《The GhostSeer [Jan 2025 RRCM]》


 Chapter 1 : Beginning

    The tavern was a cacophony of jeers and laughter as patrons roared their approval at the song that had just finished playing. Niram slammed his almost emptied tankard on the counter table, the little liquid remaining inside sloshing and jostling about.


    He stood up, pushing through the tightly packed room as he made his way to the door. He received multiple insults and pushbacks, but he didn''t pay them much attention; those people only had to see his face to immediately freeze up and move away.


    Finally, Niram left the candle-lit tavern and stepped out into the dark streets of Carosh. He looked at the sky; it was a full moon, and the little bit of silver streams that managed to get past the tightly packed houses in this dump of a town shone down on his path. However, he didn''t need it. Niram was a Ghost seer, which made him able to see in the night as well as the day. He staggered and stepped on a puddle of rainwater which was probably mixed with piss and shit. Looking down on his reflection¡ªthe bone-white skin and his light blue, glowing eyes¡ªNiram went back to the day he''d become a Ghost seer.


    The town of Hearshe¡ª a rural community in the Kingdom of Seilon far in the east ¡ª had been built close to a massive war graveyard. Apparently, the founding families had been people, mostly widows and mourning mothers, who couldn''t seem to let go of their losses, so they''d come up with the idea to build a town close to their dead loved ones.


    Niram spat to the side, his dim glowing eyes glancing at a man leaning on the wall of another building. The man only had to take in his eyes before he scampered off, probably to go find an easy prey to rub.


    Niram had grown up playing in that graveyard. His mother was mostly absent, she was either in a tavern by the roadside getting stupidly fucked by whoever had a copper decari. And if she wasn''t getting fucked, she was probably fucking her brains with all the manos leaves she was sniffing. The only time she ever paid attention to Niram was either to rant about his deadbeat father or beat him senselessly for asking her for money.


    The graveyard had been Niram''s safe place, alongside the other children whose parents were either dead or deadbeats. They''d play hide and seek from morning to evening, and after that, they''d come up with multiple schemes to rob some unsuspecting passerby.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    That regretful night, Niram and Kiesh, his best friend, had forsaken their usual routine to go play in the graveyard. They''d always heard stories about voices coming from the graveyard at night, but since they had very intimate knowledge of the place and hadn''t heard anything themselves, they chose not to believe.


    Niram and Kiesh had run into the graveyard¡ªa place of tall trees with expansive crowns that fortunately shrouded the place from the wrathful afternoon sun¡ªlaughing and making all sorts of noises. That had gone on well until they''d come face to face with something they hadn''t been expecting to see. A ghost. The thing had not looked like how they''d envisioned ghosts to be. It had been, of course, transparent and floating a few inches off the ground. But that wasn''t what scared them. The wolfish face and the scythe-like daggers hanging from its mouth and long limbs had been what had made them scramble back in terror.


    Kiesh did not make it out alive that night, his insides had been inverted as the wolf ghost tore into him with wild abandon. Kiesh had been, unfortunately, enough for the ghost as it didn''t bother chasing after Niram, and he was forced to hear the pain-filled shriek of his best friend as he ran for the town.


    His adrenaline had lasted until he''d gotten to his home, and within seconds, he was already unconscious. He had woken up the next day to shouts and heavy banging on the door. The first thing he got when he finally opened it was a scream and a heavy ringing sound in his ear as a heavy slap landed on him. It wasn''t until he''d seen himself on one of the rare glass windows that he finally knew he''d been changed; but by then, there was nothing to be done. He was already dead.


    Nobody had believed him when he''d described the thing they''d encountered. Looking back, he''d found it ironic how much the people raged for a boy they actively ignored when he''d been alive and begging for scraps on the streets. The only person who had believed him was Carin, and he was thankful for that. Otherwise, he''d have been nothing but ashes and bones by the next morning.


    He''d fled the town shortly after that, running as far as he could with his twelve year old legs. He wasn''t aware of where he''d been fleeing until he''d found himself back in the graveyards. And then he had to choose: death by wolf spirit or death by fire? Well, both were sure to make a human scream their throats raw, so he''d simply picked the graveyard. After all, the wolf spirit was probably on the other side of the graveyard, never to encounter Niram as long as he was careful.


    Well, careful lasted no longer than a minute before he was frightened out of his skin as a voice pssed at him. Turning back had brought him face to face with his dead best friend, Kiesh.

 Chapter 2 : Sisi

    Niram sighed as he turned around. "What are you doing out here, Sisi?" And out of the silvery-lit night came the figure of a child.


    Sisi had been a seven-year-old girl when she''d been murdered. She and her family had been fleeing the war to the east when they''d been unfortunate to come across bandits in the woods a few miles from here. That was about fifty-something years ago, as was told by the victim herself.


    "I was bored," she grumbled. "And you? What are you doing in human town?"


    "I am human, Sisi," Niram replied with a smile.


    "Not looking like that, you''re not."


    "What?"


    "Nothing!"


    There were different kinds of Ghosts. Most of them preferred the unnatural cold embrace of the graveyard to that of a human town, but there were some outliers who were mostly curious to see what a human-populated community looked like. The wayward ones were always carrying out one kind of mischief after another, scaring some unfortunate human out of their houses. And then there were those who were simply curious, having forgotten their human lives as the years went by. It was the former that usually gave the ghosts a bad reputation. That was why Niram''s kind was always in demand. They could see and speak to ghosts.


    Sighing, Niram bent down, going low so he could come face to face with her. "Sisi, you know you can''t be out here? It''s dangerous for you."


    "Why?" She cocked her head in confusion.


    "Be..." He hated having to say this. "Because, the humans are afraid of your kind. They don''t want you in their homes or anywhere near them."


    "But they can''t see me, right?" she said and then waved at a sober man passing by with a passed-out drunk lady in his arms. "See? They can''t see me. How would they know I was there?"Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Niram ignored the scared look the man sent his way, focusing on the ghost girl In front of him. "Some humans can... Some humans like me, and not all of them are nice to the ghost people."


    "Listen to him, Sisi," Kiesh said, flowing out of the locket hanging over Niram''s chest. "Humans can be cruel, especially to things they don''t understand." He lowered his voice, even though nobody could hear him. "They could hire a ghost seer to banish you back to your place of rebirth."


    Sisi gasped, eyes widening. She looked around and then shuffled closer to Niram. "You''ll protect me, right? Niram. The humans fear you."


    He smiled, patting her white glowing hair. "Let me let you in on a secret," he lowered his voice down to a whisper. "I''m not as powerful as the humans think I am. I can''t do any of the things they say all ghost seers can. But don''t worry, I''ll still protect you, okay?"


    "Okay." She giggled.


    "Let''s get back to the yard." He said and the little girl immediately agreed.


    Ever since he became a Ghost seer seven years ago, Niram had heard so many absurd rumors about his kind that he struggled to comprehend how those came about. Though, recently, he''d come to think some of those rumors were the work of some mischievous GhostSeer with a knack for scaring humans.


    Mothers were fond of scaring their children into doing the right thing by whispering to them that a ghost seer was going to send them to ghost land if they were bad. That was a lie! Niram didn''t have that kind of power. He sighed to himself as he remembered one a few months back. A child had boldly run up to him, asking him whether he could summon ghost soldiers to beat up his abusive father. Niram hadn''t had such at his beck and call, but he''d known two Mischiefs who were eager for a haunt.


    Last he''d heard, before he''d left the town, was that the man had bought his eye swollen wife a nice dress and a bouquet, alongside a bag of toys for his son.


    "Keish, what other mission do we have remaining?"


    Keish manifested a glowing paper on his hands, a pen appearing an instant later as he began ticking off the list. "We''ve cleared the one at the healer''s home, the one in the church basement, and also the mischief you scared off in that tavern." He stopped. "And now we have only one remaining. The haunted house behind the butcher''s shop."


    "You think it''s a mischief?" Niram asked.


    "Nahhh, this one''s different. I don''t know why, but I just know it."


    Niram nodded. "Okay, we''ll take Sisi to the graveyard first and then make our way there."


    "I want to come with," the young girl said as she skipped alongside Niram.


    "No, Sisi," Keish said. "This one is probably going to be dangerous, we don''t know yet. But," he said as he saw the downturn look on her face. "We''ll take you to go catch some mischiefs after we''re done with this, alright?"


    A big smile immediately erupted on the girl''s face. "Okay."

 Chapter 3 : Simbi And Yemir

    "Oh, you stubborn, stubborn girl! How many times have I told you not to go into the human town?!" Mama Simbi cried out just as Niram, Kiesh, and Sisi stepped into the graveyard.


    The graveyard was located a short distance away on the east side of the town. This one was just like the other ones he''d been to. Unkempt and dilapidated. Most of the gravestones had already been shattered by the passage of time while the newer graves lacked any sign of identification, probably because most of the towners were too drunk and broke to care about their dead. The most they could do was stick a wood-crafted X over the graves, a sign that they wanted the dead as far away from them as possible.


    "Leave the little girl alone, Simbi!" Papa Yemir walked over, his walking stick silent as it clucked on the rock-filled ground. "Stop acting like you weren''t the same when you were still a newling!"


    Like Mama Simbi, who had been a youthful woman when she''d died in her sleep, papa Yemir had also been youthful when he''d been killed in a riot. The old ghost woman had a wrapper covering the lower part of her ghostly form while a simple top covered her upper body. She wore a long scarf which was beginning to get loose on the side.


    Papa Yemir, however, was putting on a simple garment, which Niram somewhat wished he was also wearing. Despite his tendencies for mischievousness at times¡ªespecially when it came to Simbi¡ªthe man was a simple, straightforward person. No one knew this, except probably Kiesh, but Niram secretly admired the man.


    The aged woman shot Yemir a glare. "The way you talk sometimes, Yemir, makes me think that you''ll one day join the mischiefs on their wayward stunts."


    Yemir gave a wicked smile. "Why, the pot is calling the kettle black."


    Niram''s eye snapped toward Simbi just as she turned her face away in a flash of embarrassment. "Don''t listen to him, dear," she patted Niram''s cheek, and he forced himself not to shiver at the unnatural freezing touch. "His mind is already old and lost to time, he doesn''t know what he''s saying."


    "Aye, I agree. My mind is somewhat lost to time," Yemir smiled at the triumphant look blooming on Simbi''s face. "But I ain''t old enough to forget when you used to run around the human town, haunting everything that came your way." He turned to Niram. "She even haunted a chicken once, can you believe? A chicken! Sent it running straight for the road, where its life unfortunately ended under the wooden tires of a speeding cart." He smiled. "You should''ve seen the joyful look on her face after it happe¡ª"


    "That''s enough, Yemir!" Simbi snapped. "That was a long time ago! I''ve changed!"


    Yemir shrugged. "If you say so..."


    "Papa Yemir?" Sisi looked up with a wide excited look on her face. "Can you tell me more about what Mama Simbi did when she was still a newling?"


    The man in question gave her a wide smile. "Of course, little one," he agreed, ignoring the warning glare from Simbi. "But you''ll have to promise us not to venture into the human lands again, okay?"Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Excited, the little girl didn''t fuss and simply nodded.


    "Okay, back when Simbi was little, like you, but not, not like you ..." Niram didn''t stay to hear the story, whispering goodbye to the two elders before he and Keish made their way back.


    "I can''t believe Mama Simbi was that wayward when she was young." He snickered.


    "Oh, you don''t know the half of it!" Keish laughed. "Did you know that most of the old ones were once mischiefs?"


    "No," Niram shook his head. He waved at a group of ghost children who were running around the burial ground of an old ghost who kept shrieking at them to stop. But of course, they refused to listen until Niram had to call them off.


    "Thank you, Niram!" Mama Ayor waved at him as he left. "I owe you a chicken soup when you come back!"


    Niram smiled back.


    "So, as I was saying," Kiesh continued. "Mama Simbi was always into one kind of mischief after another when she was young. Understand, I heard this from Papa Yemir. I don''t want to get into that woman''s bad books. Anyway, Mama Simbi was once known as the greatest mischief to have ever walked this graveyard. Did you know that she once haunted a count''s heir as he visited the town?"


    "No way!" Niram turned towards Kiesh as the walked into the town. He ignored the scary looks the passers-by gave him at his outburst.


    "Yes, way!" Kiesh laughed. "So, get this. The count''s heir visited the town and decided to stay overnight at an inn that was once standing opposite farmer Olam''s house¡ªthe place where those newcomers who just moved in are building their abattoir.


    "So, this count''s son sleeps overnight and, maybe he was feeling lonely ¡ªI don''t know¡ª decides to carry an escort from the tavern below. They were at it in the middle of the night, as I heard from Papa Yemir. And then Mama Simbi moves behind the heir, and with as loud a voice as she could muster, enough not to alert anyone other than the busy two, she screams."


    "What?!" Niram shouted and didn''t look as he stumped his foot on a rock. He laughed it off, as the story Keish was telling was better than some prickling pain. "She did not!"


    "Oh, yes she did!" Kiesh said. "Funnier though, was that the heir had been betrothed to the daughter of a duke."


    "Impossible!"


    "Ohh, definitely possible, Nir. She chased them running naked and screaming out of their room and down onto the street. When all was settled, the two were shocked to discover that nobody heard the sound of any ghost, it was just the two of them, running and screaming like mad people."


    "What happened after?" Niram asked.


    Kiesh shrugged. "I don''t know, that was how long Yemir went before Mama Simbi chased him off with his walking stick."


    Niram chuckled at the imagination.


    They turned another corner in silence, listening to the distant revelry of those in the taverns. Eventually, they came to the front door of a house standing behind the butcher''s shop. It was a three-story building, one of the oldest and largest houses in the town. Niram reckoned the house was probably close to four hundred years old, judging by its ancient architectural designs and the bent look it had. It was probably not going to last another decade.


    For as long as Niram had been in the area, this house had always been rumored to be haunted. People had whispered that they''d heard noises coming from it at night. And some had even sworn to have seen a ghost or two look down at them from one of the windows. But those were things the people knew but actively ignored.


    Now, however, something was seriously wrong with the place. The other day¡ªthe reason he''d been hired ¡ª a group of homeless children who had rushed into the place to take cover from the rain had encountered something that had left them scream for hours until they''d immediately quieted. The next morning had seen a dozen people gathered in front of the place with touches on their hands. Their intention to burn down the place had been stopped when they''d realized how close the other houses were and how quickly a fire could spread.


    Resigned, they hired a ghost seer ¡ª Niram¡ª to take a look at the place and banish the thing hiding inside. Well, here he was.


    "You ready?" Keish whispered.


    "Sure," Niram answered, and then turned over the doorknob.

 Chapter 4 : Myckie!

    The long hallway was dark and misty cold as they stepped inside. However, Niram didn''t mind, since he was already somewhat used to the unnatural freezing presence of the ghosts.


    "Ohhh, scary..." Kiesh visibly shivered, his ghostly white form rippling from head to toe.


    Niram glanced at him. "You''re a ghost, you''re not supposed to be scared of the dark."


    "Hey! Ghosts do get scared sometimes, we just don''t... Like showing it."


    Niram only grunted as he took in the long hallway. The walls were broken and had wickedly long marks that made Niram wish he didn''t encounter whatever did that. The candle holders which hung on both sides of the hall were mostly rusted and broken. Some had even fallen to the ground.


    The floorboards creaked loudly as Niram stepped further inside, and he froze in fear.


    "Why, wake the whole neighborhood, would you." Keish shot him a glare.


    "It''s not my fault these things haven''t seen any form of repair in like... a hundred years." Niram retorted, which made Kiesh turn back to him with an obvious comeback... A comeback which was halted as they were both jolted upwards by a loud, shrill laugh.


    Niram and Kiesh once again looked at each other, this time with a knowing look. "Myckie," They both echoed, and then quickly began making their way inwards, now ignoring the squeaking floorboards.


    "Myckie! You''d better come down here right now, or you''ll be in big trouble when I find you!" Niram shouted.


    "You can''t catch me!" Another voice replied, a shrill laugh coming out a second later.


    Niram stopped as an open door to their left slammed shut. He looked at Kiesh with a knowing look, getting a vehement head shake as reply.


    "Myckie! Can you hear me?! Myckie!! Come down, Maryhann is down here!" He gestured at Kiesh. "Look, she''s calling to you right now!"


    Kiesh Instantly turned with a wide, frightened look. He shook his head. "Please don''t make me do this, Nir."


    "You have too," Niram whispered back.


    "Please."


    Niram shot him a glare, which resulted in another back and forth until Keish, resigned, shot him one last glare before he raised his face to the ceiling.


    "Oh, dear Myckie! My sweet, sweet Myckie." His voice wasn''t the same male tone as before, instead, it came out as that of a young woman. "Oh, how the times have passed! But I''m here now, you hear me? I''m here for you! Please come down."


    There was a second of silence, and then a reply came down. "Is that you, my Maryhann?!"


    "Yes, it''s me, goddammit!"The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "What?!"


    Niram shot Kiesh a glare, to which the ghost ignored, coughing and then modulating his voice back into that of a woman. "Yes, it''s me, my sweet moon pie! I''ve returned back to you. Will you come down? For me?"


    Another brief silence. And then. "Okay."


    Instantly, an old, patchy-looking man materialized in front of them, phasing through the ceiling. Niram didn''t waste his chance, his hands stretched forth so fast it caught the man before he even thought of fleeing. But it didn''t matter, seeing as the man didn''t attempt to run. Instead, he began looking around, his head eagerly snapping from one location to another.


    "Where are you, Maryhann?!" He called. "Sweet Maryhann, where are you?! Are we playing hide and seek again?! You know I eventually always find you, right?"


    Niram grimaced. He hated having to do this, but sometimes it was easy to blame the man for always falling for the same tricks over and over again.


    "Maryhann isn''t here, Myckie," Niram said with a gentle voice. "She''s gone."


    "What? Why? Where?!" The man then became agitated, pushing against Niram''s grip until he was forced to manifest a glowing blue rope to tightly restrain him. After that, he tied it to himself, rolling it around his waist. "Where did my Maryhann go?!" Myckie cried.


    "She went far away to another graveyard, Myckie," Kiesh said.


    "What? Why?!" Myckie cried out, pushing against his restraint. "Why? Maryhann wouldn''t leave me!"


    Niram took his face away. He hated having to tell the man the bad news, that was why he always left the explanation to Kiesh. "She left to get away from you, Myckie." Niram flinched as Myckie snapped his head towards Kiesh with confused eyes.


    "Why?"


    Gently, Kiesh continued. "She couldn''t watch you suffer any longer, Myckie."


    A look of indignation crossed the man''s face. "I''m not suffering!"


    "Look at you, Myckie," Niram interrupted, despite the urging need to stay quiet. "You''re deteriorating... Faster than the other old ones at the graveyard. And soon," he took a deep breath; this wasn''t easy. "Soon you''ll vanish... forever... Into the underworld."


    Fear swept through the indignant look on the man''s face. "No!" He shook his head. "I don''t want to go to the underworld! Please don''t make me go, Niram! I promise I''ll be good from now on!"


    Niram sighed. "You promised me the same last time. You know you can''t keep coming back here, Myckie? Humans don''t like ghosts returning to where they died. And besides, the underworld is not so bad."


    The man continued shaking his head. "Please Niram! Please don''t make me go there! It''s all dark and gloomy and cold!"


    "You know you''ll eventually end up there when your time in the physical world runs out? Why don''t you make a headstart so you can build up a house for Maryhann."


    "Really?" The man looked up at him with hopeful eyes.


    Niram grimaced but pushed through it. This had to be done. "Yeah, Maryhann will soon be there with you, and you know she''ll need somewhere to live. What better place than in a mansion with her sweet, sweet Myckie?"


    Myckie nodded. "I understand." He looked up at Niram with ghostly tears streaming down his eyes. "I don''t want to go to the underworld, but for Maryhann? I''ll do it!" He finished with a look of resolve on his face.


    Niram placed a hand on the man''s shoulders. "I''m proud of you Myckie. Despite what everyone says, you''re still the best mischief in this graveyard. Don''t let some old woman steal your thunder."


    Myckie barked a huge laugh, the first genuine one Niram had seen from him in years. And then in a blink, he vanished.


    Niram stared at the spot Myckie had just occupied with sadness.


    "It had to be done," Keish said beside him.


    "I know," he replied. "Doesn''t mean I don''t like it though."


    They were just about to turn back to the door when another shrill laugh erupted, this one dark and deeply menacing.


    A shadow emerged from behind the staircase leading up. As it came fully into the passage and the moon-streaked light from a broken window shone down on it, Niram saw that this thing wasn''t just cloaked by the natural shadow; it was shadow made manifest.


    Its height was so tall it almost scrapped the eleven-foot tall ceiling. There was a shadowy hood covering its face and behind that were two dark red, glowing orbs. Its raspy voice came forth then, just as it raised its talon-like claws in a beckoning gesture.


    "I hunger." Its voice echoed deeply into the whole house. "Come to me, feast!"

 Chapter 5 : Terrors

    "Do we run now?" Kiesh floated backward.


    "Yes," Niram replied. "Yes we do."


    Niram hadn''t even finished when Kiesh blitzed off, his ghostly form so fast it left a trail of blue light behind. Niram didn''t slack off, too, picking up speed as he sensed the strange ghost approaching.


    "Do not run, I''ll only take a pound of flesh." It rasped again, its voice sending shivers down Niram''s spine. No way was he going to be lunch for some kind of demonic ghost.


    They made it to the door a few seconds before the ghost caught up. Niram slammed the door shut just as it impacted with a loud thump that shook a cloud of dust off the walls.


    "Come back!!!!"


    Heartbeat thumping so loud he could practically hear it, Niram made sure to put some distance between himself and the house before he slowed down.


    "What. Was. That!" Kiesh shouted, this time forgetting to hide his voice. A scantily dressed woman leaning against a wall nearby shrieked and immediately bolted down the street, screaming, "Ghosssst!!!!!"


    Niram was too tired and scared to caution his best friend, so he simply raised a palm up in a stop gesture. He took a deep breath, and then took another one, before he spoke.


    "I think we need to speak to the old ones."


    "Yeahh." Kiesh nodded. "Do you know anything about what that is?"


    Niram shook his head, shrugging. "No, but I bet it''s a ghost, though."


    Niram hadn''t felt this much terror in years. The last time he''d felt something like this was on the night Kiesh had died and he''d been turned into a GhostSeer.


    He took in the house for a moment, looking through its dark glass windows and scary presence, and then he looked at Kiesh. "Let''s go."


    Together, they both made their way back to the graveyard.


    "Back so soon, Niram?!" Mama Ayor called as they stepped into the graveyard. The look on Niram''s face was answer enough. "That bad, huh?"


    "There''s something seriously wrong with that place."


    "Oh, my boy," the woman walked towards him. "I''ll come with... I want to hear what happened."Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The graveyard was colder than usual as Niram walked down its paved path. He didn''t know why, but he somehow felt like a blade was hanging over his head... Something he very much didn''t like.


    His way back was filled with as many greetings and calls as when he''d left. The other ghosts, both old and young, called out to him. Some detected his gloomy mood, while others were probably too oblivious, but they all did notice something was wrong.


    "What brings you back so fast, dear?" Mama Simbi said just as he got close to her burial ground. "Found the mischief haunting that house?"


    Niram nodded. "Myckie."


    The small gathering he''d packed up was suddenly filled with groans and angry mutterings.


    "Said so," Papa Yemir chortled.


    "Ohh, my..." Mama Simbi sighed. "Where''s that delinquent?!" She raised the ghostly cooking spoon in her hands. "He needs some good talking too!" She cried out, with a chorus of agreement coming from the gathered crowd.


    "He''s gone," Kiesh said.


    The whole crowd stilled.


    "What?" Mama Ayor said, realization dawning in her eyes.


    "He''s gone," Kiesh repeated. "To the underworld."


    "I wonder how you both convinced him to do that; maybe you can convince Simbi here," Yemir muttered, earning himself a tap on the shoulder from Simbi''s cooking spoon. "Owe! What was that for?!"


    "For being insensitive," Mama Simbi glared at him. She looked at Niram seeing his sad look and the reluctance there. "We won''t ask how you did it, okay?"


    Niram nodded, relief running down his spine.


    "But that''s not all, is it?" The woman stepped closer. She took Niram''s downturn face in her hands, raising it to meet her eyes. "What happened, Niram?"


    "There was something else in the house," he answered. "Something dark."


    "A giant thing with red eyes and a cloak made of shadows," Kiesh added.


    The moment he said that, the whole gathering froze, and the atmosphere turned freezing, more than usual, to the fact that the ghostly children playing in the distance quieted, instantly sensing the mood of the elders.


    Mama Ayor looked at the crowds gathered, raising her voice. "Any ghost who isn''t more than five hundred years old should clear this area, Now!" Her voice was firm and unbroken, far more commanding than was usually heard. And with a few groans and murmurs, over ninety percent of the group gathered began moving away, making their way back to what they''d been doing.


    When the area was finally cleared with only about five old ones remaining, Mama Ayor turned back to Niram. "Tell us what happened, dear. Tell us everything."


    Niram nodded and then began the tale of how they''d gotten to that point. He told of the children, how they''d taken shelter in the house and how they''d gone missing the next day, and how screams had been heard throughout the night. He told of Myckie and how they''d found him haunting the house once again, and reluctantly, with a few deep gulps of air, he told of how they''d gotten the ancient man to finally give up and head to the underworld. Finally, he got to the place where the strange thing had come out from behind the staircase. He told of the thing, the unnatural feeling of menace that seemed to follow it as it moved, and the cloud of shadows that seemed to undulate at its feet like a disrupted liquid body.


    When he was done, the gathered elders were silent. They all wore looks of fear and terror, and one other thing: recognition.


    "You know what this thing is, don''t you?" Kiesh said. And It wasn''t a question.


    Papa Yemir, who for once took on a serious expression, was the first person to speak. "They''re called Terrors, and they''re bad for everyone, ghosts and humans alike."