180: Meeting Bob -Alice-

I had heard enough ghost stories to know that I didn't have to open the door, so getting out of the room was simple. Going through the door felt like I was going through a layer of water except I could breathe. I felt my hair stand on end when I reached the other side, because of a small static reaction between me and the door.

The silence was the first thing I noticed as I entered the large lobby of the museum. The only sounds were that of the large, shambling creatures moving toward a door on the opposite end of the lobby from the entrance. On the floor a few feet away lay the guy who killed me and the lady that was with him, their eyes closed.

What was going on here? What were those things? I should have been terrified, but already being dead meant that there wasn't much to be afraid of. Their long, spindly fingers moved rhythmically as they stepped around the bodies of the presumably sleeping people. The doors of the room they were heading into had been ripped off its hinges and inside I saw a massive archway of stone. Inside the archway an eerie, white glow shined brightly, and each one of the massive creatures knelt in front of it and bowed what could only be assumed as their heads.

I glanced back at Ben. I didn't care about the creatures, I only cared about making Ben pay for killing me. I reached out to touch his face, but as a ghost my attempt failed. How would I go about exacting my revenge if I'm not able to touch him? I glanced at the creatures again and back at Ben.

"What am I supposed to do!?", I swung my hand to slap him but it was a failure, "Why?! You could have let me live! You had a choice!"

The light from the door faded and inside the archway stood a very young boy. His hair a pale red and his body nude, he strode toward the creatures and laughed.

"Good. Now, we must find it. The anomaly is in the area so we're going to go through and kill every person here before we go any further with our plans. I want to see this place full of ghosts, just like that one.", he pointed at me.

Before I had thought that being dead meant there wasn't anything to fear, but something about the way he looked at me made me uncomfortable. I could feel the fear in me rising.

"You." He was still looking at me, "Come here."

I didn't move. I kept staring at him.

"I said-", his voice had an unreal calm, "come here."

Just earlier today I had been a normal teenager and now I was dead, looking at a young child who could command creatures of the like I'd never seen. I was so scared that I found my self wishing that people were trying to throw gum in my hair on the bus ride back to school. I took a shaky step forward.

"Do speed up." He glanced at a small faerie-like creature lying on the floor near his foot, "I don't have all day."

He lifted his foot and smashed it on the small being with such force that I could hear the floor beneath it crack. He swiveled his foot as though he were squashing a bug, and as I approached I saw pieces of wing and flesh smear along the ground.

"All of you!", he glanced at the room full of unimaginable beasts. "Kill everything. I want a room full of ghosts and one of them must be of the anomalies."

All around me the monsters slowly stood as they made their way out of the room, two of them dragging the bodies of a blonde girl and a tough looking guy. I could see them breathing, so they weren't dead yet.

"They're not sleeping." I turned to look at the boy as he spoke, "You could even say they aren't here. I've transported them to the time or place they feared most or will soon fear. See, I don't like to kill something that knows they're dying. Just doesn't sit right with me."

"Who are you, and what's going on?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Bob, and I presume you were planted here by Patrick, yes? Of course, you had to be, he is what he is after all."

"I'm Alice, and I don't work for anyone." I tried to sound tough, but all my legs wanted to do was run, and fast. In the other room I could hear sounds similar to that of a watermelon being smashed and even though I tried not to think about it, I could picture what was going on in the other room.

Bob lifted his foot and picked the rest of the creature he'd killed off his foot, "Everyone works for Patrick. What does he think a ghost can do? No matter. We've won and the only thing he could do to stop us is come here himself."

"He was here." I saw Bob stop and I felt my fear subside when I saw it form on his face, "He left."

The fear on his face turned to anger, "He thinks he's so mighty! I'M THE GOD OF FEAR! HE'S A JANITOR! How can he just toss me aside and pretend that I'm NOTHING?! He left a ghost to stop me!", he leaned toward me and his face got even more angry, "HE LEFT A NEW GHOST TO STOP ME!"

He grabbed a teddy bear off the floor and tore it in half, "WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?! AFTER WE'RE DONE HERE, WE'LL KILL HIM! And you . . . ", he tossed the pieces of the bear aside and looked at me, "There is only one way to get rid of you." He snapped his fingers.

The world around me disappeared.

179: Not Supposed To Matter -Alice-

I walked to the door and as I reached for the knob, a noise behind me made me freeze. Someone was breathing. I turned around and stared at a tall man wearing an expensive suit walking toward me. Something about him made me tremble. There was something in his eyes; something very ancient and powerful.

"Alice. So nice to finally meet you, Alice. I have been watching you for a very long time." His voice made me feel unnaturally calm, which instead of making me comfortable, put me on edge.

"What are you, a pervert?" I retorted.

The man laughed and then shook his head, "You've lived a very difficult life Alice, and you deserved better. Beaten everyday, forced to clean after your parents habit while avoiding your father's drunken rage, and everyday you wished you could die. You wanted it all to end and hoped that you'd feel no more pain."

He knew too much of my thoughts, of my life. I stepped back, "Are you God?"

He stared at me for a long time and then smiled, "No. I'm as far from a God as you can get, and I'm not even sure if the big guy even exists." He stepped forward and held out his hand, "My name is Patrick Bernauw, and I'm here to give you what you really want."

I'd always read stories of deals made with the devil and this sounded like one of those times. I shook my head and stuck my tongue out at him, "No way. You'll ask me to do something later, something I won't want to do."

"There is no catch. In fact, I'm not doing this for you at all. I only choose you because your life needed a change and I felt generous." The way he said generous made the incorporeal hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

"You killed me to make my life better? Did you flunk out of grade school?"

He laughed again, "You are so smart, Alice. Yes, as a matter of fact, I did flunk out of school. Except it wasn't grade school. Have you ever heard of a place called the Other Lands?"

I shook my head still not trusting his words. This could all just be a plan to get me to go along.

"Well, you are a ghost, also known as a Walking Soul in the Other Lands. Walking Souls are the only beings capable of instantaneous travel between this realm and the Other Lands without training. With training a Walking Soul can become a very dangerous being, but that is not important to you. What's important is that you understand that the afterlife humans refer to is the Other Lands."

"Why is that important?"

He stared at me, "I'm trying to give you a better life, Alice. You need to trust me."

"I don't. You're a smelly old man that likes watching a fourteen year old. Even if my Mother couldn't teach me to be careful of guys like you, I'm not stupid." I stepped back again.

He nodded and stood up, "Well, I'll be seeing you again sometime. When we meet again you might think I'm doing the wrong thing, but I swear I'm not the bad guy. The bad guy is a lot worse than me."

"I don't even know who you are! I'm dead, remember?! I'm not supposed to matter anymore!"

He laughed as he walked toward the opposite wall, "Alice, your life is just beginning. Give my regards to Ben."

"Ben? Whose that? Why me? Hey! Stop walking away!"

He turned and smiled, "Ben is the guy that killed you, Alice."

And then he vanished and I was again alone.

But even more confused.

178: Can't Destroy Good -Andrew-

It was like the door exploded. Rays of light flooded the room and the only sound was the glass of the museum windows shattering. This was not the plan. Patrick had not told me about this at all. The light washed everything away and stung my eyes. I squeezed them shut to avoid the pain.

When I opened my eyes I was in a dark, stone room, with a single window high on the wall. Light shone on through it, leaving a bright rectangle on the stone floor. There was no door and the corners of the room were shrouded in darkness.

"I want some cake, Daddy. Not until you eat all your veggies, you scoundrel. Dear, don't call her a scoundrel, you'll give her a complex." A voice from the darkness came. Weakness laced with age could be heard in every syllable.

I stood up and pressed myself against the wall. What was this place?

"Hello? Who's there?", I squinted into the darkness.

"Oh, you've come back. Daddy, does that mean we can leave now? Honey, he might be dangerous. Stay away and let your dad take care of it. Steph, make sure she stays back, you should too. He could be dangerous."

It was me that stepped from the shadows. I looked thin and hungry. For some reason, seeing me standing there filled me with a fear I'd never felt. Something about that other me seeped into my soul, infecting it with dread. I didn't wait for anything to be said, I just ran for the window. The closer I got, the farther away it was.

"It looks like you, Daddy. It is me, honey. I don't like this, Andrew. Stephanie, it will be fine, trust me. Does this mean no more cake? Why are you here? Why would you return after such a long time? After you banished me here, there was no reason to come back."

I turned to face myself and I instantly knew where I was. Panic filled me as I stared into the part of me I'd gotten rid of many years ago. The thin and starved person in front of me was everything that'd kept me from breaking during the torture. It was everything that tore me apart when I thought about it. A solid reminder of what I'd done.

Standing in front of me, was my heart.

I wonder if it's mad?