It was Wednesday morning, and John was suffering from the usual stress of constant failure. There was still no sign of progress in his leeching skills. Meanwhile, most of the ghosts were in the entertainment room watching television with the interns of the center. "I bet we're going to have newcomers soon; the main highway is closed; they made a detour by the national road close to us. As soon as someone crashes and dies, the building will suck them in," said Ramon after watching the news. And Ramon was right; that same afternoon, three new ghosts came in; the first one was a kid. "Oh fuck. A kid, thats bad." Complained Martin.
"Why?" Asked John.
Maybe a week earlier, he would have said something like, "It is just a kid." However, these past few days, he has learned to think from another perspective.
"The building feels attracted to young souls; I guess it is like meat; they are more tender, I suppose."
"So, let me guess we're going to have more attacks, right?" John asked for confirmation.
More attacks mean a lot of extra risks for him. It was bad indeed.
"Yes." Martin didn't give much explanation; he knew what was going to happen. He saw it once.
Like always, Shana made the introductions; she was the welcome party. But this time, she took the kid to Willy's room. There, she talked to him. His name was Andres. He was just eleven years old. That day, he felt sick and was on his way to the hospital. He had a congenital heart problem, so this kind of situation was common. But he didn't make it this time; he was having problems breathing when the ambulance took him. At some point, he fell asleep and woke up on the floor of the nursing home.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine. Just wait here for a moment. Uncle Willy will keep you company." Shana left the room and went to Elizabeth's.
There, she joined Ramon and Elizabeth.
"We can't keep him, you know it." Said Elizabeth.
"I know, but still..." Ramon replied.
Elizabeth just moved her head in a negative gesture.
Meanwhile, in Willy's room, Andres looked at this guy sitting with his head between his legs. All he did was touch the old lady. Although Shana already explained it to him, accepting he was dead was a bit hard. At least he didn't have problems breathing or moving around. He tried to touch the old lady but felt nothing. Then he tried to touch Willy; his hand passed through him, which was weird and scary. Willy lifted his head; there was that weird face; his eyes looked like he was about to cry; and his mouth was twisted in a creepy-looking grin. He looked like the bad guy from a thriller or slasher movie.
Andres got scared and escaped the room. He ran up the hallway to the exit; the door was closed, and he could not open it. He ran down the hallway, stopping at Elizabeth's room after recognizing Shana.
"Miss Shana, that man Willy, he looks weird." Andres complained with a face like he was about to cry.
"Yeah, Willy is a bit weird," agreed Ramon. "Come with me; I will show you around." They left the room.
"He is a problem, and you know it." Said Elizabeth.
"It has to be done," confirmed Shana, lowering her sight.
Right at this moment, two new ghosts came into the building. One of them was a cop and the other was a regular guy, but there was something amiss because as soon as they came in, they started glaring at each other. The cop went for his gun while ordering, in a loud voice, the other man to lay on the ground. But there was no gun. The other men looked at the cop with a grin on his face. Ran towards him to punch him. However, the punch had no weight, did no damage, and had no impact. The cop tried to restrain the suspect but ended up hugging him with a bear grip that had no strength. They basically died together. It was a car chase on the closed highway. The guy was high and didn't follow the warnings on the closed street. The cops chased after him, and they got into an accident.
"Cut it off, you are both dead; welcome to Green Pine Nursing Home; you are trapped here forever," Miguel said.
"This is a police matter; don't interfere, sir," said the officer.
"Jesus is always the same with these guys. You are not a cop anymore; you are dead; a ghost is over." Miguel didn't waste more time and moved along.
The cop and his suspect tried a few more times to engage one another, but to no avail. When they grew bored of it. They started moving around.
Shana did the usual introduction like she did with John. The cop was hard to handle; he wanted to be treated like an authority figure. He didn't like it when the others gave him the middle finger; however, there was nothing he could do.
The two newcomers did the same thing others did: trying to open the door, trying the window, interacting with the living, as usual. Once they reluctantly accepted they were trapped, Shana explained about the munchers.
It was already nighttime when she ended her explanation. Both newcomers were skeptical; like many others, they wouldn't believe in ghosts eating ghosts until they saw it happen. When night came, the walls rumbled, the lights flickered, and the screams came in full force. This time, munchers came.
John was already in a position to get into the pantry with other ghosts as soon as the rumbling and flickering started. Miguel already warned him that the monsters would come almost guaranteed. The blackout annoyed the workers; one of them got up to check the fuse and opened the pantry door. Before it closed, all the ghosts rushed in. On the other side, in the hallway, the newcomers stood.
The kid was instructed by Shana to stay by the door. She told him that there was a chance the door would open if there was a blackout, and he was small enough to escape. It was a lie. When the cop and the other guy saw the monstrosities pass through the walls, they found themselves in disbelief. The cop's first reaction was to reach for his gun, but he didn't have one. The reckless driver's first reaction was to run. But where to? Shana told them about Elizabeth's room and the pantry as safe spots, but they didn't listen; now those two locations were closed. Both men looked at the kid near the door. They both had the same idea: There was a way out there. No one would think that the kid was a sacrifice.
The munchers launched towards the kid in a frenzy. They didn't pay any attention to the rooms, the other two men, or anything; they went straight for the kid. The screams of the boy resonated throughout the building; all the ghosts heard him scream while he was eaten. Ramon and Shana gripped their hands. Elizabeth showed no emotions. Willy had a creepy grin on his weird face. Most of the others were silent and acted like nothing happened. It just lasted a few seconds, but after the munchers were done with the kid, they went for the others.
The cop and the reckless driver tried to run, but they could not outpace the monsters in speed. By the moment the lights were back on, the munchers were trying to eat the ghost leeching from the living. The munchers went back into the wall, and the screams of the kid and the two newcomers could be heard all over the walls. Elizabeth almost never stopped leeching; the same was true for Willy; unless something important needed attention, they would stay in their room with their hosts.
Ramon and Shana went to Elizabeth's room. The ghosts taking refuge there went out without saying a word.
"It had to be done," said Elizabeth.
The other two knew she was right, but they still didn't want to accept it. The fact that it was the second time they had to sacrifice a kid didn't make it any easier.
Back at Martin's host room.
"So, they sacrificed the kid," commented John.
"Yup, that's the usual procedure with kids," confirmed Martin.
"Thats fucked up.".
"I didn't see you running to save him," retorted Martin.
"Now get back to training." John did as instructed.
"Hey, why do Willy and Elizabeth never stop leeching?. I have seen Elizabeth move away from her host once or twice, but still... and Willy, he never moves. I don't think they need practice."
"They are old ghosts, the older ones in here. They need a lot of energy to stay stable, and their stability time is shorter than others."
"That doesn't sound funny."
"Focus on your training; at this rate, it's going to take you forever."
John knelt and tried to watch carefully as the tip of his finger made contact with the old lady's skin. Like any other attempt, it was a failure. But all he could do was endure the frustration and keep trying; the fresh image of the munchers eating other ghosts was a good motivation.