Spirits: Waking Up Alone

Trying For Answers

     Hunter ran down the street, back towards his house. He needed some inkling of information, some tiny speck of a clue, if he even wanted to try to get into the Shadow Kingdom. He had a laptop in his room, but the window had been broken by an unusually solid shadowbeast from earlier.

     But as he ran up to his house, he saw his Dad in the driveway, staring open mouthed at the broken window and his torn up lawn. Hunter froze, trying to take a step back before his father noticed him, but a sharp voice called, "Hunter!"

     He paused, wincing as he turned slowly around, "Uh...yeah?"

     "What is the meaning of this?!" His father sounded outraged and surprised at the same time, "You broke the window and trashed the front yard?! Why would you do this? Hunter, I want an explanation right this moment young man."

     "I don't know the explanation!" Hunter snapped back, not caring about his father's surprised look at his tone. "This isn't supposed to happen! They're not supposed to be able to touch the things of the living, they aren't supposed to target people or spirits, and there isn't supposed to be an insane guy riding a winged panther and eating Kiara, let alone taking her to a different dimension full of shadowbeasts and demons I don't even know about!! There's only so much truth you can find on an internet that's convinced that they don't exist!!"

     Hunter's Dad stared at him for a moment, then gave his head a shake, "You're saying that one of your imaginary demons did this? Because I'm pretty sure we decided they didn't exist and you-"

    Hunter's eyes hardened, then he turned, racing away.

     "Hunter!!" his father shouted after him, "Hunter, come back!" but Hunter had no intention in wasting time on his father's ignorance. He had no idea why, but he felt like he had to save Kiara. Like it was his job to do so.

     His feet splashed in the puddles, making his feet freeze in the cold, but the only place for him to go was to Raxus's place. Maybe he would know something, some explanation about the happenings. But as he ran, Hunter saw a shadowbeast lurking in the dark of the alleyway. After a few more steps, he spotted the mauled body of a ghost just laying on the asphalt as the rain flooded down.

     Then he reached Raxus's place and rang the doorbell repeatedly until it was opened by his friend's sister, Sedin.

     "What?" she asked irritably, her dark blue eyes locked on her phone that she held in one hand as she texted.

     "I need to see Raxus." Hunter said urgently.

     Sedin glanced up, giving him a bored look, "Well I didn't think you were the pizza man. Why else would you be here?" then she glanced back over her shoulder, calling into the house, "Hey, Raxus, one of your idiot friends is here!"

    "Send them in, Sedin!"

     Sedin returned to her phone as Hunter entered the household, and closed the door behind him with her free hand.

     Hunter strode into another room, then spotted Raxus lounging on the couch, gluing eyes to a sock puppet he cradled in his hands, "Whassup, Hunter?"

     "How do you get to the Shadow Kingdom?" Hunter asked immediately, planting his hands on the arm of the couch as he stared down at Raxus, "There was this guy who stole Kiara's soul, and-"

     "Was he riding a giant panther with epic wings and claws?"

     "Er... What?"

     "Yeesh, he did it anyway," Raxus sat up, "Nobody listens to me anymore! 'Don't try to do this' I said, 'This could back fire on you' I said. But he did it anyway! Bad guys these days... so predictable."

     Hunter stared at him, "What're you talking about?"

      "This really creepy dude who dropped by yesterday. He was classy, but... iffy, if ya know what I mean."

     "Um... I don't."

     "Yeah, you do," Raxus flicked his hand dismissively, "that guy on the panther thing. You know him. Creep show? Black hair? King of the Shadow Kingdom?"

     "The guy who took Kiara," Hunter realized, "Why did he come to see you?"

     "Wanted to know about soul exchanges," Raxus said this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "So I told him that he was right. A ghost for a ghost, a spirit for a spirit."

     Hunter gave him a blank look, "You're going to have to clarify."

     "If a ghost wants to come back to life, they have to kill another ghost and absorb its power with a source of dark magic," Raxus explained with a shrug, "like the staff Carnirus has."

     "Carnirus?"

     "Yes, the dude who took your girlfriend. Yeesh, keep up."

     "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!!!"

      "Anyway..." Raxus said in a disbelieving tone, "Carnirus asked about a life transitioning for a spirit. It's the same, but it needs to be a spirit. Though that rule is usually broken with the exception of shadowbeast creation."

     Hunter crossed his arms, "How so?"

     "Well, the Shadow King creates shadowbeasts with his dark magic-"

     "I know that, get to the point!"

     "But you just can't create life, it doesn't work that way," Raxus ignored him, "A life must be taken in order to be given. That's supernatural law. So in order to make new shadowbeasts, a life has to be taken. That's why they attack ghosts. They eat their souls, which go to the Shadow King, so he can make more beasts. That's why you see so many bodies everywhere, because only the souls are eaten."

    "Why does that concern Kiara?" Hunter asked in frustration.

     "Carnirus is a spirit like Kiara. If he wants to know about exchanging spirits to bring back life, there's only one reason why, really." Raxus shrugged.

     "So the reason those shadowbeasts were targeting us was because this Carnirus guy ordered them to get her soul so he can use it to come back to life?" Hunter asked incredulously, staring at his friend.

     "Yeah, pretty much," Raxus began to dig through the cushions in his couch, "But spirits are more superior creatures compared to ghosts. It takes a lot more magic to transition souls of theirs. A day of demons, some day of superstition and fear. The only time of year a transition such as this can take place is on All Hallow's Eve. Or, in other words, Halloween night."

     "You're telling me that the king of the shadowbeasts is going to sacrifice Kiara's soul in two days?!!" Hunter half-shouted.

     "Yup."

     "Can we do anything to stop it?" Hunter asked impatiently, leaning forward urgently.

     Raxus flopped back on the couch, "Only if we can go to the Shadow Kingdom." he shrugged his shoulders carelessly.

     "Can we?" Hunter asked.

       Raxus paused, thinking it over. Then he sat up, grinning, "I know a guy..."