Loud

Chapter 17

We were back in the woods. Two pale girls were constricted in thick branches, hanging from a tree. I was standing on the ground, staring at them. 

After I had felt and heard a branch snap, and seen the two girls, I had knocked them out with a quick root from the ground. 

Josie had thought I was completely insane, she told me she didn't see them at all. Mrs. M said I was the only one who could see them, 'cause they're ghosts. Gwenny didn't say anything, but they had all stayed back at the house.

"Who are you?" I asked them.

"It's you! It's really you!" The girl on the right with pin straight, long blonde hair said. 

"Shut up Neila!" The girl on the right with choppy brown hair shouted. 

"You two are ghosts?" I asked.

"Yeah." Blondie said. 

"Are you guys...the bad ghosts?"

"What do you care? Just let us go!" Choppy replied angrily, desperately trying to break free from the branches. 

"I care because I'm the hero. I'm the good guy. And I need to fix every damn ghost in this town so you all won't leave the town and destroy the world or whatever you're planning on doing. That's why I care. So just tell me what needs to be fixed and I'll fix it."

"Why would we tell you? We're trying to stop you. Not help you." Choppy stopped struggling.

"Why are you trying to stop me anyway? Why do you want to go help destroy things?"

Choppy didn't reply.

"I'm not sure." Blondie said. " I never thought anything would actually happen. I thought we would just stay in the Headquarters and kind of live there." 

"Headquarters?"

"I've said too much already. Nevermind." She turned her head away.

"Why don't you join the good side?" I doubted they would say yes. But they did. They both just gave in, like what they had been doing before wasn't much better at all.

"Now will you let us down?" Choppy said after they had agreed. 

I lowered them to the ground and freed them from the trees grasp. 

"I'm Rota by the way. This is Neila." She reached out and shook my hand. Then Neila did the same. 

~

"What next?" Neila asked from her spot next to me on the couch. 

What are they saying? I hear Gwen's voice in my head. Oh. Now she can do that too.

Since when can you do this? And they're wondering what we're doing next. I try to think to her. 

Okay. 

Mrs. M, Gwenny, and Josie are sitting opposite me and Neila on their own couch. Rota's sitting on the armchair to my right.

"I'm not sure." I reply after a minute.

"Not sure of what?" Josie wondered. 

"You know we can hear her. We can hear everyone, they just can't hear us." Rota adds.

"They can hear you. You just can't hear them. They want to know what we're going to do next." I told Josie and Mrs. M.

"We might as well start with saving your family Gwenny." Mrs. Murzopf said.

"Sound good to everyone?"

"Sure."

"Sounds good."

"Yeah."

Let's go. Gwenny replies in my head. 

"Did they all say yes?" Mrs. M asked.

I nodded and a mind-reading toddler, an old woman who just so happens to be a witch, two teenage ghosts, and two other witches stood up and walked towards the door.