Out of the Darkness

53 Anna's POV

 "You aren't going to mess with them. They aren't doing you any harm," I replied, trying to keep my voice from shaking. I was almost getting the same feeling from her as I did when the Dark One showed up. Something about her was evil. I felt it. "Oh, but my dear, didn't you hear me earlier? It's time to play. They asked the ghosts to play with them, so here I am, at their beck and call. Now, stand aside, it's time for the grown ups to play." She flitted past me so quickly, I didn't have time to do anything. It was like one second she was there, the next she was standing next to Sam. I watched as she raised her hand, her nails sharp and pointed, like talons, as the evil grin appeared on her face again. "NOO!" I yelled, pushing myself with everything in me to get to his side and somehow, some way, stop her from hurting him. I gasped when I realized that she was right in front of me again. I had moved, quicker than than light, and was standing in between her and Sam. I didn't notice that all of the guys had their heads up, looking around, pointing the camera around, while they spoke in excited, scared tones. I didn't notice that Sam was now facing the woman, but not seeing her. All I saw was the anger in her gaze as she stared down at me, her taloned hand still raised. "As you wish," she replied, her voice low and dark. I screamed in pain, as I felt her nails slice into my arm, as I threw it up in front of my face. "Please tell me that you guys hear this and I'm not going insane," Sam said, his voice barely breaking through my conscience. I was a ghost. I wasn't supposed to be able to get hurt. How did she just do that to me? I looked away from the smirk on her evil face and down at my arm. There were deep gashes on the underside of my forearm, but there wasn't blood. Or not normal blood. It was a bright red, like it should've been. Instead, there was a gold liquid oozing from the wounds. If it wasn't hurting like a bitch, it would have almost been pretty. "Do NOT mess with me, child. You do not know who you're dealing with. I will end you, after I make you watch me tear your little boys limb from limb." I didn't know what to say or what to do. I knew that, if it came down to it, she could actually do what she said. "I don't care," I managed to gasp out, the pain in my arm intense as I held it close to my chest. "I won't let you hurt my friends." She laughed then, a chilling sound that went through my soul, freezing it solid. "You can't stop me little girl. There are more spirits here than just me, some of them worse than I could ever be. You are no match for me, much less all of us." She stepped back, and used her hand to whip the skirt of her old style dress around her legs. "Besides...your friends asked me and my friends to play with them. It would be rude to decline." With those last words, she laughed again, the sound loud and almost screeching, as it bounced around the walls of the room. The guys, who had been discussing the scream that they had heard from me, stopped what they were doing and stared in my direction. I hadn't noticed that Sam had moved from behind me and was now standing with the other guys on the other side of the large room. Her gaze followed mine, and when I looked back to her, her eyes were still on them, a sadistic smile curving her lips. "I think we should have a little fun dearies. It's been a while," she said, raising her arms out to the side, as if she were presenting something. It was then that I noticed there were shadows, silhouettes standing behind her against the back of the wall. As I watched, they stepped forwards towards her, and became more visible. Ghosts, ranging from all different sizes and time periods, formed a line behind her. She started to laugh again, the sound reverberating around the room again. I glanced at the guys quickly, wanting them to run, to leave this place as fast as possible. Thankfully, this last laugh had them yelling and running out of the room. Unfortunately, the ghosts started disappearing one by one and I had a bad feeling that they weren't just going to hang out somewhere. "You can't stop us," the main bitch said. I was really starting to hate her. "Contessa?" One of the younger ghosts appeared beside her. She looked down at her, seeing as she towered over her. The young ghost seemed to be around my age, not at all full of anger and hate like Contessa. "What is it Brenda? Why are you still here? We have a few victims to play with," she said, her tone scathing as she glared at the young girl. The girl lowered her gaze, and shuffled her feet. Her transparent form was full of fear and uncertainty. "Um, I was just wondering...we're just scaring these men, right? We aren't going to hurt them? They haven't done anything to us, not like the others." Contessa rolled her eyes. "You are pathetic. I would have never taken you under my wing, had I known you would always remain a simpering mess. No Brenda, there will be harm. You see, this dear one in front of me," she motioned to me with her hand. "She had the audacity to act like she has the authority to tell ME, of all people, what to do. So, you see, I have to prove my authority, and let her know who is boss around here. We can't have new ones coming in and upsetting the order. You know this. We have to make a statement." The young girl met her gaze, then mine. Her eyes were full of sadness, but also resignation. "Yes ma'am," she muttered, then faded from sight. Contessa laughed again, and looked at me. "You see, I own this ship and the ghosts that reside here. There is no escape. Not for them, and not for you. You can't beat me." With that, she raised her hands and twinkled her fingers at me, before fading from view herself. "Blast it!" I exclaimed, then willed myself to float as fast as I could towards the guys. Somehow, I could still hear them, Colby's voice seeming to be the loudest, the easiest to track. I could feel him nearby as I flew down the hallway. Finally, I passed through the doorway to Kian and JC's room. There were two beds, with Sam and Colby on one, and Kian and JC on the other. "What the fuck was that?!" Kian said, standing up to pace. "No, seriously, what the FUCK was that? We should go. That wasn't normal."