YET ANOTHER SPIRIT

The three began sprinting now. They were so close. Five kilometres at most. "Come on guys!" Eddie yelled ahead, exhilarated as Ellie and Thomas brought up the rear, both panting and sweating hard. Ellie wasn't even sure how it was possible considering they were just spirits, yet here they were, sweating their asses off as they rushed to find the third. "We're so close! I reckon we could make that in half-an-hour!" Eddie shouted, and Thomas groaned. "In half-an-hour I'm going to plant him six feet under, so we don't have to deal with any of this shit," he grumbled, and Ellie chuckled. Maybe it was just the tiredness, but she thought she could sense Thomas' patience wavering. Perhaps everyone had their limits, just as her mother teaches her. Well, taught. There weren't many lessons to be learnt if you're invisible to everybody else.

Up ahead, Eddie stopped dead, and the other two rushed to catch up. "What is it?" asked Ellie as they came to a stop beside Eddie, but Eddie didn't answer. Instead, he slowly pointed ahead. Ellie's eyes took a few moments to adjust in the growing dark, but when she saw it, she put a hand to her mouth. She knew this road. She had been here with Danny when they visited the Family. The house would be on the other end of the long street, but that wasn't what was catching Ellie's attention. Someone was hanging in the street, their feet barely skimming the ground. Ellie knew them but did not say anything. Slowly she walked toward the figure and outstretched a hand to them and gently touched their chest. No rising or falling. They were dead. The rope around their neck was tight and secure, but it wasn't a noose. It was just…tied there.

Ellie didn't know much, but she knew it meant this person, who had always been nice and kind to her, died a slow and horrible death instead of their neck breaking. "Yep. That's me," came a voice from behind, and all three spun around. Luke leant against a lamppost, staring at the body of his past self with tired eyes. "L-Luke?" stuttered Ellie, and then she ran forward, embracing him tightly as tears formed in her eyes. Luke hugged her back, arms wrapped around her tightly. "So this is what happens when we die? Kind of boring," Luke said, smiling a little as Ellie giggled. "How did you bite it?" asked Thomas as he came up behind Ellie, and Luke slowly let go of her. "They came to the mansion. I killed quite a few of them, but then Livia and her group of freaks came. They did that to me."

Ellie's eyes widened in shock. "Rachael's girlfriend?" she whispered, and Luke shook his head quickly before correcting her, "Ex-girlfriend." Ellie felt her fists clench by her sides in pure fury, yet she said nothing. This was becoming too much. Now Luke had died in this killer's mad streak of terror, and no one would know who killed him. The young get away with horrible things, but that's the price of being young. "Are the others…" Ellie began, and Luke firmly shook his head, "No, they're all ok. They went out to rescue Chloe, and knowing the Family, they would have rescued her unharmed and fine." Ellie slowly nodded, yet she didn't know what to say. Everything felt like it was spinning. She couldn't think straight. "We should go down and check out the mansion, maybe there's something I could do!" Suggested Eddie, and Ellie was about to respond, but then a large group of teenagers ran past them, intent on the mansion that Luke had supposedly defended.

"Who the fuck are they?" whispered Thomas, and Ellie responded in shock, "The Family." None of them noticed Luke's hanging body that was concealed by the large trees, they just kept running in the direction of the mansion. Luke groaned as he stared after the Family, but he didn't move. He had already accepted it was time to move on and leave them be. "You guys fill Luke in and head to the location where the third is. I'm going to see what's happening over there," Ellie said hurriedly, and Thomas stepped forward to protest, but a withering glare stopped him in his tracks. "I told you what to do, now go do it," Ellie instructed, but to her surprise, Luke stepped forward. "I died over twenty minutes ago, but I went back to see what they were doing. They moved the bodies out the house and shipped them away in vans, but they'll know something is wrong. I should go too."

Ellie shook her head firmly, "No, I have to go and see what's happening. You go and find the third. That's the mission. Complete it." Slowly, the others nodded, and left Ellie standing in the middle of the road, staring up at the mansion as the Family reached it.