Spook

Chapter 12
Payback

OLIVER wanted to run to his room, but he couldn't. He had to make everyone think that he was hurt badly.

A few residents greeted him with concern in their voices. He could detect pity and disgust in their voices as well, but he smiled at them weakly as he sluggishly walked to his room.

After he got in his room, he immediately threw his bag on the bed and removed his fake cast.

He smirked as he threw the cast on his bed. Being in the Group had its perks. And this was one of them. He knew some of the best doctors in the country and they would gladly help out a fellow member.

The medical certificate and the fake x-ray film of his arm were in his bag. He knew it would come in handy once he had proceeded with his plans. But right then, there was a little problem that he had to take care of. It was a complication that he hadn't anticipated.

"Charlie has a powerful protector, eh," he said with a sly grin. "It's time they all learn the power that comes with being a member of the Group."

He emptied the contents of his bag. He put the clean clothes in his closet and tucked away the medical certificate and the x-ray films in his drawer and he put a small crystal on his study table.

Then he felt a prickling on the back of his neck and a blast of cold wind on his face.

The next thing he knew, he was pinned on the wall of the room and he was slowly being choked as he rose from the floor. His feet were soon dangling in the air as he tried to get free from the hold of something invisible.

He was gasping for air, cold sweat was trickling down his face and his vision was beginning to blur when he finally saw the crystal shining on top of the table.

The grip from his throat slowly loosened and soon he fell down on the floor breathing deeply. An evil grin crept across his face.

"That took long enough," he said to himself.

He picked himself up and walked back to his study table. The crystal was beginning to lose its shine. He picked it up and looked closely inside. He could make up a small figure trapped in there, desperately trying to break free.

"You didn't really think I'd come back here without anything for you, did you?" he laughed.

"Now that you're out of the way, I'll get rid of the pesky roommate and Charlie will be left alone without his two protectors. Then, I'll continue what the two of you rudely interrupted and I'll have him," his face turned deadly serious.

"Nobody says no to me," a sinister smile crept across his face. "Nobody."

JOSEPH couldn't help but smile when he saw Lea's caller ID on his cellphone. He just got out of his class and was on his way back to the dorm to have lunch with Charlie when Lea called him. He smiled as he thought that she probably already knew his schedule by heart.

Things had been going great between them. He finally took Charlie's advise and asked her out a few weeks ago and they had been inseparable since.

He couldn't believe that a girl like her would be interested in him. But he wouldn't complain now.

He answered the phone and said 'hi' with a smile on his face. But his expression suddenly changed when he heard the urgency in Lea's voice. He listened to her and his temper was shooting up.

He thanked her for the information that she gave him and immediately ran towards the dorm and up to Charlie's room.

"Where's Danny?" he asked a surprised Charlie.

"He has a class until 2:30," Charlie answered. "What's wrong?"

"The fucker is back. And Tim was right," Joseph said.

"What? Which fucker?"

"Oliver," Joseph answered. "He's back and he wants to kick Danny out of the dorm."

"What? How?"

"Lea just called me," Joseph said. "She said that Oliver came in to the dorm manager's office with a med cert and x-ray film of his broken arm. He's claiming that Danny did it to him and he wanted him out of the dorm for his and the other residents' safety."

"That motherf..."

"Good thing that the dorm manager is out on vacation and won't be back until next week," Joseph continued. "So Lea told him that she'd take the documents and his complaint and give it to the dorm manager by next week."

Charlie stood up and began to walk to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Joseph stopped him.

"I'm gonna kill the motherfucker!" Charlie answered angrily.

"Will you just stop and think for a minute?" said Joseph. "You can't seriously kill him."

"Probably not," said Charlie. "But I sure as hell would try."

Charlie began to walk to the door again, but before he reached it, the door burst open and came in a panting Tim.

"Have you felt Spook lately?" asked Tim.

"No, I haven't," answered Charlie. "Not since he saved me."

"That's very strange," said Tim. "I used to feel his presence within this vicinity all the time. But since this morning, I couldn't feel any trace of him." He looked intently at Charlie, "I'm afraid something bad might have happened to him."

"He's dead," said Joseph sarcastically. "How can anything bad happen to a dead guy?"

"Just goes to show how much you know about the supernatural," Tim threw him a deadly glare. "For your information, ghosts, spirits or souls can be destroyed. They could just vanish as if they never existed. They could also be banished to a different place or dimension. Or worse, they could be trapped for eternity."

"Trapped?" asked Charlie.

"Yes, trapped."

"But how?" asked Charlie. "Spook could pass through anything. How could anything trap him."

"You're forgetting that, in the first place, Spook is already trapped in this building," began Tim. "He couldn't leave it. So what do you think keeps him here?"

"I dunno," answered Charlie. "His past, maybe?"

"Probably," said Tim. "But ghosts can be trapped in other things as well. I mean, our own souls are essentially trapped within our physical body, and very few people can free their soul at will. Just think of it this way... spirits are packets of pure energy. And energy can be stored or contained."

"And if Spook is trapped somewhere, that would explain why you couldn't feel his energy anywhere. Is that what you're saying?" clarified Charlie.

"Exactly."

"Then I think I know who trapped him," said Charlie sternly. "And I think I know why."

"The only question is how," said Tim.

"Can we get him out?" asked Charlie.

"We could try," answered Tim. "You have a very strong connection with him and we could use that to our advantage. But we need to know the medium that he's trapped in."

"Then I gotta go find out," said Charlie.

"No, you don't," countered Joseph. "You're not going back to the devil's lair. I'll go and find out."

"Oliver knows you're my friend," said Charlie, shaking his head. "He won't trust whatever you say. He wants me. He'll talk to me."

"But..."

Charlie shook his head again. "I gotta do this. This is my fight. He wants to mess with me by messing with my friends. He's asking for it. I'm just gonna go give it to him."

Joseph looked at him, defeated. "If you're not back in 10 minutes, I'm coming in and beat the shit out of him."

Charlie smiled. "Not if I beat him up first."

Before Charlie could get out, Tim held his arm. "There's something you gotta understand," Tim said in a serious tone.

"If Spook was trapped by Oliver, and considering their past encounter, he wouldn't be very happy," continued Tim.

"I wouldn't be happy, too, if I were Spook"

Tim shook his head. "Oliver might not live to see another day."

"And you think, at this point, I'd care what happens to that fucker?"

"No," answered Tim. "But we don't know Spook's history. We don't know if he has ever killed anyone before. We don't know how this would affect him."

"You're right," said Charlie. "We don't know. What I do know is that Spook came to help me when I was in big trouble. Now, it's my turn."

DANNY was fidgeting in his seat. He knew that there was something going on. He felt it. He just didn't know what it was.

His professor kept on yapping in front of the class and he couldn't wait until the end of the session.

He looked out the window and even though they were on the 4th floor, he could almost see a figure trying to look at his direction, as if trying to look for him but just couldn't pinpoint his exact location.

"They're back," he thought. "The protection is getting weak."

After he felt that Charlie was in trouble a few days ago, he started to feel things again. He knew they still couldn't see him, as he couldn't see them clearly as well, but he also knew that they could feel his presence as well. And they were looking for him.

He nervously rotated the ring on his finger, closed his eyes and thought about Charlie. Charlie's smiling face ran through his mind and it immediately calmed him down. When he opened his eyes, the figure in the window was gone and he couldn't feel any presence at all again.

He sighed and wished that the class was over so that he could go home and be with Charlie. Charlie was the only one who could make him feel really safe against them.

Then it hit him. Something was going on with Charlie.

He quickly grabbed his cellphone and pounded the keys. He sent a text message to Charlie asking him where he was and what he was doing.

A few seconds had passed and there still wasn't a reply from Charlie. He was getting more and more frustrated with each second that passed.

After a minute, he took his cellphone again and dialed Charlie's number. He dropped the call after the first ring hoping that Charlie would get the message that he needed a reply.

A couple of minutes passed and Charlie still hadn't replied. He was now certain that something was going on. He knew Charlie wasn't in grave danger because he didn't feel the same way as when Charlie was attacked by Oliver and Marcus. But he knew that Charlie was doing something he shouldn't be doing.

And Danny wanted to know if he was safe. He knew a way he could find out. But he also knew that there might be a price he would pay if he did it.

I'll do anything for you. I hope you know that.

He took a deep breath and then took a small lead case from his backpack. He removed his ring and placed it in the case.

He closed his eyes as he closed the case and he filled his mind with thoughts of Charlie. In a moment he saw the hallways of the dorm leading to the far corner where Oliver's room was at. Then he saw Oliver's door and in a moment, it swung open and he saw Oliver's smug grin plastered on his face.

"Shit!" he said out loud and everybody in the class looked at him. He also noticed a few spirits slowly gathering around the corners of the room, looking at him.

He immediately opened the lead case, took the ring out and wore it on his finger. All the spirits disappeared in an instant and he only had to contend with the embarrassment of facing his professor's angry stare.

"SO, YOU'VE come back for more, huh?" Oliver said grinning from ear to ear.

"I guess I could say the same thing about you," said Charlie coldly. "You do know there are a bunch of us who want you dead right now. Why did you come back? What the hell do you want?"

"Oh... I don't think anyone's actually gonna kill me," said Oliver smugly. "Your roommate could've killed me, but you stopped him. And I guess you already know why I came back. And you know very well what I want."

"I stopped him because I don't want your filthy blood to stain his hands," said Charlie. "I don't have the same consideration for myself, though."

Charlie suddenly kicked Oliver squarely on the stomach, which sent the man flying backwards and landing on his butt on the floor. Charlie quickly got in the room and closed the door.

"Wow," said Oliver coughing a little as he tried to get up. "You like playing rough, don't you."

"You can't blame me," said Charlie. "The last time I wanted to do that, I couldn't because you drugged me. I owe you big time."

"Well, we didn't actually finish what we started," said Oliver, still with the smug grin as he slowly stood up. "You wanna do it now?"

"I won't even do you in your dreams," Charlie snapped.

"Ahh... you're breaking my heart," said Oliver sarcastically as he slyly got hold of a handful of the white powder in his pocket and threw it on Charlie's face without warning.

Charlie anticipated the move and turned around to avoid the powder, simultaneously swinging his legs for a turn-around kick that landed hard on Oliver's jaws.

Oliver smashed on the wall and dropped on the floor with his face down. Charlie walked slowly to him and turned him around using his feet. Blood was coming out of Oliver's mouth. He knew he knocked off a couple of teeth and probably dislocated a jaw with that kick.

"I wanna hear you laugh now, you asshole," he said.

Oliver was battling consciousness. He didn't quite expect Charlie to be great at hand-to-hand combat.

"Now, before I mangle your disgusting body, tell me what you did to Spook," Charlie threatened as he crouched down to Oliver.

Oliver forced out a laugh. "Y-you m-mean Casper, your friendly ghost? Oh, he's around."

Charlie pressed his thumb against the pressure point on Oliver's left shoulder. Oliver shouted in pain.

Charlie let go after a couple of seconds and Oliver forced out another laugh.

"If you think you're gonna get away with any of this, you're wrong," Oliver said. "I'll have your ass in jail so fast you'd wish you'd rather given it to me."

Charlie pressed his thumb again. "Where is Spook?" he demanded. Oliver howled in pain again.

"I got rid of your ghost!" Oliver shouted. "You'll never find him again! He'll never be there to save your fine ass ever again!"

Charlie had had enough. He lifted Oliver and dropped him off on the bed.

"How sweet," Oliver said sarcastically. "Are you gonna make love to me now?"

"I'll give you a taste of your own medicine," Charlie said as he picked up some of the powder scattered on the floor and threw it on Oliver's face. Oliver choked a little and for the first time his eyes had shown panic.

"From experience, it totally wears off in five days," he continued. "And you'll need someone to do everything for you for the first couple of days, including feeding and going to the bathroom. Oh, and you'll be thirsty as hell all the time."

"Good thing I have friends who would gladly do everything for me," Charlie added. "I can't say the same thing about you, though. Now that Marcus is gone, I wonder who's gonna come by to check up on you."

Oliver tried to raise his hand, but the drug had already taken effect.

"You'll regain your voice, although weakly at first, in about 15 minutes or so," Charlie informed him. "Although, since I was under the influence at the time and really couldn't properly tell how much time had passed, I could be wrong."

"But as soon as you could scream, I suggest you do. And if you tell anyone what happened here today, then I'll tell everyone what you tried to do to me a few days ago. I have proof now. I'm keeping a sample of this drug. I'm sure they'd still find it in my system if I get tested. And then we'll see who's gonna get their ass fucked in jail. Although I'm sure you'd rather enjoy that."

Charlie stood up and began to survey the room. He saw the curious looking crystal on the center of Oliver's study table. He picked it up and looked inside. There was a faint light coming from within the crystal. He looked close enough and saw a small figure covered up in smoke.

"Spook..." he said under his breath.

He quickly took the crystal and ran out of Oliver's room. He thought twice about locking the door. But he thought if Oliver shouted for help later, it would be better if the door was unlocked. So he left it unlocked. He didn't want Oliver to die like that after all.

He quickly ran to his room where both Joseph and Tim were waiting. Thick dark clouds were beginning to form outside and he knew the rains could fall down any minute. He looked at the time and he knew that Danny would be home in less than an hour. They had to work and get Spook out as soon as possible. He didn't want Danny to be there before they did what they had to do.

When he got into the room, Tim met him at the door and quickly took the crystal from his hands.

Tim inspected the crystal and sighed. "This crystal is laced with a strong protective spell. We would need a lot of energy to break him out of it. Even with your strong connection to Spook, we won't be able to breach through this medium without much help."

"What do we need?" Charlie asked.

"We would need to call on other spirits to help us out," replied Tim. "Or a very powerful psychic. Both would be best, though."

"But there is no other psychic in this place!" exclaimed Joseph.

"Then we'd have to make do with the spirits," said Tim. "There are a lot of them here. I just hope they're willing to help out a fellow spirit."

The door flew open and came in a very worried Danny.

"What the hell have you been doing in Oliver's room?" Danny confronted Charlie. He was so worried about Charlie that he decided to fake a stomachache to skip the rest of his class. That was the best explanation he could give his professor after shouting profanity out loud in class.

"I uh, I had to get Spook out of there," Charlie stuttered like a child caught with his hands inside a cookie jar. "See, Oliver trapped him in there," he pointed at the crystal being held by Tim.

"Jesus! You couldn't have waited for me to get it for you?" asked Danny.

"Danny, it's a simple task," protested Charlie. "See, I got it. No harm done. Well, at least not to me. Besides, I told you I can take care of myself."

"What did you do to that jerk anyway?" asked Joseph.

"Not much. I just rearranged his inner organs and knocked off a couple of teeth," Charlie answered with a grin. "Oh, and he tried to throw that powder at me again, but since I'm ready for it this time, I dodged it. So I gave him a taste of his own medicine and now he's lying on his bed with his arms and legs feeling like dead weight."

"So proud of you, bro," said Joseph with a sly grin as he tapped Charlie's back.

Danny sighed, shaking his head.

"Cool it, Danny," said Joseph. "He's okay. He needed to do this. That fucker owed him big time."

Tim was looking at Danny intently throughout the whole conversation. "How did you know Charlie went there?" he asked Danny.

"Yeah, how did you?" Joseph seconded.

Danny looked at Tim, then Joseph. Then he avoided both their gaze. "I uh... I just... I just felt it," he lied.

"Just like you felt it when Charlie was being attacked?" probed Tim.

Danny didn't answer. He just stared at Charlie who was looking straight back at him, his eyes asking him the same question.

Danny dropped his gaze.

"Uh, Danny," Charlie said after a while. "We need to do some sort of ritual to get Spook out of that crystal and we're gonna be calling spirits to help us out. I know it would creep you out, so could you stay in Tim and Joseph's room for an hour or so while we're doing this?"

"We'd do it in our room except that Spook has a stronger connection in this room and we'd like to take advantage of that," added Tim.

Danny shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere," he said. "The more people you have here, the better the chances are in freeing Spook. We could use all the energy we have."

"Huh?" Charlie was puzzled.

Tim just smiled.

Danny looked at Charlie. "He saved you when I couldn't," he said. "It's time for me to return the favor."

"But the ghosts..." Charlie protested.

"You'll be here," Danny countered. "You'll keep me safe," he smiled.

"Well, we better start this," Tim said. "Do you have candles?"

"Yeah," said Charlie as he got the candles from his drawers.

Tim placed the crystal in the middle of the room and they all sat on the floor encircling it. He placed one candle in front of each one of them. He asked Joseph to turn off the lights as he was lighting the candles.

A lightning flashed nearby and a roaring thunder followed it in less than a second. Danny visibly flinched as he was startled. "Great! Lightning and thunder during a séance... how cliché can you get?" he muttered under his breath.

Tim asked them to close their eyes and focus on Spook. He asked them to visualize Spook coming out of the crystal. He also asked Charlie to call Spook out with his mind.

"I'm calling all spirits that can hear my plea," said Tim. "Please help us free the trapped spirit in this crystal."

He repeated it several times, but he couldn't feel anything responding to his call.

He opened his eyes and said in frustration, "It's not working!"

Charlie opened his eyes and worriedly said, "Why isn't it working?"

"I don't know," answered Tim.

"I think I do," said Danny.

He removed the ring from his finger and took out the lead case from his backpack. He placed the ring inside and shut the case close. Then he placed it under his legs.

A few seconds after Danny hid his ring, he saw half a dozen spirits coming in and standing around them.

"Oh... my... God..." Tim was so amazed at what was happening. Every single one of the spirits were looking at Danny. And every few seconds or so, a new spirit appears to join them until the room was packed with spirits.

"What's going on? Are they here?" asked Joseph. He and Charlie couldn't see any of the spirits surrounding them.

Tim just nodded as he looked around the room in amazement.

Danny looked terrified as he looked around him. Charlie held his hand tightly. And somehow, he got the strength to stay calm.

Danny looked intently at the spirits surrounding them. "Please help us free the spirit that is trapped within this crystal," he asked them.

All the spirits looked at the crystal. Danny felt the resistance from the protective spell. He looked at it intently, willing it to break. Suddenly, the crystal emitted a blinding light that lasted for a few moments. When the light subsided, Spook was standing before them, facing Charlie and Danny who were still holding hands.

"Is it working?" Joseph asked. He didn't see anything happening out of the ordinary and he was starting to feel stupid about the whole thing.

Tim shushed him as he curiously looked at Spook.

"You must be Danny," said Spook coldly as he looked at Danny.

"You must be Spook," answered Danny who was still drawing courage from Charlie.

"Spook," said Charlie. "Thank God you're alright!"

Spook smiled at him. "Thanks to all of you." Spook looked at all the spirits around them as they began to disappear one by one.

"I have something I need to do first," Spook said to Charlie. "Then I'll come back for you."

Then Spook looked at Charlie's and Danny's hands before looking straight at Danny's eyes. "I'll probably see you again before this is over. Thank you for helping me tonight. I'll remember that when we meet again," he said before disappearing before their eyes.

Danny quickly took the ring from the case and slipped it on his finger.

"That was so amazing," said Tim who was awestruck the whole time. "I thought you had some talents," he said to Danny. "But I had no idea how powerful you truly are."

Danny avoided Tim's gaze. Charlie was looking at him.

"You mean, Danny's psychic?" asked Joseph.

"He's not just 'psychic'," said Tim. "He attracts spirits like moths to a flame. He didn't even have to call them up; they just came to him! And he broke through the crystal's protective spell like it was nothing. He's probably the most powerful psychic I've ever met! No wonder you're trying to block it with that amulet."

Danny met Charlie's questioning eyes. "You have no idea what lost and confused spirits can do to you," he said. "I do. I just don't wanna look over my shoulders all the time. I just don't wanna be a freak anymore." A tear formed in his eye.

Charlie immediately wrapped his arms around Danny. "You're not a freak. And what you did for Spook tonight was amazing. I could never thank you enough."

"I don't see anything wrong with using your abilities, though," said Tim. "I mean think about all the spirits and restless souls that you could help..."

"Aw, shut it, Tim!" exclaimed Joseph, to which both Danny and Charlie began to laugh.

OLIVER decided not to shout for help that night. He thought he could save the embarrassment for tomorrow.

His thoughts were running wild as his frustrations mounted. He would hurt them. He would hurt all of them badly.

"I'll start with you, Charlie," he muttered. "You'll pay for everything you've done to me. You'll regret the day you've rejected me and the Group. You'll wish to be dead by the time I'm through with you!"

"Then, I'll make your boyfriends suffer. Both living and dead," he laughed quietly at his own joke.

"Then, all of your friends. They will all suffer in my hands until they beg me to finish them off."

He still couldn't move any part of his body. He almost couldn't bear the pain in his jaws and mouth. The part of his abdomen that caught Charlie's kick was also screaming in pain.

Magnified at least 10 times. He remembered Marcus telling him about sensations under the influence of the drug.

"The fucker was right," he thought.

He willed himself to sleep. "Tomorrow will be my day," he promised himself as he closed his eyes and dozed off.

His dream was very vivid.

He saw a beautiful, naked man standing before him. The man had a really smooth, lean, swimmer's body, and the most beautifully striking eyes he had ever seen.

He looked at himself and saw that he was naked as well; his huge dick sticking out from his body, craving for attention.

The beautiful man went down on him and began to service his aching cock. He felt the most wonderful feeling. Not even Marcus could blow him the way this man did.

The man, then, began to kiss his way up to his pecs, licking and suckling both his nipples along the way.

"You like that, don't you?" asked the man as he nibbled on Oliver's ear. Oliver moaned and gently nodded.

"You like pretty boys servicing your needy cock, don't you?" the man asked again.

"Yeah..." he moaned. "Blow me... blow me hard..."

The man stopped kissing him. He opened his eyes and saw the man's beautiful eyes looking directly at him.

"I want you to kiss me first," said the man.

Oliver grabbed the back of the man's head and met man's luscious lips with his. The man kissed him hungrily and he felt like he was gently falling into an abyss. He felt light... like he was floating.

Then he felt a piercing pain in his gut and he saw black hands grabbing every part of his body and dragging him down... down to a never-ending tunnel. And he saw the man floating from a distance up above, looking at him with hatred and disgust.

"Goodbye forever," the man said. "You will never hurt anyone again. And you will never take him away from me again."

He screamed in horror as he continued to fall down the never-ending tunnel.

Oliver's body jerked a little on the bed where he lay. Then he became still as it dried up like a mummy. The room was suddenly cleaned with all traces of blood or drugs. And thick dust gathered on the floor and the furniture. It was as if nobody had stayed in that room for a long time.

It would take three days before somebody would find his mummified body.