The blonde rushed to the door, her vision a bit hazy as she opened up into the hallway. Another door flung open right beside her.
"Jotou?" Hotaru's eyes were practically two lines wide, hair a little frizzed.
"That came from Meko, right?" Jotou shook herself awake.
"Crap," Hotaru and Jotou made it over to her room.
"Fumeko!?" both of them yelled before knocking on the door.
"HELLLP!!!" the panic shriek replied from the room. She twisted the handle… Of course her door's locked! Jotou moved Hotaru aside and sparked her hand.
"Smash!" She broke the lock and kicked into the door. "Meko!? THE HELL!?" Jotou's eyes were now fully open.
Like a kite being flung into the wind only to end up in a hurricane, some sort of succulent, bug-green, phantasmal creature thrashed and flailed around the room.
Its face was not perceptible from its erratic movements as it howled and wailed in the room. Its body, like a large hood that was torn at the ends, 'flew', making the sound of a demented wind current.
Hotaru's eyes ejected open, her ears awoken and her tail hidden near her legs spiked up.
"JOTOU!" Fumeko screamed, hidden under the covers of her bed. The crash coming from her wardrobe fallen over onto a board.
Red strings were displaced and many notes scattered alongside her clothes. Still in her nightgown and purple headband. "wwooOSH!" Fumeko blinked to where Jotou was and hung onto the blonde's body for dear life.
Jotou grabbed her and pulled her back, putting another arm in front of Hotaru, "What in the world is that!? A, ghost!?" Jotou moved back.
"I've never seen one, looks like it though," Hotaru gulped as all of them slowly… moved back…
"What do we do… what do we do? What do we DO!?" Fumeko panicked.
Jotou, "Do?" let out a laugh in fear, "Nothing for now! We have no idea how to deal with something like this!"
"GAH! Uagh! Ah!" they all recoiled back as it stopped… It slowly turned its view to the door in the dark room where the windows blocked any moonlight.
Its eyes were, melting? Its mouth held open in agony while it let out a hollow wail… It stared… It watched… Simply floating like a miasma in the room.
"SHRIEK!!!" It wailed and cried out loud; everyone held their breath, their faces went pale, various muscles tensed as their bones rattled.
It floated up in a flurry, shifting sideways before it zoomed into the left wall and through it, without a trace…
They exhaled, forming little clouds in their breaths. "Why… why did it, is it just some lost soul or something?" Fumeko tried to make sense, holding onto Jotou.
"I'm not sure… but let's stay in the living room for the night, huh? I'm sure we can find someone to deal with this kind of stuff," Hotaru suggested, rubbing her own shoulders.
'Ghosts? At least velatos seem more like demented animals, this is just…' "You know, my old world doesn't seem too bad now," Jotou nervously chuckled… "Wait, Asobi!"
The other door opened without needing to break. Asobi just awoke from under her covers, holding onto them. She tilted her head to the phantom that drifted over her dresser.
It stared at her… "Hello!" Asobi greeted with a sleepy smile, "I, I don't remember making you? Did I make illusions in my sleep again?
What, are you though- Oh, friends! Jotou, Aru, Meko, meet-" Asobi noticed their entrance. Looking back to the ghost, "Uh, what was your name, sorry, I'm a bit sleepy right now," she yawned.
The ghost kept staring at her… What was it… doing? Its head tilted, as if examining in curiosity to the elf. "…Asobi…" Hotaru called for gently.
"That, that's a ghost… move very slowly out of the room…" Jotou uttered.
"OH, that's why I'm getting creepy tingles from you…" Asobi spoke to it, "Well, I've never done a show for the afterlife other than Jotou, but do you like bunnies?"
The ghost kept staring… "Asobi, get your stupid ass out of there," Fumeko chimed from behind Jotou.
"I can bargain with this fella to make sure it doesn't eat me, right? Where," she patted her bed till she reached under her pillow and pulled out her wand, "Bunnies!" illusory white rabbits hopped around the floor of her room.
The creature peered down to glance at it. "I don't think that's how ghosts work…" Jotou relayed, keeping an eye on the ghoul.
The ghost looked back to Asobi… "SHRIEK!!!!!!!!!!" It lunged for her.
"EEEEEEEEKKK!!!" Asobi sounded back, rolled out of her bed and went invisible. The ghost… grabbed her bedsheets with its piercing fingers; like claws that were made for shredding.
Asobi hid invisibly on the floor whilst the rest froze. The ghost peered backwards, twisting its neck without moving its form.
Its body was translucent, but the hands grabbing her sheets were completely opaque before it became translucent once more. The sheets fell with holes through its incorporeal fingers.
Its eyes stared directly into Asobi's green eyes, through her guise. "MEEP!" Asobi stumbled as she got up and regrouped with her friends at the door, while the ghost zoomed down into the floor.
The ghost thumped its hands against the wood, slamming into it with full force. The floorboards cracked and ripped as it lifted its hands out.
Like broken fingers, it held it up, bleeding out in some greenish fluid that dripped onto the floor and dissipated within seconds. It rose its broken claw-like fingers at them.
The wood poking and piercing through its 'skin' all fell to the ground as it went incorporeal… and then corporeal again. "SHRIEK!" It swooped towards the four.
"AHH!!!!" the four yelped ducking down and Fumeko blinked next to the bed. They rushed into the room; the force of wind the ghost exited with—"SLAM!"—shut the door on its way out.
They all held onto each other, bubbled up eyes and fast beating hearts… "So, we just stay in this room… forever, right?" Fumeko stared at the door.
Jotou took a breath, "Okay, everyone calm down. We've faced worse… I hope…"
"Right, you always have a plan in a situation like this. What is it?" Hotaru turned to Jotou, patting her tail down.
"I was hoping you'd have something…" Jotou replied. "Detective?"
Fumeko furrowed her brows to Jotou, "I've barely dealt with magic, what do you want me to do with ghosts!?"
"Maybe… we could just give it a sandwich and some juice, then ask it to leave?" Asobi shrugged.
"Shut the hell up Sobi! Now's not the time!" Fumeko snapped.
"I'm just suggesting things, don't yell at me…" Asobi shrunk.
"Okay, okay, both of you shut it. I came up with something. None of you are gonna get this but horror movie logic. Let's not go through that door," Jotou pointed.
"Safety in numbers, stick together and most importantly," Jotou pointed to the back of her, "We're going out that window and waiting till morning because, ghosts don't like mornings?"
"Well, I was thinking we could reach the phone and call the Krialin?" Hotaru added.
"That's smart; wait, no, phones don't work with ghosts," Jotou corrected.
"Can we talk about this once we're out of here?" Fumeko opened up the curtains and the window, blinking out; the others jumping over.
They crept up to the front of the house, crickets and critters filling the night. In the pitch-black, they could at least make out no other threats nearby; no help either.
Being secluded from people and the nearby neighbourhood had its benefits but… "CRasH!" It was not exactly the easiest to yell for help. The curtains shut and doors locked, they had no way to peer in.
Hearing the increasing noise of things breaking, "No, no, not the house!" Hotaru held her ears down.
"All the money… and our food!!" Fumeko worried along.
"All our things! My hat! OH NO MY HAT!" Asobi held her head, realizing it was just her hair.
"Yeah, I have things in there too and I like having a private bathroom. But what the hell can we do about it?" Jotou argued.
"Something! Maybe we can at least get it to come out here!" Fumeko suggested.
"Here? Where are we gonna go? Run all the way to town?" Jotou replied.
Asobi whined, holding onto her wand. She made an illusory version of her top hat… "It's not the same!!!"
"Guys! There's a ghost! We can get you a new hat of all things," Jotou tried to reason.
"Jotou, that thing knocked over a wardrobe and tore through bedsheets and floorboards. How long do you think before we can get help and have it not destroy everything?" Hotaru countered.
"Not to mention my evidence board…" Fumeko's pressed her palms into her face, "I spent so long on it!"
Jotou sighed… 'The things I do for these people…' "Fine," she conceded. "We're really gonna do this…"
'It can go through walls… but it also broke wood and tore through cotton… then it didn't hold onto it anymore. Maybe I need to think less horror movie, more practical.'
Jotou recalled something from the moment of terror, "It bled…" she spoke aloud. They looked to Jotou, sensing the blonde had a plan to enact.