Giving Way to the Light

Chapter Sixteen

Awkward silence ensued. Everyone (myself included) was struggling to comprehend our newfound discovery. No one seemed to know just what to say. It almost hurt when I saw flashes of fear flicker across the expressions of some of these people— Monsters and Guardians alike. I was just getting used to people not fearing me. It was like I had spent the last few days trying to prove I wasn't someone they should fear, and one new discovery brought me back to square one...

  Jack Frost tapped my hand underneath the table, which was enough of a jumpstart for me to coughed nervously and start speaking again.   

"Right, well, uhhh... now that we have that out of the way, I should probably start explaining why it is we came all the way here," I said nervously. Equally nervous glances were exchanged around the room, and a few (consisting of the Jacks, Bunny, and North) nodded encouragingly.

I took a deep breath, and started the tale of the murderous Wanderer.

"My job, as Skeleton Jack has already explained, is to be a guide for lost and Wandering souls," I said. "When a person dies, their soul is pulled from their mortal bodies, and they either find their own way to their after lives, fight the urge to move on, or become lost. The spirits who don't move on are called Wanders. Spirits are sometimes hand picked by the Man in the Moon to become Lunar spirits, and they are given a new form that can only be seen and heard by other spirits, monsters, or mortals that truly believe in their existence. Other spirits that are cursed, or doomed to stay forever chained to this world are called Forsaken spirits. Forsaken spirits are like Jack Skellington, or the zombies out in your lobby. Actually," I paused to consider the largest monster in the room. "Frank is actually classified as a Forsaken rather than an Immortal."

Frank seemed to consider this himself for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly. "Meh, I'm a monster either way. Makes no difference what the technical term is to me."

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so I just nodded continued my explanation.

"My job is only to deal with Wanderers. I can sense them when they are near, and I confront them. Sometimes they are confused and simply need a little help finding the Light. Most of the time...." I glanced at Dennis, then to Bunny. "Most of the time those spirits are children. They just got a little lost or scared, and needed a helping hand."

Bunny's eyes widened just enough for me to know that he understood what I was trying to convey. All those years ago, he had thought I was a Grim Reaper, stealing some poor child's soul. Now he knew that I was simply doing my job. Helping a lost little kid who didn't understand why he couldn't stay with his mom anymore.

"Sometimes, there are wanderers who don't want to move on though, despite what I tell them. They are either too attached to a physical item they can't take with them, afraid to move on into the unknown, or they attach themselves to a person or a building and leach ectoplasmic energy from the living mortals. 

"Stealing this energy can leave a mortal with dizziness, nightmares, paranoia, loss of interest, depression, and exhaustion. Large quantities of ectoplasmic energy can almost make a phantom feel whole again. They become obsessed with the feeling, and they fight tooth and nail to stay that way. When they are left alone long enough, they become a little more dangerous. They become phantoms, ghouls, and, in worse case scenarios, poltergeists. It's then my job to force them onto their afterlives with a spell. Sometimes they disappear in a flash of white light. More often times, they kind of melt into the ground and there is a distinct smell of sulfur..."

I saw Johnny's eyes widen fractionally in horror and realized I should stop terrifying the only mortal in the room who would one day find himself in that very situation. Oops.