Laconic » a.i

3.2

//ashton//

Not only did we lose Bridgette again, but Michael got taken away because he was fighting with Marcus and we couldn't get him to come with us. When I tried to stay with Bridgette, Luke grabbed me last minute and flashed out. I wasn't talking to him at the moment. I was talking to anyone, I was incredibly angry.

Three days. Three fucking days since they got taken away and we haven't done anything. Annie hasn't come back because Calum said she's on extreme probation since she committed treason against the ghost hunters which is punishable in "ghost hunter world" by death. According to Calum, Sabrina demanded she be killed, Rebecca felt indifferent about it, and Marcus was "defending" her but Cal said it was a half-assed attempt. He could tell he didn't really care if Annie lived or died. And then there was that bitch that knocked Bridgette out on the lawn who apparently wanted Annie alive too.

Calum stayed back at the house after we left to talk to his sister -- or fight with her, rather. He wanted her to stop this, let our friends go, and go back home with him to get some help. But did she listen; does she ever? So we were out of ideas. I knew if we did nothing that Michael and Cooper were going to be erased but there was nothing we could do anymore.

There was one thing I still couldn't get it out of my head because it was the last thing I saw: the girl's hands went straight through Cooper's head, effectively knocking her unconscious. It wasn't like she crushed her skull, it was like her hands became translucent. It was still a sickening sight to see. I've never seen anyone put their hand through a ghost and I never wanted to again.

Calum appeared in the doorway to the living room. It was around 11 in the morning according to the clock on the wall. He had leaped down from the stairs -- Luke, Emily, Jeremy, and I could hear him -- before walking into the living room. He looked down at me, fixing his shirt, "We're going to the Marco's."

I gave him a confused and disgusted look as I looked up at him from my spot on the couch. I sat by myself on the smaller couch while the other three sat together on the bigger one.

"I have an idea to possibly save Cooper and Michael, but I need you there and you need to be willing to do whatever they tell you to," he told me. I rolled my eyes but got up with him. "That's the spirit."

-

Calum knocked on the door before taking a step back and shoving his hands in his pockets. The door opened to Sabrina who gave us a disgusted look and slammed it in our faces. We shared a look before Rebecca opened the door again with a somewhat apologetic smile.

"Excuse her, she doesn't really like Ashton now that we know he's a ghost too," she explained, stepping out of the way to let us in. "She wants to kill him but she can't because of Mali-Koa, who's in the kitchen, by the way."

"Thanks," Calum said shortly before grabbing my wrist and dragging me along behind him into the house. He easily navigated himself to the kitchen where Mali-Koa was standing at the island with Sarah Elroy, the girl who re-captured Cooper. We knew her because her brother was best friends with Michael back in the day. It was obvious Michael hated Marcus now. "Hi."

Sarah and Mali looked up. Sarah smiled and Mali nodded, "Hey."

"So we have a proposition for you and the Marco sisters." he stated, leaning against the counter with his arms on top of it. He crossed his legs as he raised an eyebrow at his sister, challenging her to see what his offer was.

Her and Sarah exchanged glances until Mali nodded her head toward the hallway and Sarah disappeared down it, probably to get the sisters. As expected, she returned a moment later with them trailing behind. Sabrina looked absolutely pissed off and Rebecca looked neutral as always.

"What is it?" Rebecca wondered, sounding somewhere between annoyed and curious.

Calum took a deep breath, meeting eyes with each girl in the room before exhaling again, "If you let Michael and Bridgette go, not only will I help fix Ashton but I'll give up Emily."

That last part even surprised me. I noticed Sabrina's eyes widened and Rebecca's eyes lit up a little at the mention of it. Mali-Koa still looked unamused but Sarah definitely looked okay with the idea. But how would we managed to get Emily away from Luke? And anyway, I'd feel bad just giving her up like that even if it would save my best friend and girlfriend.

Sabrina went from surprised and excited to skeptical and cold, "How can we trust you two? You're best friends with ghosts and the freak behind you is one. We don't want to cure him."

"But we have to," Rebecca stated, her hands on her hips as she looked me over. She didn't look annoyed or angry like her younger sister. "We made a promise with Mali-Koa that we would help cure him if she got us ghosts to erase, and she did her part. Now we have to keep up our's."

"But Bec-"

"But nothing," Rebecca snapped, "we don't break promises."

"And if Ashton gets fixed, maybe he'll remember you and go back to you." Calum shrugged.

I knew he was only trying to persuade his sister, but the fact he even thought of it made me want to vomit. I'd never want to go back to Mali-Koa because I'd still remember the horrible things she'd done.

Mali tapped her chewed-up nails on the counter as she thought over the offer. She had to be more obsessed with me than she was with getting rid of Cooper, right?

"How long do I have to think it over?" Mali asked.

"No time!" Sabrina shouted, looking at Calum's sister furiously. "We've been looking for Emily Tanner for months and now we can finally have her! The deal is on."

"Would you rather have two ghosts or one?" Mali quizzed her.

"How about four?" Marcus smirked from where he leaned up against the doorway. One hand was gripping onto Annie's smaller one as she stood next to him looking like she wanted to be anywhere but there. "We caught a couple of 'em down on Eleazar Way."

"Details?" Rebecca pressed.

"Both females; one named Julia and the other isn't talking. Reminds me a lot of the two upstairs." he smirked which made Annie throw a disgusted look his way.

Sabrina's eyes lit up; I always hated when that happened because that never meant anything good, "That gives me a wonderful idea."