[log] [I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost] [Ava, Morgan]
[Set pre-costume party.]
Prowling around in the night was more than normal for Ava - it was downright instinctive and natural. The daylight didn't burn her eyes or make her weary, but it certainly dragged on and there was little for her to do. In the evenings here, after Curfew especially, there were plenty of activities for a restless Hellhound.
Of course, the creatures still existed despite the number she attacked and tried to herd away from Ashwood Heights. Occasionally she drifted towards the small suburbs - at least they looked like suburbs - and chased things there. But her work always seemed...pointless. With a mistress to guide her and specific goals, things were accomplished. She felt fulfilled, useful. Here? She was just confused. And irritated at having to attend school.
Not that she was there most of the time. Just long enough to sometimes get attendance taken, then she slipped out at her first chance and didn't bother to return. The teacher tried to be nice, inquired after her parents, if she needed help getting school supplies. Ava's snippy reply of "No, thank you. I get on fine" had shut him up. Or perhaps it was her flash of red, irritated, demon-like eyes and a snarl of teeth that glimmered for a moment like a full set of fangs that wolves might envy. Either way, he left her alone now.
This evening, Ava was stretched out on the hood of Randolph's car and lazily watching a ghost meander down the alleyway to her right. She huffed - things were far too boring tonight. A quietly closed door caught her attention, but she only gave it the benefit of her ear swiveling in its direction. It sounded like it came from Ashwood Heights. Now, who would be sneaking out this late? She inhaled deeply but only smelled the steel and numerous metallic scents from her current resting place. Hm. Perhaps the crows - now seemingly omni-present - would know better. She glanced up at the tree they were perched in and found them bored as well.
So the sneaking person wasn't Randolph then. Ava stayed still and waited to see who it was.
Morgan had been warned multiple times by multiple people to mind the curfew - by Emily, by the pamphlet given to her by the 'city council', by notices posted around the apartment complex. Midnight sharp, make sure you're inside or 'bad things will happen.' Ooooh. Sounded sooooo scary. What 'bad things'? She hadn't shown up in Truth or Consequences until something like three, three-thirty in the morning, and then slept all night in her jeep, and there hadn't been any signs of 'bad things'. What a crock.
This whole place had her nervous. She didn't like being in the apartment, because there were too many familiar things in there - not many, just a few, with lots of places to put her own things if/when she wanted - because of all the strange inhabitants and bizarre happenings - like the costume party on the roof she still couldn't entirely remember - and because it didn't feel safe. Like a fake home pretending to be home. She didn't trust it. She didn't really like being around the other tenants either, no matter how sweet Emily might be, for the same reason. Emily had accepted being here so easily, so bovinely, that it disturbed Morgan. Shouldn't she fight a little harder to get out, to be free? And she couldn't stand being out in town, either, in and among all the people who blindly went through the day unquestioning their lack of communication with the outside world. The only place she felt safe was in her jeep, but even she could stand being couped up in there for so long.
So Morgan thought to herself - screw curfew. She was tired of being nervous and jumpy at things she couldn't see, suspicious and paranoid. If there was something out here, she wanted to see it and confront it herself, to know that there really was something to be scared of and a good reason for curfew. If there was nothing, she could continue laughing at the people who let themselves be scared. Either way, it would provide herself with something solid.
Or it would get her killed. But after the last five years, she honestly wasn't sure that was exactly worse than what she already had going for her.
Making her way down the stone steps of the complex, the auburn-haired woman pulled up the hoodie of her jacket, hiding her face in the shadows. It wasn't terribly cool out, just nippy enough that she might appreciate having this later on if the wind got worse. It was ten minutes to midnight, by her watch (she'd picked it out of her cereal box - crappy as it was - and wore it regardless after finding the lack of clocks in her apartment), which gave her plenty of time to get to the Denny's down the street for a midnight snack. She thought, anyway; she hadn't tried walking to it yet, but ten minutes on foot sounded about right. Maybe twenty. Either way, close enough for her to see what was so scary about the midnight hour.
Stuffing her hands in her pockets, Morgan started off down the sidewalk, unable to see the large dog lounging on one of the car hoods from her angle and oblivious of its watchful presence.
So, a new person. When would they stop coming in? Ava watched her, the obvious defensive stance - hands in pockets, face hidden, quick, stiff steps - and perked her ears forward. Where was she off to? Trying to drive off? That wouldn't work - she'd heard several people try that and fail. So when Morgan passed the cars and continued on out of the parking lot, Ava felt her heart race. This resident was heading out into what would soon be very dangerous territory - unless this was no mortal at all... Well it never hurt to check.
She slipped off the car hood and let her nails click on the pavement. Surprising the woman could be amusing, but Ava wanted to be trusted. When the woman jerked and glanced back, she gave a friendly sounding 'woof' and wagged her tail, prancing the rest of the way to her. If the show of a happy dog worked, all the better. If not -- well, she could trail well enough, especially since she had the advantage of having trodden these streets several times over. Even if there was always an unnerving not quite settled sense to them.
It was certainly nothing that Ava couldn't handle.
A part of her brain recognized the sound of dog nails on concrete when she heard it. But the other part of her spooked - too much stress made for a high-strung, not at all mellow Morgan who freaked at shadows and unexpected noises. She jerked and spun around, eyes searching through the street-lamp lit darkness, until she spied the dog.
... the large dog. The very large, black dog, with bright, bizarrely green eyes. Had she ever seen green eyes on a dog before? She'd seen blue eyes, but she was pretty sure green eyes stayed in the realm of cats. Despite its size and strange eyes, though, it acted like any other normal, friendly dog. It didn't have the look of a stray, but it didn't have a collar, either. Maybe it belonged to one of the tenants, or had jumped a fence and out of some owner's back yard. It probably shouldn't be out here anymore than she should.
Morgan let herself relax, and gave the dog a smile. She couldn't murmur any niceties, and she wasn't going to whistle, but sometimes radiating calm was all an animal really needed. Bending slightly - the dog was large enough she hardly had to bend at all - she offered her hand palm-down, knuckles first, to let it get her scent.
Well now, things were working out rather well. Ava accepted the foolish human tradition of offering a hand and kept wagging her tail, giving the woman a quick swipe of her tongue after doing the obligatory sniff. With that accomplished, she stood and waited for the woman to decide if she was going to go back to the apartments - please let that be her choice - or if she was going to continue to wherever she had been headed. Either way, Ava would stick with her. The flavor of the woman and the pale, wanton look of her skin and body left Ava quite sure that this human was purely that - human.
When the woman only stared at her, Ava cocked her head and gave another soft woof.
... yes, she felt reasonably well assured that this was a nice, if large, dog, and not a strange being out to get her during the midnight hour. Morgan checked her watch. Or, well, at least not yet; midnight was still a few minutes away.
She straightened, choosing not to pet the dog. Probably best not to encourage anything, and if it was a stray, she didn't really want fleas either. Alternately, considering her lifestyle, if it wasn't a stray she didn't want to give it fleas. Lord knew she'd probably been carrying some around for the last few months since leaving the strawberry farm in California. Blech. Best to just go on her way. If it hung around outside after she got into the Denny's, maybe she'd bring some scraps out for it.
... not that that didn't completely contradict her thinking about not encouraging anything, but whatever. She was a sucker for animals and strays needed to stick together anyway, right?
With a small wave of one hand, Morgan turned and continued down the sidewalk. She'd just ignore the dog if it decided to follow.
Ava wasn't bothered by Morgan's apparent dismissal of her. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing had happened. Either way, Morgan seemed to be comfortable with her presence and that was enough for Ava to keep her safe. She trotted along a few steps behind, her ears swiveling back and forth, eyes vigilantly watching for any of the night's occupants. Ava didn't care where the woman went, though she sincerely hoped Morgan didn't try to escape the town on foot. It would be a long, dirty night if that was the case. And the forests were difficult places to keep another being safe.
They were still tramping along when her hair rose up without her command. Something was near. Ava paused and she did a more thorough visual scan of the area. She couldn't see anything - a sniff confirmed there was no unusual scent to be had. But there was still that sense...one that had never failed her. She gave a snort and then scampered up to Morgan's side, body stiff, ears erect and eyes scanning the area. Whatever it was would have to go through her first.
And she wouldn't go down easy.
Okay, so maybe the Denny's was a little further than ten minutes. The walk was doing her good, though; all the previous nervous energy was slowly starting to melt away, soothed by the feeling of heels hitting the sidewalk, the sound of a city at night, the far-off scent of Oregon's deep pine forests. It was the feeling of movement, the feeling of being free from restraints, that eased her mind a little. She should walk more, Morgan decided then. Walking would help wear her out, keep her from climbing the walls of Ashwood. Perhaps she'd even walk more at night.
Ah, there was the Denny's, the sign brightly visible even if it was still a few blocks down. Shops lined the streets, windows dark and CLOSED signs neon bright in the shadows. The shadows were especially dark down the alleyways, but from what Morgan could see there was nothing down the ones she passed except trash, dumpsters, graffiti, and more trash. There was no traffic except her and the dog, and if it wasn't for the cheery bright light of the moon and the calming breeze, it would almost be creepy.
At midnight on the dot, the street lamps and neon shop signs began to flicker.
A shrill scream broke the silence and echoed in Ava's mind. Nothing physical had shown itself yet, so it was likely some kind of spirit. Great. They were the hardest to intimidate, having no flesh and all. She kept her defensive stance and stayed so tightly at Morgan's side that an observer would think the dog was a master of the 'heel' command - even if the dog looked more than a little anxious. A section of grass shuddered up ahead and a sharp crinkling sound followed it, the image of a man crawling through the grass bursting in and out of focus. In fact, it looked more like he was a hologram or some kind of projected image than real.
Ava wasn't fooled, though. Her hackles raised and the growl that she issued forth was louder than the man's whimpers and gasps.
"...got so far, but it's still there. It won't stop. Just keeps coming and coming and coming!" He shuddered and looked at a blank space pleadingly.
She folded back her ears and tried to force Morgan farther from the spirit with the constant pressure of her side against the woman's leg. Hopefully they could just pass the spirit and it would leave them be. And if it tried to follow...well, she would nip at Morgan's heels until the woman was close to something safer. Then she would face off with the ghost. And hopefully her display of power and rage would go unnoticed by Morgan. Not many people would trust a proper Hell hound once it had fully shown itself.
Especially not Ava's form of rage.
Though...this one had made no move towards them. Ava still continued to growl deep in her throat and herd Morgan away from it. One never knew when another spirit would appear in this town...she was starting to think they traveled in packs.
Okay, Morgan could have gone without the flickering. The last thing she needed right now was for the lights to go out, even if she WAS within visual distance of the Denny's. Don't be scared of the dark, she told herself as the shadows started writhing under the inconsistent lights, and hurried her steps a little.
Until something screamed. It was loud, and it was close, and she thought she was going to have a heart attack right there on the spot. She skipped a step and ruined her rhythm of walking, tripping and nearly sprawling flat on her face, but managed to throw out a hand and catch herself against the wall of the building next to her. Her palm stung as it scraped across old and crumbling brick.
What was that?! she wanted to hiss in high-pitched fear, but it didn't matter if she said anything - nothing would be heard. Instead she pressed against the wall - the dog up against her legs and growling - breathing fast and heart pumping and trying to find the source of the bodiless scream.
got so far, but it's still there - Up ahead, between her and the Denny's, something flickered on the ground much like how the lights had flickered earlier. Only half-there, incorporeal, like a... like... a... hologram?
Morgan forced her breathing to slow, holding her breath and swallowing. It was a person, it looked like, a man crawling on the ground and muttering and looking hopefully at... nothing, something only he could see. He flickered in and out of existence like a poor movie projector might play, only there was none of the tell-tale light-trail like one might see from a movie being projected through the air. Was he a hologram, another trick to remind her to not break curfew? There were shops all around, but nothing to indicate where this might be coming from.
She laughed nervously to herself, just a few huffs of air, and pulled her hoodie tight around her. Just a hologram. Nothing to be worried about. ... right. Best keep heading on to the Denny's...
Morgan nearly tripped again in her hurry to get going.
At least the woman wasn't screaming and freezing up. Fleeing was always a better choice when dealing with ghosts. If you got really lucky, they were confined to a certain area. Thankfully, this death echo - stupid, annoying, harmless death echos - was likely near the end of his cycle. He was sobbing and clawing at the cement like it was grass, his fingertips disappearing and reappearing as they moved in and out of the cement.
She kept up the low growl and shifted her gaze to Morgan sporadically as she kept pace just behind the woman. The Denny's was close and then there-! A shimmer in the pathway. Not good.
Ava darted ahead of Morgan and let out a half-howl, half-growl. She knew there was no pack for her to call on, but the sounds and plea had escaped her lips before she could stop it. The shimmer gave only the vague figure of a woman and Ava lashed out at it. Of course her teeth did no damage, the spirit had no physical form to speak of. But the faint eyes of a woman soaked in blood were following Morgan. Watching her much more closely than Ava liked. Not that she liked any ghost looking at the living; the two hardly ever got along.
A snarl was all Ava got out before the spirit shifted its gaze. With the eyes fully on her Ava projected her thoughts desperately to Morgan, keeping the message simple - Run!
"Meddlesome beast," the ghost sneered and lifted one hand, her influence causing a strong wind to strike Ava.
The hell hound held her ground and deepened her growl. She also hoped that Morgan was sprinting by now.
They edged past the weeping hologram-man and continued down the sidewalk, the woman's heart pounding in her chest and adrenaline singing through her veins, wanting her to run and get the hell out of there. But she forced herself to stay at a walk - a stiff, rapid walk - reminding herself that ghosts didn't really exist and pulling her jacket tight around her. The dog remained at her side, a comforting presence.
But not for long. They couldn't have gone twenty feet before something shimmered on the sidewalk between her and the Denny's, and the dog leapt away from her, howling and snarling. Morgan froze, more frightened by the dog's sudden aggression now than by the.... mirage appearing on the sidewalk. What was it? It shimmered like heat waves over the hood of a hot car, bending the lighted windows of the Denny's behind it, almost thickening the air itself. The dog certainly didn't seem to like it. Morgan couldn't say she liked it either.
And then the dog lunged at - at something - and abruptly she thought she could see what the haze was. Not a hologram, not like the man she could still hear crying behind them. No, this was something different. It was a woman, her outline so faint and hard to see from this distance, wavering in and out of focus, but she wasn't looking at the dog. No, she was looking straight at Morgan, like she wasn't another trick hologram but could really see, and the look in her eyes froze Morgan's blood.
This was a ghost. This was really a ghost. Just like she'd been warned. There really were ghosts here that showed up after curfew, and she'd just walked right into one.
Run! her mind cried at her, but she was frozen to the spot with indecision, fear, and denial. And from that ghost-woman's eyes - they wouldn't let her go, they held her in place like a deer in headlights. But they finally let go, breaking away to the dog and snarling - Meddlesome beast, she said, Morgan heard it clear as a bell, full of loathing and death - and raised her arm. Wind whipped down the road out of nowhere, cold and biting.
Run!
Morgan turned and ran.
With the wind gone and Morgan finally fleeing, Ava let more of her attention go to the bloody ghost. She didn't dare to lower her lips - bared teeth felt safer in this situation. Her growl was steady and she kept her back to Morgan, eyes fully focused on the angry woman.
"I've dealt with beasts before, now be gone!" Another gust of wind followed the wave of a hand and the woman's outraged expression turned into a snarl when Ava didn't so much as flinch. The woman blinked out of sight and flickered in and out of visibility until she was no more than a foot from Ava. "Simple beasts should just die!"
The ghost lunged the short distance to Ava and while her semi-corporeal fingers met flesh, her gaze met blazing red eyes. With Morgan a safe distance away and her body in danger, Ava no longer kept herself from showing what she hid beneath the surface. The ground seemed to quiver and her fangs had grown in length and width, a red forked tongue the compliment to her truly demonic appearance.
Ava's growl deepened and seemed to envelop the ghost, making her stare and withdraw her fingers from Ava's shoulders - dripping fresh blood. The Hell hound lowered her head and flattened her ears to her skull, tongue flicking anxiously as she watched the ghost stumble backwards, flickering in and out of view.
"You...what are you?"
She only gave the ghost one brief malevolent grin before charging, growls echoing through the town as she chased it towards the woods. Where it would stay.
With that done, she would return to check on Morgan. Her scent trail should be fairly easy to follow.
Prowling around in the night was more than normal for Ava - it was downright instinctive and natural. The daylight didn't burn her eyes or make her weary, but it certainly dragged on and there was little for her to do. In the evenings here, after Curfew especially, there were plenty of activities for a restless Hellhound.
Of course, the creatures still existed despite the number she attacked and tried to herd away from Ashwood Heights. Occasionally she drifted towards the small suburbs - at least they looked like suburbs - and chased things there. But her work always seemed...pointless. With a mistress to guide her and specific goals, things were accomplished. She felt fulfilled, useful. Here? She was just confused. And irritated at having to attend school.
Not that she was there most of the time. Just long enough to sometimes get attendance taken, then she slipped out at her first chance and didn't bother to return. The teacher tried to be nice, inquired after her parents, if she needed help getting school supplies. Ava's snippy reply of "No, thank you. I get on fine" had shut him up. Or perhaps it was her flash of red, irritated, demon-like eyes and a snarl of teeth that glimmered for a moment like a full set of fangs that wolves might envy. Either way, he left her alone now.
This evening, Ava was stretched out on the hood of Randolph's car and lazily watching a ghost meander down the alleyway to her right. She huffed - things were far too boring tonight. A quietly closed door caught her attention, but she only gave it the benefit of her ear swiveling in its direction. It sounded like it came from Ashwood Heights. Now, who would be sneaking out this late? She inhaled deeply but only smelled the steel and numerous metallic scents from her current resting place. Hm. Perhaps the crows - now seemingly omni-present - would know better. She glanced up at the tree they were perched in and found them bored as well.
So the sneaking person wasn't Randolph then. Ava stayed still and waited to see who it was.
Morgan had been warned multiple times by multiple people to mind the curfew - by Emily, by the pamphlet given to her by the 'city council', by notices posted around the apartment complex. Midnight sharp, make sure you're inside or 'bad things will happen.' Ooooh. Sounded sooooo scary. What 'bad things'? She hadn't shown up in Truth or Consequences until something like three, three-thirty in the morning, and then slept all night in her jeep, and there hadn't been any signs of 'bad things'. What a crock.
This whole place had her nervous. She didn't like being in the apartment, because there were too many familiar things in there - not many, just a few, with lots of places to put her own things if/when she wanted - because of all the strange inhabitants and bizarre happenings - like the costume party on the roof she still couldn't entirely remember - and because it didn't feel safe. Like a fake home pretending to be home. She didn't trust it. She didn't really like being around the other tenants either, no matter how sweet Emily might be, for the same reason. Emily had accepted being here so easily, so bovinely, that it disturbed Morgan. Shouldn't she fight a little harder to get out, to be free? And she couldn't stand being out in town, either, in and among all the people who blindly went through the day unquestioning their lack of communication with the outside world. The only place she felt safe was in her jeep, but even she could stand being couped up in there for so long.
So Morgan thought to herself - screw curfew. She was tired of being nervous and jumpy at things she couldn't see, suspicious and paranoid. If there was something out here, she wanted to see it and confront it herself, to know that there really was something to be scared of and a good reason for curfew. If there was nothing, she could continue laughing at the people who let themselves be scared. Either way, it would provide herself with something solid.
Or it would get her killed. But after the last five years, she honestly wasn't sure that was exactly worse than what she already had going for her.
Making her way down the stone steps of the complex, the auburn-haired woman pulled up the hoodie of her jacket, hiding her face in the shadows. It wasn't terribly cool out, just nippy enough that she might appreciate having this later on if the wind got worse. It was ten minutes to midnight, by her watch (she'd picked it out of her cereal box - crappy as it was - and wore it regardless after finding the lack of clocks in her apartment), which gave her plenty of time to get to the Denny's down the street for a midnight snack. She thought, anyway; she hadn't tried walking to it yet, but ten minutes on foot sounded about right. Maybe twenty. Either way, close enough for her to see what was so scary about the midnight hour.
Stuffing her hands in her pockets, Morgan started off down the sidewalk, unable to see the large dog lounging on one of the car hoods from her angle and oblivious of its watchful presence.
So, a new person. When would they stop coming in? Ava watched her, the obvious defensive stance - hands in pockets, face hidden, quick, stiff steps - and perked her ears forward. Where was she off to? Trying to drive off? That wouldn't work - she'd heard several people try that and fail. So when Morgan passed the cars and continued on out of the parking lot, Ava felt her heart race. This resident was heading out into what would soon be very dangerous territory - unless this was no mortal at all... Well it never hurt to check.
She slipped off the car hood and let her nails click on the pavement. Surprising the woman could be amusing, but Ava wanted to be trusted. When the woman jerked and glanced back, she gave a friendly sounding 'woof' and wagged her tail, prancing the rest of the way to her. If the show of a happy dog worked, all the better. If not -- well, she could trail well enough, especially since she had the advantage of having trodden these streets several times over. Even if there was always an unnerving not quite settled sense to them.
It was certainly nothing that Ava couldn't handle.
A part of her brain recognized the sound of dog nails on concrete when she heard it. But the other part of her spooked - too much stress made for a high-strung, not at all mellow Morgan who freaked at shadows and unexpected noises. She jerked and spun around, eyes searching through the street-lamp lit darkness, until she spied the dog.
... the large dog. The very large, black dog, with bright, bizarrely green eyes. Had she ever seen green eyes on a dog before? She'd seen blue eyes, but she was pretty sure green eyes stayed in the realm of cats. Despite its size and strange eyes, though, it acted like any other normal, friendly dog. It didn't have the look of a stray, but it didn't have a collar, either. Maybe it belonged to one of the tenants, or had jumped a fence and out of some owner's back yard. It probably shouldn't be out here anymore than she should.
Morgan let herself relax, and gave the dog a smile. She couldn't murmur any niceties, and she wasn't going to whistle, but sometimes radiating calm was all an animal really needed. Bending slightly - the dog was large enough she hardly had to bend at all - she offered her hand palm-down, knuckles first, to let it get her scent.
Well now, things were working out rather well. Ava accepted the foolish human tradition of offering a hand and kept wagging her tail, giving the woman a quick swipe of her tongue after doing the obligatory sniff. With that accomplished, she stood and waited for the woman to decide if she was going to go back to the apartments - please let that be her choice - or if she was going to continue to wherever she had been headed. Either way, Ava would stick with her. The flavor of the woman and the pale, wanton look of her skin and body left Ava quite sure that this human was purely that - human.
When the woman only stared at her, Ava cocked her head and gave another soft woof.
... yes, she felt reasonably well assured that this was a nice, if large, dog, and not a strange being out to get her during the midnight hour. Morgan checked her watch. Or, well, at least not yet; midnight was still a few minutes away.
She straightened, choosing not to pet the dog. Probably best not to encourage anything, and if it was a stray, she didn't really want fleas either. Alternately, considering her lifestyle, if it wasn't a stray she didn't want to give it fleas. Lord knew she'd probably been carrying some around for the last few months since leaving the strawberry farm in California. Blech. Best to just go on her way. If it hung around outside after she got into the Denny's, maybe she'd bring some scraps out for it.
... not that that didn't completely contradict her thinking about not encouraging anything, but whatever. She was a sucker for animals and strays needed to stick together anyway, right?
With a small wave of one hand, Morgan turned and continued down the sidewalk. She'd just ignore the dog if it decided to follow.
Ava wasn't bothered by Morgan's apparent dismissal of her. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing had happened. Either way, Morgan seemed to be comfortable with her presence and that was enough for Ava to keep her safe. She trotted along a few steps behind, her ears swiveling back and forth, eyes vigilantly watching for any of the night's occupants. Ava didn't care where the woman went, though she sincerely hoped Morgan didn't try to escape the town on foot. It would be a long, dirty night if that was the case. And the forests were difficult places to keep another being safe.
They were still tramping along when her hair rose up without her command. Something was near. Ava paused and she did a more thorough visual scan of the area. She couldn't see anything - a sniff confirmed there was no unusual scent to be had. But there was still that sense...one that had never failed her. She gave a snort and then scampered up to Morgan's side, body stiff, ears erect and eyes scanning the area. Whatever it was would have to go through her first.
And she wouldn't go down easy.
Okay, so maybe the Denny's was a little further than ten minutes. The walk was doing her good, though; all the previous nervous energy was slowly starting to melt away, soothed by the feeling of heels hitting the sidewalk, the sound of a city at night, the far-off scent of Oregon's deep pine forests. It was the feeling of movement, the feeling of being free from restraints, that eased her mind a little. She should walk more, Morgan decided then. Walking would help wear her out, keep her from climbing the walls of Ashwood. Perhaps she'd even walk more at night.
Ah, there was the Denny's, the sign brightly visible even if it was still a few blocks down. Shops lined the streets, windows dark and CLOSED signs neon bright in the shadows. The shadows were especially dark down the alleyways, but from what Morgan could see there was nothing down the ones she passed except trash, dumpsters, graffiti, and more trash. There was no traffic except her and the dog, and if it wasn't for the cheery bright light of the moon and the calming breeze, it would almost be creepy.
At midnight on the dot, the street lamps and neon shop signs began to flicker.
A shrill scream broke the silence and echoed in Ava's mind. Nothing physical had shown itself yet, so it was likely some kind of spirit. Great. They were the hardest to intimidate, having no flesh and all. She kept her defensive stance and stayed so tightly at Morgan's side that an observer would think the dog was a master of the 'heel' command - even if the dog looked more than a little anxious. A section of grass shuddered up ahead and a sharp crinkling sound followed it, the image of a man crawling through the grass bursting in and out of focus. In fact, it looked more like he was a hologram or some kind of projected image than real.
Ava wasn't fooled, though. Her hackles raised and the growl that she issued forth was louder than the man's whimpers and gasps.
"...got so far, but it's still there. It won't stop. Just keeps coming and coming and coming!" He shuddered and looked at a blank space pleadingly.
She folded back her ears and tried to force Morgan farther from the spirit with the constant pressure of her side against the woman's leg. Hopefully they could just pass the spirit and it would leave them be. And if it tried to follow...well, she would nip at Morgan's heels until the woman was close to something safer. Then she would face off with the ghost. And hopefully her display of power and rage would go unnoticed by Morgan. Not many people would trust a proper Hell hound once it had fully shown itself.
Especially not Ava's form of rage.
Though...this one had made no move towards them. Ava still continued to growl deep in her throat and herd Morgan away from it. One never knew when another spirit would appear in this town...she was starting to think they traveled in packs.
Okay, Morgan could have gone without the flickering. The last thing she needed right now was for the lights to go out, even if she WAS within visual distance of the Denny's. Don't be scared of the dark, she told herself as the shadows started writhing under the inconsistent lights, and hurried her steps a little.
Until something screamed. It was loud, and it was close, and she thought she was going to have a heart attack right there on the spot. She skipped a step and ruined her rhythm of walking, tripping and nearly sprawling flat on her face, but managed to throw out a hand and catch herself against the wall of the building next to her. Her palm stung as it scraped across old and crumbling brick.
What was that?! she wanted to hiss in high-pitched fear, but it didn't matter if she said anything - nothing would be heard. Instead she pressed against the wall - the dog up against her legs and growling - breathing fast and heart pumping and trying to find the source of the bodiless scream.
got so far, but it's still there - Up ahead, between her and the Denny's, something flickered on the ground much like how the lights had flickered earlier. Only half-there, incorporeal, like a... like... a... hologram?
Morgan forced her breathing to slow, holding her breath and swallowing. It was a person, it looked like, a man crawling on the ground and muttering and looking hopefully at... nothing, something only he could see. He flickered in and out of existence like a poor movie projector might play, only there was none of the tell-tale light-trail like one might see from a movie being projected through the air. Was he a hologram, another trick to remind her to not break curfew? There were shops all around, but nothing to indicate where this might be coming from.
She laughed nervously to herself, just a few huffs of air, and pulled her hoodie tight around her. Just a hologram. Nothing to be worried about. ... right. Best keep heading on to the Denny's...
Morgan nearly tripped again in her hurry to get going.
At least the woman wasn't screaming and freezing up. Fleeing was always a better choice when dealing with ghosts. If you got really lucky, they were confined to a certain area. Thankfully, this death echo - stupid, annoying, harmless death echos - was likely near the end of his cycle. He was sobbing and clawing at the cement like it was grass, his fingertips disappearing and reappearing as they moved in and out of the cement.
She kept up the low growl and shifted her gaze to Morgan sporadically as she kept pace just behind the woman. The Denny's was close and then there-! A shimmer in the pathway. Not good.
Ava darted ahead of Morgan and let out a half-howl, half-growl. She knew there was no pack for her to call on, but the sounds and plea had escaped her lips before she could stop it. The shimmer gave only the vague figure of a woman and Ava lashed out at it. Of course her teeth did no damage, the spirit had no physical form to speak of. But the faint eyes of a woman soaked in blood were following Morgan. Watching her much more closely than Ava liked. Not that she liked any ghost looking at the living; the two hardly ever got along.
A snarl was all Ava got out before the spirit shifted its gaze. With the eyes fully on her Ava projected her thoughts desperately to Morgan, keeping the message simple - Run!
"Meddlesome beast," the ghost sneered and lifted one hand, her influence causing a strong wind to strike Ava.
The hell hound held her ground and deepened her growl. She also hoped that Morgan was sprinting by now.
They edged past the weeping hologram-man and continued down the sidewalk, the woman's heart pounding in her chest and adrenaline singing through her veins, wanting her to run and get the hell out of there. But she forced herself to stay at a walk - a stiff, rapid walk - reminding herself that ghosts didn't really exist and pulling her jacket tight around her. The dog remained at her side, a comforting presence.
But not for long. They couldn't have gone twenty feet before something shimmered on the sidewalk between her and the Denny's, and the dog leapt away from her, howling and snarling. Morgan froze, more frightened by the dog's sudden aggression now than by the.... mirage appearing on the sidewalk. What was it? It shimmered like heat waves over the hood of a hot car, bending the lighted windows of the Denny's behind it, almost thickening the air itself. The dog certainly didn't seem to like it. Morgan couldn't say she liked it either.
And then the dog lunged at - at something - and abruptly she thought she could see what the haze was. Not a hologram, not like the man she could still hear crying behind them. No, this was something different. It was a woman, her outline so faint and hard to see from this distance, wavering in and out of focus, but she wasn't looking at the dog. No, she was looking straight at Morgan, like she wasn't another trick hologram but could really see, and the look in her eyes froze Morgan's blood.
This was a ghost. This was really a ghost. Just like she'd been warned. There really were ghosts here that showed up after curfew, and she'd just walked right into one.
Run! her mind cried at her, but she was frozen to the spot with indecision, fear, and denial. And from that ghost-woman's eyes - they wouldn't let her go, they held her in place like a deer in headlights. But they finally let go, breaking away to the dog and snarling - Meddlesome beast, she said, Morgan heard it clear as a bell, full of loathing and death - and raised her arm. Wind whipped down the road out of nowhere, cold and biting.
Run!
Morgan turned and ran.
With the wind gone and Morgan finally fleeing, Ava let more of her attention go to the bloody ghost. She didn't dare to lower her lips - bared teeth felt safer in this situation. Her growl was steady and she kept her back to Morgan, eyes fully focused on the angry woman.
"I've dealt with beasts before, now be gone!" Another gust of wind followed the wave of a hand and the woman's outraged expression turned into a snarl when Ava didn't so much as flinch. The woman blinked out of sight and flickered in and out of visibility until she was no more than a foot from Ava. "Simple beasts should just die!"
The ghost lunged the short distance to Ava and while her semi-corporeal fingers met flesh, her gaze met blazing red eyes. With Morgan a safe distance away and her body in danger, Ava no longer kept herself from showing what she hid beneath the surface. The ground seemed to quiver and her fangs had grown in length and width, a red forked tongue the compliment to her truly demonic appearance.
Ava's growl deepened and seemed to envelop the ghost, making her stare and withdraw her fingers from Ava's shoulders - dripping fresh blood. The Hell hound lowered her head and flattened her ears to her skull, tongue flicking anxiously as she watched the ghost stumble backwards, flickering in and out of view.
"You...what are you?"
She only gave the ghost one brief malevolent grin before charging, growls echoing through the town as she chased it towards the woods. Where it would stay.
With that done, she would return to check on Morgan. Her scent trail should be fairly easy to follow.