After spending the evening drinking with his two best friends, the Grey Ghost of Ottawa made the walk back to the Reddick Mansion. Though he wasn't intoxicated or tipsy, he staggered and stumbled towards the Mansion. He gripped the sides of his head, his mind raced like a rally racecar, running at top speed on the uneven gravel and dirt of his mind. He slammed into the side of a brick wall, his head was spinning and his vision went blurry as he tried to keep upright.
What nobody else could see, was that he was avoiding dark, midnight purple ooze. The ooze wasn't physical, but more so mental. Every time he touched it, his parents' condescending voices screamed into his ear. Words of, "WORTHLESS AND USELESS BOY!" and "YOU ARE PISSING AWAY YOUR POTENTIAL!", seemed to fill his mind.
"Why is it... that my happiness is... so wrong in their eyes..." The Grey Ghost struggled to say.
"Fool, you know NOTHING OF REAL LIFE!" followed by the deep-cutting words, "YOU WANT AN ALL-WHITE FAMILY! YOU HATE ME!", had the Grey Ghost staring into the darkened streets with eyes of madness. He refused to scream or even cry. He offered his pained soul and heart no relief, no point of rest, not even a word of comfort. He just carried himself in agonizing silence. Even his vestiges couldn't help as they saw and heard the same things as him. Many had passed out or collapsed from the pain.
However, as he opened the door of the Reddick Mansion, in the front room stood Banshee Sam, the one he'd so casually flirted with. "Goodness, you must be drunk..." Started Sam as he went to help the Ghost upstairs. However, as he came closer, Sam saw his cheeks were stained with a wet trail of saltwater tears that had fallen down his cheeks. He pulled the Grey Ghost into a hug but found the flirt had broken past him and rushed up the stairs and to the roof.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He yelled, trying his best to remain calm.
"Who? What's wrong?" Asked Sam.
The Grey Ghost's eyes locked on Sam, and for the first time... they were filled with fear and pain. Sam placed his hand on the Ghost's cheek, just to have it swatted away.
"NO! DON'T LOOK AT ME!" Yelled the Ghost. For a moment, it seemed as if Sam would leave, but rather he gripped both of the Ghost's cheeks and closed his eyes. As he reopened them, Sam saw just what the Ghost saw and heard what he heard. All of the phrases he'd had told to him, all of the anger and pain that was swirling around his heart...
Sam pulled the Grey Ghost into a tight hug. "I see you... I hear you... and I am not afraid of you. I came here to tell you thank you, for making me feel better about all of this, but it would seem you helped me, all while fighting your own battles."
For a moment, the Ghost was silent. Tears streamed down his face quietly but then he spoke.
"Hate... If the word hate were engraved on every inch of my unraveled soul... I would be stained in the blood of every last one of those blades I used against myself... I hear them all, and I want their souls to be raked around this planet, in unequivocal pain, torture, and seething rage. If I were an angel... I'd have succumbed to the sin of hatred, unrivaled in just how far I'd be willing to go, sending shivers down to the depths of hell, the depths of my soul are far more dangerous than a demon with everything to lose."
"Your friend, Dr. Sue, told us you'd killed them..."
"It was not enough... for their wretched souls still live." The Grey Ghost had stopped his waterworks and glared with a stare that could make even the devil shake. "I swear on the love my grandma showed me... I WILL CRUSH THEIR SOULS, TO PROTECT THOSE I CARE ABOUT I WILL..."
The Grey Ghost was interrupted by Sam planting his lips against his own. For the first time, an energy poured into his soul and relit the fire that had been snuffed out years and years ago. They sat upon that old roof as the pink moon came out from behind the clouds and shone down on them. A simple kiss had broken down every wall that the Grey Ghost had ever put up. Sam backed away blushing and embarrassed.
"I... I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking, I should've..."
The Ghost pulled him back into a kiss by the odd little tie he'd been wearing. As the Ghost pulled away, he clutched his chest feeling that little soul-engine working again.
"Thank you..."
Sam's Banshee eyes light up in the pink light of the moon. He looked at the Grey Ghost who had just been in a volatile state but was now calm as could be.
"It's funny...", started the Ghost, "I used to look up to the moon and pray it would send someone who could do what you just did... Sam... my soul hasn't worked right... for years now. Yet, you managed to calm me down, managed to get me out of my head..." Tears ran down the Ghost's face.
Sam stared at him confused, but slowly began to get it. The Ghost had been fighting for god knows how long, all while trying to relight the fire within his soul. Even when he was hurting, he was carrying the pain of everyone else around him. Sam chuckled softly and held out his hand. "Allow me to fully introduce myself. I am Sam, the second prince of the Decker-Class Banshees, son of Garamond the Wise."
The Ghost snapped out of his daze and bowed his head. "I humbly ask you to forgive my unacceptable..."
"That won't be necessary." Smiled Sam as he rubbed the Ghost's hair. "You've done nothing to apologize for. I can't imagine having to do what you've done, knowing what you've been through."
The Ghost and Sam shared a laugh. "Well, Second Prince Sam, I am the Grey Ghost of Ottawa. Hero and Defender of this city, grandson of Irongrail Archie and Beloved Patricia May."
Sam laughed as he covered his shark-like teeth. "It's a pleasure to meet you, grandson of Archie and Patricia. You are a wonderful kisser by the way."
The Grey Ghost covered his own smile as it was his way of blushing in this aspect. "Likewise, Son of Garamond. Come inside, let's get out of this cold."