~History Repeats Itself~

Chapter 9

It occurred during Casper's first years as a ghost, what had continued to haunt him for decades after. He had woken up quite early that morning, looking forward to having breakfast with his dad before he would go to work in the secret lab as he did everyday. Since the day of Casper's death, J.T. McFadden worked long and hard on a daily basis, determined to get the Lazarus machine up and running as soon as possible. But to the boy’s surprise, his father was nowhere to be seen in the kitchen or dining room. “Maybe he's already gone to work?” He mused with confusion, taking the shortcut to his dad's lab. “Dad?” He called out, already searching around frantically for his father. Anxiety didn't hesitate in overtaking him upon still not finding him. The little ghost desperately made attempts to reassure himself while he continued his search, until he had looked around the entirety of Whipstaff Manor in just a matter of minutes. A bad feeling tugged at him of the fact of something being horribly wrong. After a few more agonizingly slow minutes of crying out his name, Casper finally found him by looking outside through a dusty window. He seemed to be handing a pile of paperwork to an unfamiliar group of men dressed in formal suits. J.T. glanced back at his son's direction longingly, then hesitantly got on a huge horse's carriage along with the men, soon riding him off. Fear and confusion both swarmed within Casper's mind. His father would always let him know where he was going in advance, and why did he leave with those strangers? Many more questions continued to pop up in his head even while he decided to ask his uncles about the situation. At the time they hadn't quite stayed in the Manor, but rather their own graves instead. The young ghost flew to the neighboring graveyard and approached the three tombstones right next to one another. “Uncles? You guys here?” He called softly. Almost instantly the three of them flew up from their graves all at once. “Yea, we're here..” Stretch replied while the three rubbed their eyes as if they had just awoken. “What is it, Casp?”
“Well, about Dad..any of you know where he went?”
“I ain't seen where he went..” Stinkie recalled, trying to hide his growing concern.
“He didn't tell ya this time?” Stretch asked. Casper then shook his head, and the Trio exchanged expressions. “Alright, c’mere you, we're gonna see what's going on, okay?” Stretch took his nephew's hand. “Okay..thanks Uncle Stretch, I could use the help..”
“Yea, don't mention it..” He glanced back at his two ghostly brothers, and they all cast worried expressions. “Say why don't ya go fly up to your room for now..” Stretch suggested carefully as they approached Whipstaff, and he patted the boy's back to encourage him to do so. “Yea, we can do this Casper..” Stinkie added.
“Yeah, how ‘bout making yourself breakfast, boy?” Fatso then suggested, patting the young boy’s stomach. Casper chuckled nervously mostly from the stress regarding his father, but still appreciated his uncle's attempts in making him feel better. “Yeah..thanks guys..” However time had never ticked by more slowly on the old grandfather clock in Casper's afterlife so far. He anxiously continued to pace back and forth beside it until his uncles finally entered the main hall as well. He panicked at the sight of the grave look written on their features. “Everything okay?” Casper was afraid to ask.
“Casper..” Stretch murmured as he approached his nephew. “We think maybe you oughta see this..” He handed over a newspaper.
“We found it on the doorstep..” Stinkie explained solemnly. Almost instantly did Casper notice the large imprint on the paper titled ‘Prominent Inventor J.T. McFadden Declared Legally Insane’, and he looked up at his uncles helplessly. “And this, we found at the gates..” Fatso slowly held up a ‘For Sale’ sign that also contained other information which Casper and The Trio paid no attention to. “They..they took Dad away..” The boy's lips quivered while speaking with a shaky voice. But he couldn't hold back his sudden devastation for a moment longer. He buried his face in his hands while sobbing uncontrollably. By then Stretch took his grief-stricken nephew, and all he could do was hug him close, trying to hold himself together despite the flood of grief that he felt too, and it seemed that his brothers could sympathize with that as well. After a few more moments of painful silence, anger had at last decided to top off the tornado of emotions already taking place. “Not another fleshie is gonna set foot on our turf, you boys hear? Not as long as I'm here, they ain't..” Stretch then nodded to confirm his own statement, as he held his nephew protectively. “Yeah, not as long as we're all here!” Stinkie agreed through tears.