Chapter 19

Due to the party, Zach and Beth couldn't do much with their new information. Beth hadn't even brought the camera obscura. So instead, the two made a silent agreement to shut up about it and let Blue enjoy her time in the beach.

The two waited until the ghost was busy darting in and out of the waves before quickly coming up with a plan.

"Are you sure you don't want to try it as Gestalt?" Blue asked as she came back out of the ocean. Zach shook his head, mindful of the people around him and Beth who'd been given the pair weird looks since the incident with the drinks.

The party ended a couple of hours later, with the sun low in the sky. The teenagers said goodbye to the orange colored sea as Beth and Zach climbed into the car. The pair sat in silence, staring straight ahead as Blue floated in from above.

"Are you two alright?" The two of them slowly turned their heads upwards in perfect synch. She was still wearing the two piece swimsuit from earlier. She'd probably be wearing it until the two of them made it home and changed into normal clothes.

"You handle this one Zach," Beth grumbled as she started the car up. Zach sat back as Blue hovered closer. He had to be careful not to stare at the gaping hole in the girl's stomach.

"What's she talking about? Does it have to do with why you two have been acting all weird?" She asked as Zach sank even deeper into his chair.

"Okay Blue… let's do this," he grimaced as he finally looked up at Blue. She shrank back a bit at the sudden movement, but quickly hovered back in. "Blue I'm going to ask you a question. If you were to look at yourself in a mirror right now, at this second, what would you see?"

"A mirror? As in, how I would see myself?" she glanced down at her hands and down at the rest of her body.

"Yes, how would you see yourself?" Zach asked as Blue's cheeks darkened another shade.

"Well, I would see myself in normal colors. You know, pale skin, black hair. Right now I'd see me in my swimsuit. It's white with blue stripes at the edge… is there anything else I should be seeing."

"Yes and its very disturbing that you can't." Beth finally cut in as she made the turn into a major road. "Either that or you need to really go over your priorities."

"Okay I'm starting to get tired of this. Is there something you two can see that I can't?"

"Yes!" Both living exorcists screamed at the same time, making Blue flinch back again.

"How can you not see the giant gaping wound across your chest?" Beth stepped on the gas and picked up speed as Zach kept going.

"It looks like someone took a carving knife and just dragged it across your chest." He screamed as Blue shank back even more. "Do you have any idea how distressing it's been seeing that much of your insides? It's been freaking the two of out all day!"

"Oh…" her voice was soft and quite. She gave herself another look over, even going as far as to drag her hands over her stomach. Zach silently gulped whenever her hands passed over it, but didn't say a word. "Yeah I can't see or feel whatever it is you're talking about."

"Okay, so I have a solution." Beth said as she turned towards the back streets which would lead to the hotel room she was staying in.

"Uh… aren't we supposed to be heading to Zach's house to drop him off first?" Blue's question went unanswered as they pulled up into the hotel's parking lot. A few minutes later, Beth was almost dragging Zach though the door. Blue followed meekly behind, knowing that she'd be doing the same to her if she was still alive.

"Oh you two are back," Lady Gray greeted them as they came in. "I thought the plan was to drop Zach and Blue off…" she trailed off as she finally noticed Blue floating in through the doorway. "Well that's distressing."

"I really wish I could see what has all of you freaking out so much." Blue grumbled, as her tail waved around in irritation.

"Well you're about to, so don't worry about it," Beth announced as she snatched the camera obscura off the table. Blue's eyes flew open as she looked ready to fly away.

"Beth what are you doing?" Zach walked over to put himself between the two of them.

"Okay so don't freak-out." She cautioned them as she fiddled with the camera, messing with knobs and switches. She then popped open a few compartments and grabbed a small bag from out from under her bed. "The camera obscura can be a powerful anti-ghost weapon, but it's also highly customizable. I'm setting it up to take a photo which will do next to no damage to a ghost, while still taking as clear a photo as possible. It'll probably feel like you're getting a shot or something."

"I guess… that's okay," Blue gulped as she looked over at Lady Gray. The older woman just nodded as Beth took out a few pieces from inside the camera and switched them out for other ones from inside the case. Blue and Zach looked over into the case and saw a good collection of lenses, crystals, films, and other metal bits they couldn't identify. "So are you sure it won't hurt?"

"Well there was this one time I needed a photo of a ghost without it noticing me. Needed proof in order to convince someone to let us set up a real exorcism," Beth grinned as she hit one final latch and finished setting up the camera. "This was the set up I used and the ghost didn't even react when I took the picture. You should barely feel it."

"Well if you're sure it won't hurt…" Blue floated over Zach's head and appeared in front of Beth, trying her best to ignore the 'should' in her last sentence.

"Blue are you sure about this?" Zach asked as Beth started taking aim with the camera.

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"I'm sure. If it's freaking out the three of you this much, I want to see what it is," She gulped as an uneasy smile settled on her face. "Plus, maybe seeing this thing will help me remember something."

Zach took a step back at the realization. He hadn't even thought of that possibility. But at the same time… if the wound did unlock a memory, would it be one Blue would want?

Blue braced herself, shutting her eyes closed and balling her fists as the photo was taken. There was a bright flash followed by a yelp of pain.

"Okay that's it, I'm done." Beth announced as Blue shrank back in pain. Zach was by her side by the time she opened her eyes back up. "Give me a sec to let the photo develop."

"Are you alright?" Zach comforted Blue as she took several breath to calm herself down.

"I'm fine. It wasn't as bad as it sounded. It was more surprisingly then painful." She assured him as she looked towards the camera set on the table. "I just… I was expecting to feel something like a punch to the face. It was more like a whole bunch of needles instead."

"Huh, might need to figure out an even less powerful configuration." Beth mumbled as she fiddled around with the Camera Obscura until a photograph emerged. Everyone else gathered around the photo, Blue hovering over them all in order to have the best look.

The three living beings who were used to the sight had little reaction. But Blue, seeing the wound for the first time, had a somewhat more… extreme reaction.

That is to say, she unleashed a scream so loud that the three humans needed to cover their ears. The lights overhead flickered as her phantom energy went wild. Several objects around the room lit up or buzzed, detecting the outburst.

Her soul raged as the sight of the wound wormed its fingers through her mind until it found a chain covered in locks. They wrapped around the it and broke it with a single pull.

Ghostly theater

Tonight's show: The final night of a nameless girl.

She'd been brought here by that strange man. She hadn't wanted to come with him, but he was so scary and there had been so many of those other people with him. She'd been forced into the van and had been allowed only a single glance out the window before they noticed the blindfold had come loose.

When they let her out, she was standing outside of an old looking cabin in the woods. They pushed her inside through an opening to the basement. Once there, they opened a secret door to a long staircase leading downwards. At the very bottom was a large circular chamber with a strange symbol written on the floor. The only detail she could remember where the twelve stars lining the edge of the circle.

From there, a small crowd waited for her. Most of them were wearing black robes and covering their faces, but one of them stood out. A large man without a shirt, covered in blue line tattoos. He seemed to grin at her before looking over at the other person. An older woman, wearing a fake smile and fake kindness.

She led her away into a side room and gave her a white robe. She was too scared to argue against putting it on. Once she was dressed, she was led back into the circular room. One of the men then started speaking as she was led into the center.

She was only half paying attention to him when she heard a single word which made her go cold.

'Sacrifice'.

And just like that everything fell into place. She tried to run, but the hand right behind her had been ready. She struggled she fought, but when the man with the knife approached her, there was nothing she could do.

The girl who would become the ghost named Blue died under the knife as a crowd watched on.

"Blue calm down!" Zach called out.

"How can I calm down?" She screamed back while pointing at the photo, "It looks like someone took a carving knife and scooped out huge chunks of my body! And I've been floating around, just showing off my insides to all of you and…"

She slowly calmed down as a strange smoke began to fill the room. Everyone's eyes fell on Lady Gray who was standing underneath Blue holding a small bundle of burning leaves. Everyone's eyes fell on the older woman as she set her lighter down on the table.

"Beth?" Lady gray gave her apprentice a knowing look. The younger woman looked at the bundle for a second before having a flash of recognition.

"Oh right, burning sage can be used to calm down weaker ghosts and lull them into a drowsy state." She said before looking at Blue's scandalized expression. "Uh, is it safe to be using it on Blue like that?"

"Yeah, I'm not a 'weaker' ghost." She boasted, the horrible photo and memory momentarily forgotten.

"She's right, normally it wouldn't be worth it to use burning sage on a ghost of her strength," Lady Gray explained as she kept waving the sage under Blue. "But since Blue isn't a typical feral ghost trying to attack us, I thought it might be this time."

"Not where I was going with that." Beth said as she looked back at the young looking ghost breathing in the burning sage and calming down.

"So did it work?" Zach asked, bringing Blue out of her stupor. "Did you remember something?"

Blue gave Zach a blank stare for several seconds before suddenly reaching out to try and grab him by the shoulders. She fell forward a little as she hands passed right through him, but she quickly recovered before anyone could say a word.

"Zach you have to listen to me. I remember how I died!"

There was a slight pause, and then it was both Beth and Zach's turn to freak out again. Lady Gray just sighed, wishing she has something to calm the living. She sat down and patiently waited for the two younger exorcist so Blue could start her story.