Cold

What happened? I remember falling asleep and now I'm in some mysterious part of the Ghost World. It's dark and cold here…And there's no one around to help me. I'm alone…No! There has to be someone. I can't be alone. I just can't.

Molly flies around the barren Ghost World as she desperately searches for anyone who can help her. She looks down at her hands, seeing that transparent bright yellow glow and realizes she's a ghost.

Flying around Molly tries to find clues to how she got here.

"Did my ghost leave my body in my sleep? Did Scratch accidentally open a portal to the Ghost World? Seriously, what's going on? I'm scared…" Molly said.

Suddenly, Molly sees a small silhouette of a dark figure in the distance. She's cautious, it's standing there ominously and not moving. She looks around and realizes this dark entity is her only hope so she flies towards it slowly.

As Molly gets closer, she starts to make out a shape. It's familiar, but that doesn't make it any less scary.

"Who are you?" Molly asked.

Molly gets close enough but stops when she realizes it's her, or her body, looking at her with that hollow expression. Seeing her body when she's a wraith always makes her feel uneasy. There's just no emotion behind that shell of herself. It's pale, tired, and lifeless. That's what creeps her out.

Curious, Molly floats towards her body as it stands there with that blank stare. They're face to face now, one shell of a human and one lost ghost, scared to be alone but even more so to come together.

"How did you get in here and why are we apart?" Molly asked.

Shell Molly just continues to stand there, numb and dissociated. This leaves Molly frustrated but sad.

"Okay, well if you don't want to talk, that's okay. I'm going to try and find someone who can help both of us." Molly said.

Suddenly, shell Molly grabs ghost Molly's hand tight. Molly looks back and sees this shell of herself crying, finally showing some slight emotion. An emotion strong enough to break through the disconnected haze, deep sadness.

"Don't leave me." Shell Molly said.

Terrified of herself, Molly tries to fly away but can't escape. She panics as she watches the Ghost World fall apart all around her. It crumbles to pieces until there's nothing left but the two of them.

Molly looks back at her shell self in tears.

"Why are you doing this?" Molly asked.

Shell Molly laughs, a sad sounding laugh full of desperation and fear. Trying to maintain her composure but she's falling apart.

"I'm lost without you. Cold and alone…I need you." Shell Molly said.

Molly screams for help but knows it's useless. She's lost in an endless void. The only thing she can do is hold onto hope that someone, anyone, will save her from herself.

"Help! Someone please! Help…" Molly said.


Molly wakes up screaming, tears falling down her face as she looks around and tries to make sense of where she is and what happened. Seeing her room and feeling her blankets and bed around her.

Molly takes deep breaths as she processes what just happened. Slowly realizing that she had a nightmare and she's safe now. She's okay.

After hearing Molly scream, Scratch wakes up and comes out of his ghost house to see what's going on. He sees her sitting up in her bed in tears, looking around her room confused and scared, breathing like she's trying to calm herself down.

Scratch flies over to Molly concerned. He tries not to startle her, but gets close enough to let her know he's here for her.

"You okay, Moll?" Scratch asked.

Molly's blurry sense of the world around her starts to come into focus as she sees a blue light in front of her. Then sees Scratch clearly and feels relieved she's not alone anymore.

Molly hugs Scratch, needing to feel close to someone after that horrific nightmare.

Scratch can feel Molly shaking and she's so cold. He feels sad and worried for her. Something happened and not knowing how he can make the pain go away makes him feel helpless. So he'll just be here for her until she's ready to talk.

Molly then stops hugging Scratch and lies back down in her bed. Clutching onto her blanket like her life depends on it, holding on to something real. All she feels now is cold, inside and out as she shivers, trying to get warm.

Scratch doesn't know how to help Molly, so he just floats next to her. Hoping she'll talk about what happened soon so he can try to understand. Then, to his surprise, Molly speaks up.

"Scratch…What happens when a ghost never comes back to their abandoned body?" Molly asked.

Scratch looks at Molly confused and worried. Wondering how she got this thought in her head, unless it actually happened. Then he realizes that must have been what her nightmare was about, so he does his best to explain.

"Well, once a ghost leaves a human body they become a wraith, as you know. The body is a shell and it won't do or feel anything until its ghost comes back. Otherwise…The human will eventually just pass away if they don't have anyone to take care of them." Scratch replied.

Molly takes in this information, feeling a strange sense of calm come over her. Even though it's scary, just knowing the truth makes her feel better.

"Once the human is…Gone. What happens to the ghost?" Molly asked.

Hearing Molly ask these questions makes Scratch even more concerned for her. He starts to get defensive to protect Molly from herself.

"Why do you want to know?" Scratch asked.

Molly smiles, a sad smile that she tends to put on when she's not okay deep down. It's something she's always done subconsciously to protect the people she loves from her intense emotions.

"Just knowing makes me feel better. You know me, I'm just curious about ghost stuff that's all." Molly replied.

Scratch isn't convinced, but decides to tell Molly anyway.

"The ghost would continue to exist, but it would be more like a lost soul. Its past human life might haunt it or it might not remember the life it had before. Remember Blaire from the abandoned video store?" Scratch asked.

Molly nods. Thinking back to how sad and lonely Blaire was deep down, hiding behind her love of horror movies.

"Well, the reason she was able to fade out after she returned the rented movie was because she let go of what was keeping her trapped on earth. She let go of her emotional attachment and was finally able to pass on and be free." Scratch said.

Molly thinks about this. Wondering if her ghost is feeling trapped inside her body and if there's some kind of emotional journey she needs to go through to understand why. Then she realizes something and looks to Scratch with sadness.

"Are you trapped on earth as a ghost because I'm holding you back from being free?" Molly asked.

Tears fall as Molly sits up in bed and looks at Scratch with a serious yet truly heartbreaking expression.

Scratch can't help but feel sad, but he knows deep down that's not the reason.

"No, of course not! I wouldn't lie to you, Moll. My emotional baggage is something else. Something I haven't quite figured out yet, but I'm working on putting the pieces together. You helped me find joy in my afterlife again and that's worth being stuck here as a ghost." Scratch replied.

Molly wipes away her tears and smiles. Knowing all of this does make her feel better, but it doesn't explain her nightmare.

Why was my ghost trying to escape? And how did my body have so much control when I was outside of it? This is scary…Hopefully it was all just a dream and I can move on, but it felt so real. And I'm still so cold…

Molly tries her best to forget about what just happened to her in her nightmare, but the feeling is haunting her. Still, she keeps up her positive attitude. She doesn't want to worry her family and friends. So she decides to let it go, for now.

"Thanks for explaining all of that, Scratch. Like I said, just knowing makes me feel better." Molly said.

Molly then starts to feel tired, emotionally exhausted from everything. So she lies back down and closes her eyes.

"Okay well, tomorrow's Halloween and I know we're going to have a spooktacular day full of treats and maybe some tricks haha...Goodnight, Scratch…" Molly said.

Molly drifts away into a deep sleep with that sad smile on her face. She's still cold and shaking. Seeing her like this makes Scratch nervous, but he decides to let her rest.

Still, Scratch can't help but feel sorry for Molly. Why she thinks she has to hide her pain from the people who love her will always be a mystery to him, but he hopes she'll come around to let her family and friends help her. He just has to trust her.

"Goodnight Moll…Sweet dreams." Scratch replied.