Chapter 5, Part two. The Ghost from Whispwood

 Eos didn't know what she would see when she reached the top of the stairs,  probably some creature of unimaginable horror that was named the Ghost of Whispwood. So when she reached the top of the stairs, she almost fell down them as she had been startled by the small human-ish figure floating in front of them. Early 2000s at the least(Eos had no clue about how these people managed their age) looked about the same age as a young twenty-something-year-old human, pale gray for its skin tone, and cream colored hair that floated like it was under water. The ghost's eyes were a murky green. It was floating, but not see-through, just solid. 

"Has someone finally come to set me free?" The ghost whispered, the sudden noise filling the air. 

"We.....We need your passkey." Lonely spoke, "Please."

"Set me free, or die!" She snapped, then covered her mouth, her face twisted in pain. 

"No death threats, lady! We don't know how to free you." Eos ordered, stepping in front of Lonely, reaching a hand into her pocket, hoping that she grabbed the right suit with the blaster in it. No luck. She muttered a curse that she would have gotten in trouble saying back at home. 

"K-kill kill him! The one who pulls the strings." She coughed out the words, seeming to be fighting with herself, "Pass key. Grave. Lost love."  

The ghost grew tall and large, eyes gone, fingers grown sharp. Her head snapped up and she looked at them, her voice fearful as she whispered, "Run!".

"LONELY, I THINK IT'S TIME TO GO!" Eos yelled!

"WAY AHEAD OF YOU!" Lonely grabbed her arm and started running down the stairs. 

"What is that thing?!" He panted, looking behind. 

"Of course, Foe's got a hold of her, that's why she has a passkey! He won't let her go till he's dead! That's why her spirit is still here! She must have asked him for his help when she was alive, and now he's making her repay her debt!" She smacked her forehead. How could she be so stupid? 

"Of course! That makes so much sense!" Lonely said sarcastically. 

"You have little understanding of the universe and what some creatures can do. You have no right to-!" 

The ghost let out a ghastly scream, which made them run faster. When they finally reached the bottom, they ran onto the empty landscape that was once Whispwood. 

"Find the graveyard!" Lonely called, letting go of Eos's arm and running away from her.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She hollered, but it was no use; he was out of earshot. 

"Boy, can that kid run." She thought as she sprinted off in the other direction. She heard part of the wall of the lighthouse collapse as the ghost broke through the wall. Eos realized she should have started running as soon as Lonely did, but it didn't matter now that the ghost had seen her and started to give chase. 

"CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAAPPPP!!!" Eos yelled as she begged her legs to start moving faster.  She didn't know this landscape; she kept stumbling over loose boards and rocks. She didn't see a graveyard through all that sprinting and tumbling. Eos turned to look back. The ghost was still giving chase, and now looked even scarier in the darkness and fog. She turned back around and smacked right into a wooden pillar. She could now taste blood in her mouth from biting down on the inside of her cheek. 

The ghost grabbed her ankle and held her in the air. Over a waiting, gaping mouth with rows of teeth. 

Eos braced herself for a sickening death. Then something zipped through the air and hit the ghost's hand, just barely grazing Eos’s leg that the ghost was holding onto. The creature let out a sharp wail and dropped Eos to the ground. Eos had no time to collect herself before Lonely grabbed her arm and slung it around his shoulder, dragging her in the direction of the craft. He was saying something, but she didn't hear what he said. Her leg was warm with blood, and she was starting to feel woozy. She turned to look back over her shoulder, the ghost was flickering in-between being controlled and being in control. 

"Faster. We've got to go." Eos huffed.

"But your leg-" Lonely protested.

"NOW, lonely.".

He picked up his pace, and she tried to ignore the pain as she limped faster. 

They managed to get to the spaceship just as the ghost let out a hollow wail. Lonely helped Eos into the captain's seat. 

"Take us up." He ordered

"Yep!" She punched some buttons, then yanked the steering wheel up, and they flew into space. When they reached a point where they could just float in place, Lonely helped her to the first aid cot so they could wrap her leg. 

"How? What happened back there?" Eos asked once on the cot.

"Found the grave of 'Matteo quin, loved by Emily grace’. The rest was scratched out. All the other tombstones had been broken. I found this glowy thing resting on top of Matteo's." He held up what looked like a broken pipe that was indeed glowing, "I shoved it into these weird, huge pockets these space suits have and found a weird blaster in the other one. That's when I heard you yelling and came to get you. Sorry about your leg, by the way." 

"......It'll heal. Those pockets each lead to their own little safe back home, so the wearer can shove any treasure they find into them. They're called portal pockets." She explained as Lonely pulled a bandage from a med kit. 

"That's a dumb name." He muttered as he motioned for her to roll up her pant leg. 

"I guess so, but the point is we have the first part of the passkey." She sighed as she rolled her pant leg. The starblaster beam didn't go all the way through, thankfully, but it was still going to hurt when she stood up; it would hurt for a while before…...she decided not to tell Lonely what would happen. They sat in silence while Lonely wrapped her leg. When he was done, he looked up and asked.

"Where now?" 

"Well, the closest planet is Ancient Geese; it wouldn't hurt to check there for the next part of the passkey. Plus, we could grab more supplies."   

"Wait….did you just say Ancient Geese?"