The In-Between and After: A Ghost's Story

The Ambush

A few ghosts gathered, among them - Bigz and Templeton, one angel being restrained, and a couple other ghosts, all out in front of the station.

"Someone's watching the bus?" Bigz asked the group.

"Yeah, we got a couple ghosts and our angel watching, so far nothing, they'll contact if they see anything" Templeton responded.

"Good, I don't want to los.." Bigz stopped abruptly and began coughing. The coughing fits were still bad and getting worse, and harder to control. Templeton and the other ghosts looked at him, one tried to help, but Bigz shook him off.

"Get off me!" he managed to bark out between the coughs. The other ghost just stared at him as he tried to stifle them. One ghost got Templeton's attention and pulled him aside.

"What's going on with Bigz?" he asked.

"I don't know, he's been like this since he came back from scouting" Templeton posited, making sure to keep his voice down.

"What happened? has he said anything?" The ghost asked.

"No, I just know that he's different, He showed back up spouting all this shit about finding these guys and then that cough. I thought he was bad before, I would not want to be this McGregor guy, that's for sure." Templeton said as he walked back to where the others were. The other ghost nodded. Bigz seemed to have recovered enough to be standing up.

"Dammit" Bigz grunted as he wiped his mouth and took a beat to catch his breath. "Any movement on the bus?" he asked. Templeton closed his eyes.

"What's going on over there?" he asked, speaking to the angel on the other side of the station. There was no response. He repeated, "Hey! What's going on?" Templeton shook his head.

"Goddamn junkie, he's not responding," Templeton said to Bigz. Before Bigz could respond an announcement blared over the loudspeakers, giving the final call for the bus heading for Boston.

"Shit!" Bigz shouted and grabbed the angel's shirt and pulled him. "C'mon!" he shouted back to the others who jumped to and followed him "This end now!" The group of Slavs made their way through the bus station and out to the bus area. Templeton veered off from the main group and walked over to his angel who was slumped down on a bench, asleep. He shook his head in anger and grabbed onto his the angel's arm, the jolt startled the angel, who looked up at Templeton. It took a couple seconds before the pain hit him. The angel's eye welled up and fell down his cheek, a deep feeling of despair and sadness washed over him, the angel tried to pull his arm back but he was too weak compared to Templeton.

"Stop..." the angel managed to mutter as he strained against the mental onslaught cursing from the touch. Templeton didn't, he instead grabbed a hold of the angel's neck. Causing the angel to writhe around in his chair in pain.

"Why didn't you respond?" Templeton growled, and let go of the angel. The angel looked up at Templeton, anger burning in him, he wanted to voice his displeasure at Templeton breaking the arrangement they had but he couldn't, whether it was the pain that Templeton forced on him or the years of euphoria before that, and he didn't say anything. Templeton stood there for a second before turning back and joining the rest of the ghosts as they discussed the next step. The angel got up and began to follow Templeton. As he walked the angel phased his hands into Templeton's chest, Templeton stopped in his tracks, taken by surprise by the sensation. The angel used what little strength he was able to muster and forcing his hands apart, starting to rip Templetons apart. Templeton cried out in pain, the other ghost ran towards him but as they approached a huge blinding flash of light followed by a huge surge of spiragy that radiated out as Templeton's spiragy was released from the angel's attack.