The Life of Johnny Ghost

Chapter 1

There wasn't much of a difference between when my eyes were shut, and when they were open; it was dark, but not pitch black. Eventually, my eyes adapted to what little light I had and I began to scan my surroundings.
At first, I couldn't find anything. It seemed as though I was headed nowhere despite how many steps I took, like I was walking in reverse across a conveyor belt. But soon a single light came into sight, a street lamp.
I was startled to look up and see a man in a tall dark trench coat peel around from behind the pole, which made me wonder how it was proportionally possible. He began frowning at me, and waved goodbye.
I wasn't sure who he was, but I felt that he was somehow important. I felt like I needed to keep him here and ask him who he was.
Without warning, it began to rain, and the man stepped backwards into the darkness. I tried to grab him, or follow him, or anything I was capable of to bring him back, but I couldn't move or speak. I strained against my own strength to just lift a hand, but my body was frozen stiff.
My eyes pop open and I can hear my own breath, raspy and uneven. I look around only to realize I'm still in my room.
"Sir," a familiar voice asks at the door, "are you awake yet?"
"Uh, I think so," I reply shakily, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
I drag myself out of bed and use my feet to navigate the floor, glad to find my slimer slippers waiting for me at the edge. I stand up and massage the aches out of my neck from a long night of sleeping on it at an odd angle.
I move slowly over to my dresser and look in the mirror that sits above it; my hair is a mess. As I comb out the tangles, I look at a picture of The Ghostbusters, Toast and myself holding up a trap. Next to it, my 'Stay Puft Marsmallow Man' clock.
It reads 8:32. A feeling of anxiety wells up in my stomach.
"Toast, do we have a case today?" I ask quietly, knowing Johnny is still at the door.
"Um, yes," Toast says without hesitation. "We got a call from an M. Acachalla, Sir."
My back becomes ridged and I take a deep breath before asking, "What time is the case?"
"5:00 pm I believe, Sir."
Relieved, I sit down on my bed and rub a hand across my face. I need to shave today...
"Breakfast is ready downstairs, when you decide to come down, Sir," Toast says.
"Yes, l will be down in a few moments. Carry on, Toast," I sigh, waving a hand towards the closed door, even though I know he can't see me.
I walk into my bathroom and prepare for my day, coming back out in my my hoodie, blue jeans, leather gloves, and Chuck Taylor's.
Toast has crumpets already on the table when I arrive in the kitchen. Sitting down with a cereal box and a bowl in front of him, he smiles and says "Good morning, Sir."
I nod back in reply as I pull a piece of bread from its bag and place it in the toaster. It pops out moments later with the Ghostbusters' symbol burned into it. But when I reach to grab the box of Spooky O's out of the pantry, I hear rattling. I know what it is.
"Toast!" I yell.
"Um, y-yes Sir?"
I hear a tink on the table and a restless foot tapping the floor. I turn around just in time to see Toast pouring whiskey from his flask into his cereal bowl instead of milk.
"I thought I told you no more drinks before a case!" I tell him strictly.
Toast, looking distraught, gets up to go get milk from the refrigerator instead. I watch him to make sure he doesn't come back over before I go to get my laptop off of the counter where it was charging. I thought I'd do a little research on this M. Acachalla; it sounded familiar.
I carried my laptop back to the table and sat across from Toast. I began typing and after a few moments of silence broken only by my clicking, I hear, "Sir, Today is the graduation down at the high school. The Acachalla's invited us to see Sally's boyfriend graduate," Toast says, taking a bite out of his crumpet.
"Hmm... This mysterious M. has the same last name as Papa. We should go, just to talk to Papa and see if he can shed some light on the subject," I say, checking the time before I shut my laptop with a sigh. I hadn't found anything out anyway.
"Brilliant idea, Sir," Toast says pushing away from the table to put his dishes in the sink. He grabs my key ring from it's place hanging on the post. "Shall we be going?" He asks.
"Yes," I reply, "I suppose we should." I hold my hands open and he tosses them to me.
•••
"Sir, shouldn't we be driving the company car, for advertising and the like?" Toast implies.
"My car is classier," I say smirking. "Number one, it's a sports car. And number two, the company car is a big clunky van. It's almost a ghost of its former self."
"Oh yes, very funny," Toast crosses his arms and gives me a look. "Perhaps we should conduct an investigation on ~it~ then."
"Ha-ha," I say sarcastically. Our conversation ends there.
As we hop into my car, I plug my MP3 into the stereo and I hear the electronic hum and drums kick in as I turn the keys in the ignition. I look over at Toast who has already put in his earbuds, listening to his own music. I have a feeling it's something classical, because he hates what I listen to and doesn't even remotely enjoy it.
Soon, I have the GhostBusters theme in a loop. I jam out as we drive down the road and before I know it, am singing along--very poorly, might I add. From the corner of my eye, I see Toast look over at me and roll his eyes. I sing louder and smile. He shakes his head as he adjusts the volume on his music, no doubt trying to drown me out.
I pull up to the high school, find a parking place, and step out of the car. I look up, only to see a banner hanging between two poles that reads 'CreepyPasta High Graduation Today'. I must look quite strange, just standing there with my eye twitching.
Once we reach the building, I open the door and realize I don't like the way it looks inside. "After you," I say holding the door open for Toast, trying to pretend I don't mind its ominous stature.
"Aren't you a gentleman?" Toast says acrimoniously, stepping in.
"Well," I counter, "you do call me 'Sir'."
"It's purely out of respect," He snorts.
"So you ~do~ respect me?" I question with a grin.
"Oh, bite me, Johnny," Toast snaps back.
As Toast and I start walking through the abandoned looking hallway, I begin to think to myself. This is just great. I can't tell if he's messing around, or if I struck a nerve. I do boss him around a lot, but hey, that's my job as his ~actual~ boss right?
When we finally reach the school's auditorium, it's no different than a gymnasium with a podium at one end. On one side of the room, there is a small crowd of the students' families and friends sitting in the bleachers. On the other side, there are only three students sitting in graduation gowns. "Small class," I mumble to myself.
To my right I see the Acachallas sitting in the row closest to the front, and Toast has already sat down next to Gertrude and started a light conversation. Behind the them, a small family of Slendermen sits in silence. The rest of this side of the room is occupied by The Rake's large family, rambling loud enough to make up for a whole room full of people.
I take my seat next to Papa, hoping I can get a chance to talk to him about M. Before I can open a conversation however, a middle aged man, looking a bit dead walks into the room and calls for silence.
"Hello, what a great turnout," The man announces as he steps up to the podium. "I am Mr. Zviggles. Now, we all know that your sons have driven me to the brink of madness, and may had killed me once or twice..."
Mr. Zviggles drones on and on about the reckless students' behavior. I lean over and whisper to Papa, yearning for the information more than ever.
"Sir," I ask, "do you know an M. Acachalla?"
"Uh, w-why no, I certainly do not." He replies, stuttering. He looks away, not wanting to bring the subject up again.
It turns my face red just listening to him. Obviously he's holding back his knowledge regarding this M., and it isn't making me terribly happy. But half listening to Mr. Zviggles, I hear something I find interesting.
"So class I will miss you terribly, because I regret to inform you that I have quit my job and will not be teaching at your college. If anyone here would like to teach at the college in my place, please raise your hand."
This is my chance to study paranormal creatures without chance of getting hurt! Excited, I raise my hand.
"Okay, so this man has volunteered to teach all of you. Sir--whatever your name is--meet them at Spooky Hollow road tomorrow. You won't miss it. Okay you all graduate, goodbye!" Mr. Zviggles ran off into another room. He seemed like he wanted to get far away.
The crowd began talking again as the ceremony had come to a close. I stood up and turned around to see Toast congratulating the new graduates. Rake shook his hand and they began to start a conversation. I didn't want to intrude, but I wanted to know what they were talking about. Luckily, Toast gestured towards me and I took that as a sign to join them. I needed to meet my new students and I wanted to hear their discussion.
"Hello students, it's a pleasure to meet all of you," I say smiling and extending a hand to shake.
They all stare at me, even Toast, and continue their chatting. Astonished, I glare at my partner who doesn't seem to notice me or my internal dilemma.
I glance at my watch impatiently, realizing it's already 1:16. It certainly hasn't felt that long. I grab Toast by his backpack and drag him towards the door.
"Toast, anything else on our schedule besides the case?" I ask sounding curt and testy as ever. He waves goodbye to ~my~ new students who return the kind gesture and smiles. It only makes me feel more antagonized.
"Well Sir, we need to prep the equipment, and that will take an hour. Then, we have the three hour drive to the town. But while we're in the car, I can tell you about your students pasts and personalities," Toast replies seeming excited.
This is going to be a long day.