Phasmatta - Ch 6-

Chapter 6 - Foundations -

Ryan looked around the furnished two-bedroom apartment he’d rented.

It was within the price range that he could afford based on the salary Misha was paying him, had all the furniture he’d need, and was set for a year long rental.

While it wasn’t perfect, and he was probably paying more than if he’d just shipped his furniture over, all the furniture he’d left behind had been cheap and terrible.

That and honestly a lot of that furniture would just be a reminder of the ghost that I had become. Need to escape that. Get away from it.

And… everything else.

Setting the keys down on the nearby counter he blew out a breath.

“I like it,” Carl said, stepping out from a wall and wandering across the entry area. “It’s nice that garage is attached to it, too. That last one kinda sucked because you didn’t have covered parking.”

“Yeah, shoveling my car out of the snow was pretty ridiculous,” agreed Ryan and then sighed.

It’d been two days since they’d released the haunting that’d been Alexis. Misha had handled it pretty well.

After that she’d said she would need to go handle some business and would be back in at most a week.

Which would be more than enough time for Ryan to settle into west-virginia and start putting things together.

Like getting internet, updating his driver’s license, and figuring out where the closest fast food joints were.

Because if he had to rely on his home cooking, he’d become the next ghost for Misha to release.

Carl walked through a wall and entered the ‘living room’ area.

Ryan followed along behind him with his hands in his pockets.

“Carl, can we talk about this game thing you’re doing?” Ryan asked. “Because honestly, it felt really fucking strange. Is this something about why you’re a free-roaming entity? You’re nowhere near where you died. You’re not bound at all.

“Not to a location, not to a person, not to a item, nothing. You’ve always said it didn’t matter and I didn’t push because… well you’re a kid. Or at least, physically a kid, but this feels different.”

“I mean, I did try to tell you many times that you needed to finish up with that location and move on,” Carl stated as Ryan entered the living room.

Carl was laid out on the carpeted floor, staring up at the ceiling.

“You did, yeah, but how does that relate to the game thing?” Ryan asked.

“Because you were in the tutorial. I’ve shown you your character card repeatedly but you just… didn’t listen,” Carl said accusingly, his face screwing up into what looked a lot like a scowl. “You were acting like you were younger than me and being petulant.”

“I probably am younger than you. Especially if you’re using vocab like that,” Ryan argued and sat down on the couch. It felt rather nice. Newer than he expected it to be. “Now… the game?”

“I won’t answer you,” Carl huffed, folded his arms in front of himself, and looked to the ceiling. “I’m not here to just answer whatever you want when you’re willing. Not when you won’t listen to me either.

“So, what I’ll say at this moment, is you’re officially level two. Your most recent hunt was a near perfect clear. You lost a few points when Misha blew out the candle by moving too fast and thought Alexis did it, but that’s an easy mistake to make.

“Level two isn’t a full stat point or perk level, but you did improve. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed it yet.”

Noticed it?

I mean… well… I guess it did feel as if I was a bit more energetic lately.

I didn’t get tired from that long-ass drive as much as I thought I would.

Knee didn’t hurt as much either.

“Are you saying your little game stats are actually affecting me?” Ryan asked suspiciously.

“Yes. Yes they are,” Carl confirmed and then rose up off the ground. He flipped sideways and was sitting cross-legged in front of Ryan in the middle of the air. “I won’t answer why. Or how. But they are. You can also take on side-quests to help level yourself.

“If you unlock it, you can also begin working on a ‘homebase’ of sorts, but that’s not something I think you’ll get to immediately.”

“You… that… no. No. This is all nonsense. Carl, stop playing with me. This isn’t some… LitRPG issekai. I didn’t meet Truck-Kun or anything like that,” Ryan argued and shook his head, leaning back into the couch. This all sounded like nonsense.

“It’s not nonsense,” Carl said, his head tilting to one side. “It’s all quite true. Again… I won’t speak to the why… or the how. But it’s happening. This is your lot. Your existence is no longer that of a normal individual.”

“You make it sound like I’m going to save the world or something,” Ryan hissed, watching Carl closely now.

“No. Not the world. Not even a state. Or a city. Because in the grand scheme, saving someone doesn’t actually save them.

“You’ll probably manage to save yourself and maybe a few others,” answered Carl. “Now, I will show you your character card again when you get to level three as it’s a perk level again.

“If you want to level faster, you should look into side-quests. Or challenges. Like getting married, having kids, buying a home, or learning a new skill.

“I’m going to go for now. I want to explore our new area around us. See who’s living where and if there’s any nearby ghosts. I’ll come back probably around dinner.

“Maybe.

“You know I’m not very good at measuring time.”

“What? Challenges?” Ryan squawked a bit nervously. This was all too much.

“Yes. I’d recommend going to downtown Noxfield. It isn’t much of a downtown compared to what you’re used to, but it’s the central hub for this area,” Carl said and began floating upward. “Lots of things down that way for challenges and side-quests.”

“I don’t even know what a side-quest looks like,” muttered Ryan as Carl slid through the ceiling. He’d also wanted to ask how Carl knew about downtown, but that kind of question would be more likely to annoy Carl than to get him to answer.

His head came back through it and he grinned.

“Good question!” Carl said and nodded his head. It looked like he was going to leave it at that.

“Please?” Ryan tried.

Carl hovered there partially in the ceiling.

“If someone asks you to do something, or you do something for someone, and they’re offering a reward, even if it’s just a future favor, it’s a side-quest,” Carl stated.

Then vanished back through the ceiling.

“What… what the hell is even going on?” Ryan murmured to himself. “This is just absolutely… ridiculous.”

Leaning his head back, Ryan looked to the ceiling fan above him and blew out a breath.

As he sat there, he thought about when this had all begun. When he started seeing entities and got involved int that side of the world.

It was days after his patrol was ambushed. When Ryan was recovering in the hospital with a blown out knee that would never bee the same.

Multiple surgeries had given him back almost full mobility, but he’d been medically discharged from the military. What had meant to be a career till the end of his working days was over almost as soon as it began.

Even as he thought about those days, he felt a creeping sense of dread come over him.

A sickly feeling that left his stomach twisting in on itself and leaving him feeling rather unwell. Familiar to how he often felt when the nightmares of the ambush that killed half his patrol surfaced.

His heart started to hammer in his chest and he could feel a creeping dread spreading into him.

“Time to go,” Ryan muttered and stood up. He didn’t hesitate and took the keys off the counter-top and then pivoted to go to the attached garage. “Let’s check out that downtown area Carl suggested. That’s better than sitting here.

“And maybe… see if there’s some type of community help board. Sometimes there’s a thing like that, right? Maybe at the city-hall or post office? Probably the post office. It’s probably older than the damn state.”

***

Ryan found the downtown of Noxfield easy enough. It was somewhat modern, filled with shops, businesses, and cafes. There was also a number of small green spaces with park equipment for children.

A post office, a performance center, the city library, the main police office, a fire station, the city-hall, and the football field.

That was nearly the entirety of it, however.

It was certainly a downtown, though it wasn’t the type of which he’d encountered in major cities or locations. Though this was quite likely the peak of Noxfield.

“I wonder what Charleston is like though,” Ryan whispered to himself as he looked around himself. He’d wandered up to the post office and hadn’t found much of anything that interested him.

Other than grabbing a burger from a fast-food shop that he recognized.

Now he was moseying along down the road toward the city-hall. His hands in his pockets, a light coat on, and strolling along.

No sooner than he’d gotten in his car and started driving than the feelings of his past, of his brush with death itself, had faded.

Fell into the rear view mirror and vanished as the miles were rolled out.

Coming to a slow stop in front of a rather odd looking building, Ryan realized it was city hall. Except, it didn’t quite match the down-town aesthetic that was around it.

It was more similar to the slightly further away areas, but not quite the farms. As if it were a period just before cell-phones became commonplace.

Just outside of the building was a post-it board lodged in the grass. It had a plastic front to it and there were a number of papers inside of it on the board. Most of them looked printed.

Outside of the glass, taped, stapled, or nailed to the bottom of the board, were a number of fliers as well. As if they were added outside of the official channel, but no one cared enough to remove them.

Tilting his head to the side, Ryan began to read through all the ones inside the glass first. He didn’t honestly understand what was going on in his life, and Carl had been cryptic as possible it had seemed, but this was at least something to do.

Something to keep his mind busy and moving.

Not dwelling on his own past.

His eyes flicked to a rather raggedy looking bit of paper stapled into the wood. It had other similar papers covering it but he’d spotted a word that caught his attention peeking through.

Paranormal investigations?

Lifting the two papers on either side, Ryan looked at the paper underneath.

After struggling for a few seconds he gave up and just ripped it off the board, the paper tearing away at the corners.

Paranormal investigations assistant needed.

Independent research project for blah blah blah… college… blah.

Carry gear, take notes, log readings, perform testing.

Twenty an hour, gas, coffee, candy-bars.

Candy bars?

Though at twenty an hour I might as well be doin’ the fast food track but… this isn’t for money.

Requirements… eighteen, sober, comfortable in dark places, and a car.

Well, let’s text the number and see what they say.

This’ll be a good opportunity to get a feel for the scenery and the people here. For all I know they don’t want anything to do with ghost hunting.

Then again, Misha picked West Virginia on purpose.

Had to have been a reason.

Ryan folded the paper, tucked it into a pocket, and typed up the phone number that’d been on the paper. He texted a simple ‘about the assistant position’ and smirked.

Side Quest accepted.

***

Ryan stepped out of his car and hesitated.

A strangle tingle ran up his spine and he blew out a slow breath.

Reaching down into his center console he grabbed the bright pink water pistol and stuck it in his jacket pocket. He also took out the crucifix he was currently using as an ‘object of faith’.

It’d been worn by an actual priest and had a residual belief put into and upon it.

After talking with the person who was hiring for the position, a woman by the name of Daisy, they’d come to the agreement to meet up at an intersection parking lot near the far side of down-town. Where it started to slide into the past and a lack of a night-life.

She had apparently gotten permission to ‘investigate’ a building that was reported to be haunted. It was a somewhat older building, perhaps twenty years old.

Though from his casual search on the internet he’d found that this current iteration of the building was twenty years old, but the frame of the building, as well as it’s foundation, dated back at least a hundred years.

Let alone the land, which had been utilized at some point as a civil war hospital.

Ryan didn’t have to guess at the fact that it was probably haunted. It was quite likely if it housed the dead and dying from a war.

If not haunted, it was most certainly suffering from an imprint of traumatic passings.

Modern hospitals often had a build-up of imprints over time.

Not bothering to take anything else for frear of tipping Daisy off Ryan closed the car door, locked it, and then turned away from his car.

There was only one other vehicle in the parking lot and Ryan could only assume it was Daisy’s. It was a white sedan that likely was older than the woman who owned it.

Given the plain-speech she’d given him in their text conversations, he got the impression that she was a stickler. One for the rules and didn’t care much for personal interaction beyond what she needed it for.

Keeping his hands out of his pockets, since they were full, Ryan walked toward the building.

A large squat thing that looked as if it’d been a bank at some point in recent history.

Sniffing Ryan rubbed at his nose with the back of his wrist and wandered up to the building. He felt a bit odd wandering around such a dead-part of a city but given that the city itself was losing population, year over year, he imagined it wasn’t that surprising.

No sooner than he reached the door then it clanked and popped open.

Standing inside the doorway at a bare five foot two was a woman with dark black hair, pale skin, and light blue eyes. She gave off a ‘frosty’ feeling that left Ryan feeling cold just looking at her.

She was wearing a thick hoodie that covered her from shoulder to halfway down her fingers. It engulfed her, really and turned her into a squat pillar of a shape.

Her legs were in loose jeans and a pair of boots of all things.

She was wearing dark makeup around her eyes, a lip liner that was dark, which all made her skin seem all the whiter.

He couldn’t deny she was pretty in a way, but he felt like he was looking at some type of caricature from an anime.

“I’m Ryan,” Ryan said with a nod of his head at the young woman. She looked to be only a few years younger than himself.

Looking away from the attractive co-ed he could see there were six or seven shadow-people nearby. Moving through distant routines of their lives that no longer existed.

So many already.

It’s… rather dense, isn’t it.

I wonder if this is more than what people have written down.

There’s always places where there’s far more tragedy than anyone has ever expected.

“I’m Daisy Callack,” remarked the woman ina  flat tone, her pale-ice like eyes scouring his face for something As if she were harvesting the details of his mind from the contours, planes, and valleys of his facial features. “What’re you looking at?”

“The area. Was curious what you’ve got set up,” Ryan answered, skirting the truth just a bit. “So, am I moving gear, or did you hustle it all in?”

“You’re moving gear with me. We’re setting up in the basement. It’s the anchor point,” Daisy murmured. “I think. Maybe. I’m not sure. I don’t have much of a knack for sensing disturbances or otherworldly pressences. It feels as if I’m blind and deaf to it.”

Ryan smiled at that, but couldn’t argue with her. There were literally more shadow-people around her than most people encountered in a normal run of their lives.

She seemed unbothered as if she didn’t even sense a change in the temperature.

To her, there was no draft that seemed to claw and curl at the edges of ones insides even if the area was warm. No voice was barely audible at the edge of her hearing.

“… push. Push. We must… push… forward…” hissed one of the shadow-people. It was strong enough this evening that anyone with a flicker of extra-sensory perception would’ve heard something moving about.

Though most would discount it as something sliding across the carpet, like a bit of plastic, or a paper slip.

“’Kay,” Ryan said with a chuckle. “That your car out there? Wanna unlock it for me, prop the door, and we’ll start doing rounds back and forth?

“Also, what kind of gear did you bring in the end? This stuff from your university or things you picked up on your own?”

“The university won’t provide anything,” she said in what was more or less a hiss. One filled with anger and annoyance balanced perfectly atop disgust. “It’s all things I’ve collected on my own. I tried to get the tools that I thought we’d need and I managed to get some of the basics, but not all of them. There’s a lot of things that supposedly work but I’ve never been able to get them to work.”

Ryan nodded his head at that.

It sounded about right.

Most of the stuff that was commercially available had the right idea, but wasn’t configured, or tuned correctly.

Which wasn’t surprising since most people couldn’t even determine an actual true response from the gear. How could one expect the person putting it together at the cheapest contract price available would know how to make sure it was put together just-so.

Daisy harrumphed, pushed something out from inside the building, which turned out to be a brick, and wedged it against the corner of the door. She stuck her hands in her hoodie and started walking to her car.

I’m sure I can fiddle with it.

I’ve got my damn leatherman and some of the other shit in my trunk. I won’t use my actual gear, but there’s no reason not to tune her up accordingly.

After all, I’m the assistant here.

Damn me if I ain’t pretty enough for the job though.

Ryan’s eyes fell to the shimmering darkness of Daisy’s long black hair.

As she walked, he got the impression she had a good figure underneath that mess of a hoodie.

She sure is though.