[closed]

[the_horror]

WHO: Ben Hargreeves & Rikki Chadwick
WHAT: Ghosts!
WHERE: Second Floor, Library
WHEN: July 19th
WARNING: Ghost warnings? Updated as needed.

They'd gone together to grab some food in the kitchen, Ben having filled his found satchel to the brim to bring back to their base of operations, or, you know, bedrooms they had all claimed. With everything seeming to settle down a bit it made it easier to find locations A through Z when one needed to. Still, it was best to go somewhere in pairs, and so he and Rikki had gone out to grab food.

"Does it feel colder in here?" Ben asked as they came into a hall way. His breath was clear on the air and he frowned, looking around. Just as turned he saw a ghostly figure of a boy, young, no more than ten, pointing down the hall. He'd seen this boy before. Several times before actually.

When he tapped Rikki on the shoulder for her to follow him, the ghost boy was gone, but Ben was moving. Following. He hit a corner first, and saw the figure point at a door and go through it. "Sorry Rikki, I just... have to check something out." He said, darting to the door and pausing there, glancing to make sure she was with him and not lost. Then... pushed the door open to see a gust of wind ruffle papers and books before going away.

He held a hand up to block the wind as it gust past them, then lowered it, frowning. What was that all about? A library?!

Comments

[justaddh2o]

Her eyebrows lifted a little higher when he mentioned a ghost boy. That...well. That was something. "What sorts of things has he been pointing out to you before this?" she wondered aloud. It could be a red herring, she thought, but didn't say. She certainly hoped that wasn't the case. She hoped that this ghost child wasn't going to be leading them directly into some sort of a trap. That sounded like the sort of thing that the house would do. Why Ben was trusting it, she wasn't sure, but she was trusting him.

Rikki felt Ben's hand close around hers and she looked down at their clasped hands for a second before looking back up at him, willfully ignoring the unexpected flutter in her stomach in response to something so simple. She looked out into the darkness again, as if trying to find the child he was talking to, but coming up short. When she felt him squeeze her hand, she returned it in kind. "Bit hard to read without light, yeah?" she called out gently to the little boy she couldn't see.

To the kid's credit, there were a few bare lightbulbs that were flickering like they wanted to turn on but couldn't quite manage it. "Come on, mate..."

[the_horror]

he trusted it because he was a ghost once before. Because so far it hadn't taken him to the wrong things. Because he needed to trust something other than Rikki, Cleo, Klaus and Diego. And Derek. Okay so there was a good amount of people to trust, but he wanted to trust something IN this damn house.

"I got separated from Klaus for a moment, and he pointed out the door he went through. Found him a moment later. He's pointed out where you and Cleo were before as well. That kind of thing. I thought... maybe someone might have been here."

No one was here though. Just dusty books and papers. He stood there a moment, holding the others hand still in his, not letting go just yet. No reason to be scared, right? "It'd be really nice if he pointed out some flash lights. We could actually use those in this place."

When she said come on, he frowned, searching the room still in the dark, in the dim lights trying to flicker. There had to be something here. "There just has to be something we can use in here."

[justaddh2o]

When Ben explained why he trusted the ghost enough to follow it, Rikki looked appropriately surprised. She hadn't seen any ghosts, yet, but if this little ghost boy was helping Ben, then who was she to question Ben's faith in it? Rikki herself was still a little bit uncomfortable and she wasn't going to press that point, but she was going to remain wary.

"Yeah, that'd be well useful," she agreed, frowning when no flashlights seemed to materialize and Ben didn't appear to be making a move in the direction of anything, following anything. She could only assume that that meant the little boy wasn't pointing out any better light fixtures of any type.

Rikki looked over at Ben and gave him a neutral look as she shrugged. It was her way of saying that she was willing to stick with him if he felt that strongly about it. "S'pose we'd better go look, then," she said before gesturing for Ben to lead the way. He was the one with the guide, after all, not her.

[the_horror]

He isn't sure what he expected. Just that so far the kid hand't sent him wrong. But then again he was always alone when he saw the kid. Or just happened to be alone for a moment.

And he could feel the other was uncomfortable. He didn't mean to haul her into a place she didn't want to be, but he was curious. Why had he sent him in here. Maybe he just new Ben liked books. It could literally be as simple as that.

"I was complaining about not having a book to read. Maybe he's showing me that I have choices." he said with a snort, then looked back to Rikki. He could tell she didn't want to be here.

Giving her a soft smile he shook his head. "No, it's okay. I can come back and check it out another time on my own. No sense dragging you into this."

ftb end?

[justaddh2o]

"It's okay, mate," Rikki reassured him. She didn't particularly want to explore this creepy house in the dark, but she could tell that Ben wanted to and Rikki was nothing if not a good friend. At least, she did always try. So, she gave him a small smile and gestured again.

To prove her point that it was all right, Rikki started forward without him, but slowly so that he could take the lead again. "Let's find us each something to read. I'm sure the others would like it, too. I know Cleo would. Go on, then, I'm right here with you, mate."

She could do this. This would be fine. Don't lead us into a trap, ghost boy. That's all I ask, she thought and then they moved further into the library to explore.