I highly reccomend listening to the Neighborhood's "Wires" and James Newton Howard's "The Hanging Tree" while reading this. Happy fall and Halloween, everybody :)
-Cheshire
The door slammed to the ground with a hugely audible thump! as Maddie kicked it down.
"Get ready to die again, ghosts!"
No response.
She stayed close to the wall while creeping in, and felt something cold and sticky on the back of her HAZMAT suit. Reaching behind her, she rubbed freshly spilled ectoplasm between her fingertips. Maddie looked closer at the walls, and realized that the entire room was covered in ectoplasm, spattered everywhere like blood in a massacre.
Tch.
A trail of ectoplasm seeped through the cracked tile and led to a thick titanium door bound with iron bars, security tape, and a huge metal cabinet. Maddie noticed that a robotic arm was laying against it like a wasted effort to keep the door shut. Following it in a trail of wires, metallic scraps, and ectoplasm lay the broken remains of the ghost hunter who referred to itself as "Skulker"; its head was popped open, where a seemingly smaller entity had crawled out and, after a few steps, melted into an unstable pile of goo.
She looked away as its human-like eyeball lolled in the spectral puddle and stared at her with a dead gaze.
To her left was a white masculine ghost, which was completely torn in two. Maddie recognized it as the ghost "officer" known as Walker. After failing in checking for any sign of an active core, she pushed it away and shot open the blocked door. Whatever was in there that destroyed two level 5 ghosts and needed to still be contained was dangerous and must be extinguished-and she would be the one to do so.
Slipping through the blown hole, she came into a wide, expansive room that was completely barren of anything except for the spare piece of litter. But after several moments, she realized she wasn't alone.
Maddie reached for her Fenton flashlight; maybe it'd let her see a little better. As soon as she flicked it on, she immediately wished she hadn't.
A mix of ectoplasm and human blood was sprayed over the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Some of it was flaky and old, but the majority was wet and disgustingly fresh. After looking for the cause of it, she was led to a young boy hanging from the ceiling by rusty chains and knives lining his jumpsuit. Maddie's eyes widened in surprise as she realized who it was.
Phantom.
I wish I could take back some evidence of this.
She took out her retractable bo staff and slowly, articulately, poked Phantom's side cautiously. No movement.
...
...Wait.
A bright ring of white emitted from his waist, splitting in two and moving up and down its body. Immediately Maddie recognized the dirty raven-black hair, gore-filled white and red t-shirt, and bloodstained jeans as that of her son.
No.
No.
This was just the godforsaken ghost shapeshifting to mess with her mind. An illusion. Lies.
Slashing at him-it-with a ferocious shout, crimson rain showered on the cold cement floor as she hacked and mutilated the body of her son. Denial lined every wrinkle on her face.
Lies!
Lies!
ALL OF IT, LIES!
Maddie took one last swing before collapsing in a fit of tears. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. She refused to accept this.
But according to the human lifeblood of Danny-her Danny-staining the room, it was very, very real.
My Danny's dead.
My Danny's dead.
Oh God.
Oh God.
This can't be happening.
Please.
Please.
I believe in a God-if there is one...save me from this hell.
Not my son.
Not my baby.
Please.
Oh God.
Help me.
Help me.
Jack.
God.
Jazz.
Alicia.
Anybody.
Save me from this torturous hell.
I don't want to look at him anymore.
I hurt him.
I hurt my boy.
I'm not worthy of living.
i want to die.
kill me.
I know I want to live.
but i also want to die.
Stay with the family...
...or join danny.
As much as I love Jack and Jazz and the life I have now...
They won't be alone...
Danny'll be alone in heaven...
i should go with him.
Should I?
Do I want to end my life now?
Maybe I should wait.
No.
Do it now.
What...
Now.
Do it now.
Right now.
No!
You aren't my mind anymore!
What are you!
Wrong choice.
Danny wants you with him.
Right now.
He does...?
Yes.
He's begging.
It's lonely for him in the afterlife.
No friends.
No family.
And you're so close, anyway.
I see the gun in your mouth.
What?! I have a gun in my-
I can see out of Danny's eyes.
Y-you...you get out of hi-
I can see your fate.
If you don't pull the trigger, Jazz will die next.
Jack will too.
Lies.
Do I sound like I'm lying?
Just look at your boy.
Isn't he just beautiful.
Hanging from a death chain.
Did you see the one around his neck?
So pretty.
GET AWAY FROM HIM
He's so bloody and dead it's almost funny.
YOU PIECE OF-
Did you know how he became the ghost you hated so much?
I DON'T CARE ANYMORE
Oh, yes you do. I see it in your train of thought.
LIES
He was electrocuted by that portal of yours. Technically, it's your fault.
STOP IT
Haha. But he lost half of his soul-half of his lifespan-to your stupid invention.
PLEASE
Am I scaring you? You seem afraid to look at Danny now.
I'm not-
Good.
You know, I think your jaw is aching from holding that gun in your mouth for so long.
It is...
Come on, Maddie. Danny's waiting. He's begging, for crying out loud.
Maybe...
I'm sorry it had to come to this.
But you're taking too long.
Much longer than Danny did.
I'll have to help you out.
What-
BANG.
Creak.
Ah, the light. It burns.
My shoulders are aching.
No. It's fairly dark, actually.
Look down.
Well, would you look at that.
"Goodbye, Mrs. Fenton," Danny chuckled.