Bastille Imagines

Guardian Ghost Pt. III

Dan informs you of his heavily detailed and structured plan. Sounds confusing, but step by step Dan's knowledge will guide you through it. He tells you of an ancient diary that belonged to the very first occupant of 'The Cursed Room', which today, still miraculously exists within the orphanage. But first, certain procedures have to happen before the diary is located.

Step 1. Turn Dan into a human. 

You don't even know how, where and when to start. Turning a ghost into flesh and blood doesn't seem to be relatively logical since he generally is...well, dead, but according to his enforcements and beliefs that it will work, you have to go along with if you want to break the curse. For the 'spell', to work - as he called it - the only ingredients you need are Dan's ghostly presence, a source of his roots, in other words his diary, and a sacrifice of some sort. You worry about the sacrifice part, the extent of how much and what you're willing to sacrifice is scaring you, convincing you to opt out.

"All it is, is a drop of your blood. Don't worry it won't hurt...much. Just don't panic yourself okay? I'm right here." You look to the ground fidgeting with your fingers as your nerves spike up and your concern for the sight of blood stopping you.

"Hey, hey." He gently coos. "You'll finally get to see me right? Get to know who you've been talking to after all these years." You consider his suggestion, you have always wanted to see his face. Compare it to how you imagined him to look like all these years and see just how well you've matched the description.

You take a deep breath and forcefully pierce the sharp needle into the tip of your finger. Momentarily blood starts seeping through and immediately you print your blood into a page of Dan's diary. Doubt intertwined with pain surges through you as nothing seems to happen. You look around the room trying to find a human Dan, however there is none. You look back into the book where the mark of your blood has seeped into its pages and faded almost completely.

Suddenly, the pages flip furiously as the writing disappears, becoming a blank book. You're blinded by the bright light that emits from the book whilst a wind throws you off your balance. Within instinct you shield your eyes and wait for it all to be over.

Until the final strand of your windswept hair has floated down to your shoulder, you arise from your cocooned position. The first thing you see are his feet; bare and relatively large. Your eyes further scan up his body, revealing a man of a mature age, a face with gentle features and hair as wild as the wind that blew you about. In front of you is Dan. Dan the ghost. The ghost that has been watching over you for three whole years, now fully materialised with flesh and blood flowing through his veins. Despite his age, he only appears to have aged roughly 17 years since he died. His clothes seem otherwise...

"Dan...?" You mutter, breath short of being lost. You perch yourself into your two feet. He's not quite how you imagined him, better even. His overly heightened frame overshadows you, and you don't dare take a step forward as your neck strains from the crane. He bends down to your height until your eyes are level, only then do you realise the blueness of his eyes.

"Hi." He mutters. "I'm Dan." He holds out his hand for you to shake. Hesitatingly, you reach for his hand, feeling the warmth of his skin in contact with yours. He's real. He's human. A gleaming smile perches on your lips, and subconsciously you reach in to hug him. Your small little arms coil round his neck as your finally get to see who you've been talking to all these years. The very evidence to prove that you are no deranged child, or some weird kid who talks to herself. No. Because right in front of your very eyes is Dan.

"You can see me." Dan clarifies breathlessly. It must be just as overwhelming for him as it is for you. Spending the majority of his afterlife in the sidelines: not seen, not heard, not believed in. It would drive anyone insane.