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It was midday.
It was so midday, and Gem was enjoying a nice lunch.
She was with some of her friends, simply people watching. It was fun, honestly, just being able to watch them all interact with each other and the world without a single care. They were happy, and since they were happy, Gem was happy.
She’s tired. She thinks she’ll always be tired, but she knows she won’t be soon. Bringing people back to life, especially when killed by a demon, makes her exhausted for days. Unfortunately, though, Gem can’t just hole up in her apartment. She has bills to pay and groceries to buy.
Scar bumps into Grian who’s holding three drinks. Gem laughs as he spins around, raising the drinks above his head and almost hitting Scar in the jaw. Grian was a waiter before he went into ghost hunting, so she guesses that some things just never leave you.
“Careful!” Grian lightly scolds, turning to glare playfully at Scar. He just laughs, taking one of the drinks from him, and sits down across from Gem.
Grian rolls his eyes, setting Gem’s drink down in front of her. He smiles at her and sits down in the chair next to her.
“People watching?” Scar asks. Gem sips her drink and nods.
“Still tired,” she replies. Grian tilts his head in slight confusion and worry.
Skizz walks by before Grian can say anything, passing Gem a cup of coffee. She accepts it gratefully, smiling weakly at him before he walks back to Impulse. If she weren’t so tired, she’d probably try to listen in on their conversation.
“Do you need to take tonight off?” Grian asks. “Scar’s...incident-” Gem pretends to not notice the way Grian flinches- “was a few days ago. Shouldn’t you be alright by now?”
Gem smiles and takes a sip of her coffee, burning her tongue in the process (not like she cares). “Demon revivals take a lot out of me. More than normal ghosts. I’m okay, just a little tired.”
“Don’t overwork yourself,” is all Grian says, sipping his own drink. Gem tilts her head at it.
“What are you drinking?” she asks, sipping her water to try and help the burning of her tongue.
“Fruit punch.” He sips the drink annoyingly, and Gem laughs and pushes his shoulder, making him almost spill his drink.
“I didn’t even know there was fruit punch.” Gem looks up and towards Skizz and Impulse, smirking as she shouts, “Dads! Why can’t I have fruit punch?”
Skizz immediately looks over to her when he hears Dads, activating like a sleeper agent or something. Impulse only looks up after Gem finishes her question before immediately looking back down at his own drink.
“Because you need to hydrate after everything you went through the other day,” Impulse calls back. “You can have something other than water when you’re back to your usual energy.”
Skizz glances between Gem and Impulse before rolling his eyes, heading over to a cooler, and grabbing a purple Kool-Aid Burst. Gem’s eyes light up as Skizz opens it for her and places it down next to her coffee. Now she has three drinks!
She drinks the entire bottle without stopping, feeling so much better already. Maybe it was the sugar, or maybe it was just her finally feeling rested after several days of being partially bedridden.
“When’s our next mission?” she asks Scar. Scar, who seemingly forgot he could be perceived, jumps, almost spilling his Sprite all over himself. She laughs then clarifies, “I mean, I know it’s tonight, but what time do we have to be there?”
“Six,” Scar replies after he regains composure. “We’re doing a bit of an earlier one tonight since the family wants to sleep there tonight.”
“Perfect, we can all get an early night!” Gem says happily, clasping her hands together.
Scar raises his drink in a cheers, and Gem clinks her cup of water with his cup of Sprite. Some water spills over, and Grian gasps in mock annoyance.
“You’ve made a mess!” he accuses, somehow more British than usual. Gem just rolls her eyes.
“Sorry,” she replies, making herself way more Canadian than needed. Skizz snorts from where he was standing with Impulse.
“You’re so Canadian,” he teases. “Why do you say it sorey? And aboot! It’s great.” He laughs again.
“Hey Skizz, say rural,” Gem says. Skizz stops laughing instantly, which makes Impulse start laughing harder.
They all decide to just chill and hang out for the next few hours while they wait to go figure out the ghost. Gem can’t help but feel like something bad will happen again, but she shrugs it off, blaming the anxiety Showfall Media instilled in her. Or maybe it’s just her general chronic anxiety.
Six o’clock rolls around too quickly for Gem’s liking, and she almost has an anxiety attack on the way to the house. It’s in a neighbourhood they’ve never hunted in, so she doesn’t know where they are while trying to find the house. That just makes her anxiety worse.
Grian seems to notice that she’s not going too great, so he silently grabs her right hand, squeezing it every now and then to remind her that I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere, you’re going to be okay. You are safe with me.
He doesn’t look at her. When she looks up at him to smile her thanks, he’s staring out the window. She still smiles before looking back down, not wanting to look out any of the windows.
Thankfully, Impulse is driving, so the ride to the house is smooth. Following all traffic laws is a general plus too.
He parks outside the house, and Gem can feel her heart rate quicken immediately. She’s certain she’s forgotten how to breathe. Her vision blurs, everything is wrong, she’s going to die.
But to everyone else, she just looks normal.
Gem’s gotten unnecessarily good at hiding her anxiety attacks. On the outside, she can pretend they aren’t happening, that she’s calm, cool, and collected. She can pretend that she isn’t dying.
But still, her friends know her. Grian knows her like the back of his hand, Skizz and Impulse are such fathers they can tell something’s wrong before she even realizes, and Scar is just like Gem.
“Alright, Impulse and I will find the ghost room, Scar, you set up the van, Grian, you help Gem calm down, and Gem, just breathe,” Skizz orders. He always took charge during their missions which helps a lot with Gem’s anxiety.
Gem just nods, sitting down under one of the screens in the back of the van, pulling her knees up to her chest. Grian sits down next to her and holds her hands, squeezing them when she should breathe in and letting go when she should breathe out.
It was a system they came up with a long time ago, back when they still worked with Showfall Media. Gem shudders at the thought of their former company, and Grian squeezes her hands tighter, reminding her to breathe.
“Is everyone good?” Impulse’s staticky voice comes through the radios on all of their hips. Gem jumps at the sound before relaxing again when Grian lets go of her hands.
“I’ve got the van set up,” Scar replies. His voice echoes, a slight delay between the radios.
“Has Gem calmed down?” Skizz asks. Grian looks at Gem, and she nods. She can feel her heart beating again, and her chest doesn’t tighten every time she tries to breathe.
“She’s doing better,” Grian relays. Despite not being able to see Skizz, Gem knows that he’s nodded in response.
“If you want to come in here, Gem, you can, but don’t feel pressured to.” Impulse’s voice is somewhat far away, so Gem assumes she’s hearing him in the background of Skizz’s radio.
“Thanks.” Her voice shakes slightly, and she takes a deep breath.
Gem can do this. She can be brave. This company has already shown that if something happens, they will be taken care of properly. She doesn’t have to be afraid anymore.
Just because she knows she doesn’t have to be afraid doesn’t mean she’s not.
Chronic anxiety, am I right?
“I’m heading back out to grab more stuff,” Skizz says through the radio. “Impulse is still in the house.”
“I’ll go in with him,” Gem tells the group. There’s a pause of silence.
“If you’re sure,” Impulse replies. Grian glances at Gem, and she nods. She can do this.
Skizz heads out of the house and into the van. Gem nods at him before taking a deep breath and heading into the house herself, searching for Impulse.
“Impulse? Where are you?” she calls. And, because she’s as smart as a horror movie character, she heads into the basement first.
The steps creak under her, threatening to break if she stands on them for too long. She still walks slowly, shining her flashlight on the walls around her. They’re covered in cracks, which is probably a safety issue.
“What do we know about the ghost?” Gem asks into the radio. She hears her voice echo below her, staticky as hell, so she knows Impulse is down here.
“It’s a young ghost,” Skizz replies. “Only seven years old. His name is Xisuma Void. According to the previous owners, he is very aggressive.”
“Great, another aggressive ghost,” Gem mumbles to herself. Then, to Skizz, “Thanks.” She clicks off her radio and clips it back onto her belt, continuing her slow descent into the basement.
“Gem?” Impulse calls. Her eyes widen, and she hurries quicker.
When she sees Impulse, to say that she didn’t expect what she saw is an understatement.
Impulse was kneeling on a pentagram, all but one candle lit and a Ouija board in his lap. He’s holding the board steady in one hand and a lighter in the other. The hand holding the lighter is shaking severely, and he lights the last candle before Gem can stop him.
To Gem, it seems like nothing has happened. Sure, the candles are melting faster than they should, but she ignores it.
“Are you friendly?” Impulse asks. The planchette moves to NO. Gem can’t move.
“Impulse, what are you doing?” she whispers. He ignores her.
“Are you going to hurt us?” he asks. Gem can’t see where the planchette moves to, but she knows it’s sitting on YES.
Impulse freezes for a second before standing and facing Gem. It’s dark in the room, too dark for Gem to see his face.
Gem should’ve known something weird was going to happen. Two cursed objects in the same room is impossible. Someone or something must’ve brought the Ouija board down to the pentagram.
She doesn’t like where her thought process is leading her.
Impulse walks slowly towards Gem who backs up before hitting the concrete wall behind her. Her breathing quickens, and she doesn’t like how terrifying Impulse looks in the dark.
“Impulse, I don't like this,” she says, laughing nervously. “You’re scaring me.”
He doesn’t stop walking. Gem realizes that his eyes are red, and he smells like death.
That’s when it suddenly clicks.
He’s been possessed.
She runs up the stairs, slamming the basement door behind her. Gem knows she has to hide, but she doesn’t know where she can. Behind her, she can hear someone trying to open the front door.
Voices come through her radio, shouting at both of them to hide because the ghost was hunting. Gem doesn’t have time to tell them that Impulse has been possessed by a demon. All she can do is run.
She’s able to get upstairs and into the master bedroom before she hears the basement door shatter. Gem flinches, knowing that Impulse (if he’s conscious enough) is coming for her.
There’s a window, and Gem knows what she has to do. It’s going to hurt like hell, but she’ll survive.
Hopefully.
She doesn’t think as she opens the window and jumps, rolling the second she hits the ground. Nothing hurts yet, but she knows it’s just adrenaline.
“Guys, Gem just jumped out a window!” Grian shouts, rushing over to her. She stands up and wipes the dirt and grass off her, immediately regretting it as her head spins and she becomes nauseous.
“Impulse is possessed. The ghost is a demon,” she tells him instantly. “I am going to faint.”
Then, she collapses.
Gem wakes up a few moments later, lying on the floor of the van with Impulse next to her. Grian is fanning them both, eyes widening when he looks at Gem and she’s just staring back at him.
“Excuse me,” she says, standing up and grabbing two of the juices they have. She drinks one herself, ignoring the awful taste. “How conscious is he?”
“Gem, you just jumped out of a two story window,” Grian says incredulously. Scar laughs.
“You didn’t know Gem years ago, did you?” he asks. Grian shakes his head. “She was a parkour artist. Pretty sure she had around five hundred thousand followers on Instagram back in the day.”
“Don’t brag for me,” Gem scolds. “How conscious is he?”
“Very,” Impulse says, groaning as he sits up. “What happened?”
“You were possessed. Drink this,” Gem explains, handing him the juice.
“I’m okay,” he tells her, trying to wave her off. Gem rolls her eyes, jolting as Skizz hits a speed bump going way too fast.
(She didn’t even know the van was moving until that moment.)
“I wasn’t asking,” she replies. “Drink it.”
Impulse looks like he’s about to argue more, but Gem pleads with him with her eyes. He sighs and takes the drink, and she smiles, nodding as he finishes it.
“We’re going to drop off the van and then head to Skizz’s place so you can rest. I’ll stay so I can watch over you,” Gem explains. Impulse nods. “Scar and Grian are staying over because they’re worried about you.”
“You worry too much,” Impulse tells her. She laughs a little.
“I’m a medic with anxiety, Impulse. That’s my entire job.”
Impulse laughs then rests his head on her shoulder.
“Thank you,” he mutters. “And I’m sorry.”
Gem shakes her head. “None of that. Get some rest. You’ll need it.”
Impulse nods, and Gem realizes that for once, the roles are switched. She’s taking care of Impulse instead of the other way around. She smiles to herself.
They were safe now. Gem knows it. She can finally relax after years of being stuck in a constant state of anxiety. It’s nice, and she thinks that maybe, just maybe, she can get used to it. All she needs is time.