Chapter 6

Let the Hunt Begin

Today was the beginning of another school day for Molly and her friends! Molly, along with Scratch and Libby began their walk to school, but unlike last time, Andrea was there with them as well.

After their sleepover together, Libby finally accepted Andrea as her friend. Ever since Andrea found out about Molly's ghost, she constantly apologized to Molly for how she treated her on the first day of school. Whenever Andrea apologized, Molly assured her that she didn't care about that anymore and was happy that the two of them were friends.

As the group of friends were making their way to school, none of them were aware that Ollie was behind them, tracking Molly down. He looked at his readings to realize that it was the same ghost who was near Libby.

"So, that ghost is still around." Ollie said to himself. "I'd better warn Libby. Libby, wait!"

Ollie rushed towards Libby as she started to panic.

"Quick, hide!" Libby whispered to Molly and Scratch.

In response, Molly and Scratch flew far away so that Ollie won't be able to track them. At that moment, Libby put on a fake smile as she greeted Ollie.

"Ollie! Nice to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too, Libby!" Ollie smiled before taking notice of Andrea. "Oh, hey! I don't think we've met! I'm Ollie! What's your name?"

"Wait, you don't know who I am?" Andrea asked, surprised. "Andrea Davenport? One of the biggest influencers in Brighton?"

"Sorry. I'm still new to Brighton and I'm still getting to know everyone." Ollie explained. Andrea gave an understanding nod. "So, how are you enjoying Brighton?"

"It is a pretty nice place to live in! Just as long as you stay away from the ghosts around here." Ollie then turned to Libby and whispered. "Don't worry, Libby! I am currently tracking that ghost and I'll make sure she will never bother you again."

"Ollie, wait!" Libby tried to call out for him, only for him to leave, no doubt getting his ghost hunting gadgets ready.

As soon as Ollie left, Molly and Scratch came back, relieved that they avoided him once more. It was at this point when Libby was more worried than ever about Ollie. If he ever found Molly or Scratch, he wouldn't hesitate to capture them.

Andrea soon broke the silence as she said, "So, you already know him, Libby?"

Libby nodded. "Yes. Ollie seems to be after Molly because she is a ghost. He really does mean well because he doesn't want me to get hurt by any ghosts. I just wish that there was a way for him to see that ghosts aren't really bad."

"I'm sure that he would be able to see that ghosts can be good at some point!" Molly assured.

"Yeah, hate to burst your bubble, Molly, but he's a ghost hunter! You just can't reason with him." said Scratch.

"As much as I hate to agree with you, Scratch, you might be right. If Ollie is this determined to capture Molly, there might not be any hope of him being friends with her." Libby sighed in defeat before continuing her walk to school.

Once the school day began, Libby did her best to forget about Ollie. Unfortunately it was hard for her to do so since Ollie went to the same school as her. Just the thought of Ollie capturing Molly and taking her away from her forever was too much for Libby to handle.

Throughout the day, Libby would look over her shoulder every few minutes to make sure that Molly is safe. Upon noticing how worried her girlfriend was for her, Molly floated over by Libby's desk and held her hand throughout class, letting her know that nothing bad is going to happen.

Once the last bell of the school day rang, Libby gathered her school supplies before meeting up with Andrea in the school hallway. As she noticed Libby's worried look, Andrea knew exactly what she was thinking about.

"You're still thinking about Ollie, aren't you?" Andrea guessed.

"Yes, I really want to keep my mind off it, but I just don't want to lose Molly." Libby admitted.

"Libby, I promise that I'm not going anywhere!" Molly assured. "Why don't we all hang out at my house? That should get your mind off of it!"

"As long as there is something for me to eat, that's fine by me! Hey, does anyone else heard that beeping noise?" Scratch looked around the school confused.

The group of friends looked down the hall to see Ollie, who was tracking down Molly. They all started to panic before they ran through the school and hid themselves in a nearby classroom. More and more students and teachers started to leave the school until Molly and her friends were the only ones left. Just when they thought it was safe to leave, they heard Ollie's footsteps approaching the classroom they were in.

"What? He's still here!" Libby asked in disbelief.

"He just won't quit. Maybe I can scare him away." Scratch suggested.

Molly shook her head. "No, Scratch! He would only end up capturing you! I'm the one Ollie wants! Maybe I can try to reason with him."

Shocked by what she heard, Libby started to tear up as she tried to talk Molly out of it. "I can't let you do that Molly! You've seen how much he hates ghosts!"

"I know, but I can't keep running away like this! Please, Libby! I have to convince Ollie that ghosts are good!"

More tears fell from Libby's eyes as she knew that she couldn't change Molly's mind. She soon leaned in and gave Molly a kiss on the lips.

"I love you Molly!" Libby said.

"I love you too, Libby! I promise I will come back to you!" Molly smiled before leaving the classroom.

With that, Molly flew into the hallway, before she took notice of Ollie. She slowly floated towards him to reason with him, but was taken by surprise when he aimed a blaster at her.

"I knew I would find you here! I won't let you get away this time!" Ollie got ready to fire the blaster.

Molly raised her ghost arms in response. "Wait, wait, wait! Can't we just talk about this?"

"There is nothing to talk about! Don't think that I haven't noticed you being with Libby this whole time! I know that you are planning something sinister!" Ollie argued.

"What? I would never do anything to hurt Libby! Not all ghosts are bad! What do you have against ghosts, anyway?"

"A ghost frightened my dad when he was a kid! My family has been hunting ghosts ever since then!" Ollie explained.

It was at that moment when Molly glared at Ollie. "So, one ghost scared your dad, and you're just going to take it out on the rest of them?!"

"You are no better from the rest of them! Just a while ago, you possessed Libby's body! I'm not going to let you hurt anyone anymore!"

Once she realized that she couldn't get through to Ollie, Molly flew away with Ollie giving chase. While Ollie was chasing after Molly, Libby and the others rushed out the classroom. Libby tried to call out for Ollie to tell him to stop, but he was too far away to hear her.

"He's after Molly!" Scratch yelled before his shocked expression turned to anger. "If he so much as hurts a hair on her head, I'm going to haunt him for the rest of his life!"

"While I understand how you feel, Scratch, we need to think of a plan to stop Ollie!" Libby explained.

Andrea pondered for a moment before she said, "I have an idea! Follow me!"

Wondering what Andrea had planned, Libby and Scratch followed Andrea until she led them to the principal's office. She reached for the handle of the door, only to realize that it was locked.

"Oh no! I forgot that Principal O' Connor locked the door." Andrea remembered.

"Just leave it to me!" Scratch said before he floated through the door before opening it from the other side. "There! Now can you tell me what you have planned? Breaking into the principal's office sounds like something Darryl would do."

"First, let's go to the computer and check the school cameras so we can keep track of Molly and Ollie." Andrea suggested before sitting down in front of the computer.

"But how are you going to work the cameras?" Libby asked. "I don't think any of us are good at computers and-"

"Found them!" Andrea said, much to Libby's surprise.

"Wow! Already? How did you find it so quickly, Andrea?" Libby asked, surprised.

"Oh, I have had my fair share of experience with coding, so I have an idea on how computers work!" Andrea explained.

It wasn't long before everyone was able to see the camera monitors on the computer. Here, they found Molly being hunted down by Ollie. The ghost hunter go closer and closer to Molly as he started to catch up to her before Andrea thought of an idea.

"I got it! Scratch try to make as many scary ghost sounds as you can!" Andrea said before turning on the intercom.

The ghost soon smiled, liking what Andrea had planned. He took a deep breath before speaking in the scariest voice he could come up with.

"Ooooo! You daaaaare to hunt my frieeeeend?" Scratch's voice echoed through the hallway, gaining Ollie's attention. "Leave now, or I will haunt you for eternityyyyyy!"

Now distracted, Ollie turned to the opposite direction and chased after the ghost that was seemingly just right down the hall. Little did Ollie know that no matter how fast he ran, he was never going to find the ghost. Back in the office, Libby, Andrea, and Scratch cheered, happy that their plan worked.

"Good thinking, Andrea!" Libby complimented. "That trick really fooled him!"

"Yeah! That was actually pretty clever!" Scratch agreed before taking another look at the cameras. "Wait a minute. Are the two rooms Molly and Ollie in close to one another?"

"Oh no. I think we just sent Ollie running in a circle!" Andrea realized her mistake.

Meanwhile, Molly flew into another hallway before she took a moment to catch her breath. She looked around and smiled once she was safe.

"Whew! I think I lost him!" Molly breathed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, Molly would soon be proven wrong when Ollie suddenly ran out of another door.

"There you are!" Ollie yelled before he fired at Molly.

With a scream, Molly dodged the blasts before flying into the school gym. Unable to watch this anymore, Libby decided that enough was enough. She stood up and made her way to the door.

"Libby, where are you going?" Andrea asked.

"I'm going to save Molly! I'm not going to let Ollie hurt her!" Libby said before she left the office.

Before long, Ollie had Molly cornered in the gym. It was at that point when Molly started to feel exhausted after trying to get away from Ollie. She tried to escape into another room, only for Ollie to fire the blaster at her once again. This ended up firing a blast of ghost catching slime at Molly, pinning her to the wall.

Now desperate, Molly struggled to escape, but was unable to move. Ollie stepped closer to her as she tried to plead with him once more.

"Please! You don't have to do this!"

This time, Ollie fired at second blast at Molly's mouth, silencing her pleas.

"I'm not going to let you try to trick me! Once I capture you, you are never going to hurt Libby or anyone else ever again!" Ollie said as she stepped closer to Molly.

It was at that point when Molly tried to yell out for help, but her pleas ended up muffled. The ghost soon started to tear up as she started to think back to her friends and family. Her parents, Darryl, Andrea, Scratch, and Libby. Once Ollie captures her and takes her away, she is never going to see any of them again. Unable to avoid the inevitable, Molly closed her eyes, and braced herself for her capture.

"Stop!"

It was at that moment when Ollie turned to see that Libby just burst into the gym. This surprised Ollie. He didn't know what she was doing here, but he was just happy that Libby was now safe from the supposedly dangerous ghost.

"Lbby!" Molly called out for her girlfriend in a muffled voice.

"Libby! It's okay! I just captured the ghost! I promise she won't hurt-"

Not even letting Ollie finish that sentence, Libby ran right passed him and stood between him and Molly. Angry at him for what he did to Molly, Libby sent Ollie a death glare that somehow made Ollie feel more frightened of her than the actual ghost in the room.

"Leave my girlfriend alone, Ollie!" Libby yelled.

Shocked by what he heard, Ollie took a moment to process what he just heard. "Wh-What? That ghost is your girlfriend?"

"Yes, she is! This ghost is Molly, my best friend who died recently! The only reason why you and your family are here in the first place!" Libby explained.

Now overcome with guilt, Ollie slowly lowered his blaster. He couldn't believe that he was hunting down Libby's girlfriend this whole time.

"Libby, I'm really sorry for everything."

"You are?" Libby asked.

Ollie nodded. "Yes, if I'd known that I was hurting someone you cared for, I-"

Ollie didn't even get to finish his sentence before he suddenly got knocked to the floor by a dodgeball someone threw at him. Surprised, Libby brought her attention to the entrance to see that it was Andrea who threw the dodgeball.

"I knocked him down! Now we can save Molly!" said Andrea.

At that moment, Scratch flew further into the gym, and was shocked to see Molly, who was still pinned to the wall and gagged. Furious, Scratch turned to face Ollie.

"YOU!" Scratch pointed a finger at the ghost hunter before transforming into a giant version of his ghost form! "YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAD DONE TO MOLLY!"

Seeing the giant ghost hovering above him caused Ollie to scream in terror. Thankfully, Libby was able to come to Ollie's rescue before Scratch could hurt him.

"Scratch, wait! It's okay! I told Ollie everything!" Libby assured before Scratch returned to his normal size. "He is sorry for hunting down Molly!"

"He is? This is kind of awkward. Sorry for hitting you with that dodgeball earlier." Andrea apologized before reaching her hand out for Ollie to help him back up.

"It's okay. I kind of deserved it anyway." Ollie admitted before taking Andrea's hand.

"Yes, you did!" Scratch grumbled, still sore at Ollie for constantly hunting down Molly.

At that moment, Molly called out for her friends in a muffled voice, letting everyone know that she was still stuck.

"Oops! Sorry, Molly!" Libby apologized. "Let's get you down from there!"

With everything now cleared up, Libby and the others took the time to free Molly. Once she was free, Molly embraced her friends in a group hug.

"Thanks for saving me, guys!" Molly smiled.

"We're just glad that you're safe, Moll!" Scratch replied, relieved that Molly was okay.

Feeling guilty from his actions, Ollie said, "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you. I'll just leave you alone."

At that moment, Ollie turned before he started to leave the school. However he was stopped at the last second when Libby rushed towards him.

"Ollie, wait! I understand that you only tried to capture Molly to protect me. I don't want our friendship to end like this. We can still be friends if you like!"

"What?!" Scratch asked in disbelief. "That jerk nearly took Molly away from us forever and you still want to be his friend?!"

"I'm not going to lie. I'm still mad at him for trying to hunt down Molly, but I can't keep holding a grudge forever. I should make an effort and try to forgive him. It's what Molly would have wanted." Libby explained, to which Molly smiled in response.

"Y-You still want to be my friend even after all that I had done?" Ollie asked, surprised. "I-I don't know what to say."

"How about, let's be friends!" Molly exclaimed before floating towards Ollie. "Why don't we start over! Hi, my name is Molly McGee! It's nice to meet you!" Molly raised a ghost hand.

With a smile, Ollie took Molly's hand in a handshake, happy that he and Molly are now friends. "And I'm Ollie Chen! It's nice to meet you too, Molly!"