Nightmares

Treading Darkness

I opened my eyes and saw the darkness around me. I sat up and groaned. How long had I been asleep? Everything hurt. My muscles tensed as I tried to stand up. I leaned against the wall and stood up a little further. Heather was still propped against the wall where I left her last. I crouched down next to her and shook her to wake her up. She woke with a start and looked around her.
"W-what" she stammered.
"It's okay, how are you feeling?" I said to her.
"I don't know"
"don't worry we will find a way to help you, I can't imagine a world without you"
"Aww, that's so sweet. I can't imagine a world without you either, I would probably be dead in a world without you in it anyways." she said to me.I
I laughed
"you're better in the medical field than I am, do you know what is wrong with John" I said to her.
"Maybe, let me see him" she said
I pulled her up into a stand. She wobbled and I steadied her.
" Do you want me to take take off the blanket so you can actually use your arms" I asked her. She nodded. I unbuttoned the back of the blanket and it slid off her slim form. As soon as I slid the blanket off her eyes rolled up into her head and she shuddered and dropped to the floor. I caught her and crouched down. sweating I said to her, "Heather, are you okay?"
No reply. I picked up the blanket and pulled it around her again. I propped her up against the wall and I walked over to John. Pulled him up and dragged him across all the way to the wall and set him up and mind you that was not the easiest thing to do his plumb body kept falling over.
Okay I am not saying he is fat, he has been losing weight, but not as much as I had thought apparently. My mind flashed back to that morning when he had gone out to go buy donuts. Ugh John , you suck. As soon as he had told everyone how he had not eaten donuts for a month you could tell he was lying. I should have him go with Heather to train maybe then he would actually lose weight. Heather was easy, she barely weighed a thing. I should probably go with Heather too sometime, considering I'm not doing so well myself. Maybe this could help me.
I know what you're thinking, considering the job I have don't I lose enough weight from running around a whole bunch? sometimes. I lose most of my weight from the jobs we do end up getting. Another thing, you would think that we would be very popular, considering we are the only people who actually try to make a little difference in the world. But no, we are considered the weirdest people in the world by most. Parents always say "Hey, you see those kids over there?" The children would say "yeah" "well you I have to stay away from them, they are a bad influence to the world." Which I find insulting by the way. We are only trying to help not hurt like you so rudely do. Now I would say that to them except for the obvious fact that it would only make matters worse. We haven't gotten a new job since... I can't even remember when. It's been a long time. I only hope we get one soon, we are in very sad shape and are in a quiet state of needing more money. Which is all part of the reason we can't afford the supplies needed to experiment on the helpful medical tools we could make for people under the Ghost touch. Although most people prefer to just leave the ghosts alone (which is crazy town banana pants) there is a very small population of the world that will come to us and if they are really desperate (most of them are if they are going to call us) they will pay for us to come out to wherever they live to solve their problems. Now don't get me wrong there are a few other agencies in the world that do the same work we do, fight for the same rights we do that can also help. But there are not agencies in every area of the world plus we were the first and we are the best and we were the ones who trained most of them, but other than that there are good agencies too.

I looked around again there must have been an exit somewhere. I sat down hard in frustration. I leaned against the wall and gazed up at the slowly closing hole at the top of the pit. How had this happened? I recounted the events in my head over and over each time I thought them over in my head I came across something new. But there was another thing I caught every time. This feeling that there was something wrong with the vision I had stored in my memory. That was one very helpful thing about psychic abilities. Photographic memory. It makes it so you can recount the images and visions you have seen that night. I thought about the ghost we had seen that night he was different than anything I had ever seen before, yet he seemed so familiar, it unsettled me. I stared at the ceiling again, once I had calmed down some more but staring at it just made me more angry. I stood up and huffed I kicked a rock with my legendary soccer kick. It flew across the room and right through a ghost he turned to look at me. Breathing heavily I turned around and Crouched down. I put my fingers in the dirt and closed my eyes. The image of the ghosts bloody face and bloodshot eyes as it turned to look at me flashed in my mind. I snapped my eyes open and the hairs on my back stood up. I heard cracking along the floor behind me, I looked to the side and saw ice moving slowly against the floor cracking and moving slowly towards me and my friends. I turned back around with my hands still in the dirt. I closed my eyes again and I could feel the temperature dropping rapidly in the room around me. I felt the anger of the Ghost that had been hit with the rock. Ghosts do not like to be unsettled. I felt ice form around my feet and I snatched my hands up out of the dirt. I jumped up and turned with my eyes wide. I screamed and my arms flew up to block my face. I shut my eyes and ice formed over on my face. I stumbled back trying to wipe the frozen water from my eyes. I turned and tried to find the wall where my friends were stationed. When I found it I reached down to find my backpack. I unzipped it and reached in to find the canister of Greek fire. Just what I was looking for. I skillfully twisted off the lid I poured it on a semi-circle around me and my friends. I dragged my feet along with my hand as I poured it and blew at the end of it . It burst into flames. I came to the front of the circle and the ice on my face melted of instantly. I opened my eyes and jumped back as the face of the Ghost stood right there grinning as fresh blood flowed on his face. I yelped and jumped back. The ghost had his arms outstretched as to grab me. I watched as it's arms crumpled to ash on the floor. He turned to look the other way then became absolutely still and silent. I stepped forward and pulled out my sword. I approached the line of fire. I raised it up to my waist ready to run him through. I had to hurry, the line was fading fast. I pulled it up higher and the ghosts head snapped my direction. Frightened I thrust my sword forward. I peeked through my closed eyes and saw his distorted face of surprise. He shook and his form shuddered. He looked into my eyes, a shriek filled the air and he exploded. Green goo splattered every where.
"Eww" I said to myself. I pulled at my shirt and shook my hands to get the goo off me. The room fell absolutely silent and you could hear the psychic echo of the scream. Then the cackle of another voice. I stepped back and looked up. The voice was every where you couldn't locate it. Breathing heavily I looked in every direction. I was exhausted, I haven't sleep a wink since we fell here.
I shrieked as something touched my leg and swung my sword to see Heather crouched in the stones.
"Wow nice form" she said.
I blew out a sigh of relief puffing out my cheeks.
"Oh my gosh" "Heather I could have killed you!"
she chuckled. "You're more careful than that, silly."
I just stared at her. I had absolutely nothing to say, I was speechless. I made a face at her. She made a face back.
"How are you doing?"
"Definitely better than I was before, thanks"
"That's good because John's not doping so well"
" Why? "
"I don't know, there's something wrong with him!"
"Okay I will, don't need to get sassy with me"
I rolled my eyes "Oh please" "you don't need to get sas-"
I was cut of by a voice that rolled in the air. I pulled up my sword and took a fighting stance. Heather appeared at my side she turned all around eyes wide.
"What was that" she whispered .
"I don't know, but stay close to me." I said. I turned around and dragged my boot through the dirt and drew a line around where the drop-circle was. I pulled out the canister of salt and poured it in the line around us. I heard a faint whisper in the air and pulled out the canister of iron dust. I poured the dust in with the salt and felt the warmth of the circle as it blocked the cold coming from outside of the circle. A faint child's whisper spoke A an old enchantment I couldn't make out. Me and Heather moved back towards the wall to regroup with John. The enchantment was completed and we watched as bodies rose from the ground. I stared wide eyed at the sight of all the dead rising. I rushed to my backpack to get the iron chains out. I doubted that the iron and salt would keep the Ghosts at bay for very long. I pulled them out and laid them over the salt and iron. They had been covered in salt and iron dust earlier than morning because John wanted to try out a new technique for the chains. Heather pulled John up and smacked him in the face. I gave her a look like, what in the world are you doing and she stared at me for a long time. Then John sat up with a gasp and a look of utter bewilderment on his pudgy little face. I helped him up and he staggered back like he was just hit in the face by psychic fists. (I'm quite sure he was.)
"Ow" he said as he staggered back straight into the wall. "Ow again"
I giggled
"Now is not the time to be giggling right now!" Heather screamed at me. " the dead are rising from their graves and you are giggling?! You crazy or something? "
"Umm, Heather you need to chill." I told her, " I know you're scared but we are too and we can't risk feeding the ghosts with our anger. We don't want to make them stronger so please just calm down"
"Okay"she said and she took a few deep breaths and sat sown.
" that's better now-"
"Emma watch out!" Heather screamed at me.
I swerved just in time to see the ghosts behind me about to grasp me with their wrinkled raw arms. Their fingernails, chipped down to the skin revealing raw red skin beneath the nails.
I acted quick and wrenched my sword from its place in my belt. I swing hard and fast and cut the arms of the Ghost clean off. Heather gasped and we saw as the ghosts gathered around us and the chains were pushed around with psychic power. I was terrified. I remember reading about a physic advancement theory where you can use psychic magic and battle the apparitions that way but I had only tested it a few times. One of the ghosts drifted in and scratched at John. He stumbled back into one of the ghosts and screamed in pain. He fell to his knees and Heather rushed over to help him, only to be enveloped in ghosts as well.
My friends disappeared into fog and I felt so alone. I turned around and around.
"A skilled agent never lets fear take over. "
I jumped as the cold voice came from the shadows. I saw as an indescribable figure moved from the shadows and the ghosts dispersed. I shook with fear and couldn't move. She drew close to my face, close enough that ice formed all over my body but she did not touch me. I was grateful for that.
"You-"she began but never finished. For a light was coming from the hole at the top of the pit I watched as Caleb pushed a rope down to me and shined a light down. He was taken Aback by the amount of ghosts surrounding me. He shined the light brighter and ghosts shrieked and dissipated into dust. Other shrieks went up all around the room.The light landed on the girl but nothing happened I started wide wired eyed at her.
" What are you? "
"You're worst nightmare"
she told me in a raspy voice then shrieked off to the dark corners of the room and disappeared.