Shade

"You're not up to doing anything anyway so there's no point in asking now is there? The best thing you could do right now is to stay out of the way."

Things were strangely quiet now. Well, not quiet. There was still the raging fire and cries of the injured, not to mention the honking of backed up traffic and sirens in the distance. Why weren't any of those guys helping, what was this New York? At the very least though, there weren't any more sounds of smashing and exploding vehicles, so it was quiet.

"How long do you think it'll take for your buddies to show up?"

Edward shrugged as he started his futile search. “A while. Normally, we would send some buses to come from the other way, but this, mayhem on two sides?” He let out a low whistle. “May be another ten minutes. Especially since they,” he made a motion in the general direction behind him, “probably all called 911 and gave not a single shred of sensible information. That is why I hate freeway accidents.” Another sigh as he leant back against one of the car wrecks. “Well, that and the loss of life.”

A grunt made Edward jump. A life one, in the car he was leaning against. Not the front or the backseat, but the trunk. Shaking his head, he unhooked his emergency bag as he rushed to the back. Jammed. Of course, why would anything in life ever be easy? Taking a step back, he landed a kick on the lock, then another, until his effort was finally rewarded by the satisfying sound of breaking metal.

A man in a suit, his face a bloody mess, grunting. He grabbed the man’s shoulders, noticed his hands were tied behind his back and sighed. “So Mr. Spirit hunter, if I can’t help you, would you mind helping me get this guy out of here.”

Tom took one look at the man in the trunk and laughed out loud.

"He who dies with the most stories wins, and I think you just took the cake buddy. What did you do, sleep with Lady Luck herself? You must be a politician or a priest. Only one of those could take the worst tragedy in who knows how long and provide a silver lining."

Tom helped the EMT lift him out of the trunk and set him down on the ground a safe distance away. He tried to untie the man's hands, but the knots were too tight.

"Why is it that after all these years I still haven't found the time to buy a pocket knife?" He turned to the EMT and asked "you wouldn't happen to have one on you, would you?"

Coby caught sight of Ady speaking with a deceased taxi driver. Crashes now here was something she wasn’t good at. She couldn’t stand the sight of mangled wreaks and confused spirits coming into realisation they were no longer part of the human race. Then there was that alarming smell of petrol and slicks of blood over dented paintwork. She shuddered as it dragged her own personal hell back to her.
She dragged her feet as she walked towards her guardian, still scared yet feeling slightly better to know Ady was with her.

“Hi Ady,” she said waving her hand. Her voice seemed carried off by the constant drone of voices drifting from the accident scene. She moved towards the taxi driver shifting into her spirit form as she did.

"Hey, Adelei, you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here, is something wrong?" Adelei asked as she approached the scene of the wreck.

"It seems that there are a ton of shades down there. Do you see them?" The shade's voice asked over the walkie-talkie.

Adelei looked around, now that he mentioned it there were a number of spirits who clearly hadn't died that were helping other spirits.

"It looks like we won't have to worry to much about the other spirits. We ought to help any survivors that are trapped."

"Sounds good" Adelei responded as she started searching for anyone that was trapped. "Hey! Are you okay?" She called when she found a person who appeared to be knocked out inside a car. The man stirred. "Good, he's okay" she thought to herself. She tried to open the door but it was jammed tight. She tried the other doors but they were the same. "Ansgar! I need some help. All of the doors are jammed tight and someone's in there..."

"Adelei, It looks like there's a sunroof. Can you open it?"

Adelei climbed on top of the car and pried and pounded on the sunroof but it wouldn't budge. "No good, I can't get it open..."

"Okay, stand back I'm going to take a try at it." The old shade said as he solifified and steadied his rifle.

"Alright" Adelei answered as she stepped back from the car.As soon as she had done so the sound of a shot range out and glass flew from the car's roof. "Hey! Are you okay in there?" Adelei called as she climbed on top of the car.

"Ugh... Wh What happened?" The man asked.

"Oh, Good! You're okay! Let's try to get you out of there."

“Give me a second.” Kneeling next to the man he inspected the knots. Just cutting them away could be the stupidest thing to do; he had seen cases in which the rope was the only thing that kept someone from losing blood. Luckily for this fellow, that wasn’t the case, and Edward pulled out a single scalpel from the pouch, removing the safety cap before slicing the rope. “You didn’t see that. I’m not supposed to carry a scalpel.”

He rolled the man onto his back and used the small flashlight to check for pupillary reflexes. “Sir, you were in an accident. I need you to stay calm. Can you talk?” A sickening gurgle, something between a death rattle and a the sounds of a flushing toilet. “I’ll take that as a no. I’m going to reach inside your pocket and see if I can find an ID, all right?” Without waiting for an answer, he reached down the man’s pockets, only to find them empty.

“Watch him,” Edward said to the Spirit Hunter, who was looking increasingly amused. The man in the driver seat was a hulking man, very fitting for the occasion, weren’t it for the fact that when Edward pushed him backwards, his head fell to his left, a movement that was accompanied by the sickening sound of bone-on-bone-under-flesh. A quick death, at least. A quick inspection of the man’s pockets revealed two drivers licences, an envelope containing small bills, as well as a holster containing a handgun. Shaking his head, Edward walked back.

“Seems they had some plans for our man,” he said, inspecting the two ID’s before pocketing them and kneeling next to the man again, placing the handgun to his left. “Mr Smith?” Another throat sound, which could be interpreted as a yes. “Sir, my name is Edward Walker, everything is going to be all right.” A lie that had never hurt the living, although it had lead to him being haunted for several days. “You got lucky. You’re save now. By the looks of it, your larynx is bruised, so don’t try to talk for another hour.” The man tried to get up, more throat sounds, but Edward grabbed the man’s shoulders to push him back to the ground.

"Coby."

Ady slowed down as she reached the other girl, who was shifting into her spiritual form as she walked. To Ady, and any others with second sight, it was a strange transformation in which Coby somehow significantly altered and yet stayed exactly the same. Spirits were distinct in a way that was hard to explain; they weren't see through like ghosts in films. They were just ... paler shadows of their living selves. Of course, to any survivors without second sight Coby would just seem to have disappeared. Poof. And Ady herself would look like she was talking with thin air.

"Guess we've got some work to do," Ady sighed, glancing about the wreckage again. She knew Coby particularly disliked car crashes, if she didn't know why, and those she hated the sight herself there was a job to be done. She started leading Coby back towards the cab driver.

"Now, remember, these spirits are just realising they're dead. They have no idea what they're capable of yet. It's the best time to convince them to cross over properly. Just try not to frighten them." She glanced over at her Shade. "You can do this, Coby."

"Hey! Stop running!" Kate shouted, shifting into spectral form. Damn woman. The massive gash to her chest should of been a big enough notice that she was dead.

The woman stumbled and fell to her knees, her hysterical shrieks sent shivers up Kate's spine. She kept shrieking something but Kate couldn't make out the words.

"Hey!" Kate shouted, coming around the woman. "Lady! Stop shrieking! I need you to stop and listen to me!"

The woman's shrieks becamse whimpers until she was just making strange noises as she sucked in air. How can a ghost hyperventilate?

Kate crouched before the woman. "I'm sorry to say this, but you are dead. Your injuries were fatal and you are no longer one of the living. But you can't stay here."

The woman blinked at Kate, confused. "I-I'm dead?" She finally looked down at the gash in her chest. "Oh." She shook her head. "But... I don't want to go!"

"Ah geeze." Kate stood up and withdrew her para and palced it against the womans head, above her wide green eyes. "You have a couple of choices. One: come with me and you get to go to the great salon in the sky. Two: I can blow your ecto ass away and you don't get nothing. You don't get to go to heaven or hell. You don't get to blink, speak or think. You just stop. I will do that if you refuse to come with me."

"But... I don't want to go! Who died and made you queen of.... And Grunge?! Ewww. Didn't that go out with the nineties?"

Prissy little bitch! Well, it's not everyday someone insults your style. Kate cocked the gun and stared at the woman. "Bitch about it and you're gone. Do you think i'm kidding? I really don't like doing this but I will if I have to." Kate stepped back and yanked the woman up by her arm and shoved her forwards.

"But-!"

"There's gona be a bullet up your butt if you say that word one more time." Kate muttered.

They approached the ambulance which was still blazing. She remembered the offer as she raced passed the other Shade.

"It's burning." The woman drawled. "I'm not getting in the back of that."

Kate spun the woman around. "Did you listen to a single word I said before? If you do not go through to meet your maker, you disapear. Poof. Gone. Lady in red dress no more. You won't even complain anymore. Nothing will be left. Now. This is my final warning. Choose now. Go through or go away."

The woman glanced at the carnage around her. "Will I be ok?"

Kate sighed. "I don't know. I presume that you will be. But I don't get to see nor am I privliaged in that sort of knowledge. Now please, I really don't want to waste a bullet on you."

The woman straightened herself, pulling herself together. "You're alright for a kid." She turned and stepped through the portal gate and disapeared seconds before a bullet slammed into the ambulance.

"Now, remember, these spirits are just realising they're dead. They have no idea what they're capable of yet. It's the best time to convince them to cross over properly. Just try not to frighten them." She glanced over at her Shade. "You can do this, Coby."


“Yes m‘am,” Coby nodded in compliance she could do this. It was okay now Ady was here to help her. She moved through the confused spirits leaning on shoulders and whispering in ears, then she spotted a small boy. He was clinging to himself in a tight hug, looking around wide eyed and frightened.

“Hi,” Coby said softly before squatting besides him.

“My mummy,” the boy wailed. He was looking towards a woman who was being tended to by a paramedic.

Coby frowned the woman was very much alive and he was confused. She sighed this was going to be a tough one.

“You‘re mummy is going to be okay…”

“But she can‘t see me, I keep calling to her but she won‘t listen,” the boy said.
Coby nodded and rested a hand on his shoulder. “That‘s because you‘re asleep now. You were hurt in the accident…and now you need to go to heaven…” Coby felt frustrated she didn’t understand the right way to explain this to a little boy.
“I won‘t ever wake up?” he asked her.

“No sweet heart, you‘re hear now. You need to go to the gates, it‘ll be okay. You‘re mummy will be very proud of you for being so brave.”
The little boy straightened his back and puffed out his chest, Coby smiled warmly at him.

“That‘s right, and you wait your mummy will come to see you sooner or later. It‘ll all be alright you‘ll see.”

Tom looked at the EMT and said "It sounds like he's going to be all right then. I'm off."

He saw a woman on top of a car reaching down through the sun-roof and trying to help someone stuck inside. He ran over and jumped up onto the roof with her.

"I'll pass him up to you."

With that he got down inside and began fumbling with the man's seatbelt. It was a good thing he had been wearing it too. The guy was messed up as it was. His face was bloodied and his right arm was definitly fractured in a lot of places. Limbs just weren't meant to bend that way.

Tom was finally able to work him free and lifted him up to the sunroof.

"I think we're going to need that EMT over here."

Kate shoved her gun into her holster. Good thing she hadn't had time to 'develop' yet because her boobs would be pretty sore by now with a shoulder holster. Scanning the scene, Kate fought the urge to leave them alone. But then again... She returned to physical form and approached one of the cars.

Inside was a mess. Used take-out containers and drinks were thrown about. A young man hung upside down, trying to free himself of his belt. His face was bright red from the blood rushing to his head.

"Hey, what's your name?" Kate asked, lying on her stomach.

"Matt. I can't get the belt loose and my head-" His eyes rolled up.

"Crap!" Kate cursed. She needed something to free the strap. Pushing herself to her knees, she used her elbow to break the side window into large chunks of glass and picked up a particularly jagged piece, wincing as it bit into her palm.

She lay down again and shuffled forwards, straining to reahc the belt. The glass cut further into her palm as she sawed at the belt strap. "And this is why i'm going to go bye myself a great big shiny knife after this!" She grunted as she continued to saw at the material.

"Oh! Thank you!" Adelei said as she thanked the man.

With the man's help she managed to get the man up out of the car.

"I think you're right, It looks like this guy needs some help." Adelei slid of the side of the mangled car and grabbed the man under his armpits to drag him to safety. Unfortunately though, Adelei isn't the strongest of people. "Up!... Sigh... It seems that this guys a bit heavier than i though... Haha... Would you mind helping me out, Mr. Good Samaritan?" Adelei asked. "Hey, you're the guy that Ansgar was talking to, aren't you?"

Lance paced on his skates, "When have I ever needed you to hold my hand?" He slowly transitioned into spirit form as he spoke, "And, remember my number one rule? The one where we don't mention the whole 'Me Shade, You Guardian Meant to Kill Me?' Yeah, it hasn't changed yet, and I see no change in the foreseeable future. Now, I have to do some more big boy business...anything else you gotta say?"

Tom climbed scrambled out of the sunroof and slid to the ground, helping her lower the man onto the pavement before checking him out. When he was sure the guy was going to be fine he stood up, scratched the back of his head, and answered.

"Let's see. So far today I've talked to my brother, who I know isn't Ansgar, an old hobo who accused me of being involved in shady buisness, a half-dead EMT, and a bunch of all-dead people. Considering the fact that this city has about five or six million people that I haven't talked to, I'd have to say the chances of me being the same guy are about slim to none. Quick question, is Ansgar a boy or a girl? That might help narrow down the already considerably narrow field of possibilities."

"Hehe..." Adelei laughed embarrassedly. "That hobo would be Ansgar... Sounds like he's been getting careless again..." Then, realizing something odd in what the man had just said, "Wait, are you a shade?" She asked as she hefted the man up to carry him towards the nearby ambulance, wrecked though it was.

"Sorry babe, the sun's not out tonight, but there are lot's of shadows around anyway."

He stopped to check a woman lying on the ground. As he watched her spirit sepertated from her body and she stood over it. He caught her attention and then gestured at the gate in the burning ambulance.

"Hey lady, pass on or get thrown through the 'burning gate'. Either way, you're not hanging around here."

The lady lifted her head and he could see tears streaming down her ghostly face.

"Don't you have any sympathy?"

He shook his head.

"Sympathy will get me shot in the back by my own brother, now go."

That done, Tom caught back up with the girl and helped her get the man the last little bit to safety.

"Yeah, I'm a shade. The name's Tom. What's yours?"

"When have I ever needed you to hold my hand?" He slowly transitioned into spirit form as he spoke, "And, remember my number one rule? The one where we don't mention the whole 'Me Shade, You Guardian Meant to Kill Me?' Yeah, it hasn't changed yet, and I see no change in the foreseeable future. Now, I have to do some more big boy business...anything else you gotta say?"

"trust me on this, more times then you have ever known," Derek took another cigarette and lit it, breathing in the nicotine fumes and exhaling them, "and I guess about the only thing I can say is, need a lift?"

Time Skip

Sunday morning 11:00 AM

Time to get to work. Carl loved what he did. No boss, nobody breathing down his neck, and best of all, he got to set his own hours. Carl was a professional hobo.

Sure, sometimes it wasn't the best money, but most days he made enough to beat out the kid working at McDonalds on the corner. And it was all untaxed. Since he didn't spend it all on booze he made a decent living, enough that he had a nice little apartment and enough toys to keep him busy during his free time. Who cared if he wasn't being honest? He was a hobo, people expected you to lie about why you wanted the money.

As he got closer to his normal stomping ground Carl stooped his sholders a bit more and began to shuffle his feet. He held his sign up so that passerby could read it and began singing nonsense.

He turned the corner and stopped. This was the part of the journey he dreaded. Ever since he'd seen the ghost Carl had tried to avoid the old pizza place. He didn't believe in ghosts and he didn't want to. There was no avoiding it though, he had to pass the shop in order to get to his best spot. He ducked his head and sped up.

"You can see me. I know you can. Please talk to me."

Just ignore it. It isn't really there, you know it isn't really there.

Behind him the voice changed. It was not pleading now. It was a snarl.

"I told you to stop."

There was a hand on his shoulder, but it didn't feel like a hand. It was cold and clammy. It was very cold. He began to shiver. He tried to pull away but he couldn't move. He couldn't stop shivering.

Carl felt himself falling. His knees wouldn't hold him anymore and he collapsed, landing on his side. Passerby began to stop. Their mouths were moving, but he couldn't hear them. They were probably calling for an ambulance. It was all right. He had health insurance. The last thing he saw was a crowd of people surrounding him, and the ghost leaning down over his face.

"I said stop."

11:10 AM Alexandria News

"We are here live at the scene where Carl Stephens, a local homeless man, collapsed and died for unknown reasons."

The reporter pointed the microphone at a woman who was standing nearby.

"Mam, would you tell us what..."

Tom woke up with a headache. Last night had been a long one. Hopefully something like that wouldn't happen again in his lifetime.

"How on earth could that many cars pile up like that," he groaned.

Throwing back the covers he sat up in bed. He scratched his back, put on his slippers and staggered down the hall to the kitchen. He needed some fruit-loops.

Lance glided along the street, in his own world. He ended up escortng five spirits last night and dealing with Derek half as many times. Lance sometimes wondered how a guardian could be so deathly, not deadly, just really fricken similar to the son of the Reaper- and he was freinds with him. Sure he wanted answers but unwilling to ask questions, he had left last night and hadn't been home since, he just needed to go, glide, escape.

Somewhrere during this time, he started to feel as if he was being followed yet not. He'd look behind him, and there would be nobody. Maybe, he thought to himself, I'm imagining it. He knew he'd see or sense any spirits, but he wasn't aware of either.

He dealt with it for two blocks before succumbing to frustration, "Who the flip are you?"

There was no answer. There was no spirit. But he knew there was something...

That's it, he thought to himself, this shade crap's finally getting to me. The slick sound of his wheels on the pavement agreed with him.

Emily almost laughed, he had no clue, none at all. She had noticed him at the crash yesterday and was so charmed by his demeanor that she followed him, and followed him, only solidifying to grab a bite if he did. He still hadn't noticed her. His roommate seemed to sense her though. She wondered if Derek, as this shade called him, would mention her this time.

Lance took off his skates, feeling all out of sorts, naked even, and walked up the stairs to the apartment. He never shook the feeling of the follower, even as he broached the threshold of the apartment itself. "Derek, do me a favor, do you sense somebody's here, other than us?"

Emily looked imploringly at the man and shook her head to say no, but she wasn't sure if he'd listen...

Derek stayed at the apartment, he stayed there, watched the news, went to sleep, got up and smoked. He was smoking again, and his pack was starting run low, he made sure that on his to-do list that he would put down smokes as one of them. His trench coat was hangning over the couch, he was in his normal shirt and cargo pants.

He sensed his friend returning, "bastard comes home at this time," he looked over to the clock, "typical." He inhaled another breath of the cig. He felt the presense of another, strange.

His roomie came in, he seemed annoyed and twitchy, "Derek, do me a favor, do you sense somebody's here, other than us?"

He looked to him, his face still, his eyes moved over to a girl in the doorway, she shook her head no, she seemed to be toying with him. That was a good laugh, he looked back up.

"I sense nothing," he inhaled again and put out the cig in the ashtray, "maybe you're seeing things, get some sleep."

He got up and put on his coat, and started walking towards the door, "I'm going out to get some smokes, I'll be back later."

With that he closed the door behind him and let out a sigh, he looked to the girl, and then started heading down the hall to the elevator.

Emily liked this Derek, he knew when to keep his mouth shut. She floated ahead of Lance and settled against the chair Derek had just vacated, "So...still can't see me?"

Her voice hit Lance like a slap, a reprimand for his incompetence, what kind of shade can't see spirits? "Maybe?" He turned his head to the sound.

No, he was looking too high, "Not on the ceiling dolt." Seeing his eyes focus closer to her yet not on her, she remarked, "Not there either. Or there, or there. Try here." A hand materialized and pointed at her face.

His nearheart attack was more suprising than the hand floating, he's seen dead people mangled and looking at their own bodies, and the hand floating in the air in the middle of his apartment freaked him out. He stumbled back and hit the door, falling against it as he tripped over his skates which he had dropped. "What the, what the-"

"Hell am I?" She smirked and slowly materialized, but only so that he could see her eventhough he could see the window behind her, "Call me a colleague."

Dered smirked when he heard a crash coming from his apartment, this was going to be fun, hopefully she would stick around longer. He entered the elevator and turned. He pressed the lobby button and descended as he lit another cig.