I got the paper cuts to prove it's real." Geoff held up his hand showing the paper cuts.
Bridgette gasped and grabbed Geoff's hand, looking over it. "What happened?"
"Piano ghost lady forced me to play the piano and when I tried to run her music sheets flew at me and gave me a few paper cuts." Geoff explained.
"Still think this is a joke, Heather?" LeShawna glared at Heather who crossed her arms and looked away.
"If you think that was bad look at my hands." Justin held up his hands that had bruises. "I got forced to iron clothes by a butler ghost that wanted me to take over its job."
"And there are still people in there with more ghosts goin' through god knows what!" LeShawna continued. "What about Cody, Noah, Beth, or Trent? Heck every second in there's a day in hell!"
"Well what are we gonna do? Gwen told us to stay out here," Harold stated.
"Yeah...but what if she ends up gettin' caught like we were?" DJ asked.
"She seemed to know what she was doing to me," Geoff said. "And I really doubt they can force a girl that shoots lightning to take over their jobs."
"Yeah! She's got this one under control!" Izzy said.
Suddenly several windows exploded outwards as wails came from within the manor.
"...but maybe we could check up on her?" Izzy added.
"I ain't goin' in there man!" DJ squeaked.
"We'll stay out here with you buddy," Geoff said, putting a hand on DJ's shoulder.
"Well Izzy's going in to kick ghost butt!" Izzy declared, striking martial arts poses. "Hah! Hoo! Yah-OH NO!" She fell off of Lindsay's shoulder and landed in the mud. "Ow!" She spat some sludge out. "Ew!"
"Izzy, I think you should stay out here. You're no good like this." LeShawna picked Izzy up.
"Come on!" Izzy whined. "I can't stay out here and do nothing!"
"No way! You're staying out here." LeShawna said firmly.
"I'd like to stay out here too please." Justin said.
"No surprise there." Heather headed for the gate. "I'm not going back in there. I'm heading for the road and calling my dad to pick me up."
However just before Heather reached the gate orbs of light appeared around the group.
"Oh no! Not again!" DJ screamed as the orbs floated closer to them.
"Not this time!" LeShawna picked up a branch and swung it but it went right through the orb she was trying to hit. "Okay that won't work."
Lindsay screamed as the orbs floated closer. "What do we do?"
"Back into the mansion! Hurry!" Geoff pointed to the entrance and they quickly ran back in and slammed the doors.
Everyone breathed heavily as they stepped back from the doors.
"What now?" Bridgette asked.
"We find Gwen." LeShawna replied and looked at Bridgette. "Where was she heading when you left?"
"I told her I thought I heard someone in the graveyard behind the fence around the garden."
"Graveyard!" Lindsay and DJ screamed as they hugged each other.
"Oh will you two relax?" LeShawna demanded, exasperated. "We can't go around if you two are gonna scream at every little thing."
"Little thing? Little thing?" DJ demanded. "We've been lured out into the woods, chased up and down this place by ghosts-real ghosts! I was forced to cook for one for two hours straight! And you call that little?"
"...I just meant the graveyard thing."
"But who knows what's in the grave yard!"
"...I'll tell you who awaits us: Gwen." Geoff pointed out.
"Well what if she already found somebody and moved on?"
"Well if she did then somebody would show up here and we could find out where she went next," Harold reasoned.
"What if we run into more of those ghosties?" Lindsay asked.
"She's right. We don't know how Gwen did all...that." Bridgette pointed out.
"But I got a perfect memory and I remember what the symbol was that turned those ghosts into cards." Izzy stood up. "I'm sure I could draw it."
"And if that doesn't work?" Heather asked, hands on her hips.
"...We're screwed." Izzy sat on LeShawna's shoulder.
"Not yet. Come on!"
Xxx
Gwen walked through the graveyard, keeping a sharp eye out for signs of any attack or one of the contestants who came out here to hide.
"Hello?" She called out, hoping someone would answer. "Anyone here?"
Unfortunately there was no answer.
"I hate it when this happens." Gwen muttered, remembering when it was usually quite it meant something bad was about to happen.
She was proven right when she heard a sound behind her. Spinning around her she saw...
"You've got to be kidding." Gwen shook her head.
Coming out of the graves behind her were actual zombies. Among the things people had written in horror movies zombies were actually real but instead of them being brought to life by some virus like in Resident Evil(even though she enjoyed the movies) zombies were actually powered by life energy like living people were. However the souls of the deceased had long since moved on leaving them completely mindless and their bodies had long since decomposed leaving them very frail. They were almost as weak as the ghost drones from before.
There three of them limping towards her, groaning like the zombies in the movies did in the movies but with just a single slash of Gwen's sword they fell to the ground pieces. Gwen watched as their heads continued to groan while their limbs twitched. Another difference was that when you took out the head you didn't kill them like those movies. They were entirely animated, so the only course of action was to either incinerate the physical shells or to remove the Life energy within them by causing enough damage to the shells with methods or regular attacks.
Taking out her katana, Gwen cut through the reaching hands of several closer zombies, and kicked another in the ribs as it tried to lunge at her with a thick branch in its hands. It tripped over a tomb stone and shattered to pieces which began to crawl back together. Gwen paid it no mind as she darted away from the zombies to a less crowded part of the grave yard. She held up her hand and shouted. "Spectral Volt!"
Lightning arched from her hand and crossed the graveyard, slamming into several of the zombies at once. Several of them fell, the life energy draining from them as the spell slowly burned away the energy animating them. Others shouldered on through, and some even held what looked like metal weapons that conducted the electricity. They even wore rubber gloves!
"Somebody definitely planned this ambush," Gwen said as she stopped the spell and took to fighting with her katana again. She sliced off legs and arms to slow down or disable most of the zombies, but even then found herself nearly surrounded time and time again. She leaped onto a large grave stone and off of it into the air, landing outside of the circle of zombies. One that was close enough swung at her, and she felt the hammer in its hand hit her right bicep. "Ow!"
She slammed the hilt of her katana into its head, spinning the skull around like a top as she kicked it in the ribs to knock it down. She saw more and more zombies beginning to rise out of the ground now.
"Oh this is not good!"
"Gwen," Andromeda raised her voice to be heard over the crashing of stone and earth. "I have another method that may help. I wanted to save it for later in your training but it may be the only way to beat them all!"
A seal appeared in Gwen's mind, and she found herself tracing it in midair even as the zombies closed in around her. She finished the seal, which appeared to be a sort of winged shape with a triangle attached to the front in the middle of a circle. As she finished it she realized it was of a dragon spitting fire.
She finished it and the symbol glowed bright. "Phantom Flare!"
The moment she said those words she raised her hands out to her sides. As she did so fire suddenly flared to life as her life energy spread out through the ground around her. The gravestones, the ground, and all the surroundings were untouched by the flames but the zombies were different story. They groaned as they fell to the ground, with blue energy surrounding them but were burnt out by the flames.
The flames faded just as Gwen landed on the ground and the zombies fell to the ground, their bodies fading to dust.
"What was that?" Gwen asked, looking down at her necklace.
"A special method designed for when avatars find themselves outnumbered like you were. It can burn away life energy of any living thing it touches." Andromeda explained. "This is very dangerous as it can also burn the life energy of living beings and spirits."
"An attack that doesn't burn a person's body but literally his life." Gwen surmised with a little bit of shock.
"A very powerful and lethal method." Andromeda finished.
"Hopefully I won't have to use it much." Gwen said as she looked around. "Somebody must have been feeding those corpses life energy and even set them up with weapons and armour. Now I'm worried. Do you think they used the life energy of..."
"I cannot lie to you; to reanimate a corpse it takes a lot less life energy than a living being would have to live a full ordinary life. Just one human around the same age as you or the others would be enough to power around over seventy of these corpses, even more." Andromeda said grimly. "So one person may have been sacrificed to raise all of these bodies."
Gwen looked around, feeling pity creep into her mind. "So somebody was sacrificed here."
"Yes."
"Gwen!" A new voice broke in as Gwen spun, seeing all of the rescued contestants spill into the Grave Yard.
"Why are you all here?"
"More of those ghosts appeared out front! Where else could we go?" Heather demanded.
"The forest for one?" Gwen replied. "The high way?"
"Tried, they blocked us." Geoff admitted. "Sorry Gwen, this was the only place we could go."
"Did they have shapes? Or were they just balls of light?" Gwen sighed.
"Balls of light...why?"
"Those are drones, very weak drones actually and the most they can do is toss some rocks or push you, or even scream at you." Gwen explained. "You just could have sat there and they couldn't do anything to kill you! Besides, being in this grave yard is not the safest option."
"Why?" Lindsay asked.
Gwen pointed down. "Look."
They did...and Lindsay fainted again while everybody stared, wide eyed and petrified.
"D-duh-duh-duh-" DJ stuttered.
"Dead bodies!" Bridgette squeaked.
"Yeah, and they were all undead a minute ago," Gwen said. "Go back over that fence over there before something else shows up."
"Uh...Gwen?" Izzy waved her arms.
"What?"
"Too late!" She pointed behind her.
Gwen turned and saw mist literally forming in front of her. It grew until most of the grave yard was covered. "Awwww crap!"
"What's happening?" Heather demanded.
A headstone that was larger than any of the other stones and was placed in the center began to glow.
"I don't think gravestones are supposed to glow." Izzy said, now looking very afraid as she hid behind LeShawna's head.
The mist continued to expand; swallowing everyone in it making them even scared enough they thought the mist was actually going to choke them to death. It became large enough that even the moon, the only light source outside was blocked out. Heather stepped back, unable to see and almost unable to breath and tripped over a gravestone.
"M-m-m-Mama!" DJ cried as he remained frozen in fear.
Justin's skin seemed to be turning pale as he looked all around for a way out but saw none as he shivered. Geoff and Bridgette hugged each other for dear life as mist circled around them. And then, laughter was heard all around them, so terrifying it made LeShawna cover her ears to block it out. The gravestone continued to glow, its glow being the only light source in the mist.
Emerging from this headstone came a spirit that Gwen had never seen before, it started as black ooze but it shifted into an orb with an eye opening in the center the was bright red that stared hungrily at the contestants in front of its grave. Black bat like wings sprouted from its back even it was already floating in the air above everyone. Two arms sprouted from the spirit's body that ended in sharp claws.
"G-Gwen? What is that?" Bridgette asked from behind Geoff.
"Honestly...no clue, now get back! All of you get away from it!" Gwen shouted. "I'll handle it, get out of the graveyard! NOW!"
The spirit's eye flashed brighter red and Gwen found herself no longer in the graveyard but now in a circular yard surrounded by a fence.
"Where are we?" Gwen asked.
"It used an Unauthorized Method to teleport you to a pocket dimension created by it. A spirit this powerful is extremely dangerous especially when it has the home field advantage." Andromeda replied.
The spirit floated on the other side yard, staring at her. Gwen held out her sword as she got ready for a fight.
"You want me? Come and get me!"
The spirit accepted her challenge and extended its arms, sending them at her. Gwen quickly cart wheeled out of the way as the claws could have shredded her apart if they hit her. She ducked as it swung its arm at her again and swung her sword, cutting it off. But before she could celebrate her small victory the severed arm turned into black goo and flew at the spirit, allowing itself to be absorbed back into the spirit's body and its arm regenerated.
"Damn it!" Gwen muttered.
"This spirit is different is not like the other ones." Andromeda said. "It wasn't created by the death of the living residents."
The spirit sent its arms at her again, forcing her to dodge by somersaulting out of the way. Gwen was glad to have gone through all that training and Andromeda's power enhancing her reflexes since without it she would have been dead by now. She quickly drew the symbol for Phantom Flare and aimed at the spirit.
"Take this!" Gwen shouted as she was engulfed in flames as the spirit swung its arms at her again.
Its arms were set on fire, which quickly spread all over its body. At first Gwen thought it was over but the flames burnt out and the spirit was still alive.
"I thought that would burn out its life energy!" Gwen stepped back.
"It had an effect on the spirit, I can tell it was weakened but not killed. You don't have much experience with the Flare Method which might be the reason why it didn't work. The corpses had little life energy in them but this has so much more." Andromeda explained. "Gwen, this spirit was created by the emotions of people who had lived in the mansion."
"It's one of those ones?" Gwen asked, now a little afraid since these types of spirits were stronger than most other spirits.
"Yes. A Seal of Constraint will not work on it." Andromeda replied.
"Great." Gwen muttered as the spirit shook itself free of the flames.
Lightning flashed around the arena as shadowy copies of the spirit appeared and flew at Gwen.
"Gwen, use my power!" Andromeda shouted.
Gwen touched the star on her necklace and she was surrounded by the bright aura that was Andromeda's power. She became faster as she dodged the shadowy copies and swung her sword cutting one in half. The spirit teleported and appeared behind Gwen when her back was turned and tried to pin her down and finish her off. Gwen spun out of the way and somersaulted back, avoiding the arms as they tried to bisect her.
Gwen jumped back as the spirit attack again, not having much of a chance to launch a counter attack. All she could do was dodge each attack. She jumped back and put her hand on the ground as the spirit swung its arm at her again. A hand came out of the ground and grabbed the arm before it hit her.
Taking the chance Gwen cut the arm off and as it tried to reunite with the spirit's body Gwen drew the Phantom Flare seal with her Omni-Glove and fired it at the arm's remains.
"Please work!" Gwen pleaded as the flames engulfed the arm.
The flames started burn away blue energy that highlighted the arm letting Gwen know that it was burning life energy away. It burned the energy away and the arm faded away.
"Yes!" She smirked as she looked at the spirit. "It won't work on the main body but can kill small pieces."
"Impressive thinking." Andromeda praised. "The spirit is unable to regenerate that arm now."
The spirit let out a roaring sound as it swung its arm madly at Gwen. She dodged, jumping out of the way as it smashed into the ground and the fence. Gwen kept on moving, just barely dodging several slashes before she was too late in dodging one attack and sent flying to the other side of the arena when the arm slammed into her chest. She grunted, grateful that Andromeda's power managed to keep her alive as well as making her body strong enough to take a hit like that but it still hurt.
She looked up when she heard the spirit flying straight at her and she put her Omni-Give in front of her. "Spectral Volt!"
A blast of lightning hit the spirit in the eye which made it scream in pain as it flew back into the wall on the other side of the arena.
"See how you like it!" Gwen snapped as she stood up.
"Why?" The spirit growled as it floated back up.
"So you can talk." Gwen got ready for it to attack again.
"Why...why aren't you afraid?" The creature roared.
"What kind of question is that?" Gwen kept her sword ready for when it decided to attack.
"They all fear me! Their fear created me but I am not afraid! They are the ones who are afraid! They and anyone who sees me...yet you're not afraid! "
"This creature is a product of the fear from the people of the house." Andromeda realized. "Their fear and despair created this monster but it has never been afraid."
"So it's a boogeyman that everyone imagined." Gwen looked up. "And it's never had to feel the fear that created it."
"I do not get afraid! I am FEAR ITSELF!" The spirit lunged at her again.
"Gwen, aim the sword at the eye." Andromeda spoke up.
Gwen didn't bother to ask as she aimed her sword at the eye while Andromeda channelled her power into the sword. When the spirit came into range she threw her sword while spirit swung its arm. Gwen ended up getting knocked into the wall as the arm slammed into her right ribs but the sword plunged itself into the eye. The sprit screeched as Andromeda's power flooded its being, burning it from the inside out.
The sword was sent flying out of the eye by a blast of light that started blasting out of the spirit's body. It let out one final scream as it exploded in a flash of light. Gwen sighed as her sword fell to the ground in front of her and fell over.
"Are you all right?" Andromeda asked concerned.
"I'm just a little tired." Gwen replied, rubbing one eye.
"You have been fighting longer than any other time you've gone hunting spirits." Andromeda agreed as the pocket dimension vanished and Gwen was back in the graveyard. "You've gone without rest while fighting these spirits for the last hour, your body is too exhausted to fight anymore. You'll need some rest."
The dark mist had vanished and all signs of the spirit's existence had disappeared with it. Gwen sighed and sat down, gasping for breath.
"Oh man..." She sighed, running one hand through her hair.
Thud!
"Not again!" She jumped to her feet and whipped her katana out.
Thud! Thud!
"Huh?" She looked around...and then looked at an open, yet to be filled grave. She looked down at the coffin within and saw that it was moving, something beating on it from within.
She leaped down and cautiously grabbed the latch on one side of the lid. She unlocked the coffin and swung it open-
"AH!" Beth leaped out, shrieking and flew right out of the grave, landing on her face. "Oww..."
"Beth?" Gwen climbed out and helped her up. "What were you doing in there?"
"I fell in," Beth said, wiping dirt off of her shirt as she took several deep breaths to calm down. "There was some big thing in a hood chasing me and I tripped and fell in, the coffin shut on me."
"Well don't worry, your new friend is long gone," Gwen assured her. "Come on, the others are waiting." She led Beth back to the group.
"Beth!" Lindsay ran forward and hugged the shorter girl.
"Lindsay!" Beth returned the hug.
"I was so worried! When the ghosties came I thought you were gone!" Lindsay cried.
"I did too!" Beth replied.
"Gwen!" Bridgette and LeShawna ran over to the goth girl. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm all..." Gwen's eyes rolled back as she fell back.
"Whoa!" LeShawna caught her before she hit the ground. "Gwen, are you all right?"
Gwen groaned as she seemed to have lost conscious.
"The poor girl's out of it." LeShawna said, looking up at everyone.
"What happened?" Bridgette turned to Beth.
"I don't know. I was stuck in a coffin and she just got me out." Beth replied, breaking up from her hug with Lindsay.
"She disappeared along with that huge giant...ghost thing a few minutes ago. I wonder what happened." DJ knelt down next to LeShawna. "She going to be all right?"
"I think so. The girl's just knocked out." LeShawna replied.
"Well wake her up so she can tell us what the hell is going on and get us out of here!" Heather demanded.
"Back off, Cat Breath!" LeShawna growled. "If you've already forgotten she just saved us from those things! Give her a break!"
"We're not safe until we're out of here!" Heather argued.
"We're a lot safer now than we were before!" Bridgette shouted, tired of Heather's attitude.
"Look!" Izzy pointed up.
Everyone looked up and some started screaming as the orbs of light returned.
"Relax! Gwen said they were too weak to hurt us!" LeShawna shouted.
One orb of light flew in and knocked LeShawna down, while the others flew under Gwen as she fell and caught her. They lifted her into the air and carried her off towards the mansion.
"Oh, too weak to hurt us? Yeah right." Heather scoffed.
"Technically she said they are too weak to kill us," Bridgette pointed out.
"Come on! We gotta save Gwen!" LeShawna shouted as she got back up and took off towards the mansion.
"Seriously? Go back into the haunted house?" Heather shouted as the rest of the group followed. "...I am not going in there-"
Suddenly she heard an 'ooooohhhh' sound. She looked around as the moaning sound grew in volume. Little did she know Harold had just stopped ahead and threw his voice from behind a tree to scare her into following. As the ghostly moaning grew louder Heather screamed and ran after them. "Wait for me!"
They followed the lights carrying Gwen back into the mansion and through several rooms and hallways until they reached an open door that slammed shut just as Gwen went through.
"Oh no you don't!" LeShawna grabbed a nearby table and dropped the vase it was holding off onto the floor-or would have if DJ didn't catch it. She then slammed into the door, knocking it open and tumbling into the room beyond. Everybody spilled through-including DJ and the vase he was carrying in both hands.
The room was dim like most rooms, and had a table in the middle with a crystal ball on it. There was a fancy blue rug under the table and candles set around the room on shelves and the table. A ghost woman was sitting at the table on a decorated golden chair, raising one eyebrow at the group as Gwen was gently set on the floor.
"You could have just knocked you know," She sighed.
"You stay back!" LeShawna snapped as she picked Gwen up.
"Or what? You'll punch me? Your fist will go through me," The Ghost yawned. "And I'd prefer if you don't damage anymore of my room, I like it just the way it is." She snapped her fingers and the door closed. "Oh and thank you for saving the vase with my ashes in it," She added sweetly to DJ, who squeaked in fright.
"Who are you?" Lindsay asked, hiding behind DJ.
"Well that's the first smart question anybody has asked me," The ghost chuckled. "I am Madame Aurora, one of the former owners of this manor, and one of those to die within its walls. During my time here I used the manor to enhance my vision so I could see beyond the mortal realm...now as a spirit I am far more capable."
Several chairs slid up, knocking people's knees out from under them and making them land on the chairs. "Would you like to see what would have happened had I not brought the avatar to the safety of this room?"
Her crystal ball glowed, and an image was projected over the table.
It showed the group being surrounded by more ghosts and zombies as they cowered, trying to wake Gwen up desperately even as they were grabbed and carried away screaming and kicking.
"You're welcome by the way," The ghost yawned. "Now...I've brought you here because out of all the spirits here I might actually be the one who didn't die and come back because I had some issues in the past life. Unlike the rest I'm here to be a guide...had to in my real life thanks to the others flying around."
"So you're a good ghost?" Izzy asked as she jumped onto the table.
"Yes." Aurora nodded.
"And you expect us to believe this?" Heather crossed her arms.
"Yes." Aurora didn't even bat an eye at Heather's rude attitude.
"Wow, she's good." Izzy nodded. "So, ghosts-"
"We prefer the term 'spirits', thank you." Aurora pointed out.
"Right, spirits, zombies, all of it is real?"
"To an extent."
"So the magician at my fifth birthday had real magic?"
"No."
"I knew it!" Izzy cracked her knuckles. "Wait till I get my hands on him!"
"Will you focus, Izzy?" LeShawna glared at Aurora. "Why should we trust you? All your other friends have tried to kill us and enslave us and probably would have done plenty more! Not to mention-"
LeShawna was silenced with shock when Aurora touched her lips to silence her. She didn't know what to think that a ghost was touching her but she instantly felt calmer and barely even noticed Aurora pulling her hand back.
"You think I am friends with the others who live in this mansion?" Aurora asked as she sat back. "Some of the spirits here, you have no idea what they are like. I have no affiliation with them since I know what they are like, what they have become."
"Okay, start from the beginning. What is all this? How is she," Heather pointed at Gwen. "Able to do all that...stuff?"
Aurora smiled. "Oh, that's right. She never would try to tell you of this. Then again when it comes with the job secrecy is one of the top rules."
"What do you mean?" Bridgette asked, not feeling as scared as she was before.
"We spirits have existed as long as the living has existed; some of us are like what many humans have assumed in their many theories but at the same time much different." Aurora's crystal ball glowed. "Some of us indeed once lived and died, becoming spirits while others were created by pure thought and emotion from the world of the living that collected in the spirit world, giving form to these thoughts resulting in a spirit being born. An example would be the spirit in the graveyard that your friend fought and destroyed, born from the fear and despair of the mansion's residents. While I am a shadow, an echo or as you prefer ghost of the person who died and was cremated with my ashes being placed in that vase."
The vase floated out of DJ's grasp, making him jump and yelp with fright as he leaped into Heather's arms, making the girl struggle under the weight. "Agh! G-get off me you-" She fell over. "Ow..."
"As I was saying," Madam Aurora continued as she held her vase tenderly. "Some Spirits that have been seen by humans have often resembled mythological creatures which is why there are so many myths. We are not that different from humans, we have the same emotions, can enjoy food, we have different genders and we can even fall in love and give birth to our own children. The very first natural spirits to arrive in this dimension sensed the emotions and thoughts of the living that created some of them and journeyed here, breaching the gaps between both world and soon enough more spirits traveled here from different realms for various reasons."
She placed her vase on the table next to her crystal ball.
"Our growth depends on our talents and ability to grow stronger that allows us to evolve into higher classes of spirits. They discovered that our worlds were connected like two sides of a coin. It also was learned that the life energy that exists in all living things was found that it could be used a source of power for spirits as well some other traits in this world that soon enough spirits started emerging here to make themselves stronger." Aurora continued, her crystal bow showing a spirit attacking a young man and sucking out blue energy from his body, the man then fell over and seemingly died. "This became worse as some spirits became addicted to life energy as humans are to drugs and alcohol. With humans having the most life energy it became a hunting ground with your species as the prey. Which then leads us to this young girl here." She looked at the resting Gwen. "An Avatar."
"You and those other guys keep calling her that. What does it mean?" Bridgette asked, trying to take this all in.
"To put it in laymen's terms, some spirits disagree with the policy of using this world and its inhabitants as a source of power but not all of them can enter this world because their power would sensed by other spirits causing them to flee, or if the spirit is extremely powerful it would affect the environment, causing storms, earthquakes, even hurricanes. If the spirits here sense a powerful spirit entering this world they would panic, revealing their true forms and flee, possibly causing damage and killing anyone in their way." Aurora looked at Gwen. "To find a way to fight them good spirits often decide to form a contract with humans, granting the humans their powers, making them the spirit's avatar in this world. This girl," She pointed at Gwen. "Took a contract with a spirit which allowed her access to that spirit's power through an object acting as that spirit's connection to its avatar."
Her hand travelled to Gwen's necklace, touching the silver star-only for her hand to be repelled by a crackle of energy. "Ah yes...the star necklace...nobody has to wonder what that spirit is if they have been in the business long enough. Andromeda, almost a queen among spirits, very old and very powerful."
"And she's why Gwen could do all that freaky kung-fu and use those magic powers?" Harold asked.
"No way, she's some action heroine now?" Heather stared at Gwen's prone form.
"I knew she had magic!" Izzy shouted from Bridgette's shoulder. "So she really fights monsters and demons for a living? Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"
"To put it simply: yes." Aurora nodded. "Young Gwendolyn here has a bit of a reputation for a new avatar. What she has done tonight is only a bit of what she has the potential to accomplish. But there are still those who need to be rescued from the more violent citizens of this house."
Her crystal ball glowed bright.
"First off, though we should awaken the young avatar." Aurora said as she tapped Gwen's forehead. "Time to continue."