The Septic Curse

Fifteen

"I'm going to kill it."

Jackie had only been this pissed once in his life, and that was because of Anti. 

But that THING just went and ruined that streak like it was nothing.

"Oh please! Zhink rationally vor once- you can't kill something zhat's already dead." Henrik hissed, clearly grumpy from being interrogated by investigators- paranormal and regular- and reporters. Marvin pat Jackie's back empathetically as they exited the hospital. 

"I don't ca-care!" Jackie coughed a bit, "I'll suck its soul into a vacuum and toss it out the window!" "Kinky-" "Not now, Marvin!" Jackie groaned at his little brother's childishness. "'Not now'? When is the right time for 'kinky'?" Marvin laughed in return, brightening the mood a bit. 

"Marvin, stop fucking around... You already know that its only on Tuesdays." Jackie smirked, relenting and allowing the mood to lighten. "PFF-" Marvin snorted, blushing a bit. "Oh my fookin' god, that explains so much! So THAT'S what you two are doing every Tuesday!" Chase 'realized', joining in the fun. With their minds temporarily off of the terror that was the little beasty haunting their house. 

"Now, now. Ve do not support incest in zhis household!... Vut, of course, it's fine if it's a Tuesday." Henrik started up the car with a snort. "What is with this family and Tuesday?" Jameson mused, chuckling slightly. Robbie just shrugged, having not understood the joke to begin with. 

The rest of the ride was filled with similar jokes, the Septics not wanting to think about their problem until they got back home. And when they did get back home, nobody exited the car. If they were to talk, it would be safest to do so outside of the ghost's range.

Well, that would be them assuming that the ghost wouldn't want to randomly get into a car with full grown men packed in like sardines. Then again, they knew nothing about the little shit. 

Except that it was a chaotic bitch.

"Look. Vhen ve all get in zhere, ve vill NOT show zhat zhis got under our skin. Ve vill do zhis zhe old fashioned vay and just ask vhat zhe fook it vants." Henrik ordered, "and just in case ve cannot- or should not- fulfill its request... Marvin, vhy don't you stay outside for a few hours? I'm sure you need some fresh air. Ve can ask vhat it vants tomorrow morning."

"Huh?! Are you kicking me out of the- oh. Wait, never mind. Yes, good idea, that is, Papa." Marvin chuckled, fragmenting his sentence just to be silly. Understanding the order now, he bid his farewell to the others and slid out of the car. It was pretty late at night when Chase and Jackie had been discharged, and the drive had taken an hour... So, it was decently late. 

After everyone else had gotten out and Henrik gave him the keys, Marvin drove off to the location of The Witch's Market. Tonight, it was taking place a mile or so into the woods about a half hour away. 

When he did reach there, it still wasn't midnight. So, he took a nap. 

------------

When the Septics got outside, they were startled by how fresh and crisp the air was. 

It was as if the fire never even happened, just like the nurse said. 

"Hey... We're home..." 

Chase called out warily, unsure of how to reinsert them into the household. 

The wind howled by the windows, and the lights flickered a bit. For everyone save for Robbie, this is the closest thing they would get to a 'hello'. 

Henrik took off his coat slowly, unsure of whether he felt safe in his home or not. But with a sigh, he relaxed. He couldn't just stay scared like this- he had to let the ghost know that this was his house, and he wasn't backing down just because of a childish spirit. Tossing his coat towards the coat rack, he frowned as he missed. That was supposed to look cool, dammit. 

But the rack itself swiveled and caught the coat as naturally as Henrik had tossed it. And for once, the Septics actually noticed. They had subconsciously gotten used to the house moving around them, not even questioning when things moved in their favor... But now they were. 

Why was it doing stuff for them just to hurt them? Why wouldn't it kill them? What did it WANT?

With a defeated sigh, Chase led them to the living room. Plopping down on the couch, he put his head in his hands. "...Look, Sam. I know that's probably not your real name, but I have nothing else to call you. I don't know if you're listening... But I just want you to know that us trying to get rid of you isn't personal. You're a good kid, from what we've seen. It's just that you're dangerous and getting more aggressive! We don't know why, either, or how to prevent that. So... Don't think that we don't appreciate what you do."

Jackie looked at Chase quizzically, but the others seemed to understand his words perfectly. If Marvin were there, he would also be confused, but Jackie was in the dark on his own right now. "What do you mean 'what it does?' The fook does it do besides cause trouble all day and knock us around?! It literally tried to KILL us-!"

"Jackie. It does a lot more than small things like pushing in our chairs and helping out with dishes. It lightens the mood at points, it plays with Robbie, used to do puppet shows with Jameson, and did what we asked of it so long as we're polite." Chase explained.

"Honestly, I'm sorry that we took it for granted. We were trying to get rid of it back when all it really did was throw tantrums every once in a while. I should've stopped Marvin when I had the chance, because now everything's gone to shit." Chase groaned, earning a nuzzle. 

Huh?

Chase looked over to see that a little plushie was on his shoulder. It was Sam, nuzzling his cheek. "Aw... Well, thanks bud... I really am sorry..." But Chase felt something missing. Something cold was gripping his heart, like a hand was shaking it repeatedly- trying to remind him of what he should REALLY be sorry for. 

But he just couldn't put his finger on it. So, he said nothing. 

But at least now he knew that there was something. Something that was very likely important in either getting rid of the poltergeist or 'taming' it. 

And with that, the plushie floated away, a note fluttering out behind it. 

Jackie snatched it out of the air out of instinct, unfolding it carefully. But the hero fell silent after reading it, unsure if he should tell the others what it was or not. 

"Vell?" Henrik grunted, too impatient and tired for this. "U-uh... It says..." Jackie gulped, understanding that this wasn't good. 

"Realize one mistake, but ignore another. A sweet cuddle before the sharp thorn. You'll get what's coming to you. I'm done playing nice."

There was something else on the back. Above it in parenthesis was the word (Hint).

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

...

Jackie paused, although briefly. What he read next rang a bell in his mind, but he couldn't place it.

"Hell is knocking at your door..."