Turn Back Time - The Ghost and Molly McGee Story

Chapter 10

"Molly, it's almost midnight. Scratch isn't coming back tonight. We could try to look for him tomorrow."

"NO!" Molly screamed. No matter how much her family wanted to reason with her, she refused to go to sleep without knowing where Scratch was. "We have to find him! If we don't... then he's not going to come back..."

"Why don't we take a small drive around Brighton?" Pete suggested. "We might see him then."

"If he was in Brighton, I'd be able to summon him." Molly argued. "He's in the Ghost World. He has to be. There's no way simply 'taking a drive around Brighton' is going to help us."

"It never hurts to try." Darryl added as he walked down the stairs.

"Darryl, I told you to go to bed an hour ago." Sharon said sternly, looking at her son.

"Couldn't sleep. Plus, this is a family problem, right?"

"Right." Pete agreed. "So should we drive around Brighton and see if we can check?"

"We're not gonna find him." Molly said softly. "I can't summon him, he's not in the Human World. He's not coming back. He'll never come back and it's all my fault."

"I say we still try." Sharon stated. She grabbed her daughters hand. "Come on. We'll search around for him and, if we don't see him, we can always look tomorrow. Deal?"

Molly was still doubtful, knowing that they weren't going to find him, but she was feeling extremely tired. "Deal." She mumbled, and the family headed to the car.

* * *

Geoff stayed by Scratch's side for the rest of the day. Scratch enjoyed having someone's company. It helped get his mind off of everything that was happening. It made Scratch want to stay in the Ghost World that night, but he was too tired to pull another all-nighter and knew he needed sleep. Geoff knew this too, and despite not knowing where Scratch was going to sleep for the night, he still let his friend go.

The two waved goodbye to each other and Scratch flew through a portal to the Human World. It had to have been around midnight, he assumed, so he knew Molly had to have been asleep. The night was still cold, but Scratch could get through it. He splat down into a dumpster. Brighton was so empty at night, he should've been safe from any humans for a while. He took a deep breath, then curled up into a ball as he tried to fall sleep.

* * *

The McGees drove around every place they knew in Brighton. They drove down every street, took every turn, searched every place there could be.
Pete drove the car slowly and Sharon instructed her kids to look out the window for any sign of the ghost. Molly leaned her head against the window and stared at the empty town as the car drove through the town. She knew they'd never find Scratch, so she gave up on even trying to look for him.

She felt awful. She called Scratch all those ugly names and told him he was a terrible friend. She didn't quite understand why, but he hated it when he was called names. He acted like he was called names a lot and took every insult personally. He wasn't a terrible friend, either, he was the greatest friend Molly's ever made, despite their differences. She loved him to pieces. She could only hope he'd forgive her for everything she's put him through.

Her parents were conversing quietly with each other at the front of the car. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see panic on their faces, so she assumed their conversation was about Scratch. She looked at her reflection in the window and sighed.

She continued to gaze at the town. Everything was dark and empty. The only light on at the moment was the van's headlights, but even the headlights couldn't completely pierce the darkness. The night was so dark that, when she noticed a blue light glowing from the back of one of the alleyways, it grabbed her attention in an instant.