Ghost

Bonding is Nice. Really Nice.

"He wears a Fenton ghost hunting suit." 

"He hunts with their equipment."

"He's so young."

"How did he die?"

"The way he acts.. it's way too... human for a ghost." 

Maddie stared at the boy across from herself. He was on his knees, clutching a familiar thermos. The boy was tan, with fluffy white hair. Maddie knew ectoplasm didn't have a smell, but she smelt.. peach? How did Phantom smell like peaches? He dropped the thermos beside him.

Maddie gripped the gun. The boy sighed, and sat down. He tugged his knees to his chest, hugging them. He tucked his face in between his knees, and choked out a sob. Maddie didn't know what to do. Ghosts didn't feel emotions. Did they? 

The ghost boy was crying, letting out mangled sobs and chokes. Maddie sighed, put her gun down beside his thermos, and sat down next to him. "You okay?" She asks. The boy sniffed next to her, looking at her for a split second, before leaning over, still in a ball, on her side, crying even louder, and even more. "Hey, it's okay." She says, petting his hair. How in the world was it so soft? "You wanna talk about it?"

"He's just so mean! All the time!" Phantom chokes. "H-he's the o-only one li-like me and he's eeevvviiilll." He whined, curling into himself even more. 

"The only other one like you? Who?" 

"And-and there's so ma-many ghosts and I don't wanna do this." Phantom sobs. 

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Maddie sighed, closing her eyes. 

"Spectra is the-the worst." Phantom wailed. "I-I'm a mo-monster." 

"You're not a monster." Maddie finds herself saying.

"You-you hunt me. You want to d-dissect me."

"I can't do that now." Maddie says, screwing her eyes shut even further.

"R-really?"

"You're so much like my son." Maddie says. "I love him-I love him to bits, and he's been drifting so far away, and I don't want to bother him, embarrass him, because I know how awful teen years are. And you remind me of him. I don't think I could even bare to shoot at you now. You're crying on me."

Phantom stared at him, and Maddie opened her eyes. His eyes were a brilliant-clean green. Eyes are windows to the soul. Maddie had learned, with ghosts, that term was perfectly right. That phrase was true. Phantom's eyes were green, clean and clear, and glowing. And filled with tears. Phantom was a good person.

"Ghosts used to be human." Maddie says. "Your family-how... You're so young." 

"They didn't even notice I was-hic!- d-dead." Phantom was still crying, but not blubbering now. 

"Oh." Maddie says, her eyes dimming. "That's-that's awful." Her grip on the ghost boy tightened, and her expression dimmed. "I couldn't imagine loosing my son. He and my daughter are my entire world. I'm really sorry, Phantom." The boy was silent, tears slowing down. He sniffed. "My daughter is applying for collages." She brushed her hand through Phantom's hair again. "My son's fifteen, and they're growing up so fast. So.. so fast."

"I'm not going to be growing up any time soon." Phantom mumbles.