There's No Such Thing as Ghosts

Part 1

"I have told you, there is no such thing as ghosts! You are both being so ridiculous." Krell crossed his arms with a huff, glaring at the two humans seated on the other side of the cafeteria table.

"You're an al- I mean, an acaridian, I don't think you can argue for what does and doesn't exist here." Eli argued. "You did say that you're energy based, so why couldn't ghosts operate on the same principle?"

Steve nodded eagerly. "Yeah, what he said! You're kinda like a space ghost, but more... squishable." Krell raised an eyebrow at this. "Thanks, I think. Even so, breaking into an abandoned house in the middle of the night seems like a bad way to prove your theory."

Steve shrugged, shoving cafeteria food into his mouth. "Who cares about the science stuff, it'll be so cool! Come on, just try it. Loosen up for once." Krell found himself slowly giving in, much to his annoyance. And really, how much trouble could it end up being?

"Fine, I will go on your ridiculous journey. When do we go."

Steve and Eli whooped. "Tonight!"

*********time skip**********

Steve, Eli, and Krell met right at midnight in front of the old house. Aja was away at a sleepover with Claire, and Krell wished that she could have come as he gazed uncertainly up at the rickety building. The paint was peeling, the porch was rotted, and the tiled roof was collapsing into the house in chunks. "Are you sure that it is safe in there?"

"Oh it's definitely not. But we have bats to hit any rats that might try to go for us, an Steve made ghost repellant if it ends up being an evil poltergeist or something. Ready?" Krell definitely wasn't, but he couldn't argue against Eli's pleading eyes. "Fine. Let's go into the creepy old house then."

The three marched in, bats held high, faces tensed. The inside of the house actually didn't feel sinister at all; instead it felt sad and abandoned. The mouldering remains of furniture were visible, jarring against the messes of spray paint and beer cans scattered across the main room. Steve relaxed visibly once he saw this, looking disappointed. "Dang, it's just a party house." Eli smiled at him and shrugged. "We can still explore. Come on, it'll be fun. Then we can go to my house."

A staircase took up the back corner of the main room, leading to the second story. Krell took the lead in climbing it, wincing every time it creaked. He was almost to the top when-

Crunch. The step under Krell's right foot snapped, rotted through, and the young alien fell through the stairs. He hit the floor right under and those boards collapsed as well, tossing him into the basement.

"Krell! Krell! Can you hear me?"

"Oh my God he's dead, isn't he? This is bad..."

"We're going to come get you, hang on!"

Krell had fallen onto hard concrete, and when he tried to get to his feet sharp pains shot up his right leg. Eli and Steve found the door to the basement, and both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw their friend sitting up. "Steve thought you were dead, glad to see you're not!"

Steve rolled his eyes, but his cheeks were still flushed with emotion. "Did not. Anyway, can you walk?" The tall blonde helped Krell to his feet but the acaridian's leg folded underneath him as soon as he tried to take a step. "Looks like you need help. Should we get you to the hospital?"

Krell shook his head. "Thank you, but if you can get me home, Aja and I have regeneration technology. It feels broken but hopefully it will be alright by tomorrow." He laughed and half-winced as the trio made their way out of the house, "There was no ghost, but we still had an adventure. Next time, can we go to Eli's house instead?"

The three boys made their way down the street, laughing and talking in the moonlight. Yes, one of them had gotten hurt, and they never found their ghost, but an adventure had still been had.

*I hope you liked it! Please vote or comment if you can :D this is a one shot, but I take requests if you want more and I'm always thinking up new ideas for writing. Thank you for reading!!*