Today's word count: 1,416 words
Running total: 25,504 words
Summary: Kenneth's condition is fully explained and our group prepares to go on their first ghost hunt, tying up some loose ends at school.
Also, I recommend you go back and re-read yesterday's entry if you've already read it at the time of this posting. I accidentally forgot to include Part 14, but it's there now.
“One night he passed a ghost on his way home, and he lost control of himself. He ate it—the ghost, the stray soul. Originally he was horrified by his new form, but eventually he realized that he could use his powers to consume ghosts and lessen, maybe even eliminate this threat in the new world. Because his ghastly form had dark skin and could meld with and travel through the shadows, people called the creature ‘dark—‘ scuro. This man eventually gained followers who turned themselves. Together they worked to eliminate the plague of restless spirits. When the numbers were brought down to a normal level, the scuro disbanded and went to die peacefully. They’ve been largely forgotten, which is a shame… they really did defend humanity during their active time.”
He stops there and lets his words simmer in silence. We all get the gist of his little talk, but it’s not one of those things that’s especially easy to formulate a response to. I mean, what are you supposed to say when someone says, “Hey, you got bitten by a ghost and you turned into a were-ghost?” We wait for him to bring this talk back around.
“Well… Kenneth, you were attacked by a ghost. Your story matches the original tale.”
Yeah, we get it Chase. But what now? I mean, I don’t even know how I factor into this. I’m sure I do, because I’m the only one here who can see the things, but I want to know how, exactly, you know?
Kenny has the same idea. “I… I get that much.” He tries to pull himself up. It looks like quite a chore. He’s not used to those legs that go backwards quite yet. They’re called digitigrade feet, if you’re curious, and his knees don’t go backwards, those are just his ankles. Yeah, long ankles, I know. His feet aren’t really built for standing upright. In the end he leans himself against both the wall and his tail while sort of looking upright. “But what do I do next? Do I have any sort of… abilities?” Pause. “What if I get hungry again?”
Chase smiles. “You won’t have to worry too much about that.” He yells, “Hey, can you turn the lights on?” to no one in particular, then, “Kenny, do you mind if the lights are on?”
“That’s fine. I think I’ll be fine…”
Scarlett is the one who actually goes and finds the light. All five of us cry out in pain and shield our eyes for a few moments as our eyes slowly adjust to the bright, cheery light. It’s just then that we see how bad the damage to the house really is—there are all sorts of gashes everywhere in the floor and walls, furniture is overturned, the works. We seem to be sitting in the remnants of a dining room. There are four chairs, but quite a few are now missing legs or parts of legs. Chase picks up the least damaged—only a few scratches in one of the back panels—and sets it right, then sits down in it to continue giving us exposition.
“Well, I did research on the life cycle of scuro. Apparently, between their initial transformation—that’s when you got attacked, basically—and their first meal, they’re unpredictable. They don’t have a set food source yet, or even a set form. They’re constantly changing. Then when they’ve eaten their form stabilizes. It depends on whether their meal was a living soul or a soul belonging to someone deceased—in other words, a ghost.
“Now that you’ve eaten a ghost, you’ll probably find your appetite for living souls isn’t very strong. You won’t be as strong as one who eats living souls, because you won’t need to be. Ghosts are a bit easier to dismember than flesh and blood.” Chase smiles. This conversation is almost sad to hear, in all honesty. It’s like he’s sitting here pretending this is all normal, like a doctor trying to tell someone that they’re paralyzed that hey, legs aren’t really all they’re cracked up to be and everything’s normal. I guess it’s a lot like that in some ways.
He continues, “And you’ll be able to look human most of the time. You can just change into a ‘disguised’ form. You’ll still have to eat ghosts regularly—“
“Stop there,” Kenny orders. “When you say ‘regularly,’ how often is that?”
Chase makes a half hearted “gee I don’t know” gesture. “Once a month, maybe once every two months. You can eat more if you want. It’s not that often.”
Kenneth seems satisfied with that answer. Yet his next question is “And if I don’t eat that often…?”
“You’ll have to eat something. You’ll run the risk of going crazy again and trying to attack someone. Maybe even kill them…”
“…Go on.”
“Well—“ Chase points to all of us. “You have us. We could all go ghost hunting together.”
I hold up a hand. “Whoa, whoa, back that train up into the station, Chase.”
He looks over at me, obviously pissed. “Well, if you’re scared of ghosts, you can always leave the club. No one’s forcing you to stay here.”
“That’s… not really what I meant. I mean—Chase, you’re scared of ghosts.”
“No I’m not.”
This is going to be a losing battle. I give in. “Okay, you’re not.” I turn to Kenny. “But hey, I was going to be here for you all along, man. I’m just a bit surprised everyone else had the same idea.”
Scarlett smirks confidently, making some BS up at the last second to make herself look good. “Well, our ghost show was a huge hit. Why not do more shows like that?”
Kenny grins again, with his big sharp pointy teeth. It’s kind of cute, actually, if you can get past how downright terrifying it is at first glance. It’s like when a really friendly dog bares its sharp canine teeth, but you know the dog well enough that it’s not really bearing its teeth at you but smiling. “You guys are the best friends I’ve ever had...”
I walk over to him and smack him on the back. He nearly falls over, but catches himself at the last minute. “Aww, hey, that’s what friends are for, right? Besides, I gotta figure out why I’m seeing ghosts and stuff.”
“Brian…” He never finishes that statement. You know, I don’t think he actually has any more to say than that. His tone of voice says everything I need to know.
We’re all quiet for a while. Scarlett speaks first. “So… we don’t have many more shows to do for this year. We can spend a lot of our show time doing research on popular ghost sites, then meet a few times over the summer to do filming and let Kenny eat some. That sound good to everyone?”
“Sounds good to me!” pipes Ashley. The rest of us agree with her sentiment in some form.
Nodding to herself, Scarlett then says, “Okay, then, I have to go home. My mom will be worried about me. I’ll see you all tomorrow!”
We all chorus “See ya!” and “Goodbye!” as she walks off.
Ashley walks over to me and buries her face into my chest. I’m not that much taller than her, but I’m tall enough for her to be able to do that. And she does it a lot; that’s like, her favorite way of showing how much she loves me. I put her arms around her.
“Brian,” she mumbles, “Can we go too?”
I look at her. Damn, she can be so helpless sometimes. I don’t tell her this, but I don’t really like her romantically. It’s just… she’s so young, mentally. I don’t feel like I’m talking to someone a year younger than me, but rather someone who is significantly younger, like a daughter. Yeah, I guess I’d say she’s like my little sister a lot of the time. I guess there’s nothing wrong with that.
I look at Chase and Kenny. “You guys will be fine without me?”
“Yeah, I’m done explaining Kenneth’s condition. There’s nothing you need to hear.”
I look back at Ashley. She returns my gaze with big, helpless eyes. “Okay, then, I think we can go.”
She squeezes me tightly. We say our goodbyes and leave the house.
The night is so beautiful, so perfect. It’s a nice beginning of summer night, with clear skies, nicely-moisturized air, and a cool breeze. It’s the perfect night to start a new chapter in our lives.
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Scene X
And So It All Went Exactly as Planned
Scarlett
It’s the last full day of school, before exams begin. The last time we’ll be meeting for the news casting club. And you know something? Even though our last show had nothing to do with ghosts or demons, everyone complemented the five of us on the work we did. Patricia really hated that. I’ve seen her in the halls, always giving me venomous looks. I admit, I love it when she glares at me so hatefully. It means I’m doing something right.
But at the same time? I’m a little bit worried. Chase and Brian have been getting badgered by Dean. It wasn’t too much at first—just a little
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