The Ghost Child

Location: Greenfield, Ireland
Date: 12/11/2023, 8:00pm
Connar clicked through the power meter app on his phone and scrolled through the list of rooms it was monitoring until he finally came to the guest room. There had been a sudden unexplained spike in power the day Hiro had seen the lights flickering; all other readings were normal. Reaching into his pocket he took out a small white crystal talisman covered in Nordic runes, the bottom two began to glow as he watched it swing in the air. “Damn it” Connar muttered to himself, as he put the talisman away and began rifling through his pockets for another, “Something wrong babe?” Yuuko asked as she leaned against the door frame. “The good news is that it wasn’t a glitch in the system that made the lights flicker, so we don’t need to call an electrician. The bad news is, it’s probably a ghost.” “How did we get ghosts?” Yuuko asked, “A couple might have followed me home from when I investigated that cult in Boston, or it could be someone disturbed a grave in the hang man’s wood, or we might have awoken something that was buried under the house. It’s not a big deal though, I will perform a little exorcism and then we will be done with it.” Connar then pulled a green crystal covered in a spell written in Arabic out of his coat, “On that note, I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell your father.” Yuuko furrowed her brow, “He is not going to care”, “Yes he is, if he knew that he was sleeping in the same room as a spirit (even if it is benign) he would never let me hear the end of it, he would constantly be accusing me of trying to kill him.” Yuuko rolled her eyes as Connar set the crystal down in the center of the room as he began channeling anima into it, before starting the incarnation, “يا روح البؤس والمعاناة، آمرك أن تكشف عن نفسك!” the crystal glowed green as a figure began to materialize in the room, no more than 90cm tall, dressed in a night shirt. Connars eyes went wide in shock as the form of his son began to materialize in the center of the room and suddenly the green light was gone leaving only a 5 year old child on the verge of tears in the center of the room. “Jesus, lad! What are you doing here!?” Seeing that the ghost child was about to burst into tears, he quickly remembered that he was speaking with his son, “Nononononono, its ok, I am not mad, just surprised. I need you to look at me and then take 5 deep breaths.” The little ghost still sniffling locked eyes with Connar as he started counting to 5, taking a deep breath each time, “very good now I need you to show Ms. Yuuko how smart you are, you remember what father McDuff taught you about Latin?” The little ghost nodded as he wiped snot away from his nose, “What did Jesus use to say, when people asked him what he was?” The little ghost replied, “ego sum via”, “Good” Connar replied as he looked the ghost over for any glyphs or sutras, “And what did his followers say when they introduced him?”  The little ghost thought for a second before answering “ipse est via” “Good and after the crucifixion?” “erat via”, the ghost sniffled, “And after the resurrection” “ego sum via” the ghost answered. Yuuko clapped excitedly, “Yeah! That was great” Connar rubbed his eyes as he stood up, “John, boyo what are you doing here? Why aren’t you with mommy?” John sniffled as he started to answer, “There was music and a light and I wanted to see who was making it and I didn’t mean to wander far but then, I got lost and I couldn’t find the light, but then I saw the new house and thought you could help me get back.” Connar sighed again, “Don’t worry lad we’ll get you sorted, we just got to find a spot for you”, Connar went to pick up the boy only for his hands to pass through him. He frowned as he remembered the boy was dead, he rifled around in his pocket, before pulling out a blue stone with the Norse runes for voice and eye carved on it, “As long as you’re touching this stone, the people around you will be able to see and hear you. If you ever need anything you come find this stone, hold it, and call out for either me or Ms. Yuuko and we’ll come help you, understand?” The little ghost nodded, “Good, Now, Ms. Yuuko’s parents are visiting so if you see two other people in the house that’s who they are and I expect you to be on your best when your around them, otherwise you have the run of the house just let us know if you need anything and don’t try to do it yourself.” Connar then picked up the green crystal and John disappeared, “Love you lad, now off to bed with you,” the room suddenly grew colder. Connar then turned to Yuuko, “well at least it’s better than last year at the wizard’s imperial ball,” he said smiling.
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