"George, pass me a chain." I say as I walk down the old, dimly lit hall of the abandoned asylum.
"Just a moment." George Cubbins, a short, plump, blond haired boy with huge round glasses replies. "I think I might have something…" He focuses on the temperature reader in his hand with extreme thoughtfulness.
"Yes, but we might not have a moment. We need a secure place to retreat if anything goes wrong."
George rubs his glasses on his white, stained, untucked shirt. "I'm well aware of that Lockwood, but I have this feeling that-" At that moment, Robin Atkins arrived. He has straight red hair that goes all the way down to his shoulders, loads of freckles, and a rapier at his side.
"Stop your bickering, boys." he tells us. "It will alert the ghost that we're here, and that's one thing we don't need right now."
Robin has a point. See, ghosts are attracted to any strong emotion such as annoyance and anger, which is why we try to stay calm and level headed in these types of situations. Especially on this case. Mr. Isaac has hired us to dispose of a ghost that haunts this asylum. The spirit, we think, is a raw-bones: a nasty and powerful type two that, as the name implies, looks like raw human bones with flesh hanging off of it. They tend to look the same way the corpse currently is. Normally, they want to kill every human in sight. However, it's nothing that we at Lockwood and Co. can't handle.
"Robin's right." I say. "It's fine, George, I'll grab the chains." I pick up my duffle bag and grab a four foot long chain from it. I then place said chain in a circle at the end of the hallway. Right in front of the emergency exit stairs, in case we need to make a quick getaway, but I doubt it'll come to that.
"So George," Robin starts, "What were you saying before, you had a feeling of some sort?"
"Thank you, Robin." George throws a side eye at me. "As I was saying, I have a feeling that the ghost is getting close. The temperature dropped ten degrees." He then looks back down at the temp reader. He squints, rubs his glasses yet again, then looks back at it. "Scratch that, twenty degrees."
"Well then," I say, "We better get a move on with finding this source. Robin, did you find anything in the patient room?"
Robin shakes his head. "Nothing. In fact, it seemed warmer and quieter there."
"Alright, then. That means that it has to be either here, or on the staircase. I propose we-" I stop, and look at Robin, who looks deep in thought. "Robin, are you alright?"
He shushes us, and looks behind him. "I thought I heard- wait, yes, I do! I hear a shuffling or scratching noise. It's faint, but gradually getting louder. I advise we get to the circle."
Robin and I step back behind the chains. We ready our rapiers. That's when I noticed that George was getting closer to the alleged scratching sound that Robin told us about.
"George!" I hissed. "What are you doing? Get over here!"
George ignores my warning. "I'll be fine, Lockwood. I just want to get a good reading over here. I'll just be a moment."
"Yes, but that's a moment we don't have. Now, get your oversized posterior over here or I'll-" I stop short, as something catches my eye. I see a faint glow at the end of the hall. You see, all agents have a special talent that helps them detect ghosts. Robin's talent is listening, and George has touch and sight, but not as good as mine. My main talent is sight, which means I can see spirits and their death glows better than most. Therefore, a glow at the end of a long, dark, hallway that only I can see isn't the best of news. It normally means that a ghost is around.
"George, I highly advise you to get to the circle. Now."
I can practically hear George's eye roll from here. "Stop worrying, Lockwood. I told you, I'll be fine. You worry too much."
Robin finally pipes up. "Er-, George, Lockwood's right. The scratching is getting considerably louder now."
Suddenly, a figure comes into view. I can't see the details, just an outline as it is still slightly in the shadows, but I can tell that I don't exactly want to see it. I open my mouth to warn George to run, but just then, the figure lurches forward toward him. I leap out of the circle and tackle George to the ground, lashing upwards toward the spirit with my rapier. George lets out a squeak as we hit the ground hard, tumbling down the hallway. Poor Robin was swinging madly with his rapier, whilst trying very hard to stay in the protective circle. He somehow managed to draw the ghost away. It then rematerialised at the end of the hallway. The same end that George and I were in.
I jump to my feet and haul George up off the ground. "The stairs!" I shout to my team. "Get to the stairs!"
Robin, being the closest to the door, flings it open and runs inside. George and I scramble down the hallway, me in the lead since I have considerably longer legs.
Robin pokes his head back out through the door. "The stairs only go up!"
"Well then," I say as I stop to a halt at the door, waiting for George to catch up. "I guess we're going to the roof."
We bound up the stairs, taking them three at a time, with Robin in the lead, and me bringing up the rear. I wanted to provide my team with a safe getaway, and protect them from getting ghost-touched. Your insides start to freeze, and you can't breathe. I lash and swipe at the spirit with my rapier. I still can't see it too clearly, as I am in the midst of running for my life.
We finally get to the top of the stairs. We burst through the door and onto the roof. It's a pretty large roof, with a handful of chimneys, all made of concrete bricks. The edge of the roof had a short wall that went up to my mid-thigh. Much like the outside of the asylum, the roof was covered with moss, and some vines here and there. We ran to the centre of the roof, where I scanned our surroundings once more. This time, looking for a place to hide.
"There!" I exclaim, as I point to the chimneys. About five of them were bunched together, creating a sort of wall.
We dove behind the chimneys, Robin and George breathing heavily. And just in time too, because that's when I heard the thud of the door closing. The ghost was on the roof.
Risking a glance, I peeked out of my hiding spot and saw it clearly for the first time. It was average height, covered in skin that looked slightly burnt that was peeling away from a moulding skeleton beneath it. Its skull was covered with dried blood, and its torso had a bit of its rib cage poking out. It was wearing what looked like a hospital gown, but the cloth was actively tearing and disintegrating.
I pulled my head back and glanced at Robin, who flinched. You okay? I mouthed.
Robin was shaking. "I-I heard something say 'I'm burning'". Okay. I think. The source might be in one of these chimneys, then.
But before I had time to look, the raw-bones jerked it head in our direction. I cursed. It must've heard Robin talking. The ghost started drifting our way.
"What's the plan?" George asked. There was no time to make a plan, much less think. We had to move.
I gestured for George and Robin to follow me, closer to the edge of the roof. At least we'd be further away from the ghost.
As we reached the edge, I glanced down. It's funny how when you're on the ground, a five story building doesn't seem so tall. But when you're on the edge of the roof looking down five stories, it suddenly seems a lot higher.
I gulp and turn to face the spirit, which started to glow brighter. I take my sunglasses out of my coat pocket and put them on. I heard a gasp on my left, and a gasp on my right. I guess they can see it now. I look to my right and notice Robin start to tremble furiously.
Suddenly the ghost floats toward us with incredible speed, arms stretched out in front of it, as if to embrace us. George and I dive to the side. Robin, however, steps on top of the ledge.
"Robin!" I scream at him. "What the heck are you doing?"
That's when I notice that Robin's eyes were milky white. I put two and two together. Robin was experiencing ghost-lock, a thing that a strong spirit can do to a vulnerable individual. Normally, they would undergo paralysis, but in special cases, if the spirit was extremely powerful, said individual would then get 'possessed' by the ghost. "Robin! Snap out of it!" I shout. But it was no use. He couldn't hear me. The ghost hovered just in front of him.
Robin tilts his head and gives a toothy smile. His voice sounds far away and raspy, not at all like his normal voice. "See you on the other side." He then does the unthinkable.
Robin jumps off the roof.
"Robin!" George and I shout. He then disappears from view.
We start to recover our senses as the Raw-bones lunges again at us. This time, I swiped at it with my rapier. "George!" I shout. "The source! It's in the chimney!" I parry another attack.
George runs back to the row of chimneys. "Which one?" He then ducks as a glob of ectoplasm gets hurtled towards his head.
I lunge at the spirit with my rapier. "How should I know? Just check them all!"
George hurries over to the first chimney. Then the second one. Then the third. "George!" I shout at him. "Why don't you hurry it up a bit?" I doge another attack. Honestly, could he go any slower?
Finally he reaches the last one. "Of course. It's always the last one you check." he mumbles. "Lockwood! I found it!" He holds up a small object that looks like a pocket watch.
"Well that's brilliant, George!" I say sarcastically. "Why don't you, oh, I don't know, cover the source with your net so the ghost goes away, or something?!"
"Oh yes. That would be good." George takes out his silver net and wraps the watch in it.
All goes quiet. The ghost is gone. I take off my sunglasses and put them back in my coat pocket. Suddenly, realisation hits us. We both rush to the edge of the roof behind the chimneys and look down below. We see a figure sprawled out on the sidewalk five stories below. George gasps. I just stand there, staring dumbfounded, for we know what lies there. It's our good friend and partner, Robin.
Robin Atkins is dead.