#ghost stories 2017 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

emilou-keen-gear · 6 months

Text

Title: Three’s a Crowd Part 3

Characters: Webby, Lena, Violet, May and June

Word Count: Approx. 1800

Lena feared that her friends would come investigate why she hadn’t returned downstairs, and she knew that she didn’t have much time to take care of this ghost and perhaps his friend so that nobody else could get hurt. But she overestimated just how long it would take them to notice her absence. It must be that anyone associated with McDuck for too long developed a keen sense of danger, because Webby, Violet, May and June came up not long after the ghost appeared to Lena.

“Hey, do you need some—“ Webby started, opening the door then hesitated a second before rushing in, her actions and war cry indicating that she was attacking the person who had her friend captive. However, as she expected to grab the boy’s wrists and jerk them around his back, she was surprised when her fingers went right through them. She tried once more before her mind realized that physical contact was useless and just who she was up against.

“It’s a-a-a ghost!” June screamed, cowering just outside the doorway.

“How do I fight a ghost?” Webby asked, still crouched in a fighting stance.

Violet raced forward, reaching into her pockets and throwing a handful of powder at the ghost.

The ghost immediately let go of Lena, retreating backward, shirking from the powder.

“What is that?” Webby asked, hoping there was more.

“Salt,” Violet said. “I put some in my pocket before the summoning. And I left it in case we needed it for popcorn.”

“Great. Throw everything at that jerk,” Lena said, moving so she was between Webby and Violet, and the ghost. “And then get out of here. He wants to hurt you.”

“No, not all of you,” the ghost growled. “Just the ones that hurt us.” He smiled and raised his hand.

Webby watched the ghost, and she thought there was something odd about him. Not that he was a ghost, but that he looked familiar. She wasn’t sure since he was semi-transparent. Then she felt something pulling on the collar of her shirt and she was pulled toward the ghost. She resisted. “No, stay away,” she growled, stepping backward. Then she heard some cries behind her and saw May and June being pulled into the room.

“Get out of here,” she called to May and June. “Get help.”

Lena and Violet ran to help Webby, but they were thrown against a wall by an unseen force.

“Sep, what are you doing? You’re supposed to help me,” the ghost shouted, and only then did everyone notice the second ghost in the corner, huddled with his arms around his knees.

“I don’t want to do it,” the ghost called Sep said in a soft voice. “Auggie wouldn’t like what you’re doing.”

“Auggie isn’t here,” the unnamed ghost growled. “Now are you going to help me or not?”

“I-I-I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Sep said nervously.

“Then you’re going to stay here forever,” the other ghost said. “I’m moving on, and nothing is going to stop me. Let alone you. And don’t you dare go to Auggie.”

Webby felt the power pulling her to the ghost increasing, and she turned around, falling onto her hands and knees to cling to the carpet of her room to prevent herself from sliding any more. From this position, she had a better angle to watch June and May, who were braced against the door frame.

June was holding on, still in the hallway, but May was slipping.

“Lena, help them,” Webby called to her friend.

Lena’s eyes glowed, and she managed to break her arm free from the phantom’s power, extending it to May and June. With a burst of power, she was able to push the two ducklings out of the room and away from the ghosts, slamming the door behind them.

“No!” the unnamed ghost yelled, his voice accompanied by the sound of gusting wind and nails on the chalkboard.

Webby felt relief that her sisters were safe. She hoped that they could find someone to help them. While the house was full of the Duck family and guests, it was a hit or miss some nights to find anyone still had home. On the rare occasion that they weren’t adventuring, everyone seemed to have their own plans now and then. And with Halloween approaching, many were off doing their own things.

She hoped that the mansion wasn’t empty.

“You let them go!” the ghost cried out. His anger inflated his body a little, making him almost twice his size. With a swipe of his hand, he pushed Webby and Violet against the wall next to Lena and held them there. But instead of shouting more at the girls, he turned to the other ghost. “You dare to let them go. I needed them. I need all three of them.”

“This is wrong,” Sep said, finally standing up. He was trembling but he faced the larger ghost with a straight spine. “But what happened to us is wrong. I won’t help you, but I’m not going to fight you either.”

“Sitting on the fence, as always, brother,” the other ghost sneered, and he shrank back to his old size. “Coward.”

“I’m not a coward,” Sep said. “I just don’t like being in the middle of you and Auggie. It’s always picking one side or the other, like I’m supposed to be some sort of tie-breaker. But I’m done with that. I’m going to pick my own path.”

“And that is?” his brother snarled.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Sep said, folding his arms and looking away.

“Well, when you finally come to my senses to help me track down the other two, let me know,” the other ghost said. “In the meantime, I’m going to take care of April.” He reached out to Webby. “April?” Webby gasped, hearing the code name that Red Heron had given her as a baby. “You’re from FOWL?” She fought against the ghost’s power, trying to get away. FOWL meant a bad guy, and that meant her family was in danger. May and June might find someone, but Webby needed to get away to tell them just how bad things were.

“From? Yes, in a way. But not in the way you think,” the ghost said, and for a moment, he looked sad. He looked like a lost kid wanting to find his home.

“No way,” Lena shouted. “We destroyed FOWL. How could they be sending ghosts after us?”

“I told you. We may be from FOWL, but they didn’t send us,” the ghost shouted.

“FOWL made us,” Sep said. “They didn’t send us. We’re here because we felt pulled here, and once we saw you and the other clones, we understood why. Fowl made us. Me, Auggie, and October.”

“October?” Violet repeated, her mind traveling a hundred miles a minute. “If I may ask, would your whole name happen to be September? And Auggie is August?”

Sep smiled. And he looked even more familiar than ever.

***

May raced down the stairs, holding onto June’s hand. More like pulling. Ghosts! Why was this family so weird? Monsters and gods and curses and myths and legends. It was like everything supernatural was attracted to this spot, this family.

And was May and June cursed, too, with this same attraction? They had Scrooge McDuck’s DNA coursed through her veins. She was him in a way. Was it a biological thing? Or had Scrooge rolled in so much magic that he practically stank with it? Perhaps it was both, and May and June were doomed to never have a normal life.

“We have to find Auggie,” June said once they were on the ground floor, tugging on her sister’s hand to stop her.

“No, June. We get help like Webby said,” May said. “I think I saw Della when we arrived here. Or maybe we should call Donald.”

“No, it has to be Auggie,” June said.

“June, Auggie is just like them,” May broke it to her sister. “He’s a ghost, too. We didn’t tell you earlier because we didn’t want to scare you.”

“I’m not stupid, May,” June said, her expression a mixture of downcast and defiance. “I knew that from the beginning. He looked just like a normal boy but I knew from the beginning. It was just easier to pretend he was alive. But he’s good. He’ll be able to help.”

“How? You saw how strong that ghost was,” May argued.

“And I saw how Webby was defenseless against him, too,” June said. “The best way to defeat a ghost is with another ghost.”

May was about to open her mouth to argue, but the logic was sound. “Then we find Duckworth.”

“How? If he didn’t notice the ghosts in the house by now, he’s probably not here,” June reasoned.

Despite the situation, she had to smile. A lot of people didn’t give June enough credit, but she was just as sharp as their genetic donor. “Okay, June. Let’s look for Auggie. Do you know where he is?”

“He headed out to the woods. He told me he likes to camp, and he smelled like wood smoke,” June said.

“How does a ghost smell?” May asked.

June shrugged.

Knowing they wasted enough time talking, they headed out to the woods just behind Scrooge’s mansion. It really couldn’t be called “the woods” since it was only a couple of acres of trees that remained untouched from the trees that had been removed to build Duckburg, something Scrooge kept to remind him of his love of the outdoors and his home back in Scotland.

“Auggie,” June began shouting immediately, racing in the moonlit night.

May kept right behind her, keeping silent. She still wasn’t sure about this plan to find another ghost, so she decided to remain hidden until she could judge whether this Auggie character was as good as June thought he was.

It didn’t take long before they could smell smoke on the air, and June followed it. She could almost hear the popping of wood logs and feel the warmth from a fire when they found him standing in the moonlight, looking out at the city of Duckburg.

“Auggie,” June said with a smile in her voice and she raced to him.

“Hey, June. You shouldn’t be out here without a jacket. It’s cold,” Auggie said. He wore a skin-tight shirt, barely covering his arms down to the elbows, little more than what June was wearing. But he didn’t feel the cold.

And as Auggie turned and saw that June wasn’t alone, May stopped, stunned. She had thought that the two ghosts up in Webby’s room looked familiar, but didn’t think much of it. But when she saw Auggie, she could see a family resemblance between the three ghosts. They must have been brothers because they shared a lot of traits, but they had little differences such as hair and feather styles. But Auggie’s style resembled a certain, grouchy billionaire duck.

Not just resembled, it was exact. In fact, Auggie was the spitting image of Scrooge McDuck from his youth.