The Events At Northwood City
You gasp, sitting up straight, your heart pounding. Not another nightmare. You wipe your sweaty forehead and decide to take a walk. Climbing out of your bed, you put on your fuzzy slippers and denim jacket and head out in your pajamas. You don't want to bother changing because you'll probably go back to bed.
You've been living in Northwood City for three full years now. Your parents finally let you move out, and you chose this city because it's quiet and peaceful. You've heard rumors that there are ghosts and vampires hanging around, but you've never seen one here once. Besides, your previous job was a ghost hunter, so you're experienced. It's a shame that your old boss fired you for causing too much damage around the town.
The wind is still as you exit your front door. The apartment building appears dark gray and the lamp post casts an eerie shadow in front of you. Even though you feel warm, something isn’t right and it makes you shiver.
You think something just whispered in your ear, and you turn to your left quickly, your right hand hovering over the button on your waist. Nothing. You force yourself to take deep breaths to calm yourself down and continue walking.
Something moves in the corner of your eye, but when you glance over, there’s nothing but a bunch of bushes. You decide you need a good jog to settle your nerves and start running.
A pair of feet thud behind you. You gasp and press the button on your side, which forms a sword in your hand and you twirl around, ready to strike.
When you look, it’s just a pair of shoes. You frown, thinking how strange it is that they’re paired together like someone’s standing in them. Wait–
One of them hits you in the chest and sends you flying into a nearby building. You grunt in a mix of annoyance, surprise, and pain. Of course. A ghost. Which means that there must be more around the corner.
Sure enough, more shoes start moving towards you. You’re surrounded, and you press your button again to make a big vacuum gun. You hold both of your weapons up, glaring at the the poltergeists. You know they can’t hear you, but you curse at them and warn them to back off. They keep moving towards you no matter how many times you make motions clearly telling them to go away or snarl. Your heart is pounding and for the first time in years, you realize something that causes you tremble and you lose your grip on your sword and gun. You’re scared and you don’t like it.
To your relief, the sun starts coming up. Its bright rays cause the ghosts to appear for a moment before vanishing, their souls melting into the ground until the nightfall. You crumple to the ground, still shaking. You’re glad that you don’t have to fight a dozen ghosts in the morning.
You blink, your exhaustion catching up to you. Maybe you should head back. When you open your front door, you see your neighbor Mrs. Lythe staring at you. She has bright curly red hair with streaks of white and thick black frames around her eyes. Years before, when you had first moved here, she watched you fumble with your stuff and trip yourself as you went down, down, down those darn steps. She just watched and snickered, and you will never forgive her for that, though occasionally you have talked about useless stuff like the weather.
She's frowning at you while she's watering her flowers, which are drowning as she's not paying attention. Her gaze never breaks contact, and you wave your hand back and forth in front of you. She doesn't stop staring, as if she's zoned out. Maybe you should talk to her.
You've been living in Northwood City for three full years now. Your parents finally let you move out, and you chose this city because it's quiet and peaceful. You've heard rumors that there are ghosts and vampires hanging around, but you've never seen one here once. Besides, your previous job was a ghost hunter, so you're experienced. It's a shame that your old boss fired you for causing too much damage around the town.
The wind is still as you exit your front door. The apartment building appears dark gray and the lamp post casts an eerie shadow in front of you. Even though you feel warm, something isn’t right and it makes you shiver.
You think something just whispered in your ear, and you turn to your left quickly, your right hand hovering over the button on your waist. Nothing. You force yourself to take deep breaths to calm yourself down and continue walking.
Something moves in the corner of your eye, but when you glance over, there’s nothing but a bunch of bushes. You decide you need a good jog to settle your nerves and start running.
A pair of feet thud behind you. You gasp and press the button on your side, which forms a sword in your hand and you twirl around, ready to strike.
When you look, it’s just a pair of shoes. You frown, thinking how strange it is that they’re paired together like someone’s standing in them. Wait–
One of them hits you in the chest and sends you flying into a nearby building. You grunt in a mix of annoyance, surprise, and pain. Of course. A ghost. Which means that there must be more around the corner.
Sure enough, more shoes start moving towards you. You’re surrounded, and you press your button again to make a big vacuum gun. You hold both of your weapons up, glaring at the the poltergeists. You know they can’t hear you, but you curse at them and warn them to back off. They keep moving towards you no matter how many times you make motions clearly telling them to go away or snarl. Your heart is pounding and for the first time in years, you realize something that causes you tremble and you lose your grip on your sword and gun. You’re scared and you don’t like it.
To your relief, the sun starts coming up. Its bright rays cause the ghosts to appear for a moment before vanishing, their souls melting into the ground until the nightfall. You crumple to the ground, still shaking. You’re glad that you don’t have to fight a dozen ghosts in the morning.
You blink, your exhaustion catching up to you. Maybe you should head back. When you open your front door, you see your neighbor Mrs. Lythe staring at you. She has bright curly red hair with streaks of white and thick black frames around her eyes. Years before, when you had first moved here, she watched you fumble with your stuff and trip yourself as you went down, down, down those darn steps. She just watched and snickered, and you will never forgive her for that, though occasionally you have talked about useless stuff like the weather.
She's frowning at you while she's watering her flowers, which are drowning as she's not paying attention. Her gaze never breaks contact, and you wave your hand back and forth in front of you. She doesn't stop staring, as if she's zoned out. Maybe you should talk to her.