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Grian leaned down on the ground, green light reflecting off his glasses as he spoke into the spirit box. From the camera, Gem could see Impulse hovering over the salt that had been walked through and Skizz with a UV light. She was watching carefully for ghost orbs or DOTS, but there was no sign of anything so far.
“Do we still have no evidence?” Skizz asked curiously.
“Nothin’,” Grian groaned. “Are you here? Where are you?”
“C’mon G, at least tell us when you start doing spirit box!” Impulse chuckled.
Gem turned the camera slightly so that it was facing the hallway rather than the living room. It was possible they were off on the room, even if only by a little bit.
“Are we sure it’s in the living room? Did you double-check the basement?” She asked, buzzing in on the radio.
“All that’s down there is a summoning circle, and I really don’t feel like we should touch that right now,” Skizz replied. “But I can go down there again if it makes you feel better, Gem.”
She hummed, thinking. “You might as well. I doubt you’ll miss much upstairs.”
“On it!” He said. Gem looked into the camera as Skizz scurried off-screen, leading down the hallway to the basement. The lights flickered slightly.
Grian’s head shot up, turning quickly. “Uh, can we get a crucey in here, please? I get a bad feeling about this.”
“I’ll be there in just a second, there’s one in the van,” Gem said, turning to the large wall of equipment. She grabbed the crucifix, took a deep breath, and stepped out of the van into the cold air.
The lights were on when she came inside, flickering again slightly. Gem felt a sense of dread wash over her as she made her way towards the living room.
“Will this thing even work if we’re not in the right room?” She asked, placing it on the floor. Grian dropped the spirit box to the ground with a grumble.
“Nope,” he said, then he stood up quickly.
Gem glanced at Impulse, who was also looking mildly concerned at Grian as he practically sprinted out of the house. He probably came up with an idea, and that almost definitely meant death for someone.
Skizz came into the living room again. “Absolutely nothing. This ghost sucks!”
“Sure does!” Grian smirked, running past them from the living room and down the basement stairs. Gem barely caught the shine of silver in his hands.
“We should run,” she said, but Impulse and Skizz were already gone.
The lights went out. There was the distant sound of growling, a deep gurgling that made Gem sick to her stomach.
Steps made their way up the stairs from the basement, bursting out of the door. Grian’s lighter was on and he was grinning, rushing out as the ghost got closer. Gem made to run for the closet when-
Grian shoved her.
Grian shoved her.
She fell to the floor, barely having time to process the situation when she felt something close around her ankle.
This was it. She was going to die and have to watch as everyone else figured out the stupid ghost because Grian wanted to be funny, and-
Gem felt herself be dragged off of the floor, the growling silent. She glanced around, making eye contact with the ghost. It’s face, bloody and ruined, was formed into a distorted grin.
“ Grrrouugghgh. ”
She stared, eyes wide, before managing, “What?”
The ghost tilted its head at her, then nodded to the hallway. “ Eeughhh. ”
“I- I don’t speak, um, ghost?” Gem tried. She had been ghost-hunting plenty of times before, but this… was weird. It wasn’t every day that the ghost tried to talk to her.
It seemed to groan before attempting, “ Gggggrreeeiiinnss. ”
Gem felt a sudden sense of realization. “Oh, you mean Grian?”
The ghost nodded hastily. The hand around her ankle disappeared, letting her pull herself up. There was a kind of decaying residue left on her jeans, but she decided that was a problem for later.
“Um, what do you want with Grian?” She asked, trying to avoid taking a subconscious step back.
The ghost lifted its hands, bending its fingers unnaturally far. It waved its hands back and forth, similar to what she might have seen in a Spirit Halloween animatronic.
“You… you want to scare him?” Gem tried.
It dropped its hands and nodded. Maybe she should call an exorcist. Or a scientist- surely there was someone interested in a ghost as sentient as this one.
But that could wait. Right now, Gem really wanted to get Grian back.
“Y’know what, sure,” she said, standing awkwardly. The ghost threw its hands back up again, groaning loudly. Gem made the assumption it was cheering.
She waved it over, crouching low to the ground. It did the same, following her through the hallway until they reached the closet.
Gem could just barely hear breathing, quick huffs that she had to strain to even notice. She glanced over at the ghost and waved, motioning towards the other side of the door. As it moved, Gem raked her fingers across the white panels slowly.
The ghost grinned again and she had to suppress a shiver. Then it reached up to the handle and slowly opened it.
It quickly shut, pulled back by one of the people hiding in the closet. The ghost tried again and started to groan in frustration as it was slammed again.
Gem grabbed the door and it burst open. She and the ghost jumped forward, arms outstretched, screaming into the darkness.
Skizz, Impulse, and Grian screamed in unison, scrambling backward. Gem burst into giggles and the ghost made a gurgling noise.
Once they realized the threat wasn’t hurting them, they looked around in confusion. Skizz shined his light out into the hallway and let out a string of gibberish upon seeing the ghost smiling, only standing in the door.
“Hey, uh, Gemstone, who’s your buddy?” Skizz asked.
“Buddy? Are we calling the ghost trying to kill us our buddy now?” Grian managed, trembling.
“This is-” Gem started, then stopped abruptly. She turned to the ghost. “Sorry, I don’t think I ever caught your name?”
“ MMmaaaeeerrrreeeeyyy, ” it said.
“This is Mary.”
Impulse spoke up. “Hi, Mary. Gem, how did- what even happened? Am I allowed to ask that?”
“Well, Grian lit the summoning circle,” Gem explained. “And Mary here came along after Grian shoved me to the floor to die. And I guess Mary doesn’t really like Grian all that much, so we bonded and decided this was our next step.”
Grian raised an eyebrow. “You got upset that I gave you a nudge, so you teamed with the ghost to try and kill me.”
“Not kill! Just scare you. So, yeah, basically.”
Grian shook his head in disbelief. Skizz was laughing to himself, almost hysterical, but Impulse seemed to be thinking.
“Mary, do you happen to know what type of ghost you are?” He asked slowly.
Mary tilted her head, looking at Gem. She shrugged, but Mary answered.
“ Tthhhhhhhhhhaaaeeeeeeeyyyyeeeeeeeee. ”
“Hey, this worked out perfectly! Thank you, Mary,” Impulse said, pulling out his old leatherbound journal. Mary nodded. “No wonder you two got along so well, Gem. Gemini-Tay, Gemini-Thaye! Maybe Grian should shove you more often.”
Gem shot him a glare but pulled out her own book. Grian and Skizz did the same, circling Thaye and closing it.
Skizz jumped up, looking between Impulse and the ghost. “Do you think Mary might let us have a little photo shoot? A perfect game plus good memories?”
Mary hesitated before groaning loudly. The three, still sitting in the closet, jumped.
“She said yes,” Gem confirmed. They sighed in relief.
“Great! Mary, you’re the best, buddy,” Skizz said, getting up and snatching the camera from Impulse’s pocket. “Photo time!”
*
Grian, Skizz, and Impulse left the house after taking photos with Mary. Gem had stayed behind, giving all of her equipment to Skizz for him to take back to the van. She would be with them all in a few minutes, but she wanted to do something first.
As she stood in the doorway, Mary hovered next to her. They sat in the silence for a moment before Mary’s gnarled voice broke it.
“ GGgggggoooooo. ”
Gem frowned. “I feel bad, though. You don’t deserve to be stuck here forever.”
“ IIiiiieeeemm fffinne. Eeeenjjoeeeyy lllifffe ,” Mary assured her.
She turned to the ghost, smiling. “I guess you’re right. Thank you for everything, Mary. You’re the best ghost I’ve ever met.”
Mary smiled broadly, the wounds on her face extending. “ Aaannnnddd Geeeem? ”
“Yeah?”
“ Sssccccaarreee Gggrrreeeeiiinnn sssomee mooorreee. Foorrrr meee. PPlllleaassee? ”
Gem grinned back. “Of course.”
She left the building, eyes lingering on the figure in the doorway. When she finally got in the van she was greeted by her friends, laughing and clapping as they recounted the events of the night.
Gem couldn’t help one last look out the door at Mary before they took off, ending another successful investigation.