This Isn't A Game Anymore (VenturianTale fan fiction)

Chapter 4- Toasted Ghosts

        Darkness. It is not beginning or end, death nor life. It exists simply as the absence of all perception, a total shadow of mind. A cloak, that under which everything is hidden.

        And that's where our story really begins.

        Falling through what seemed to be an endless tunnel of shadows, Jordan Frye though he was going to die. So did his three siblings, falling beside him, strings of blue code dancing around them as they plummeted.

        None of them could speak, nor make any sort of noise at all. It seemed as if the darkness was a void of everything, absorbing any form of speech or movement, so that the young adventurers could not even feel the whip of the wind lashing at them as they fell.

        The void also seemed to absorb any speck of rational thinking.

        HOLYCRAPI'MGOINGTODIE! Jordan screamed in his head, flailing around as he fell. Although he tried to come to his senses, his efforts failed. Whether it was the fact that the fear pulsing through him was too intense or his mind wasn't clear enough to remain calm is unknown.

        He was suddenly aware that the darkness was beginning to fade, replaced by a steady beam of light that he and his siblings seemed to be falling into. Unable to look into it anymore, Jordan shut his eyes, hoping for the best. As he reached the ending of the void, he shouted, though he knew that he could not be heard.

        "HELP!"

***

        "Beep beep beep beep..." An alarm clock blared. A gloved hand reached out of the blankets on the neighboring bed and gave it a hard smack, silencing the wailing machine. After a few grumbles and short complaints, the owner of both the alarm clock and the arm sat up in his bed. His grey eyes were tinged red with exhaustion, his shaggy black hair tousled from being hidden under the pillow all night.

        The man yawned and got out of bed. He was not wearing any pajamas, but rather what appeared to be climbing equipment. The rope and pickaxe he usually wore on his back were under his bed. He rarely changed before bed nowadays, because of the nightly... incidents that occurred. He would rather be prepared for the worst, just in case his boss has another episode in the middle of the night.

        He soothed his hair against his head as he tried to clear his thoughts. Last night was one of the rare times when he slept without interruptions and he should be happy about that, and not worry over it like he was. The night before, for instance, his rest was cut short because of his boss- well... not him exactly- "requesting" a cup of his breakfast coffee. It seemed to be the only thing that got him back to sleep again. Somehow, it gave him comfort knowing that he had helped him.

        He quietly opened the door to the hallway. His boss's bedroom door was cracked open, snoring coming from inside. The man peeked his head inside. Thankfully, all seemed to be as usual.

        Pleased, he left him to sleep and went downstairs to the kitchen. As was routine, he made two cups of coffee and prepared the coffee maker for a third. When he finished, he glanced at the clock. 9:44. Silently he counted to himself until he reached sixtly. Right as he finished, he heard a door creak open and the hallroom light switched on.

        Right on time, Ghost. He thought to himself, smiling faintly.

        His boss slid down the stairwell. "Morning Toast!" He said gleefully as we walked into the room.

        Now, if you saw these men on the job, you would have thought that Toast would be the one in charge, as he was 27 and Ghost was 23. But Ghost had founded their company, which he named the Paranormal Investigators Extraordinaire. At that time, it was just Ghost and the little beat up minivan that he called Sasha with second hand equipment crammed inside. But one day he met up with a man named Jonathan Zachary Toast that had training in the paranormal. It turned out that Toast had recently moved from England and was currently looking for  job, which Johnny Ghost eagerly offered him.