Spirit Hunter Book 1 Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

We continued to travel down the street, looking at passing houses. Every time a car got near to the curb's edge, Chase would yelp and run behind the nearest object. A tree, a mailbox, a bush…anything to hide himself from the 'tyranny of the human technology' and I would just stand there on the sidewalk, feeling foolish for tolerating such behavior from a raccoon spirit. "You know they can't see you right?"

"Of course they can." He yelled back at me from the bush he had hid himself in now. I watched as he tried to retrieve his balance but he yelped, dancing in pain as he sprung back out. "Crap…sticker bush!"

"Here" I held out a hand with extended fingers. He gave tiny shrieks of pain as the seeds stuck to his tail and onto the course hair of his arms. He whined as I started to pluck them, trying not to tug on the skin underneath. He was incredibly warm, but I did not let that sway me from assisting him. After he was cleaned up, he gave a less than thankful pause. "I thought normal people couldn't see spirits like you."

"Well that doesn't mean everyone can't. What if someone is like you and can just watch me walk down the sidewalk?"

"Now you're just bordering paranoid. How do you know where this house is? We've been walking blind for the last half hour!"

"It's right there." He told, pointing to an ancient home standing in the shadows of giant oaks. It wasn't a big, haunted mansion like I had expected. Instead it was just relatively benign, two-story house facing the street. Granted the panels were falling off, but aside from its aging there was not much damage to be noticed. I hummed, recognizing it. "Wait a second. Dad and I passed that every day when he drove me to school. This home has been unoccupied for years now. I'm surprised they haven't knocked it down."

"Then how come there's smoke bellowing out the chimney?" My eyes shot toward the roof and true enough, there was a fine misty smoke gently pouring from the brick chimney. I shivered, "Are…are you sure ghosts exist?"

"I've lived in the Spirit World all my life, and I've encountered them too many times. I hate ghosts." He told, giving a very annoyed puff of air. His lips seemed to despise this word, puckering up in the sourness of pronouncing it.

"Why is that?" I asked, trying to buy us some time before we went in. I'd never enjoyed phantoms after my encounter during my childhood. Chase's ears gave a twitch when I asked this question, as if I were annoying him, "Well if you really want to know…when my mom was having my sixth brother a ghost was trying to play a trick on us. I had to chase the damn thing to get it away from us but it kept coming back. Because it didn't leave even after he was born, my brother was scarred. Now he's so timid and shy. He isn't fit to be a warrior to protect the forest any longer."

I gave a hum. So this was about family, and it sparked his drive to catch the ghost. When
I closed my eyes to contemplate this, I heard him starting to march away. The ground almost started to shake with his fury, his eyes burning and fingers twitching. His mother's words still echoed in my mind, reminding me to keep my patience with his short temper. "Hey wait!" I screamed, running behind him. My hand instinctively caught his fluffy tail and he yipped, jumping up in pain. "OW! That's my tail you jerk!"

"You're the one trying to go in there without me!" We started to bicker more aggressively, giving one another silent pushes and angry finger points. The door wobbled open just as my fingernails reached the knob. We both barked with surprise.

Nervous giggles were then poured from our mouths, trying not to seem as scared as we were. Seeing a door open virtually by itself was just enough to send shivers down both our spines.

The interior was quaint, despite the appearance of decay that we had observed outside the borders. Chase was still jumpy; I could tell by the way his ears were moving and the motion of his tail twitching though his eyes remained calm. The entrance way had no stairs, but just a small room with a few hallways stretching into the separate rooms on the first floor. The whole floor seemed to be creaking with age, and it didn't help our nervous bodies to quiet. There was the sound of crackling and a strange glow coming from the hallway. That was the only safe area and with caution in our toes we headed towards it, keeping our steps as light as possible to prevent the floor from concaving and moaning. I gasped as I came to the separated area, emerging as a sort of living room.

There was a large fireplace and old, dusty furniture. But it wasn't the beauty of the 18th Century interior that shocked me; it was the bluish transparent figure sitting in front of the fire. It looked to be a male, human in shape. Chase moved to my side and gave snarls during his sharp tickling whispers, "You see that before you? That is a ghost. A lost spirit. A phantom. Whatever you want to call it, there it is."


The ghost looked content and almost tired as he slumped over the raging fire in the
walled pit. I heard him yawn. "What should we do?"

"Go slowly approach it and address yourself as a member of the Spirit Hunters." He told me, "Then ask him what his purpose of remaining here is."


I nodded and held my breath, recalling the way I was scarred as a child by something like this. But something was unusual about this phantom. He was tranquil and collected with no notice of me or intention to attack. When I approached him, he twisted his neck to face me. He looked young, maybe about in his twenties with a smooth pale face and slight circles under his hollowed eyes. Though his features were semisolid, the translucency of his body let me see the floor as well. He had large rounded glasses resting on the end of his nose and silvery white hair tied into a loose ponytail. He wore what looked like a strait-jacket with leather straps connecting the front and sleeves that covered his hands to the knuckle. He blinked his wide eyes and tipped his ear to a shoulder. "Uhm hello…" I introduced in a quiet manner, kneeling down to him. His eyes never left mine, giving a very blank face. "I am Elysia. I am a leader of a Spirit Hunter Squad. What is your purpose here?"


Finally the ghost man started to speak, his voice clear with a thick but understandable British accent, "Well hello there Elysia. It has been quite some time since I spoke to someone, so I hope I don't sound rash in any matter." He chuckled with a few pauses and cleared his throat, bowing his head, "My name is Sir Andrew Whitting du Montecalm the Fourth. I am a ghost, as you can tell. But I am not haunting this place exactly. I am here for a very special reason."

"Well if you're not haunting this place, then why stay here?" I asked, watching his eyes fall upon my chest. "My I've not seen such round, plump things as those in ages!"
My face filled with blood, heart starting to pump furiously at this. In sheer reaction, my hand swiftly moved for a slap but all I contacted was air. My hand had gone right through him! He laughed a bit, holding his hand to his mouth "I am only tugging your rope a little love! Oh, I am horrid aren't I? But…you remind me of my late wife. I…died trying to protect her. I'm quite certain on account of this." He stood up but there were no legs underneath him. Instead there was a long, ghastly tail trailing from his lower half, a tendril like whipping fire aimlessly flowing through the chilled air. I felt a bit of empathy resonate in my heart for his loss.

A curious question poured like water from my mouth, "Did you feel anything?" I could just feel the back of my neck rise with bumps. Chase was growing impatient. Andrew shook his head rapidly, "Not at all."

Chase came into the room, his feet ablaze with resentment. He growled and glanced to us both, his nostrils flaring and a smidge of growl in his voice "Stop with the dumb questions and small talk. Phantom, why are you here? If you have no purpose here then move on, go to Asylum!"

"I can't!" He whimpered, going onto the floor again. "I am protecting this entire town from what lies in the basement."

"What do you mean?" I told in a voice that was the good cop to Chase's bad…whatever we were now.

Andrew shook slightly; his eyes growing wide as he once again huddled by the fire. "It's something that could completely destroy this place. It has been chained down there but I cannot assist it whatsoever because I cannot hold or touch things." He revealed his hands, hidden under the large sleeves of his jacket, "The only ability I have is containing things within a shield of my own mental abilities. Don't ask me why, even I am unsure of this wondrous power myself."

"What is this thing that lies below us?" Chase began to pitch his voice again with negativity. I began to wonder if either he had a major anger issue or he was just not a pleasant person. Just because he disliked ghosts didn't mean that he needed to treat Andrew without proper respect.

Andrew glanced back to him, not with wrath but with sheer terror and cowardice. "It is a fire breathing winged reptile you may probably refer to as a dragon. There are many of them in the world, but this one was chained here a long time ago because it was seen as a devil, a curse, in this town. I've been trying to help it but I sadly cannot grab the chains." He held up his hands, "Even though ghosts can sometimes hold things and interact with them, I have not yet learned how to do this yet. You two will have to go down there, calm it down and free it."

A dragon? I had read about them in books. Andrew was right, many dragons in the Western hemisphere were seen as fire spitting demons and either killed by gallant knights or kept prisoners by those who had the means to in order to show power. Chase and I exchanged glances. The raccoon spirit told in a softer voice, "Where is the basement?"

"You see that door?" He pointed to a hinged one at the far corner of the room, "Take it down to the steps. The dragon keeps the boiler lit as its eternal punishment and so there should be enough light for both of you to see. If you need protection, I shall follow you and assist you as much as possible."


We started to plod along toward the foreboding black door, our eyes flickering about. It was the first of our missions as a team and just starting off made the rest of my time in the society seem questionable. One day, I thought to myself, I will look upon this mission and wish for easier days like this.

The door was unlocked and there was a dimly lit staircase awaiting us. It was like walking into hell, no light in the descending hall and only heat to greet us. There was the faint sound of grumbling, which made me nervously giggle. "Is someone hungry?"

"Maybe a giant dragon." Andrew told back in all seriousness. Chase glanced over his shoulder and scowled at him. The ghost shrugged in return, "What? I'm only telling the truth."

The boys let me lead, and with shaking knees I snaked down every step, blinded by inky shadows. When sight was finally available, I took a deep inspection of the underground room.

The basement was humongous and extremely spacious. The floors were carpeted with plush red velvet-like material and the walls were made of smoothed cement colored an orange hue. It smelled of mildew and ash. As Andrew had mentioned, there was a great flame blazing underneath an old boiler, providing heat to the house. There groveling at its feet was the dragon, in all its scaly glory.

It really was a marvelous creature to behold, looking so fierce and powerful. It was colored an off-green shade with shiny scales that reflected the light. Its neck was the thickness of a redwood tree stump, its head spiked with yellow horns. It did have an abnormally long snout, closed tight at the moment as it observed the area. Its eyes were multicolored, with flares of blue around the iris, orange and gold meshing in a beautiful treasure like glow near its pupil. It was just like a classic fairy-tale beast, having four limbs with large claws ending at each one, an elongated tail ending with a spiked ball, and giant bat-like wing. There were a few slight whiskers coming from its eyebrows and around its nose, most likely from age. Then we saw the teeth as it gave a yawn.

They were horrid and yellow, as any beast would have. The forked tongue was pink, smelling the air ripe with new flesh. When it lunged, I thought we were done in. This was until I began to hear the rattling of thick chains connected to each of its upper wrists.

Quickly Andrew floated in front of us both and snapped his fingers as the dragon opened its jaws. A curtain of translucent energy surrounded us just as the beast spewed deadly orange flames at us. I bit my lip, holding tight to Chase with protection. However the flames avoided us completely and instead bombarded the protective barrier. Both of us saw the chains completely surrounding its hind feet and tail. It could not fly to escape this place and so it was forced to do its previous master's bidding. "Did you bring anything at all? You know, to break that crap?" He whispered sharply expecting a miracle of me.

"No, did you?" I urged, standing up and examining the basement for anything with the force to shatter metal. There was nothing that caught my eye but an old sledgehammer which was stuck in some fallen rubble. As the fire dimmed down so did Andrew's shield. Chase could see the gears ticking in my head and watched as I attempted to pick the heavy hammer up. I held my chest as strongly as I could, breathing heavy with defeat. He grabbed it from me without any effort at all questioned, "What do you have in mind princess?"

There was no time to comment on his strange choice of words at the moment. I pointed at the chains. "Dodge the fire first."

"Okay I knew that." I slapped my forehead and took him by the shoulders. My sentences were a bit garbled by my gasping throat but I managed to explain, "Listen to me for a moment! Lure the dragon toward you on the opposite side of the basement. When it gets ready to spout fire on you, be sure to stand on its chain. Metal gets weak when exposed to that much heat. So after it's done, use the hammer and free it!"

"What will happen after that? Is that thing going to try and eat me?"

"Bring Andrew then. Now go!" We both split up and I was eager to see my plan unfold. I felt just a tad bit useless but then again, I wasn't a raccoon spirit or a shield-producing ghost. He had taken my advice and brought our new friend alongside him, reluctantly however.

The dragon stood on its hind legs, spewing globs of fire from its long mouth. Chase rolled and ducked, managing to avoid a fiery death. But the end of his tail was singed; I could smell the stench of burning fur from where I was crouched. The dragon roared, making the entire room shake as he came closer. Chase reared back when an unexpected claw came near. Andrew understood what he had to do, holding out his arms and making small transparent domes to reflect the blows back to the beast.

No matter how it attempted, nothing could penetrate the surface of the shield. It struck harder and it was caught off guard when it found its claw coming straight towards it once more. The beast struck itself hard in the leg, opening a deep gash. This caught its rage fully, and as soon as its eyes locked onto Chase there was an influx of flame.

My hopes came true, seeing the metal he once stood on glow a bright red. Chase gave a warrior's yell, throwing the hammer high above his head and then smashing it down. The chain separated with ease and he moved to the one at the base of its tail. Soon, that was broken and I saw the large wings spreading against the light. The beast gave a few roars, screaming almost and then it shook its legs, slowly liberating itself.

"We have to get the chains around its neck before it gets to the surface!" I screamed to Chase.
He had a knowing, wry smirk on his face, biting his lip. "Of course. That won't be too hard for me. Just like hunting dinner for the family back home." He gripped the metal within his hands and threw it with gusto towards the beast. Soon the chains wrapped around its neck, sparing him some time as the beast observed this.

Chase held himself to its neck as it started to flap, thrashing its head about. He wrestled with its sheer power, keeping its head from crashing into the ceiling.

  A familiar presence leaked through the anticipation and I turned my head to see Bram landed beside Andrew and I "Enough of this." He murmured, unsheathing his deadly scythe from his long robes. I felt my eyes sting with tears and stood up, holding my hand straight as he dashed towards the dragon. "No Bram! Don't!"

But he didn't take its life like I expected. Instead he took off a glove and touched the creature. There was a faint light and then I watched amazed as its pupils became bigger.

The wings relaxed and its head fell toward the floor in a trance-like state, letting Chase loosen his grip and fall safely to the floor. With the threat of getting knocked around gone, Chase stood up. He neared the dragon and pet its neck gently. "I get it…" He said, "This thing just wanted to be free. Now that it is, where will it go?"

"He can stay with my family." Bram told slightly, placing his hand back into its cover,
"This is the reason I wanted you two to come here. Not only to introduce you to Andrew but also to help me acquire a new house pet. Aura was complaining that Jeremy needed a companion." He ruffled the fabric of his infant, the innocent child asleep as always.

My face flushed free of blood as I stared at our Messenger in disbelief. "So wait a minute…you're telling us that this whole mission happened just because you wanted a puppy dog?"

"It isn't a dog." Bram corrected, chuckling a bit at my surprised tone, "It's a dragon. A reptile."

"I don't care what it is!" I shouted back, clenching my fists and feeling the whites of my eyes burning. Chase looked equally annoyed and Andrew hid himself behind the raccoon spirit. Jeremy ruffled in his sleep, a look of disturbance starting to grow on his face. Bram stared to me and lowered his long torso. His hand found its way to my shoulder, assuring me with a tranquil stare, "Be calm. Things like this are bound to happen whether you reside on Earth or the Spirit World. People need favors and conduct them as secrets. You will be taken advantage of, for the good of others. It's better than just stealing. Besides, I thought you might enjoy Andrew as a new member of your Squad."

"My Squad?"

"Yes. A Squad is a team. Didn't I explain all this?" He scratched his head, "If not you'll learn as you go I suppose."

Andrew floated over to Bram, adjusting his glasses. "Wait. Does that mean you aren't going to pressure me into visiting to a phantom psychiatrist and find my place in the afterlife?"

Bram at first hummed, tapping a finger on his chin and then gave a shrug, "That's up to you Sir Andrew. But you should ask the children first".

I clenched my fists with determination and assured our new friend, "Well of course! I'd enjoy him as a team member. Andrew, you seem like a very interesting person…err ghost. I'd like to know more about you."

I saw Chase pouting, his arms crossed and ears down. The dragon shifted about and he flinched, body ready to attack again. When I giggled, we caught each other's gaze. My eyes filled with hope and bright smile made him give in a little. He moaned with the pain of acceptance and nodded just slightly, "Yeah I guess you can be with us."

There was a new glint of trust in the eyes of the ghost, and he flailed his covered hands up as he spoke. "Oh thank you! Bless you both! I wasn't sure what I was going to do without this place under constant threat! I'll try to do my best! I promise." Both he and Chase had been lost, and now both were beginning anew, hopefully in a new harmony.

Bram looked pleased at this, holding his high and he began to walk off. To all of our surprise, the dragon began to follow him. He began to shuffle up the stairs but paused and stared down to us. "Oh before I leave, be sure to get plenty of rest. I have the actual first mission for all of you in the morning, from the big shots themselves. Good night."

We all felt both relieved but annoyed. That wasn't our first mission? At the very least, we had a new friend along with us. And for what lacked in physical touch, he made up for in his defense. I had a good feeling that he and Chase would make good friends…eventually.