Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The whistle of the cold wind twirled around the shakily tree branches. The leaves were falling  gently down the lonely road when a lone car drove past. Of course, the signs were worn out but they were readable. The calm and steady roads stretched far away like a long end of a rope. The dusty autumn colors of the trees blur together as the car drives past. A brown-ish red maned wolf sighs as he turns the knob slightly to the right. The song playing on the radio, “Off He Goes” by Pearl Jam is playing as the brownish red maned wolf looks out the car windows. His dark red turtleneck sweater had a little ghost on it. The maned wolf stops the car as he glances out the lonely and abandoned hiking trail. The hiking trail looked as he remembered it. The trees swayed gently in the wind, and the yellow worn out, dusty trail laid ahead of him.  The maned wolf smiles as he holds onto his darkest blue beanie. 

Bryce huffed as he ventured deep into the forest terrain; his leather brown boots skipped everywhere and his brownish red eyes explored the unknown. It was nice being out here in the fall; all the orange, red, yellow and purple colors all merging into one. His ears twitched as he picked up a maple leaf angling it in front of his face. Bryce sighed as he thought about Liam. Last fall, he was here with Liam, playing games and goofing around in the forest. But he went missing. Bryce remembered him, Owen and Amelia hanging up missing posters…. But he never came home. Not once, not twice but forever. The streets of Cliffside Springs had never been more lonely without Liam Plecak. Bryce shut his eyes tight, growling to himself, crumbling up the maple leaf and tossing it on the floor. “Fuck, fuck, FUCK!!!” He stomped on it multiple times out of anger and stepped back; almost collapsing.. He stared at the wretched maple leaf for a long time, before turning around to notice a tree stump nearby.

The brownish red maned wolf sat down, his paws on his chin as he tapped his feet uncomfortably; gazing at the setting sun going down, Bryce looked at his leather boots tapping against the orange grass ruffling in the wind, little tiny insects crawling beyond his feet: ants, beetles and more bugs he couldn’t remember. Bryce didn’t find bugs that interesting, really. They were disgusting, six legged roaches that would only crawl on your body in the middle of the night. Bryce smirked as he recalled a myth that earworms would crawl into your ears. Those new kids across Cliffside Springs, they believed earworms, those cursed earworms, if they got into your ears, they would go into your brains and control everything. Bryce didn’t believe any of those rumors though, he’d think they were very dumb and stupid, but, of course, they were little children, they would believe everything adults say, like the idiots they are. 

 Bryce knew he should go back to Cliffside Springs, because the scenery was dark and pitch black and the feeling in his guts was weird; a feeling that something was clearly off, terribly wrong. Bryce’s ears twitched as he heard a rustle, His stomach gurgled with dread as his thoughts mingled with disturbing imagery. Bryce searched on his person if he had a flashlight or a weapon. But he had nothing in his pockets, Shit, shit, shit.  His thoughts screamed as he darted towards the figure roaming about in the dark shadows, “H-hey, dude. I don’t want to fight you, just please don’t hurt me!” He stammered as he stepped backwards. The figure slowly sauntered towards; those eerie green eyes staring back at Bryce. “Hey… buddy…?” Bryce backed away from the figure, bumping into a nearby tree. “ Bryce…? ” The ghostly echoes  whispered, ringing through him. “Y-yeah, that’s me, don’t… I have friends back at home, and they don’t wanna see my dead carcass here.” The maned wolf slightly grinned, his legs trembling.. Bryce’s eyes locked with the figure’s eyes, green and square catlike pupils looking back at him.

The figure looked as if they were drenched in water and they were shivering. “Are you okay?” He managed to say out loud with just enough courage in his voice, noticing the figure pacing at his body, “You seem cold, do you need..?” Bryce trailed off, fixing his gaze on the figure, “...Oh…. this? It’s fine.” The figure’s voice sounded out of breath and wheezy. Bryce could make out that the figure was a cat wearing a sage denim jacket, one orange pin and one yellow pin on the right side of his denim jacket. His pants were the color of phihalo. Bryce exhaled sharply as he looked at the figure, noticing his ear tips and paws were a shade of gray and white, but he was mostly a dark gray and light brownish orange chimera cat.

Bryce’s eyes widened as he recalled the missing poster of Liam and all the photos of Liam he took before he went missing. He stared into the figure’s green eyes again.

“Holy… Jesus fucking Christ.”  The maned wolf held onto his dark blue beanie as he stared into those light green eyes… Liam’s eyes. “You can’t be him. He went missing last fall! He never came home!” He quietly yelped as he staggered past the tree. “I can explain, Bryce. Just don’t—” Bryce backed away as the ghost stepped near. “Bryce, list—” Bryce turned around and began to run, “BRYCE!” Liam called after him as Bryce found himself in pure darkness, seeing the shadows of the trees tall over him like still statues. Shit, Which way is which? He spun around; looking at the trees all around, Nevermind that, I need to lose that ghost. He swung his arms as he ambled in every direction, every pathway in the blackness of the night. “Bbbbbbrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyccccccccceeeeeeeeeee!” He heard Liam’s voice call in the distance. Shit. Not now!  Bryce paced down the large outline of the boulder, heaving his way; the light of the moonlight guiding him and watching his every move. The maned wolf constantly looked behind him to see if the ghost cat was near. But after hearing no calls from them, Bryce slowed down his pace, reaching the end of his chase and huffing.

Bryce turned back to the abandoned woodland trail. The maned wolf adjusted his beanie as he stared at the dusty trail for a long time, he wasn’t quite sure if that hunt was real but he could feel those green eyes pierced into his mind. Bryce shook his head, mumbling something before returning back to his car. It’s just in your head. Bryce closed the car door and booted up the car. He sighed as he turned on the radio; playing “Habit” by Pearl Jam. The maned wolf took a glimpse at the green backpack before putting his eyes on the road, returning backing to Cliffside Springs.

Liam grunted as he watched Bryce’s car drive away,  I’m not letting go that easily. His green eyes narrowed as his fists clenched; taking two steps forward.

And then he ran.

Chapter Text

Bryce sighed, tapping his paws against the table, flipping through his notebook; the song “Meet Me in The Woods” by Lord Huron playing on the computer. The computer’s screen light flickered as the words formed on screen, hey, bryce. You seem a bit worried and paranoid, is everything okay? Bryce looked upon the computer screen, shuffling his paws. “It’s complicated, Texty.” The words deleted on screen and typed, you can tell me, bryce. there’s no time to rush yourself. The maned wolf slumped down in his chair, gazing at the computer screen; his reddish brown eyes narrowing. “Alright, so you know how I said I was going to that abandoned hiking trail, right?” The words formed on screen, yeah, I remember that. did something happen? Bryce nodded, recalling the chase. “Something happened there, Texty. I don’t think it was real but I think I saw Liam. All drenched and cold.” Texty’s screen light flickered again with dread. liam..? from last autumn?  Bryce’s chest lurched as he fixed up his beanie; sitting up. “Yeah, he went missing at the start of last November.  He was transparent and his voice sounded like someone shoved a cork down his throat.” Texty and Bryce sat in silence before Texty pulled an article. ..i think i saw this article about a body in a lake, bryce. Bryce’s eyes widened as he searched the article, “God, what the fuck? It looks so disfigured and gruesome, you can barely see their face…” Bryce darted towards the document Texty had opened up. yeah, i know. but i think this connects to whatever you saw in the woods. Bryce bit his lip, his eyes darting away. Those eyes. The images of those light green eyes floated up on top of his mind. 

Two sudden knocks from the front door startled Bryce out of his fur. He wasn’t expecting a visitor at this time, “What..? Why is someone at the door in the middle of the goddamn night?” He spun around and sauntered over to the door, opening it. Struck with horror, Bryce was in awe to see that there was nobody here, but why did he have his weird feeling that someone was watching him. “Arghhh… effing children.”  Bryce brushed it off, dismissing it as those pranks, those kids across the streets, kept pulling off. 

He grunted as he shut the door, turning back to Texty; trekking back to his seat. “Sorry, some… jerks think they’re funny, so they decided it would be funny to joke around.” Bryce rested his head  on his paw, grunting. “I can’t stop thinking about what happened, I keep telling myself it’s false lies, but they keep coming back to me.” 'The maned wolf buried his face in his paws, “I don’t know, what the hell… I don’t know what the hell I’m doing anymore. It’s all coming ba---”  A loud clang behind Bryce made him almost topple off his chair. Bryce gasped, processing what the fuck is happening. “Okay, I definitely got high last night, or I’m drunk and doing idiot things.” Bryce’s eyes widened as he saw his notebook floating and flipping through pages faster than usual. Bryce staggered backwards, nervously huffing. “Okay. This is not normal, this is insane, What even is going on today?” Bryce’s paws quivered as he got up, breathing heavily. “Okay, gotta find something, something, something to stop my notebook from attacking me.” Bryce hasility darted around the room, tumbling and toppling down. The maned wolf held on his blue beanie; his dark turtleneck sweater ruffled against the wind. 

“Aha! Gotcha!”  The maned wolf lifted a bat upon his gaze, Bryce’s eyes darted towards the rapidly flipping notebook; ambling towards it and bashed it down hard. Bryce straightened himself, huffing deeply. “Well, that’s….” He trailed off as he noticed someone had drawn on his notebook; the words, I’M HERE. printed on it, and a  large eye in the middle. The maned wolf stumbled backwards, quivering with dread. “What the… fuck. What is this? What is this, some sick joke? Are you pulling my leg? If you are joking with me here, it’s not funny! I will personally bash your ghost face in, and push you off a cliff!” Bryce’s stomach with pure dread and horror; feeling like someone was watching him, almost forgetting Texty. Wait,Texty! Bryce trembled as he slowly turned around.

Those same green eyes were directly staring at him, his shoulders relaxing. “Wha….” Bryce felt his body freeze in motion; his eyes locking down on his gaze only, a cold sweat down his spine. “You can’t.. You’re not…” The ghost chimera cat narrowed his eyes, “Liam? Yeah, I… But I am Liam, Bryce. I’m Liam, just a ghost of him.” Bryce could see Texty through him, forming the words, bryce, who are you talking to? Bryce gazed at him; stiff like a statue. It felt strange, seeing the dark gray and light brownish chimera cat all drenched and… gloomy. His colors seemed more desaturated and gloomy. “What happened to you? Why… Did you leave?”  The ghost chimera cat looked at his white paws; sighing before darting back at Bryce. “...I was running from someone. Hooded, I couldn’t see his face, it was all pitch black with red glowing eyes looking back at me. I was somewhere, escaping his grasp because he wanted to do something bad… dangerous to me. I didn’t know what I was thinking, I ran and ran and ran somewhere… a cliff.” Bryce’s eyes widened as he bit his lip, “No, no, no. Did you…?” Liam stared ahead, as if he could see through him. “Bryce. It was the only escape plan. I didn’t have anywhere to go, I was trapped. I was…” Bryce covered his mouth, shaking his head,  “You jumped. You jumped into the fucking goddamn lake.” The maned wolf choked out, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Liam only stared at him, in guilt and sympathy  “Yeah, I-I did. I’m sorry.” Bryce quivered as he gulped, “Don’t… I should’ve known. You could’ve told me!” Liam bounced back, narrowed in more guilt. “I wish I could’ve.”  Bryce sighed, glancing at Liam with a glint of empathy in his reddish brown gaze. “You’re going to be staying here for a while, before we figure this out.” Liam nodded, shuffling his paws nervously. “Alright.” Bryce inhaled as he glanced at both Texty and Liam.

“For now, get some sleep, I don’t want you outside in the dead of night, frightening people to death.” Liam’s only response was a “Mhm” as Bryce made one last look before sauntering to the bathroom.

Chapter Text

“Well, here we are.” Bryce looked upon Owen’s convenience store, chuckling as he turned to the ghost chimera cat, “Owen got a new job at this convenience store, since you went missing. I’m sure he’ll be surprised when he sees you again.” Liam glanced around the area, a few houses and buildings besides the convenience store; the streets gleaming as the rising sun glowed over them. “Well, a lot has changed since…” He trailed off as he watched the maned wolf open the convenience store door; walking in. The ghost chimera cat noticed, “Hey wait up!” He followed in Bryce’s tracks as the duo sauntered in the store.

The gray raccoon dusted the shelf behind him as he sighed; setting a can on the counter. He was wearing a blueish-gray biker’s jacket with a white t-shirt underneath. The gray raccoon was also wearing tight light gray jeans; complete with black long boots with shoe-laces. The maned wolf waved at the gray raccoon as he entered, “Hey, Owen! Howizzgoing?” Owen's blue eyes dimmed, his hands lightly rubbed the white counter, “Nothing much, bit boring recently in this store, you?” Bryce chuckled as he glanced at the raccoon, “I’ll tell you what, remember I told you and Amelia, I was going to the weird abandoned trail that was rumored to be haunted?”  Owen nodded, tapping his paws on the counter, “Yeah, what happened?” Bryce clenched his fists and held them near his face. “You’re not going to believe this but the trail is indeed haunted!!!! I saw Liam there.” Owen’s ears perked up as he heard the name, Liam. “Liam, like from last autumn? That went missing?” Bryce nodded in agreement, “Yeah, something happened to him. Owen.” Owen’s eyes sparked with interest; Bryce’s eyes locking with his blue gaze. “What happened? Is he alive?” Bryce’s eyes narrowed, his gaze clouding. 

“No, he’s… he’s dead, Owen.” The words shot through Owen like an arrow striking a deer.

The long dead silence hung in the air for a while; the only sound in the room was the humming from the freezer, Bryce and Owen stared at each other for a long time. “...What?” Owen broke the silence; his brain clicking on Bryce’s words, “Yeah, Owen. He’s… dead.” Owen heard the words again, ringing like a bell tolling. “What…? Bryce… you’re joking, right? You’re pranking me?” Bryce’s only reply was silence; making Owen’s heart ache with pain and grief. “No, no, no. I… He… ” The words were hollow in his mouth, only a whisper with no meaning. Owen glanced down at his dark gray paws, exhaling before gazing back at Bryce. “...He was my friend.” Bryce narrowed his eyes, rubbing his arms as he glanced at the ghost chimera cat standing near the chips aisle, his ears drooped and his eyes dimmed in guilt. “How did he die?” Owen’s words echoed, a tone of worry and grief quivered his voice. 

“Someone was running after him. They were hooded, wearing a cloak, probably. They wanted to kill or do something to him. He was ambling through the woods, and found a cliff..” Bryce watched Owen’s eyes widened in horror, shaking his head gently. “...Did he…” Bryce nodded, his reddish brown eyes dimming. “He took his own life escaping.” Bryce felt his words were bold; seeing Owen sigh as he buried his face in his paws. “He could’ve told me that someone was hunting him down before all of this happened! Well, I guess it’s too late now, though.” Owen grunted as he glanced upon the change had placed on the counter, glancing back at the maned wolf. “I’m going to put this on one of the aisles.” Owen stepped out from the counter, sauntering to where Liam was. “Wait! Owen!” The ghost chimera cat shivered as the gray raccoon phased through him like sun rays shining through glass. The raccoon stopped in his tracks; turned around to see Bryce stared at him from a meter away. “Bryce, did you feel that?” The maned wolf furrowed his eyebrows. “Feel what? I don’t feel anything right now.” The gray raccoon placed the canned food on the aisle, while shivering. “That cold air. It… It’s there, it passed through me.” Bryce stared at Liam, mumbling, “He can’t see you.” Bryce’s reddish brown eyes faced Owen’s blue gaze. 

“...There’s a supernatural force here right now. That’s not normal.”

“Owen, listen.”

“Oh god, oh god. Is it going to kill us?”

“Owen.”

“Bryce, we got to hide, we gotta get away!”

“OWEN.”

Owen sharply exhaled as he faced Bryce again, his eyes flashed green for a moment; his name echoing twice in his ears like a sound in a cave. “Bryce…?” The gray raccoon whispered, his trembling voice still heard. “....Owen…. Just let me explain. This supernatural force isn’t going to harm you, it’s harmless, He’s… harmless, he has unfinished business here.” Owen’s ears perked up, “‘He’?” Bryce sighed, glancing at Liam and gazing back at Owen. “Liam. Liam’s ghost.” Owen turned to the supposed ghost standing in front of him which was only air.  “Ghost?”  Owen squirted his eyes, only to be startled by a voice in his mind,  Yeah, I’m here. You don’t have to squirt your eyes to see me. Owen almost stumbled into the aisle,feeling a weird frigid touch grasp his paw. “Augh!” He shuddered at the grip gripping his paw, gazing at the supposed ghost in front of him, forming an uncomfortable green haze of blurriness.  “L-liam? I thought you were dead! Didn’t Bryce say so?” He stammered the question, quavers in his throat. The haze now had those peering light green eyes, narrowing at him. Yeah, it’s Liam. I’m kinda in the middle of being alive but… I-it’s weird how nobody seems to see me or hear me, I have no pulse, my breathing is raspy and I’m see-through; translucent like swamp water. It feels like you’ve been wiped from existence. The gray raccoon could only stare at those haunting, light green eyes; shuddering him to his very core. 

Owen adjusted his eyes to the blurriness, seeing the same chimera cat he’d met 7 years ago, standing in front of him, His clothes were drenched; Owen assumed he was underwater, trying desperately to swim back to the surface, in freezing, harsh waters. He also seemed more desaturated and more somber. The gray raccoon opened his mouth to speak but no words came out; his paws quivered as he tried to hold back his tears. “I’m sorry, I should’ve been there for you. I should've never left you alone.” The gray raccoon’s words tangled up in a knot, unable to form a full sentence. The ghost chimera cat’s eyes dimmed as he sighed,  “No, I’m sorry I shut you all out, I should’ve told you I was leaving.”  Owen and Liam stared at each other for a long time as the moonlight glistered in their eyes.

“It happened 7 years ago, we shouldn’t be apologizing for things that happened in the past, they’re long gone now.” Liam sighed as he glanced over at Bryce and back at Owen. “I guess you’re right, Owen. But…” Liam trailed off, What about that hooded psychopath I saw, chasing me down in the woods? Owen’s blue gaze met his green eyes, with worry and concern, “But…?” Liam breathed, tugging at his forest green plaid sweater. “It’s nothing.” Owen still looked at him like an eagle's gaze on fish before it attacked, Liam knew Owen knew he was hiding something from, “You do want to learn more about the person chasing you down in the woods, right?” Liam’s green square pupils dilated; his arms flinching as he gazed at Owen again. The ghost chimera glanced over to Bryce, who was walking towards the duo, and peered back at Owen. “Yeah, I do.” Owen nodded, shuffling. “There’s this strange ram near our town, and he’s creepy, I don’t know why, but he keeps watching me and… he’s been following me around. The weirdest thing about it is that he never talks, but when he does, it’s in a language that I don’t understand.” Liam’s ears twitched as he glanced at Bryce who was processing the whole situation, “What… What did he look like?” The maned wolf’s tone was firm but wobbles of dread shook his voice. The gray racoon inhaled sharply, responding meekly, “His wool is brownish white, his skin is brown and he has a purple cloak. His eyes were redder than the color of blood and he has this huge scar across his face.” Liam’s eyes broadened as he bit his lips, his fists tightened. 

Bryce and Owen glanced at Liam, “Liam?” Bryce’s eyes filled with concern as the ghost chimera cat was in shock, “Liam, are you okay?” Owen’s blue eyes was met with worry for the chimera cat. 

Liam breathed, processing the chase before he died, Red eyes, red eyes, red eyes. No, no, no, no, no. His fist tightened more he peered at both Bryce and Owen. “Owen. You said this guy has red eyes, right?” Owen nodded meekly as he gazed at Bryce. “Yeah, I did. What about it?” Liam exhaled sharply, tenacity in his eyes. 

“We need to find him.”

Chapter Text

Owen and Bryce’s boots pounded against the gray long sidewalks that seemed to extend like a snake’s body, the raindrops pummeling on the sidewalk as the streetlight faintly glowing in the dark, hollow night. The maned wolf squirted his eyes as he stared at the empty streets, glancing back at Owen. The two animals bite their lip as they peered around the empty streets, grumbling. “Where’d he run off to? And why’d he run off in the effing storm as well?” The maned wolf shrugged as he put his paws close to his mouth and hollered, “LIAM!” He grunted as he peered around for signs of the ghost chimera cat, but there was none. “Damn it! Ugh, is he always like this?” The gray raccoon huffed as he glanced at Bryce, rubbing his neck, “Sometimes, but he doesn’t run off very far.” Bryce scoffed as he squirted at the streets again; his eyes widened as he saw a two story black outline of a house. He pointed in the direction where Owen could see. “Wait, Owen, look! I see Amelia and Charlotte’s house!” Owen blinked at the house then at Bryce in awe. “Do you think that’s where Liam is?” Bryce nodded, taking two steps forward and gestured for Owen to follow. “C’mon!” Owen nodded, following in Bryce’s tracks to Amelia and Charlotte's house.

A light brown mongoose was tuning a green bass guitar as a white ferret with a blue aster flower crown watched. The light brown mongoose had hair covering her left eye, a comfy pastel lime cardigan sweater, gray sweatpants. She had green eyes like the color of emeralds and blackish gray eartips; followed by white freckles. The white ferret had her dyed blue hair covering her eyes, long black paws; followed by light brown dots on her arms. She had a cyan hoodie with a vanilla flannel, celeste shorts and cream stockings. These two were Charlotte and Amelia, both living together.

Amelia sighed as she glanced at Charlotte tuning Liam’s old bass guitar, sitting down on the gray fabric sofa, peering at the nearby white pillow laying in the corner. Her ear flickered in boredom as she sat up; grumbling quietly under her own breath, “When are you going to be done tuning that damn thing?” The light brown mongoose glimpsed at her with narrowed eyes, “Soon.” Charlotte mumbled with a monotone voice, peering back to tuning the green bass guitar they had found in the basement. Amelia gazed at Charlotte, You’ve been doing that for 7 minutes now,  does it really take that long?  Amelia mumbled before looking at the picture on the glass table featuring Liam and her 7 years ago. She smiled as she peeked at the photo; his ears twitched as she glimpsed at Charlotte and then her stockings touching the sky blue carpet. “I’m going to check out my freshly baked brownies.” Charlotte didn’t peer at her but made a small mhm sound.

Amelia wandered over to the kitchen, the beige wallpaper followed by the black and white furniture with a tint of teal. The white ferret rolled up her sleeves, glimpsed at the pink oven mitts hanging on one of the cabinet knobs and reached for it.  Amelia put the oven mitts on, reached for the brownie tray and put it on the counter and rested the oven mitts beside it.  Amelia sighed,  And now we wait. Her  ears twitched as she adjusted her aster flower crown, mumbling to herself.

“A̶̞͚̘̝̯̩͇̒̌̌͗͠m̴̛̛̤̻͕̠̝̥̝͌̈́͛͊̓̓͐͗̕͠e̸̡̥̺̠̼͉̲̟͓͍̻͔͔̋̀̓ļ̴̰̪̜̌͠i̶̡̪̓͆̋̎̌̐̈́̉͐͘͝͝a̴̛͔̪͔͕̯̞̋̿̈́͗͗̇́̔͊̇͑?̸̰̙͋̈́̽͐͒́͊̔̌̔͋͝”

Amelia flinched at the sudden garbled voice in her head, “Charlotte?” She spun around to see those green eyes staring at her for a while and stumbled backwards, “Holy…” Amelia spluttered in terror as the cold chills ran down her spine. “What… who are you?!” She managed to spit at those green eyes out of dread; taking a step forward.  Before she could react to this being, it disappeared before her eyes as if it was thin air. Amelia could only stand there; standing at the spot where those green eyes were. She glanced at Charlotte who seemed to be still tuning Liam’s bass guitar, “Did you see that?” Charlotte peered at her, furrowing her eyebrows. “Did I see what?” Amelia flinched, feeling a cold sweat run through her like a horse galloping through cold winds. “Those green eyes! T-they were in front of me!” Charlotte’s eyes sparked with concorn and confusion. “G… green eyes? What?” Amelia sighed, shuffling her paws. “Nevermind.” She mumbled, spinning back to the brownies on the counter. It was probably one of my hallucinations again. 

“I’m done tuning this guitar, I’m going to go read a book upstairs, see you later, I guess.”  Charlotte’s tone was deadpan; her footsteps trailing away from the room, “Alright, bye.” Amelia pulled a knife out from the cabinet and began slicing the brownies into little squares, humming to herself. After she was done, Amelia placed the knife in the sink and sighed.  Suddenly, the doorbell rang startling Amelia; her ears twitched as she took a glimpse at the door for a moment or two, hesitating before responding, “Yeah, I’m coming!” The white ferret wandered to the door and opened it, greeting a brownish red, maned wolf and a gray raccoon. “Oh. I didn’t expect you two to be here. Come in!” Amelia moved out for Bryce and Owen to come in. Bryce shuffled his paws, glancing at Owen then back to Amelia, “Amelia, I… Do you know where Liam is?” Amelia stiffened as she heard the name, Liam and paused, “Bryce, did… Did you forget? Liam went missing and he never came back.” Bryce sighed, rubbing his neck, “I know but… his—” Amelia’s ears twitched as her eyes sparked with joy, “Wait on the couch, I’m going to bring the brownies onto the coffee table.” Bryce and Owen nodded; both heading to the couch.

Amelia headed towards the kitchen counter, picked up the brownie tray then set it down on the glass coffee table beside the two sofas. The white ferret noticed Liam’s old bass guitar beside Bryce. “I’ll put this upstairs. I’ll be with you later, okay?” Bryce’s only response was a nod as he munched down on a brownie. As the white ferret picked up the bass guitar; she wandered upstairs to the storage room. The storage room had cream wallpaper peeling off, brown boxes scattered in the back; and two long brown shelves, filled boxes with all shapes and sizes. Amelia clicked on the room’s light, only to be followed by fits of coughing.  Sheesh, this room has been used for a long time. The white ferret sauntered past the long brown shelves of boxes, not noticing the box with the Liam label was opened. The white ferret set the bass guitar down besides the shelves.

“Ȃ̷̛̳̣͇͔̘̀̅̉m̸̨̛̭̹͌̈̈́̏̎͒e̶̙͖̣̞͉͉̺̪͉̞͖̽l̵̨̨͙̲̻̤̫͎͚͕̦̬̖̰͉͗͌̂̆͋̉́̃̆̌̍͝i̸̧͕̼̬̮̝̫̗̓͑͑̈̐̽͝͝ą̷̞͕̩̣̯̰͚͈̔̀̏̽̍̐̋͐̇̅́͝.̵̛̘̺́̓͗̋̎͌̑̐̽̓̐̌͝͠”

Amelia gasped as she heard a resounding thud nearby her. Walking over to see what had fallen, she noticed the Liam labeled box had spilled it’s contents. A green backpack, a maple leaf, two notebooks; one for poems and the other for music sheets, seven cyan sticky notes and finally a USB. Amelia gasped as she crouched down, examining the items. Amelia flipped through the music sheets book; noticing the sheets were for the songs that Amelia, Owen and Bryce used to play for band practice. Amelia stuffed the music notebook into the bag. Examining the poem notebook, she noticed that all the poems were fall related; placing it into the backpack, The maple leaf was from last fall where Bryce and Liam were on that trail. 

Amelia peered over to the green USB, feeling a huge pulling sensation when she was near the thing. The white ferret shakily reached for the USB; slowly feeling a brief burning pang of a headache slithering around her head. “Augh. Ow.” She pulled her paw back, realizing that all of her senses returned to normal. She returned her gaze to the green backpack, and realized it had vanished. “W… what the hell?” She stood up, wobbling back. The white ferret blinked in front the storage room door, noticing those same light green eyes glancing at her, her pulse quickened with dread as her stomach lurched. “I… I don’t understand…. What do you want from me?!” The light green eyes stayed put, its grayish body appearing before her. Amelia shut her eyes tightly, hoping to get out from this nightmare.

“D̷̻̳̺̘̿̇͋́̍͐͘͘ͅö̵͙͓̫̼́̃̓̈͠n̶͇̤̗̠̻̫͔̿'̸̨̖͈̮̗̮̫͘t̷̻͌̓̓̽̾̊̉̊͝ ̷̡̥͓̟̺͙̠͉̩̀̊y̶̫̫͕̹̝̩͒̆͑̂́̈́̈͒͊ͅö̶̮̰́ȕ̴̧̡̩̥̱̫͚͍͂ ̴̩̩̮̥̼̈́̓̃̔̍̊͆̉ͅŗ̴̛̩͍̹͉̥͖͔̾̇̐̈͆͂̓̾e̴̛͓̟m̶̛̦̰͊̾̀̃̉͜è̴̯̳̲͈̊͘ḿ̶̡̧̧̺̼̝̩͇͒͗̇ḅ̴̯̱̗̎̇͐̄̈́̂e̸̪͆́̿͑́ͅṟ̶̗͓̘̘̻͙̳̬̐͊́̈͝͝͠ ̶͕͖̪̱̗̹̀͌̀̽̆͗̚͝ḿ̴̧͉̭̯̞́͝e̴̝͙͇̮̣̲̒̈́̈͒͛͆̈?̵̱̍́̇̽̈”

Amelia blinked, “What?” She couldn’t understand those garbled words in her mind. Amelia bit her lip, realizing the voice was familiar, but she couldn’t put a finger on it.  She trembled, backing away, but the light eyes moved forth.

“Å̶̠͈͉̳͜m̸̡͚̥̗̗̓̄ẻ̶̬̃͌̕͝l̴̛̪̩͈̦̍͆̆͌î̴̢̟̠̈́̅͗͝͝a̷̛̯͖̽,̷̳̰̙͚̎̈́̄̚ í̴̡͎͓̮͌̇t̸͈̘̋̃̎'̵̙̼̤̂̏͝ş̸̬͚̂̋m̶̝̯͘ẻ̴͚̓,̴͙̱͗̏ L̵͖̎i̵̼̓ä̷̤́m̵̫͝.̵̭͐ D̴o̶n̴'̷t̸ y̵o̵u̸ remember?” 

The voice was steady, although raspy, however Amelia recognized it. It was Liam’s. Amelia quivered, shock and dread surging through her veins, “Wh- Di- Ho-” She stammered to make up a sentence, almost staggering backwards, Amelia couldn’t believe it, she was seeing her friend from 7 years ago. Amelia touched her forehead, beginning to tremble. Her pulse pounding faster as she stared at the ghost chimera cat cautiously walking towards her, his green eyes full of sympathy, “No, no, no.” She mumbled under her breath; whimpering. “Amelia, Amelia! Just breathe. It’s going to be alright.”  The sound of Liam’s voice surging through her, like a warm hot cocoa feeling. Her eyes tried their best to stay open, but they shut tight as she fell into Liam’s arms, drifting into sleep.

The ghost chimera cat tapped the white ferret’s back gently, sighing. “I’ll explain everything later.”  Liam turned off the lights, leaving the storage room.

Chapter Text

“....We should go into the woods, see if there’s anything there, and then hunt down what remains of that.” Bryce’s eyes narrowed as he let out a small chuckle, “Liam, that’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard from you. We can’t just march into private property, be fucking stupid and tamper with stuff! I say we do research. You know, go find clues about this.” Liam peered at Owen who grabbed another brownie and munched on it beside Amelia who was still unconscious then back at Bryce, sharply exhaling, “But, what about ghost hunting? What if there’s something unknown that will kill us?” Bryce smirked; letting out a chuckle,  “And that’s why we need to learn from sources! That’s why we do research!” The ghost chimera cat clutched his forest green plaid sweater under his sage jacket, “You’re acting like my idea isn’t safe enough.” Bryce adjusted his beanie, huffing gently. “Your idea is risking everyone’s lives right now. Plus, what if someone dies because of your plan? Eventually, we’ll get arrested. Do you really want that?” Liam’s eyes dimmed as he sighed; his grip on his forest green sweater loosened. “No. No, I don’t.” Bryce sat up, stretching,; letting out a big yawn before glancing at Owen, swallowing a brownie. “Alright, fine. What if we go to the library, do some research and then check out what we have?” Liam smiled as he gazed at Owen and Amelia who woke up from her slumber. 

The white ferret’s eyes dropped and her speech was slurred. “L… Liam?” Liam gazed over to Amelia who had just woken up,  biting his lip. “Yeah, it’s me.” The white ferret looked as if she was spacing out but her glance was locked on him. “...What happened to you? Why are you all see-through now?” Liam looked at his quivering white paws which were translucent, clutched the area where his pulse used to be and glanced at the white ferret, “Well, uh, long story short, some guy was hunting me down, I fell off a cliff and drowned.”  Amelia sat up, Liam couldn’t see her eyes but he knew her eyes sparked with awe as she adjusted her aster flower crown, “Who was he?” Liam shook his head, shuffling his paws. “I don’t know but we’re trying to figure that out.”  The white ferret sat up, inhaling and exhaling. Liam’s eyes narrowed as he gently closed his eyes, “Listen, listen. Just be careful around this town, okay?’ Amelia nodded, taking a brownie, “Okay but why?” Liam bit his lip, shuffling his paws nervously. “Just stay put, I don’t want to lose anyone. Bryce and I are going to the library for some research so we’ll come back with more information, ok?” Amelia nodded as she glanced at Owen,  chuckling. “Okay, we’ll do our thing.”

The maned wolf and the ghost chimera cat stepped in the library entrance, as the glass door shut behind them. The library had gray marble walls, alone with tints of yellow, the white floors tinted with a bit of red. The ceiling was cream with a bright chandelier hanging from it; illuminating the whole room.  Liam noticed the murals were carved into the walls; ones of miners, eyes and a crow. However Liam squirted at the crow; feeling a sting of deja vu and dread surging through his veins. The crow had astral feathers, its wings had the texture of stone shifting into amethyst. Its tail feathers were shadowy and it had arrows stabbed through it. The crow’s eyes had no pupils; only the blackness of the void remained. Liam shuddered, feeling his arms tremble. Why is this so familiar? Where… where have I seen this? His thoughts twisted in a knot as he fell in a small trance; everything blurred around him. 

Have I seen this before? This feels.. This feels intimate, I feel I know this. But this… this doesn’t feel right.

Ť̵̪h̶̯͋i̴̯͑ṣ̶̏ ̷̡́d̶̬̂ơ̶̭e̷̺͑ś̵̥n̵̛͖'̸͆͜t̴͍͑ ̷̨̔f̴̞̆ẻ̴̲e̸̮͛l̸͕͐ ̵͖͘r̵̪͒ī̵̻ǵ̵̹ȟ̴̘t̷̜̀.̷͇́  W̷͖͌̀͠ȟ̵̹̟̼y̷̹̲̳̍̂̏ ̵̳̯̦̃̉͠d̷̖̾̈̐̍ọ̴̞͎͇̅̃̍e̵̼̬̮̼̋̒s̶̡̡̞̍̓̕n̵͕͍͒̔͂'̸̡̖̍̓̚ţ̵̥̫̂̅ ̷̣̰̲̔̑́͑i̵̧̹̳̬̚t̷̨̛̞̲ ̴̙̭̪̋̀f̵̪̏̍̾̊ȩ̶̝̰͎̿͊͐ẹ̷̡͛l̵͕̬̱̻̅ ̷͔̱̲͋͝r̵̯̅̅̚i̶̹͔̘̽̍͗ḡ̴͎̼̥͔͗h̶̺̎̕͘͠ͅt̷̡̲̒̈́̀͘͜ͅ?̵̭̩̟̂̐  Ḯ̵̯͉̙͉̑̔̑t̶̋̾͗͌̿͜ ̷͕͇͝f̴̘̙̮̼̘̀̏̀ē̷̢̢͇̯̎̔̓̔͌ę̵̨̜̙͌͗ͅl̴̯͓̥̀̅͜ͅs̷̳̼̭̓̉̆̊͝ͅ ̵̟̈́̈͛̈́͛͠ͅs̵̡̢̯̬̯̒̐̕ơ̷̢͚̰̦̈́̊͝͝ ̵̧̫̰̱͛͜͜w̶̛̘̮̟̜͇͓̔̂̀r̶̰͚͛̾͒̎̚ò̸̢͖̰̰̇̔̃͝n̷̪͊͠g̸͈̝̞̤̺̥̅̽͛̎͗͋.̵̬̰͍̎̊̏  S̵̗̥͙̙̻̈́̍̏ồ̵̬͎̺̅͠ ̷̜̯̖̭͉͚̄̆̔̽́̈̈́͜͝ẃ̷̨̙̹̼̯̲̞̙̍͐̂̓̈̓r̵̢͙͎͕̓͑͐͌́͆̇o̸͉̲̽̑̐͂̇n̸̡̜̭̓͒̂̑̏g̴̨̙̦͎͕͋͂̆̍ͅ,̶͙͍͐̄̈̕͝ ̶̪͙͚̤͉̞͖̊̏͌͆̃͜s̶̡̛͍̬͔̞͈̯͌̾̂̆o̷͇̤̕ ̷͚̣̗̜͌͌̀͊̔̊̐w̷̧͚̼͋̄͒̀̋̈r̶̮̬͚̰̠̭̩͌̒̎̕̚͝ŏ̷̞̣̖̩͇̯̿͆̀͛̑̈̕͜n̵̛͉͙͔̊͒̒̌͝͝g̸̫̝͙͎͕͙̲̿̅̅,̵͕͉̮̌̑̿̕̚͜ ̵̧͓̞̠̿̑͜s̷̛̞̲̍͒͠o̷̳͈̜̖͇̖͋̽ ̷͔̬̦̬̦̤͗͑͊̊̈́w̵̺͚̎̏͌̄͆͠r̶̗͎̓̀͛̀̀̚ǫ̵̤̹̼̞͌̽̎͆͂̓͒͠

“LIAM!” Bryce’s words cut through his thoughts, startling him. “Are you okay?” Liam held his head, nervously chuckling. “Sorry… I just spaced out.” Bryce chuckled, patting Liam’s shoulder. “Okay, c’mon, let’s go find information on the cloaked man.” Liam glanced at the crow mural, bit his lip, and followed after Bryce to the reception desk; seeing a pink deer putting away books and sighing. The pink deer had a  pink classic sweater, white anthers, and creamish brown eyes. The deer had vanilla freckles. “Hi, Taylor!” Taylor blinked as she glanced at Bryce. “Oh, Bryce? You rarely come to the library often, heck, you never like reading! What are you doing here?” Bryce rubbed his neck as he meekly chuckled. “I’m doing research.” Taylor shifted a confused expression on her face; her eyebrows furrowing. “Research? For what?” Bryce bit his lips, brushing his head. “Uh, well, ghosts!” Taylor made a small “hm” noise, “Ghosts.” Taylor echoed, putting her arm on the desk; her head resting on her table. “Yeah, it’s for a history project.” Bryce made an awkward smile as Taylor snickered. “Well, have fun with your history project.” Bryce waved goodbye to the pink deer as he made his way to the elevator. 

Clicking the up button, Bryce and Liam sauntered into the elevator; hearing Island Depot playing.  “Man, for a library, they sure have boppy music! Ba-bam, bu-bu-bam. Uh, uh, uh. Such a jam!!” Liam snickered as Bryce performed his little dance to the elevator music. Liam’s ears twitched as he heard the little ding and the elevator doors opened. The maned wolf and the ghost chimera cat both stepped out of the elevator. The second floor had a gray carpet, teal walls and a cyan ceiling. The white bookshelves sat on the left side of Bryce and one motivation poster. Bryce wandered over to the back of the second floor, only to notice a chapter book in the children's section. “Hey, Liam! Look at this.” He wandered to the children’s section and picked the chapter book coloured black and white. “Woah! A chapter book, in the children’s section? Why?” Bryce examined the black and white chapter book; noticing the title: ‘ONE’. “I don’t know. Some dumbass thought it was funny, I guess. It’s called ONE.” Liam’s eyes blinked in surprise, “‘ONE’?  Hold on, isn’t that the book that Amelia was weirded out by?” Bryce nodded, flipping through the pages, only to find his name in it. “Holy shit, holy shit. Oh my god.”  Liam looked confused, “What? What did you find?” Bryce glanced back at Liam with a terrified expression.

“Bryce Hanson. That’s my name. That’s fucking my name.”

“Hold on, what the eff? Let me see.”

Bryce handed the book to Liam, immediately flipping through the pages of it, “Holy fuck, you’re right!” Liam flipped through the pages some more, “It has my name too, Liam Plecak.” Both of them stared at each other with terrified expressions. “That’s a big coincidence, haha. '' Liam rubbed his neck, chuckling. “Sure is. We’re getting sidetracked here.” Bryce blinked, narrowed his eyes. “Oh, yeah. Let’s get going.” Bryce and Liam both sauntered into the elevator, up onto the third floor.

As the duo stepped out, Bryce noticed there were a few animals here. A grayish red panda with a flannel and gray sweatpants doodling in his sketchbook on the second table, a white arctic fox with a dark bluish gray sweater with yellow sleeves and tight blue jeans, his hair was dyed orange and light gray, followed by a see-through visor and an spruce wolf with half his face white with an aegean turtleneck and beanie.The white arctic fox gazed in Bryce’s direction, “Bryce? What are you doing here? You never go to the library!” Bryce smiled as he meekly rubbed his neck. “It’s research for a… uhm… history project. Yeah.” The white fox furrowed his eyebrows, resting his arms on the gray chair, “History project? For..?” “Ghosts. Yeah. Listen, listen, Do you know a ram with a purple cloak and… a brown sweater, Airline?” Airline tilted his visor upwards, her yellowish brown eyes sparked with awe. “A cloaked ram?  Yeah, his ‘name’ is Airy. For some reason, he keeps disappearing in the darkness. Not only that, but people have been reporting missing people across Cliffside Springs, which I suspect that damn ram is causing those people to be missing.”  The spruce wolf rested his chin on his hand, adding more to Airline's words. “Nobody knows his real name. Heck, Nobody knows what he did to that kid, 7 years ago, and nobody knows what he’s doing out there.” Bryce felt the words shot at him like a bullet through his heart, “Thanks for the information.”

As the duo exited the third and second floor, Liam swore he caught a glimpse at the grayish red panda looking at them with light purple eyes but he still followed Bryce nonetheless. Before long, they waved goodbye to Taylor and on the streets to their car. “So, Airy, huh?” Bryce nodded, “Weird guy keeps disappearing at night. Kidnapping people, too, I think. We never asked what his intentions were.”  Bryce gazed at the empty streets, the bright street lights illuminating the area.  “It’s getting darker out. We best get going.” Liam sighed, suddenly feeling a sense of dread crawling up on them. “Wait, Bryce, there’s something I nee—” Before he could finish his sentence, someone bumped into him. “Guh! Woah!” Liam instantly spun around to see the same grayish red panda standing in front of him. “Hey, what the hell?!” The grayish red panda hastily gave him five orange sticky notes before running off into the distance. 

Liam blinked twice as he stared at the orange sticky notes, “Hey wait!” He looked upon the direction the grayish red panda ran off but he was already gone.

“Where did he go?”

Chapter Text

Liam shuffled through the five orange sticky notes as he gazed out the car window, seeing the tall trees and the dark purple tinted night sky before glancing over to Bryce right beside him, the green backpack on the ground. He gazed at the orange sticky notes, seeing pictures of a circle with a keyhole, an owl tree, a rotary phone, a wing with the word: CROW,  a shattered scented candle and a bird in a birdcage. “These notes are so cryptic! How are we supposed to figure these things out if they don’t even make sense?”  Bryce shrugged, his paws tapping the steering wheel, “I don’t know, why did that guy give you the notes and then run off like it was nothing? Are these just pictures they drew?” Liam sighed, glancing at Bryce, his eyes sparked with desperation. “I… I don’t… Urgh! At this point, nothing makes sense anymore.” Liam frowned at the brownish red maned wolf slumping back in his car-sea sighed. “Do you want to go to where I used to go to calm myself down?” Liam blinked as he shifted into a confused expression, “Why?” Bryce chuckled as he adjusted his beanie, “You know, to take a break from this whole ‘ghost-hunting’ thing. We can go look at the wildlife and enjoy the atmosphere.” The ghost chimera cat painted on a semi-smile. Liam’s eyes sparkling with joy. “I mean, yeah. That… that’ll be pretty lovely.” Bryce smirked as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Great, let’s go then!”

The tweeting and chirping of birds lingered in the air following the gentle rustling of water. The tall maple trees hovered over the brownish red maned and the ghost chimera cat as if they were tall giants stomping above them or they were large gods watching over them. The trail was a yellow wooden pathway along with leaves on the sides of the pathways.  Bryce had brought Liam’s green backpack along with a flashlight tightly in his grasp. The ghost chimera cat, Liam followed  Bryce from behind, his light green eyes glowing in the dark like a portable glow-stick. Their boots clambered  on the wooden floor as they sauntered down the steps. Liam gazed at the bridge as Bryce ambled further, “Woah, that bridge is  huge.” Liam’s tone was with awe as he caught up with Bryce. The maned wolf yawned, folding his red turtleneck collar as he hopped on the railings.  The bridge was orange with a brown floor. Followed by trapezoid sides with wooden planks on the roof., “Yeah, it’s cool and abridged.”  Liam sighed as he gazed at the moon,and the stars in the night sky. “IHow many stars are there?” Bryce’s legs are swinging as he raises his paw towards the sky as if he was reaching for the moon, “Nobody really knows, there’s millions out there….” The maned wolf’s words trails off as his eyes narrowed with dejection; sighing. Liam blinked, noticing his regret. “Liam?”  Liam tightened his grip on the railing as his one paw clenched onto his green forest sweater. “Yeah? What’s bothering you?” Bryce sighed, gazing up to the stars.

“You know, after you vanished, It… it really impacted me… Your death reminded me of Stella.” 

“Stella?”

“Stella Hanson, my sister. You may have seen her around town. She's like me but gray and a backwards baseball cap. She died in a car accident a decade ago.”

Liam didn’t know what to say, he stared at Bryce with sympathy in his eyes. “What did you do?” Bryce’s eyes clouded with regret and guilt; his arms quivering. “I’m sorry, Liam, I-- I shut everyone out, laid in bed, staring at the ceiling and….” Liam’s eyes widened, with shock, “I thought I told you to stop drinking?!” The ghost chimera cat’s tone was cracking now, filed with guilt and concern. “I tried stopping it, okay? I couldn’t help it. I was stuck in this eternal cycle of regret, pain and suffering.” The maned wolf’s voice croaked, making a gaping hole in the cat’s guts. “...Bry---” Liam began but Bryce cut off his words. “And now you’re here…. And I’m making a fool of myself.”  Bryce’s words were barely a whisper now; now hollow and shattered into bits.  Liam touched the maned wolf’s shoulder; smiling. “Don’t beat yourself up, man. I’m also in the cycle of suffering with you too. If we get through this, we can break it.” Bryce sniffled as he gazed at Liam’s green eyes. “You… you think so?” Liam nodded, his eyes sparking sympathy. “Together. We’re going to get through everything.” 

“Let’s be ghosts together, forever.”