Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait I'm back to weekly updates now!
-
Squatting down to be at eye level with the little girl he answered, "Who else would I be?"
He was see-through, and she couldn't make out any colors other than whites and greys, but Lily was finally able to see him and that excited her so Lily giggles happily before trying to hug him only to go right through him, but she doesn't fall flat on her face because another arm grabs her, "Careful there, little flower." It was Dwayne's voice.
Looking at the person who caught her the little girl discovers he's just like David all colorless except for the colors of the wall behind him, he lets go of her arm once he's sure she won't fall.
"We're more visible now but we're not always solid, it takes a lot out of us still." He explained, and she nodded, "Okay I understand," Lily turns to look back at David, "Sorry I fell through you that was rude... probably?"
He just laughs and reaches out to pat her on the head, "It's fine, one day soon you can hug me if you still want to." She smiles up at him as he removes his hand after the quick pat, "Really? Do you promise?"
"Sure."
Suddenly another voice joins in, "You wanna hug me, too right?" It was Paul.
Looking over she sees him walking down the stairs and grins, "Of course!"
He looks happy at that and joins them and then something occurs to the child, "Why were you upstairs?"
"Hmm, oh well I guess I sleep up there." Was his vague reply.
"Really? Where at?" He kneels down to her level, "That's a secret."
"Why?" David rolls his eyes and says, "The bathtub."
Paul glares and grumbles at his leader's words.
Lily blinks confused, "That sounds uncomfortable... why there?"
Dwayne gently tells her that they have to return to the area that they died during the day, Lily frowns at that not wanting to think of something like that happening to them before looking at Paul and asking, "Did you drown in the bathtub?"
David laughs and Paul glowers before he can tell her otherwise Dwayne speaks, "Something like that... don't worry once we come back completely it won't happen again."
"Are you sure?" She asked worriedly.
Dwayne nods, "I am, we're all gonna live together, forever right?"
She smiles in return, "Yes!"
Then something suddenly occurs to her and she looks at a pouting Paul, "Did you take a bubble bath with me then?"
"Huh?" Paul looks confused, "I took one this morning... why didn't you say anything?" She huffs because if he was there they could've played with the bubbles together.
"Oh well, I was asleep and not visible or solid, sorry." She nods and then thinks of something else, "Will I still be able to see you tomorrow during the day since that I can see you now?"
David is the one to answer this time, "Good question... I don't think so though."
"Oh." She looks down sad, "No need to be sad in fact we're almost back for good now."
Hearing David say that she looks back up, "Really?" This news excited the girl and her eyes dart back and forth between them to make sure they're not joking.
Paul grins and Dwayne answers for them, "Yes, a few more nights at most." She jumps up and down, "Yay!" Lily giggles and claps happily. Paul decides to clap along too, and Dwayne rolls his eyes at the childish action coming from the other ghost.
David just smirks at her reaction, "Glad to see that makes you so happy... because we need you to do something for us."
She calms down quickly and asks innocently, "Okay, what?"
Before she can get a reply though her grandmother's voice calls out, "Lily are you still on the phone?"
"Oh, right I forgot grandma wanted me to invite someone over..." Her voice trails off before she looks back to David, "why did you hang up the phone?"
Again, she doesn't get an answer because at that exact moment the phone rings but Paul steps in front of it when she goes to answer it. Lily looks confused, "Why-"
Ring... Ring...
"Lily if someone comes over right now we can't be around and since we don't get to be here during the day... do you understand?"
Ring... Ring...
"...So, invite them over during the day?" The phone was still ringing but she already decided to not answer it, so the girl paid the ringing no mind.
"Lily answer the phone!" Her grandmother's voice calls out.
"No during the day won't work..." David looks up in thought and then as if he suddenly found the answer he looks towards Paul who nods and the vanishes.
"Where'd Paul go?" She asks worriedly.
"It okay, he's just going to get something ready to help us come back... you'll see him before you go to sleep tonight." Dwayne explains gently.
Then David speaks, "Invite your grandmother's friends over, tell them she wants to see them at eleven thirty." Lily looks confused, "She never set a time though..."
"I know but you want to help us, and your grandmother too isn't that right?" Dwayne asks softly.
"...Yes." Could lying make them both happy?
"Then can you do that?" Dwayne asks, and she looks between the two before giving her answer.
"Okay."
With that, she goes to the phone and starts to dial the number again only to have a voice whisper beside her, "Don't mention us, if he asks you don't know why she wants them here."
Nodding the girl finishes dialing and waits for someone to pick up, "Hello?" The gruff voice says again only this time he sounds kind of worried. "Hi..."
"...Your uh Lily, right?" He must've just woke up because his voice was funny sounding.
"Um yes... my grandma-" before Lily can tell him what her ghostly friends want her to say he cuts her off with, "We'll be right over-"
"WAIT!" She shouts and then looks to David and Dwayne who motion for her to continue, "What?" The voice over the phone asks a bit startled.
"Um she wants you to come over at eleven thirty..." Lily was wondering if he believed her when he replied with, "...Why?"
"I dunno... it's just what she said."
"Hmm, can I talk to her?" This has the girl pausing again and not knowing how to answer so looking at David again for help he just shakes his and whispers 'she's taking a nap.'
"She's taking a nap." The girl parrots.
"...Why did it take you so long to reply." The weird sounding man over the phone asks suspiciously.
She came up with a reply on the spot, "Because I went to see if she could talk to you and she was napping."
"Are you sure she was taking a nap?"
"Of course, silly why else would she be laying down." She makes sure to say it like she thinks that he's dumb for asking.
"Did you check her breathing?"
"Stupid my grandma isn't that old! Besides, she snores and you have to breathe to do that."
"Alright, alright..." She hears talking in the background and he says something to someone else, but her ears don't catch any of it.
"We'll be there." Then without another word, he hangs up.
"That was rude..." She looks at David, "Did I do good?"
"You did great." That made her happy to be praised by her friend.
"LILY!" Her grandmother's voice sounds both strained and worried, so the little girl goes to see her, "Yes grandma?" She says when she entered the room, "Why didn't you answer me before?"
"I was on the phone...?" Star isn't convinced but lets it go to ask another question, "And are they coming over?"
"Yup they are."
"...Okay, good. That's good. Until they get here I want you to stay in here." The order woman ordered but Lily shook her head, "No I'm gonna go watch tv."
"No, you will do as I say!" Her voice cracks and isn't that loud but Lily gets the message and frowns before plopping herself down on the ground moodily.
"It's for your own good." Lily didn't believe her, grown up said that whenever they wanted something kids didn't, it was just an excuse.
For a few minutes, the girl sat there quietly until a knock was heard and Star looks to her leg and sighs, "Go answer the door and then come right back understand?" The girl nods and jumps up to go answer the door.
Lily is quick to leave her grandma's room behind but upon getting to the Livingroom and not seeing her ghost friends she goes to the hallway and seeing it clear opens the door hoping that it's not the funny sounding guy from the phone call because David didn't want him here until later.
Opening the door, she saw that it wasn't that guy, in fact, it was someone she'd never seen before, he was old but not as old as her grandma but maybe her dad's age?
"Hello?" She asks hesitantly.
"Hello there, you must be little Lily." She nods, "How do you know my name?"
"Why I'm a good friend of your grandmother, my name is Max... can I come in?" Lily shakes her head no because something is off about him, "Not right now grandma's resting, I'll tell you came by though."
His friendly façade fades fast at that and suddenly looks demonic, "Let me in now you stupid little girl!" He snarls and tries to force his way in only to be met with the door slammed in his face courtesy of David, "David!" Lily nearly forgets herself and tries to hug him only to stop just in time.
"That man was scary... I think he was a monster!" David just pats her head, "Well you're not wrong." He tells her before taking her hand in his colder ones and pulling her away from the front door.
"Dwayne." David calls out once they enter the Livingroom where he lets her hand go.
Dwayne appears from thin air beside the other ghost, "Looks like Max is trying to make his move tonight too."
"...I was afraid of that." Dwayne frowns.
"W-Who is he?" Lily asks confused, "Don't worry he can't hurt you." Dwayne says comfortingly, "Don't listen to him and don't let him inside and everything will be alright."
"He can't come inside...?" The little brunette had to double check.
"No, we forced him outside some time ago and without someone letting him back inside he's stuck," David explained to the scared girl, but she didn't understand it all that well.
"So, I can't go outside?" She asks somewhat fearful, "During the day is fine but he can't hurt you at night either because he doesn't have the power... and spending it all on looking alive just now he's no threat..."
"That won't stop him from trying to talk to you if you go outside during the night," Dwayne warns.
Lily didn't understand this but was doing her best, "Why does he want inside?"
"He wants to come back the same as us and the first step is getting inside of the house during the night, during the day we are connected to two places the one we died and the spot our bodies are buried."
"...The dead spot?" Lily enquires.
Dwayne laughs a bit, "An adequate name for it, yes..."
"Hmm... was that Max-monster inside like you because you said you made him leave?"
David smirks at the new nickname for 'Max' before Dwayne tries to explain.
"Technically he died inside of the house, but the spot was moved outside so it wasn't that hard even when we didn't have the access that we do now." That sounded complicated the girl was glad not to be dead because it was confusing and scary she couldn't forget that part.
"The access?" She questions while sitting down on the couch.
"You let us in," David told her.
Lily was trying to remember when she did that but came up blank, "I did?"
"Yes." The ghost simply says but the girl wasn't satisfied with that answer, "But you didn't knock on the door..." She shivers recalling the monster at the door.
"We didn't need to, you wanted friends and when we talked you listened and spoke back."
Lily chews on her lower lip before looking at the both of them, "And that helped you?"
"It did." They both said it, so it must be true.
Suddenly she remembers her grandma, "Oh no, I forgot I have to go back to grandma's room."
"Don't worry about it your grandma fell asleep." David tells her as she jumps off the couch, "Really?"
"She must have been tired." Dwayne supplied before adding, "Have you had dinner yet?" Lily shrugs, "I heated up some pizza before."
"Let's see if we can find you something else for dinner." Lily follows after Dwayne only to stop and look back to David but he's not there, "Where did David go?"
"He's helping Paul with something don't worry you'll see them both before bedtime."
The girl didn't like it but if it was something to help them come back then it couldn't be helped, "Am I going to bed before grandma's friends come over?"
"That's for the best I think." She didn't like that it was almost a grown-up response, "Why?"
"Do you like pancakes?" Her eyes widen, "Yes!"
Dwayne spent the next couple of hours distracting the girl.
Shortly after Lily left to go answer the door Star was waiting and hoping for the Frog brothers to arrive in just a few more moments but as time passed she began to worry.
Making up her mind the old woman decides to call out to her granddaughter, "Lily!"
No response. It shouldn't surprise her by now... that girl just refuses to listen to reason.
"Lily!"
Seconds after shouting the room grows cold, "She can't hear you."
That voice!
"Paul! No get out, I didn't let you in leave now!" She grabs at the cross necklace around her neck as the voice laughs and a see-through figure appears, "Come on now Star you're hurting my feelings."
"Begone evil spirit!"
Paul nearly fell over gripping his stomach in laughter, "Really Star, you're too much!"
"I don't understand I'm telling you to leave but your still here, how?" It always worked in all the years she's lived here she's been able to drive their spirits away.
"Should be obvious by now shouldn't it?" He was mocking her by mouthing, 'Lily.'
"Lily!?" Star cries out, she knew it, but she wished and prayed that she was wrong.
Yesterday Lily had said Paul if only Star had gotten her away then.
"You evil monster she's just a little girl!" Star's voice annoyed so he decided to get back at her by scaring her a little, "Yeah so? I'm an evil monster, aren't I?"
"Leave her alone!" she grabs the plate beside her bed and throws it at him, it goes through him and shatters against the wall and he just rolls his eyes.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her right now."
"You can't touch me, you're dead!" The plate couldn't touch him, so he couldn't touch her that was her logic anyway.
"You're right I'm dead but I can touch you... want me to prove it?" He wiggles his fingers at her before suddenly stopping as the temperature dropped even further.
"Stop scaring the old lady we wouldn't want her to have a heart attack before the main event."
If she was panicking before now her whole body was shaking, Star had hoped to never hear his voice again. "David..." His ghostly figure appeared beside Paul just as his name left her trembling lips.
"You look old Star." He looked the same as in her memories although a lot less solid still no less terrifying.
"...Leave us alone... please." She begged, "Sorry Star, but you know I can't do that." He wasn't sorry, and Star had forgotten that pleas never moved the monster in front of her no she was doomed.
"She's a child please don't hurt her..."
David smirks, "Star, Star, Star... I can't make that promise though perhaps if you do something for me I'll leave the girl alone."
Star glares and snarls, "No you won't, I know you! I won't fall for your games this time David."
"Hmm, well on the off chance that I'm telling the truth can you really say no?"
"You. Are. Dead... as long as you stay dead we're safe." Star was trying to convince herself, but it wasn't working.
"Guess I'll have to give you a demonstration then." That said he walked closer ignoring her cries for him to 'stay back'
He sits down on the bed, "How's the leg, is it painful?" He touches it and she tenses and tries to jerk away but he grips it tight, "You know vampires don't have to deal with such problems like broken bones..." then he digs his fingernails into her flesh and she cries out, "What do you what?"
"I'm glad you asked." He lifts his hand to his mouth and licks the blood from his fingers, "We need blood to come back, a lot of blood so what do you say either you get it for us or we get Lily to get it for us I'm sure she won't mind seeing as we're her friends."
-
Next Chapter Titled: The Storm