Help! She's here!

Chapter 3 All Good Things Come to an End

TW: There's some violence (Also, sorry for the long wait. I totally forgot this story existed...)

The cat stood up, and stared at Aly as if it was beckoning her to follow. For some reason unknown to her, Aly felt like she knew the cat. She stood up as well. As soon as she did so, the cat began to walk out of the room. Aly followed closely behind.

They walked back around the corner into the larger area of the basement. The cat slinked towards a closet and glared at the closed door. Aly followed the cat's gaze to the door expecting to see someone or something there, but there was nothing. It was just a normal door.

She looked back at the cat, who was still staring intently at the door. The cat looked back up at Aly, blinked, then returned its eyes to the closet door. Aly stared at the cat, still confused before finally realizing what it wanted. She walked to the door and slowly twisted the knob, pulling the door open.

She peered inside and shouted out stumbling away from the door. In the closet lay four bodies. Her mother, father, a teenager, and a young boy all lay dead in the closet. The bodies were all fully in tact. They hadn't decayed at all and they gave off no stench.  Tears began to stream down her face as the fact that her parents were dead set in.

She felt something lightly touch her arm. She looked to her side to see the cat glowing. Before her eyes, the cat slowly morphed into the same young boy she had seen in the closet just a few seconds earlier. Aly glanced at the closet before looking at the boy again.. He nodded, confirming Aly's suspicions. He walked to the center of the room, and sat down. He patted the floor in front of him, staring at Aly.

Aly obeyed, and sat down as well. The boy looked down, messing with the cuffs of his jeans. "My name is Jeff," he said, looking back up at Aly's face, "I'm your older brother."

Aly shook her head, "That can't be true. I don't have a brother, and you're definitely younger than me!"

"That's because I died when I was eight," Jeff explained, "You were still a baby. I guess Mom and Dad didn't tell you. They probably didn't want you to grow up sad and missing the brother you could have had. I never left though. The whole unfinished business thing is true apparently. See, I made a promise when you were born that I would always protect you, but then I got hit by a truck. I was so confused when I first woke up after my death. I remembered dying, but I felt pretty alive. However, when I went to talk to our parents, they couldn't see or hear me. They were crying so much, and there was nothing I could do to console them. Thanks to the promise I made, though, I'm stuck here until I fulfill it. I've held the form of a cat for the purpose of watching over you. Now you're in serious danger, so I'm showing myself to you."

Aly nodded, not fully understanding, "I don't know what to say."

Jeff chuckled, "That makes sense. I did just throw a lot of information at you."

The two fell into a silence while Aly processed all of the information. Finally, Aly spoke again, "Who's the other person in the closet, and why haven't any of the bodies started to decompose?"

"The boy in the closet was called Timothy," Jeff answered, "That ghost killed him in the house across the street. The bodies aren't decomposing because of the whole being trapped on the Earth thing. See, while we're stuck here, we're bound to our bodies. It's almost like we're not completely dead until we complete our purposes, so our bodies stay intact."

"I see," Aly muttered, still slightly confused, "Wait, why isn't that mean ghost following us anymore?"

"I was waiting for that question to come up," Jeff sighed, "Right before I died, I saw that little girl staring at me through the window. I had a bad feeling about her. When I saw her kill Timothy a few years ago, I performed a protection spell on the basement. I wanted to make sure there would be a safe place to go if she ever decided to attack you. Unfortunately, I can only appear to you, so I couldn't save Mom and Dad, but as long as you stay down here, she can't hurt you."

Aly was relieved to hear that, until she realized one little issue. "What about food and water?" She asked, "I'm going to need to eat at some point, and when that happens I'll have to go upstairs. In fact, I'm quite hungry now. We should go get a much food as we can, right?"

Jeff considered this thought. He didn't like the sound of Aly walking straight into danger, but he knew she was right. Reluctantly, Jeff agreed. He morphed back into his cat form, and the two children made their way to the stairs.

The girl knew that Aly would eventually come back upstairs, so she waited for her at the entrance to the basement. When Aly came to the bottom stair, the ghost's smile spread into an evil grin.

Aly swallowed hard and began to climb the stairs. The ghost cocked her head, "Are you gonna play with me now? You've been very naughty ignoring me like that!"

Aly swallowed hard as she realized just how dangerous this little adventure of hers was. She stopped walking, wondering if she should just turn back.

"Aly?" The ghost called out, "You're not going to leave me again are you?"

Aly shrugged. "I might," She shouted in an attempt to hide her fear.

"You're just like all my other friends!" The ghost exclaimed, growing angry, "They all left me. They said mean things like 'I don't like you any more' and 'You're a creep, Mary!' I showed them though! I got my revenge on them, and killed them. Don't make me do the same to you!"

Aly bit her lip nervously trying to come up with a plan. Soon, she got an idea and called up the staircase, "Your name is Mary?"

Mary nodded, smiling.

"If I become your friend, you won't kill me right?" She asked.

Once again, Mary nodded, giggling to herself.

Aly sighed, "Okay, I'm coming upstairs now. I'll play with you."

Mary clapped her hands, excitedly jumping up and down. Aly looked down at Jeff, nervously before walking slowly up the stairs. Jeff followed closely behind. Once they got the the top of the stairs, Aly tried to make a run for it. She sprinted towards the front door, hoping it would be back to normal. Mary pounced on Aly, wrapping her hands around the young girl's neck.

"You lied to me!" She screamed, "You didn't actually want to be my friend! You BITCH!!"

She tightened her grip on Aly's neck. Jeff leaped at Mary, and clawed at her hands. Mary elbowed him, sending him flying across the room. There was a loud crack when he hit the banister by the staircase. By now, Aly's face was turning blue.

With the last bit of breath she had left, she whispered, "Sorry, Jeff!"

The life drained from Aly's face, as her body went limp. For a little while longer, Mary continued to grip her neck tightly. Jeff got back up, and morphed back into his human form. He limped over to the girl and began tugging at Mary's arm.

"Please stop," He cried, "You've done enough, she's probably dead already!"

Mary let go of the young girl's neck and sat on the floor laughing, maniacally. Jeff collapsed over his sister's limp body, wailing. He had failed in his one job.