Chapter One: Time for a Lesson

Alright, let's cut to the chase because I'm busy right now. I'm Ditto Night, and this is a little story about me. I guess. I don't know, like I said I'm busy right now. With what, you might ask? You silly, adorable human? Well, I'm trying to remove a ghost from this small girl's body. It's some messy shit, well sorta. Listen I can explain more later. I just need to finish this up before anything else, okay? You'll get your answers, you greedy fools.

"So, where is the girl?" I asked calmly, walking into the suburban house. It was a nice place, two stories, painted a crisp yellow that made me want to puke, but they all can't be winners. Respectable size, perfect for a middle class family to live in. And I guess some bitch ass ghost.

    The man who I assumed was the father pointed up the stairs. "She's up there, in her room, as is my wife, Helen."

    "Okay, and you are?"

    "I'm Thad, her father." He was nervous, like he hadn't been able to sleep in days. I shouldn't have expected him to have either. Their home was also nice, clean, family portraits everywhere. The walls were a clean blue, like a raspberry slushie. A better color, I think. "Can you really help us?"

    "Of course. This is my shit, Thad," I said. We walked up the stairs, and I could feel the ghost's energy. Cold, constant movement, angry. Oh, it was pissy. "Alright, this doesn't seem that bad."

    "Really?"

    I shrugged. "Probably, I guess."

    Going down the hallway I adjusted the satchel at my side and sword on my back. Okay, I can explain the sword. Twenty-first century and swords don't usually mix, but I have my reasons alright. Geez, what are you guys, my mom? Hope not, you weirdos. Just give me some time, answers will come.

    The mother was standing by the door, holding herself in her arms. "Thank goodness you're here. Can you fix my baby girl? Please tell me you can." There was a desperate look in her eyes, blonde hair getting in the way. Panic and fear, things I can smell a mile away.

I smiled gently, my most confident smile. "Yes, I'm sure I can. Like I told Thad, this is my shit."

I rolled my shoulders, asking a few questions in the process. "So how long has she been like this?"

"A few days," Thad answered. "On Tuesday, I was getting her from her room for dinner, and she was whispering to no one. I asked to who was she talking to, and she answered her friend."

"Ah, classic ghosts." I cracked my neck. "They like to get to know their hosts first. It's rather pathetic, but it helps them feel closer, you know?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"Keep going," I said, rolling my hand. "What else?"

Helen responded this time. "Well, she kept to herself, talking only to this friend, until one day she answered me in a different voice."

"Deep voice?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Deep, but smooth I guess."

"Hmm, that's a good sign." Bending and touching my toes, I gave myself one last shake, slapping my face multiple times, revving myself up. Not that I need it. "If you want to stay on this side of the door is fine. If you want to cross, that's alright too."

The parents nodded in understanding. I sighed. "Let's do this."

I opened the door, seeing an ordinary girl's room. Thad had informed me before that the girl, Katy, was seven, and was like any other girl. The room was covered in toys, pink walls, and smelled like death died. I laughed. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

Katy was sitting on her bed, staring at the floor, murmuring to herself. I entered, and she looked at me. "Leave here, mortal." The voice was deep and smooth, like dark chocolate mixed with vodka.

"Nice one. You must be a ghost, a new one at that, if you can't smell me. Welp, this might make things easier. I can smell you, you bitch." Walking in, I went to her. "So, here are your options. You leave the girl immediately, and never come back. Or I force you out of the girl, and you are banished to the Pool in the Pit. Or I remove you, am just not having it, and banish you from existence. Which one, bub?"

Katy stood, smiling creepily like how possessed people do. "I will never leave. This is my home now." She chuckled, and yelled, "Die!"

I was sent flying. Smashing into a small table, I groaned, knowing the answer to the question. "I am going to be nice and send you far down. Hope you like that."

Standing, I cracked my neck again. Katy's head tilted. "You are tough. What will it take for you to die?"

"More than that you dumb idiot." Whispering, my arms and hands became covered in black symbols. Closing my eyes, I turned on my magic, and let my vision go to the ghost zone. Ghost vision I call it. The spirit was in the girl alright, and by the looks of it it was an old woman. Nothing else was there. Oh well. "Can't catch me," I said. Then moving faster than any normal mortal, I had the girl by the neck. "I'm the boogie man."

I said another spell, and this time a large black circle formed under us both, a triangle in it with multiple lines crossing and other symbols connecting. The ghost screeched. "Let me go."

"Sorry, but you are far out of your league." I shoved my hand down the girl's throat. But, before you freak out, my hand right before it touches her passes through to the ghost zone, leaving her unharmed. Grabbing the angry spirit, I pulled the pissy thing out, the girl falling limp, and me staring into the eyes of a evil and scared little ghost. "I did give you some options."

"No, please, I just wanted to be young and alive again." It tried to escape, but my grip was firm. Not my first rodeo, let me tell you that. These fresh ghosts are rather dumb. Sometimes, when they're real dumb, I simply let them go with a warning. But this was different.

"Listen, messing up children is wrong. You were alive once, so you should have known that," I said. "This is what you get."

"How was I supposed to know you existed?" the thing squealed. I love hearing that. Reminded me who was in charge. "Who are you?"

"I am Ditto Night, the Man Who Dies for Fun." I smiled. "And you get to go for a swim."

I threw the ghost into the circle, and it screamed as it was pulled down into the dark portal that opened up, the sucking force quickly gobbling it down like a hungry animal. The circle disappeared, and I was alone with the girl lying quiet on the floor. "Hey, wake up."

I bent down and picked her up, brushing back her hair, and her eyes opened. "Where's my friend?"

"Gone forever I'm afraid."

She frowned, and the parents ran in crying happy tears. "Katy!" They both exclaimed. I handed the girl to the mother, and both hugged her fiercely. "Oh, I thought we lost you," Helen said, stroking her hair. "I thought you were lost."

"I'm here mommy," Katy replied, and all three began sobbing. How nice, being loved.

Shifting on my feet, I coughed. "Hey, um, this is lovely, but I'm going to take my leave now."

The family looked at me, and the father laughed. "Thank you, thank you so much. You gave us our little girl back. Thank you so much."

"Yes, how can we ever repay you?" Helen asked, coming up and hugging me. I cringed. "Tell us, anything."

"Um, how about at the price that was agreed upon," I said, standing back a little. What's wrong with people? You help them out and all of a sudden you're a goddamn saint. Humans are weird, I'll tell you what. Always this and that with them. "I believe five hundred dollars was the agreement."

"Oh, us, yes. Of course." The mother wiped at her eyes. Money sorta sobered her up real quick. "I'll go get my check book."

The girl looked at me when the mother left, and I eyed her. "What do you want?"

"What happened to Gladys?" She coughed, and looked away. "Gladys was my friend. What did you do to her?"

"I sent her away. To a pit filled with despairing souls. Nasty place. But she'll be fine." In a few hundred years, and she definitely won't be fine until then. That bitch will be screaming for a long time, and I have no sympathy for her. Listen, I'll explain later, but ghosts that like hurting children get no love from me. Teenagers are fine, but kids? Big fat fucking no.

All in all, a pretty easy job, I thought as I left, tucking the check into my pocket. Well, one of many pockets, as my black pants were full of them. Zipping up my black leather jacket, I put on my helmet, and hopped on my motorcycle. My sweet black Harley cruiser. And don't ask anything else, cause I don't know much else about motorcycles. But you all starting to get a sense of my fashion tastes? It's pretty cool I know.

Kick starting it, I left the nice house in the suburbs of Ohio and opened another magic portal in front of me. It lead to the ghost zone I was talking about earlier. Driving in, I began my journey back home.

So, I guess now's the time to be answering some questions.

First of all, I am not an exorcist. Those punks aren't even worth my time, and are much weaker. No, I'm a necromancer. Big difference.

Since that's out of the way, I guess the next big thing is this. Earth, it's where I live. And it's where magic folk and non magic folk live side by side. Actually that's not true at all. The mortal humans are the dominant life form, and control what mostly go on on this planet. I personally think humans are annoying, but they do what they must to better themselves, and I respect that. No, the magic folk, all lumped together called the Hidden, don't really live side by side with humans. Put it this way. Imagine a painting or photo in your home, hanging on the wall. And after five years or so, you kind of ignore that photo, realizing it exists only when it falls off and tries to kill you. That's what the Hidden are like.

And what kind of creatures are the Hidden? There happen to be a variety of things. You got Shifters, Vampires, Fae, Angels, Demons, Witches, Warlocks, and a few other things. Those main ones are the real players though. All live relatively well together, and don't particularly hate each other. It's peaceful most of the time.

Next question I bet you're asking is, where then do these creatures live? Some use magic and hide among you, and live side by side with humans. Others have created cities secluded by magic, where only the Hidden can reach them, and others don't even live in this realm of existence.

What else is there? Fundamental wise? Umm, magic runs through the ground, in ley lines, all over the world. Some magic is nice, some isn't. About all there is to it.

I guess you're now wondering about this ghost zone I keep talking about and am currently driving through. To put it simply, the Earth has a few layers to it.

Keep up here. It's not complicated, but might take some explaining. The top layer, or Earth Layer, is where we live. Humans and Hidden. The next layer is the Spirit Layer, or ghost zone, where angry ghosts go when their mortal body dies. Since this layer is the closest to our layer, it has residue floating over. Which is why you have ghosts and spirits that haunt things and people. A ghosts see's an opportunity and uses it to slip on out. The ghost zone looks like a deserted town, minus the town. There's ash and dust everywhere, everything looks grey, and a moan is always drifting through the air. The reason I'm here now is because it can be used to travel far distances in the Earth layer more quickly. Really useful trick for necromancers.

The next layer is the what I like to call the Bitch Layer. It's actually called the Light Layer, and is essentially the home and training grounds for Magicians. Who, as you may have guessed, are total bitches.

But, Ditto, what are Magicians? You didn't mention them in the list of Hidden. It's simple, for you see, Magicians, or Magi, are the prime race that use magic. Other Hidden use magic at some sort, Witches and Warlocks the most, but the Magi have the closest relationship with magic. They can harness the elements of magic without the use of a wand, or staff, or anything. Few rarely even need to speak to sling spells.

But why are they bitches? Because the Magi believe themselves to be better than anyone else. There are multiple schools, each one assigned to a certain aspect or multiple aspects, and they learn to shoot fireballs or harness the earth and destroy cities with earthquakes or whatever. They are the most powerful, and for that reason they are the law keepers. The Hidden deal with their own problems without the Magi, but the Magi forged the most ancient laws. And if you break those, you answer to them.

So, for the most part they stay in the Bitch Layer, contempt with learning and keeping to themselves. Oh, you think there's got to be another reason I believe their bitches, since I'm so bitter? You got me. The Magi dislike necromancers. Their magic is pure, aligning themselves with the powers and beliefs of light. It's sickening, and they hate me because I raise the dead. That's why I don't go there, and stay here.

And finally, the last layer. The Dark Layer, home to the demons. Now, demons do live on the Earth Layer, but not that many. Those that are here are simply here to mess up people's lives, or are debt collectors. Good living, doing that. Honest, I say. But where the biggest and baddest demons live is in the Dark Layer. And not just them, but other nightmares too. Things that even I'd be scared to fight.

Naturally, the Dark and Light hate each other, and while never at war, are simply at each other's throats. The Magi claim they protect the other layers from the demon menace. The Demons claim that they need to do population control on Earth. It's a fight that's been going on for centuries. One that has turned into an endless stalemate, and one that needs to stay that way. Forever.

And that's the basics. Excuse me for a moment, but I've arrived home.