~The Primordial Void~

Chapter 3

Opening her eyes to an otherworldly gloomy sky blanketed in swirling green clouds, Kat squinted, focusing her blurry vision until it became clear again. With her consciousness returning, she stretched her tense body as she finally took in her foreign surroundings. Perhaps this was all a crazy dream that she awoke from, and she was in bed still half-asleep after a long day at school and practice. Then she saw it.

The full moon, glowing as brightly as earlier but much bigger in the ominous sky despite the discolored clouds that threatened to hide it away.

The grand view of the foreign heavens almost drew her attention away from something falling like a shooting star that seemed to be heading toward her, and before she could blink there was Casper, colliding into her. Surprised that he didn't seem flustered as he normally got when they bumped into each other, she watched him stand back up, surveying their new environment. Once he looked up just as she had, the little ghost whimpered fearfully. "Oh no, this cannot be happening. This is not happening!" While he paced around frantically, Kat felt her heart skip a beat, sitting up to catch her breath.

"Casper..?"

"Hm..?"

"Wh..Where exactly are we?"

He sighed in remorse, "If I tell you, promise you'll trust me, okay? We've gotta stick together, so..don't freak out."

"Okay..wait, why?"

"Remember when you fell down that hole that showed up outta nowhere? Well, it was actually a portal, and now we're in the middle of the SuperVoid..I bet this place totally bites for a fleshie."

Kat lifted her gaze in disbelief. "What?"

"See, the vortex only opens when there's a full moon with clouds passing it, like that!" He exclaimed, pointing to the eerie sky. "Except, uh..there was a bunch more than usual. C'mon, we've gotta go-" Before he could finish, the little ghost jumped as something glowed and almost jumped out of his pocket. Shifting his gaze away from their surroundings for a moment, he took out the most bizarre contraption Kat had ever seen, even after all the strange machinery shown to her back at Whipstaff Manor.

"Don't tell me. It's one of your dad's inventions?"

For the first time since they arrived, Casper's features brightened with a bashful giggle. "You got it! How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess, I suppose.." She said as the miniature machine continued to spark. "What's it for, since it's all we have now..?" Although she didn't like the idea of carrying around J.T. McFadden's strange inventions along with them, they likely didn't have a choice. Kat had to rely on Casper, and the trusting ghost had to depend on whatever he had left that promised to hold any long-lost memories, especially if they were trapped in a world far away from home and anything that was vaguely familiar to them. A fact that she still couldn't comprehend, almost wishing that she was hallucinating.

"Hmm.." Holding it up to the pale moonlight, he squinted his eyes to observe the unknown gadget. "I uh- I don't remember.." He mumbled, panic spread across his eyes as he helplessly fiddled with the contraption.

"It's okay, Casper, you tried your best." From the way he scratched his head and looked away, she could tell that he shared her doubts. Soon the little machine died down as suddenly as it sprung to life. Perhaps it was better that way. The last thing they needed was for either of them to become overwhelmed with emotion before knowing what faced them up ahead.

"Wow..it's like it reacted to us, but why?" Continuing to fiddle with its buttons and crystal ball, the little ghost paced about, as if he was trying to discover even the smallest memory that could give them the tiniest clue. The contraption must have temporarily responded for a reason. Casper never mentioned anything about it nearly sparking to life earlier, yet now it had a mind of its own. As long as it was J.T.'s invention, that probability wasn't far-fetched.

Giving him space, she stood up impatiently. Of course he had his reasons, but why would he be more concerned about a meek little gadget that appeared to be nothing more than a TV remote when they just arrived to what seemed like the netherworld?

The netherworld. With a trail of goosebumps creeping down her arms, Kat felt a lump in her throat. If this really was the dimension that her ghostly friend recalled, then this was the world of the dead, no place for a living being. How would they make it back home? Could she even make it out alive? Was she still alive at that moment, or was her soul left behind as soon as she fell down its vortex?

Followed by the trail of goosebumps was a sharp tingling in her hand, a paralyzing numbness that she never felt before. Not the type when her foot would fall asleep in class, no. This was too sudden and felt as if she didn't have a hand at all. Wondering if she was already getting delirious from the cruel fate they ended up in, she glued her eyes to the ground. Then she saw it from the corner of her eye. Although her right hand was spared, the one where her thumb wore an iron ring in honor of her mother, the other was unrecognizable with its disturbing transparency, surrounded by a ghostly blue glow with no evidence that it was ever alive and healthy like herself. Stricken with terror, her breath hitched, ready to scream from the unforgiving sight that was now a part of her own body.

Just as her breathing quickened, catching the attention of Casper, he hastily wrapped himself around her like a gag. As suffocating and intrusive as it felt, deep down she understood his reasons.

"W-W-Wait, please don't..! I know it's pretty scary here, but if you scream, then you'll get the others to hear us, and..trust me, they can't know we're here!" He stammered, letting her go after she nodded slowly, pulling herself together.

"Ack! We've only been here for five minutes and this literal ghost-town is turning me into one of you, look.." She said, trying to keep quiet as she lifted her ghostly hand, trying to ignore how much it nauseated her.

Being the open book he was, sheer panic lined his features, a warning that he was about to shriek louder than she almost did, but the boy managed to keep a calmer composure. Hesitantly approaching her, he held out his hand. As she extended her own, Kat felt a shiver race down her spine. For the first time, their hands effortlessly touched one another.

"We have to hurry," He said, breaking the heavy silence. Kat pitied the regret seen all over him. "I know! We'll sleep in that cave til morning, so we can get outta sight..follow me!" The boy shushed her before flying off, and she had no choice but to tag along. Her gut screamed at her to stay away from a mysterious, eerie cavern but of course, how would she not feel that way about everything around her? This was the supposed SuperVoid. The world of anything but the living.

_____________________________

Behind a trail of footsteps left by the lone fleshie girl was a skeptical being whose job was to guard the Freelands and track anything unusual. Or that was, whatever remained of the desolate lands.

Those tracks could only mean one thing. Something that hadn't set foot in the Void in centuries. Ignoring the feedback that whined from the walkie-talkie, the impressively strong being prepared to announce her findings. Squinting beyond what lay close to her, however, could she see that the trail clumsily led to what was no ordinary cave. The superghost merely shook her head in dismay. There was no point in reporting her discovery to Snivel if this possible fleshie was walking straight to its death anyway. No living creature could ever survive, never mind tell the tales of the ancient Tunnel of Fear.

Flying over to get a closer look at the unexpected visitor before the cave could swallow up its victim, she spotted another visitor beside the daring human. A young ghost that floated loyally by the girl's side, like he was guarding her with his afterlife. Shaking her head in disbelief, she began to wonder if that little phantom was who she thought he was. It couldn't be.

She shook her head gravely, wishing she was wrong. Whoever the unlikely pair was, they would surely become history in a short matter of time.