The Haunting (Completed)

The Haunting

    The wind howled fiercely as the rain poured down on the small town of Smallville.
A shadow of a woman drops a small package on the steps of a house and disappears without a trace. On the package was a simple note, labeled only with the caption "Caspian."
    A small cry rings out, and a young couple open the door to find the package, which isn't a package but a small child less than a year of age. The woman picks up the poor child and looks around to find the parent, but to no avail. She quickly rushes into the house with her husband close behind as to not catch a cold.
    The two decided to raise the child on their own, seeing as he had no one else. After reading the short letter they decided to name him Caspian, but if they had known what would happen next, they never would have even touched him in the first place.
o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~15 Years Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o
    A loud bell rings out, and children of all ages rush out of the large ivory school. Among them, Caspian Irvine and Cora Schulz huddle together and move at a brisk pace, as if afraid something might jump out at them. With his tousled brown hair, bright amber eyes, and thin figure, Caspian shied away from most people, afraid of what might happen if he were to involve himself. Cora, with her naturally bright red hair, blue-green eyes, and freckles, stood out from the crowd and walked with an air of confidence about her most often.
    Just as they were about to pass through the gate that led to the rest of the town, Caspian and Cora were blocked by a girl maybe 17 or 18. A shock of jet black hair fell from her head to just below her shoulders and touched her pale skin, and her cold, lifeless brown eyes are so dark, they appear almost as black as her hair.
    "Going somewhere?" she asked in a condescending tone. "Not now, Rebecca," Cora replied, quickly moving around her and dragging Caspian behind. Rebecca Moures turns to watch them go, smirking loudly. She mutters something under her breath and flicks her fingers, black smoke appearing for a split second, almost unnoticeable unless you were actually looking for it, and turns to walk the other way.
    Caspian glances back and sighs in relief when he realizes that Rebecca isn't following them. "I don't know how you do it, Cora." he says, shaking his head sadly. "I could never stand up to anyone like that." "You just have to believe in yourself. It's not that hard." Cora replies with a smile. "Yeah right. If I tried what you just did, I'd get my head bashed in. Besides, it's not like anyone would listen to me anyway." Caspian glares at the ground as if it were the cause of all his problems. "Sometimes, I wish that all my problems would just disappear. I wish that I could fear no one." Caspian looks at Cora in despair. She just stares at him sadly, almost not noticing what suddenly appeared behind Caspian in a puff of smoke.
    "Be careful what you wish for." it said in a loud, raspy voice. The tattered clothes matched his wretched appearance, with stitches spread across his face and hands, as well as loosely around his mouth. He was easily about eight feet tall, and his eyes glowed an ugly red as he glared daggers at the two of them. "Or you just might get it."
    Caspian shrieked loudly and turned, only to run into a tree less than a second later. He fell to the ground clutching his head and moaning, and Cora ran over to him. She knelt by his side and tried to comfort him, listening to the thing walk slowly closer, his feet crunching on the leaves as he did. "Well, well, well. I guess things aren't always as they seem." it said as it reached them.
    Cora stood protectively over Caspian's now quiet form, as if daring the monster to come closer. "Go away, you monster." she said, causing Caspian to glance up at her. He slowly and shakily stood up as it scowled. "Such a harsh word coming from such a small, little girl. Not a monster, am I, but a creature, like you, but not like you at all. You see, unlike you I have a purpose in life. I hunt down the unnecessary nobodies of the world, who don't have a purpose or sense of life." He smiled wickedly as Cora gained a look of mixed horror and disgust.
    "Now, now, Baste. We wouldn't want you scaring off our, friends." Rebecca stepped out of the shadows, her eyes gleaming maliciously. She grinned as Cora let out a gasp at her sudden appearance. Caspian, who was still recovering slightly, widened his eyes in surprise before letting out a small cry, and would've ran into the tree again if Cora hadn't grabbed him.
    "What do you want? If you are just going to kill us anyway, why not just get it over with." Cora stared at them almost defiantly, unshed tears gleaming in her eyes. "I didn't realize what a hero we have in our midst! Oh, we should just leave you and your precious boyfriend alone, before you come and attack us with your invisible swords or irony!" Rebecca cackled mockingly, mirth shining in her cold eyes. Cora sent one last glare at them before letting the tears fall and turned to run away, once again dragging Caspian with her.
The smirk on Rebecca's face turned into a scowl. "Get them. And don't let them escape, or I'll hunt you down myself." she barked at Baste, who nodded and lumbered off in the direction of them. "Ugh, I have to do everything by myself," she muttered, before waving her fingers, herself and Baste disappearing into black smoke.
They reappeared on a corner street, with short, shabby houses covered in ivy on either side, and a few seconds after Cora and Caspian turned the corner to 'greet' them. They ran into Baste, falling to the ground from the sheer force of hitting his massive figure. Oddly enough, Caspian was the first to recover, moving to grab a large branch that was lying close by on the ground. He quickly helped Cora to her feet, and they shared a quick but heartfelt kiss before Caspian handed her the branch.
She turned to them defiantly, brandishing the branch as if it were a sword. Letting out a cry of pure rage, she charged and whacked at Baste, as he was in front of Rebecca. He grabs the branch and wrenches it out of her hand, and knocks her to the ground. Caspian rushes over but before he could reach Cora, Baste smashes the Branch down on his head. He crumples to the ground, unmoving, and Cora lets out a horrified sob.
"And here I was, thinking the two of you would put up more of a fight. A pity that it had to end like this." Rebecca says, almost mockingly sad. Caspian groans and lifts his head, his vision swimming. "But alas, it was just not meant to be. Might as well end this quickly, seeing as you aren't going to be any more fun." Her fingers elongated into razor-sharp talons, and her skin and eyes morphed into charcoal, not leaving even a speck of white in her now even colder eyes black eyes. Rebecca slowly walked toward Cora, her movement practically dripping malice, and stopped less than a foot away from her target.
"Have a nice life." Rebecca cackles, before stabbing Cora through the chest with her talons, receiving a gut-wrenching scream that made her laugh harder and smile wider. "No! Cora!" Caspian screams in anguish. Rebecca steps away from the lifeless body that was Cora, blood dripping from her talons, smiling cruelly as she turns to face Caspian.
His eyes ablaze with fury, tears flowing down his cheeks, Caspian said: "You will pay for that, you monster!" Caspian rushes toward Rebecca, his nails elongating into talons, before sinking them deep in her stomach. He steps back as she falls to the ground, turning into a pile of black, sandlike dust. Caspian turns toward Baste as the final steps of his transformation take place and his skin turns to charcoal, and his once warm, amber eyes turn to lifeless, black pits of darkness.
"It appears you got your wish." Baste chuckles spitefully. "And what wish was that?" Caspian questioned. "You fear no one now, and all your problems disappeared." Baste smiled at him. "No. Not all my problems." Caspian scowls before slitting Baste's throat. "Now all my problems are gone." He smiles as Baste chokes on his own blood, crumpling to the ground. Then Caspian turns on his heel and disappears in a puff of smoke.