Chapter Text
(Post Angst prompts: Ghost and Panic)
One year later…
Aaron stood by his desk as a loud thunderstorm raged outside, the rain pounding away at his window. It was a bad one tonight. The others were all asleep, but he couldn’t bring himself to go quite yet. Thunderstorms unnerved him.
He let out a sigh and lifted his glasses as he rubbed his eyes. He was tired, but he just…couldn’t sleep. He had a bad feeling he couldn’t shake, like something was wrong that he couldn’t see. Something out of sight. Out of his perception.
A bright flash of lightning lit up his room. He saw strange shadows on the walls in the brief flash. Strange illusions. That is all they were. Illusions and nothing more. The light faded and he was cast into darkness once again as the wind howled outside amid the tempest. There was almost no break between the thunder and lighting. The storm was right on top of them.
Taking in a shaky breath, he turned away from the window as nervous thoughts entered his tired mind. It had been months since any of his past visions returned, and he was on edge still. He never did find out what those ghosts wanted with him. He just…couldn’t say.
In his world, he saw ghosts quite often once he started looking. He never knew he had the ability until the cultists brought it to light in his eyes. Back then, he just saw illusions. They never touched him, though they did scare him. Although that didn’t stop him. He willingly did research into the strange world beyond life and death, but he stopped when he realized what the cultists had in mind. Total mental control via time and perception manipulation.
And they wanted Aaron to help them.
He had accepted at first. How could he not? They praised his expertise and knowledge, they respected him, needed him. Aaron paused as he eyed his door.
They didn’t care about him, though.
He knew this. They were just using him to reach their goal. They would have cast him aside the moment he gave them what they wanted. So, he refused.
That was when he had gotten cast into this…modern world. He was shaken at first as he realized the cultists in his world were still at large, but eventually he concluded he thwarted them bad enough that they could never succeed in their demented dreams.
That’s what he kept telling himself.
Once he arrived in this world, all supernatural visions ceased. He never saw any specters or guises or had the eyes of the otherworld upon his soul.
Until a year ago.
A year ago, a spirit from his past returned. A year ago, it tried twice to take him somewhere that he…probably couldn’t return from. Both times his friends stopped it from succeeding. But he still had feared the ghost would return. They never banished it for good, or at least, he thought they didn’t. Gabriel swore he did with Scarecrow’s help, but Aaron wasn’t sure.
He just wasn’t sure.
Aaron jumped as a particularly loud clash of thunder shook the house, causing the glass in his room to shake. The storm wasn’t letting up. He wasn’t going to sleep any time soon.
Releasing his breath, he turned and headed for his door. He peered down the dark hall. All his friend’s doors were closed. Everyone was still asleep. With a small smile he quietly snuck out his door and down the stairs.
He hoped the others slept better than he did in such a storm. Elderane was visiting again, and he would hate for him to have such a restless night as this disrupt his trip. He had Gabriel, though, so Aaron knew he’d be fine.
Aaron reached the bottom of the stairs and made his way to the kitchen, the rapid flashes of lightning illuminating the dark floor before him. If he couldn’t sleep, he might as well get work done. He’d need energy, though. He reached the coffee machine and started making a cup, hoping it would get him through the night as it had so many times before.
The thunder crashed outside as he waited by the machine. He eyed the dark house around him. How surreal it looked in such an eerie atmosphere. Their house was usually bright, but here the flashes of lightning continued to cast their strange shadows on the walls in brief moments of surreal illumination. With how fast the lightning struck, the shadows seemed to crawl along the walls in his peripherals, though that could also be his exhaustion. He couldn’t tell.
His attention was taken back by the sound of his coffee finishing. He got it into a mug and began making his way back upstairs, hoping to salvage the time given to him tonight while he lay awake in his restless thoughts.
A metallic clang from behind him caused his blood to freeze as he stopped walking.
His breathing quickening, he slowly turned and saw a dim flickering light coming from by the TV. He leaned over and nearly dropped the mug in his hands when he saw his old lantern there, lit and flared to life as it lay on its side on the floor. It was in once piece. It wasn’t broken.
Aaron looked around the room fearfully as the storm raged outside. He didn’t see anything but the shadows on the walls. He had a few moments.
His heartrate quickening as panic flooded his mind, he sped over to the floor by the TV and grabbed the lantern, holding it up with a shaking hand. The dim and eerie orange glow illuminated his face and reflected off his glasses as he looked around in panic. He had to get to the others.
He turned to run, but a cold grip on his arm caused him to jump and let out a cry of terror. He dropped both the mug and lantern as he felt the icy daggers pierce his skin and reach his soul. He turned and his fear skyrocketed when he saw the dead eyes of the ghost from before, its expression blank as it held his wrist tightly.
Aaron couldn’t breathe as he met its hallowed gaze. He tried to pull away in fear, but the spirit just held him tighter, causing him to let out a cry of pain as the ice traveled up his arm towards his mind. He felt tears escape his eyes as he tried to pull away but couldn’t; the cold overtaking his senses.
The spirit didn’t react aside from pulling harder on Aaron’s soul. Aaron let out a soundless scream as he felt a horrid frigid tugging sensation on his very being, ripping him away from himself. He didn’t hear the rapid footsteps approach behind him.